Colossians 3:8by Dr. Grant C. RichisonTo: Colossians Main Menu To: Grace Notes Home Page Colossians 3:8"But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth."Now we turn to the sins of the disposition. In verse five we studied the sins of passion. God wants us to deal with the sins of disposition as well as the sins of passion (vv. 8,9). We now come to the second divine directive of this paragraph. The ugly sins of verse 5 we are to "put to death" but the six sins of verses eight and nine we are to "put off." God wants us to divest ourselves of these six sins. The analogy changes from killing to disrobing. The sins of these verses are sins of the mouth. These are sins generally acceptable in Christian circles. "These are Christian sins." That is like an "honest thief" or a "chase prostitute." There are no such animals. ---------- "But now" "But now" sets up a contrast. Verse seven treats the difference between the pre-Christian life and the post life with Christ. This right-about-face word tells us that belief in the cross divides the believer's life. The post cross life is different in that the believer has a new status before God (positional truth). The Christian has a new identity. It is this new identity that is the basis of living the Christian life. Many non-Christians and even Christians try to live their lives on the basis of personal reformation. Many do indeed make great changes to their behavioral patterns. Many non-Christians make great advances in their lives. A housewife might be a silent alcoholic. At some point she comes to a realization of the damage alcoholism is doing to her family and herself. She takes effective steps to straighten out her life. This does not have a thing to do with Christ. Many unbelievers change their lives. That does not cut any ice with God. "Now" -- not by and by. Right now we are to put off the following list of sins immediately. The list of sins in this category have to do with the mouth. There are two categories of sin in this passage: 1) the sins of the flesh and 2) the sins of the disposition and mouth. Ephesians 2:3,5 distinguish between these two types of sin. II Corinthians 7:1 makes the same distinction, "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." We can compare the "filthiness of the flesh" to Colossians 3:5 and "spirit" to 3:8,9. Most saints do not commit blatant sins of the flesh. However, we are tempted to generate anger or maliciousness. PRINCIPLE: God puts us to put off the dirty sins of the disposition. APPLICATION: God expects us to address the sins of the disposition as much as the sins of the flesh. God expects us to dress like a different crowd -- like the family of God. Do you dress the part of Christianity? To dress the part we have to divest ourselves of the old life. Jesus Christ has given us the wardrobe of grace. He expects us to wear it. God orders us to discard six items of clothing. These are the dirty garments that spoil our lives and testimony. ---------- "you yourselves are to put off all these:" The words "put off" means to take off like a suit of clothes (Rom. 13:12; Eph. 4:22, 25; Heb. 12:1; James 1:21; I Peter 2:1). These words mean to put off, lay aside, to put away from oneself, cast off. Romans 13:12 uses these words figuratively of works of darkness, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light." The phrase "let us cast off" denotes a definite act. "Put off" is a lesser word than "put to death" of verse five. "Put off" simply means to disrobe. Acts uses the verb "put off" at the stoning of Stephen, "And they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul" (7:58). The metaphor is one of divestiture of clothes. God wants us to put away the sins of this verse like we would take off dirty clothes after working in the yard. The tense indicates that we are to take off the following dirty sins as a definite act. Discard these sins as we would throw dirty clothes in a hamper. Even if the dirty clothes stand up in a corner, leave them there! God wants us to discard the sin of our lives. The following lists of sins dirty Christian grooming. If the Christian walks around with these sins in this life he is not very presentable to God or others. "All these" -- put off the whole group of sins; do not select just a couple of them. God wants us to put off all sin of this category (Eph. 4:22-31). We are to put off the category of sins of the tongue. PRINCIPLE: There is a negative side to Christianity -- we are to put off the hand-me-downs from Adam. APPLICATION: The only way some of us react under pressure is to vest the sins of the disposition. We get angry, explode in anger, slander, malign, use filthy language and lie. To get out of a bad situation, we lie. If it is at all possible, we will lie our way out of it. This the natural mode of operation for those without Christ. This vestment does not look good on Christians. These garments went out of style when we became Christians. God has given us a new set of clothes. God wants us to take off the dirty clothes before we put on the new. If we put a new suit coat over greasy jeans our attire has no fashion and we are out of vogue spiritually. When we dress up with the attire of verses 8 and 9 we masquerade like something we are not. This is not us. God gave us a new suit of clothes (vv. 12-17). "Anger" is the first of six sins the Christian is to disrobe. ---------- "anger" "Anger" is chronic resentment, a settled state of anger. Eph. 4:31; Col. 3:8; 1 Tim. 2:8; Jas. 1:19 use anger of the wrath of man. "Anger" combines both anger and revenge (sanguinary revenge). It is the animus, the working and fermenting of the mind, the demonstration of strong