Colossians 3:11, commentary and pictures

In the new person renewed in knowledge after the image of the Creator, earthly divisions cease because Christ is all and present in all. Neither ancestry, nationality, religious standing, culture, nor social position defines, divides, or determines worth or place in God's family. Jew and Gentile, free and enslaved, black and white stand equal before God in one brotherhood without caste, redeemed by the same spotless blood. Christ is everything to His people, the source of all strength, righteousness, and life, so self with its pride and selfishness must die that He may be enthroned in the heart and fill every part of life now as He will in eternity. Those in whom He dwells have died to the old life at conversion and are raised to newness of life, putting off anger, impurity, and deceit and putting on mercy, kindness, humility, patience, forgiveness, and love as the bond of perfectness.

Setting in Colossians

In the renewed life the new person is remade in knowledge after the image of the Creator, and in that renewal earthly divisions of ethnicity, nationality, religious standing of circumcision or uncircumcision, culture as Barbarian or Scythian, and social condition as bond or free cease to define, divide, or determine people, because Christ is everything and is present in all. This unity belongs to those who have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man, and it is lived out by putting away sin and putting on mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness even as Christ forgave, and above all love as the bond of perfectness, living together in peace as one body under Christ. At conversion self dies and a new life of heavenly origin is imparted, the old sinful self-indulgent character dies, purposes are changed, and no thread of selfishness is drawn into the pattern of life, with the principles of the new life brought into daily experience as each seeks a place in the Lord's work.

The verse belongs to those risen with Christ who seek the things above where Christ sits at the right hand of God, set affection on things above and not on things on earth, are dead with life hid with Christ in God, and will appear with Him in glory. It is a practical truth for every baptized believer who has died to the world and risen with Christ, pressing the need for the transforming power of grace upon heart and character. Those so risen discern and guard weak points of character and receive pledged power, grace, and wisdom from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to stand as victors when tempted to deny Christ.

It belongs also to those who have put off anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of the mouth, and lying with the old man. It calls for mortifying earthly members — fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, and covetousness which is idolatry — because the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience for these things. Color of skin does not determine character, for God judges work without favoritism and all are redeemed not by silver and gold but by spotless blood, so the new life is proved by purifying the soul in obedience to truth and loving one another with a pure heart fervently.

This change takes place at conversion and baptism, when believers are buried with Christ and raised in the likeness of His resurrection to live in newness of life, displaying the changed character and conduct of those entered into covenant with God. Self dies, the old character dies, purposes are changed, selfishness is removed, and heavenly life is imparted for daily experience.

Its words are straight, plain, and unvarnished warning, given so the unwary need not walk into the trap Satan has placed. Those who desire to be like Christ are to pray in faith, watch unto prayer, guard weak points, and then believing sing songs of praise and thanksgiving.

Distinctions Abolished in Christ

In the renewed life formed after the image of the Creator, divisions of ethnicity and nationality, of religious standing as circumcision or uncircumcision, of culture as Barbarian or Scythian, and of social position as bond or free do not define persons, divide them, or determine standing, worth, or place in God's family. This removal of national, religious, cultural, and social distinctions belongs to the new person renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him, where Christ is all and is in all. It is the condition of those who have put off the old man with his deeds — anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication, and lying — and have put on the new man, taking place at conversion when self dies, the old sinful self-indulgent character dies, a new life of heavenly origin is imparted, purposes are changed, and no thread of selfishness is drawn into the pattern of life. Those risen with Christ in this unity seek things above where Christ sits at the right hand of God, set affection on things above, are dead with life hid with Christ in God, and will appear with Him in glory. Its words are straight, plain, and unvarnished warning to keep the unwary from Satan's trap, calling those who desire to be like Christ to pray in faith, watch unto prayer, guard weak points of character, and then believing to sing songs of praise and thanksgiving.

