Colossians
Chapter 3
Overview
Paul asks the believers in Colossae to let their new life with the Messiah reshape their everyday choices. He moves from their deepest identity—hidden with Christ in God—to very practical matters: desire, anger, honesty, forgiveness, worship, family life, and work. The community included people divided by ethnicity, culture, social standing, and even slavery, yet Paul insists that these boundaries do not determine anyone’s worth in their new life together. The chapter’s challenge is simple but demanding: take off the habits of the old life, put on the new, and let love hold everything together.
1Since you were raised to life with the Messiah, pursue what belongs to heaven, where the Messiah is seated at God’s right hand.
2Set your minds on what belongs to heaven, not on what belongs merely to earth.
3For you died to your old life, and your new life is hidden with the Messiah in God.
4When the Messiah, who is your life, appears openly, you too will appear with him in glory.
5So put to death the earthly impulses within you: sexual immorality, impure behavior, uncontrolled passion, evil desire, and greed—which is a form of worshiping an idol.
6Because of these things, God’s anger is coming upon those who refuse to obey him.
7You too once lived this way, when these things were part of your life.
8But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, rage, malice, insults, and filthy language from your mouths.
9Do not lie to one another. You have taken off your old self and its practices,
10and you have put on the new self. This new self is continually being renewed in true understanding, becoming like the God who created it.
11In this new life, being Greek or Jewish makes no difference, nor does being circumcised or uncircumcised. Being a foreigner, a Scythian outsider, enslaved, or free makes no difference. Instead, the Messiah is everything and is in everyone.
12Therefore, as people God has chosen, set apart for himself, and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
13Put up with one another, and forgive each other whenever anyone has a complaint against someone else. Just as the Lord forgave you, you must also forgive.
14Above all these things, put on love, which binds everything together in complete unity.
15Let the peace that comes from the Messiah guide the decisions of your hearts. God called you to this peace as members of one body. And be thankful.
16Let the Messiah’s message live richly among you. With every kind of wisdom, teach and warn one another through psalms, hymns, and songs inspired by God’s Spirit. Sing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
17Whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do everything as representatives of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives, and do not treat them harshly.
20Children, obey your parents in everything, because this pleases the Lord.
21Fathers, do not keep provoking your children, or they may become discouraged.
22Enslaved people, obey your earthly masters in everything. Do not work only when they are watching, merely to gain their approval. Instead, serve with a sincere heart because you deeply respect the Lord.
23Whatever work you do, do it wholeheartedly, as work for the Lord rather than merely for people.
24You know that the Lord will repay you by giving you the inheritance he has promised. The master you are serving is the Lord Messiah.
25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for that wrong, and God shows no favoritism.