In Colossians, as in many of his letters, Paul begins by laying a doctrinal foundation of what God has done for us in Christ, before exhorting his readers to then live according to that marvelous truth. In the first two chapters, Paul has unfolded for us the sovereign supremacy of Christ, and the magnificent mystery of our union with him in his death, resurrection, and ascension. And now, as we begin chapter three, we get to the difference it should make in our lives. If we have died with Christ and been raised with him, what now? Or, as Francis Schaeffer asked, “How now should we then live?”
Here in chapter three, “Paul gives an exhortation to be in real life citizens of the heavenly kingdom to which we have been transferred; to do the duties and enter into the responsibilities of our new citizenship.”[1] Paul lays out his argument for our new life in Christ in the following pattern: “if then” this true of you, you must “put to death therefore,” earthly characteristics and “put on then” heavenly characteristics.
If Then
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. —Colossians 3:1–4
The difference between the external regulations pressed upon the Colossian church by the legalists and the new life in Christ exhorted to us by Paul is the indwelling Holy Spirit by whom we are enabled to engage in the hard work of killing sin and pressing forward in godliness. Legalism only ever effects an outward change—a mask, if you will. But the Holy Spirit works on us from inside out and creates eternally lasting changes to our hearts and minds, resulting in a changed character and new patterns of living and walking with Christ. Because we have been raised with Christ, because we have died and our life is hidden in him, because he is our life and we will appear with him in glory, we have every reason to make the necessary choices to put to death the sin from which we have been liberated. “Having been freed from our former terrible master, why should we still submit to it?”[2] And so, considering our Savior—what he endured, what he accomplished on the cross, and that he now resides at God’s right hand possessing all authority in heaven and earth—we, cooperating with the Holy Spirit, can actually make choices to not sin, to actively obey God, and to live in a manner pleasing unto him.
Put To Death Therefore
Paul now gives a comprehensive list of particular sins from which we’ve been freed in Christ which we are to actively put off. The sins he lists in each of his epistles vary slightly, but they all have significant overlap. Whether this is because he is tailoring them to the specific churches or not, they all still apply to us now simply because human nature and sin have not changed, even if the specifics of the manifestations of our sin have evolved (or, rather, devolved).
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. —Colossians 3:5–7
The first grouping of sins listed in verse five are related to sexual transgressions, and you’ll note that the majority of them are inward, not external actions. Passion, evil desire, and covetousness reside in the heart and mind, don’t they? All the outward pressure to conform which legalism exerts cannot transform the interior sanctuary where passions and evil desires simmer and covetousness bitterly boils away our contentment in Christ. We must actively search our hearts to evict these sins and deny them re-entry at every point where they formerly gained a foothold, because inner desires will eventually move us to outward sinful actions. This may mean changing outward patterns of life in order to avoid the temptations that lead to the sins in which we once lived. Are there particular people who encourage these sins? Are there particular places where we are more vulnerable to these sins? Are there particular patterns of scrolling on the internet in which we get lost in these sins? Don’t expose yourself to the people, places, and patterns which you know will lead you to sin! As Kevin DeYoung tweeted years ago, “It’s not legalistic to assume the Super Bowl halftime show will be bad for your sanctification.”[3]
Though we have been freed from the power of sin, we still live with the powerful presence of sin and will still fall to its temptations. Let us not lose heart when this happens. “However darkly Paul presents these sinful acts, he does not regard them as placing a person beyond hope.”[4] Note in verses seven and eight the “before and after” contrast: believers “once walked” and “lived” in these sins, “But now” everything has changed because we “have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (3:30).
The next group of sins that Paul exhorts us to put away are relational, one-another sins involving speech that arises from “a heart of malice that resents and hates.”[5]
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. —Colossians 3:8–11
These are sins that will rip a community apart, and are therefore deadly poison to the body of Christ. But again, Paul inserts the hope of the gospel and the inner difference the Holy Spirit makes not only possible but actual in the life of the believer. We can put these destructive sins away because we have “put off the old self” and “put on the new self,” “which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”[6] How is this new self renewed in knowledge? Only by immersion in the means of grace: God’s Word taken in through reading, meditating upon it, and sitting under its faithful preaching; prayer, both solitary time with God and praying with others; and fellowship with the body of Christ, allowing the presence and example of other believers to influence and shape us as together we imitate Christ. Paul emphasizes that there are no exceptions to the reach of the gospel in verse eleven with a list of polar opposites who are nevertheless eligible for this renewal in the image of Christ: “Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free.” Regardless of who you are or where Christ found you, if you are in him that is all that matters!
Put On Then
Having put off the old, we must now put on the new. And just as it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to put off our old, sinful ways, it takes that same power to put on our transformed selves, reflecting Christ to one another and a watching world.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. —Col. 3:12–15
Notice again, how Paul grounds his command in what God has already accomplished in our salvation. “Paul calls us to deep and nuanced reflection on what God has accomplished for the believer in Christ. The greatest motivation to faithful Christian living is a realization of what God has already done in a believer’s life.”[7] Because we are chosen, holy, beloved, and forgiven, we must love and forgive others, especially our fellow chosen, holy, beloved, and forgiven members of Christ’s body. Yes, we are often unbearable and say and do things for which we need forgiveness. But if we are in Christ we have already been forgiven so much more than we could ever conceive. Therefore the attitude of our hearts toward others must be grounded in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience—the very attitude of Christ toward us. And all these are wrapped up in the love of God which “binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Paul then adds that we must let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts—which means not letting our wayward passions get the upper hand. It is this peace which will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, surpassing all understanding, when we cast our anxieties on the Lord in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving (Phil 4:5–7).
How do we access these Christlike attitudes of love and this unworldly peace? Again, it is through the means of grace:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. —Col. 3:16–17
This is our calling: to be transformed into the image of Christ; and this is the means of transformation: God’s Word as contained in the Scriptures, the ‘one-anothering’ of the fellowship of the saints, worship, and thankfulness in our hearts to God for all that he has done and is doing for us in Christ. “Christians are to be people who are united to Christ and reflect deeply on that fact (vv. 1–4); who actively choose to rid themselves of what is inconsistent with their new life and put on what radiates the reality of Christ in their lives (vv. 5–15), who choose to cultivate a spiritual life not only for themselves as individuals but also for the whole community (vv. 16–17).[8]
[1] B. B. Warfield, cited by Richard Phillips, Colossians & Philemon, Reformed Expository Commentary (P&R: Phillipsburg, NJ, 2024), p. 220
[2] Phillips, p. 230
[3] Or something like that- I couldn’t find the original tweet or reference to it, but it’s stuck with me since I first read it.
[4] Alistair Wilson, Colossians, “Colossians,” in Ephesians –Philemon, ESV Expository Commentary, vol. 11, ed. Iain Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), p. 242
[5] Phillips, p. 230
[6] See also Eph. 4:22–24
[7] Wilson, p. 243
[8] Ibid.
*Photo by Marlys Stahl
Grateful 