Colossians 3

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Colossians 3 turns the letter's theology of Christ into a way of life. Because believers have been raised with Christ, they are to set their minds on things above, put to death the practices of the old self, and put on the new: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and over everything love. The peace of Christ is to rule, the word of Christ to dwell richly, and whatever one does is to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. The chapter ends with instructions for wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves, and masters, all reframed around serving the Lord.

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Colossians 3 begins with a "therefore" that rests on everything before it. Paul has spent two chapters insisting that Christ is enough, that no added rule or vision or power can improve on him. Now he says what follows for people who have been raised with Christ: aim your mind where he is. That is not escapism. The chapter is intensely practical from verse 5 onward. It works with the image of clothing. Take off the old self, its sexual sin, its greed which is a form of idolatry, its anger and slander and lying. Put on the new self, and here Paul lists what it wears: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness on the pattern of Christ's own, and over all of it love, the belt that holds the outfit together. Then three "lets": let the peace of Christ rule like an umpire in your hearts, let the word of Christ dwell richly among you as you teach and sing, and whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus with thanks. The household instructions that close the chapter can sound dated, and they belong to Paul's world, but notice what he does with them. Every role is placed "in the Lord," and the slave, the lowest person in the house, is told that his real Master is Christ and his real reward an inheritance. The chapter's deepest claim is verse 11: in this new humanity, Christ is all, and is in all.

Historical and literary context

Paul wrote Colossians from prison to a church in the Lycus valley of Asia Minor that he had not founded or visited, apparently troubled by teaching that added rules, visions, and spiritual powers to Christ. Chapters 1 and 2 answer that Christ is sufficient; chapter 3 shows what a life shaped by that sufficiency looks like. The closing household instructions address the standard relationships of a Roman household and, unusually for the time, speak to wives, children, and slaves as moral agents in their own right.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 4 state the foundation: raised with Christ, hidden with Christ, to appear with Christ in glory. Verses 5 to 11 are the "put to death" and "put aside" lists, sexual sin, greed named as idolatry, anger, slander, lying, ending with the new self renewed in the Creator's image where "Christ is all and is in all." Verses 12 to 17 are the "clothe yourselves" list of virtues, forgiveness as the Lord forgave, love as the bond, peace ruling, the word of Christ dwelling richly, singing with gratitude, and everything done in Jesus's name. Verses 18 to 25 address the household, with the repeated note that all of it is "in the Lord," and the promise that workers serve "the Lord Christ."

Why this chapter matters

This chapter gives Christian ethics its characteristic shape: not rules imposed from outside but a new identity lived out, taking off old clothes and putting on new ones. It is the source of the phrase "greed, which is idolatry," of the instruction to let the word of Christ dwell richly through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and of the principle that any work can be done for the Lord rather than for people. Verse 11, erasing Greek and Jew, slave and free, is one of the New Testament's strongest statements that the church is a new humanity. Verse 13, "Forgive as the Lord forgave you," sets the measure for every Christian relationship.

Interpretive tension to watch

The household code tells wives to submit, children to obey, and slaves to obey their masters, in the language of Paul's world. Readers have long asked how these instructions relate to verse 11, where slave and free are one in Christ, and to the transformation the chapter describes. The chapter does not abolish the household of its day; it fills every role with the phrase "in the Lord" and gives the lowest member a Master in heaven. How that seed grew, and should grow, is a question the church is still answering.

이 장을 위한 질문

  • Paul calls greed idolatry. What does that name reveal about the kinds of desire that quietly take God's place?
  • The virtues in verse 12 are to be put on like clothes. Which one is missing from your usual wardrobe, and what would putting it on look like this week?
  • Verse 23 says to do your work for the Lord and not for men. How would your ordinary work change if you believed that?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

1 所以,你们若真与基督一同复活,就当求在上面的事;那里有基督坐在 神的右边。 2 你们要思念上面的事,不要思念地上的事。 3 因为你们已经死了,你们的生命与基督一同藏在 神里面。 4 基督是我们的生命,他显现的时候,你们也要与他一同显现在荣耀里。 5 所以,要治死你们在地上的肢体,就如淫乱、污秽、邪情、恶欲,和贪婪(贪婪就与拜偶像一样)。 6 因这些事, 神的忿怒必临到那悖逆之子。 7 当你们在这些事中活着的时候,也曾这样行过。 8 但现在你们要弃绝这一切的事,以及恼恨、忿怒、恶毒、毁谤,并口中污秽的言语。 9 不要彼此说谎;因你们已经脱去旧人和旧人的行为, 10 穿上了新人。这新人在知识上渐渐更新,正如造他主的形象。 11 在此并不分希腊人、犹太人,受割礼的、未受割礼的,化外人、西古提人,为奴的、自主的,惟有基督是包括一切,又住在各人之内。 12 所以,你们既是 神的选民,圣洁蒙爱的人,就要存怜悯、恩慈、谦虚、温柔、忍耐的心。 13 倘若这人与那人有嫌隙,总要彼此包容,彼此饶恕;主怎样饶恕了你们,你们也要怎样饶恕人。 14 在这一切之外,要存着爱心,爱心就是联络全德的。 15 又要叫基督的平安在你们心里作主;你们也为此蒙召,归为一体;且要存感谢的心。 16 当用各样的智慧,把基督的道理丰丰富富地存在心里,用诗章、颂词、灵歌,彼此教导,互相劝戒,心被恩感,歌颂 神。 17 无论做什么,或说话或行事,都要奉主耶稣的名,借着他感谢父 神。 18 你们作妻子的,当顺服自己的丈夫,这在主里面是相宜的。 19 你们作丈夫的,要爱你们的妻子,不可苦待她们。 20 你们作儿女的,要凡事听从父母,因为这是主所喜悦的。 21 你们作父亲的,不要惹儿女的气,恐怕他们失了志气。 22 你们作仆人的,要凡事听从你们肉身的主人,不要只在眼前事奉,像是讨人喜欢的,总要存心诚实敬畏主。 23 无论做什么,都要从心里做,像是给主做的,不是给人做的, 24 因你们知道从主那里必得着基业为赏赐;你们所事奉的乃是主基督。 25 那行不义的必受不义的报应;[主]并不偏待人。

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