Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Colossians 3:8

"but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth:" — Colossians 3:8 (ASV)

Whereas the sins of v.5 had to do with impurity and covetousness, the catalog of v.8 concerns sins of attitude and speech. “But now” marks an emphatic contrast. The imagery in “rid yourselves” (GK 700) is that of putting off clothes —like stripping off from oneself a filthy garment. The believers in Colosse must shed the following sins from their lives.

The first three terms—“anger,” “rage,” “malice”—speak of sins of disposition. The first of these (GK 3973) may be the settled feeling of anger; the second (GK 2596), the sudden and passionate outburst of that feeling. “Malice” (GK 2798), a general term for badness, seems here to denote a vicious disposition, the spirit that prompts one to injure one’s neighbor. “Slander” (GK 1060) denotes insulting and slanderous talk against one’s fellowman. “Filthy language” (GK 155) may denote either filthy or abusive speech.