Colossians 3:12

The apostle proceeds to exhort to mutual love and compassion: Put on therefore bowels of mercy, Col 3:12. We must not only put off anger and wrath (as Col 3:8), but we must put on compassion and kindness; not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well; not only not do hurt to any, but do what good we can to all.

I. The argument here used to enforce the exhortation is very affecting: Put on, as the elect of God, holy and beloved. Observe, 1. Those who are holy are the elect of God; and those who are the elect of God, and holy, are beloved - beloved of God, and ought to be so of all men. 2. Those who are the elect of God, holy and beloved, ought to conduct themselves in every thing as becomes them, and so as not to lose the credit of their holiness, nor the comfort of their being chosen and beloved. It becomes those who are holy towards God to be lowly and loving towards all men. Observe, What we must put on in particular. (1.) Compassion towards the miserable: Bowels of mercy, the tenderest mercies. Those who owe so much to mercy ought to be merciful to all who are proper objects of mercy. Be you merciful, as your Father is merciful, Luk 6:36. (2.) Kindness towards our friends, and those who love us. A courteous disposition becomes the elect of God; for the design of the gospel is not only to soften the minds of men, but to sweeten them, and to promote friendship among men as well as reconciliation with God. (3.) Humbleness of mind, in submission to those above us, and condescension to those below us. There must not only be a humble demeanour, but a humble mind. Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, Mat 11:29. (4.) Meekness towards those who have provoked us, or been any way injurious to us. We must not be transported into any indecency by our resentment of indignities and neglects: but must prudently bridle our own anger, and patiently bear the anger of others. (5.) Long-suffering towards those who continue to provoke us. Charity suffereth long, as well as is kind, Co1 13:4. Many can bear a short provocation who are weary of bearing when it grows long. But we must suffer long both the injuries of men and the rebukes of divine Providence. If God is long-suffering to us, under all our provocations of him, we should exercise long-suffering to others in like cases. (6.) Mutual forbearance, in consideration of the infirmities and deficiencies under which we all labour: Forbearing one another. We have all of us something which needs to be borne with, and this is a good reason why we should bear with others in what is disagreeable to us. We need the same good turn from others which we are bound to show them. (7.) A readiness to forgive injuries: Forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any. While we are in this world, where there is so much corruption in our hearts, and so much occasion of difference and contention, quarrels will sometimes happen, even among the elect of God, who are holy and beloved, as Paul and Barnabas had a sharp contention, which parted them asunder one from the other (Act 15:39), and Paul and Peter, Gal 2:14. But it is our duty to forgive one another in such cases; not to bear any grudge, but put up with the affront and pass it by. And the reason is: Even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. The consideration that we are forgiven by Christ so many offences is a good reason why we should forgive others. It is an argument of the divinity of Christ that he had power on earth to forgive sins; and it is a branch of his example which we are obliged to follow, if we ourselves would be forgiven. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, Mat 6:12.

II. In order to all this, we are exhorted here to several things: - 1. To clothe ourselves with love (Col 3:14): Above all things put on charity: epi pasi di toutois - over all things. Let this be the upper garment, the robe, the livery, the mark of our dignity and distinction. Or, Let this be principal and chief, as the whole sum and abstract of the second table. Add to faith virtue, and to brotherly-kindness charity, Pe2 1:5-7. He lays the foundation in faith, and the top-stone in charity, which is the bond of perfectness, the cement and centre of all happy society. Christian unity consists of unanimity and mutual love. 2. To submit ourselves to the government of the peace of God (Col 3:15): Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, that is, God's being at peace with you, and the comfortable sense of his acceptance and favour: or, a disposition to peace among yourselves, a peaceable spirit, that keeps the peace, and makes peace. This is called the peace of God, because it is of his working in all who are his. The kingdom of God is righteousness and peace, Rom 14:17. "Let this peace rule in your heart - prevail and govern there, or as an umpire decide all matters of difference among you." - To which you are called in one body. We are called to this peace, to peace with God as our privilege and peace with our brethren as our duty. Being united in one body, we are called to be at peace one with another, as the members of the natural body; for we are the body of Christ, and members in particular, Co1 12:27. To preserve in us this peaceable disposition, we must be thankful. The work of thanksgiving to God is such a sweet and pleasant work that it will help to make us sweet and pleasant towards all men. "Instead of envying one another upon account of any particular favours and excellence, be thankful for his mercies, which are common to all of you." 3. To let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, Col 3:16. The gospel is the word of Christ, which has come to us; but that is not enough, it must dwell in us, or keep house - enoikeitō, not as a servant in a family, who is under another's control, but as a master, who has a right to prescribe to and direct all under his roof. We must take our instructions and directions from it, and our portion of meat and strength, of grace and comfort, in due season, as from the master of the household. It must dwell in us; that is, be always ready and at hand to us in every thing, and have its due influence and use. We must be familiarly acquainted with it, and know it for our good, Job 5:27. It must dwell in us richly: not only keep house in our hearts, but keep a good house. Many have the word of Christ dwelling in them, but it dwells in them but poorly; it has no mighty force and influence upon them. Then the soul prospers when the word of God dwells in us richly, when we have abundance of it in us, and are full of the scriptures and of the grace of Christ. And this in all wisdom. The proper office of wisdom is to apply what we know to ourselves, for our own direction. The word of Christ must dwell in us, not in all notion and speculation, to make us doctors, but in all wisdom, to make us good Christians, and enable us to conduct ourselves in every thing as becomes Wisdom's children. 4. To teach and admonish one another. This would contribute very much to our furtherance in all grace; for we sharpen ourselves by quickening others, and improve our knowledge by communicating it for their edification. We must admonish one another in psalms and hymns. Observe, Singing of psalms is a gospel ordinance: psalmois kai humnois kai ōdais - the Psalms of David, and spiritual hymns and odes, collected out of the scripture, and suited to special occasions, instead of their lewd and profane songs in their idolatrous worship. Religious poesy seems countenanced by these expressions and is capable of great edification. But, when we sing psalms, we make no melody unless we sing with grace in our hearts, unless we are suitably affected with what we sing and go along in it with true devotion and understanding. Singing of psalms is a teaching ordinance as well as a praising ordinance; and we are not only to quicken and encourage ourselves, but to teach and admonish one another, mutually excite our affections, and convey instructions. 5. All must be done in the name of Christ (Col 3:17): And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, according to his command and in compliance with his authority, by strength derived from him, with an eye to his glory, and depending upon his merit for the acceptance of what is good and the pardon of what is amiss, Giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Observe, (1.) We must give thanks in all things; whatsoever we do, we must still give thanks, Eph 5:20, Giving thanks always for all things. (2.) The Lord Jesus must be the Mediator of our praises as well as of our prayers. We give thanks to God and the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Eph 5:20. Those who do all things in Christ's name will never want matter of thanksgiving to God, even the Father.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(12) Elect of God.—For the description of the election here signified see Eph_1:4-6. The name is obviously applied to the whole Church, as “elect to privilege “; it is not opposed to “called” (as in Mat_20:16), but coincident with it, representing, indeed, the secret act of God’s gracious will, which is openly manifested in calling. (Comp. the other instances of the word in the Epistles, Rom_8:33; Rom_16:13; 1Ti_5:21; 2Ti_2:10; Tit_1:1; 1Pe_1:1; Rev_17:14.)

Holy and beloved.—Of such election there are here two signs. The elect are “holy,” consecrated to God in thought and life; and “beloved,” accepted and sustained in their consecration by His love. Both epithets belong to them as conformed to the image of Christ (Rev. 8:29); for He is “the Holy One of God” (Mar_1:24; Luk_4:34), who “sanctifies Himself for us, that we also may be sanctified in truth” (Joh_17:19); and He is also the “Beloved,” the “Son of God’s love” (Col_1:13; Mat_3:17; Eph_1:16), and we are accepted in Him. The two epithets here seem intended to prepare for the two-fold exhortation following. They are “beloved,” therefore they should love one another (Col_3:12-15); they are holy, therefore they should thank God and live to His glory (Col_3:16-17).

(12, 13) Comp. Eph_4:2; Eph_4:31; Eph_5:1-2. The word “tenderhearted” in those passages corresponds to the “bowels (or, heart) of mercies” here;” kindness” and “forgiveness,” “humility,” “gentleness,” “forbearance,” appear in both. But the enumeration here is more exact in order of idea. St. Paul starts with the natural and universal instinct of compassion or sympathy; he next dwells on “kindliness and lowliness of mind,” which are closely akin, since readiness to oblige others grows naturally out of a self-neglectful humility; from these he passes to “gentleness and long-suffering “in case of injury, ready” to forbear and to forgive; lastly, from these particulars he rises to the general spirit of “love,” ruling under “the peace of God.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col_3:12-15

Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved.

The essentials of a Christian character

The Christian character is distinguished by--

I. A special designation, signifying--

1. Divine choice--Elect.

2. Personal purity--Holy. The evidence and practical result of election (Eph_1:4),

3. Divine affection--Beloved. Each of these epithets has the force of a motive.

II. A. Heartfelt sympathy. Arising from--

1. A spirit of tender mercy--Bowels of mercy--a phrase expressing the effect on the body of strong emotions of pity. A genuine pity is not only visible on the countenance, and uttered by the lips, but is felt in the inmost heart, and prompts to generous actions.

2. A spirit of kindness.

III. A genuine humility.

1. This is not undue self-depreciation, but a proper estimate of self.

2. It proceeds from exalted views of God.

3. It is fruitful, as that branch in the garden which is most heavily laden with fruit is nearest the ground.

IV. A gentle and patient spirit.

1. Meekness (Jdg_8:2), which is slow to take and scorns to give offence.

2. Longsuffering, meekness continued, though subjected to the strongest provocations.

V. A practical manifestation of a spirit of mutual forbearance and forgiveness.

1. This is to be exercised universally--Any. Quarrel would be better rendered complaint. It takes two to make a quarrel; the Christian should never be one.

2. It is en forced by the highest example--Even as Christ. The heart that is not moved by this is incorrigible.

Lessons--

1. The unity of Christian character is made up of many separate essential graces.

2. The condition of things in this world affords ample scope for the exercise of every Christian grace.

3. To forgive is at once the most difficult and most Christlike. (W. Barlow.)

The costume of a saint

1. Clothing is the external badge of individuality. Without clothing, or with an absolute uniformity of clothing, it would scarcely be possible for one man to be known from another. And much of the character comes out in ones dress. The vain, the proud, the miserly, the profligate, the orderly, or the reckless man, may often be quickly distinguished by his dress. So a mans disposition is the dress of his soul. You know the tone of spirit which distinguishes him from another, and you are struck with it as soon as you are in his company. The word habit may be applied either to the material or to the immaterial parts and adjuncts of the human being, and it is a connecting link between the dress of the body and the disposition of the soul.

2. There are distinctive costumes peculiar to certain classes or communities. There are national costumes, by which an Englishman is known from a Turk, a German from a Spaniard, etc. There are costumes of the sexes, and of various ages. There are costumes of professions and trades, aa the soldiers, the sailors, the kings, the judges, etc. Thus also there are characteristic phases of mind which belong to special classes. S. Let us apply these things to Christians. With due allowance for individual idiosyncrasies, there is yet a certain tone and temper of mind which should belong to every child of God. It should be to him as a suit of clothes, at once significant of his character and citizenship, and also contributing to his comfort and comeliness. The parts of this suit are here carefully enumerated, and you will see how admirably they correspond with one another.

I. The costume of a saint as here described.

1. Bowels of mercies, a yearning and tender sympathy with the sorrowful and afflicted: as opposed to carelessness or cruel delight in their griefs.

2. Kindness, active goodwill, not merely ready to sympathize with suffering, but in every way to do good to others. It is simple, pure, brotherly, and disinterested.

3. Humbleness of mind has two phases. It is a low estimate of ourselves, and it leads us highly to estimate others in comparison with ourselves.

4. Meekness is a spirit of patience and self-control under reproach, misrepresentation, and unkind treatment by others.

5. Long-suffering elongates meekness, and stretches it out, if unkindness from others should be systematic and long continued.

6. Forbearing one another, in case of little hitches and provocations.

7. Forgiving one another, in case of actual injury to character or estate.

8. Over all these put on charity. This is like a girdle round the loins, or like an easy-fitting toga, or cloak, which is at once elegant and useful. It completes our spiritual dress, and adds a general grace to the entire outfit. Further, all this is not to be merely put on. There is a radical cause which should produce it all. This lies deep in the heart; and without it, the rest would be a cloak of hypocrisy. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. It is the peace of God in Christ Jesus. Where this is in the heart, the outward clothing will have an inward root. It will be like the natural and vital clothing of the autumn trees, and not like the artificial attire of the human body: the outward and the inward will correspond. We shall put on externally, by putting out or developing from within, all the graces here sketched.

II. The appropriateness of this attire.

1. Consider your position as Gods elect--holy and beloved. Gods election of you has exemplified in Him all these graces, there[ore it is right that you should exhibit them as well. Besides, you are called to be like Him, and such as He can admire; therefore, conform to His character in these particulars.

2. Consider especially His grace in forgiving your sins. How great that boon! It is a small thing to ask you to do the same for others.

3. Your vocation as a Christian Church demands the exercise of these virtues. You are called to be one compact and corporate body in the Lord. There should be no schism, no lack of mutual sympathy and interest among you. On the contrary, there should be the utmost gentleness, kindness, patience, etc. This is the dress which God requires you to wear. Do you possess it? Seek it more fully now: renew it continually, and so walk, worthy of the high vocation wherewith ye are called., and be thankful. (T. G. Horton.)

The garments of the renewed soul

Because the new nature has been assumed, therefore array your souls in vesture corresponding; because Christ is all in all clothe yourselves with all brotherly graces corresponding to that unity into which Christians are brought by their common possession of Christ.

I. An enumeration of the fair garments of the new man.

1. Let us go over the wardrobe of the consecrated soul.

(1) A heart of compassion; the rendering by conventional propriety of a phrase it regards as coarse, simply because Jews choose one part of the body and we another as the supposed seat of the emotions. Is it not beautiful that the series should begin with pity? What every man needs, and most often, and yet what is so difficult to achieve in the face of obstructions of occupation, selfishness, and custom. There fore we have to make conscious efforts to put it on. Without it no help will be of much use to the receiver, nor any to the giver. Aid flung to a man as a bone to a dog usually gets as much gratitude as it deserves. But if we make anothers sorrows ours, that teaches us tact and gentleness. But beware of letting the emotion be excited, and then not allowing it to act.

(2) Kindness. A wider benignity, with which some are so dowered that they come like the sunshine. But all can cultivate it. When we come out of the secret place of the Most High, we shall bear some reflection of Him whose tender mercies are over all His works. This is the opposite of that worldly wisdom which prides itself on its knowledge of men and is suspicious of everybody. It is the most powerful solvent of ill-will and indifference.

(3) Humility. That seems to bring a virtue occupied with self into the middle of a series referring exclusively to others. But the following graces have reference to our demeanour under slights and injuries, and humility constitutes the foundation for the right bearing of these. This is not necessarily blindness to our strong points. Milton would be none the less humble though he was sure that his work was better than that of Sternhold and Hopkins. Any unchristian fire of pride which the devils breath may blow up should be damped by What hast thou that thou hast not received? and Who is pure before Gods judgment-seat?

(4) The distinction between meekness and long-suffering is slight. The former is the temper which accepts Gods dealings, or evil inflicted by men without resistance, and its opposite is rudeness or harshness; the latter the long holding out before giving way to a temptation to an action or passion, and its opposite is swift resentment. While long-suffering floes not get angry soon, meekness does not get angry at all.

(5) Forbearing and forgiving are meekness and long-suffering in exercise. A man may forbear and bite his lips till the blood come rather than speak unkindly, but forgiveness is an entire wiping of enmity and irritation out of the heart.

2. Is this a type of character that the world admires? Is it not uncommonly like what most people call a poor spiritless creature? It was a new man emphatically, for the world had never seen anything like it; and it is a new man still. It may be true that Christianity has added no new virtue to those prescribed by conscience, but it has altered the perspective of the whole, and created a type of excellence in which the gentler virtues predominate, and the novelty of which is proved by the reluctance of men to recognize it. By its side worldly heroic virtues are vulgar and glaring, like some daub of a soldier on a sign-board by the side of Angelicos white-robed visions. Better is he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

3. The great pattern and motive of forgiveness. As Christ has forgiven us.

(1) The R.V. adopts the reading of the Lord which recalls the parable about the servant who had been forgiven by his Lord, and yet squeezed the last farthing out of his fellow-servant. The parallel passage in the Ephesians speaks of God for Christs sake forgiving us. Observe the interchange of Divine office and attributes. What notion of Christs Person underlies it?

(2) Christs forgiveness is not simply revealed that trembling hearts may be made calm. A heart softened by pardon will be a heart apt to pardon.

(3) This new pattern and motive make the novelty and difference of Christian morality. As I have loved you makes Love one another a new commandment. Obedience to one we love is delightful.

(4) We have each to choose what shall be the pattern for us. The world takes Caesar, the Christian takes Christ.

(5) This is not inconsistent with the Lords prayer, which teaches us that our forgiveness is the condition of Gods. Without the first we shall not be conscious of the second.

II. The girdle which keeps the garments in their places.

1. Above all is equivalent to over. The silken sash of love will brace all the rest into a unity. Perfectness does not mean that it is the perfect principle of union, but is a collective expression for the various graces which together make up perfection. Love knits into a harmonious whole virtues which would otherwise be fragmentary and incomplete.

2. We can conceive of the dispositions named as existing in some fashion without love, but let love come into the heart and knit a man to the poor creature whom he had only pitied before, or to the enemy whom he had only been able to forgive with an effort, and it lifts these into a nobler life.

3. Perhaps there is the deeper truth that love produces all these graces. The virtues are best cultivated by cultivating it. Paul elsewhere calls love the fulfilling of the law even as his Master had taught him that all the duties were summed up in love to God and love to man. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The elect and their duties

I. The qualities of the elect of God.

1. They are chosen and separated from the world to serve God according to the discipline of the gospel (Eph_1:4). It is this that Moses represented to ancient Israel the type of the new (Deu_26:18). They who boast of being elected but lead a godless life mock God and man. Election is ever accompanied by conversion and sanctification. No one knows of his election but by its effects.

2. They are holy--all of them. Paul is not of Romes opinion that none are saints but the canonized. In the Creed, the Church, which is the body of all true Christians, is called holy, and the communion of saints. No man can be a Christian who is not a saint (Rom_8:9). This quality obliges us to the following virtues which are parts of holiness (Lev_11:44; Lev_20:26).

3. Beloved of God. This obliges us to love God, the effect of which is--

(1) Obedience, which includes every virtue (Joh_14:15).

(2) Transformation into the thing loved; so that God being charity, justice, and holiness, if we love Him, we shall put these on.

II. The graces of the elect.

1. Mercy is a tenderness which causes us to commiserate the miseries of others as if we took part in them ourselves. Bowels of mercies is a Hebrew expression signifying that the real virtue is one which moves the heart, and is not merely a face expression. The gospel has no affinity with stoicism, which holds compassion to be an infirmity (Luk_6:36; 1Pe_3:8; Rom_13:15), and is exemplified in Christ (Heb_5:2; Heb_4:15).

