“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:31-32).

As Paul concludes his discussion of putting off the old man and putting on the new man, he gives a list of six specific vices that are to be replaced with three God-like virtues.

Bitterness is unresolved anger that poisons the heart, harboring hatred towards others about the past. It is a spirit of resentment that refuses reconciliation, doing nothing to initiate the restoration of relationships. Wrath is when our anger builds up and boils over, exploding in rage. Anger is from the same Greek word that was used in verse 26 - “Be angry, and do not sin.” Here it suggests a feeling of gnawing hostility towards others, ready to break out in harmful words or actions. Clamor is an outward manifestation of anger, such as noisy contentions or loud quarrelling. Slander is speech that is abusive towards the objects of our anger. Translated from blasphemia, it is blasphemy against the good name of a person one hates. Malice is a summary type of term in this list. It would be any speech or action of contempt that intends to harm others.

These sins are a natural (worldly) reaction to those who have harmed us or pose a threat to our pride. Such sins have no place in the life of one who is renewing the spirit of their mind after Christ and patterning themselves after God’s righteousness and holiness (vs. 23-24). Paul admonishes us to put away all of them. We must repent, thoroughly sweeping our hearts of these poisonous vices.

In the place of these harmful sins, Paul prescribes three helpful virtues.

“Be kind to one another.” “Kind” is translated from chrestos, describing one who is good, gentle and benevolent – in spite of what is done against them. This kindness is not to be reserved for those who are kind to us first. It must be shown to everyone (Matt. 6:44-47; Luke 27-36).

“Tenderhearted” means being understanding, sympathetic, and compassionate.

“Forgiving one another.” In other places, our future forgiveness from God is given as a motivation to be forgiving to others (Matt. 6:14-15; 18:35; James 2:13). Here, Paul uses God’s willingness to forgive our past sins as our motivation to be forgiving to others.

Hatred and harm for brethren have no place in the heart, thoughts, speech, and life of a Christian. This characterized the old man we buried in the grave of baptism. As we renew the spirit of our mind, we will understand the imperative to put on kindness and forgiveness.