Colossians 3

     3:1-3.  Raised up with Christ (1); This is conversion, the new birth, the first resurrection (2:13; cf. Rev.20:4-6, and notes there).  V.4 deals with the resurrection to judgment at the last great day (6; cf.Rev.20:11 ff.).

     3:5-11.  We are not just passively to consider ourselves dead to the old sinful nature (5 text), but to actively put it to death (margin).  We have a responsibility to root these evils out, to cut them off (cf. Mt.5:29-30), and put them aside (8).  (The Greek word for blasphemy is here rendered slander, as we generally reserve the word blasphemy for slander against the Lord and holy things.  But cf. Acts 13:45, where I believe the Jews are said to blaspheme Paul, though perhaps Christ or the gospel is meant.)

     3:9-10.  The old man (Adam) and the new man (Christ), margin, are preferable to the text’s old and new self (see Eph.4:22-29, and notes there).  Christ creates a new man in his image, not a new self in the old man.  However, that is a work in progress.  We are being renewed (10).

     3:11.  The old distinctions are laid aside with the old man.  Those who have put on the new man are one in Christ.

     3:12-17.  These are the qualities that are to replace the sinful nature of the old man.  In Christ we are the elect of God, his chosen, and we are to put on these qualities of the new man.  Since forbearance and forgiveness are called for (13), we see once more that the renovation is a work unfinished (10; cf. Php.3:12).  Our unity must be based on love (14), and the peace of Christ ruling in the heart.  Thankfulness for what God has done for us in Christ, and his forbearance, should be our greatest motive to love God, and to bear with others (15, 16, 17).

     3:16.  We should see all Scripture as the words of Christ, but especially is this the case with many of the Psalms.  What greater way to teach and admonish one another with all wisdom than to sing his word together with thankfulness in our hearts to God?   Hymns and spiritual songs; these could very likely also refer to selections in the book of Psalms (see Psalm titles, and Neh.12:46).   See notes at Eph.5:19.

     3:18-25.  See notes at Eph.5:21-6:9 on Biblical submission.

     3:22.  The margin has the better reading.

     3:24.  “It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”  This is the key to a proper spirit of service when the Lord calls us to a submissive position.

     3:25.  Consequences for wrong, and that without partiality (see 3:11); God’s people do not escape the terrible consequences of sin.  Consider the cost of David’s sins, or the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity.  How many broken homes, divided churches, and stunted lives full of shame and sorrow are needed to prove that God’s moral laws are absolutes that do not play favorites with violators?  Should we presume on the suffering of Christ just because he paid the ultimate price for us?  “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph.4:30).