passion (which may issue in anger or revenge, though it does not necessarily include it). It is the native character, disposition or temper of the mind. This can be a good virtue because it is used of the Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 3:5) and God's anger with Israel in the wilderness (Heb. 3:11; 4:3). In John 3:36 it is used of those who disobey the gospel. God purpose in judgment is seen in such passages as Matt. 3:7; Luke 3:7; Rom. 1:18; 2:5, 8; 3:5; 5:9; 12:19; Eph. 2:3; 5:6; Col. 3:6; 1 Thes. 1:10; 5:9. The focal point in God's anger is discipline of evil. There is a justified anger. We use justified anger when our anger is objective, not subjective. The Lord Jesus was angry at the Pharisees because of their hard hearts. The problem of good or bad anger revolves around the object of our anger. PRINCIPLE: Anger originates from jealousy and resentment which produce chain sinning. APPLICATION: Anger reveals the instability of character. Lack of emotional control comes out of anger. Jealousy and resentment give birth to many repercussions. These sins lead to chain sinning. Jealousy and resentment short-circuit everything in the soul. Anger will take revenge on others. Anger often wants to get even. It may hurl threats. When we develop an orientation to anger, everything in the soul gets out of kilter. Anger will attempt to down grade others because of the desire for revenge. The person may wake up because of guilt and say, "This is not me. Generally, I am a wonderful person." Then he takes another dive into anger throwing a match on a pile of fireworks. Jealousy and resentment produce criticism, nagging, judging, maligning, overt revenge and emotions out of kilter. Some of us may never become disposed to murder, rape or commit adultery but we may become tempted to express our anger. Yet anger is the prerogative of God. Anger is an attempt to act like God. When we exercise anger we pour poison in our souls. It will sour our spirit. This is the first article of clothing God wants us to divest. God wants us to get rid of that silent, abiding anger. Something that lasts like this is difficult to eradicate from our lives. It is an inveterate, slow burning, long lasting, smoldering anger which refuses to be pacified. We love to nurse it anger to keep it warm. This is a person who has been angry so long that anger has become part of his makeup. Anger is the basis of his operations. He views all life from this vantage point. He becomes hostile, belligerent, warlike in his dealings with everyone. His loved ones may have the kindest of intentions toward him but he takes it wrong. He is adverse to everything or anything. It makes no difference whether there has been no factual wrong. He will suppose you are wronging him. His anger is a curved mirror which distorts all his relationships. He carries his hurt because he supposes you are hurting him in everything he does. Life is too short to nurture hurts. Anger hurts the person exercising anger more than the object of their anger. Frequent fits of anger produce in the soul a propensity toward bitterness and morosity. The mind then becomes ulcerated, peevish and querulous and wounded by the least occasion. Anger is the light that blows out the light of reason. Prov 16:32, "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city." Anger feeds anger. It grows upon itself. The anger of one person can make another person angry. It is a contagious emotion. "Anger" is a manifestation of our sin capacity. It is a dirty shirt that needs removal by confession. PRINCIPLE: God wants us to deal with our surly disposition. APPLICATION: Some of us have a proclivity toward bad temper. We are ornery and everyone knows it. We may not like to face it but it is true anyway. We cannot get along with our family or our colleagues at work. Everyone is wrong except us. The people at work know you have a low boiling point. They tease you to watch your angry response. They love to put burrs under your saddle. They especially love to see Christians lose their cool. They will do anything to exasperate you because they love to see you walk inconsistently to the Christian way of life. Then they say, "That hypocrite is no different from us." Non-Christians do not understand the difference between the "new man" and the "old man" residing in the believer. The place where we fail the most in anger is in the home. Our favorite verse is "Be you angry!" but that verse continues "and sin not" (Eph. 4:26). If we are going to be angry we can only be angry one day at a time. God does not want the sun to go down while we are angry. We must deal with it quickly in a clean fashion. God does not want us to leave untidy anger lying around. If we are still angry at 10:00 a.m. the next morning we will develop a disposition of anger. We will probably be angry all day. "Wrath" is the second of six sins to divest like dirty clothes. ---------- "wrath" "Wrath" is acute explosions of anger (II Cor. 12:20; Gal. 5:20; Eph. 4:31). The word for "wrath" means the mind, the spirit that breathes out, an intense passion of the mind. It is the animus, the working and fermenting of the mind, the demonstration of strong passion which may issue in anger or revenge, though it does not necessarily include it. A wrathful person is a person who deals with difficult situations by explosive outbursts. We must distinguish wrath from anger. "Anger" is the abiding, settled habit of the mind, the settled purpose of wrath. "Wrath" is the turbulent commotion of the mind, rage. "Anger" is the heat of the fire and "wrath" is the bursting forth in flame. "Anger" is less sudden in its rise but more lasting. "Wrath" is a more