2. Kindness is a goodness of nature that takes pleasure in obliging and avoids injuring. We are obliged to this by our stewardship of Gods manifold grace.

3. Humility is the mother of patience and the nurse of charity. It is a difficult virtue to proud man, and its difficulty arises out of our ignorance of ourselves and our relation to God. Could we know this pride would be impossible.

4. Meekness is gentleness, the most amiable ornament of life, which receives every one with an open heart and pleasing countenance, takes things in good part, and is proof against self-injurious irritations.

5. Patience is the sister of gentleness, and undergoes affronts under which gentleness might break down. 6:For the better clearing of these Paul adds--

(1) Forbearance (Mat_12:20).

(2) Forgiveness (Mat_18:35).

III. The exemplar of the elect (Eph_4:32). What stronger reason could he urge? Christ being the image to which we ought to be conformed, how shall we be His living portraits if we have not the goodness He has shown to us? (Mat_18:32-33). We were His enemies, and His treatment of us must be our inspiration and model in our treatment of our enemies. (J. Daille.)

Gentle Christians--

A true Christian is like the lily which stings no one, and yet he lives among those who are full of sharpness. He aims to please, and not to provoke, and yet he lives among those whose existence is a standing menace. The thorn tears and lacerates: it is all armed from its root to its topmost branch, defying all comers. But there stands the lily, smiling, not defying; charming, and not harming. Such is the real Christian, holy, harmless, full of love and gentleness and tenderness. Therein lieth his excellence. Who would not stop and turn aside to see a lily among thorns, and think he reads a promise from his God to comfort him amid distress? Such is a true Christian: he is a consolation in his family, a comfort in his neighbourhood, an ornament to his profession, and a benediction to his age. He is all tenderness and gentleness, and yet it may be he lives among the envious, the malicious, and the profane, a lily among thorns. The thorn saith, Keep away; no one shall touch me with impunity. The lily cries, I come to you, f shed my soul abroad to please you.

The power of kindness

A Christian lady, in the course of visitation, was told of a very depraved woman, who was ruining herself by debauchery, but was of so violent a temper that no one durst interfere with her. She proposed to go up and see her, but was warned, she will kill you. She bethought her, If my Lord were here, He would do it. She went and entered the miserable apartment, and saw her lying in a corner as if a bundle of rags. She spoke, and an old, withered, miserable-looking creature raised herself Upon her elbow, and with frenzied look, demanded what she wanted. She replied, I love you; I want to be kind to you, because Jesus loves you. She went forward and kissed her brow, and, notwithstanding violent, repelling words, kissed her again. Then came the exclamation, Go away, go away! you will break my heart; you put me in mind of my mother. Never has any one kissed me as she did; never have I been so treated since I lost her: many kicks and blows have I had, but no kisses like this. The fountain of feeling was opened, the confidence of the heart was won, and step by step that all but utterly lost soul was led back to Jesus. Elect.

As to this matter of election, I would to God that some who object to it were as common sense in this matter as they are in the daily actions of ordinary life. Let me assume that a purse has been lost in the next street containing a thousand guineas, and that whoever finds it may keep it. Ha! we say. Well, only one can find it; what is the good of a thousand seeking it? Only one can have it; and if I am elected to be the man, it will come in my way. I never heard people reasoning so in an affair of that kind. Though only one may have it, ten thousand will strive for it if they know the conditions. There is one prize to be given in a school of five hundred scholars. The boys say, Well, only one of us man get it, why should five hundred of us be toiling and fagging to get it? Another boy says, I know if I am to have the prize I shall get it; so I shall read no books, and make no preparation. You would not allow a boy to reason so. Yet there are men who say this, If we are called to heaven well get to heaven; if we are elected to be saved, we need not make any effort about it. Thou wicked and slothful servant; out of thine own mouth I condemn thee; the whole action of thy evil life shall be thy answer on the day of judgment. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Election

A senator related to his son the account of the book containing the names of illustrious members of the commonwealth. The son desired to see the outside. It was glorious to look upon. Oh! let me open it, said he. Nay, said the father, its known only to the council. Then said the son, Tell me if my name is there. And that, said the father, is a secret known only to the council, and cannot be divulged. Then he desired to know for what achievements the names were inscribed in that book. The father told him; and related the noble deeds by which they had eternized their names. Such, said he, are written, and none but such are written in the book. And will my name be there? asked the son. I cannot tell thee, said the father; but if thy deeds are like theirs, thou shalt be written in the book; if not, thou shalt not be written. And then the son consulted with himself, and he found that his whole deeds were playing, and singing, and drinking, and amusing himself; and he found that this was not noble. And as he could not count on his name being there as yet, he determined to make his calling and election sure. And thus by patient continuance in well doing, the end is crowned with glory. (Paxton Hood.)

Holy.--

The nature of holiness

Holiness is religion shining. It is the candle lighted, and not hid under a bushel, but lighting the house. It is religious principle put into motion. It is the love of God sent forth into circulation, on the feet and with the hands of love to man. It is faith gone to work. It is charity coined into actions, and devotion breathing benedictions on human suffering, while it goes up in intercessions to the Father of all piety. (Bishop Huntington.)

A holy life

is made up of a number of small things. Little words, not eloquent speeches or sermons; little deeds, not miracles, nor battles, nor one great heroic act or mighty martyrdom. The constant sunbeam, not the lightning; the waters of Siloam that go softly in the meek mission of refreshment, not the waters of the river great and many, rushing down in torrents, are the emblems of a holy life. The avoidance of little evils, little sins, little inconsistencies, weaknesses, follies, indiscretions, imprudencies, foibles, indulgencies of self and of the flesh; the avoidance of such-like things as these goes far to make up at least the negative beauty of a holy life. (H. Bonar, D. D.)

A holy Church

A living thing grows from itself, and not by accession from without as a house grows. A flower does not grow by adding a leaf to it, nor a tree by fastening a branch to it, nor a man by fixing a limb to his frame. Everything that has life grows by a converting process, which transforms the food into means of nourishment and enlargement. A holy Church lives, and its holiness converts all its ordinances and provisions into means of deep tooled, solid, enlarged, and beautiful usefulness. (T. W. Jenkyn, D. D.)

Beloved. The thought that some one loves us has great restraining influence. A young man or woman may be here without friends, alone in this vast city and surrounded by a thousand snares. But you cannot forget that far away in some distant town or village there is a father whose heart yearns towards you, a mother who never ceases with many tears to pray for you--and the thought that there is at least one in the world who loves you, is a stimulus to exertion, a safeguard against evil. Many an effort to do right is prompted by the thought that you are beloved; many a debasing pleasure is rejected, from many a seducing snare you turn aside, because you desire to act worthy of such love. And we are beloved of God. What an honour is this! Insignificant, sinful creatures of earth--thought of, cared for, beloved in heaven! If so, shall we not walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called? Can we rejoice in being beloved of God while indulging enmity towards our brethren? Shall the fellow-servants hate one another while thus beloved by their Lord and Master? Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies. (Newman Hall, LL. B.)

The Kings livery

As the soldier who is in the queens service is required to appear in his uniform, that all may know his calling, so the soldier of Christ must appear clothed in certain characteristics needful to prove his loyalty, and show his allegiance to his Lord. (J. Spence, D. D.)

Bowels of mercies (see Php_1:8).--

I. The nature of this grace. The real inward and unpretended affection of condoling with anothers woe. The phrase is a Hebraism, and is taken from the emotion, and, as it were, concussion which is felt in the stomach, in deep affections of the mind (Gen_43:30; Lam_2:11; Luk_1:78; Php_2:1). The apostle wisely begins with the expression of condolence; because from hence flows the act of relief; and because, as Gregory says, it is more to compassionate any one from the heart, than to give: for he who gives what is external, gives what does not belong to his own person; but he who gives compassion, gives somewhat of himself.

II. Its objects.

1. Persons who have none to give them relief, as widows and orphans.

2. But in general it comprehends all oppressed with misery--the poor, the prisoner, the sick, the afflicted.

III. Its motives.

1. The express and oft repeated command of God (Luk_6:36; Rom_12:15; 1Pe_3:8). Whence Gregory Nazianzen says, If thou hast nothing, give but a tear; for pity is a great solace to the afflicted.

2. The examples of the prophets, of Christ, and the apostles, and of all good men (Jer_9:1; Mat_9:36; Luk_19:41; 2Co_11:29). Hence that saying of the poet, The good are tear-abounding men.

3. The conformity of nature, and the possibility of suffering similar things. The possibility of suffering similar evils, when seriously considered, forces mercy from any man that is not destitute of feel ing. For what has happened to some one may happen to any one.

IV. Hence we conclude--

1. The apathy of the Stoics must be exploded by a Christian; as not agreeing either with our natural condition or our supernatural regeneration. Prosper well remarks, We are not in fault for having affections, but for making a bad use of them.

2. Bowels of mercy are found in every regenerate person: he is therefore moved at the very first view of anothers misery.

3. They who, ere they can be excited to mercy, must have much solicitation from the afflicted, can lay claim to little or nothing of the spiritual man; they who are not moved by these, have nothing human in them. (Bishop Davenant.)

Pity

As love is the most delightful passion, pity is nothing else than love softened by a degree of sorrow. It is a kind of pleasing anguish as well as generous sympathy that knits mankind together, and blends them in the same common lot. (Addison.)

Tire power of compassion

There is something marvellous in the spirit of compassion. I do not mean that it seems to feel a positive pleasure in breathing the atmosphere of distress, nor that it seems to find time for every kind of well-doing, nor that the heart and memory are so enlarged that a range of interest ten times wider and more varied than personal interest findsroom, but that compassion, though it is not talent nor energy, stands in the stead of these and does their work. The social good that is done in the world is not the work of its greatest minds. These set themselves one great task, and gather up all their powers for its accomplishment. They are jealous even of the minutes of their time. They resist all distractions. The compassionate man gives up his time to others, and yet seems to find time for all things. Like the bread miraculously multiplied, he gives, and yet he gathers up for himself more than he gave. How great, again, is its power to find its way to the miserable heart. Convince the wretched man that you know his misery and would ease his burden, and you have already, made it lighter. Show the vicious man that you can see in him something worth caring for, and you thereby take off the despair that is at the bottom of so much vice. Let your enemy see that you have not room in your heart for any bitterness against him, and his arm will fall powerless. (Archbishop Thomson.)

Religion moves to pity

Now I would like you to mark that there is not a true grace of a Christian man, nor a true activity of the disciple of Christ, which does not lead to pity and love like this. Repentance leads to it, for repentance laments selfishness as the essence of its evil, and dreads relapsing into a religion which would be merely a selfishness refined; and repentance remembers its lost estate, the fearful pit and miry clay, and pities those that are still struggling in it; so repentance cherishes love and moves to pity. Faith kindles these virtues. You cannot take refuge in the heart of Christ, and build your hope upon redeeming love, and rejoice in His saving pity that stooped to Calvary, without catching some of the qualities on which you rest. Your heart softens with the warmth of that heart on which it rests, and is kindled by the pity in which it takes refuge. As our faith leads to these qualities, decision moves to them. Except we deny ourselves we cannot be disciples. Self-renunciation, which is the beginning of discipleship, leaves the heart free So cherish love. The comforts of religion move to them. Forgiveness, and peace, and hope, and gratitude swell the heart with the question, What shall I render? and move it to share its mercies with those that still lack them. All adoration of God kindles them. In the degree in which we see Him as He is, see Him in the face of Christ, see Him as He weeps over Jerusalem or groans on Calvary, in the degree in which we see the pitiful woe that sometimes fills Gods heart: in that degree we are changed. All hope changes the heart and fills it with this spirit. Hope of earthly providence and hope of immortal heaven, both move men to pity and to love. Every step you take in following Christ kindles pity, for when He leads it is not always unto green pastures and rapturous heights: it is to the haunts of misery, to the widows of Nain, to homes of grief. He would use us, borrows our hand to wipe away a tear, our voice to still a grief. Exactly in that degree in which He employs us, and we follow Him step by step, exactly in that degree do we catch the spirit in which He lived, and the compassion which is the everlasting motive and the perpetual habit of our God. So that I want you to observe that there is not a single Christian instinct, activity, relationship, employment, or grace which does not work out in love and pity. (R. Glover.)

Pity the secret of prophetic light

I want to point out that in love and pity, such as is here expressed, you have not merely the work of the disciple, but you have the secret of prophetic light: that Pauls light was due, not to his genius, not to his erudition, not even so much specially to heavenly effulgence that visited him, as to the fact that he had a heart of love and pity that could enter and absorb the light of God. Is it not obvious that it was so? We know God by what is kindred to Him, and by what resembles Him. It was Pauls love of man that could read Gods love of man, that gazed on God till the shadow grew into a face and the face of God was seen glowing with infinite love. He would have been in the darkness till now if his love had not permitted him to see Gods love. The light is ever shining. It is the eye, the eye of the heart, that is wanted; and that he had. He looked on man, not with the cynical eye that sees only what moves men to despair of, or to despise them; but he looked with a loving heart, and could see the world in Gods light; something that made man a pearl of great price in his Saviours eyes. He could see Divine movings in them; high capacity; possibilities of change; unrest--all these Divine elements, on which grace could move, and which grace could lead to light. He looked in the face of Christ, and his yearning permitted him to behold Christs yearning, so that his love and his pity enlarged his heart, and opened it to light. He walked in the light of the Lord, and truths too grand for poorer eyes lay naked and open to his. One of the greatest theologians of the century, Neander, Wok for his motto, It is the heart that makes the theologian. And one of the greatest historians, Niebuhr, uttered some similar words: I have said, again and again, I will have no metaphysical deity, but the God of the Bible, who is heart to heart. (R. Glover.)

Kindness.--

The blessings of a benignant spirit

I. In what kindness consists.

1. In a disposition to be pleased; a willingness to be satisfied with others. This goes a long way towards our being actually pleased. This temper stands opposed to the spirit of fault-finding, the propensity to magnify trifles.

2. In a disposition to attribute to others good motives when we can do so. One of the rights of every man is to have it supposed that he acts with good intentions until it is proved to the contrary.

3. In bearing with the infirmities of others. We do not journey long with a fellow traveller before we find that he is far from perfection, and the closer our relations become the more necessity there is for bearing patiently the foibles of others. In the most tender connexions, that of husband and wife, etc., it may require much of a gentle and yielding spirit to so adapt ourselves that life shall move on smoothly and harmoniously. When there is a disposition to do this me soon learn to bear and forbear,, and to avoid the look, gesture, allusion, that would excite improperly the mind of our friend. Like children, we must allow each other to build his own play-house in his own way. Conscious of our own imperfection we must be indulgent to others.

4. In not blaming others harshly when they fall into sin. In no circumstances do men need kindness so much as here. We weep with the bereaved, we sympathize with the unfortunate; but when a man is overtaken in a fault our sympathies frequently die. Yet they ought then to be in fullest operation (Gal_6:1). Remember--

(1) He is a brother still.

(2) If all the circumstances were known the aspect ought to be changed (Luk_6:37; 1Pe_4:8).

(3) An explanation may remove the difficulty, therefore give him the opportunity.

5. It prompts us to aid others when in our power. If relief cannot be afforded it should be declined with a gentle and benevolent heart.

II. Its value.

1. Much of the comfort of life depends upon it. Life is made up of little things, which, if displaced, render us miserable. Breathing, the beating of the heart, the circulation of the blood, are small matters, and ordinarily scarcely noticed, but when deranged we are sensible of their importance. So in morals and social intercourse. The happiness of life depends not so much on great and glorious deeds as on quiet duties, the gentle spirit, the cheerful answer, the smiling face, etc.

2. Usefulness depends upon it. This and far more than on deeds which excite general admiration. The rivulet that glides through the meadow is far more useful than the grand cataract. Kindness prompts us to seek the good and happiness of others. And it is by this, and not by great martyrdoms, that men will judge of the nature of the gospel. All usefulness may be prevented by a sour temper. Nothing will compensate for the want of that charity which is kind.

3. It is commended by the example of Jesus (2Co_10:1). Christ performed great deeds, but not that we should imitate them. But He was meek and gentle that we might be so too. (A. Barnes, D. D.)

Kindness

The fundamental idea of kindness is ascertained by tracing the connection between kindred or kin and kindness. The latter is the feeling natural to us in relation to our own kind.

1. Take the innermost circle of kindred, the home, and that which constitutes its sweetness is kindness. Unkindness, then, is most unnatural. In German and Dutch the word for child is kind. Kindness was first of all the relation of a child to its parents, and then the feeling of a parent for a child. That was the original and architypal kindness, is its ever present and undying element, and gives character and tone to all the more extended instances of kindness which ripple out with the extension of our kinship.

2. Though our kindred begins in our homes it does not end there. We have remoter relatives to whom it is our duty, and the prompting of our natures, to be kind. Our nation consists of individuals who are of our own kind, and we ought to be kindly towards them all. And then our kith and kin are found in colonies, and the parent state should always feel kindly towards them, and when any colony grows into an independent nation, like the United States of America, it would be a calamity and a sin if kindliness on either side were to cease.

3. The family relationship extends farther than to those who manifest their kinship by the use of the common mother tongue, embalmed in the English Bible. The Dutch and Germans are our cousins, so are the Danes; and there was a time when the Greeks also, and the Romans belonged to the same family circle. Their ancestors came from the same paternal home in Asia from which our ancestors came; and so with the Hindoos, and hence the old old words which are common to the now diverse languages.

4. Indeed, all the nations are kindred to each other. All the families of the earth belong to the great family of man--mankind; hence all owe kindness to one another. Hence Peter exhorts us to add to our godliness brotherly kindness. Some think it more difficult to attain the former than the latter. In some respects it is, in others not: and so the apostle urges us to seek the latter by way of the former. In mere speculation we might have supposed that man must first climb to the terrestrial thing--brotherly kindness--and thence ascend to the celestial. But the reverse is the true and better order. We must first get right with God the Father--then, and not till then, shall we get right with man the brother. (J. Morison, D. D.)

The power of kindness

Go away from there, you old beggar boy!, Youve no right to be looking at our flowers, shouted a little fellow from the garden where he was standing. The poor boy, who was pale, dirty, and ragged, was leaning against the fence, admiring the splendid show of roses and tulips within. His face reddened with anger at the rude language, and he was about to answer defiantly, when a little girl sprang out from an arbour near, and looking at both, said to her brother,--How could you speak so, Herbert! Im sure his looking at the flowers dont hurt us. And then, to soothe the wounded feelings of the stranger, she added: Little boy, Ill pick you some flowers, if youll wait a moment, and she immediately gathered a pretty bouquet, and handed it through the fence. His face brightened with surprise and pleasure, and he earnestly thanked her. Twelve years after this occurrence, the girl had grown to a woman. One bright afternoon she was walking with her husband in the garden, when she observed a young man in workmans dress, leaning over the fence, and looking attentively at her and at the flowers. Turning to her husband, she said,--It does me good to see people admiring the garden; Ill give that young man some of the flowers; and approaching him she said, Are you fond of flowers, sir? It will give me great pleasure to gather you some. The young workman looked a moment into her fair face, and then said in a voice tremulous with feeling: Twelve years ago I stood here a ragged little beggar boy, and you showed me the same kindness. The bright flowers and your pleasant words made a new boy of me; aye, and they have made a man of me, too. Your face, madam, has been a light to me in many dark hours of life; and now, thank God, though that boy is still an humble, hard working man, he is an honest and grateful one. Tears stood in the eyes of the lady as, turning to her husband, she said, God put it into my young heart to do that kindness, and see how great a reward it has brought. (American Agriculturist.)

Humbleness of mind.--

I. The nature of this temper: A low apprehension or esteem of ourselves (Rom_12:3), the opposite to pride and arrogance. The word leads us to consider the disposition of mind; for there may be a humility of behaviour which covers a very proud heart. In consists of--

1. A humble apprehension of our own knowledge (1Co_8:1). There is nothing of which men are more proud. Many would sooner bear a reflection on their moral characters than on their understandings. The serpent was early sensible that this was mans weak side (Gen_3:5). And no kind of pride has more need of a cure (Job_11:12). So it will include--

(1) A sense of the natural imperfection of our faculties (Job_11:7). This will dispose us to receive Gods revelation (1Co_2:10-11).

(2) An apprehension of our own fallibility. Humility in this view would teach us

(a) not on that account to surrender ourselves to the absolute control of others. To this Rome would lead us in pretence of infallibility; and if any others would lead us to such an implicit faith in their dictates, while they disclaim infallibility, their claim is still more absurd. We must answer for ourselves to God in the great day; and therefore it can neither be a laudable nor a safe humility to take our religion from the dictates of fallible men.

(b) But a just apprehension of our liableness to mistake should induce us in all our searches after Divine truth to be very desirous of Divine illumination and guidance (Psa_25:4-5). It should keep us ever open to further light and willing to learn.

(3) A moderate apprehension of our own attainments in knowledge when we compare them with the attainments of other men (1Co_13:9; 1Co_8:2). If some know less, others know more than we.

(4) A persuasion of the small value of the most exalted knowledge without a suitable practical influence (Joh_13:7; Luk_12:47-48). A man of low attainments, if his heart is right with God, is truly acceptable; while a resolved sinner, though he understood all mysteries, will be eternally disowned by Him. Exalted knowledge may leave a man of no better a temper than a devil.

2. Humble thoughts of our own goodness. Not that we are to be insensible to anything that is truly good in us; but Christian humility includes--

(1) A sense of the undeservingness of our own goodness at the bands of God even if it was perfect (Luk_17:10).

(2) An apprehension of the disparity between the goodness of God and that of any creature (Luk_18:19).

(3) An affecting conviction of our own sinfulness (Luk_5:31-32).

(4) A sense of the imperfection of our goodness at its best (Psa_19:12).

(5) An acknowledgment that we are principally indebted to God for whatever is good in us (Php_1:6; 1Co_4:7; 1Co_6:11; 1Co_15:10).

(6) A modest apprehension of our own goodness compared with that of other men (Php_2:3).

3. A humble sense of our dependence and wants--

(1) As regards God.

(a) In the sphere of nature (Act_17:28).

(b) In the sphere of grace. We should have a deep sense of our need of His mercy to pardon our sins and His grace to help our infirmities.

(2) As regards our fellow-creatures. It is ordered by the law of our creation that we cannot comfortably subsist independent of them (Ecc_5:9). Every link in the chain of societies contributes to the good of the whole (1Co_12:21; 1Co_12:24). And then in the changeableness of human affairs, those who are now in the most prosperous estate know not how soon they may need the kind offices of the lowliest.

4. A modest apprehension of our own rank and station.

(1) As compared with God we cannot think too low of ourselves (Isa_40:15). All our relations to Him bespeak the profoundest submission, as His creatures, subjects, children (Psa_8:4; Psa_144:3; Job_7:17). Humility will teach us to dispute neither the precepts nor the providences of Him who has a natural authority over us.

(2) Revelation teaches us that we are beneath other invisible beings (Psa_7:5).

(3) For our fellow-creatures we should consider them all as of the same nature with us, and therefore near akin (Act_17:26), and that distinctions in outward circumstances are in the account of God and in themselves but little things (Rom_13:7; Rom_12:16).

II. The special obligations which rest on Christians to cultivate this temper.

1. Humility is a grace of the first rank.

(1) It is mentioned in Scripture with peculiar marks of distinction (Mic_6:8; Pro_8:13; Psa_138:6; Mat_5:4; Mat_18:4).

(2) The most distinguished promises are made to it (Psa_9:12; Psa_10:17; Isa_57:15; Jam_4:6; 1Pe_5:5; Mat_33:12).

(3) It is in its own nature a necessary introduction to the other graces and duties of Christianity. This is not a religion for the proud but for the lowly.

(a) Humility is necessary to faith. Without this we shall not have a disposition to receive a revelation. Pride and self-sufficiency was the reason why Christ crucified was a stumbling-block to the Jew, etc.

(b) To obedience. A proud heart says, Who is the Lord over me? Humility asks, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?

(c) To the acceptance of Christ as offered in the gospel (Luk_5:31; Rev_3:17-18; Luk_18:9-13).

(d) To the reception of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

(e) To perseverance, for without it we shall be ready to take offence at crosses.

(f) To the reception of assistance in the way to heaven from other men. Those who are wise in their own conceit despise admonitions.

(g) To the performance of Christian duty.

2. It is this grace which adorns every other virtue and recommends religion to every beholder (1Pe_5:5).

3. It is recommended by the example of Christ.

(1) His incarnation was the greatest instance of humility (Php_2:3; Php_2:5, etc.; 2Co_8:9).

(2) When He appeared in human nature He affected not worldly honour (Luk_2:7-11; Mat_13:55).

(3) As a man He was the pattern of great humility toward God (Joh_8:50; Joh_7:18; Mar_13:32; Mat_19:17).

(4) He was the pattern of the greatest humility to mankind.

(a) He was ready to condescend to the meanest in order to their good (Mat_8:6; Mar_10:46; Joh_4:27; Mat_18:1-10; Mat_19:13-14).

(b) He was willing to stoop to the meanest offices for the meanest persons (Mar_1:41; Joh_13:5; Mat_20:28).

(c) He was not above receiving and acknowledging the respect shown Him by the meanest (Luk_8:3; Mat_21:15; Mat_26:13). Learn, then, like Him, to be meek and lowly of heart.

4. Humility is a grace which will go along with us to heaven. The only inhabitants of that world who were ever lifted up with pride have been cast out. The angels abase themselves (Isa_6:2-3; Rev_4:10; Rev_5:10; Rev_7:11; Rev_11:16), and humility will receive a glorious reward (Mat_25:1-46.). Like charity, it never faileth. (Dr. Evans.)

Humility a safeguard

A French general, riding on horseback at the head of his troops, heard a soldier complain and say, It is very easy for the general to command us forward while he rides and we walk. Then the general dismounted and compelled the complaining soldier to get on his horse. Coming through a ravine a bullet from a sharpshooter struck the rider and he fell dead. Then the general said, How much safer it is to walk than to ride.

Humility and cheerfulness

Observe the peculiar characters of the grass which adapt it especially for the service of man are humility and cheerfulness--its humility, in that it seems created only for lowest service, appointed to be trodden on and fed upon; its cheerfulness, in that it seems to exalt under all kinds of violence and suffering. You roll it, and it is the stronger next day; you mow it, and it multiplies its shoots as if it were grateful; you tread upon it, and it only sends up richer perfume. Spring comes, and it rejoices with all the earth, glowing with variegated flame of flowers, waving in soft depth of fruitful strength. Winter comes, and though it will not mock its fellow-plants by growing then, it will not pine and mourn, and turn colourless or leafless as they. It is always green, and is only the brighter and gayer for the hoar frost. (J. Ruskin.)

Meekness.--

Meekness: its nature

Meekness is love at school, at the Saviours school. It is the disciple learning to know himself, to fear, distrust, and abhor himself. It is the disciple practising the sweet, but self-emptying lesson of putting on the Lord Jesus, and finding all his righteousness in that righteous other. It is the disciple learning the defects of his own character, and taking hints from hostile as well as friendly monitors. It is the disciple praying and watching for the improvement of his talents, the mellowing of his temper, and the amelioration of his character. It is the loving Christian at his Saviours feet, learning from Him who is meek and lowly, and finding rest for his own soul. (James Hamilton, D. D.)

Meekness: its blending

It is power blended with gentleness, boldness with humility, the harmlessness of the dove with the prowess of the lion. It is the soul in the majesty of self-possession, elevated above the precipitant, the irascible, the boisterous, the revengeful, it is the soul throwing its benignant smiles on the furious face of the foe, and penetrating his heart and paralyzing his arm with the look of love. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Meekness: its power

Sir Walter Raleigh, a man of courage and honour, was once insulted by a hot-headed youth, who challenged him, and on his refusal spat upon him in public. The knight, taking out his handkerchief, made this reply: Young man, if I could as easily wipe your blood from my conscience as I can this injury from my face, I would this moment take away your life. The youth was so struck with a sense of his misbehaviour that he fell upon his knees and asked forgiveness. (E. Foster.)

Meekness: its blessedness

It is in the lowly valley that the suns warmth is truly genial; unless indeed there are mountains so close and abrupt as to overshadow it. Then noisome vapours may be bred there; but otherwise, in the valley we may behold the wonderful blessing bestowed upon the meek that they shall inherit the earth. It is theirs for this very reason, because they do not seek it. They do not exalt their heads like icebergs, which, by the by, are driven away from earth, and cluster--or rather jostle--round the pole; but they flow along the earth humbly and silently; and wherever they flow they bless it; and so all its beauty and all its richness are reflected in their peaceful bosoms. (Archdeacon Hare.)

Meekness: its usefulness

The timber of the elder tree is the softest, and can without difficulty be split, eat, and wrought, and yet it does not rot in water. The greater part of the city of Venice stands upon piles of eider, which, sunk into the sea, form the foundation of massive buildings. It is the same with meek hearts. There is no better foundation for important undertakings of public or private utility than that intelligent modesty which is gentle indeed, and ready to yield as far as a good conscience will allow, but which, nevertheless, lasts and continues stable, in the flood of contradiction. (Gotthold.)

Long-suffering is threefold.--

I. In judgment; when, in doubtful cases, we suspend our opinions and censures.

II. In words; which consists either in not answering, or in giving soft answers.

III. In deeds; when we render not evil for evil. (N. Byfield.)

Long-suffering rewarded

Some years ago I had in my garden a tree that never bore. One day I was going down, with my axe in my hand, to fell it. My wife met me in the pathway and pleaded for it, saying, Why, the spring is now very near; stay, and see whether there may not be some change; and, if not, you can deal with it accordingly. As I never repented following her advice, I yielded to it now; and what was the consequence? In a few weeks the tree was covered in blossoms; and in a few weeks more it was bending with fruit. Ah! said I, this should teach me not to cut down too soon, i.e., not to consider persons incorrigible or abandoned too soon, so as to give up hope and the use of the means in their behalf. (W. Jay.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col 3:12-13. Put on therefore — In a higher degree than before; as the elect, or chosen, of God — The appellation given in the New Testament to all the true disciples of Christ, to all that so believe in him as to be pardoned and renewed; see on Eph 1:4 : holy — Dedicated and conformed to him; and beloved — By him, or set apart to his service, and blessed with the tokens of his peculiar favour. Bowels of mercies — Οικτιρμων, of tender mercies, namely, toward all the afflicted, destitute, and distressed, especially those of the household of faith; kindness — Benevolence toward one another and all men, or sweetness of disposition, as χρηστοτης properly signifies; humbleness of mind — In your behaviour toward others, engaging you to condescend even to those that are in the lowest stations of life; meekness — Under whatever injuries or provocations you may receive, always restraining you from returning evil for evil, railing for railing, and from resenting any injury that may be done to you; long-suffering — Amidst the failings, weaknesses, and faults of your fellow-Christians; or when your trials, whether immediately from the hand of God or man, are either continued long, or are violent in their degree; forbearing — Or patiently bearing with one another, if any thing is now wrong; and forgiving one another — What is past; if any man have a quarrel — Μομφην, complaint; against any: even as Christ forgave you, &c. — And thereby set you an example, that you might be always disposed to forgive the faults of your offending fellow-Christians or fellow- creatures. See on Eph 4:32.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

b. Duty in culture and exercise of Christian graces, Col_3:12-14.

12. Put on—As putting off the old man carries with it his characteristic qualities, putting on the new man in like manner requires the possession of his virtues. They are to be as an outer garment, the first seen or felt in our intercourse with others.

As the elect—Chosen on gospel terms, as God’s spiritual Israel, to possess and exhibit these graces.

Bowels of mercies—Answering to the term tender-hearted in the parallel passage.

Eph_4:32.

Humbleness—Toward one another. Eph_4:2.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

Col_3:12. Bowels of mercies.—R.V. “a heart of compassion.” A case of concrete for abstract. The physical effect of pity lies at the bottom of the phrase.

Col_3:13. Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another.—Literally it would be, “Bearing with one another, and dealing graciously with yourselves”; for not only the verbs but the pronouns also change with a delicate shade of meaning. Forbearance, like a peacemaking angel, passes to and fro between the incensed parties. Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.—The pattern of all graciousness is Christ. See His parable (Mat_18:33).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Col_3:12-13

Essentials of the Christian Character.

In the cultivation of a rare and valuable plant care must be taken to rid it of everything that would retard its growth, and to supply it with whatever aids it in reaching the highest possibility of shapeliness and beauty. Not only must it be severely pruned and divested of every noxious weed and destructive parasite, but it must be diligently tended, and liberally provided with air, light, and moisture. So is it in the training of the Christian character. It is not enough that the old man—the sinful principle—is suppressed, mortified, deadened; all the graces of the new man—the new spiritual nature—must be assumed and sedulously cultivated. Religion is not a dry, sapless, dead negation, but a grand positive reality—an active, ever-growing life, pushing its way through every channel of man’s nature, and fashioning his character after the loftiest pattern of moral loveliness and purity. The change the Colossians had experienced furnished the most forcible reason why they should advance in spiritual development. Having risen with Christ, and having put off the old man, with his deeds, there is an unmistakable emphasis in the exhortation—Put on, therefore, the characteristics of the new man.

I. That the Christian character is distinguished by a special designation.—“The elect of God, holy and beloved” (Col_3:12).

1. Distinguished as the object of the divine choice.—“The elect of God”—chosen by Him, as an act of undeserved, unmerited mercy, to the knowledge of Himself and His glorious salvation; called out of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear son. This election is a condition of exalted privilege to which all rise who accept the message of God’s mercy through Jesus Christ.

2. Distinguished by personal purity.—“Holy.” Here is the evidence and practical result of the divine election. “Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Eph_1:4). The people of God are called to be holy—consecrated to His service; set apart from a common and wholly devoted to a sacred purpose. Holiness is the habitual condition, aim, delight, and employment of the Christian’s life.

3. Distinguished by the divine affection.—“Beloved.” The believer is the object of God’s special love, of the favour which He beareth unto His people. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the sons of God.” The epithets here used have each the force of a motive. Since the believer is elect, holy, beloved, let him act in harmony with his exalted character and calling. Lavater has said, “The more honesty a man has, the less he affects the air of a saint.”

II. That the Christian character is distinguished by a heartfelt sympathy.—

1. This sympathy arises from a spirit of tender mercy. “Bowels of mercies” (Col_3:12)—a phrase which expresses the effect on the body of strong emotions of pity. It was said of Joseph that “his bowels did yearn over his brethren, and he sought where to weep.” The miseries of our fellow-creatures, especially of those who are in a worse condition than ourselves, call for our compassion and help; and a genuine pity is not only visible in the countenance and uttered by the lips, but felt in the inmost heart, and prompts to generous actions.

2. This sympathy arises from a spirit of kindness.—“Kindness” refers to the temper we should show towards those we meet in the daily intercourse of life who are on an equality with ourselves. The Christian should be amiable, courteous, kind in speech and action, eager to relieve others according to his means—the farthest remove from a crabbed, sullen, churlish disposition. A hard, cold, selfish, unfeeling heart is a characteristic of fallen, unrewed man; bowels of mercies and kindness of the renewed one.

III. That the Christian character is distinguished by a genuine humility.—“Humbleness of mind” (Col_3:12). These words describe the estimate that is to be formed of self. The believer is taught not to overrate nor unduly to depreciate himself. He is governed by the apostolic rule, “Let each esteem other better than themselves.” The more exalted his views of God, and the more he remembers his own unworthiness, weakness, ignorance, and sin, the more softly and lowly does he seek to walk. As in the garden that branch hangs down the lowest which is most heavily laden with fruit, so in the Church the ripest saints are those who walk humbly with God. The humble man is the most susceptible to compassion and genuine in its practical manifestation. The proud man is too full of himself to feel for others; he is always dissatisfied, always embroiling in quarrels the family, the Church, the social circle where he resides. The humblest man is the bravest man. He endures with composure the contempt and arrogance of others.

IV. That the Christian character is distinguished by a gentle and patient spirit.—“Meekness, longsuffering” (Col_3:12).

1. The Christian spirit is gentle.—“Meekness.” This grace indicates what should be our conduct towards others in their treatment of us. Meekness is evidenced in modesty of countenance, gentleness of manner, softness of voice, and mildness of language; it is opposed to rudeness or harshness. We see it exemplified in the way in which Gideon pacified the irascible men of Ephraim (Jdg_8:2). It is slow to take, and scorns to give, offence.

2. The Christian spirit is patient.—“Longsuffering,” which is meekness continued, though subjected to the fiercest provocations. It is opposed to resentment, revenge, wrath. Meekness exercises itself in matters of chagrin, impertinence, folly; longsuffering in those of violent outrage, affront, injury. Meekness may be required by the mere manner of others towards us; longsuffering is often necessary by their conduct. There is a difference between enduring long and longsuffering. The genuine grace is accompanied, not only with patience, but with joyous activity and watchfulness. It is not like the senseless rock which endures the full force of the storm unmoved and unresponsive, but like the nimble vessel that, while it bends to the tempest, is at the same time diligently speeding on its mission.

V. That the Christian character is distinguished by a practical manifestation of a spirit of mutual forbearance and forgiveness.—

1. Mutual forbearance and forgiveness are to be exercised universally. “Forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any” (Col_3:13). The word “quarrel” is better rendered complaint. It takes two to make a quarrel, and of these the Christian should never be one. Whatever occasion of offence may arise, whatever cause of complaint, in any man, under any circumstances, and however just the complaint may appear, forbearance is to be exercised; and even if the forbearance is abused and injury be added, we must forgive. It is never on one side only that the fault exists. It is one another, each in his turn, that gives and receives forbearance. If this were more frequently observed, how many unseemly discords and mischievous separations would be prevented!

2. The exercise of forgiveness is enforced by the highest example.—“Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Col_3:13). These words come as an impressive climax, enforcing the duty of forgiveness by the strongest motive. The more difficult the duty, the more powerful should be the arguments urging its performance. The example of Christ is supreme in its authority. What are the injuries committed by others against us compared with the number and enormity of our sins against God? Yet Christ forgave us all, freely, fully, unreservedly, and for ever. The heart that is not moved to forgiveness by such an example is hopelessly incorrigible.

Lessons.—

1. The unity of Christian character is made up of many separate essential graces.

2. The condition of things in this world affords ample scope for the exercise of every Christian grace.

3. To forgive is at once the most difficult and most Christ-like.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

Col_3:12. Christian Humility.

