Thomas Aquinas Commentary Colossians 3:8-11

"but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth: lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him: where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all." — Colossians 3:8-11 (ASV)

Above, the Apostle warned the faithful about sins of the flesh; here he warns them about spiritual sins. First, he lays down a general admonition, and secondly, he divides it into parts.

So he says: At one time you walked in sins, but now you must put them all away—not only sins of the flesh, but all sin. As the Apostle Peter writes, So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander (1 Peter 2:1).

He divides the spiritual sins into two groups: first, sins of the heart, and secondly, sins of the mouth. First of all, he mentions anger: For the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God (James 1:20). This must be avoided. Secondly, he mentions wrath, which springs from anger and occurs when a person considers someone unworthy of what he has, or in comparison with another: I have no wrath (Isaiah 27:4). Malice then follows these two, which is when a person tries to cause injury to his neighbor: Put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness (James 1:21).

Then he mentions those sins committed by word, of which there are three kinds. Such sins indicate a spiritual disorder. First, a sin in relation to God is blasphemy: Bring out of the camp him who blasphemed; and let all who hear him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him (Leviticus 24:14). Thus, all blasphemy is a grievous sin. But what if it is sudden? I answer that if it is so sudden that a person does not realize he is blaspheming, it is not a grievous sin. But I believe that however suddenly it happens, if a person realizes that he is speaking blasphemous words, he sins in a grievous way. Secondly, he mentions a disorder concerning concupiscence when he says to put foul talk from your mouth: Let no evil talk come out of your mouths (Ephesians 4:29). Thirdly, he mentions a disorder in relation to our neighbor, which is lying: A false witness will not go unpunished (Proverbs 19:5).

Then, when he says, seeing that you have put off the old nature, he shows why the vices he has just mentioned must be avoided. The reason is that when one puts off what is old, he should put on what is new: No one sews an old patch on a new garment, as we read in Matthew 9:16. First, he talks of putting off what is old; secondly, of putting on what is new (in verse 10).

So Paul tells us to get rid of these things and put off the old nature, because it has grown old by sin: What is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13). This old nature, this old self, is approaching decay, because sin is the road to decay. In addition, sin destroys virtue and spiritual beauty. The oldness of our nature was brought in by the sin of our first parent: Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned (Romans 5:12). This old nature, therefore, is the oldness of sin: We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed (Romans 6:6). We are to put off this old self with its practices: Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts (Ephesians 4:22).

The new nature, or new self, is the mind renewed from within. Before grace, our mind is subject to sin, but when it is renewed by grace, it becomes new: Your youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Psalms 103:5); For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation (Galatians 6:15). This new creation is renewing grace. Yet, an oldness still remains in our flesh. Nevertheless, if you follow the judgment of the new self, you are putting on the new nature; but if you live according to the desires of the flesh, you are putting on the old self: Put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24).

Then, when Paul says, and have put on the new nature, he describes the new self. First, he shows how this renewal takes place; secondly, where it takes place. He shows that the inner self, having become old by its ignorance of God, is made new by faith and the knowledge of God: We are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18). And where is this renewal taking place? It is taking place where the image of God is, which is not in the senses, but in the mind. And so Paul says this renewal is according to the image of its creator. In other words, the image of God in us is being renewed.

Then, in verse 11, he shows that this renewal is for everyone; otherwise, it would not pertain to human nature as such. This renewal pertains to all because it was accomplished with respect to what is common to all. Here, then, we have five ways in which people are different.

The first way is by sex, which Paul excludes when he says there cannot be male and female, because men and women do not differ in mind, but only in their physical sex.

Secondly, people are made different by their native lands, and Paul excludes this when he says, "Greek and Jew." For although the Jews were believers and the Greeks unbelievers, both have rational minds: Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? (Romans 3:29).

The third distinction is based on religious rite, such as the rite of circumcision, for some had the law while others did not. Yet, The same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon Him, as Romans 10:12 says.

A fourth difference is in language: "barbarian, Scythian." Scythia is a land to the north. What is "barbarous" is what is foreign or alien. Thus, barbarians are foreigners, and one is an absolute barbarian who is alien to human nature as such—that is, insofar as it is rational. Barbarians, then, are those people who are not ruled by reason and laws; they are slaves by nature. But there is no difference in Christ, because although they do not have the civil law, they still have the law of Christ.

The final difference is based on social status, for some are slaves and others are free. But in Christ they are all alike: The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master (Job 3:19).

Therefore, none of these differences exist in Christ. Instead, Christ is all, and in all. For circumcision is obtained through Christ alone, and freedom comes from Christ alone. If you are not free, Christ is your freedom; if you are not circumcised, Christ is your circumcision, and so on. And Christ is in all because he gives his gifts to all.