agitated condition. It is more of a state of intense anger with outbursts of passionate anger coming from indignation. "Anger" is a more settled and abiding condition of the attitude frequently with a view to taking revenge. It is less sudden in its rise but more lasting in its nature. "Anger" expresses more inward feeling. It more active than "wrath." "Wrath" may produce revenge but it does not necessarily include it. Characteristically it blazes up quickly and promptly subsides although that may not happen in each case. "Wrath" is found 18 times in the New Testament (10 of which are in the book of Revelation). Seven passages refer to the wrath of God (Rom. 2:8). Everywhere else the New Testament uses it in a bad sense. "Wrath" and "anger" couple in two places in Revelation (16:19; 19:15). Since the wrathful person has not taken time to develop his character, he cannot control his anger. Some excuse themselves by saying that they have a "quick temper." This is a rationalization. Christianity should go beyond church attendance; it should affect our daily lives. Christianity should affect both our attitudes and actions. Others excuse their temper by saying that they have the ability to express themselves and speak their mind. "I am a forward person; I say what I think." A mouth out of control never shows the character of Christianity. It manifests weakness and selfishness. PRINCIPLE: Temper tantrums are non Christian. APPLICATION: "Wrath" means turbulent emotions. Some people believe that if they violently display their anger that this is a wonderful and effective way to communicate with other people. They believe that if they throw tantrums they can get their way. Tantrums are just emotions of anger out of whack. This is a person with a short fuse and vicious temper. A person with a short fuse has great difficulty in hiding his temper. Some people with long fuses give the impression that they are docile and easy going. In reality they are a bomb ticking ready to go off with the right detonator. The detonators are usually jealousy and resentment. It does not take much for some of us to lose our temper. It would be nice to lose it and not find it again but we always seem to find it again. We are not long tempered but very short tempered. If we have a short fuse it does not take long for us to blow. What is it that makes you anger than anything else? Write down those areas. Go to God's Word and memorize verses that deal with volatile anger. Temper tantrums are generally the direct result of frustration. It is the thwarting of a strong desire. This is similar to the child who kicks, stamps his feet, jumps up and down, bites, screams and throws himself on the floor or holds his breath or sobs hysterically. It is said of a rattlesnake that it will accidentally bite itself if it gets angry enough. Harboring hate against others often results in biting ourselves. We think we hurt others by holding anger inside but we hurt ourselves the most. "Malice" is the third sin to put off like dirty clothes. ---------- "malice" "Malice" is the desire to hurt others. This is badness in quality (opposite of excellence), a vicious character (Rom. 1:29; I Cor. 5:8; 14:20; Eph. 4:31; Tit. 3:3; I Pet. 2:1; 2:16). It is the quality of wickedness, with the implication of that which is harmful and damaging. "Malice" is a feeling of hostility and strong dislike, with a possible implication of desiring to do harm -- "hateful feeling." "Together with every hateful feeling" (Eph 4.31). "Malice" is the word for bad, badness. This is vice in all its forms. It is a bad heart, a mind oriented to evil and malignity. It is bent on doing harm to other people. Malice may be concealed anger and wrath. It also may be congealed anger -- anger that is carried along for a period of time. This is an anger that tries to get even after allowing anger to lie in the mind and after explosions of anger. It is the ill-will remaining in the heart. It is poisonous thinking toward others. Malice loves to emit its septic bilge into hurting others. This evil needs to be put off like a dirty garment. PRINCIPLE: Malice is the desire to hurt others; it a form of depravity that directs evil at others. APPLICATION: Malice is the desire to poke someone in the nose or slap them silly. When anger no longer works and tantrums no longer get attention, they turn to behavior patterns which in a depraved sense tries to hurt others. This is like drug addiction where people use substitutes for their frustrations. This is how people become addicted to speed and acid. A woman who would never think of getting into any form of promiscuity becomes angry at her husband. First she gets angry and then throws tantrums. That does not work. Now she is desperate. What can she do? The best way she can hurt her husband is to have an affair. She enters into this affair, not because she loves or even likes this person, she does it because she wants to hurt her husband. The sequence is anger becomes wrath and wrath becomes malice. "Blasphemy" is the fourth sin to put off like a dirty shirt. ---------- "blasphemy" We invariably think of blasphemy as taking God's name in vain. In this context it means to speak evil of God's people. We are not to slander one another. As we would not blaspheme God if we are a Christian, so we should not slander fellow Christians. It may take the form of slander or it may simply be gossip. "Blasphemy" is slander, to revile, to defame, to blaspheme, reviling. It can mean to speak evil of God or man. This term means to speak ill of someone and hurt their name and reputation. It means to speak against someone in such a way as to harm or injure his or her reputation. Slander