Colossians 3 Study Notes

3:14 The imagery here suggests that the final and most important new article of clothing for God’s people is love, the perfect bond of unity that binds believers together in complete oneness (Eph 4:3).

3:15 The peace brought by Christ should control believers’ hearts (Rm 8:6; 15:13; 2Co 13:11; Gl 5:22; Eph 2:14; Php 4:7; 2Th 3:16). Be thankful harks back to 1:3,12; 2:7 (cp. 3:17; 4:2).

3:16 The words teaching and admonishing express the means of how the gospel is to dwell among believers. Singing and gratitude characterize the manner of this teaching and admonishing.

3:17 This verse is similar to 1Co 10:31: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” Doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus means doing it in obedience to him.

3:18-4:1 Paul in this section showed how doing everything in the name of the Lord applies to every member of a household. Early Christians adopted and modified this format for describing appropriate behavior of members in a Christian household (Eph 5:21-6:9; Ti 2:2-10; 1Pt 2:18-3:7).

3:18 Paul exhorted wives to submit themselves to their husbands (Eph 5:21-24). Paul always used this verb in the context of authority relationships (Rm 8:7; 10:3; 13:1,5; 1Co 14:34; 15:27-28; 16:16; Php 3:21; Ti 2:5,9; 3:1). This submission is not subservience but voluntary subordination. This disposition is based on the wife’s relationship with Christ and her role within the family (as is fitting in the Lord) rather than on a false notion of inferiority (1Co 11:3,7-9; see note at Eph 5:22-24).

3:19 Coupled with his exhortation for wives, Paul admonished husbands to love your wives, with the additional warning not to become bitter toward them. “Love” refers to selfless sacrificial concern and care for the welfare of another person (Eph 5:25-33). “Bitterness” pertains to harsh treatment and could be translated as “to cause bitter feelings.” Husbands must always care for their wives and never deal harshly with them (1Pt 3:7).

3:20 The word obey lacks the voluntary sense found in the command to be submissive. Children must be obedient to their parents (Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16; Eph 6:1-3); this is how they please the Lord. This obedience does not include immoral or idolatrous demands from a parent, because this is not behavior pleasing to the Lord.

KlÄ“ronomia (inheritance) occasionally refers to promised possessions (Ac 7:5) or to the inheritance legally due an heir (Lk 12:13). More frequently, however, NT authors employ the term inheritance in a religious, spiritual sense to refer to the future, heavenly, imperishable, eternal salvation of which the saints will one day partake in the kingdom of God (Col 3:24; Eph 1:14; Heb 9:15; 1Pt 1:4). Jesus, in his “Parable of the Vineyard Owner” (Mt 21:38 = Mk 12:7 = Lk 20:14), loads the term with this deeper, spiritual referent, interpreting the inheritance as the kingdom of God (Mt 21:43). Paul speaks of inheritance only in this religious sense. Christians, as heirs of God through faith (Gl 3:26), have sole rights to this future inheritance (Eph 5:5). The sealing of the Holy Spirit upon believers is the Father’s guarantee that he will grant his children their promised inheritance (Eph 1:13-14,18).

3:21 Although the term fathers could include both parents (Heb 11:23), fathers in particular are warned to not exasperate their children (Eph 6:4). “Exasperate” means to cause or provoke someone to harbor feelings of resentment. The reason for this injunction is so that children do not become discouraged or disheartened. Fathers must avoid dealing harshly with them.

3:22-25 Some interpreters believe slaves in the ancient world might not have been hard workers since they did not profit personally from their labor. Paul offered an extensive rationale for exhorting Christian slaves to obey their earthly masters in everything: (1) slaves are to work even when unsupervised, because they are ultimately serving the Lord rather than a human master; (2) their service to the Lord will be gloriously rewarded in eternity; and (3) God does not discriminate when it comes to punishing bad behavior. These instructions are paralleled in Eph 6:5-8.