This shared life is expressed by putting away sin and putting on as God's elect mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness even as Christ forgave, and above all love as the bond of perfectness, living together in peace as one body under Christ with every man seeking his place in the Lord's work. The same abolition of distinction reaches into the household and the workplace, so that parents and children, masters and servants, and employers and workers are not divided by status but stand together in Christ. Jews and Gentiles have equal standing as children of Abraham, with the gospel releasing Jews from the rites of the ceremonial law and admitting Gentiles to the same privileges. God gives His gifts to all who seek Him wholeheartedly without distinction between circumcised and uncircumcised, Jew and Gentile, or people of different nations and social conditions, including Barbarians, Scythians, and those enslaved or free, and no unnecessary burdens are to be imposed on Gentile Christians.

Christ's death is a call for all without distinction to come — Jew and Gentile, Barbarian and Scythian, bond and free, hopeless, helpless, and perishing. That universality was proclaimed by the superscription placed above the cross by the Lord's arrangement, written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. By His death He made the power of Satan of none effect and destroyed him that had the power of death, opening a way where mercy and truth meet together and righteousness and peace kiss each other, and perfecting forever them that are sanctified. Truth is all and in all for this time, and the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth must work in minds for people to understand Scripture.

Christ All in All

Christ is everything and is present in all His people, the first and the last, and the true bond joining every true child of God together beyond the named distinctions. This is the basis for preserving unity, for God makes His people honorable when they die to self and their hearts are prepared to receive the holy oil so that He may be all and in all. Every victory comes through His grace, so believers should make Him known to those around them and lift Him up.

In himself man is nothing, and entire dependence upon Jesus Christ as the Source of strength is required. Ignorance is to be united to His wisdom, weakness to His strength, imperfections to His merits, and frailty to His enduring might. Upon His merits reliance is placed, and through His merits access to the heavenly Father is given, bringing close connection with heaven. To know this is to hide in Christ, wear His yoke and learn of Him, giving up self-sufficiency, conceit, drawing minds to self, unsanctified capabilities, self-exalting theories, and walking in self-kindled light as vain and deceptive, hungering and thirsting for righteousness with a deeper and more consistent love for Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit to help, the helpless soul that must cast itself on Jesus as Helper is weak as water.

Self must die and sink into its proper place, losing its importance, with self-sufficiency, conceit, selfishness, self-exaltation, and self-idolatry given up. Christ must be enthroned in the heart and appear as the all and in all in a person's life, taking the place of self, with the heart humbled low before God and God made the only dependence. Giving up body, mind, and soul to the Lord Jesus Christ makes Him that person's efficiency. When thoughts are fixed on Him the life honors His name and the soul receives power from on high to resist Satan's deceptive schemes. This belongs to all who have been striving for the highest place only when they are converted and become as little children, otherwise they will certainly be found on the wrong side, requiring dying to self, daily consecration of soul, body, and spirit, being led and disciplined, walking humbly with God, seeking the Lord with all the heart to find Him, becoming teachable and ambitious in the way of the Lord, unlearning wrong lessons and learning anew in the school of Christ, leaving no room for selfishness while worldly wealth and self-importance have no place beside the inheritance with Christ as God's gift of eternal life.

Christ must be everything to a person in this present life, in every part of life and in present opportunity and precious golden moments, if He is to be everything in the future life. As He is the all in all of heaven He must be the center and fullness of life on earth, and His grace must shape character without being kept apart from life. Living in communion and harmony with Christ here through surrender of self and the world prepares people for His companionship in heaven and makes calling and election sure. This life reveals whether eternal riches are valued above earthly things, and without that present relationship a person is unfit for the kingdom. His infinite sacrifice was made for every person, placing blessings within reach and making every provision at immense cost, so failure to avail oneself leaves only self to blame, requiring not only seeing and acknowledging God's love but tasting and knowing by experience that the Lord is good.

His incarnation and atoning sacrifice are therefore to occupy thought and praise in the churches. Knowledge of Christ and belief in the power of His atoning sacrifice for sin are essential to the gospel's power to sanctify the soul, realized when faithful, humble, believing people remove self-idolatry from their hearts. Praising the Redeemer will remain the redeemed's work throughout eternity.

