MacArthur on redeemed & unredeemed speech

Excerpted from MacArthur’s commentary on Col 4.2, “The Bible has much to say about the speech of both the redeemed and the unredeemed mouth. The unredeemed mouth is characterized by evil (Prov. 15:28), sexual immorality (Prov. 5:3), deceit (Jer. 9:8), curses (Ps. 10:7), oppression (Ps. 10:7), lies (Prov. 12:22), destruction (Prov. 11:11), vanity (2 Pet. 2:18), flattery (Prov. 26:28), foolishness (Prov. 15:2), madness (Eccles. 10:12–13), carelessness (Matt. 12:36), boasting (Rom. 1:30), false doctrine (Titus 1:11), evil plots (Ps. 37:12), hatred (Ps. 109:3), too many words (Eccles. 10:14), and gossip (Prov. 26:22).

In contrast, redeemed speech is characterized by confession of sin (1 John 1:9), confession of Christ (Rom. 10:9–10), edifying speech (Eph. 4:29), talk of God’s law (Ex. 13:9), praise to God (Heb. 13:15), blessing of enemies (1 Pet. 3:9), talk about God (Ps. 66:16), wisdom and kindness (Prov. 31:26), and gentleness (Prov. 15:1). It takes as its model the Lord Jesus, who spoke instructively (Matt. 5:2), graciously (Luke 4:22), blamelessly (Luke 11:54), and without deceit (1 Pet. 2:22).’”

John F. MacArthur Jr., Colossians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992), 177–178.