Colossians 3:8-10 - Put on the new self

3:8

Paul then gives a further list of vices: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language. Again, we can see an increase in these things in our society. They are the marks of a godless society, and we can all be infected by them. So we need to rid ourselves of such things. If we find them in our lives then we need to do something about it.

3:9,10

Lying is part and parcel of life. There are “small lies” and then lies with deliberate deceitful intent. Jesus said that Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). Lying is characteristic of a godless kingdom. Truth is characteristic of God’s kingdom. We “have taken off our old self with its practices” and we “have put on the new self”. Our old self was attuned to the ways of the world, where the odd lie or two was quite normal, and plans are often built on a little bit of deceit. This can, of course, develop into a whole culture of life, where the whole enterprise is founded on a lie. We are to be done with such ways. Our life is to be founded on the Creator, and we are being renewed daily. This means we will be learning new ways. At times this will jar with us as God’s ways come up against a deeply ingrained old way.