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Col. 3:1. So, if you have been raised with Christ, then seek the things that are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God; Col. 3:2. Set your mind on things above, and not on earthly things. Having said: “having been buried with Him,” precisely through baptism, and making it clear about what was silent, that is, that you were resurrected with Him (for baptism depicts both death through immersion in water, and resurrection through rising from water), now he convinces that if you have been resurrected with Christ, then after that you should be on high, where He is, where there are no observations, you should think about heavenly things. For these observations regarding food and days are earthly and physical and have nothing sublime and spiritual; since they are the commandments of earthly people. And he was not content with saying: “the things above” and “where Christ is,” but added: “he sits at the right hand of God,” in order to further deviate our minds from earthly things. Col. 3:3 . For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. On both sides he encourages them not to look for what is here, both from death and from life. You have died, he says, to what is due; why one shouldn’t look for it. Again, your life, he says, is grief; and so be more and more philosophic. The Apostle seeks to show that they remain in grief and live a different life, which is in God and invisible to the eyes of the body. Christ is not; This means that your life has not yet begun in heaven. Therefore, why seek what is visible? By this he prepares them to move immediately to moral teaching. This is his custom: having taught one thing, he moves on to another. This is what he does, for example; in the Epistle to the Corinthians: speaking of those who preceded the meal, he suddenly turned to the betrayal of the mysteries. Col. 3:4. When Christ, your life, appears, then you will appear with Him in glory. At the Second Coming, Christ will appear to everyone as God, coming in glory, with the angels. Now He is so hidden that even His name is condemned. Then you too will appear, and not simply, but “in glory.” Therefore seek that day, and not this: strive for that life. For then true life will come for you. The present life is death, since it consists of decay, of flowing forward and backward. Therefore, do not seek honor and glory here; for there is your glory. The pearl is hidden while it is in the shell, and when the shell is broken, it shines brilliantly. So we, while we are in this corruptible body, must live in secret, aloof from glory. When this perishable thing is destroyed, then our glory will come if we prove worthy of it in our deeds. Col. 3:5. Therefore, mortify your members on the earth: He did not say: cast them away, but: “put them to death,” so that they will not be resurrected. “Earthly members” probably means our bodily members: if they do not contribute to the acquisition of heavenly things, then they are earthly, and if heavenly things are accomplished through them, then they are no longer earthly, just as we are, as it were, unearthly if we do not see or hear anything bad. Perhaps by “earthly members” we mean the sins committed by our bodily members, which remain on earth and immediately perish, while the members of the body, although from the earth, will not remain forever on earth and will not decay, but after the resurrection they will receive incorruption. But why, having said above: you are buried with Christ and have put off the bodies of sinful flesh, now again he says: “put to death”? Because the first mortification was the gift of baptism, which took away the original sin that was in us; and now the proposed mortification is a matter of our will, consisting in atonement for sins that occur after baptism, and moreover in not even allowing them to come to life in us, cutting off their origin through the mortification of carnal wisdom. This is as if someone, having renewed a dirty copper statue and given it shine again, asked the owner of this statue to more thoroughly clean it of rust - not from that which he has already cleaned off, but from that which will appear later. Here he explains what members these are. And first of all he mentions “fornication”, because this passion has the greatest power. Leaves people to talk separately about what is indecent to talk about; and with the words: “impurity” and “passion” makes it possible to see all kinds of shameful mixtures. For truly passion is a frenzy of the body, like a fever, or a wound, or any other disease. Here again he said everything in general; for everything is evil lust. But there is also a good desire, which expresses a desire for God and for divine things, for which Daniel was a man of desires (Dan. 9:23). and covetousness, which is idolatry, The firstborn of evil lust is “covetousness.” He called it idolatry because it is the service of silver and gold. “The idols of the heathen are silver and gold” (Ps. 113:12). Col. 3:6. for which the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, Future wrath often punishes such people even in the present age. “Sons of rebellion” he calls them, depriving them of any leniency, and showing that they are in passions not out of ignorance, but out of stubbornness (εξ απείθειας), to which they have so devoted themselves that they seem to have adopted themselves to it, having received distinctive and characteristic features from it. Col.3:7. in which you also once were converted when you lived among them. This word is not without praise, because now they no longer live in lusts; but there was a time when they lived because they were pagans. Col.3:8. Now you