Colossians 3 Explained - The Risen Life and How to Live It

Introduction

Colossians 3 answers the question Colossians 2 raises. If rules cannot change the heart, what does?

Paul's answer is the resurrection. Because believers have been raised with Christ, they now have both the obligation and the power to live differently. This chapter moves from doctrine to daily life without losing altitude. The theology stays high. The application gets personal, inside the home, inside the marriage, inside the workplace.

Summary

Because believers have been raised with Christ, Paul calls them to set their minds on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Their old life has died and their new life is hidden with Christ in God. He commands them to put off the sins of the old self, anger, malice, slander, and lying, and put on the virtues of the new self: compassion, kindness, humility, patience, and love. The peace of Christ is to rule their hearts. The word of Christ is to dwell in them richly. He then applies this to households: wives and husbands, children and parents, servants and masters, all under the lordship of Christ.

Key Themes

• Resurrection identity. Who you are in Christ determines how you live. Behavior flows from identity.

• Put off and put on. Sanctification is active. It requires deliberate rejection of sin and deliberate pursuit of Christlikeness.

• No distinction in Christ. Greek, Jew, slave, free. The new self has no room for the old divisions.

• Love as the bond of perfection. Every virtue Paul lists is held together by love.

• All of life under Christ. Marriage, parenting, work. Nothing is secular when you belong to the Lord.

Early Christians in a courtyard hearing Paul's letter read aloud - Colossians 3 Explained

Colossians 3 Explained: Verse-by-Verse Breakdown

Verses 1-4: Set Your Mind on Things Above

If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above. Set your mind there, not on things of earth. The reason: you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ appears, you will appear with Him in glory. This is not escapism. It is identity. Paul is not telling believers to ignore the world. He is telling them where to find the power and perspective to engage it rightly.

Verses 5-11: Put Off the Old Self

Paul lists what must be put to death: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Then the relational sins: anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lying. These are the behaviors of the old self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. In Christ, the old categories that divided humanity, Jew or Greek, slave or free, do not define the community anymore. Christ is all and in all.

Verses 12-17: Put On the New Self

As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, believers are to put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. Above all, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Verses 18-25: The Christian Household

Paul addresses wives, husbands, children, fathers, servants, and masters. Each relationship is reoriented around Christ. Wives submit as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands love and do not be harsh. Children obey, this pleases the Lord. Fathers do not provoke. Servants work wholeheartedly as for the Lord, not for men. The Lord will repay. The wrongdoer will be paid back. There is no partiality. Every relationship in the home is discipleship territory.

Deep Insight

The put off and put on language is not moralism. Paul grounds every command in resurrection identity (verse 1) and union with Christ (verse 3). The commands do not produce the identity. The identity produces the commands. This is the opposite of behavior modification. You are not trying to become someone new by doing new things. You are learning to live out who you already are in Christ. That distinction is the difference between legalism and gospel transformation.

Tough Questions Answered

Q: Does "wives submit" in verse 18 mean women are inferior?

No. Paul has already said in verse 11 that in Christ there is no distinction between categories of people. Submission in marriage is a functional role within a relationship of mutual love and honor, not a statement of worth. The husband in verse 19 is commanded to love sacrificially and not be harsh. That is not a command to dominate. It is a command to serve. Both roles reflect the relationship between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:25-33).

See also: Ephesians 5:22-33, Galatians 3:28, 1 Peter 3:7

Q: Does verse 23 mean all work is equally meaningful?

Yes. Paul tells servants to work wholeheartedly as for the Lord. This elevates the ordinary. Dull, repetitive, unglamorous work done with integrity before God carries eternal weight. Your Monday matters as much as your Sunday when both are offered to Christ.

See also: 1 Corinthians 10:31, Ephesians 6:7, Romans 12:1

Application (Real Life)

• Where your mind goes, your life follows. Set it on things above deliberately and consistently.

• Sanctification requires effort. The Spirit empowers it but you still have to put off and put on.

• Forgive because you have been forgiven. The standard is the Lord's forgiveness of you, not the offense against you.

• Your home is your first mission field. How you treat your spouse and children is your most honest theology.

Simple closing test: Is the way you treat people at home consistent with the person you are at church?

Apologetics Angle

Critics argue that Paul's household codes in verses 18-25 reflect and endorse the oppressive social structures of the ancient world. But look at what Paul does. He addresses wives, then immediately commands husbands to love sacrificially. He addresses children, then immediately warns fathers not to provoke. He addresses servants, then immediately reminds masters they have a Master in heaven. In every case Paul places a counter-cultural obligation on the person with more social power. He is not baptizing the culture. He is subverting it from within with the ethic of Christ.

Cross References

• Romans 6:11-14 - Count yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

• Ephesians 4:22-24 - Put off the old self, be renewed in the spirit of your minds, put on the new self.

• Galatians 3:28 - Neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. All one in Christ.

• 1 Corinthians 13:13 - The greatest of these is love.

• Romans 12:1-2 - Present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Do not be conformed to this world.

Colossians 3 Explained: Conclusion

Colossians 3 Explained shows us that the resurrection is not just a future event. It is a present power. You have been raised with Christ. That changes everything, what you think about, what you put off, what you put on, and how you treat the people closest to you.

The new self is not something you build. It is something you put on. Christ already made you new. Colossians 3 is your daily instruction on how to live like it.