3 Colossians Chapter 3

Colossians 3:1-4
"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."

YOU

When Paul says, "Since you have been raised to a new life with Christ.." he uses the word, 'YOU,' in the same way God used it when He said to Adam in the garden of Eden, "If YOU eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, YOU will surely die." - Gen 2:17. It's also used in the same way Jesus used it when he said to Nicodemus in John 3:3 - "I tell you the truth, unless YOU are born again YOU cannot see the Kingdom of God." The same 'YOU' that died in the Garden of Eden now has the opportunity to be born again through faith in Jesus. That same 'YOU' needs to be born again if it is to live forever. Our bodies won't live forever - they deterioirate with time and eventually die and decay, but our souls exist for eternity. It was this soul that Jesus came to die for, since He, being the Creator of our souls, knew the importance, value and longevity of it's existence. When we come to believe in Jesus, we are regenerated and we are truly born again, with the potential to never be in bondage to sin again, provided we continue in the Lord faithfully until He returns again. 

HEART

Paul seems to say, since the YOU has now been saved, now work on your HEART (desires, ambitions, goals, motives). This change is not an automatic process that results from us being saved - it takes several determined decisions (with the help of the Holy Spirit), on our part everyday, to help bring about this change. He encourages us to set our hearts on things that are of heaven, and not of earth, since Christ is seated at Heaven at the right hand of God the Father.

We desire what we really consider a treasure. Jesus said, "Wherever your treasure is there the desires of your heart will also be." (Matthew 6:21). If we desire a relationship with Jesus and to become like Him, we will seek what He desires, and we will seek to love Him and to live for and like Him. It's our desires (spoken or unspoken) that drive us in our everday lives.  

MIND

When we change our desires to come in line with God's desires of us, we need to set our minds on bringing about that change. Paul encourages us to change the way we think - to set our minds on things that are heavenly and not on things of the earth. A desire for change needs to be coupled with an engagement of the mind in the process, if it is it to gain traction and thereafter, gain momentum and effect change. A goal without a plan is nothing more than a dream, therefore our desires must be accompanied by thoughts and plans to make them a reality.

He even gives a reason why we need to set our minds on things above and not on earthly things - we died to this earthly life and our real life is hidden with Christ in God. If we have considered the things of this world of no eternal value we should not be obsessed with them as if they did indeed possess eternal value. It does not mean we don't use or misuse the things of this world, but what it does mean is that we don't set all our desires and thoughts on them as if that's all there was to life. In fact when we have the right perspective of earthly things, we will use them wisely, serving as good stewards of what the Lord has entrusted to our care.

Paul goes on to say that when we are led by Christ, our lives are a mystery to those around us. By this he means that the world around us will not comprehend or understand the identity we claim as Children of God, our purpose for living - namely to love and serve God as we love and serve others,; they won't understand our morals, which will be at odds with theirs, our values and priorities and the like. But when Jesus, who is the reason and source of our life returns, then everything about us will be revealed to the world around, and we will be seen by them, and acknowledged by God Himself that we belong to Him and we will all share in His glory forever.

BODY (Actions)

Colossians 3:5-7: "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them."

Possessing new desires and a mind to change, is not sufficient to ensure new behaviour; those desires and decisions need to be followed up with action (behaviour). Unless we do something, our desires and intentions are of hardly any good. Someone said, "The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention." This too, is not an automatic process and takes a lot of will and effort to expedite the change that we so desire. We are to put to death those sinful desires that lurk within us, so they don't stand a chance of becoming thoughts, and eventually actions and habits all over again. It's only when we lose a hold on our desires and thoughts that the old sinful self raises it's ugly head. Paul mentions certain behaviours that warrant the wrath of God - fornication (sexual immorality), uncleanness (impurity), passion (lust), evil desire and covetousness (greed), and goes on to say that all this is idolatry as the one being served through all of these actions is the self. If the 'self' is the goal of one's life, then that's no different than worshiping one's self, which is tantamount to idolatry. We need to move from merely thinking and towards action.

BODY (Words) 

Colossians 3:8-11
"But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all."
Paul uses the analogy of getting dressed when he asks his readers to 'put off' certain behaviours and put on some new ones instead. Notice that most of the things he asks them to put off have to do with words.

Paul encourages us to take off the 'old man' (the old sinful nature) that caused us to speak sinful words (that either stemmed from or resulted in anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy and filthy language). But merely putting off the 'old man,' will result in us being in a state of undress, and put us in a position of being tempted all over again to going back to our old ways. But rather, we are called to also 'put on' the 'new man,' the new nature of Christ (the renewed image of God). This will result in a new way of speaking - edifying, encouraging, truthful kind, loving, clean words. That's when we reflect the true Image of God as seen in His Son Jesus.

