Reflections on Colossians 3

Colossians 03 (Contemporary English Version)


1. You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in heaven, where Christ rules at God's right side.
2. Think about what is up there, not about what is here on earth.
3. You died, which means that your life is hidden with Christ, who sits beside God.
4. Christ gives meaning to your life, and when he appears, you will also appear with him in glory.
5. Don't be controlled by your body. Kill every desire for the wrong kind of sex. Don't be immoral or indecent or have evil thoughts. Don't be greedy, which is the same as worshiping idols.
6. God is angry with people who disobey him by doing these things.
7. And that is exactly what you did, when you lived among people who behaved in this way.
8. But now you must stop doing such things. You must quit being angry, hateful, and evil. You must no longer say insulting or cruel things about others.
9. And stop lying to each other. You have given up your old way of life with its habits.
10. Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand him better.
11. It doesn't matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, or if you are circumcised or not. You may even be a barbarian or a Scythian, and you may be a slave or a free person. Yet Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
12. God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient.
13. Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you.
14. Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.
15. Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace. So let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts. And be grateful.
16. Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives, while you use all your wisdom to teach and instruct each other. With thankful hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.
17. Whatever you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to God the Father because of him.
18. A wife must put her husband first. This is her duty as a follower of the Lord.
19. A husband must love his wife and not abuse her.
20. Children must always obey their parents. This pleases the Lord.
21. Parents, don't be hard on your children. If you are, they might give up.
22. Slaves, you must always obey your earthly masters. Try to please them at all times, and not just when you think they are watching. Honor the Lord and serve your masters with your whole heart.
23. Do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself, and not just your earthly master.
24. In fact, the Lord Christ is the one you are really serving, and you know that he will reward you.
25. But Christ has no favorites! He will punish evil people, just as they deserve.
    
    

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    Paul gave practical instructions for how a Christian should conduct himself at home and at work. However, it first needed to be set in the context of a Christian's new nature in Christ. A Christian is not one who has taken vows of membership in an exclusive club with certain privileges while his life otherwise remains the same. The one who has received Christ by faith is a new creation. The old person and its nature have died and the nature of Christ becomes the new nature of the believer. Therefore, Paul tells the Colossian Christians to "Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth." (3:2) This is because they "have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God." (3:3) It is not that they were to live as if they don't belong in this world but to live according to their new nature which is in Christ and has its basis in heaven.
    
    This being the case, they were to wrap their minds around this new reality in which the old nature had been put to death along with Christ's death on the cross by mentally putting it to death. This meant also putting to death the behaviors of that old nature which includes "sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry." (3:5) The Colossians may have naturally understood that these behaviors should not belong to their new lifestyle, but to these Paul added other behaviors that are a part of the old nature but not of the new nature, and those are "anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language." (3:8) These may not have been as obvious in the minds of the Colossians. The new man with his new nature is continually being "renewed in knowledge according to the image of his Creator." Therefore, the new nature or image of the Christian should be that of our Creator. In other words, the goal that Christ has made possible for us is to be what God created us to be when He made us in His image. This includes becoming, as was His intent, one creation undivided by national, religious, cultural, or social distinctions. Christ should become "all and in all." (3:11)
    
    As a new creation made in God's image, the believer in Christ exhibits new qualities in place of the old. Therefore, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language are replaced by "heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." (3:12) Furthermore, we are to be "accepting (of) one another and forgiving one another." (3:13) And all of this is to be cloaked in love which is "the perfect bond of unity." (2:14) In short, we are to "do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (3:17)
    
    When we are exhibiting this new nature with these new qualities, what will it look like in real life? Paul gives an example of it at work in the home and in the work place. This is a good place to start since these are where much of our lives are lived and since this new nature will not likely be exhibited at all if not at home or at work. In the home, the wife will cooperate with the order of creation in which the woman was made for man with him as her head by being submissive to her husband. However, Paul placed the limit on this submissiveness to be that which "is fitting in the Lord." The basis of the wife's submission to her husband is her submission to the Lord. So she is first in submission to the Lord. Therefore, her submission to her husband should not conflict with her submission to the Lord. Next, the husband is to love his wife and not treat her in a way that will embitter her. Then the children are to obey their parents in everything which is pleasing to the Lord. Conversely, disobedience to parents is said in the Old Testament to be rebellion against God.  Finally, slaves are to obey their human masters in everything and work wholeheartedly out of respect or fear of the Lord whether or not it comes from respect for the master or boss. Respecting the master is not the condition for obedience or wholehearted work, but rather respect for the Lord. All of this should be read by the present-day Christian as applying to their place of work.
    
    Though the home and work are used as examples by Paul, he goes on to say that "whatever" we do should be done "enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men." (3:23)