Colossians 3

25 verses

Paul grounds Christian ethics in resurrection reality—if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated—making practical morality a consequence of positional identification with Christ's exaltation. The command to put to death earthly things (sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness) and to put off anger, wrath, malice, slander reflects a mortification ethic flowing from baptismal union with Christ. The positive clothing metaphor—put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiving one another as the Lord forgave you—culminates in the command to let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, with peace functioning as the arbiter (brabbeuō) of internal discord. Love is the binding agent (synedesmos) and perfect bond holding together all these virtues, the animating principle of the Christian community's life. The household code (wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves, masters) is radically Christianized when Paul insists that whatever you do, do it as for the Lord Jesus, transforming even slavery into Christocentric service, since you serve the Lord Christ not merely a human master. This makes ordinary social relations arenas of gospel witness and obedience, relativizing social hierarchy under Christ's universal lordship.

VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS