Paul instructs believers to set their minds on things above where Christ sits at God's right hand, for they have died and their life is hidden with Christ in God, to be revealed in glory at His appearing. He provides a catalog of vices to mortify (fornication, uncleanness, covetousness as idolatry) and virtues to put on (compassion, kindness, meekness, forbearance, forgiveness, and above all love), with detailed household instructions for wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves, and masters.
Read Colossians Chapter 3 Summary
Original
Characters in This Chapter
Places in This Chapter
Position in Book
Thanksgiving and PrayerChapters 1:1-14
Gratitude for faith, prayer for spiritual wisdom.
Christ's SupremacyChapters 1:15-2:5
Against False TeachingChapters 2:6-23
Complete in Christ, not rules and philosophy.
New LifeChapters 3:1-4:1
Set minds above, put off old self, household duties.
ConclusionChapters 4:2-18
Bible Bites
Written While Paul Was in Chains
Paul wrote Colossians from prison in Rome around AD 60-62, calling himself an ambassador in chains. It's one of four Prison Epistles, along with Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon.
Colossians 4:3A letter to strangers
Paul wrote to the Colossians despite never visiting their church. In Colossians 2:1, he mentions his 'struggle' for those who 'have not seen my face in the flesh,' making this a letter to believers he knew only by report, likely founded by Epaphras.
Colossians 2:1