But now, you also leave all these things: anger, anger, malice, blasphemy and coarse words from your mouth.
3:8 But now — “Emphatic form of NUN in decided contrast to POTE in verse 7. Now you have died to sin and have risen to new life (3:1). According to the description of the past life (3:5-7), it is obvious that the dead in sin are destined for eternal ruin, but God intervenes to prevent it, since “he gave us life” (Eph 2:4-5). “His great love for him” is demonstrated in raising us from the dead through his mighty gospel (Romans 1:16). How do you make this change? How does he give life to the dead? What can we do if we are “dead”? How can the dead man act? Doesn’t God have to do something miraculous to move our hearts? Many false teachers say that lost man cannot do anything to change his spiritual condition. They say that the dead man in his sins has a fallen nature and that he cannot believe, that he cannot love God and that even the desire to be saved cannot be born in him. They therefore preach that salvation depends entirely on God. As for the basis of salvation (the provision made for our salvation), it is true that everything depends on God, for man could not and cannot effect his own salvation, because he cannot provide himself a savior. Man cannot die for his own sins; he cannot redeem himself. God saves us, but he saves us through the gospel which is the power of God for salvation. He calls us through the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:14), and this gospel requires obedience (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). The gospel promises salvation to the obedient; it reveals not only what God has done, but also what man has to do to accept salvation. The dead at Ephesus “heard the word of the Lord Jesus” (Ac 19:10; Eph 1:13), and this resulted in his conversion (his “resurrection from the dead”). Christ says in Joh 5:25 that “the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” The dead can hear the voice of Christ. In Eph 5:14 Paul commands the dead to rise. The dead can do something; they can get up. In Ac 2:40 Peter commanded the dead Jews, “Be saved from this perverse generation” (“Save yourselves”, VM); Peter said this after commanding them to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins (v. 38). God made us alive “together with Christ.” Our resurrection from the dead (both figurative and literal) was anticipated in the resurrection of Christ. Likewise we are related to Christ by dying (crucifying ourselves) with Him (Romans 6:5; Gal 2:20); living with himPhil 1:21; Gal 2:20); by suffering with Him (2Ti 2:12; 1Pe 4:13); by reigning with Him (2Ti 2:12); being co-heirs with Him (Romans 8:17); and being glorified with Him (Rev 3:21). He raised us spiritually “from the dead”, Col 2:12and now it behooves us to seek “the things that are above” (Col 3:1), because “he made us sit in heavenly places with Christ.” He made us sharers in his honor. Those of us who are in Christ, in his church, are in “heavenly places” now. “To him who overcomes, I will give him to sit with me on my throne” (Rev 3:21); that is, even after we physically die, we will continue to reign with Christ; but it is important to note that we are reigning with Him now. — let (“APOTITHEMI, remove, cast off, like old clothes”, as “stripped”, to undress, strip of these dirty clothes (dirty words and practices); then, “clothed again” (see. 10) and “put on” (ver. 12). — ye also all these things: Compare Romans 1:18-32; 1Co 6:9-11; Gal 5:20; Eph 4:22-31. — anger, (ORGE), — “the most intense of all passions” (WEV). Paul tells the Ephesians (4:26), “Be angry (ORGE), but do not sin; let not the sun go down on your anger.” God gets angry1Ki 11:9; 2Ki 17:18; Ps 7:11; Ps 79:5; Ps 80:1-19; Ps 4:1-8; Ps 5:1-12; Hebrews 12:29); Christ gets angryMark 3:5; Joh 2:15-17). The Christian must be angry when he observes sin and the destruction of lives and souls caused by sin. If we love the truth, then we hate error and sin, and we will not be indifferent to sin and the destruction it causes. However, anger is very dangerous and has to be controlled, as it easily turns into resentment and bitterness and the desire for revenge. Therefore, “do not let the sun go down on your anger.” If anger remains in the heart, it can produce malice and bitterness. If the anger we feel is righteous indignation, like Jesus’, we should say what should be said, or do what should be done, and then end the anger. Paul adds another exhortation: “Neither give place to the devil” (Eph 4:27); as LBLA says, not give “the devil a chance”, because this is what happens if we do not remove the anger from the heart as soon as possible. The anger stored and nurtured in the heart gives the devil an opportunity to tempt us. When the Christian is indignant, his reaction, whether in word or deed, should be what pleases God. It is not a sin to react with indignation to injustices or other provocations of Satan (Mark 3:5; Acts 23:3), but the important thing is that we do it with our own domain. — anger (anger, LBLA), — THUMOS, outbursts (VHA); outbursts of anger (See Valera, 1990). Furor, to be very angry. Romans 2:9; 2Co 12:20; Eph 4:31; Col 3:8. “Agitated emotions and then outbursts” (ATR). THUMOS, anger, anger, is to be distinguished from ORGE in that THUMOS indicates a more agitated condition