Colossians 3:14

Colossians 3 opens with believers who are risen with Christ and are told to set their affection on things above, because their life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1–2, 3:1–4, 3:3). Paul then tells them to put to death and put off the old way of life: sexual immorality, impurity and covetousness, then anger, malice and lying (Colossians 3:5–9, 3:5–11, 3:8, 3:8–9). They have “put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him”, a renewal in which ethnic and social lines lose their power to divide (Colossians 3:10, 3:10–11). “Put on therefore” follows from all of that. The “therefore” (oûn) draws the conclusion, and the verb endýō, from en and dýnō, means to invest with clothing. It is the opposite of the “put off” of verses 8 and 9, so here is what goes on in place of what came off. The Greek is an aorist imperative, a clear command, and the picture of clothing means these qualities are meant to be seen by others as plainly as a coat.

The reason for the command comes first, in three titles God has given his people. They are “the elect of God”: eklektós, from eklégomai, means chosen or selected, and by implication a favourite. They are “holy” (hágios), set apart as his own for his purposes. And they are “beloved”, the word built on agapáō, loved by God. These are a standing already given. Believers dress this way because God has already chosen them, and the virtues flow out of who he has declared them to be. Peter calls God’s people “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9), and the purpose there is to show forth God’s praises. A believer who has been treated this way by God has every reason to treat others the same way.

Colossae was a city in Phrygia in Asia Minor, in the Lycus Valley, and by Paul’s day a fairly small town next to Laodicea and Hierapolis (Colossians 4:13). The church there was troubled by a teaching that mixed human philosophy (Colossians 2:8) with rules about food and festivals (Colossians 2:16), the worship of angels and a “voluntary humility” (Colossians 2:18), and harsh treatment of the body (Colossians 2:23). Teaching of that kind tends to breed pride and to neglect how people live. Paul answers with a change of heart that shows in the way believers treat each other. Every quality in this list has to do with other people, and together they make for peace and unity in the church.

Verse 12’s sentence runs straight on into verse 13. “Forbearing” and “forgiving” are participles that hang on “Put on” and carry its force, so they show what the clothes look like between believers. Ephesians says it in nearly the same words: “be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).

“Forbearing” is anéchomai, from aná (up) and échō (to hold), literally “to hold oneself up against”. It means to put up with another person’s faults, annoyances and shortcomings, choosing to bear with them where we might react on impulse. Ephesians uses it in the same way (Ephesians 4:2).

“Forgiving” is charízomai, related to charis, grace. It means to grant as a favour, to give freely, to pardon at no cost to the one forgiven. Forgiveness of this kind actively lets go of resentment, cancels the debt and restores the relationship. Paul uses this same verb for what Christ did and for what believers are to do.

Verse 14 has no new verb. “Put on” from verse 12 (endýsasthe) carries over, so love is one more garment, and it is worn over all the rest. “Charity” in the KJV means love, the Greek agápē, from agapáō. It is love as a deliberate act of the will, seeking the good of another whether or not they deserve it. It is the love God shows us and commands us to show, because “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

Love is “the bond of perfectness”. “Bond” is sýndesmos, from sýn (together) and desmón (a band or chain), a joint tie or ligament. Earlier in this letter Paul uses it of the “joints and bands” that hold a body together (Colossians 2:19), and in Ephesians he speaks of “the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). “Perfectness” is teleiótēs, from téleios, complete or mature. It means completeness and maturity, something fully grown into what it was meant to be. The qualities of verses 12 and 13 are each good, and love is what joins them into one whole life. Patience held apart from love can grow cold, and kindness can sit beside resentment, so love keeps every other virtue healthy and rooted in real care. Paul has already prayed for the Colossians’ hearts to be “knit together in love” (Colossians 2:2), so love binds the church together as well, keeping its many members one body (Ephesians 4:1–3).

Scripture gives love this same first place elsewhere. Peter writes, “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves” (1 Peter 4:8). Paul ends his great chapter with “the greatest of these is charity” (1 Corinthians 13:13) and calls love the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:10). Jesus said that all men would know his disciples by their love for one another (John 13:35). And Ephesians tells us where to look for the pattern: “walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us” (Ephesians 5:2).

“Rule” in verse 15 is brabeúō, which comes from the same root as brabeîon, the prize. It means to arbitrate or govern, and it comes from the games, where the umpire presided over the contest and awarded the prize. The verb occurs only here in the New Testament, and its compound katabrabeúō stands in Colossians 2:18: “Let no man beguile you of your reward.” So the peace of God is to make the call in our hearts. When feelings pull in different directions, with anger on one side and forgiveness on the other, peace decides. Coming right after verses 13 and 14, the quarrels and grievances are the very things it settles. “Hearts” here means the whole inner person, with its thoughts, feelings, will and conscience.

