Colossians 3


Colossians 3 is the third chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Traditionally, it is believed to be written for the church in Colossae by Apostle Paul, with Timothy as his co-author, while he was in prison in Ephesus, although there were debatable charges that it is the work of a secondary imitator or that it was written in Rome. This chapter contains the advice how Paul wants the Colossians to live.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 25 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
Paul reminds the people that they are "no longer 'belong to the world', but in intimate union with Christ.

Verse 10

As in the Epistle to the Ephesians, the instructions to slaves are longer than to masters, because they concern not only Christian household slaves, but also slaves working outside households and slaves of non-Christian masters. A model on the "mutual responsibilities of slaves and masters within the Christian fellowship" can be viewed in the Epistle to Philemon, where the slaves and masters are brothers in Christ. Slaves to non-Christian masters should work more faithfully, because they are above all the servants of Christ, committed to please him, not the masters, or not fear the earthly masters but in reverence for Christ as the heavenly master, and therefore linking the quality of their service to the reputation of Christ or Christianity.

Verse 23