Section 3:1–17

Behave in ways that please God

Theme: Paul told the Colossians that they should decide to please only God. That is, they should not do evil deeds, they should love one another, they should live peacefully with one another, and they should continually learn more and more about God.

Paragraph 3:1–4

Theme: Paul told the Colossians that they should behave as those who belong to Christ should behave.

3:1a

Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ: This sentence is similar to 2:12b. See the note on that verse.

As in 2:12, you may need to clarify that Paul was using a figure of speech here. He did not mean that the Colossians had been physically raised from the dead. He was saying that they had been given new, spiritual life when they trusted in Christ.

Therefore: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as Therefore indicates that what follows is what Paul wants his readers to do as a result of what he has stated in the previous chapters.

since: See the note on 2:20a. Once again Paul used a Greek word that literally means “if.” However, he was not saying that the Colossians may or may not have been “raised with Christ”; rather, he was stating what he believed to be true.

3:1b

strive for the things above: This is Paul’s main command in this paragraph (3:1–4). He repeated almost the same words in 3:2a.

strive for: This phrase in English comes from one Greek word that means “seek, try to find.” In this context it means, “to strive for, aim at.” It describes truly desiring something. In Greek this verb is in the present tense, so it means “be constantly wanting.”

the things above: This means “things associated with heaven.” However, the things Paul referred to were not objects associated with heaven, but spiritual values associated with heaven that should be demonstrated in the behavior of Christians (such as those listed in 3:12–14).

3:1c

the right hand of God: To sit at the right hand of a ruler is a figure of speech that means to be given the place of greatest honor and power.

These words refer to Psalm 110:1, a verse that is quoted many times in the NT. You need to translate it here like you translated it elsewhere (see Matthew 22:44, Mark 12:36, Luke 20:42, Acts 2:34, Hebrews 1:13). If you keep the figure of speech in your translation, you may need to explain its meaning either in a footnote or by including some implicit information in your translation. For example:

where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power (New Living Translation (2004))

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