of feeling, an outburst of anger due to inner indignation, while ORGE suggests a more fixed or permanent condition of mind, frequently with a view to taking revenge. ORGE is less sudden in its onset than THUMOS, but more durable in nature. THUMOS expresses inner feelings more, ORGE the more active emotion. THUMOS may come to revenge, though it doesn’t necessarily include it. Its characteristic is that it ignites suddenly and goes out quickly, although this does not happen in every case” (WEV). Thumos is commonly short-lived. What happens is that there is an explosion of anger expressed in violent words and actions and soon he dies, but in that period of time he does a lot of damage, because he leaves physical or emotional wounds that last for a long time. Apparently many people don’t take explosive tempers seriously; They want to justify themselves by saying, “so I am”, as if it were a normal condition or something beyond their control, but here is this evil listed among the works of the flesh that prevent the guilty from inheriting the kingdom of God (see. twenty-one). Actually such outbursts of anger show a lack of love and a lack of patience. Therefore, it is necessary to crucify this passion (see. 24). — malice, — ill will (disposition) that has the desire to harm others. Remember that the basic definition of the word “love” (AGAPE) is good will. These terms (3:8) describe the condition of heart that results if we do not put off the old man (ver. 22). The evils mentioned in these texts belong to the old man and not to the new man; they are not qualities of the Christian. In particular, these words describe the behavior of the person who does not control anger and who is not willing to forgive. When there is love in the heart, there is no room for bitterness, etc. The hot-tempered (bitter) person does a lot of damage to others and suffers a lot of damage himself, not only spiritual damage, but also mental and even physical. It is not convenient to let others provoke us so much. It is necessary to practice self-control and always control emotions. Our reaction to provocations should not be like the reaction of worldly people. It cannot be denied that others can afflict us. But the biggest and most damaging affliction is the one we do to ourselves. It is imperative that every Christian understand that this list of things mentioned by Paul (bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting, slander, malice) are the reaction of the person provoked, and are not necessary or inescapable. These words describe the reaction of the old man to the provocations of life, but the Christian has been renewed in the spirit of his mind and has put on the new man. Malice is the source of other carnal deeds (Gal 5:19-21): p. eg (1) Enmities (ECHTHRA). This work of the flesh is the opposite of love. Paul says in Romans 8:7, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God.” Obviously there were enmities between the Judaizers and other brothers. Paul said, “But if you bite and eat one another, take heed that you also do not consume one another” (Gal 5:15). There were feuds between Jews and Samaritans (Joh 4:9; Luke 9:54), but many Jews and Samaritans obeyed the gospel (Ac 2:41; Acts 4:4; Ac 8:12), and there should be no more enmity between them. (2) Lawsuits (ERIS) . Litigation, 1Ti 6:4 ; restraints, Tit 3:9. Contention (rivalry, quarrel, discord) as in the church of Corinth, 1Co 1:11; 1Co 3:3; 2Co 12:20; “struggles”, Romans 1:29; Romans 13:13. This word well describes the world of bad relationships, the opposite of unity and communion. Therefore, the one who becomes a Christian leaves this work of the flesh in order to establish a good relationship with brothers and to have uninterrupted fellowship with them. It is important to remember that the use of this word in various texts has to do with the conduct of saints! ERIS divided the Corinthian church. ERIS is the enemy of fellowship between brothers. (3) Contests (ERITHEIA) or rivalries or factions are in this same category (Romans 2:8; 2Co 12:20). Basically this word refers to the personal ambition from which the rivalry or factious spirit results. Phil 1:17 is a good example of it. These, who took advantage of their privilege of preaching to despise Paul and to exalt themselves, did not want the brothers to talk so much about Paul and wanted more fame for themselves. Such wanted more power and influence, and they wanted followers (Ac 20:29; 1Co 1:10-13). For this reason, Paul exhorts the Philippians (2:3), “Do nothing by strife or vainglory” and then tells them, “Let there be in you this mind that was also in Christ Jesus…” because those who want to exalt Christ they do not seek glory for themselves. It is alarming to find strife, dissension and party in this terrible list of sins such as fornication, lewdness, drunkenness, etc., but to God sin is sin and there are no respectable sins. Who does more harm, the self-destroying drunk or the factious brother who divides the church? (4) Dissensions (DICHOSTASIA) or divisions. Division destroys the unity for which Jesus prayed (Joh 17:21-23). It destroys the communion between brothers. “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand” (Matt 12:25). This text is prophetic and explains the weakness of the church; It has little strength because it is very…