1. _Fellowship with the Exalted Christ the Motive for the New Life._ This section is closely joined in thought with what precedes; hence some regard it as the conclusion of the polemical portion of the Epistle. But it is better to take it as the beginning of the hortatory part. Fellowship with the... [ Continue Reading ]
III. HORTATORY PART: LIVE AS THOSE SHOULD LIVE WHO WERE RAISED WITH CHRIST THE HEAD. (1.) Fellowship with the Exalted Christ the motive for the new life; Colossians 3:1-4. (Transitive paragraph.) (2.) General exhortations; Colossians 3:5-17. (Negative, Colossians 3:5-11; and positive, Colossians 3... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:1. If, as in chap. Colossians 2:20, sets forth a fact, since then deduces an inference. The same fact has been presented in chap. Colossians 2:12. WERE RAISED TOGETHER; the passive implies God's agency, which is not suggested by the E. V. (‘be risen'). The past tense points to the time... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:2. SET YOUR MIND (not, ‘affection'), etc. ‘Seek' pointed to the outward conduct, this carries the injunction to the inward thought and controlling desire. Lightfoot: ‘You must not only _seek_ heaven; you must also _think_ heaven.' THE THINGS THAT ARE ON THE EARTH. Comp. Philippians 3:1... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:4. WHEN CHRIST, WHO IS OUR LIFE. The evidence in favor of the reading ‘your' is strong (including that of Aleph, C, the best cursives, and the Vulgate), but is scarcely decisive against the Vatican manuscript and other weighty authorities. ‘Your' might have been taken from the preceding... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:5. PUT TO DEATH. The term is stronger than that usually thus rendered; but ‘mortify' is misleading, and ‘make dead' is awkward. Kill once for all, is the thought of the original, and the command is an inference, THEREFORE, from Colossians 3:1; Colossians 3:3. YOUR MEMBERS. This distri... [ Continue Reading ]
2. _General Exhortations_. We find here, though in much briefer form, substantially the same exhortations contained in Ephesians 4:17 to Ephesians 5:21. The section may be thus divided: (1.) Negative precepts, answering to the fact that they died with Christ (Colossians 3:5-11), concerning earthly... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:6. FOR WHICH THINGS' SAKE; ‘on account of which sins;' THE WRATH OF GOD COMETH, etc. Comp. Ephesians 5:6. The clause: ON THE SONS (not, ‘children') OF DISOBEDIENCE is not found in the Vatican manuscript, and some versions omit it. The suspicion of an insertion from Ephesians 5:6 is agai... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:7. AMONG WHOM, or, ‘in which.' The former rendering is preferable, if the longer reading be retained in Colossians 3:6: among these sons of disobedience. Comp. Ephesians 2:2-3, where similar expressions occur, and the same general thought ‘In which' would point to the sins enumerated (C... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:8. BUT NOW, in contrast with ‘once' (Colossians 3:7), ye also, as well as other Christians, put off, as garments are put off (not the same word as in Colossians 3:9, but found in Ephesians 4:22; Ephesians 4:25), all these, ‘the whole of them,' including the sins named in Colossians 3:5,... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:9. LIE NOT ONE TO ANOTHER. Comp. Ephesians 4:25. The practice of lying is referred to. SEEING THAT YE HAVE PUT OFF, etc. This participle (‘having put off') and that in Colossians 3:10 give the motive for the preceding precepts, pointing to a single act (once for all) which occurred in... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:10. AND HAVE PUT ON THE NEW MAN. This is coincident in time with the ‘putting off,' but in the workings of grace ‘the initiative is with the new man and in virtue of the Divine power creating him' (Braune). ‘New' is here, young, fresh; in Ephesians 4:24 the idea is that of newness. But... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:11. WHERE, in the region of the new creation, in contrast with that in which the old man dwelt, there is not (‘not only does the distinction not exist, but it _cannot_ exist;' Lightfoot) GREEK AND JEW, no division as respects nationality, CIRCUMCISION AND UNCIRCUMCISION, AS respects rel... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:12. PUT ON THEREFORE. Thus the positive precepts are introduced; ‘therefore' points to Colossians 3:10. ‘For although the putting on of the new man as a fact, _has_ historically occurred through the conversion to Christ, yet it has, according to the nature of the new man, its continued... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:13. FORBEARING ONE ANOTHER, AND FORGIVING EACH OTHER. The pronouns are different, as in Ephesians 4:32; the latter marking more strongly the relation of Christians as members of Christ. On ‘forbearing,' see Ephesians 4:2. If (as is probable) a NY MAN HAVE A COMPLAINT (a cause of blame)... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:14. AND (or, ‘but;' the same being slightly in contrast with what precedes) ABOVE ILL THESE THINGS. Not simply ‘in addition to,' nor ‘above all,' in the colloquial sense, but ‘over' as one puts on an outer garment or girdle, this figure being still in mind. Hence the E. V. properly supp... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:15. AND LET THE PEACE OF CHRIST RULE IN YOUR HEARTS. The word ‘rule' is more exactly: ‘act as umpire,' a figure borrowed from the Grecian games. In Philippians 4:7, ‘the peace of God' occurs, and this passage was probably altered to conform. The idea is, however, substantially the same.... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:16. LET THE WORD OF CHRIST DWELL IN YOU RICHLY. (The most ancient authorities vary here; but ‘Christ' is well sustained.) ‘The word of Christ' is the word which Christ has spoken, or caused to be proclaimed. For us the record of this ‘word' is in the New Testament ‘In you,' not, ‘among... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:17. AND WHATSOEVER YE DO, etc. This verse may be regarded as summing up all the preceding exhortations, or as a third manifestation of the indwelling of the word of Christ, or, better still, as an advance in thought: not only let His word dwell in you, but let your whole conduct find in... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:18. WIVES, SUBMIT YOURSELVES, etc. (The word ‘own' is to be omitted; it was inserted to conform with the parallel passage.) Comp. the similar exhortation, with the basis of it, in Ephesians 5:22-24: ‘The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the Head of the Church.' The Bib... [ Continue Reading ]
3. _Special Precepts as to Household Relations._ This section agrees, not only in outline, but in detail, with the corresponding passage in Ephesians. The arrangement is identical, the precepts and motives in the main the same. Here, however, the relation of wife and husband is not enlarged upon, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:19. HUSBANDS, LOVE YOUR WIVES. (The word ‘your' is supplied several times in this section; it represents the Greek article with its possessive force; hence the italics of the E. V. are unnecessary.) ‘Even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it' (Ephesians 5:25). This e... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:20. CHILDREN, OBEY YOUR PARENTS. ‘ Obey' is stronger than ‘submit' (Colossians 3:18); the wife is to be consulted, her wishes considered; but children should ‘obey.' whether they know the reasons for the command or not. In their earliest years children learn respecting God from their re... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:21. FATHERS; as representing the ultimate household authority, and hence as especially needing this caution. PROVOKE NOT YOUR CHILDREN; or, ‘do not irritate your children.' ‘To anger' is an unnecessary addition; the term used in Ephesians is different. Severe, unjust, capricious treat... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:22. SERVANTS, lit., ‘bondmen,' slaves. See Ephesians 6:5-6. In all things. Peculiar to this passage. Here, as in Colossians 3:20, it states the general rule; the limitations arise from the modifications of the relation, but chiefly from the superior commands of God. HASTEN ACCORDING... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:23. WHATSOEVER, however small, ye do, in this relation, WORK FROM THE HEART ‘Do it' is inexact; the same word is not repeated. ‘From the heart,' or, ‘soul,' is equivalent to ‘heartily,' but should be rendered in correspondence with Ephesians 6:6. ‘With good heart, not from servile neces... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:24. KNOWING. Or, ‘seeing that ye know.' The motive which has been alluded to through-out is plainly stated. That from the Lord, _i.e.,_ from Christ, the true Master of the Christian. YE SHALL RECEIVE THE RECOMPENSE. Not pay or reward, but that which is a compensation for the present... [ Continue Reading ]
Colossians 3:25. FOR (so the best authorities) introduces a proof of the preceding clause: either that they ought to serve Christ, or that the service is Christ's, according to the view taken of that clause. HE THAT DOETH WRONG, etc. The general principle is: ‘whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he... [ Continue Reading ]