I. The nature of this holy temper.—

1. A humble apprehension of our own knowledge. The imperfection of our faculties, our fallibility of judgment, when we compare our knowledge with the attainments of others, and a persuasion of the small value of the most exalted knowledge without practical influence.

2. Of our own goodness.

3. Of our independence and wants.

4. Of our own rank and station.

II. The obligations to cultivate a humble temper.—

1. It is mentioned in Scripture with peculiar marks of distinction and honour. The most distinguished promises are made to it. It is a necessary introduction to other graces and duties.

2. It is a grace which adorns every other virtue and recommends religion to every beholder.

3. Is recommended to us by the example of the Author and Finisher of our faith.

4. Is a grace that will go with us to heaven.

Lessons.—

1. Those destitute of this grace have the rudiments of Christianity to learn.

2. We should look principally to the temper of our spirits to judge of our humility.

3. By it we judge of the improving or declining state of our souls.—J. Evans, D.D.

Col_3:13. Christian Forgiveness—

I. Is exercised where there is mutual forbearance.

II. Is the noblest method of ending quarrels.

III. Is a Christ-like disposition.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

b) Exhortation to Christian love one toward another, and to glorifying the name of Christ in word and work

Col_3:12-17

12Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy [or saints]16 and beloved, bowels of mercies [mercy], kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering: 13Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another [each other],17 if any man have a quarrel [or complaint, μομφήν] against any: even as Christ18 forgave you, so also do ye [doing 14yourselves].19 And above [But over]20 all these things put on charity [love], which21 is the bond of perfectness. 15And let the peace of God [Christ]22 rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are [were] called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly [; ] in all wisdom; [omit semi-colon ] teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and [omit and]23 hymns [and] spiritual songs, singing with grace [in grace24 singing] in your hearts to the Lord 17[God].25 And [everything] whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,26 giving thanks to God and the Father [God the Father]27 by him.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The virtues of the new man in intercourse with the brethren (Col_3:12-14).

Col_3:12. Put on therefore.—To the “have put on the new man” (Col_3:10) there is joined, as a consequence (“therefore”), the positive precept, which finds a motive, as a continuing and valid requirement, in the “being renewed;” although they have put on the new man, they have yet to take up anew the single parts. [Ellicott, following Hoffmann, thinks οὔν has here more of its reflexive force, taking up what has been said and continuing it: “as you have put on the new man, put on all its characteristic qualities.” But even this paraphrase implies a “moral consequence.” “For although the putting on of the new man as a fact, has historically occurred through the conversion to Christ, yet it has, according to the nature of the new man, its continued acts, which should occur, viz., through the appropriation of those virtues, which the new man as such must possess” (Meyer).—R.]

As the elect of God, [holy or] saints and beloved, conditions the justice of the precept and the indispensableness of complying with it. “As” gives prominence to the actual condition, relation, in which they stand.—“Elect of God” is used substantively as Mat_24:31; Mar_13:27; Luk_18:7; Rom_8:33; Tit_1:1 : “saints” (ἄγιοι) as Rom_1:7; Rom_15:25-26; Rom_15:31; Rom_16:2; Rom_16:15; 1Co_1:2, etc. “Αγιος τοῦ θεοῦ (Mar_1:24; Luk_4:34; Joh_6:69) is a description of the Christian; ἄ γιοι αὐτοῦ (“His saints”) also occurs (2Th_1:10). The position of the genitive (τοῦ θεοῦ) however requires it to be joined with the first term (“elect”). “Beloved” is also used substantively as Eph_1:6. The climax here is unmistakable: as to the ground, they are without desert “elect of God,” as to their condition they are “saints,” as to their relation to God, they are, as the perfect denotes, the continued objects of His love (1Th_1:4; 2Th_2:13). Bengel: “the order of words corresponds exquisitely with the order of things: eternal election precedes sanctification in time, the sanctified feel love, and then imitate it.” The last, firmly founded on the preceding, has the stress laid on it. All three are correlatives of “putting on the new man,” which pre-supposes the “election of God” (Col_3:10-11). Hence neither are the last two substantives and the first an adjective (Bleek), nor the first subject and the two others predicates (Meyer, Bengel). [So also Eadie, Alford and Ellicott. Either view is admissible on grammatical grounds. Ellicott urges that the force of the exhortation rests on their character as “elect,” while Alford insists that as ἐκλεκτοί is a word, which must find its ground independently of us in the absolute will of God, it cannot be an adjunctive attribute of the other two. On the whole the view of Meyer, followed by the commentators just mentioned, and implied in the E. V., is preferable. For it seems better accordant with Paul’s method of stating the truth of Divine grace, and with the position of the Words to lay the emphasis upon the phrase “elect of God,” and hot to regard the three phrases as co-ordinate. “The consciousness of this extraordinary privilege, of being the elect of God, who as such are holy and beloved of God—how it must have affected the conscience of the readers and aroused them to the very virtues, corresponding with so high a position, which Paul here enjoins!” Meyer.—R.]

Bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering.—“Bowels of mercy” stands foremost; viscera with the quality of mercy, of which they are the seat. Php_2:1, we find “bowels and mercies.” The first word denotes what is inmost, most individual (Php_1:8; Phm_1:12; 2Co_6:12; 1Jn_3:17). Luk_1:78, “tender mercy of God” lit., “bowels of mercy of God” is similar. So Eph_4:32, “tender-hearted,” “heart of mercy” (εὔσπλαγχνοι). The manifestations of mercy then follow, forming a climax; “kindness” which as the opposite of “severity” (Rom_11:22) helps outward need, “humbleness of mind” (ταπεινοφροσύνην) which recognizes our own unworthiness and the superiority or talent of a brother, “meekness,” which as the opposite of “fierceness” (ἀγριότης), is mild toward faults which are blameworthy, and “long-suffering” which restrains itself so as to quietly bear reprehensible injuries in the hope of a better mind and consequent improvement on the part of the offender. See on Eph_4:2; Eph_4:32, Tittmann, Synon. I. 140–142. [Comp. Trench; Syn. New Testament, sub vocibus. He makes “meekness” to be at first in crespect to God, then toward men as growing out of this. But in this case it is primarily toward man, though implying the other as its ground (Alford, Ellicott, while Eadie excludes the reference to God).—R.]

Col_3:13. Forbearing one another and forgiving each other.—These participles define the modality of the exhibition of the virtues just mentioned; they must be appropriated by practice which makes the master. The present tense indicates permanence. On “forbearing,” see Eph_4:2, on “forgiving,” Eph_4:32. “One another” (ἀλλήλων) marks the purely reciprocal, mutual enduring, forbearing; “each other” (ἐαυτοῖς) indicates at the same time also, that they have experienced such forgiveness from without, from Him who is their Example. That which is difficult to bear and forgive in others, is not simply what one does against us, but also what he does in general, what is displeasing, unpleasant, or offensive in his manner, whatever in his relations to us may give occasion for blame (μομφήν), so that the participles refer to all the preceding virtues, not to the last one only. Bengel arbitrarily distinguishes: forbearing in present offences, forgiving past offences.

If any man have a complaint against any.—[Μομφή, only here in N. T., but classical: “ground of blame,” “just cause of complaint.”—R.] Tittmann, Syn. I. 29, distinguishes ἄμεμπτος and ἄμωμος—each is free from blame, the former because it is perfect and absolute in its members, the latter because it is free from vice; in the former nothing more can be desired, in the latter there is nothing to be reprehended. On this account, as well as because πρός not κατά is here used, a more general relation than that of hostility is indicated; this must be regarded as referring in general to an experience occurring every where, yet mildly described hypothetically, that one can easily find something to blame in another, as is indicated above. [The Greek conditional protasis here used always implies that the hypothesis is correct.—R.]

Even as Christ forgave you, so also doing yourselves.—Χαριζόμενοι is to be supplied in thought (Winer’s Gram. p. 526). Hence there is no parenthesis here, nor a disrupted sentence, as though an imperative were to be supplied. [The E. V. gives the imperative, which is objectionable; Ellicott preserves the construction by rendering as above—R.] This expression is explained, Col_2:13; Eph_4:32. Here we have “Christ,” in Eph_1:1 : “God in Christ;” this variation will explain Col_2:13. Bengel is excellent: christus, cui maxima fuerat nobiscum querendi causa. Accordingly “the grace (χάρις) of the Lord Jesus Christ” is often spoken of. “As” denotes the mode of forgiveness, as Luk_7:37-47; Luk_23:34, not the accomplishment of reconciliation with God by His death.

Col_3:14. But over all these things put on love.—“Love,” as in Col_1:4; Col_1:8; Eph_4:2, is to be taken as “brotherly love,” which must come over all those virtues, upon them (ἐνδύσασθε, Col_3:12), [So E. V. supplies “put on,” though “above” may or may not have the local or semi-local (Ellicott) force, which ἐπί here conveys. Eadie renders “in addition to,” weakening the force of the passage. Wordsworth quotes Clement, who apparently refers “love” to “love to God.”—R.] In reference to this “love,” the Apostle adds: which is the bond of perfectness.—By the neuter [ὁ, not ἤτις—R.] the putting on of love as an act, is denoted. [The article is wanting—hence Braune renders “a bond.” Ellicott says the omission may be due to the verb substantive.—R.] Σὐνδεσμος, the encircling band, reminds us of a girdle, put over the clothes to hold them together. The genitive therefore adds those virtues included under the category of “perfectness,” as Act_8:23 : “the bond of iniquity;” Eph_4:3 : “bond of peace.” It is parallel with “in love” (Eph_4:2). Comp. Rom_13:10 : “love is the fulfilling of the law.” The Pythagoreans called friendship “the bond of all the virtues.” Hence ὄ is not to be rejected and ἤτις substituted (Bleek), nor ἀγάπη to be regarded as neuter (Meyer); Col_2:19 is not a parallel case, since there the masculine is used, and the construction is according to the sense, as Christ is conceived of under κεφαλή. Nor is love to be regarded as the upper garment (Meyer), nor “bond” as “sum total” (Insbegriff, Olshausen), nor as the efficient cause of “perfectness” (Schenkel); nor yet is the genitive to be taken attributively as that of quality (Grotius). [To refer “which” to the putting on of love is a doubtful interpretation. It does not agree so well with the figurative representation of the Apostle, who has already been speaking (Col_3:12) of what they were to pat on, and seems to be mentioning here the last garment required to complete the attire. To make the act of putting on the “bond of perfectness” would be an unnecessary obscuring of the metaphor; especially as we may readily take ἀγάπη absolutely. There is the same objection perhaps to Meyer’s view, that love is here represented as an upper garment, but a close-fitting upper garment might well be, at the same time, the bond which enclosed and held together all the others. Adopting this view, we may not only say, that love itself is “that bond which unites all the graces into completeness and symmetry” (Eadie), but “without love there is no perfectness; this has its conditio sine qua non in the including of all its other parts in love” (Meyer). Love is the principal of all the other virtues, but is here named last, as if supplementary, because of the figure. Braune’s view of the genitive, which is that of Meyer, is to be preferred to that of Ellicott, who regards it as a genitive of the subject: “love is the bond which belongs to, is the distinctive feature of perfection.” Alford well remarks: “Those who find here justification by works, must be very hard put to discover support for that doctrine.”—R.]

The frame of mind in which Christian love is to be exercised. Col_3:15. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.—This is not a command, but only a wish, the fulfilment of which is of importance, The subject, which in Php_4:7 is “the peace of God,” is that peace wrought by God through Christ in the Holy Ghost, which, according to Joh_14:27 (“my peace I give unto you”), can be accurately termed; of Christ.” (See Winer’s Gram. p. 175.) It is the calm of the soul resting on the consciousness of having a reconciled God and Father, in Christ the Saviour.—[Ellicott says, the idea in Php_4:7 “is substantially the same, except that perhaps peace is there contemplated as in its antithesis to anxious worldliness, while here it is rather to the hard, unloving and unquiet spirit that mars the union of the one body.” It must not be limited to, though it certainly includes, mutual concord.—R.]—The verb βραβεύω “to be an umpire,” and as such to award the prize as well as regulate the contest, marks the administrative activity in distinction from the legislative found in βασιλεύειν. [The idea of presiding, ordering, ruling, is to be retained; the reference to bestowing (Wordsworth), or even winning a prize, which some commentators find here, is forbidden by the phrase which follows.—R.]—The phrase “in your hearts,” ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν, is not=“in you,” ἐν ὑμῖν (Col_3:16); it refers to the inner, most individual relations, where the peace of Christ is to rule; it is not therefore to be referred to the unity of believers among themselves (Greek Fathers, Calvin, Grotius, Meyer).

To the which also ye were called in one body.—[“To the which,” almost=for into it (Ellicott).—R.] This peace is the immediate end of the calling; this calling is marked by “also” (καί), which joins it to “rule,” as that to which the rule of peace has to correspond. The result of the consummation of the calling on the part of God, and of its acceptance on the part of men, is described by “in one body” This refers to the Church as the body of Christ (Eph_4:4; Eph_2:16); which is the sphere and place, in which this calling is consummated and the called are to move. Therefore it is not=εἰς ε͂ν σῶμα (Grotius), nor is the Church as an organism the object of the Divine calling (Schenkel), which is addressed to individual persons. The calling in itself and the implanting in the Church constitute a benefit, important on account of the peace joined with it, and obligating to friendliness toward the brother, who has become partaker of the same; hence Paul adds: and be ye thankful [sc. to God.—R.]—Comp. Col_2:7; Col_4:2; Eph_5:4. Knowledge of the benefit of the calling and the peace, together with gratitude therefor, must increase. The adjective (εὐχάριστοι) does not occur elsewhere in N. T. Incorrectly rendered “amiable,” “friendly,” by Jerome, Erasmus, Baehr, [Calvin].

Helps to the exercise of Christian love. Col_3:16-17.

Col_3:16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.—“The word of Christ” is the word which He has spoken and caused to be proclaimed (1Th_1:8; 1Th_4:15; 2Th_3:1), and which communicates the inward peace, directing and leading to right conduct toward the brethren: “the word through which ye were called” (Bengel); elsewhere called “the word of God” (Col_1:25; 1Co_14:36; 2Co_2:17; 2Co_4:2) from its highest cause, “of truth” (Eph_1:5; Eph_1:13) from its purport, “of life” (Php_2:16) from its effect.But it must have a permanent locality, “as in a temple” (Bengel): let it dwell “among you,” as the context demands. It is not=“in your hearts.” (Col_3:15) “in you” (Theodoret, Beza and others). [Eadie: “within you;” Meyer, Alford : in you as a church, which seems to be Braune’s view. Preferable on the whole, and suggestive of the truth, that want of general diffusion of the word of Christ among the people “richly,” much prevents their obeying the following precept.—R.] “Richly” relates to substance, hence, not used in a stunted, abbreviated eclectic fashion. [“Not with a scanty foothold, but with a large and liberal occupancy” (Eadie).—R.] It does not refer to frequency of use, or to the members of the Church=among many (Schenkel).

In all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.—[“In all wisdom” is joined with what follows. The construction is thus rendered more harmonious; the preceding clause has its emphatic adverb last, and the two qualifying participial clauses each begin with an adverbial phrase of manner. Eadie, following the pointing of Tischendorf, joins “psalms,” etc., with the second clause, but this destroys the correspondence, while the objection he urges, in regard to psalms and hymns as the material of instruction, is not in keeping with his own quotation from Basil’s encomium on the Psalms—R.] The participles, which are to be joined with “you” in the nominative, just as in Eph_4:1-3 (Winer’s Gram. p. 532), refer to the application and use of the word present among them, describe the manner in which the word dwells among them. This explains “speaking to yourselves” (Eph_5:19). The first verb indicates the intellectual, the other the moral reference. To both belong the definition of manner “in all wisdom” (comp. Col_1:28), which is placed first emphatically, and the asyndetic datives which define the means to be used [or “the vehicle in which" the teaching and admonishing was communicated (Meyer).—R.]. These means act the more instructively and effectively, the more familiar one is with them, for the hymn grows out of the word of God and of Christ, and these grow into such songs, as the Bible, the Psalter and Church history attest. Tertullian : Post aquam mannalem et lumina, ut quisque de scripturis sacris vel proprio ingenio potest, provocatur in medium canere. Comp. Eph_5:19. The reference is to public worship, to the use of the word of Christ and singing at the agapæ and in the family circle; it should not be limited to the latter (Meyer).

In grace singing in your hearts to God.—[Braune adopts the reading ἐν χάριτι, and therefore renders “in gratitude” [Dankbarkeit), but with Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer, Alford, Ellicott, Wordsworth, it is better to retain the well supported article: τῇ χάριτι then refers to Divine grace, the element to which the singing was to be circumscribed,—that which should accompany it.—R.] The clause corresponds in its structure with the foregoing; “in all wisdom,”—“in grace,” the participles, then the closer definition; they are coördinate therefore. It is altogether improper to join both with “be ye thankful,” making “let the word. richly” parenthetical, or to connect “in psalms,” etc., with this clause (Schenkel), on the ground that singing instruction is inconceivable, or to join ἐν χάριτι with πνευματικαῖς (Luther: spiritual, lovely songs). Since “singing” on account of “in your hearts” (see Col_3:15) must be referred to something internal, and “to God” indicates its direction, “in grace” must be a closer definition of the singing; “in gratitude,” as 1Co_10:30. The meaning of χάρις is like gratia. It cannot mean “in gracefulness” (Col_4:6; Eph_4:29; Erasmus, Schenkel), nor in grace, nor with the article: in the grace impelling thereto (Chrysostom, Meyer). [If the article be retained, this is undoubtedly the meaning; not only because usus loquendi favors such a view, but because the other meaning: “thankfully” would be a flat and unmeaning anticipation of “giving thanks” below (Alford).—R.] The opinion that the phrase “in your hearts” refers to the existing abuse of singing with the mouth (Theofhylact) is not justified, since the reading is not τῇκαρδιᾴ, and the tone which accompanied instruction is here noted. [Yet the former clause seems to refer to singing with the mouth, and this to that “in the silence of the heart” (Meyer).—R.]

Col_3:17. And everything whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.—It is evident that “do” must be supplied with “all” (πάντα), and that “all in the name of the Lord Jesus” corresponds with “everything whatsoever” [πᾶνὄτι—the absolute nominative.—R.]; “everything whatsoever” referring to individual things, and “all” taking up the same collectively. On this account it is incorrect to explain it: “in every thing which ye do, do all in the name,” etc. (Meyer), or that out of the doing in general the doing in particular proceeds (Schenkel). [Eadie makes the plural “individualing” also.—R.] The repetition as well as the position of πάν, together with the giving of a category (“in word or deed”), and the marking of the individual acts (ὄ τι) as well as the conditional form (ἐὰν ποιῆτε) require that it be understood of the entire action (Bengel : facitis lato sensu ponitur, ut etiam to loqui incendat) and this should be “in the name of the Lord Jesus.” This is joined by “and” to “the word of Christ” (Col_3:16). In addition to His word, His Name, His Person should be availing to us; the former in us, and we in the latter, as in the life-sphere dearest to us, out of which we never go, the element which we cannot lack. See Eph_5:20; Php_2:10. The variation from “Christ” (Col_3:16) and “Jesus” here makes us think of the model of the Incarnate One in the form of a servant. “In the name” is not “with invocation of” (Chrysostom and others). Bengel extends it too far : ut perinde sit, ac si Christus faciat, Col_3:11, vel certi ut Christo omnia probetis.