is to drop reviling words, calumniate. It abuses people and destroys their good name. Slander loves to defame and insult. "No one should defame another" Tit 3.2 "And not as I have been reviled' Ro 3:8 "For the name of God is reviled by the Gentiles because of you" Ro 2.24 "Those who went along reviled him" Mt 27.39. "False witness, reviling" Mt 15.19. PRINCIPLE: Slander is a form of blasphemy. APPLICATION: When we attack the character of someone, it is a parallel principle to blasphemy. Blasphemy is an attack on the character of God. Slander is an attack on other people. We love to whisper things about other people. We love to talk about other people and it makes no difference whether what we say is true or not. When we destroy the reputation of other people, it is slander. Slander is the desire to detract from the success of others. We can malign either another person or God. Do you pass on uninformed, second-hand, unauthorized, unproved, invalidated information about people? You do not know whether it is true or false but you pass it along as if it were fact. Are you sure of the information you are passing on? Do you know it for a fact? Would you put it in writing? We are willing to pass on choice morsels of gossip even though we do not know for sure whether they are true or not. If we peddle false information people will get our number. A dog who will bring a bone will take a bone. People will soon realize that if you gossip about others, you will gossip about them too. "If that is the way she talks about her, she will probably talk that way about me." There is a tendency to downgrade people we envy. We are not as gifted as they are so we downgrade them to bring them to our level. We love to make less of them to people who respect them. It is the favorite indoor sport today to diminish Christian workers. It is open season on Christian workers by Christians themselves. Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips (Psalm 141:3). Once evil words go out we cannot bring them back. Who knows where they will go? You may straighten this out with the Lord but there is no way we can retrieve what we have said. It is like breaking open a feather pillow and let the feathers go to the winds. There is no way to gather them back again. We will account for every word we speak, "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment" (Mt 12:36). God demands that our lips be a credit to Christ. He does not want us to bring reproach to the name of Christ. This is a reasonable expectation on God's part. God made an enormous investment in us by giving his Son on the cross. He has given us the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. With all this spiritual equipment, he has a right to expect more of us that we are giving him. We come to the fifth garment we are to put off like a dirty garment. ---------- "filthy language out of your mouth" A dirty mind produces lewd talk. "Filthy language" is evil speech in the sense of obscene speech, a foul-mouthed person, obscene, shameful speech involving culturally disapproved themes -- vulgar speech, obscene speech, dirty talk. This person's mind has become so deteriorated that he cannot communicate with a proper vocabulary This is the license of an ungoverned mouth -- obscene language -- but not limited to this. Some people delight in dirty talk. They love smutty, slimy stories. The more slimy the detail the better they like it. PRINCIPLE: Filthy language is foul talk including crude and coarse language. APPLICATION: Many Christians revert to filthy language when frustrated. They become obscene because they do not handle their problems biblically. Other Christians shame and hurt others by their mouth because of their inability to cope with life biblically. ---------- "out of your mouth" This phrase may not only refer to "filthy language but the entire list of sins in verse 8. If so, then the entire list of sins is cataloged as sins of the mouth. "Anger" and "wrath" are forms of this vice when it verbalizes their displeasure. "Blasphemy" for example is slander. Jesus said that the mouth reveals what is in the heart. How can both bitter and pure waters come out of the same fountain? How can both praise to God and curse of men come out of the same mouth (James 3:10,11)? "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer" (Ps. 19:14). "Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips" (Psalm 141:3). "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45). "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29). "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one" (Colossians 4:6). PRINCIPLE: We will bring up in the bucket of our speech everything that is in the well of our hearts. APPLICATION: We reveal what is in our hearts by what we say. When we open our mouths we reveal our hearts. "For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:7,8). Although no man can tame the tongue the Holy Spirit can. Some of us have too much mouth. We use it when we shouldn't. Our mouth is the last part of our anatomy to submit to the Lord of glory. "But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks" (Ephesians 5:3,4). Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. All rights reserved. There is no charge for Grace Notes Materials. You can help further this work by your prayer and by sending a contribution to: Grace Notes% Warren Doud wdoud@bga.com1705 Aggie Lane Austin, Texas 78757 Grace Notes Web site: http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/ Anonymous FTP site: ftp://ftp.bga.com/vendors/wdoud/ Grace Notes is a ministry of Village Missions International. |
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