Colossians 3:6-9

Such behavior will bring God’s wrath eventually. That is, God will discipline Christians as well as non-believers who practice these things. These activities normally characterize the unsaved, so Christians are to lay them aside (Colossians 3:8; cf. Matthew 5:29-30; Romans 8:13; Ephesians 5:3-14).

"The Christian must kill self-centeredness; he must regard as dead all private desires and ambitions. There must be in his life a radical transformation of the will, and a radical shift of the centre. Everything which would keep him from fully obeying God and fully surrendering to Christ must be surgically excised." [Note: Barclay, pp. 180-81.]

The phrase "the wrath of God" (Colossians 3:6) is usually eschatological in the New Testament and refers to the Tribulation period (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; Romans 5:9). That is probably its reference here too.

Paul’s second list deals with sins of speech.

Anger (Gr. orge) is a settled attitude of hostility.

Wrath (thymos) means a verbal outburst of evil passion.

Malice (kakia) is ill will, a vicious disposition that results in hurt to one’s neighbor.

Slander (blasphemia) refers to insulting, injurious, malicious speech in general.

Abusive speech (aischrologia) means filthy, disgraceful, dishonorable speech.

Lying (pseudesthe) refers to deceptive, distorting, untruthful speech.

The imperative command against lying is very strong. Paul said, Never lie. The reason given (Colossians 3:9) applies to all the preceding activities. The "old self" is the person the Christian was before God united him or her with Christ.