“Peace” is eirḗnē, probably from a verb meaning to join. It means wholeness, well-being, quietness and rest, inward and outward. It is the peace of God “which passeth all understanding”, which keeps “your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7), and the peace Jesus gives: “my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you” (John 14:27). It begins with peace with God. Christ “is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14), who broke down the wall between Jew and Gentile and reconciled both to God by his cross (Ephesians 2:16).

The one command in verse 16 is “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. Everything after it, the teaching, the admonishing and the singing, describes what happens when the word lives in a church. The “you” is plural, so Paul is speaking to the church as a body.

“The word of Christ” (ho logos tou Christou) is the gospel message about him, his life, death, resurrection and reign, together with his own teaching and the apostles’ teaching of his saving work. It is living and powerful (Hebrews 4:12), and it stands against the “philosophy and vain deceit” Paul warned of (Colossians 2:8). Christ is himself the Word (John 1:1), the one by whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together (Colossians 1:16–17), whom the letter exalts over all creation (Colossians 1:15–20). For his word to dwell in us is for Christ himself to live in us by his Spirit, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

“Dwell” is enoikéō, from en (in) and oikéō (to inhabit). It means to live in a place as one’s home and settle there for good, which is far more than a visit now and then. “Richly” is plousíōs, copiously or abundantly. The psalmist shows the same love for the word: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). “In all wisdom” means the word is lived out wisely, as practical, godly insight that leads to good conduct, and all such wisdom is found in Christ, “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

Paul closes this part of the letter with a rule that covers the whole of life. “Whatsoever ye do” leaves nothing out, and “word or deed” puts speech (lógos) and action (érgon) together to mean everything a believer says and does, in public or in private, large or small. “Do” is poiéō, a verb of the widest use, taking in every kind of activity.

“Name” is ónoma, which stands for a person’s authority and character as well as what they are called. To do something “in the name of the Lord Jesus” is to do it under his authority, as one who belongs to him and represents him, in a way that fits his character and brings him honour, much as a diplomat acts in the name of his country. It means we could honestly say we are doing this by his authority and for him. Paul says the same from another side: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord (Romans 14:8). Against a teaching that offered other mediators and extra rituals, this verse puts every part of life under Christ alone, in whom believers are already complete (Colossians 2:9–10).

“Giving thanks to God and the Father by him” brings thanks in once more. “Giving thanks” is eucharistéō, to be grateful and to say so, and the word is used especially of saying grace at a meal. “God and the Father” means God who is the Father, the source of every blessing. “By him” (diá, through, with autós, him) means that Jesus is the one through whom our thanks reach the Father. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually” (Hebrews 13:15), “giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). He “ever liveth to make intercession” for us (Hebrews 7:25), so our thanks and our work are welcome to the Father through him. Here the whole of God is at work in the believer’s life: good gifts come from the Father, through the Son, and the Spirit grows thankfulness in us.

Every garment in this passage was first worn by Christ. He is God’s chosen one, of whom the Father says, “mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth” (Isaiah 42:1), and his beloved Son (Matthew 3:17). He was moved with compassion for the crowds, who were like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36, Mark 6:34). His kindness welcomed sinners and ate with them (Luke 15:1–2). His humility took him from the form of God to the form of a servant and to the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5–8). He said, “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29), and when he suffered he committed himself to the Father without retaliation (1 Peter 2:23). Paul says Christ showed “all longsuffering” in saving him (1 Timothy 1:16), and Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him (Hebrews 12:2).

He bore with his disciples’ slowness and failures right up to the night they all forsook him and fled (Luke 22:47–53, Mark 14:50). He forgave from the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). He made peace by the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:20), and he showed the greatest love, laying down his life for his friends (John 15:13), before telling us to love one another as he loved us (John 13:34). He also lived out verse 17 before he asked it of us, doing every word and work by his Father’s authority and in obedience to him. “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30). “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10). So putting on these virtues is sharing in his own life. The Spirit is changing us into the same image (2 Corinthians 3:18).

These clothes are put on again every morning. Before a conversation that may go badly, we can put on patience and gentleness first, remembering what God has already called us: chosen, holy and beloved. When someone has wronged us, we can remember how much Christ has forgiven us, and the small things, the habits and slights that test our patience daily, are where we practise. When we are patient but cold, or kind but resentful, the missing piece is love, which asks what it would mean to care for the person in front of us.

When you are torn over how to answer someone, ask which choice leaves you at peace with God and with them, and follow it, and then thank God for what he has given you, however small. Hear and read Scripture often enough that it shapes how you answer people, and sing with others, letting the words sink in. And we can do an ordinary task or conversation as his servants and in his name, and thank the Father for it afterwards through Christ, whether it went well or badly.