Christ is to be made first and last and all and in all in thoughts and practices, with no other work or interest exalted as supreme in His place. Applied to medical work, it must not be made the great power above the ministry of the gospel nor linked up with worldly men. Every blessing that comes to His workers comes through Him, and He is Counselor, support, and everything. He gives success, as to a physician to exert good influence upon influential men, to be used for good, and making Him all and in all brings His healing and restoration. Receiving and obeying His teachings as the Way, the Truth, and the Life places a person on His side and on vantage ground, giving power to become a son of God, shown in faith that works by love and purifies the soul.

Knowing Christ not merely as a man and heaven-sent teacher but as God makes Him everything, as Peter learned in preparation to share in Christ's mission of sacrifice. He becomes all and in all to the soul that seeks Him in Scripture, for He is the center and sufficiency of redemption and the central and all-sufficient theme revealed throughout Scripture. The Scriptures in both Old and New Testaments reveal His character, God's requirements, His atonement, the way of redemption, and the Holy Spirit's work, whose full significance the Spirit brings to the mind.

Completeness is found in Him, for He is the source of the righteousness people need, which God freely provides through Christ to be received rather than earned by own strength. Those who study God's Word, taking it in faith as the truth and receiving it into the character, will be complete in Him. Perusal of the Bible strengthens, refines, and elevates the mind, and the Word lived out through the grace of Christ makes a person perfect in this world with breadth of mind, nobility of character, vigor of faculties, and a character fitted for future immortal life, showing the possibilities set before humanity and distinctly specifying duty to God and fellow men, since eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent.

Christ is all and in all to those who seek Him, meeting their great need and transforming their character. He is everything to each believer and everything and in everything to the helpless soul, to be exalted in rescuing souls as people are led from earthly to heavenly things. A life shaped by Christ without selfishness bears witness through the sanctification He gives that believers are children of God, and pointing people to Christ and showing the Word's transforming power through godly example make this truth known. By continually looking to Him, thinking and speaking of His goodness and power, choosing Him as their all, and following His meek and lowly example in their circumstances, believers are changed into His image with His will and way becoming theirs and restless effort giving way to abiding peace.

Jesus will be the all and in all to His people in every hard place and in every great trial of faith, going before them as the eternal Rock to be clung to with souls riveted to His blessed words. God as all and in all is to be submitted to in judgment and will rather than self trusted, recognizing that nothing can be done alone, so that His love dwells in the heart and praise fills the lips. God alone is the source of human victories and good works and deserves all glory, with people even the greatest leaders only weak instruments in His hands. Recognizing Him as source and center of life prevents the confusion produced by human philosophies. Belonging to Him binds His people to live for Him alone.

One Equal Brotherhood

The verse establishes a religion without caste, in which Jew and Gentile, free and enslaved, are joined in one brotherhood and are equal before God. Christ Himself treated neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies, without distinction, meeting each soul according to its spiritual need and thirst for the water of life. His life set this pattern of impartial fellowship for all who are renewed after the image of the Creator.

Differences of ancestry, race, and social status do not divide in Christ, so Jew and Gentile, black and white, free and enslaved stand equal in God’s sight. Color of skin does not determine character in heaven, for God judges every person’s work without favoritism. All are redeemed not by silver and gold but by the spotless blood of Christ. Black and colored believers who love the truth are precious, true and faithful brethren, to be given just as much respect as any of God’s children. They must never be spoken to harshly or despised, for to despise them is to despise the purchase of Christ’s blood and to close the door of the heart to Jesus, showing need for His transforming grace. Those counted as God’s holy and beloved elect prove the new life by purifying the soul in obedience to truth, loving one another with a pure heart fervently with unfeigned love of the brethren, and putting on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, and the pitying tenderness of Jesus.

Christ’s mercy and love are not limited by nationality, rank, or creed, and in Him human distinctions used to exclude others do not determine who may share God’s gifts. His love is offered to all, like air, light, and rain, with impartial love and tender care, especially for those who bear greater burdens.