Giving thanks to God the Father by him.—The participle refers to the mood which should ever attend their “doing” (see Col_2:7; Eph_5:20), and which expresses itself in hymn and song. The repetition (Col_3:15-17) marks the importance of “giving thanks.” On “God the Father,” see Eph_1:3; Eph_5:20; Eph_6:23; Col_1:2 As “Father” is without any closer definition, it means of course, “of Jesus.” [Alford, however, justly remarks: “the words must be taken as approximating in sense to that more technical meaning which they now bear, without exclusive reference to either our Lord or ourselves.”—R.]—δι’ αὐτοῦ “through him,” is, according to Eph_5:20,=“in the name of the Lord,” marking more strongly the mediation of the thanksgiving, the Christian sentiment (Rom_1:8; Rom_7:25). There is nothing here to indicate opposition to angel-worship (Theodoret, Baehr). [Alford : “ ‘through Him,’ as the one channel of all communication between God and ourselves, whether of grace coming to us, or of thanks coming from us. ‘No man cometh unto the Father but by me’ (δι’ ἐηοῦ), Joh_14:6.” Meyer: “For Jesus, as the personal, historical Mediator of the Messianic Salvation through His atoning work, is therefore for the Christian consciousness the Mediator of thanksgiving; He it is, through whose favor the Christian can and does give thanks.”—R.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Conduct determined by condition.28 The Christian is “elect,” “holy,” “beloved.” In the first there is a negative reference to the mass and world, out of which he is taken, in the second a positive reference to the same, asserting that he is consecrated to God, while the third declares, positively also, that he is an object of the love of God; the first denotes simply the occurred fact, the third gives prominence to the continued effect, while the second sets forth the status. The relation is constantly defined as passive; the Christian has experienced something, without previous merit or meritorious assistance. This conditions and promotes his conduct, with thankful zeal, in order to show in response what he has experienced, viz., love. [The Apostle here as always (comp. Romans 8; Ephesians 1) treats of “election” as a fact, which is made known to us, in order to awaken love in us. It is doubtless necessary that it be at times handled polemically and dogmatically, but he uses it most like Paul, who speaks of it as a fact, revealed by God, evidenced as true of persons by corresponding facts, viz., Divine acts of grace which make men “holy and beloved,” and in itself an act of Divine grace, which the Christian can so apprehend as to derive from it a constant motive to such Christian graces as the Apostle here enumerates. So far from being made thereby harsh, proud and unforgiving, they “therefore” put on bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, etc.—R.]

2. The new Christian condition or relation is first of all a relation toward God, yet it at the same time influences essentially the relation between those concerned and transferred by it. It is precisely by this that it must prove itself, the religious by the social. First of all this relation of man to God brings a discord into the individual himself, because it divides him into the receding old man, and the advancing new man. The principle of the old man, selfishness, is made by this relation, to yield or become yielding to the principle of the new man, viz., self-denying and world-denying love and the social virtues: mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, appear as necessary manifestations of the reality of the relations towards God. These virtues must show themselves toward the sins, faults and offences of a brother, just as God’s love has shown and still shows itself toward us.

3. Christian love is active. In the social Christian virtues there is no weakness, effeminacy, indifference. It is not indifferent indolence but active love, energetically breaking out in these as its forms. The Apology for the Augsburg Confession, Colossians 3 : § 110, rightly repels the assertion of the Romanists, that love justifies, since it does not establish the relation to God, only proves that it has been established, in and by the conduct toward the brethren.

4. Christ, in whom God’s love has become and still becomes our portion, remains the only model, the exclusive norm.

5. His peace in the heart, His word in the Church, are the attendants of Christian love, the former as its tone, the latter as the means of promoting it; without the first, rest, confidence and joy were wanting, without the other, certainty, correctness and strength.

6. The Christian Song, deriving its contents and its growth from the word of God, promoted culture and progress in the Christian life; it is in itself a sermon from the Divine word, and has its value in the fact that it is such. The Christian entrusted with it, should use it in the wider and narrower circle of his associates. Produced by spiritual, natural endowments from the use of God’s word and experience in life and heart, it is an excellent means of edification and growth for the new man. [The question of Psalmody and public praise, is to be settled by (Col_3:16) and similar passages. The word of Christ is to be its substance; all that is not of the word of Christ is to be excluded, all that is, may be included. Hence the Psalter in the main source, but not the only one. “In all wisdom” is its mode, hence mere rhymes of a pious turn are not included. Its end is mutual edification, not entertainment, hence the hymn must be adapted to this end, and the singing of it “to edification.” Those who cannot sing to edification may sing in their hearts, but the text implies that “this teaching and admonishing” is not the privilege of a few, but of Christians as a body.—R.]

7. The walk in fellowship with Christ, the practice of Christian virtues, advances us from the rudiments of a pupil to the perfection of a master. Not for merit, but for growth, Christian walk and Christian virtue are indispensable.

8. Gratitude, corresponding with the status into which we have been brought, with the glory of our relation to God, is most important and constant in Christian conduct. [Hence the excellence of those symbols, which treat of Christian morality under the head of the gratitude of God for redemption. See Heidelberg Catechism. This view guards alike against the extremes of antinomianism and legalism.—R.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The Christian’s station, ornament, strength, tone and weapon.—All morality takes its rise in religion, which is essentially love, given of God, who gave Himself and accepted us, or peace, in which all the antagonisms within the personality of the man himself in his conscience and will, or between himself and the world or his neighbor, or the nearest of all, i. e., God the Lord Himself, was and is taken away.—Love is not a garment, that can be thrown over other virtues, but the soul of all to hold them together, their germ and impulse, their strength and beauty.—Ought the word of God to do well in you, then live in it, and let it live into you.—It is rudeness of mind to have no taste for the sacred poetry of the Church, the flowering of the Divine word in a gifted human soul, and a misfortune to have no benefit of it in the joy and sorrow of life.—A stamp you must have, lo, nothing is current in his eyes but His own Image.

Starke:—Nothing gives the devil so much room to come into the heart as hatred and anger; God’s children drive out both by meekness and spit on the embers, so that they may not break out into a fire.—He who bids us put up the sword, allows us still a shield for our protection; He who has commanded us to be as doves, has desired that we be “wise as serpents.”—A little child, that falls so often and so easily, is lifted up and carried; so gently and tenderly must weak Christians be dealt with. The world sets itself to righting and fighting, if attacked even by a cross word; but a Christian overcomes all by forgiving and yielding; he yields his own right [not the right, however,] and does not think of revenging himself.—That the wolf devours the lamb is nothing uncommon, but that one lamb eats another is deplorable and unnatural; we who are Christ’s sheep will cherish love toward one another.—Behold the necessity of household devotion. All others have their assemblies, merchants, mechanics, etc., yes even the Godless, that they may mock at God and His word, should not believers then establish their holy assemblies ?—We must thank God not only for His benefits, but also for His fatherly chastisements. “Both in His gifts and in His chastisements, praise Him, who either wins thee by giving, that thou mayest not want, or punishes thee when wandering, that thou mayest not perish” (Augustine).

Schleiermacher:—Christian social life : 1) what the deeds peculiar to the new man are; 2) what is distributed to each by virtue of these peculiarities of the new man; 3) the common rule for every one.—Controversy does not divide love and is not against the Christian spirit, if it only proceeds from a desire after nothing save what is true and right.—Love “the bond of perfectness:” 1) by which all imperfections are balanced; 2) by which all that bears in itself only the appearance of the new man, not its true spirit, is overcome; 3) by which we become helpful to others.

Passavant:—Forbearance may be difficult in certain cases; forgiveness is harder still.—However necessary this gift (God’s word) from above is, it will be learned from daily experience, that the Christians here and there are a very sensitive folk, not permitting themselves to be easily admonished or exhorted, hence the so frequent halts and retreats.—The first Christians from among the Jews soon found in their Psalms from earlier ages, thoughts and words for the later inward experiences, for the thanksgiving, praise and adoration of their new life; and those who came out of heathenism, listened with wonder, when these words of the sacred singers were transferred into their own language, and learned thence the quiet joys and devotions of God’s children in Israel. But soon too under their beautiful sky new Psalms and hymns in their own Greek tongue were born out of the deep inspiration and the holy and happy feelings of their redeemed souls. This glorious gift of spiritual song contributed greatly to the spread of the pure gospel in the age of the Reformation. The great Reformer of the Germans with his friends soon became their choristers, and it is a precious privilege to follow them and so many God-inspired men of after days in singing these beautiful Psalms and sweet hymns.

Genzken :—The choice communion garment of the children of God: 1) who gives it to them (Col_3:15); 2) how it is woven (Col_3:12-15); 3) ho w we should put it on.—Harless :—The proper self-education for the maintenance of divine love and divine peace : 1) constant practice in obedience to God’s word; 2) sanctification of all our doings in the name of the Lord Jesus; 3) unceasing thanksgiving for God’s unmerited grace in Christ.—Schnur :—Spiritual songs: 1) Eagles of Christianity; 2) missionaries of Protestantism; 3) heart-preachers of our nation; 4) mouth of our worship; 5) the Apostles in our houses; 6) the crown of our congregations.—Wolf :—The comfort and joy of the Christian in spiritual songs. They serve: 1) as witnesses of the truth from all stations for the strengthening of our faith; 2) as confessions from the inner life of experienced Christians for the soothing of our spirits; 3) as awakening voices of the Spirit to enliven our own meditation.—Köhler:—The new man, as St. Paul depicts him, outshines all the lustre of the world! 1) His richly-colored garment; 2) his golden girdle; 3) his heart’s peace; 4) the weapons of his hand.—Pröhle :—Bible and hymn book, two precious household treasures; 1) their worth; 2) their use.—Love in all human unions, the most perfect bond : 1) the noblest; 2) the gentlest; 3) the firmest.—Exhortation to Christian families to engage in family worship; it Isaiah 1) a venerable custom inherited from our fathers, though unfortunately disappearing from many houses; 2) deeply grounded in the character of Christianity, as well as in the nature of the family circle; 3) of the most blessed influence upon the home life itself.

[Beveridge :

Col_3:17. Doing all in the name of the Lord Jesus. 1) What is meant by “the name of the Lord Jesus.” a. Lord of all, b. Jesus, Saviour, c. Lord Jesus by the Incarnation. d. Mighty works in His name. 2) And we ought to do all, etc., a. only what God commands or allows, b. in a firm faith in His Holy name. c. for His glory. 3) Instances of things thus done in God’s word. Religious assemblies, Sacraments, Thanksgiving, Censures of the church, Resisting the devil, even giving a cup of cold water. All that a Christian may do, can be done in His name.—R.]

[Burkitt:

Col_3:12. Humility is a certain evidence of our holiness, because it is a great part of our holiness.

Col_3:13. He must have no friends, that will have a friend with no faults, consequently Christians stand in need of forgiveness from each other.

Col_3:14. 1) The upper garment is larger and broader than the rest; so ought charity to extend itself to all persons and upon all occasions. 2) The upper garment is usually fairer than the rest; so doth charity shine brightest amongst all the graces. 3) The upper garment distinguishes the general orders and degrees of men; thus Christians are known by love, as by a livery; it is the bond that Christ’s sincere disciples wear.

Col_3:16. If the heart and affections be not stirred in this duty of singing, the outward grace, though never so graceful availeth nothing.—R.]

[Henry :

Col_3:12. They who owe so much to mercy, ought to be merciful to all who are proper objects of mercy.—There must not only be an humble carriage but an humble mind.

Col_3:13. We need the same good turn from others which we are obliged to show them.

Col_3:15. The work of thanksgiving to God is such a sweet and pleasant work, that it will help to make us sweet and pleasant towards all men.

Col_3:16. The gospel is the word of Christ, which is come to us; but that is not enough, it must dwell in us, or keep house, as a master, who has a right to prescribe and direct to all under his roof.

Col_3:17. They who do all things in Christ’s name, will never want matter of thanksgiving to God the Father.—R.]

[Eadie :

Col_3:14. “Love the bond of perfectness.” Bound up in this zone, every Christian. excellence fills its own place, and keeps it, and the whole character is sound, does not distort itself by excess, nor enfeeble itself by defect.

Col_3:15. A peace, which is not the peace of Christ, is often rudely disturbed, for it is but a dream and a slumber in the midst of volcanic power, which are employing the time in gathering up their energies for a more awful conflict.

Col_3:16. Such ought to be the habitual respect to Christ’s authority, such the constant and practical influence of His word within us, that even without reference to Him, or express consultation of Him, all we say or do should be said and done in His Spirit.—Art, science, literature, politics and business, should be all baptized into the spirit of Christ.—R.]

[Barnes:

Col_3:16. He who is permitted to make the hymns of a church need care little who preaches, or who makes the creed.

Col_3:17. We are to engage in every duty, not only in the name of Christ, but with thankfulness for the privilege of acting so that we may honor Him.—Schenkel :—The victory of peace in the heart: 1) It comes from Christ; 2) it is accomplished in the church; 3) it is constantly attended by thanksgiving.—The proper Christian congregational singing: 1) The choice of hymns; 2) the kind of singing; 3) the source from which it should spring; 4) the end, which it should aim at.—The nature of Christian gratitude as shown: 1) In that, for which the Christian is thankful; 2) In whom he thanks; 3) In whose name he gives thanks.—R.]

Footnotes:

[16]Col_3:12.—[Ἅγιοι, “saints,” if used substantively as Braune holds. See Exeg. Notes. There are several quite unimportant various readings in this verse; οι̇κτιρμοῦ and πραΰτητα are preferable to οι̇κτιρμῶν and πραότητα of the Rec.—R.]

[17]Col_3:13.—[Ἀλλήλων—ὲαυτοῖς; there is nothing in the E. V. to indicate that different words follow the two participles.—R.]

[18]Col_3:13.—Instead of ὁ Χριστός, C. [K. L., most versions, Tischendorf, Meyer, Ellicott, Wordsworth, Rec.], A. B. and others [Lachmann, Alford] read ὁ κυρίος. א. ὁ θεός. Besides, θεὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ, deus in christo, occur.

[19]Col_3:13.—[To supply an imperative, with E. V., breaks the construction unnecessarily. If anything be supplied in English it should be the auxiliary participle as above.—R.]

[20]Col_3:14.—[Ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις. “But over all these;”—“above all” is ambiguous.—R.]

[21]Col_3:14.—A.B.C.F.G. and others read ö; ὅς in א. is a correction, as well as the later ἥτις; [Rec., grammatical emendatiou (Meyer, Alford).—R.]

[22]Col_3:15.—[Τοῦ Χριστοῦ on the authority of א. A. B. C. and most versions, modern editors generally, instead of ποῦ θεοῦ, Rec, followed by E. V.—R.]

[23]Col_3:16.—Καί before ὕμνοις and ᾠδαῖς added from Eph_5:19.

[24]Col_3:16.—[Braune omits the article before χάριτι and renders “in thanksgiving.” But it is retained by most modern editors on the authority of B. and others. See Exeg. Notes—R.]

[25]Col_3:16.—[Τῷθεῷ is the reading of the mass of MSS., adopted by most modern editors; κυριῷ, Rec. Lachmann, probably taken from Eph_5:19.—R.]

[26]Col_3:17.—B reads κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, א. inserts Χριστοῦ, others omit κυρίου. [Lachmann, Ellicott, Wordsworth follow the last reading; Tischendorf, Alford, Rec. that of B.—R].

[27]Col_3:17.—[Καί, probably from Eph_5:20, is omitted in א. A. B. C., by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer, Alford, Ellicott, Wordsworth.—R.]

[28][I have thus attempted to retain the neatness of Braune’s sentence: “Das Verhalten ist durch das Verhältniss bestimmt,” with indifferent success.—R.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 3 Part 4

THE GARMENTS OF THE RENEWED SOUL

Col_3:12-14 (R.V.)

We need not repeat what has been already said as to the logic of the inference, You have put off the "old man," therefore put off the vices which belong to him. Here we have the same argument in reference to the "new man" who is to be "put on" because he has been put on. This "therefore" rests the exhortation both on that thought, and on the nearer words, "Christ is all and in all." Because the new nature has been assumed in the very act of conversion, therefore array your souls in vesture corresponding. Because Christ is all and in all, therefore clothe yourselves with all brotherly graces, corresponding to the great unity into which all Christians are brought by their common possession of Christ. The whole field of Christian morality is not traversed here, but only so much of it as concerns the social duties which result from that unity.

But besides the foundation for the exhortations which is laid in the possession of the "New Man," consequent on participation in Christ, another ground for them is added in the words, "as Gods elect, holy and beloved." Those who are in Christ and are thus regenerated in Him, are of the chosen race, are consecrated as belonging especially to God, and receive the warm beams of the special paternal love with which He regards the men who are in some measure conformed to His likeness and moulded after His will. That relation to God should draw after it a life congruous with itself-a life of active goodness and brotherly gentleness. The outcome of it should be not mere glad emotion, nor a hugging of oneself in ones happiness, but practical efforts to turn to men a face lit by the same dispositions with which God has looked on us, or as the parallel passage in Ephesians has it, "Be imitators of God, as beloved children." That is a wide and fruitful principle-the relation to men will follow the relation to God. As we think God has been to us, so let us try to be to others. The poorest little fishing cobble is best guided by celestial observations, and dead reckoning without sun or stars is but second best. Independent morality cut loose from religion will be feeble morality. On the other hand, religion which does not issue in morality is a ghost without substance. Religion is the soul of morality. Morality is the body of religion, more than ceremonial worship is. The virtues which all men know are the fitting garments of the elect of God.

I. We have here then an enumeration of the fair garments of the new man. Let us go over the items of this list of the wardrobe of the consecrated soul.

"A heart of compassion." So the Revised Version renders the words given literally in the Authorised as "bowels of mercies," an expression which that very strange thing called conventional propriety regards as coarse, simply because Jews chose one part of the body and we another as the supposed seat of the emotions. Either phrase expresses substantially the Apostles meaning.

Is it not beautiful that the series should begin with pity? It is the most often needed, for the sea of sorrow stretches so widely that nothing less than a universal compassion can arch it over as with the blue of heaven. Every man would seem in some respect deserving of and needing sympathy, if his whole heart and history could be laid bare. Such compassion is difficult to achieve, for its healing streams are dammed back by many obstructions of inattention and occupation, and dried up by the fierce heat of selfishness. Custom, with its deadening influence, comes in to make us feel least the sorrows which are most common in the society around us. As a man might live so long in an asylum that lunacy would seem to him almost the normal condition, so the most widely diffused griefs are those least observed and least compassionated; and good, tenderhearted men and women walk the streets of our great cities and see sights-children growing up for the gallows and the devil, gin shops at every corner-which might make angels weep, and suppose them to be as inseparable from our "civilisation" as the noise of wheels from a carriage or bilge water from a ship. Therefore we have to make conscious efforts to "put on" that sympathetic disposition, and to fight against the faults which hinder its free play. Without it, no help will be of much use to the receiver, nor of any to the giver. Benefits bestowed on the needy and sorrowful, if bestowed without sympathy, will hurt like a blow. Much is said about ingratitude, but very often it is but the instinctive recoil of the heart from the unkind doer of a kindness. Aid flung to a man as a bone is to a dog usually gets as much gratitude as the sympathy which it expresses deserves. But if we really make anothers sorrows ours, that teaches us tact and gentleness, and makes our clumsy hands light: and deft to bind up sore hearts.