It's the 'Image of God' that was destroyed in the Garden of Eden that was recreated when we came to know Christ. It's what is now being renewed all over again. This image of God has no distinction of nationality, caste, position or any other discrimination, but all who believe and entrust their lives to Christ are saved and re-created in the image of the One who created us. This re-creation comes only through faith (belief and trust) in the Lord Jesus as Saviour, and therefore Christ is all important.

BODY (Renewed Words and Actions)

Colossians 3:12-17
"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

Paul goes on to remind us something about our identity. He reminds us that we are chosen by God, we are holy and we are loved by God. What an amazing sense of identity for a human to possess. When people are seeking to please, or appease God by their own righteousness or good deeds, here we find the reminder that God has chosen us. The second reminder is that we're now made holy - been set apart from sin and set apart for God. And the third reminder is that we are loved by God - that tops it all. There's no greater love one can receive than the love of God. It's unconditional, unfailing and eternal.

Because we are chosen, holy and loved we are encouraged to now clothe ourselves with a new way of life - with attitudes that reflect the nature of God Himself. In fact the incentive to possess these qualities is that we have actually first received them from God ourselves. God was merciful, kind, humble, meek, patient, bearing up with our sinful ways and Jesus was forgiving of all our sins. In fact that's the incentive to forgive others - because we've first been forgiven by Jesus ourselves. But above all these qualities, Paul exhorts us to put on love, which perfectly binds all the other qualities or attitudes together.

Paul goes on to remind us that since we were called to belong to one body, we need to fill our hearts with the peace of God, meaning that we continue in the relationship we have with God, now that we've been reconciled (been made at peace) with God. This peace is also one that quietens our hearts and minds, no matter what circumstance we are in. When he uses the words, "You were called in one body," he's referring to us living in peace with one another since we are now part of the one Body of Christ - His Church.

For all of the above, he reminds us to be thankful to the Lord as it's a thankful heart that resolves to live a life pleasing to God in every way. The best attitude a believer can have is one of gratitude to God for all He has done, and continues to do for us.

He then exhorts us to enrich ourselves with the indwelling word of Christ with all wisdom and to help one another by teaching and admonishing one another in various ways, including singing songs, hymns and spiritual songs. A joyful heart sings and since we've been blessed beyond measure, let's sing songs to the Lord from graceful and grateful hearts.

He finally encourages us to make every effort to ensure that all our words and deeds are spoken and done as acts of worship unto the Lord, with an attitude of gratitude to the Father through Jesus. For a believer, every desire, thought, word and deed can be 'acts of worship' to God and that's what we're being encouraged by Paul to do.

Colossians 3:18-25
"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Bond-servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality."

Paul then goes into some detail as to how one needs to speak and act in the name of the Lord. He starts off with writing to wives, encouraging them to be submissive to their own husbands. We live in a day when wives submitting to husbands is considered a degrading thing to do, but Paul is not referring to wives as being inferior to men. Wives, though equal to husbands before God, are called to submit to her husband's authority as the leader in the home. He goes on to add that this is fitting to the Lord, meaning that this is a way of proving one's submission to Christ Himself. (He says in Ephesians 5:22 - "Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.").

Very often, wives find it hard to submit to husbands who are abusive and controlling instead of being loving and kind. Things might have been the same in Paul's day too, as he then addresses husbands telling them to be loving to their wives and not be bitter towards them. If only husbands realised that the head of the home meant being an example of love, kindness, gentleness, goodness and the like, and that it had nothing to do with being disrespetful, controlling and rude, our world would be such a wonderful place of love, peace and joy. 

Paul then addresses children, who are the next in line in a family, encouraging them to be obedient to their parents in all things, and adds that this is pleasing to the Lord. In fact, the 5th commandment the Lord gave the people of Israel in Exodus 20:12, was, "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you." In Ephesians 6:1-3 Paul refers to this verse when he says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” Our world has changed so much recently that children have begun to think that they are not only smarter than their parents but also that their parents are to be obedient to them.

He goes on to caution fathers to not be instrumental in discouraging children by provoking them. Sometimes fathers can exxasperate children with the way they correct or rebuke them and this can be very discouraging to them and can result in a strain in the father-child relationship. Fathers were meant to be the source of love in the home, which includes the children as well. Harsh discipline or constant irritating children can cause them to become discouraged and detach themsevles emotionally from the family.

Paul finally talks to the bondservants who live in the home, encouraing them to be obedient to their earthly masters and to serve them faithfully, not only when they are around but at all times, not seeking to please men, but rather with sincere hearts, seeking to please God. He reminds them to do all their service as unto the Lord Himself and not merely as unto men, reminding them that they will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. He further reminds them that they are actually serving Christ when they serve their earthly masters. He ends with a caution that those of them who do evil will be repaid by God accordingly as God is not partial to let sin go unpunished.

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Michael Collins