Dear Friends,

I hope you can join us for our Bible study this evening.  We are studying Colossians 3:1-15, a wonderful passage describing and encouraging us in our new life in Christ. Notes are attached.

LIVING THE CHRISTLIFE

WAYNE BARRETT

HILLTOP LAKES CHAPEL

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

Colossians 3:1-15

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the

right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you

have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you

also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and

covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming [on the sons of

disobedience]. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put

them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one

another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which

is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew,

circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility,

meekness, and patience, 13 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. 14 And above all these put

on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your

hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

__________

v 1 – “If then you have been raised with Christ…”

Paul means much more than vague, lofty symbolism

“having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith

in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (2:12)

We have experienced a supernatural transformation, new life in Christ

“see the things that are above…”

We are not to seek first the systems and values of this world

This does not mean that we still seek them first, but in a “reformed” way.

We must seek first the kingdom of God—the things above (in Greek, just “the above”)

So we pursue the values of God; being pleasing to God; being good stewards of what

God has given us; imitating God

“where Christ is…”

We don’t know exactly where or how, but the Scriptures tells us repeatedly that Jesus is at the

right hand of the Father

“But [Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus

standing at the right hand of God. And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the

Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’”—Acts 7:55-56

Many other passages throughout the NT

All people will see this one day

2

v 2 – “Set your minds…”

Reinforcing this teaching

“Set you minds” – What do you dream about? What do you truly aspire to? What are your

values?

To set our minds on that which is above is not escape from living—it is guidance for living.

But we should be clear—this earth is passing away—and all people are headed for a place that is

eternal.

God is preparing us for this eternity—and we are to live for it.

“…and fit us for heaven, to live with Thee there.”

We are also to know that this eternity has an actual location. A place. It is a place beyond all

paces perhaps. But it is a place.

v 3 “For you have died…”

A recurring teaching … but do we receive it?

For you apothnéskó – apó [away from] + thnéskó [to die]. Emphasizing finality and separation.

The way we might say someone is “dead and gone.”

Died. No reform. No compromise. No blending. Died to the world—including its religious

systems.

“and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

We are “raised with Christ” (v1)—and our lives are “hidden with [syn] Christ in God”

We are in Christ and He is in us!

Again—this is so utterly different that a works-based idea of salvation

“hidden” – particularly from the world

v 4 – “When Christ, who is your life, appears…”

more lit. “When Christ, who is your life, may be manifested, then you also with [syn] him will be

manifested in glory.”

Raised with Christ, hidden with Christ in God, to be manifested with Christ

“glory”—not an easy word to define, and its usage is not always the same. It combines high

acclaim with a beauty and splendor of the person receiving the acclaim. It can be given (“to

God be the glory”)—and it can also be observed (“and we beheld his glory”).

We are not to seek to give ourselves glory, but we told in Scripture that sharing in the glory of

Christ is a promise given to those who are in him.

“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek

for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are selfseeking

and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and

also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and

also the Greek.”—Romans 2:6-10

v 5 – “Put to death therefore…”

more lit. “Put to death, then, the members that are on the earth”

The Scriptures sometimes refer to sin in terms of the body’s involvement—just as we do today,

e.g. “sharp-tongued,” “dirty-minded,” “idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” “lustful eyes,”

etc.

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one

of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand

causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your

members than that your whole body go into hell.”—Matthew 5:29-30

3

The message, which allows for no excuse-making: if it is earthly, i.e. sinful, put it to death.

Some examples, several of which are “internal” sins, states of mind and spirit

v 6 – “On account of these…”

“…the wrath of God is coming”

“wrath” – orgé – to teem or to swell. God’s wrath is a response to sin, rebellion. It is not a

sudden act of emotion. We talk about some responses as being a “long time coming.”

A certainty

Not “the forgiveness of God is coming,” not “the leniency of God is coming,” not “a stern

rebuke from God is coming”

God loves us—but God hates sin. He will destroy it. And those who choose sin over repentance

will be punished.

“upon the sons of disobedience”—appears in some mss. but not in others. It is nonetheless

consistent with the message (also see Ephesians 2:2; 5:6)

vv 7-8 — “In these you too once walked…”

“… but now you must put them all away”

We clearly have personal, moral agency. We can choose to walk in a certain way or to put it

away. We are responsible to obey God.

Other examples given, three are “internal,” two “external”

God care about both.

vv 9-10 – “Do not lie to one another…”

This is, in a way, a surprising instruction. What were the Colossians lying to each other about?

cf. If I said this from the pulpit at the Chapel

There could have been wrong dealings taking place between the Jewish Christians and the Greek

Christians

Whatever the specifics were, we are not to lie to one another

Lying belongs to the old self (lit. the old “man”)—with his practices

“having put on the new self, the one being renewed in knowledge that accords to the One having

created him.”

It is ever about our new life, not a new set of rules.

v 11 – “Her there is not Greek and Jew…”

This was (and is) a radical statement, examples were peoples who were very much divided!

Barbarian – bárbaros, one lacking culture, non-Greek or Latin

Scythian – “By the more civilized nations of antiquity the Scythians were regarded as the wildest

of all barbarians” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)

Slave, free - !

“but Christ is all…”

Not “but unity” (in the abstract), not “but one culture,” not “but all the same”

But Christ—the person of Christ—in the lives of all believers through the Holy Spirit

v 12 – “Put on then…”

agency

“beloved” – perfect participle in GK, signifying completed action that God has taken

[put on] … “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience”

4

This character of the Christian—which is the character of Christ—is consistent throughout the

NT

It is a kind of character that the devil seeks to portray as weak. But Christ is not weak.

v 13 – “bearing with one another…”

forbear and forgive

forgive is not an option

v 14 – “And above all these…”

more lit. “and upon all these, love, which is the bond of perfection.”

“love” – agape – is the all-encompassing character trait

“perfection”—completion, become in all ways who God intends us to be

v 15 – “And let the peace of Christ…”

“rule” – brabeuó, means lit. to act as umpire, to “make the call”

“let” is a translator choice; “peace of Christ” is the subject and the verb “rule” is present

imperative active

Paul is giving a pronouncement upon his hearers: The peace of Christ rule in your hearts!

Inner peace—and peace with one another!

peace “of Christ”—means Christ’s peace, which he gives to us. It does not mean, for example,

the peace that might be in honor of Christ or in memory of him. It is his peace.

“to which also [kai] you were called in one body”

Along with everything else that has been mentioned

“and be thankful.”

The Scripture never fails to remind us (for good reason!)