Above all things, the practical discipline which cultivates pity will beware of letting it be excited and then not allowing the emotion to act. To stimulate feeling and do nothing in consequence is a short road to destroy the feeling. Pity is meant to be the impulse toward help, and if it is checked and suffered to pass away idly, it is weakened, as certainly as a plant is weakened by being kept close nipped and hindered from bringing its buds to flower and fruit.

"Kindness" comes next-a wider benignity, not only exercised where there is manifest room for pity, but turning a face of good will to all. Some souls are so dowered that they have this grace without effort, and come like the sunshine with welcome and cheer for all the world. But even less happily endowed natures can cultivate the disposition, and the best way to cultivate it is to be much in communion with God. When Moses came down from the mount, his face shone. When we come out from the secret place of the Most High we shall bear some reflection of His great kindness whose "tender mercies are over all His works." This "kindness" is the opposite of that worldly wisdom, on which many men pride themselves as the ripe fruit of their knowledge of men and things, and which keeps up vigilant suspicion of everybody, as in the savage state, where "stranger" and "enemy" had only one word between them. It does not require us to be blind to facts or to live in fancies, but it does require us to cherish a habit of good will, ready to become pity if sorrow appears, and slow to turn away even if hostility appears. Meet your brother with kindness, and you will generally find it returned. The prudent hypocrites who get on in the world, as ships are launched, by "greasing the ways" with flattery and smiles, teach us the value of the true thing, since even a coarse caricature of it wins hearts and disarms foes. This "kindness" is the most powerful solvent of ill will and indifference.

Then follows "humility." That seems to break the current of thought by bringing a virtue entirely occupied with self into the middle of a series referring exclusively to others. But it does not really do so. From this point onwards all the graces named have reference to our demeanour under slights and injuries-and humility comes into view here only as constituting the foundation for the right bearing of these. Meekness and long suffering must stand on a basis of humility. The proud man, who thinks highly of himself and of his own claims, will be the touchy man, if anyone derogates from these.

"Humility," or lowly mindedness, a lowly estimate of ourselves, is not necessarily blindness to our strong points. If a man can do certain things better than his neighbours, he can hardly help knowing it, and Christian humility does not require him to be ignorant of it. I suppose Milton would be none the less humble, though he was quite sure that his work was better than that of Sternhold and Hopkins. The consciousness of power usually accompanies power. But though it may be quite right to "know myself" in the strong points, as well as in the weak, there are two considerations which should act as dampers to any unchristian fire of pride which the devils breath may blow up from that fuel. The one is, "What hast thou that thou hast not received?" the other is, "Who is pure before Gods judgment seat?" Your strong points are nothing so very wonderful, after all. If you have better brains than some of your neighbours, well, that is not a thing to give yourself such airs about. Besides, where did you get the faculties you plume yourself on? However cultivated by yourself, how came they yours at first? And, furthermore, whatever superiorities may lift you above any men, and however high you may be elevated, it is a long way from the top of the highest molehill to the sun, and not much longer to the top of the lowest. And, besides all that, you may be very clever and brilliant, may have made books or pictures, may have stamped your name on some invention, may have won a place in public life, or made a fortune-and yet you and the beggar who cannot write his name are both guilty before God. Pride seems out of place in creatures like us, who have all to bow our heads in the presence of His perfect judgment, and cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner!"

Then follow "meekness, long suffering." The distinction between these two is slight. According to the most thorough investigators, the former is the temper which accepts Gods dealings, or evil inflicted by men as His instruments, without resistance, while the latter is the long holding out of the mind before it gives way to a temptation to action, or passion, especially the latter. The opposite of meekness is rudeness or harshness; the opposite of long suffering, swift resentment or revenge. Perhaps there may be something in the distinction, that while long suffering does not get angry soon, meekness does not get angry at all. Possibly, too, meekness implies a lowlier position than long suffering does. The meek man puts himself below the offender; the long suffering man does not. God is long suffering, but the incarnate God alone can be "meek and lowly."

The general meaning is plain enough. The "hate of hate," the "scorn of scorn," is not the Christian ideal. I am not to allow my enemy always to settle the terms on which we are to be. Why should I scowl back at him, though he frowns at me? It is hard work, as we all know, to repress the retort that would wound and be so neat. It is hard not to repay slights and offences in kind. But, if the basis of our dispositions to others be laid in a wise and lowly estimate of ourselves, such graces of conduct will be possible, and they will give beauty to our characters.

"Forbearing and forgiving" are not new virtues. They are meekness and long suffering in exercise, and if we were right in saying that "long suffering" was not soon angry, and "meekness" was not angry at all, then "forbearance" would correspond to the former and "forgiveness" to the latter; for a man may exercise forbearance, and bite his lips till the blood come rather than speak, and violently constrain himself to keep calm and do nothing unkind, and yet all the while seven devils may be in his spirit; while forgiveness, on the other hand, is an entire wiping of all enmity and irritation clean out of the heart.

Such is the Apostles outline sketch of the Christian character in its social aspect, all rooted in pity, and full of soft compassion; quick to apprehend, to feel, and to succour sorrow; a kindliness, equable and widespread, illuminating all who come within its reach; a patient acceptance of wrongs without resentment or revenge, because a lowly judgment of self and its claims, a spirit schooled to calmness under all provocations, disdaining to requite wrong by wrong, and quick to forgive.

The question may well be asked-is that a type of character which the world generally admires? Is it not uncommonly like what most people would call "a poor spiritless creature"?

It was "a new man," most emphatically, when Paul drew that sketch, for the heathen world had never seen anything like it. It is a "new man" still; for although the modern world has had some kind of Christianity-at least has had a Church-for all these centuries, that is not the kind of character which is its ideal. Look at the heroes of history and of literature. Look at the tone of so much contemporary biography and criticism of public actions. Think of the ridicule which is poured on the attempt to regulate politics by Christian principles, or, as a distinguished soldier called them in public recently, "puling principles." It may be true that Christianity has not added any new virtues to those which are prescribed by natural conscience, but it has most certainly altered the perspective of the whole, and created a type of excellence, in which the gentler virtues predominate, and the novelty of which is proved by the reluctance of the so-called Christian world to recognise it even yet.

By the side of its serene and lofty beauty, the "heroic virtues" embodied in the worlds type of excellence show vulgar and glaring, like some daub representing a soldier, the sign post of a public house, by the side of Angelicos white-robed visions on the still convent walls. The highest exercise of these more gaudy and conspicuous qualities is to produce the pity and meekness of the Christian ideal. More self command, more heroic firmness, more contempt for the popular estimate, more of everything strong and manly, will find a nobler field in subduing passion and cherishing forgiveness, which the world thinks folly and spiritless, than anywhere else. Better is he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

The great pattern and motive of forgiveness is next set forth. We are to forgive as Christ has forgiven us; and that "as" may be applied either as meaning "in like manner," or as meaning "because." The Revised Version, with many others, adopts the various reading of "the Lord," instead of "Christ," which has the advantage of recalling the parable that was no doubt in Pauls mind, about the servant who, having been forgiven by his "Lord" all his great debt, took his fellow servant by the throat and squeezed the last farthing out of him.

The great transcendent act of Gods mercy brought to us by Christs cross is sometimes, as in the parallel passage in Ephesians, spoken of as "God for Christs sake forgiving us," and sometimes as here, Christ is represented as forgiving. We need not pause to do more than point to that interchange of Divine office and attributes, and ask what notion of Christs person underlies it. We have already had the death of Christ set forth as in a very profound sense our pattern. Here we have one special case of the general law that the life and death of our Lord are the embodied ideal of human character and conduct. His forgiveness is not merely revealed to us that trembling hearts may be calm, and that a fearful looking for of judgment may no more trouble a foreboding conscience. For whilst we must ever begin with cleaving to it as our hope, we must never stop there. A heart touched and softened by pardon will be a heart apt to pardon, and the miracle of forgiveness which has been wrought for it will constitute the law of its life as well as the ground of its joyful security.

This new pattern and new motive, both in one, make the true novelty and specific difference of Christian morality. "As I have loved you," makes the commandment "love one another" a new commandment. And all that is difficult in obedience becomes easier by the power of that motive. Imitation of one whom we love is instinctive. Obedience to one whom we love is delightful. The far off ideal becomes near and real in the person of our best friend. Bound to him by obligations so immense, and a forgiveness so costly and complete, we shall joyfully yield to "the cords of love" which draw us after Him. We have each to choose what shall be the pattern for us. The world takes Caesar, the hero; the Christian takes Christ, in whose meekness is power, and whose gentle long suffering has been victor in a sterner conflict than any battle of the warrior with garments rolled in blood.

Paul says, "Even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye." The Lords prayer teaches us to ask, Forgive us our trespasses, as we also forgive. In the one case Christs forgiveness is the example and the motive for ours. In the other, our forgiveness is the condition of Gods. Both are true. We shall find the strongest impulse to pardon others in the consciousness that we have been pardoned by Him. And if we have grudgings against our offending brother in our hearts, we shall not be conscious of the tender forgiveness of our Father in heaven. That is no arbitrary limitation, but inherent in the very nature of the case.

II. We have here the girdle which keeps all the garments in their places.

"Above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfectness."

"Above all these" does not mean "besides," or "more important than," but is clearly used in its simplest local sense, as equivalent to "over," and thus carries on the metaphor of the dress. Over the other garments is to be put the silken sash or girdle of love, which will brace and confine all the rest into a unity. It is "the girdle of perfectness," by which is not meant, as is often supposed, the Perfect principle of union among men. Perfectness is not the quality of the girdle, but the thing which it girds, and is a collective expression for "the various graces and virtues, which together make up perfection." So the metaphor expresses the thought that love knits into a harmonious whole, the graces which without it would be fragmentary and incomplete.

We can conceive of all the dispositions already named as existing in some fashion without love. There might be pity which was not love, though we know it is akin to it. The feeling with which one looks upon some poor outcast, or on some stranger in sorrow, or even on an enemy in misery, may be very genuine compassion, and yet clearly separate from love. So with all the others. There may be kindness most real without any of the diviner emotions and there may even be forbearance reaching up to forgiveness, and yet leaving the heart untouched in its deepest recesses. But if these virtues were thus exercised, in the absence of love they would be fragmentary, shallow, and would have no guarantee for their own continuance. Let love come into the heart and knit a man to the poor creature whom he had only pitied before, or to the enemy whom he had at the most been able with an effort to forgive, and it lifts these other emotions into a nobler life. He who pities may not love, but he who loves cannot but pity; and that compassion will flow with a deeper current and be of a purer quality than the shrunken stream which does not rise from that higher source.

Nor is it only the virtues enumerated here for which love performs this office: but all the else isolated graces of character, it binds or welds into a harmonious whole. As the broad Eastern girdle holds the flowing robes in position, and gives needed firmness to the figure as well as composed order to the attire; so this broad band, woven of softest fabric, keeps all emotions in their due place and makes the attire of the Christian soul beautiful in harmonious completeness. Perhaps it is a yet deeper truth that love produces all these graces. Whatsoever things men call virtues, are best cultivated by cultivating it. So with a somewhat similar meaning to that of our text, but if anything, going deeper down, Paul in another place calls love the fulfilling of the law, even as his Master had taught him that all the complex of duties incumbent upon us were summed up in love to God, and love to men. Whatever I owe to my brother will be discharged if I love God, and live my love. Nothing of it, not even the smallest mite of the debt will be discharged, however vast my sacrifices and services, if I do not.

So end the frequent references in this letter to putting off the old and putting on the new. The sum of them. all is, that we must first put on Christ by faith, and then by daily effort clothe our spirits in the graces of character which He gives us, and by which we shall be like Him.

We have said that this dress of the Christian soul which we have been now considering does not include the whole of Christian duty. We may recall the other application of the same figure which occurs in the parallel Epistle to the Ephesians, where Paul sketches for us in a few rapid touches the armed Christian soldier. The two pictures may profitably be set side by side.

Here he dresses the Christian soul in the robes of peace, bidding him put on pity and meekness, and above all, the silken girdle of love

"In peace, theres nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility But when the blast of war blows in our ears,"

then "put on the whole armour of God," the leathern girdle of truth, the shining breastplate of righteousness, and above all, the shield of faith-and so stand a flashing pillar of steel. Are the two pictures inconsistent? must we doff the robes of peace to don the armour, or put off the armour to resume the robes of peace? Not so; both must be worn together, for neither is found in its completeness without the other. Beneath the armour must be the fine linen, clean and white- and at one and the same time, our souls may be clad in all pity, mercifulness, and love, and in all the sparkling panoply of courage and strength for battle.

But both the armour and the dress of peace presuppose that we have listened to Christs pleading counsel to buy of Him "white raiment that we may be clothed, and that the shame of our nakedness do not appear." The garment for the soul, which is to hide its deformities and to replace our own filthy rags, is woven in no earthly looms, and no efforts of ours will bring us into possession of it. We must be content to owe it wholly to Christs gift, or else we shall have to go without it altogether. The first step in the Christian life is by simple faith to receive from Him the forgiveness of all our sins, and that new nature which He alone can impart, and which we can neither create nor win, but must simply accept. Then, after that, come the field and the time for efforts put forth in His strength, to array our souls in His likeness, and day by day to put on the beautiful garments which He bestows. It is a lifelong work thus to strip ourselves of the rags of our old vices, and to gird on the robe of righteousness. Lofty encouragements, tender motives, solemn warnings, all point to this as our continual task. We should set ourselves to it in His strength, if so be that, being clothed, we may not be found naked-and then, when we lay aside the garment of flesh and the armour needed for the battle, we shall hear His voice welcoming us to the land of peace, and shall walk with Him in victors robes, glistening "so as no fuller on earth could white them."

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

3:12-17 Paul describes the nature of the new life of people who have been raised with Christ (3:1). Their virtues and activities contribute to the peace and strength of the Christian community.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Col 3:12. Ἐκλεκτοὶ, elect) This is equivalent to a substantive; its epithets are, holy and beloved. He calls them the elect of God, as Rom 8:33. The order of the words admirably corresponds to the order of the things [‘elect’ before ‘holy,’ and ‘holy’ before ‘beloved’]: eternal election precedes sanctification in time. The ‘sanctified’ feel the love of God, and then in consequence afterwards imitate it.—σπλάγχνα, bowels) Eph 4:32.—ταπεινοφροσύνην, humility of feeling, humbleness of mind) ib. Col 4:2 [ταπεινοφροσύνης, “with all lowliness”]. These virtues are kept in exercise by ‘forbearing’ and ‘forgiving.’ [See next ver.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col_3:12. οὖν] for these virtues are in keeping with the νέος ἄνθρωπος, according to what has been said in Col_3:11; it would be a contradiction to have put on the new man, and not to have put on these virtues. The new moral condition, into which ye have entered by your conversion, passing thereby into the fellowship of equality and unity in Christ described in Col_3:11, binds you to this by the necessity of moral consistency. The οὖν therefore serves for the introduction of the direct summons by way of inference from its foregoing premisses, just like the οὖν in Col_3:5, but not for the introduction of the apodosis (Hofmann; see on Col_3:9), as if it were resumptive.

ἐνδύσασθε] for, although the putting on of the νέος ἄνθρ. has taken place as a fact historically through the conversion to Christ, nevertheless it has also, in accordance with the ethical nature of the νέος ἄνθρ. (comp. τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον κ.τ.λ. in Col_3:10), its continued acts, which are to take place, namely, by appropriation of the virtues which the new man as such must have.

ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ κ.τ.λ.] as it becomes such; ἐκλ. τ. Θεοῦ is the subject, and ἅγ. κ. ἀγαπ. its predicates. The consciousness of this distinguished bliss, of being the elect of Godchosen by God from profane humanity for eternal Messianic salvation (Eph_1:4; Rom_8:33; Tit_1:2, al.), who as such[153] are holy (through the ἁγιασμὸς πνεύματος, 2Th_2:13), and beloved of God (Rom_5:5; Eph_1:6),how could it fail to touch the consciences of the readers, and incite them to the very virtues, corresponding to so high a position,virtues of that fellowship described in Col_3:11, which are required from them as renewed men! Observe, moreover, that the ἐκλογὴ τ. Θεοῦ is the presupposition of what is said by ἀπεκδυσάμενοι κ. τ. λ. in Col_3:10-11, and that therefore ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ κ.τ.λ. is not inserted without significant connection with what goes before. It is likewise admissible to take the words ἅγιοι κ. ἠγαπ. substantively, either as co-ordinate with the ἐκλεκτοὶ τ. Θ. and explanatory of this idea (as the elect of God, holy and beloved, Luther, Calvin, Grotius, and the majority, including Bähr, Böhmer, Huther, de Wette, Hofmann), or so that ἐκλεκτ. τ. Θεοῦ stands in adjectival relation to them (Bleek: elect holy and beloved ones of God); but it is more in keeping with the purposely chosen order of the words to concentrate the whole stress on ἐκλεκτοὶ Θεοῦ. Bengel, connecting as we do, aptly observes: Ordo verborum exquisite respondet ordini rerum: electio aeterna praecedit sanctificationem in tempore; sanctificati sentiunt amorem et deinceps imitantur. Theophylact (comp. also Steiger) took ἅγιοι as the chief word, which is more precisely defined by ἐκλ. τ. Θεοῦ and ἠγαπ. (ἐγένοντο μὲν γὰρ ἅγιοι, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐκλεκτοὶ οὐδὲ ἠγαπημένοι· ὑμεῖς δὲ ταῦτα πάντα). Neither supported by the position of the words nor by the context, which does not suggest any contrast.

σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ] οἰκτ. is the genitive of quality, and the expression is quite similar to that in Luk_1:78, σπλάγχνα ἐλέους; see in loc. Hence σπλάγχνα is not to be taken here in the abstract sense (love, so usually), but in its proper sense: viscera, as the seat of sympathy; consequently: a heart, the moving feeling of which is sympathy. Comp. Ewald and Hofmann. The two are separated in Php_2:1. As to the conception of οἰκτιρμ., comp. on Rom_9:15

χρηστότητα] kindliness, the opposite is ἀποτομία, Rom_11:22. Comp. Eph_4:32. See generally, Tittmann, Synon. p. 140 ff.

ταπεινοφρ., humbleness, which is meant here, however, according to the entire context, not towards God (Böhmer), but (see Col_3:11) in relation to others, as the opposite of haughtiness (ὑψηλοφρονεῖν); Eph_4:2; Php_2:3.

On πρᾳοτ., gentleness (opposite: Eph_4:31, and ἀγριότης, Plat. Conv. p. 197 D), and μακροθ., long-suffering, bearing with immoral opposition (comp. Eph_4:2, and on Gal_5:22), Col_3:13 throws fuller light.

