Put Off the Old Self and Put on the New Self! (2)

[Colossians 3:5-17]

Second, what we must put off is anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive speech.

Look at Colossians 3:8 – “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”

(1) Here, when thinking of “anger” and “wrath” as one, “anger” refers to anger that burns latent in the heart, while “wrath” refers to anger that explodes outward (Internet).

In our case as a couple, if my wife tends to explode outwardly with anger, I tend to internalize my anger. In his book "Resolving Conflict," Lou Priolo identifies common extreme ways husbands and wives exhibit sinful anger during marital conflicts and disagreements: either by venting anger outwardly or by internalizing it. Venting anger leads to miscommunication, while internalizing anger leads to not communicating at all. Once, while reading Gary & Greg Smalley's book "THE HEART OF REMARRIAGE," I wrote this short passage: ‘Righteous anger in a marriage relationship is necessary for bringing about healthy change. However, unrighteous anger leads to sin through one another's conduct and ultimately worsens the marital relationship.’

The Apostle James said in James 1:20, "For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." Proverbs 29:11 states, "A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back." Psalms 37:8 reads, "Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil."

(2) The passage in Colossians 3:8 refers to the old self that we should put off, which includes "malice." Malice is having intentions to harm or damage someone's reputation and engaging in harmful behavior towards them, as well as deriving pleasure from the suffering of others. This is described as ungodly and irrational behavior (Believer's Bible Commentary).

This is what Titus 3:3 says: “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” In this passage, the Apostle Paul is describing us as individuals who formerly engaged in malice. That is to say, malice was something practiced by our old selves. In other words, our old selves were individuals who engaged in the evil of practicing malice. Psalms 28:3 says, ‘Do not drag me away with the wicked— with those who do evil— those who speak friendly words to their neighbors while planning evil in their hearts.’ A good example is seen in Matthew 22:15 onwards, where the Pharisees deliberated on how to entangle Jesus in his words. They sent their disciples, along with Herodians, to ask Jesus, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere and teach the way of God truthfully. You show deference to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality. So tell us, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?’ (vv. 16-17). At that time, Jesus, knowing their malice, said to them, ‘You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?’ (v. 18).

The Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 2:1-3: "So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good." We are called to put away all malice. Truly, if we have tasted the kindness of the Lord, we should rid ourselves of the malice of our old selves.

(3) In Colossians 3:8, Paul refers to slander and abusive speech as characteristics of the old self that we should put off.

Here, "slander" refers to strong and excessive language used against others, indicating harsh and disrespectful whipping (Believer's Bible Commentary). Proverbs 10:18 says, ‘... he who slanders others lacks sense (a fool).’ And Psalms 15:3 instructs those who dwell in the Lord's tent and live on His holy mountain to speak truthfully from our hearts and not slander our neighbors. The Apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 2:12: "Live such good lives among the unbelievers that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." We are to conduct ourselves well among those who do not believe in Jesus. Furthermore, as people clothed in the new self, we should allow those who slander us for doing wrong to see our good deeds and glorify God when Jesus returns.

Here, "abusive speech" refers to swearing or describing immoral or indecent things with a profane mouth (Word Studies in the New Testament Commentary) and signifies disgraceful and immoral speech (Believer's Bible Commentary). Proverbs 22:10 says, "Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended." This implies that the mocker spews insults or curses from their mouth. Additionally, Psalms 10:7 describes the mouths of the wicked as being full of deceit and abuse, with cursing and wicked speech under their tongues.

The Apostle Paul said in Colossians 4:6 - "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." This teaches us that when we converse with one another, we should speak graciously or kindly. The instruction to season our speech with salt means that we should be careful not to speak corrupt or filthy words (Internet). Ephesians 4:29 says: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

Third, what we must put off is lies.

Look at Colossians 3:9a – “Do not lie to one another ….” The Spirit of truth guides us into all truth, but the devil, who is a liar and the father of lies, speaks lies according to his own nature (Jn. 8:44; 16:13). The devil's spirit of falsehood deceives us into believing lies. At that point, not only do we refuse to listen to the true words of God from faithful pastors, but we are also unable to hear them (Ref.: 1 Kgs. 22:16, 21-22, 28; Rom. 8:7). When it reaches this extent, our ears become accustomed to hearing lies that speak favorably of us, so we begin to regard truth as lies (Ref.: 2 Chron. 18:12, 15). Consequently, pastors like myself can become conscience-deadened hypocrites who speak teachings that lead away from faith, teachings that are merely the deluding instructions of deceitful spirits (Ref.: 1 Tim. 4:1-2). The devil, who is the father of lies, not only leads us to believe lies but also compels us to speak lies. In other words, the devil strives to make us false witnesses who vomit forth lies (Ref.: Prov. 6:19, 14:5). In the time of the true prophet Jeremiah, the devil turned false prophets into speaking lies and false prophecies of their own invention (Jere. 23:26). Ezekiel 13:6 says: "Their visions are false, and their divinations a lie. Even though I have not sent them, they claim to speak for me and expect their words to come true.”

Who is the liar? 1 John 2:22 says, ‘Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.’ The Bible states that a liar is someone who denies that Jesus is the Christ. And anyone who denies the Son, who is the Christ, and claims not to know the Father, is referred to as the antichrist. Although God tells us, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength" (Ref.: Isa. 30:9, 10, 12, 15), we often do not want to turn back and trust Him quietly. We are instructed to abandon falsehood and speak truthfully with love to our neighbors. This is because we are interconnected with one another. Ephesians 4:15, 25 say: "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ... Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body." Truthful words are persuasive (Job 6:25). We must not only become truthful individuals but also speak the truth and demonstrate the truthfulness of our words through our lives (Ref.: Gen. 42:20, 33-34).

In the book ‘Healing the Pathological Elements in the Church,’ the author says: ‘Truth demands that we remove the spiritual masks we wear. It demands that we shed the false superiority we carry as pastors. It demands that we become the people we ought to be—those redeemed by the blood of Christ’ (Internet). Pastors and elders like myself must demonstrate that we are true workers of God in all things. To do this, we must live with purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God, even amidst much hardship, difficulty, and suffering. Whether receiving glory or shame, insults or praise, we must always demonstrate that we are workers of God (2 Cor. 6:4-8).