Christ dwelling in believers removes national prejudice, separate interests, jealousies, and what is impetuous and rebellious, uniting all nationalities in one great brotherhood. The truth is one and mingles people from different nations to soften, refine, transform, and mold them after the divine pattern, bringing temper, ideas, character, and life experience into harmony with heaven. In humility and union there is strength, with all sanctified through the truth and blended together on one grand platform of truth as it is in Jesus, subject one to another, of the same judgment and speaking the same things. Keeping French, German, and other nationalities apart in independence opposes the verse, whereas Christ in a German believer recognizes Christ in a French believer in the same faith, mind, and purpose. This union here prepares them to be united in one family in heaven.

A changed heart, in which Christ becomes all and in all through beholding the Father’s love in His sacrifice and yielding to divine influence, brings plans and purposes into harmony with heaven. It moves a person to serve people of every class, including Greeks and barbarians, the wise and the unwise. Christ loves every person, sees each person’s capacity for improvement, and gives hope and strength to live a life rich in good works through the Spirit.

New Life in Practice

In the renewed life formed after the Creator's image, where divisions of ethnicity, nationality, religious standing, culture, and social position no longer define people because Christ is all and in all, those risen with Christ who seek things above where He sits at the right hand of God, who are dead with life hid with Him and will appear with Him in glory, having put off the old man with anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy speech and lying, are to put on as God's elect, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, forgiveness even as Christ forgave, and above all charity which is the bond of perfectness. This shared life calls believers to live together as one body under Christ, letting God's peace rule with thankfulness and in peace, practicing compassion and the pitying tenderness of Jesus rather than despising or excluding any because they are different. Colored believers who hold the truth are true and faithful and precious in God's sight and must receive just as much respect as any of God's children, with unfeigned brotherly love and love from a pure heart fervently, for to speak harshly to them or despise them is to despise Christ's purchase and close the heart to Jesus and shows need for transforming grace.

Those in whom Christ dwells must work His works to restore and lift up and heal, not to destroy and cast down, remembering those in bonds, loosing burdens and freeing the oppressed. This requires those with responsibility to treat fellow workers with tenderness and helpfulness rather than harshness, criticism and selfish gain, showing kindness, courtesy, gentleness and grace toward everyone in order to foster unity and love among all workers.

One who is one with Christ has the mind of Christ and works His works, having no confidence in self because Christ governs everything and dwells within. Such a one is fully emptied of self with every false god cast out, and the vacuum is filled by the inflowing Spirit of Christ, creating new spiritual life with new motive power, with Christ in him as a well of water springing up into everlasting life. By beholding the Redeemer he is changed into His image, has faith which works by love and purifies the soul from every moral and spiritual defilement, is after the Spirit and minds the things of the Spirit and enjoys spiritual things, receives with meekness constantly unfolding truth by the Holy Spirit and gives God all the glory, abides as a branch of the True Vine bearing rich fruit, and shows as an earnest laborer together with God the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

Preserving this unity rests on dying to self so hearts are prepared to receive the holy oil and God makes His people honorable, with Christ to be everything in His people and present in all of them. Christ is to be exalted as center and fullness above every human messenger, with self sunk and lost in Him so no man is exalted in God's place and no attachment to one favored worker leads to despising another, and His love in the heart overcomes what creates dissension and discord. This requires tender, earnest, faithful treatment of all, putting away suspicion and encouraging confidence and love because God designs His workers to be bound together as a complete whole, holding to God's Word on unity, refusing to draw apart and refusing to strengthen dangerous opinions that threaten the prosperity of the church and work evil to the cause. Every victory comes through His grace, so believers are to make Him known to those around them and lift Him up, making Him the Exalted One the focus of teaching.

Christians who receive Christ and follow His example of cross-bearing and self-denial become children of God and victors in the battle of life, shining as light-bearers amid the darkness of sin and crime against the principalities and powers led by Satan. That new identity, without selfishness, bears witness through the sanctification He gives, for He meets the great need of those who seek Him and transforms character. Pointing people to Christ and showing the Word's transforming power through a godly example make this truth known.