ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Colossians 3

Col. 3:1–4 The Proper Focus: Christ and the Life Above. This section is a bridge to Paul’s appeals to live in a way that pleases the Lord.

Col. 3:1–2 raised with Christ. See 2:13–14. Christ is now seated at the right hand of God (Ps. 110:1; Eph. 1:20). He has a position of authority. He makes requests to the Father for believers.

Col. 3:3 your life is hidden with Christ in God. Paul uses Isaiah and the Psalms to express the security of believers as they trust in Christ (Isa. 49:2; Ps. 27:5–6; 31:19–20).

Col. 3:5–4:6 Instructions on Living the Christian Life. Christians have died and risen with Christ. They have the hope of a future life with him. Paul encourages the Colossians to continue eliminating sinful behaviors from their lives and continue increasing in Christian virtues.

Col. 3:5 Put to death. Because believers have died with Christ (2:20; 3:3), they can overcome sinful practices (Rom. 6:11; 8:13). sexual immorality. Every kind of sexual activity outside of marriage. which is idolatry. Greed, sexual sin, and other vices can take God’s place as a focus of devotion.

Col. 3:6 the wrath of God is coming. The OT prophets spoke of the approaching day of the Lord as a time of wrath (e.g., Zeph. 1:14–15). God will hold everyone accountable for his or her actions.

Col. 3:8 put them all away. Paul lists five more vices (see v. 5) that Christians need to renounce. These are all related to relationships among believers.

Col. 3:9–10 seeing that you have put off the old self . . . and have put on the new self. The Greek grammar indicates that this is an event that has already taken place. A change of identity has already occurred in believers’ lives. Now they must bring their behavior into line with their new identity (see also Rom. 6:6; Eph. 4:24). Being renewed indicates that the transformation of Christians is an ongoing process.

Col. 3:11 Here there is not Greek and Jew. There are no distinctions of status or race among the new covenant people (see Gal. 3:28). Scythian. A people group living along the northern coast of the Black Sea. To the Greeks, the Scythians were violent, uneducated, uncivilized, and inferior. Jesus, who is all, and in all, binds all Christians together in equality.

Col. 3:12–17 Paul calls the Colossians to a holy lifestyle, consistent with their new identity.

Col. 3:13 forgiving each other . . . as the Lord has forgiven you. See Matt. 6:14–15.

Col. 3:14 Above all else, Christians are called on to love one another (see 1 Corinthians 13). Binds . . . together seems to suggest that love unites all the virtues.

Col. 3:16 The word of Christ probably refers to the teaching about Christ as well as his own words. Both were part of the oral traditions passed on to early believers. Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (see note on Eph. 5:19) is one way of teaching and admonishing. These were particularly important in the oral culture of Paul’s day.

Col. 3:18–4:1 Paul gives special instructions for the members of a Christian household. He addresses wives and husbands, children and fathers, and slaves (or bondservants) and masters. It is important to note that he treats women, children, and bondservants as equal with the male members of the Christian household. See Eph. 5:22–6:9. On bondservants, see esv Preface.

Col. 3:18 Wives, submit to your husbands. It was typical in Roman households to tell wives to “obey.” Paul appeals to them to “submit,” based on his conviction that men have a God-given leadership role in the family (see Eph. 5:22–33). However, Paul is not simply telling wives to follow the cultural patterns of the day; he tells them to live as is fitting in the Lord. Seven times in Col. 3:18–4:1, Paul bases his instructions on “in the Lord” or an equivalent term. Everything must be evaluated in light of Christ and his teaching.

Col. 3:19 do not be harsh with them. Violence, threats, and unkind words are not acceptable in a Christian home. Husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25).

Col. 3:20 Paul’s words to children reflect the fifth commandment (Ex. 20:12).

Col. 3:21 do not provoke your children. A father’s negative emotions and actions can cause a child to be discouraged (see Eph. 6:4).

Col. 3:22–25 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters. God has ordered family relationships from creation, and Paul’s instructions on marriage represent the perfect will of God. On the other hand, the kind of servitude practiced in the first century was seldom in keeping with God’s will. The Scriptures address the situation without supporting it (see notes on 1 Cor. 7:21; Eph. 6:5; 1 Tim. 1:10). Both Testaments condemn the evil of human trafficking. There were many bondservants at Colossae. Paul treats them with dignity and appeals to them to honor Christ in their hearts, work, and behavior. Philemon (see the book of Philemon) was a wealthy Colossian who benefited from the labors of his bondservant Onesimus. The principles of Col. 3:22–4:1 apply to employers and employees today.