Col 3-4 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Col 3:1-11: 3:1-11 Paul summons the Colossians to a new way of thinking that results in a new lifestyle. 3:1 set your sights on the realities of heaven: Christians live on earth, but because they have been raised with Christ, their true being is oriented to the spiritual realm over which Christ rules. In contrast, the rules and regulations of the false teachers focused on the earthly realm (2:22 ).

Summary for Col 3:1-11: 3:1-11 ^a Paul summons the Colossians to a new way of thinking that results in a new lifestyle. 3:1 ^b set your sights on the realities of heaven: Christians live on earth, but because they have been raised with Christ, their true being is oriented to the spiritual realm over which Christ rules. In contrast, the rules and regulations of the false teachers focused on the earthly realm (2:22 ^c).
Summary for Col 3:3-4: 3:3-4 ^d you died to this life: See 2:20 ^e.

• What is now hidden will one day be revealed (cp. 1:26 ^f). We cannot now see that Christ is enthroned at the right hand of God and that we have been raised to new life with Christ. But by faith in the Good News, we know that these things are true. When Christ returns in glory, his supremacy will be evident to all and our relationship to him will be a direct experience.
3:5 ^g So put to death: Our death to this life (3:3 ^h) must be made real in the way that we live day by day.

• a greedy person is an idolater: Greedy people pursue the objects of their greed—money, sex, power, possessions—in the place of God, with the hope of finding satisfaction in those things.
3:6 ⁱ coming: Some manuscripts read coming on all who disobey him. In the Greek text, these words occur verbatim in Eph 5:6 ^j, so it is possible that an early scribe added them here, either intentionally or accidentally.
3:8 ^k get rid of (literally take off): Taking off clothes is a metaphor for ridding our lives of practices that interfere with our walk with the Lord (see Rom 13:12 ^l; Eph 4:22 ^m, 25 ⁿ; Heb 12:1 ^o; Jas 1:21 ^p; 1 Pet 2:1 ^q).
Summary for Col 3:9-10: 3:9-10 ^r your old sinful nature ... your new nature: Paul contrasts old and new identities (see also Rom 5:12-21 ^s; 6:6 ^t; Eph 4:22-24 ^u). Believers strip off their old life and put on Christ’s new life, allowing him to be Lord and to guide the way they live.
3:11 ^v barbaric, uncivilized: Literally Barbarian, Scythian. The Greeks mocked people from other cultures for their inability to speak Greek well, claiming they could only say “bar bar” (hence the word barbarian). The Scythians were tribes that had settled on the north coast of the Black Sea and were widely viewed as fierce and crude (see Josephus, Against Apion 2.38). All such distinctions do not matter in our relationship with God through Christ.
Summary for Col 3:12-17: 3:12-17 ^w Paul describes the nature of the new life of people who have been raised with Christ (3:1 ^x). Their virtues and activities contribute to the peace and strength of the Christian community.
3:15 ^y Just as Christ is one, so there can be only one body of Christ (see 1:18 ^z; Eph 4:4-6 ^aa). Allegiance to Jesus as Lord must transcend differences and will result in peace (harmonious relationships).
3:16 ^ab Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs are songs of praise and worship (see 1 Cor 14:26 ^ac; Eph 5:19 ^ad). The prototype is the book of Psalms.
3:17 ^ae as a representative of the Lord Jesus (literally in the name of the Lord Jesus): In the Bible, a person’s name represents that person. To do something in the name of the Lord Jesus is therefore to act in a way that is in harmony with his identity and under his authority.
Summary for Col 3:18-4:1: 3:18–4:1 ^af This series of exhortations is called a household code. Paul gives instructions to wives (3:18 ^ag), husbands (3:19 ^ah), children (3:20 ^ai), fathers (3:21 ^aj), slaves (3:22-25 ^ak), and masters (4:1 ^al). Such codes appear in Greco-Roman writers and elsewhere in the New Testament (see Eph 5:22–6:9 ^am; 1 Pet 2:18–3:7 ^an). 3:18 ^ao To submit is to recognize one’s place under someone else in a social order. Such submission always implies that God is at the top and that his will is paramount (cp. Acts 4:19-20 ^ap; 5:29 ^aq).
3:19 ^ar The exhortation to wives to submit to their husbands is immediately followed by a command to the husbands to love their wives (see also Eph 5:25-30 ^as; 1 Pet 3:7 ^at).
Summary for Col 3:22-24: 3:22-24 ^au Slaves have earthly masters whom they must obey. Slavery was central to the life and economy of the ancient world, and the New Testament never attacks the practice as such. However, Christian faith establishes relationships that change the nature of the social structure (see Phlm 1:15-16 ^av).

• and that the Master you are serving is Christ: All Christians, both slave and free, serve a higher Master, whose will is paramount.

