8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
When someone becomes a Christian, he is no longer what he once was. Romans 6:14 says "Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law but under grace. You can say “No” to old habits and patterns of living.
Pastor De Drew told of a man who said, "I have such an awful temper, but I got it from my father. He had a very short fuse too, and I'm just like him." His pastor asked, "Have you been born again?
"Yes"
“Were you born of God?"
“Sure"
"Is God your Father?"
"Of Course,"
"Well, what kind of temper did you get when you were born again?"
He who is born of God should grow to be more like his Father and that is the “new nature” potential in all of us who are born again. Anger and rage are uncontrolled emotions that are not from the Spirit.
As we continue to look at other habits, malice is an attitude of ill will toward another.
Slander is like blasphemy. It tears others down by the sins of one's tongue. Gossip can be part of this.
Filthy communication includes foul speech, coarse humor, and obscene language. It should not be part of a Christian's vocabulary.
I was working with street kids in New York while in college. I heard swearing all the time. Low and behold at the end of the summer I heard some of those words coming out of my mouth. When one nature was being nourished it affected me. When I concentrated on feeding the other nature, Christ gave the victory. Which nature are you nurturing?
The passage also mentions lying. Satan is the father of lies while the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. Any lie misrepresents the truth. Lying involves the intent to deceive for the purpose of personal gain.
Lastly, our old patterns can include prejudice. Paul is dealing with putting off the expressions of the old life and saying we can also no longer excuse wrong behavior based on class, race, or ethnic distinctions. Racial and biological prejudice is part of the old nature.
Application: How do we change? There are two ways; First, starve them. Don't feed them with trash. Secondly crowd sin out with positive graces. Pour into your mind the Word of God and things good and right. Verse 10 is the key. The new nature is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator. That is how we nurture the nature - by knowing more and more of Jesus Christ so we can be like Him -looking, praying, and gaining our strength from Christ.
Lord, I can know by Your Word that I have a new nature, a new life, a new power and that I no longer have to follow my old habits and sin nature. I can choose to obey. I trust You Lord to work this in me.
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