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3:1 This brief passage is read on Easter Sunday. Baptism is our participation in the dying and rising of Christ, and this passage speaks about the di erence Christ’s resurrection should make in our lives. It should make all the di erence!
3:12 An ancient part of the baptismal rite is the clothing of the newly- baptized person with a white garment. The new garment represents the new self, the new creation: the old categories no longer apply. The baptized nd their identity in Christ.
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The Triumph of Divine Wisdom by Andrea Sacchi (1559-1661)
CHAPTER 3
a. [3:1] 2:12; Ps 110:1; Phil 3:20; Eph 2:6.
b. [3:3] Rom 6:2–5.
c. [3:5] Mt 15:19; Rom 1:29–30;
Gal 5:19–21; Eph 5:3, 5.
d. [3:6] Rom 1:18.
e. [3:8] Eph 4:22, 25, 31.
f. [3:9] Rom 6:4, 6; Eph 4:22–25;
Heb 12:1; 1 Pt 2:1; 4:2.
g. [3:10] Gn 1:26–27.
h. [3:11] 1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:27–28.
i. [3:12] Eph 4:1–2, 32;
1 Thes 5:15.
j. [3:13] Mt 6:14; 18:21–35;
Eph 4:32.
k. [3:14] Rom 13:8–10.
COLOSSIANS 
IV. THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN LIFE IN THE WORLD
3Mystical Death and Resurrection.*
1If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where
a2
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above,
not of what is on earth. 3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.b 4When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.
Renunciation of Vice.* 5Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:c immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.* 6Because of these the wrath of God* is coming [upon the disobedient].d 7By these you too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way. 8But now you must put them all away:* anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your
mouths.e 9Stop lying to one another, since you have taken o the old self with its practicesf 10* and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.g 11Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,* slave, free; but Christ is all and in all.h
12Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,i 13bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.j 14And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.k 15And
* [3:1–4] By retaining the message of the gospel that the risen, living Christ is the source of their salvation, the Colossians will be free from false religious evaluations of the things of the world (Col 3:1–2). They have died to these; but one day when Christ. . .appears, they will live with Christ in the presence of God (Col 3:3–4).
* [3:5–17] In lieu of false asceticism and superstitious festivals, the apostle reminds the Colossians of the moral life that is to characterize their response to God through Christ. He urges their participation in the liturgical hymns and prayers that center upon God’s plan of salvation in Christ (Col 3:16).
* [3:5, 8] The two lists of ve vices each are similar to enumerations at Rom 1:29–31 and Gal 5:19–21.
* [3:6] The wrath of God: see note on Rom 1:18. Many manuscripts add, as at Eph 5:6, “upon the disobedient.”
* [3:8–10] Put. . .away; have taken o ; have put on: the terms may re ect baptismal practice, taking o garments and putting on new ones after being united with Christ, here translated into ethical terms.
* [3:10] Image: see note on Col 1:15.
* [3:11] Scythian: a barbarous people from north of the Black Sea.