William Burkitt Notes and Observations - Colossians 3:8 - 3:8

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William Burkitt Notes and Observations - Colossians 3:8 - 3:8


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

In the foregoing verses, St. Paul exhorted the Colossians to mortify external and outward sins, as fornication and uncleanness; here he presses them to mortify internal and spiritual sins, such as anger, wrath, and malice, sins of the heart. The axe of mortification must be laid to the root of inward corruption, spiritual sins, heart sins: Though they are minoris infamia, of less infamy and reproach before men, yet they are majoris reatus, of greater guilt in the sight of God; therefore a sincere Christian has a special respect to these in the work of mortification; put off all these anger, wrath, malice:

Anger, or the sudden motions and raising of passion:

Wrath is anger advanced to an height and

malice is anger accompanied with a desire of revenge, a rooted displeasure:

As jealousy is the rage of a man, so malice is the rage of the devil; it is the very soul and spirit of the apostate nature. No sin renders a man so like to Satan as wrath and malice. A malicious desire of revenge is so far beneath a Christian, that it is the baseness of a man, yea, the spawn of a devil. This sin indulged, destroys the soul, as sure as murder, yea, it is no less than murder in the account of God, He that hateth his brother is a murderer 1Jn_3:15.

Observe next, The apostle exhorts the Colossians to guard against the sins of the heart. Put off blasphemy, filthy communication, and lying; that is, evil speaking, filthy speaking and false speaking.

Sins of the tongue are to be guarded and watched against, as well as sins of the heart; they are most scandalous, they dishonour God, and discredit religion, and wrong our own souls. The sins of the tongue, are little considered, their great guilt not apprehended, but men must account for their open reproaches, secret backbitings, scoffings, derisions, whereby they endeavour to fix an ignominy upon their neighbour; and particularly, the sin of lying here cautioned against, Lie not one to another.

All lying is here condemned; the officious lie, tending to our own or our neighbour's profit; the pernicious lie, tending to our neighbour's prejudice; the jocular and jocose lie, tending to recreation and sport.

The scripture condemneth all, without restriction, All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, Rev_21:8

Whosoever loveth and maketh a lie Rev_22:15. Lying makes a man like the devil, who was a liar as well as a murderer from the beginning.

Observe, lastly, The argument to enforce the exhortation to mortify all sin, the sins of the heart, the sins of the tongue, the sins of the life, and that is drawn from the consideration of their present state; they had in their baptism made a profession to put off the old man with his deeds, that is, their own sinful nature, and put on the new man in baptism, which being renewed by illumination and divine knowledge, and so conformed to the image of God, rendered them now the objects of his special love.

Note here, That there were many ceremonies in baptism used in the primitive church, to which St. Paul alludes in several places in his epistles; as drenching in water, so as to seem buried in and under it, Buried with him in baptism Col_2:12 : Likewise putting off their old clothes at going in, and putting on new at their coming out of the water, to which St. Paul alludes here, when he tells them they had, namely, in their baptism, put off the old man, and put on the new.

Whence learn, That there is no argument more moving and effectually exciting unto holiness of life, than that which is taken from our baptismal vow and profession; the obligation of this is very strong, if duly considered.

The apostle makes use of it here as a potent argument, to quicken them to the mortification of all sin, seeing they had in baptism put off the old man, that is, professed and solemnly engaged so to do, and had put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.