Colossians 3:12

This verse and Colossians 3:13 are parallel to Ephesians 4:2; Ephesians 4:32. The ethical consequences of having put on the new man are now drawn out in detail. ἐνδύσασθε οὖν : not since Christ has become all and in all to you (Lightf.), but since you have put on the new man. ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ : i.e., as conformity to your position as God's elect demands. The election is God's choice of them in Christ before creation (Ephesians 1:4). ἅγιοι καὶ ἠγαπημένοι qualify ἐκλ., and are not vocatives. ἠλ. means, as elsewhere in N.T., beloved of God; he is speaking of their position as Christians. σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ : “a heart of compassion,” the σπλ. being regarded as the seat of emotion. χρηστότητα : almost “sweetness of disposition”. It is opposed to “severity” (of God) in Romans 11:22. ταπεινοφροσύνην, πραΰτητα : both virtues towards fellow-men, and quite different from ταπ. in Colossians 2:18. Neither has reference to man's relation to God. Each is a specifically Christian virtue.