put everything aside: How is this possible? He just said: “they once converted,” showing those that they no longer live like that, and suddenly he says again: put everything aside! How can they put aside what they no longer have? To this we can answer that what was said - “they once addressed” - serves to understand what is now being said. For this suggests that “once upon a time,” that is, before baptism, sin ruled in you, possessed your entire life and tyrannized over you, and freedom from passions was impossible for you; Now, when sin has been put to death in you through baptism, it has become convenient for you to put aside passions like clothing. And you cannot make an excuse that you live under the power of sin and passions: for you died to them. Malice refers to rancor, which some have called bitterness, when someone holds a grudge against another, as if to take revenge. The apostle is talking about abusive speeches. He said expressively: “your lips,” for your lips are sanctified by the communion of the body of the Lord. Therefore, it is extremely inappropriate for you to defile with slander and foul language the lips that receive Christ the Lord. Col. 3:9. don't tell lies to each other You have put on Christ, who said: “I am the truth” (John 14:6). How can you now clothe yourself with another form of clothing, a form of lies? Then it will be obvious that you are throwing off that uniform (like uniform) that characterizes you with the trait of truth. putting off the old man with his deeds Why does he, having called members, body and man, corrupt life, again call the same thing virtuous? To show that freedom in man is more important than essence, that we are called by it rather than by essence. For Scripture calls horses, dogs and foxes those who, of their own free will, have become like these kinds of animals. And it is freedom, not essence, that leads us into Gehenna or the Kingdom of God. So, the corrupted will is called the old man. Therefore, he added: “with deeds,” meaning freedom and its deeds. He called it dilapidated, wanting to show its vileness, ugliness and weakness. Look how he formed the members of the old man: his thought consists of lies, his heart - of rage, his lips - of lies and slander, his eyes and covered members - of fornication, his liver - of evil desires, his hands - of covetousness. Col. 3:10. and having put on the new, which is renewed in knowledge The new man is the will of God, does not grow old, but blossoms and grows more and more in the knowledge of God and divine things, always and always appearing youthful and, however, the more strengthened, the more complete knowledge he acquires and the more he is vouchsafed. "in the image of Him who created him," That is, Christ. Christ did not come into old age, but was always so beautiful that it is impossible to say, “more beautiful than the sons of men” (Ps. 45:3). For he did not commit sin, which ages and corrupts. And we, created by Him in His image, must cut off from ourselves all sinful corruption and aging. The apostle understands creation as both that which occurs in baptism, and that which occurs from a wonderful lifestyle. Col. 3:11. where there is neither Greek nor Jew, That is, a proselyte and a Jew from a noble family. neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. This is another commendable distinction of the new man in Christ, that nothing external is taken into account in him: neither gender, nor dignity, nor ancestors, but that Christ is his distinguishing feature, his character. In all who have been formed in the spirit of a truly virtuous life, everything is Christ, that is, both race and dignity. Or in other words, you can say - you are all one Christ, being His body. Col. 3:12. Therefore clothe yourselves as God's elect, holy and beloved, This word shows the ease of virtue: for just as we easily put on clothes, we can comfortably accept virtue, but we must have virtue constantly, and use it as the greatest adornment: he who does not have it is ugly. Exhortation is combined with praise, and excessive praise. For there were, he says, saints, but not chosen and not beloved, but you have all this. He did not say: clothe yourself with compassion, but “in mercy.” This is in order not to humiliate those who are worthy of pity, but at the same time to show that one must be condescending to them according to one’s inner disposition, not as brothers to brothers, but as fathers to children. So that you do not say that your brother has sinned, the apostle says: I demand from you all-hearted mercy - σπλάγχνα. kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, Whoever has put on, he says, “mercy”, all other virtues appear naturally to him. For what father is not kind-hearted towards his son and does not act humbly, delivering everything to him without dispute? – And notice how beautiful the order is in all this! Goodness generated by mercy gives birth to humility, for he who is kind-hearted is also humble in wisdom. From humility comes meekness, for one is proud and angry. From meekness comes long-suffering, which is generosity. Col. 3:13. bearing with each other and forgiving each other if anyone has a complaint against anyone: Condescending (άνεχόμενοι) - the same as bearing (βασάζοντες) each other - you are him, and he is you. Do not judge each other's shortcomings and failures harshly, but, considering them small things, ignore them. And look how he himself showed their insignificance by calling them a “complaint.” just as Christ forgave you, so do you. Paul, as always, exhorts them by the example of Christ. Above, he showed that mutual shortcomings should be considered insignificant, calling them a “complaint”; but