‏ Colossians 4

4:1 ^aw Masters: Christian slave owners had to recognize that they, too, were slaves bound to obey Jesus Christ, their Master in heaven who treats all people with dignity and grace.
Summary for Col 4:2-6: 4:2-6 ^ax New Testament letters often end with an exhortation to pray, along with requests for prayer. 4:2 ^ay with an alert mind: The Greek verb behind this phrase is used in the New Testament to portray the need for Christians to be watchful in light of Christ’s return (Matt 24:42 ^az; 25:13 ^ba; Mark 13:35 ^bb, 37 ^bc; 1 Thes 5:6 ^bd; Rev 3:3 ^be; 16:15 ^bf).
4:3 ^bg that God will give us many opportunities (literally that God might open for us a door): An open door is a metaphor for an opportunity to proclaim the Good News (see also Acts 14:27 ^bh; 1 Cor 16:9 ^bi; 2 Cor 2:12 ^bj).

• his mysterious plan concerning Christ: See Col 1:26-27 ^bk; 2:2 ^bl.

• That is why I am here in chains: Paul’s dedication to preaching the Good News had led to his imprisonment (see Colossians Book Introduction, “Date and Occasion of Writing”).
4:5 ^bm make the most of every opportunity (literally buy up the time): Like people who are buying up a product offered at a good price, Christians are to “buy up” every opportunity God gives them to share the Good News and to serve others.
4:6 ^bn attractive (literally seasoned with salt): Salt is both a seasoning and a preservative (see Matt 5:13 ^bo). Paul might be encouraging Christians to speak to unbelievers in words that are well chosen and winsome. The rabbis occasionally referred to wisdom as salt, so Paul might also be exhorting Christians to speak wisely.
Summary for Col 4:7-18: 4:7-18 ^bp Most New Testament letters end with a series of greetings and references to co-workers and travel plans, but this part of Colossians is longer than normal. Paul, being unable to travel, might have been seeking to ensure that the Colossians maintain connections with his co-workers. This would help them not to fall for the enticements of the false teachers. 4:7 ^bq Tychicus was from the province of Asia, where Colosse was located (Acts 20:4 ^br). He worked with Paul especially in that province (Eph 6:21 ^bs; 2 Tim 4:12 ^bt). He was later sent to work with Titus in Crete (Titus 3:12 ^bu). Tychicus probably carried this letter along with the letters known as Ephesians and Philemon.
4:9 ^bv Onesimus was the runaway slave whom Paul was sending back to his master Philemon (see the book of Philemon).
Summary for Col 4:10-14: 4:10-14 ^bw Of the six people named, five are also mentioned in Phlm 1:23-24 ^bx. 4:10 ^by Aristarchus was a common name, but he was probably the same man from Thessalonica (Acts 19:29 ^bz; 20:4 ^ca) who accompanied Paul on his voyage to Rome (Acts 27:2 ^cb). Acts does not suggest that Aristarchus was also under arrest, so perhaps he was in prison with Paul voluntarily, sharing his confinement in order to encourage him and assist him in ministry.

• Mark, Barnabas’s cousin, had gone with Barnabas and Paul on their first missionary journey but had left them before the journey was finished (Acts 13:13 ^cc). That desertion led to a split between Paul and Barnabas as the second journey was about to begin (Acts 15:37-40 ^cd). Paul and Mark were apparently now reconciled (see also 2 Tim 4:11 ^ce; Phlm 1:24 ^cf).

• As you were instructed before: There is no other record of this communication.
4:11 ^cg Jesus (the one we call Justus) is mentioned only here in the New Testament. The surname Justus is included because Jesus (which means the Lord saves) was a common name among Jews in the first century.
4:13 ^ch Laodicea and Hierapolis were the two most important cities in the Lycus River valley. The fact that Epaphras prayed for the believers in Colosse and in these nearby cities suggests that he was the pioneering evangelist in all three cities.
4:14 ^ci Luke, the beloved doctor, is well known as the author of Acts and the Gospel bearing his name. This verse is the sole evidence for two facts about Luke: He was a doctor, and he was not a Jewish believer (see Col 4:10-11 ^cj).

• In contrast to the other people mentioned in this passage, no details are given about Demas. Perhaps Paul did not know him well. Demas later deserted Paul (2 Tim 4:10 ^ck).
4:15 ^cl Nympha and the church that meets in her house: In the first two centuries of the Christian church, almost all believers met for worship in private homes. Nothing else is known of Nympha.
4:16 ^cm you should read the letter I wrote to them: Various attempts have been made over the years to identify the letter to the Laodiceans with a New Testament letter or fragment, but it is most likely that Paul’s letter to the Laodicean church has been lost.
4:17 ^cn Archippus: See also Phlm 1:2 ^co. We have no way of knowing more about the ministry the Lord gave him.
4:18 ^cp Here is my greeting in my own handwriting—Paul: Like most ancient letters, Colossians was probably dictated by Paul to a scribe, or amanuensis, who would have been trained to write neatly and compactly. As a way of authenticating the letter, Paul added his own handwritten greeting at the end (cp. Paul’s comment in 2 Thes 2:2 ^cq).