Paul the apostle directed
the Colossian church members to seek and set their affection on
heavenly things rather than seek the things of the earth. He listed
earthly ways about them which they should “mortify” because
“the wrath of God” was to come upon “children of
disobedience”. He noted they formerly lived with such
conditions in their lives, and in chapter three and verse eight of
his letter, Paul shared five more earthly ways they should “put
off”. We read:
But now you also put
off all these; anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy
communication out of your mouth.
The
verse begins, “But now you also put off all these;” As
an addition to the formerly mentioned behaviors:
“fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry:”
Paul told the Colossians to “put
off”
which means “put aside or away; to lay aside” “all
these”
which refers to “individually and collectively each, every, any,
all, the whole, everyone, all things, and everything” that he is
about to list. There are no exceptions or excuses that are
acceptable, and all of them must be put aside.
The verse continues, “...anger, wrath, malice,...” Paul
began the list with “anger” which means “temper,
movement
or agitation of the soul, impulse, desire, any violent emotion and
indignation”. He next listed, “wrath”
which is related to “anger”
and
means “passion, heat, anger forthwith boiling up and soon subsiding
again”. The idea is “anger that continues over time”. Next Paul
listed, “malice”
which
is related to “anger”
and “wrath”
and means “malignity, ill-will, desire to injure, wickedness,
depravity, evil and trouble”. “Malice”
is “anger that seeks and fulfills vengeance and injury”. Before
we leave these three traits, let us notice that they ascend in
intensity, and the Colossians were to “put
off”
all of these.
Finally
the verse says, “...blasphemy,
filthy communication out of your mouth.” Paul
listed “blasphemy”
or “slander, detraction, speech injurious, to another's good name,
and impious
and reproachful speech injurious to divine majesty”. Paul knew the
tendencies within the church members to “slander or injure” one
another through “blasphemy”,
and they were to “put
off”
this behavior. Finally Paul added, “filthy
communication out of your mouth”
or “foul speaking, low and obscene speech” as a behavior they
should “put aside or away”. Evidently the speech of the
Colossians was “foul and obscene”, and according to Paul, they
were to speak like that no more.
As
we think over this list of traits which were not to be within the
Colossian church members, we may realize they are in our own lives.
Are we
“angry”,
filled with “wrath”
and captured by
“malice”?
Do we “blaspheme”
one another or even God? What about our “communication”?
Do the words coming out of our mouths reflect anything but a
relationship with God? It is quite simple to look upon these words of
Paul and think in terms of the Colossians needing them, however, do
we need them ourselves? Let us recall as we ponder that Paul noted
these traits as
“earthly”,
and we are to seek and to set our “affection
on things above not on things on the earth”.
As we yield ourselves to the Lord Jesus and His godly ways, may we
discover any area in our lives which He may help us “put
off”
and make us more and more like Him every day.
Next
time Paul shares about lying and putting off the “old
man”,
so
read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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