when he cited Christ as an example, he convinces us to forgive everything equally, even important sins, even if we were the benefactors of those who offend us, even if we were great people and they were insignificant. And not only this, but also to die and after death to do good, just as Christ does good to us after death. The conjunction “how” requires precisely this understanding. Col. 3:14. Above all, clothe yourself with love, Since one can please one another not out of pure love, but only out of appearance and hypocritically, he shows the way by which we can achieve true pleasing. Others are both meek and humble-wise, and yet not with love. That’s why he says: “Above all else, put on love.” which is the totality of perfection. Love strengthens all of the above virtues with its presence. When there is no love, everything disappears and in reality there is nothing more than hypocrisy. For just as in a house, if there were no crossbars, usually called connections, or if there were no ligaments in the body, then everything else would be useless: so in the same way love unites everything that contributes to perfection, and without it there is no perfection; although it would seem that whoever has it, it is not perfection at all. Col. 3:15. And may the peace of God rule in your hearts, Often we are offended by someone, and then two thoughts fight within us, one of which encourages us to take revenge, and the other to patience. If the world of God stands in you as a dispenser of rewards, that is, a judge and a giver of bribes, then it gives a reward to the thought that commands you to endure, and the other that makes you fall silent. Therefore, let the peace of God be the dispenser of rewards in you, and not anger, nor strife, nor human peace: for human peace comes from vengeance and retribution. But the peace of God, constant and inviolable, is not concluded for the sake of any worldly good, just as in relation to us the peace of God was concluded not for the sake of any merits, but simply out of mercy and love He destroyed the enmity that existed against us. Why, having reminded him of love, does he again begin to talk about the world? It would seem that this is an unnecessary admonition, since peace already lies in love. Perhaps this is why it is said that a friend often accuses his friend, and because of excessive love, disputes, resentments and clashes often arise. This is not what I want, he says, but with love, have the peace of God, which arranges everything and decides everything. to which you were called in one body, That is, Christ, calling us to peace, made us one body, Himself becoming the Head. For what else are we one body for, if not so that, being members of one body to each other, we keep peace among ourselves and not be divided? Or because you are called to peace, that is, through the world you have been awarded countless blessings. For if we had not been reconciled with God, we would not have been called to be His servants and participants in His benefits. A friend is one who acts in the same way towards his fellow servants as God does towards him. He who confesses the grace of God and thanks God for the remission of his sins will not take revenge on someone who did not justify him, and on the contrary, the one who takes revenge obviously does not remember what a great benefit he himself received in the forgiveness of sins, like the one who received the remission of ten thousand talents and did not want to remit a hundred denarii (Matthew 18:24). So, let us be grateful for everything, no matter what and from whom we suffer, and we will receive the crown of martyrdom. Col. 3:16. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, Shows the way we can be grateful. For if the word of Christ dwells in you, that is, His teaching, dogmas, convictions, with which He taught us to despise real life and the blessings here, then we will not yield to any difficulties, on the contrary, courageously enduring everything, we will be grateful for everything, no matter what happens to us. He didn’t just say: let it be in you, but: “let it dwell” and “abundantly.” If we are rich in the knowledge of the Scriptures, we will endure all misfortunes with indifference, just as a rich man can endure the loss of money. That is, in every virtue. Wisdom calls virtue, just as David calls sin madness: “the fool said in his heart” (Ps. 13:1), and: “My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness” (Ps. 37:6). teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, Since reading requires work and soon tires, he pointed them out not to the stories, but to the psalms, in order to, together with singing, amuse the soul and not notice the work. Following the psalms, he put songs (τους "ύμνους), as something more perfect. Singing psalms is a human thing, but singing songs (ύμνεΐν) is an angelic thing. Instead of the expression: with joy and spiritual pleasure. For just as human songs are intended to provide pleasure, although not spiritual, so divine songs are intended to provide spiritual pleasure. Or: in order to receive from a spiritual gift what they sing. Not just with the lips, but “in the hearts,” that is, with attention. For this means singing to God, whereas that means singing into the air. Otherwise: “in the hearts” – not for show. Even if you are in a shopping area, you can sing to yourself without being heard by anyone. Col. 3:17. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 8 Whether you eat, drink, or go on a journey, do everything in the name of God, that is, call on Him for help, turn to Him first of all with prayers, and thus get down to business. The name of God drives away demons; won’t it also make your labors easier? Or this is what he says: call on the Lord Jesus, and do not bring in angels. giving thanks through Him to God and the Father. If we call on the Son, through Him we also call on the Father. If you thank the Son, through Him you also thank the Father. Or, just as the Son brought us to the Father, so he brings our gratitude to the Father, being a mediator for us in all good things. Col. 3:18. Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Why does Paul command this not in all epistles, but in this one and also in the epistles to the Ephesians, Timothy and Titus? Probably because there were disagreements of this kind in these cities. Or because the Church here was firm, and everything else was good, but they argued about this. In letters to other churches that needed the revelation of higher dogmas, it was necessary to write about these dogmas; there was no need to touch on these same instructions. The Epistle to the Colossians is very similar to the Epistle to the Ephesians in this respect. What does it mean: “in the Lord”? This is put in place of: obey for the Lord's sake. For I demand not only submission by nature (the latter is clear from the words: “as is proper,” that is, as it should be), but mainly for the sake of God. Col. 3:19. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. See how he inspires what is characteristic of each sex: submission to wives, love to husbands. For love is not as required from a subordinate to a superior as from a superior to a subordinate. The wife, due to the fact that she is loved, herself reciprocates with love. When she submits to her husband, she pays him tribute. But since it happens that even in love a person becomes upset (enmity with loved ones can be especially bitter), that’s why he says: “don’t be harsh with them.” For in reality, what happens out of great grief is that another rebels against his member. Col. 3:20 . Children, be obedient to your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. Again he says: “To the Lord” (Κυρίω). The Apostle wants us to do this not by nature alone, but also because it pleases God, so that we receive a reward as those who work for God. Addressing his speech to the children of pious parents, he said: “in everything,” since wicked fathers should not be obeyed in everything; we should not listen to them when they forcefully begin to drag us into their wickedness. Col. 3:21. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, so that they do not lose heart. That is, not everything they do is pursued with bitterness. Others must be ignored so as not to make them contradictory and not subject them to despondency. Look, what wisdom; how he bows the hearts of his parents, and how he draws their wombs, saying: “so that they do not lose heart.” For all fathers care about is that their children do not lose heart. Col. 3:22. Servants, obey in everything your masters according to the flesh, He immediately gives the legal basis for obedience, namely the name of the slave. But, in order not to sadden them, he adds: “to your masters according to the flesh.” For your best, he says, your soul is free; slavery is temporary. Therefore, it is better to subjugate your soul too, so that slavery is voluntary. not in the eyes of only serving them as people-pleasers, Make it so, he says, that slavery as required by the law is slavery out of fear of Christ. For when you faithfully fulfill your duties without the supervision of a master, it is clear that you are fulfilling them in the eyes of God. If you perform only in the presence of the master, then you are a people-pleaser. And by being like this, you will harm yourself: “for God will scatter the bones of people-pleasers” (Ps. 53:6). but in simplicity of heart, fearing God. Fearing God means not doing anything bad even when no one sees us. Simplicity of heart consists in not looking at people. Consequently, a people-pleaser does not act in simplicity of heart. Col. 3:23. And whatever you do, do it from the heart, as for the Lord and not for men, He wants them to be free not only from pretense, but also from carelessness. Or better, instead of slaves, he makes them free, if they do not need supervision from their masters. The expression “from the heart” means to do with goodwill, not with slavish necessity, but freely and voluntarily. Col. 3:24. knowing that you will receive an inheritance as a reward from the Lord, Masters do not often make slaves heirs, even though they have served them immeasurably well. But the Lord will undoubtedly give you an inheritance in heaven as a reward if you maintain goodwill towards the masters. for you serve the Lord Christ. For He established this order and subordination. And that you work for Christ is clear from the fact that He is our rewarder. Col. 3:25. And whoever does wrong will receive according to his unrighteousness; He has no partiality. A slave who acts unfairly towards his master, either by working carelessly or by stealing the master's goods, will receive punishment from God. For God is impartial in order to have mercy on the servant, as the weakest part, when even in the law He commanded not to commit unrighteousness in judgment (Lev. 19:15). Or this: a Christian slave who does not justify his Greek master should not think that he will escape condemnation. For Christ is no respecter of persons, so that his sin against his Greek master should be left to him simply because he is a Christian. However, although, as it seems, the apostle is saying to slaves that there is no partiality with God, masters should accept these words as very suitable for them. The word "Christ" in the text of the blj. Theophylact was omitted. You might be interested in: