All Are Precious in His Site

Red and Yellow; Black and White; We are precious in His site;

Col.3.11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 3:11.

Paul is denouncing the play on having to be of the Greek speaking nation or Jew.

He is doing away with the legal custom of circumcision as the indication of one’s value

Paul is setting the record straight that those who were defined as being barbarian (outside of the culture) or uncivil were not the outcast

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 3

Scythian Like barbarians, Scythians were typically regarded as uncivilized people

Paul clarifies that Christ is All for ALL

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 3

The standard categories of race and social status that normally divide people do not apply to those who are in Christ (compare Gal 3:28)—there is equality.

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 3

This does not mean that Christians cease to have ethnic and social identities; rather, it means that people are not excluded from new life in Christ because of such distinctions. Moreover, these distinctions must not cause divisions in the community of believers.

Col.3.12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 3:12.

God had chosen Israel as his chosen nation ( Deu.14.2; Rm.9.4-5)

English Standard Version Chapter 14

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth

English Standard Version Chapter 9

They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen

this distinction now had been rendered irrelevant in Christ

Paul affirms the Colossian believers as being among God’s chosen people

English Standard Version Chapter 1

giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

Col.3.13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 3:13.

Putting Up With One Another

We must have patience with each other even in the midst of enduring difficult situations

How we respond to hurt is critical

we must forgive one another in times where actions offend or hurt others, just as we experience God’s forgiveness

English Standard Version Chapter 7

Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Col.3.14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 3:14.

Love is the glue that pulls everything together and creates unity

Col.3.15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 3:15.

Paul is commanding the Colossians to express gratitude

it’s gratitude that is the safeguard against grumbling and complaining

Col.3.16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 3:16.

Cling to the gospel message of Christ and His teaching as opposed to human philosophies or traditions that do not align with God’s word

English Standard Version Chapter 2

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ

We are to sing to each other songs using the variety of songs used to worship God.

Col.3.17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 3:17.