Verses Col. 1:1-4 imply that with Christ we have one position, one life, one living, one destiny, and one glory.

This is the raising aspect of baptism, which is altogether contrary to asceticism. We were raised together with Christ. We are now where Christ is, sitting in the heavens. Hence, in contrast to the ascetics, we should not practice the things on the earth. We should seek the things that are in the heavens, such as knowing Christ as everything to us, so that we take Him as life and thereby walk in Him.

I.e., in the heavens; in contrast to on the earth in v. 2. The heavens are linked to Christ and joined to the church. The things above include the ascended Christ and all things pertaining to Him. Therefore, to seek the things above is to seek to live Christ in and with the church.

The things on the earth include culture, religion, philosophy, and improvement in behavior, as spoken of in the preceding two chapters.

We died with Christ and so were set free from the things on the earth, especially things related to asceticism. We were baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3).

Because our life (not our natural life, but our spiritual life, which is Christ) is hidden with Christ in God, who is in the heavens, we should no longer be concerned for things on the earth. God in the heavens should be the sphere of our living. With Christ we should live in God.

That our life is hidden with Christ in God means that it is hidden with Christ in the heavens.

That Christ is our life is a strong indication that we are to take Him as life and live by Him, that we are to live Him in our daily life in order to experience the universally extensive Christ revealed in this book, so that all He is and has attained and obtained will not remain objective but will become our subjective experience.

In God, Christ is our life. This life is now hidden but will be manifested. Then we will be manifested with this life in glory.

In Col. 2:20-23; 3:1-4 the unique way and the unique person are revealed to us. The unique way is the cross, the center of God's government, and the unique person is Christ, the preeminent, all-inclusive One, the center of the universe. By the cross, not by asceticism, we were saved from the negative things. By Christ, not by philosophy, we live the life hidden in God.

Christ, who is our life, is the allotted portion of the saints (Col. 1:12), the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), the Firstborn of all creation (1:15), the Firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18), the One in whom God's fullness dwells (Col. 1:19; 2:9), the mystery of God's economy (Col. 1:26), the mystery of God (Col. 2:2), the reality of all positive things (Col. 2:16-17), and the constituent of the new man (vv. 10-11). By taking such an all-inclusive Christ as life and thus living Him, we experience and enjoy all His riches.

This is based on the fact that we have been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20a) and baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3). We execute Christ's death upon our sinful members by crucifying them, by faith, through the power of the Spirit (Rom. 8:13). This corresponds with Gal. 5:24. Christ accomplished the all-inclusive crucifixion. Now we apply it to our lustful flesh. This is absolutely different from asceticism.

In our sinful members is the law of sin, making us captives of sin and causing our corrupted body to become the body of death (Rom. 7:23-24). Hence, our members, which are sinful, are identified with sinful things, such as fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and greediness.

Putting off the old man is like putting off an old garment. First, we put to death the physical lusts, then we put away the psychological evils, and last, we put off the entire old man with his practices. This is not by our own energy but by the power of the all-inclusive Spirit.

See note Eph. 4:22^4b.

Putting on the new man is like putting on a new garment.

The Greek word here means new in relation to time, whereas the word in Eph. 4:24 means new in nature, quality, or form. Concerning the new man, see note Eph. 4:24^2b, par. 1. Since Christ is the constituent of the new man, we, who are the new man, are one with Christ. This is the most basic and crucial point in this book.

Because the new man was created with us, who belong to the old creation (Eph. 2:15), as his constituents, he needs to be renewed. This renewing takes place mainly in our mind, as indicated by the phrase unto full knowledge. The new man was created in our spirit and is being renewed in our mind unto full knowledge according to the image of Christ.

Referring to the image of Christ as the very expression of God (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3a).

Referring to Christ the Creator, who created the new man in Himself (Eph. 2:15).

Where, referring to the new man in v. 10, means in the new man.

Not only is there no natural person in the new man, but there is no possibility and no room for any natural person to exist.

The Greeks favored philosophical wisdom; the Jews, miraculous signs (1 Cor. 1:22).

Circumcision here refers to those who observed the Jewish religious rituals; uncircumcision, to those who did not care for the Jewish religion.

A barbarian is an uncultured person.

Scythians were considered the most barbarous.

One who has been sold into slavery.

One who has been freed from slavery.

In the new man there is room only for Christ. He is all the members of the new man and in all the members. He is everything in the new man. Actually, He is the new man, His Body (1 Cor. 12:12). In the new man He is the centrality and universality. He is the constituent of the new man, and He is all in all in the new man.

All refers to all the members who constitute the new man.

Put on here is in the sense of putting on a garment.

To be holy means to be not common or worldly but separated unto God. See note Col. 1:2^1a.

Lit., yourselves.

The forgiving Lord is our life and lives within us; forgiving is a virtue of His life. When we take Him as our life and person and live by Him, our forgiving of others will be spontaneous — it will become a virtue of our Christian life.

God is love (1 John 4:16). Love is the very essence of God's being, the very substance of the divine life. Hence, to put on love is to clothe ourselves with the element of God's life. Such a love is the uniting bond in the combination of perfectness, completeness, and mature virtues. We need to put on not only the new man (v. 10) but also the virtues of the new man (v. 12), and to put on love over all the virtues (v. 14).

Or, completeness.

The peace of Christ is Christ Himself. By this peace Christ has made the two peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles, one new man, and this peace has become a part of the gospel (Eph. 2:14-18). We should let this peace arbitrate in our hearts for the Body life.

Or, umpire, preside, be enthroned as a ruler and decider of everything. The arbitrating peace of Christ in our hearts dissolves the complaint mentioned in v. 13.

Which refers to the peace of Christ. We were called to this peace in the one Body of Christ. For the proper Body life we need the peace of Christ to arbitrate, to adjust, and to decide all things in our heart in our relationship with the members of His Body.

That we were called to the peace of Christ should also be a motive for our letting this peace arbitrate in our hearts.

We not only should let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts, but we also should be thankful to the Lord. In the Body life our heart should always be in a peaceful condition toward the members and should be thankful to the Lord.

The word spoken by Christ. In His New Testament economy God speaks in the Son, and the Son speaks not only by Himself in the Gospels but also through His members, the apostles and prophets, in Acts, in the Epistles, and in Revelation. All these speakings can be considered His word.

In this passage the infilling of spiritual life that overflows in praising and singing is related to the word, whereas in the parallel passage, Eph. 5:18-20, the infilling of spiritual life is related to the Spirit. This indicates that the word is the Spirit (John 6:63b). A normal Christian life should be one that is filled with the word, that the Spirit may bubble over with praise and lauding melodies from within the believers.

This book is focused on Christ as our Head and life. The way for Him to exercise His Headship and minister His riches to us is through His word. Hence, the emphasis is on the word of Christ. Ephesians is concerned with the church as the Body of Christ. The way for us to live a normal church life is to be filled in our spirit unto all the fullness of God. Hence, the Spirit is emphasized. In Ephesians both the Holy Spirit and our spirit are emphasized again and again; the word is even considered to be the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). However, in this book each of the two spirits is mentioned only once (Col. 1:8; 2:5). In Ephesians the word is for washing away our natural life (Eph. 5:26) and fighting against the enemy (Eph. 6:17), whereas in this book the word is for revealing Christ (Col. 1:25-27) in His preeminence, centrality, and universality.

Lit., to be in a house, to indwell, to inhabit. The word of the Lord must have adequate room within us that it may operate and minister the riches of Christ into our inner being.

The riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8) are in His word. Such a rich word must inhabit us richly.

The phrase in all wisdom may also be placed so as to modify teaching and admonishing.

Teaching and admonishing and singing modify the verb dwell. This indicates that the way to let the Lord's word dwell in us richly is by teaching, admonishing, and singing.

Lit., yourselves.

We should teach and admonish not only with words but also with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Teaching and admonishing and singing modify the verb dwell. This indicates that the way to let the Lord's word dwell in us richly is by teaching, admonishing, and singing.

See note John 1:14^6d and note John 1:17^1a.

The name denotes the person. The Lord's person is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17a). To do things in the name of the Lord is to act in the Spirit. This is to live Christ.

The section from this verse through Col. 4:1 is a sister passage to Eph. 5:22-33; 6:1-9, regarding the believers' ethical relationships. In Ephesians the emphasis is on the need of having spirit-filled ethical relationships for the expression of the Body of Christ in the normal church life. In Colossians the emphasis is on our holding Christ as our Head and taking Him as our life by having His rich word dwell in us, that the highest ethical relationships, issuing not from our natural life but from Christ as our life, may be realized for His expression.

For each point in this passage, see the appropriate note in Ephesians.

This point is not made as clear in Eph. 6:8 as it is here. The inheritance here is what the believers will inherit (Rom. 8:17; Acts 26:18; 1 Pet. 1:4). The inheritance as recompense indicates that the Lord uses the inheritance that He will give to His believers as an incentive for them to be faithful in their service to Him. The unfaithful ones will surely miss this recompense (Matt. 24:45-51; 25:20-29).

Lit., serve as a slave.