[153] For the act of the divine ἐκλογή, which in itself is before time, has come into temporal realization and manifestation through the calling (comp. ver. 15). Comp. generally, Weiss in the Jahrb. f. Deutsche Theol. 1857, p. 78 ff., and Bibl. Theol. § 88, ed. 2.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col 3:12 . This verse and Col 3:13 are parallel to Eph 4:2 ; Eph 4:32 . The ethical consequences of having put on the new man are now drawn out in detail. ἐνδύσασθε οὖν : not since Christ has become all and in all to you (Lightf.), but since you have put on the new man. ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ : i.e. , as conformity to your position as God’s elect demands. The election is God’s choice of them in Christ before creation (Eph 1:4 ). ἅγιοι καὶ ἠγαπημένοι qualify ἐκλ ., and are not vocatives. ἠλ . means, as elsewhere in N.T., beloved of God; he is speaking of their position as Christians. σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ : “a heart of compassion,” the σπλ . being regarded as the seat of emotion. χρηστότητα : almost “sweetness of disposition”. It is opposed to “severity” (of God) in Rom 11:22 . ταπεινοφροσύνην , πραΰτητα : both virtues towards fellow-men, and quite different from ταπ . in Col 2:18 . Neither has reference to man’s relation to God. Each is a specifically Christian virtue.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Those most tender affections of exceeding compassion.

So put on, that you never put off.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the elect of God--There is no "the" in the Greek, "God's elect" (compare Rom 8:3; Th1 1:4). The order of the words "elect, holy, beloved," answers to the order of the things. Election from eternity precedes sanctification in time; the sanctified, feeling God's love, imitate it [BENGEL].

bowels of mercies--Some of the oldest manuscripts read singular, "mercy." Bowels express the yearning compassion, which has its seat in the heart, and which we feel to act on our inward parts (Gen 43:30; Jer 31:20; Luk 1:78, Margin).

humbleness of mind--True "lowliness of mind"; not the mock "humility" of the false teachers (Col 2:23; Eph 4:2, Eph 4:32).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. Put on - as the elect of God] As the principal design of the apostle was to show that God had chosen the Gentiles, and called them to the same privileges as the Jews, and intended to make them as truly his people as the Jews ever were, he calls them the elect or chosen of God; and as the Jews, who were formerly the elect, were still beloved, and called to be holy, so he calls the Colossians beloved, and shows them that they are called with the same holy calling.

Bowels of mercies, c.] Be merciful, not in act merely, but in spirit and affection. In all cases of this kind let your heart dictate to your hand be clothed with bowels of mercy-let your tenderest feelings come in contact with the miseries of the distressed as soon as ever they present themselves. Though I know that to put on, and to be clothed with, are figurative expressions, and mean to assume such and such characters and qualities; yet there may be a higher meaning here. The apostle would have them to feel the slightest touch of another's misery; and, as their clothes are put over their body, so their tenderest feeling should be always within the reach of the miserable. Let your feelings be at hand, and feel and commiserate as soon as touched. See Clarke on Eph 4:2. Instead of οικτιρμον mercies, in the plural, almost every MS. of importance, with many of the fathers, read οικτιρμου, bowels of mercy, in the singular. This various reading makes scarcely any alteration in the sense.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Put on therefore. As he has enumerated some parts of the old man, so he now also enumerates some parts of the new. “Then,” says he, “will it appear that ye are renewed by Christ, when ye are merciful and kind. For these are the effects and evidences of renovation.” Hence the exhortation depends on the second clause, and, accordingly, he keeps up the metaphor in the word rendered put on

He mentions, first, bowels of mercy, by which expression he means an earnest affection, with yearnings, as it were, of the bowels: Secondly, he makes mention of kindness, (for in this manner I have chosen to render χρηστότητα,) by which we make ourselves amiable. To this he adds humility, because no one will be kind and gentle but the man who, laying aside haughtiness, and high mindedness, brings himself down to the exercise of modesty, claiming nothing for himself.

Gentleness — the term which follows — has a wider acceptation than kindness, for that is chiefly in look and speech, while this is also in inward disposition. As, however, it frequently happens, that we come in contact with wicked and ungrateful men, there is need of patience, that it may cherish mildness in us. He at length explains what he meant by long-suffering — that we embrace each other indulgently, and forgive also where any offense has been given. As, however, it is a thing that is hard and difficult, he confirms this doctrine by the example of Christ, and teaches, that the same thing is required from us, that as we, who have so frequently and so grievously offended, have nevertheless been received into favor, we should manifest the same kindness towards our neighbors, by forgiving whatever offenses they have committed against us. Hence he says, if any one have a quarrel against another. By this he means, that even just occasions of quarrel, according to the views of men, ought not to be followed out.

As the chosen of God. Elect I take here to mean, set apart. “God has chosen you to himself, has sanctified you, and received you into his love on this condition, that ye be merciful, etc. To no purpose does the man that has not these excellences boast that he is holy, and beloved of God; to no purpose does he reckon himself among the number of believers.”

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

12–17. Universal Holiness: the positive side

12. Put on therefore] They had already “taken off the old Man” and “put on the new” (Col_3:9, and notes). But the ideal would need to be made real, in obedient faith.

the elect of God] For the same phrase (or nearly), cp. Mat_24:31; Luk_18:7; Rom_8:33; Tit_1:1; and cp. Mar_13:20; Joh_13:18; Joh_15:16; Joh_15:19; Rom_9:11; Rom_11:5; Rom_11:7; Rom_11:28; 1Co_1:27-28; Eph_1:4; 2Ti_2:10.—The word rendered “elect” (and its cognates) is generally used in the N.T., where the highest level of Divine purpose, or spiritual privilege, is in view, and with a tendency to emphasize the sovereign and (humanly) uncaused mercy of the “choice.” See our note on Eph_1:4.—At the same time the truth of a sovereign choice is constantly found in connexions where (as here) practical holiness is in view. See e.g. Rom_8:29. It is mentioned here only to enforce the most practical “obligations of nobility.”

beloved] In the Greek, a perfect participle passive (so 1Th_1:4; 2Th_2:13), indicating the settlement and fixity of the Divine love; “on whom He has set His love.” On the application to a whole community of such terms as those used in this verse, see above on Col_1:2.

bowels of mercies] Better perhaps a heart of compassion; having regard to the English use of the word “heart” as a symbol for tenderness of feeling. See our notes on Php_1:8; Phm_1:7.

kindness] Almost, sweetness; the character which offers sympathy and invites confidence. See Trench, N.T. Synonyms, Second Series, § xiii.

humbleness of mind] One word in the Greek.—See above on Col_2:18; Col_2:23, for the same word (there rendered in A.V. “humility”) in a very different context. It occurs Eph_4:2 (A.V., “lowliness”); Php_2:3 (A.V., “lowliness of mind”); where see notes in this Series.—The word is not older in Greek than the N.T., and the grace is essentially Christian, the attitude of a soul which has lost its pride in the discovery of the mercy of its salvation.

meekness] Grouped similarly with “humbleness” Eph_4:2; where see note in this Series. It is the grace of submission under trial.

longsuffering] See note, ch. Col_1:11.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Put on therefore,.... As the apostle had argued for the putting off of the members of the body, from their having put off the old man himself; so he now argues from their having put on the new man, to their putting on of his members; that is, to the exercise of the various graces of the Spirit, and the discharge of the several duties of religion; which though they would not be a robe of righteousness, or garments of salvation to them, yet would be very becoming conversation garments, such as would be adorning to themselves, to the doctrine of Christ, and their profession of it, without which they would be naked in their walk, and exposed to shame, , "to be clothed with the Holy Spirit", is a phrase used by the Cabalistic doctors (d); and is indeed a Scripture phrase, "the Spirit of the Lord came upon", clothed Zechariah, Ch2 24:20 and so Esther is said, by the Jewish writers (e), to be "clothed with the Holy Ghost" Here the metaphor is taken from the putting off of clothes; and what is here directed to, is like Joseph's coat, a coat of many colours. The arguments made use of lie in the characters under which the saints are addressed,

as the elect of God, holy and beloved; that is, "as becomes the elect of God", as the Arabic version renders it; as such who were chosen in Christ from eternity, according to the sovereign will and pleasure of God, and his free grace unto salvation and eternal life; which carries in it a strong argument to enforce the performance of good works, since men are hereby chosen unto holiness, and good works are what God has foreordained that they should walk in, and especially to mercy, and acts of it; since hereby their salvation appears to be not of man's will and works, but of God, that shows mercy; and such who are the objects of this grace are vessels of mercy. The apostle calls all the members of this church by this name, though every individual of them might not be chosen of God; but because they were all under a visible profession of faith and holiness, and the greater part of them were truly believers, he in a judgment of charity gives them all this appellation, and upon the same foot, the next, "holy"; not by birth, for they were by nature unclean and filthy, conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity; nor by baptism, which takes away neither original nor actual sin, but leaves men as it finds them, and who ought to be holy before they partake of that; but in Christ imputatively, as he was made of God unto them sanctification; and by him efficaciously, in virtue of his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, by which he sanctifies his people; and by his spirit inherently and internally, who is the author of the work of sanctification in the heart; and they were likewise so externally in a professional way, and therefore it highly became them to exercise and practise the following graces and duties, to which they were still more obliged, inasmuch as they were "beloved"; that is, of God, as appeared both from their election and sanctification. God had loved them, and therefore had chosen them in his Son, and had given his Son to die for them, that he might sanctify them; and because of his great love to them, had quickened them when dead in sin, and sanctified them by his spirit: wherefore, since God had so loved them, they ought to show love again to him, and to one another, and put on

bowels of mercies; a sympathizing spirit with saints in distress, weeping with them that weep, suffering with them that suffer, being touched, as their high priest is, with a feeling of their sorrows and weaknesses: it denotes inward pity and compassion to distressed objects, the most tender regard to persons in misery, and such compassion as is free from all hypocrisy and deceit, and therefore is expressed by "bowels"; and what is very large, and reaches to multitudes of objects, and is displayed and exerted various ways, and therefore signified by "mercies". Now such a spirit is a very beautiful one; the apostle begins with the innermost of these garments, adding to it

kindness, which is this inward, tender, unfeigned, and abundant mercy put into act and exercise; this is doing good to all men, especially to the household of faith, distributing to the necessities of the saints, and a showing mercy with cheerfulness, and is very ornamental to a Christian professor: as is also

humbleness of mind; which lies in the saints entertaining mean thoughts of themselves, looking upon themselves as the chief of sinners, and less than the least of all saints; as inferior to others in knowledge, experience, gifts, and graces; in esteeming others better than themselves; in ascribing all they have, and are, to the grace of God; in doing works of mercy and righteousness without ostentation, and boasting of them, or depending on them; owning, that when they have done all they can, they are but unprofitable servants; and this is a beautiful dress for a believer to appear in: be ye clothed with humility; see Pe1 5:5. And of the like nature is

meekness; which shows itself in not envying the gifts and graces, the usefulness and happiness of others, but rejoicing therein; in quietly submitting to the will of God in all adverse dispensations of Providence, and patiently bearing what he is pleased to lay on them; and in enduring all the insults, reproaches, and indignities of men with calmness. This ornament of a meek and quiet, spirit is in the sight of God of great price, Pe1 3:4. And what follows is natural to it, and explanative of it,

longsuffering: whereby a person patiently bears the evil words and actions of others, and is not easily provoked to wrath by them, but puts up with injuries, and sits down contented with the ill usage he meets with.

(d) Sepher Jetzirah, Nethib, 17. p. 136, (e) T. Megilla, fol. 14. 2. & 15. 1. Zohar in Numb. fol. 70. 3. & 76. 2. & Raya Mehimna in Zohar in Lev. fol. 38. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

Ver. 12. As the elect of God, holy and beloved] Therefore holy, because elect, and therefore beloved, because holy; as God’s name is holy, and therefore reverend, Psa 111:9. God chose his for his love, and now loves them for his choice.

Bowels of mercies] Draw out thy soul as well as thy sheaf to the hungry, Isa 58:10. Steep thy thoughts in the mercies of God, saith one, and they will dye thine, as the dye vat doth the cloth.

Humbleness of mind] Even to be content to "be trampled upon," as the word signifieth; {a} or to be laid low as earth, as Paul, Php 4:12; to have a low mind in a high conversation, as Athanasius (υφηλου βιας ταπεινον φρονημα). Humility is the veil of a Christian, that maketh the bride look most lovely.

{a} ταπεινος, quasi πατεινος, vel εδαφεινος.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Put on, therefore, as the elect of God - The fact that you thus belong to one and the same church; that you have been redeemed by the sameblood, and chosen by the same grace, and that you are all brethren, should lead you to manifest a spirit of kindness, gentleness, and love.

Bowels of mercies - Notes, Phi 2:1.

Kindness ... - See the notes at Eph 4:32. The language here is a little different from what it is there, but the sentiment is the same.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Put on therefore: as he had mentioned some particular vices of the old man they were to put off, Col 3:8, he doth here infer, that they might be complete in Christ, there be particular virtues and graces of the new man they are to put on, or, being new creatures, continually to exercise themselves in.

As the elect of God, holy and beloved; chosen of God before all time, and effectually called in time from the rest of mankind; see Joh 15:16; Rom 8:29,30; Eph 1:4,5; 2Th 2:13; saints not only by obsignation, but renewed by the sanctifying Spirit, Col 1:2; 1Pe 1:2; beloved with a gratuitous and special love of complacency, Joh 14:21; Rom 1:7; 1Th 1:4.

Bowels of mercies; he would have us put on, i.e. exercise, (being sanctified by the Spirit), mercy, not simply, but according to the Hebrew phrase, bowels of mercies, i.e. tendernesses of compassions, resenting the miseries of our brethren, as sharing with them in their sufferings, from our very heart: see Luk 6:36; Rom 12:15; Gal 6:2; Eph 4:32; 1Pe 3:8.

Kindness; courtesy and goodness, Gal 5:22; endeavouring to succour one another in all offices of benignity, 2Co 6:6; 1Pe 5:14.

Humbleness of mind; a sincere (not an affected) lowliness of spirit: See Poole on "Eph 4:2", See Poole on "Phi 2:3".

Meekness; gentleness and mildness, receiving one another with an open heart and pleasant countenance: see Gal 5:13,23; 6:1; 1Th 2:7.

Long-suffering; patience, bearing affronts and outrages, with other vexatious afflictions, without exasperation, abiding sedate after many wrongs offered, Col 1:11; Act 5:41; 2Ti 2:10; 4:2; 1Pe 4:16.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Put on, therefore, as elect of God, holy, and beloved (vers. 9, 14; Eph_4:24 Eph_1:3-5; Gal_3:27; 1Th_5:8 1Th_1:4; 2Th_2:13; Rom_8:28-39; 1Pe_1:1, 1Pe_1:2; 1Jn_3:1) The terms "elect," "holy", (same as "saints," Col_1:2; see note) "beloved," apply alike and separately to those addressed. Bengel, Meyer, Alford, Ellicott prefer to read "holy and beloved elect (ones);" but "holy" and "beloved" are used frequently by St. Paul as distinct substantive expressions, and indicate conditions ensuing on, rather than determining, election. Colossian believers are "elect" in virtue of an antecedent choice of them to salvation on the part of God, as those who would believe on his (1Th_1:4; 2Th_2:13; Eph_1:4, 5 2:8; Rom_8:28-30; 1Pe_1:1, 1Pe_1:2) Their whole Christian standing springs from and witnesses to God"s eternal (Eph_1:4) election of them an election which, however, presumes faith on their part from beginning to end (Col_1:22; Rom_9:30-33 Rom_11:5-10, Rom_11:17-24) "Elect" and "called," with St. Paul, are coextensive terms: (comp. Rom_1:7 R.V) with this passage, also 1Co_1:26, 1Co_1:27. To address the Colossian Christians as elect is to remind them of all that they owe to God"s grace. "Elect" as chosen by God, they are "holy" as devoted to God. By the latter title they were first addressed; (Col_1:2) holiness is the essence of Christian character. That they should gain this character and appear in it at the last judgment was the purpose of Christ"s atoning death, (Col_1:21, Col_1:22) as it was the purpose of God"s eternal election of believers (Eph_1:4; 2Th_2:13 1Pe_2:9) "And" is marked as doubtful by Lightfoot, Westcott and Heft; "it is impossible not to feel how much the sentence gains in form by its omission" (Lightfoot). "Beloved" (hjgaphmenoi) is the perfect participle passive; it describes the position of those who, carrying out by their present holiness the purpose of their past election, are the objects of God"s abiding. (1Th_1:4) This love dictated their election and set at work the means by which it should be secured (Eph_1:3-14 Eph_2:4; Rom_8:28-30, Rom_8:39; 1Jn_3:1 1Jn_4:9, 1Jn_4:10) As its purposes are increasingly fulfilled in them, it rests on them with an abiding complacency and satisfaction (Eph_5:1; Joh_14:21-23) Christ is "the beloved One" (Eph_1:6; Mat_3:17, etc.) and those who are "in him" in their measure share the same title. (Joh_17:23-26) But their choice by God and devotion to God, who is all love to them (Rom_8:39; 1Jn_4:16) must in turn beget a loving heart in. (1Jn_4:11) A heart of pity, kindness, lowliness of mind, meekness, long suffering (Eph_4:1, Eph_4:2, 32-5:2; Gal_5:22; 1Co_13:4; Tit_3:2; 1Pe_3:8, 1Pe_3:9; Mat_5:5, 7 11:29; Luk_6:35, Luk_6:36) "The splagcna are properly the nobler viscera" rather than the bowels. The use of this figure, found three times in Philemon, is Hebraistic (comp. Luk_1:78; 2Co_6:12 Phm_1:7, 12, 20; 1Jn_3:17) though similar expressions occur in Greek poets. "Pity" (or, "compassion") is an attribute of God in Rom_12:1; 2Co_1:3: comp. Luk_6:36 ("pitiful") On kindness, or kindliness, see Gal_5:22; 1Co_13:4; 2Co_6:6 in each case following "long suffering;" Rom_11:22, where it is opposed to "severity" in God (comp.; Rom_2:4) Eph_2:7; Tit_3:4, where it is ascribed to God in his dealing with men in Christ; also Mat_11:30) It is synonymous with "goodness" (Gal_5:22; Eph_5:9; Mat_7:11 Mat_12:35, etc.) but "goodness" looks chiefly to benefit intended or conferred, "kindness" to the spirit and manner of bestowal (see Trench"s "Synonym"). The objects of "pity" are the suffering and miserable; of "kindness," the needy and dependent. The "lowliness of mind" of Col_2:18, 23 was something specious and to be guarded against; here it is the central and essential element of the true Christian temper (Act_20:19; Php_2:3; 1Pe_5:5; Luk_14:11 Luk_18:14) its self-regarding element. (Rom_12:3) It is linked with meekness, as in Eph_4:2 and Mat_11:29. "Pity" and "kindness," preceding "humility," relate to the claims of others upon us; "meekness" and "long suffering," to our bearing towards them. "Meekness," the opposite of rudeness and self assertion, (1Co_13:5) is a delicate consideration for the rights and feelings of others, especially necessary in administering rebuke or discipline (Gal_6:1; 2Ti_2:25; 1Co_4:21; Tit_3:2) and conspicuous in Christ (Mat_11:29 Mat_21:5; 2Co_10:1) St. Peter marks it as a womanly virtue. (1Pe_3:4) "Long suffering" is called forth by the conduct of "the evil and unthankful". (see Col_1:11, and note) St. Paul claims this quality for himself (2Co_6:6; 2Ti_3:10) Throughout Scripture it is ascribed to God. (Rom_2:4 Rom_9:22; 1Ti_1:16; 2Pe_3:9, 2Pe_3:15, etc.)

Vers. 12-14.

The duty of putting on all the characteristic qualities of the new man.

We must not only "cease to do evil" in putting off the old man, we "must learn to do well." "Put on therefore, as God"s elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering.

I THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN POSITION. "As God"s elect, holy and beloved." They are chosen unto holiness that they should be without blame before him in love". (Eph_1:4) The saints are:

1. The elect ones of God. They are chosen to final salvation (Mat_24:22, Mat_24:24, Mat_24:31; Rev_17:14; Tit_1:1; Rom_8:33)

2. The elect are

(1) holy

(a) consecrated to God,

(b) subjectively holy; (2Co_7:1)

(2) beloved

(a) the election is connected with God"s love; (Rom_11:28)

(b) it is a free love, (Hos_14:5) a tender love, (Joe_2:13) an everlasting love. (Zep_3:17)

II THE DISCHARGE OF THESE CHRISTIAN OBLIGATIONS. We are to put on:

1. A heart of compassion; not a head of high knowledge, after Gnostic perception. The apostle begins with the natural and universal instinct of pity, which is here more an act of grace than of nature, for it springs from love to God. We ought to cultivate it,

(1) because the Father of mercies is merciful; (Luk_6:33)

(2) because those who need it are our own flesh; (Isa_58:7)

(3) because it will attest the reality and worth of our religion; (Jam_1:27)

(4) because we shall reap after the measure of mercies both here and hereafter. (Hos_10:12)

1. Kindness. This is the temper of mind which produces a sweet and happy intercourse with others. Our English word is derived from "kin," and thus a kind man is a kinned man; we ought to regard the saints as kinsfolk, for they are children of God and brethren in Christ.

2. Humility. This is the temper of mind which affects our estimate of ourselves. It is closely allied to kindness, for it takes an unselfish view of personal interests. We ought to "seek lowliness", (Zep_2:3) because:

(1) It is one of Christ"s own graces. (Mat_11:29)

(2) God regards it as a grace eminently worthy of our vocation. (Eph_4:1, Eph_4:2)

(3) He loves to dwell in a lowly soul. (Isa_57:15) He giveth grace to the lowly. (1Pe_5:5, 1Pe_5:6)

(4) He does not despise their prayers. (Psa_102:7)

1. Meekness, long suffering. They affect our outward bearing towards others, especially in the case of injury or insult. They are linked together as companion graces in Gal_5:22. They are eminently illustrated in the life of Christ, and are both fruits of the Spirit. (Gal_5:22) God will guide the meek in judgment and teach them his way. (Psa_25:9) It is the praise of Christian love that it suffers long. (1Co_13:4)

2. Forbearance and mutual forgiveness. "Forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any." This temper is eminently conducive to peaceful relations and diminishes the natural friction of life. It implies

(1) a bearing with the infirmities of others; (Gal_6:2)

(2) a disposition to take wrong rather than stand upon the last jot of our rights; (1Co_6:7)

(3) a pleasing of our neighbour for his good to edification; (Rom_15:1, Rom_15:2)

(4) a frank forgiveness of our neighbour in case of a fault, jars and discords may arise even among saints.

(5) It is a temper which is illustrated and enforced by the example of Christ: "Even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye." His example is decisive both as to the act and the manner of it. He forgave his enemies; he forgave freely; he forgave finally, for salvation.

(6) Love. "And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness." This love to the brethren is to be put on as the cincture to bind the other graces together.

(1) The necessity of this love.

(a) It is the proof of faith. (Gal_5:6)

(b) It tends to the increase of the mystical body. (Eph_4:17)

(c) It makes us like God himself. (1Jn_4:16)

(d) It is a demonstration of the reality of religion to a godless world (Joh_15:8; Mat_5:16)

(2) The dignity of this love; it is "the bond of perfectness." It holds together all the graces which make up perfection. The Judaeo-Gnostics found their perfection in knowledge; the apostle finds it in love. Knowledge puffeth up, charity edifieth". (1Co_8:1) Love binds believers together, and looks to their final perfection in God. T.C.

Vers. 12-17.

The new life of love.

We have turned over a new leaf, so to speak, in these verses. The old life we have to mortify gives place to a new life of love which we have to develop. Now, the moment we speak of love, we are brought into relations with others. It is the social Christian life, therefore, of which Paul here speaks. As already seen, he is aiming at the unity of the Church. Here we have the means by which it is secured. Let us briefly analyze this life of love.

I IT HAS A HEART OF COMPASSION. (Ver. 12, Revised Version.) All the emotion which misfortune evokes in the heart of God is to have its counterpart in the heart of his people. "Kindness, humility, meekness, and long suffering" are to be in exercise within us continually. The apparent drawbacks in others are thus transfigured by our kindly spirit into helps to unity.

II IT HAS A FORGIVINGNESS LIKE THAT OF GOD. (Ver. 13.) Church members and those outside the Church will, from time to time, be guilty of injustice towards us; we may have just ground of complaint. But how our brother"s offences dwindle into utter insignificance when compared with the offences we have ourselves committed against God! It will not do to be severe on our debtors after God has been so forgiving towards ourselves. (Mat_18:21-35) If we cultivate a God-like forgivingness, then we shall be promoting constantly the unity of the Church.

III LOVE IS ITS BOND OF PERFECTNESS. (Ver. 14.) We need only study 1Co 13. to see how love is the all-important matter. It is what brings the whole life into harmony. For love expresses the willingness of the person to give himself to the good of others. It is the principle of the new life, without which it cannot exist.

IV GOD"S PEACE RULES AND EVOKES MAN"S GRATITUDE. (Ver. 15.) For when we are God like in our compassion, forgiveness, and love, we find a peaceful temper laying hold of us. We cannot war with others, but must follow the things that make for peace. To the unity of peace we feel that God has called us. He has been our Peacemaker and the Peacemaker of many more, and so we dwell in the unity of the one mystical body, And surely such a state of mind and heart is something to be thankful for. A grateful spirit for our personal peace and for the peace which permeates through the Church of God.

V GOD"S WORD IS TRANSLATED INTO HEARTFELT PRAISE. (Ver. 16.) For we can only sustain the new life by the reception of God"s quickening Word. It must dwelt within us richly. And if it do, it will evoke praise from our grateful hearts. We will sing in our social gatherings one to another, and be mutually helpful. The meetings of the saints shall be of a most joyful character. And what a unifying element is always found in social praise! How it blends our hearts into unity as we praise the one Lord. The very harmony of the music catches our souls and blends them into something like the harmony of heaven.

VI ALL LIFE BECOMES SACRAMENTAL. (Ver. 17.) There can be no idle words nor random deeds in the new life. All is consecrated to the Lord. His Name is our banner, and under it all is done. God has thus come and made "the common" clean, and the life on earth is like the great sheet of the Apostle Peter, in which the four footed beasts and creeping things were pure. Into every nook and cranny of the new life the consecrated spirit is carried. The meanest matters are thus lifted into heavenly light, and God reigns over all. Thus it is that the sacramental element is carried into all things, and we feel that "the communion of the Lord"s Supper is meant to be a sample of, and not an exception to, our common days; and in the rite there lies a mighty power to make the whole of the rest of life like itself." Arnold has a curious sermon on this text, in which he advocates the consecration in the making of "wills." But this is only an illustration of a universal principle which God requires in the Christian life. There is to be no exception to consecration. In a grateful spirit we are to do all in Christ"s Name. May it be our single ambition! R.M.E.

Vers. 12-17.

What particularly we are to put on. How we are addressed.

on therefore, as God"s elect, holy and beloved." The Colossian Christians had been elected by God out of a state of heathenism. By arrangements over which they had exercised no control, the gospel had been brought to them and had been the means of their conversion. As elected by God, they were consecrated to God and were in the enjoyment of the Divine love. The Colossian Christians were not exceptional. We have been elected by God out of the ungodly state of our own hearts and out of the ungodly influences that more or less prevail in a semi-Christian state of society. Thus brought into a true Christian state, and in that state devoted to God, and the recipients of many tokens of the Divine favour, it becomes us to fed the force of it in reference to our duty.

I THE CHRISTIAN FORMS OF LOVE. The concluding representation is that all are bound together by love.

1. "A heart of compassion. In the original there is indicated the supposed seat of the sympathetic feelings. In heathenism it was rather a heart of cruelty that was worn. The weak were down trodden and neglected. The softening influence of Christianity appears in our hospitals and asylums, in our abhorrence of oppression, in the missionary enterprise. There is a fine sensibility to the miseries of others in those who have felt the Divine

2. compassions toward them. Especially are we to feel the sorrows of our fellow Christians.

3. "Kindness." We may show kindness where there is nothing to draw forthcompassion. Under all circumstances are we to be king. There is nothing which we can wear outwardly to be compared with kindness. "Kind hearts are more than coronets." Kindness is the disposition to think about others, it adds greatly to the joy of their existence to let them see (even in little ways) that we are not forgetting them, but are giving them a place in our thoughts. As God"s holy and beloved, we are to be the vehicles of the Divine thoughtfulness.

1. "Humility." As a Christian grace, humility is founded upon the fact ofour having humbled ourselves before God as sinners. As a form of love, it is the disposition which forbids us to exalt ourselves over others. It is a form of selfishness simply to wish to give others a sense of our importance and of their unimportance. Rather does love impel us to sink our own importance and to prefer them.

2. "Meekness." This is founded on the fact of God being the First Cause ofthe provocation received from others. As a form of love, it is the disposition which prompts us to endure rather than retaliate on those who have wronged us.

3. Long suffering. This is founded on the fact of God having suffered long and much with us. As a form of love, it is the disposition which forbids us to weary of the good of others. It is enduring in hope.

4. Forbearing one another. Forbearance seems to be the practical exhibition of the last disposition. It is implied that we all need to have forbearance exercised toward us, as well as to exercise forbearance ourselves.

5. "And forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any. It is here "each other," with a look forward to the thought of our being all first forgiven by Christ. Just cause of complaint has already been supposed. How are we, as just complainants against a brother, to act? We are not merely to endure and to endure for his good, but we are to advance to positive forgiveness. That is to say, in love we are to remove the complaint, so that it is as though it had never been. The highest example of forgiveness. "Even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye." The Lord had just complaint against us; who shall estimate what it was? But he carried out a work for us the purport of which was the removal of the complaint.

That we have appropriated, and now we are in the position of those from whom complaint has been removed. Forgiveness is usually associated with God, but in this Epistle, in which prominence is given to the Person of Christ, it is associated with him. The fact of Christ being called here "the Lord" points to the fact that, as his servants, we are bound by his example. If the Lord has so acted, servants must not nurse their wrath. The seven graces bound together by love. "And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness." There is the perfect number, and they are bound in the bond of perfectness. Love is thought of as the girdle which binds the garments which have been put on. We have seen its presence in all the seven. They are simply love in seven different relations. There is thus no looseness about them, but they constitute a perfect whole.

II THE CHRISTIAN FORM OF CONCORD. "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body." The peace which is the principle of concord is distinctively the peace of Christ. That is to say, it is the peace which Christ possessed and which he left as a legacy to his disciples. He possessed a holy feeling of tranquillity in view of death and under the wrongs which were heaped upon him, in the enjoyment of his Father"s love and in the conscious and complete carrying out of his Father"s purposes of love toward men. And this holy feeling of tranquility it is intended that we too should have, in all circumstances (in our case based on the atonement), in the enjoyment of our Father"s love and in the conscious endeavour to carry out his purposes of love. The peace of Christ is to rule in our hearts. In the margin it is "arbitrate." And some have thought the meaning to be that, between contending feelings, the peace of Christ is to act as umpire. But the meaning seems simply to be that it is to rule so as to put down all disquieting feeling, and so that we have it toward God and toward all around us. The one body is here thought of as a society in which all are called to a holy feeling of satisfaction. It is, therefore, a society in which concord (out of a Christian ground) reigns. "And be ye thankful." This is the recurrence of what has been noticed as a subordinate feature in the Epistle. What we are to be thankful for is the tranquility which makes concord.

III THE CHRISTIAN FORMS OF RELIGIOUS EXERCISE.

1. The reception of the Word. "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." The Word also is distinctively the Word of Christ. That is to say, it is the Word which Christ spake and which he caused to be proclaimed. It may be taken as including inspired additions. There is a

2. great richness in the Word of Christ. It contains all the thoughts that are needed to give us peace, guidance, strengthening, heartening, under earthly conditions. We are to receive it to be our permanent possession. We are to receive it, not scantily, but in all its richness. We are to receive it in all wisdom, that is, in all wise apprehension of its meaning, and not in the way of false interpretation.

3. Christian song. In Ephesians this is introduced as a counteractive of false excitement, as one of the manifestations of a true excitement of the Spirit. Here it is introduced as the result of the indwelling of the Word of Christ. It was out of no cold heart, but out of a heart of summer gladness, that the Word of Christ came, and, received into us, it wells up in all joyful feelings which find expression in song.

(1) Responsive song. "Teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." The historic psalms and other compositions used in the service of praise which are called hymns, fall under the head of "spiritual songs." In Ephesians the idea of responsiveness was brought out in the words "speaking one to another." Here it is said more definitely "teaching and admonishing one another." The principal purpose of song is to enliven. But the apostle here teaches, that it is not aside from its principal purpose to teach and admonish. And this subsidiary didactic, monitory purpose it is fitted to serve from its being the outcome of the Word of Christ.

(2) Silent song. "Singing with grace in your hearts unto God." This singing is only in the ear of God. Our other exercises are heard by God too. For it is said, "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it." But this is for self edification, with God as the only listener. It is singing with grace, not with gracefulness, but with the grace that preserves from vanity, from extravagance, and enriches with all Christian elements.

IV THE CHRISTIAN FORM OF SPEAKING AND ACTING. "And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus." This, like the others, is associated with Christ. His being called "Jesus" points to his having been a speaker and doer in human nature himself. The meaning is, not that we are formally to invoke the Name of Christ in connection with our speaking and doing. But they are to be according to the rules laid down by Christ and as unto Christ. They will thus be redeemed from all mere naturalness and all sinful elements that mix with them, and will have a richness as from the Word of Christ. "Giving thanks to God the Father through him." This is again the refrain of the Epistle, with a certain prominence. Our thanksgivings are to be unto the Father. We are to give thanks through Christ as Mediator. It is only through him that we have leave to thank God. It is only through him that we have anything to thank God for. It is through him that all the blessings of salvation come to us; and so it is through him that we are to thank God for them. R.F.

Vers. 12-17.

The marks, method, and motive of the Christian life.

This paragraph is part of the practical application of the great principle St. Paul has been expounding in this chapter, viz. the Christian"s death to evil through the death of Christ, and life to holiness through his life. We have here

I THE MARKS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. When the Christian life is illustrated, as here, by a garment, the analogy must not be pressed too far. For instance, unlike a garment, the Christian character is not

(1) merely outside a man, nor

(2) separable from a man. But that character is like a garment:

1. Because by it a man is known and recognizable.

2. Because by it a man is adorned. There are in Paul"s description eight characteristics by which, as by a beautiful garment, the Christian man is recognizable and is adorned.

(1) "Bowels of mercies," which we may paraphrase as "a heart of compassion." Anthropologists largely judge what physical race a man belongs to by his skull; the Christian must judge what race a man belongs to by his heart. Tender heartedness is a sign of the Christian as certainly as truthfulness, or temperance, or honesty.

(2) "Kindness:" this is the constant, steady, often noiseless, but always beneficent, stream flowing from such a heart.

(3) "Meekness;" for whilst the apostle sternly condemns mock humility, which the pietistic among the Colossians had affected, he rigorously insists on that self humiliation without which no man can be reckoned a follower of the meek and lowly Jesus.

(4) "Long suffering:" this is a temper of life described in the beautiful word "patience," and it indicates freedom from the intellectual impatience which makes men proud and restive, and from the emotional impatience which makes men fretful and irritable.

(5) "Forbearance and forgivingness," which need no description.

(6) "Charity;" the love that girdles and holds together all the graces.

(7) "Peace of Christ;" which is the peace Christ gives, and is like the peace he possesses.

(8) "Thankfulness;" gratitude to God and to one another, which implies a whole catalogue of virtues.

II THE METHOD OF ATTAINING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. The method here described is threefold.

1. Christ"s dealing with us. "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly." "The Word of Christ." By this we understand:

(1) The Word that came from Christ to us. That Word is not to pass away, but to "dwell" in us.

(2) The Word that spoke of him. Whether it were in Scripture prophecy, parable, or statement, it unveiled Christ to us. That vision is not to pass away, but to "dwell" in us.

(3) The Word that Christ himself speaks. He communes with us in the secret chambers of our soul, and what his still, small voice says to us there about pardon, duty, God, must not pass away; it must dwell there.

(4) The Word is indeed Christ himself. He is the uttered thought, the expressed love from God to our soul. He must dwell in us.

2. Our words to one another. We only gain ourselves as we help others. We must communicate what we have received if we are to become strong.

(1) We are to teach.

(2) We are to admonish.

Of this there are many ways. One is here described by "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

3. Our word to God. "Sieging with grace in your hearts to the Lord." There must be the outpouring of the heart to God.

III THE MOTIVE INSPIRING CHRISTIAN LIFE.

1. Here is the widest description of the Christian life. It covers "word and deed.

2. Here is the deepest motive of the Christian life. "The Name of the Lord Jesus." It is the Name of him who brings God near, who is the Reconciliation of all things to God. So that what is truly done in the Name of Christ brings the world near God, lifts up human nature into fellowship with God. No wonder that Paul adds, for all this let there be "giving of thanks." The Christian life ought to be an eucharist. U.R.T.

Vers. 12, 13.

The Christian"s wardrobe.

The apostle, having bidden the Colossian converts strip off the filthy rags of their old life, takes them into the Christian"s wardrobe and shows them some of the robes of righteousness, the beauties of holiness, the jewels of grace, with which they may decorate themselves. These are the only priestly vestments in which God"s "royal priesthood" may appear "glorious in the eyes of the Lord." Nor should we ever dare present ourselves before the Lord unless we are attempting to "put on" all these. (Illustrate from "court dress," or (Mat_22:11-13) This spiritual investiture is urged on the Colossians by two considerations.

I THEIR RELATIONS TO GOD. "Elect, holy, beloved.

1. Elect. Our outward religious privileges (1Co_4:7) and our inward spiritual state (1Co_15:10) are the result of a Divine choice. Christian experience, no less than God"s Word, attributes the beginning of the new life within us to a work of God, and therefore to a purpose anti choice of God. (2Ti_1:9) But for what end has he thus chosen us.9 We find answers in such words as "fruit", (Joh_15:16) "holy", (Eph_1:3, Eph_1:4) "sanctification", (2Th_2:13) "obedience". (1Pe_1:2)

2. Holy. Here is the true idea of the only Christian priesthood, viz. consecration, being set apart for service and spiritual sacrifices to God. The self denial of the one High Priest is our pattern and our inspiration (Joh_17:19; Heb_3:1) There are not, in the New Testament, two groups of virtues, one for the clergy, the other for the laity, as (Mr. Ruskin tells us) are represented by some of the mediaeval poets and painters. All Christ"s disciples are called as priests, to be equally "saints," "holy". (1Pe_1:14, 1Pe_1:15)

3. Beloved;" enjoying that special love of complacency and delight of which Christ speaks. (Joh_14:21 Joh_16:27) "The order of the words admirably corresponds to the order of the things: eternal election precedes sanctification in time; the sanctified feel God"s love and forthwith imitate it" (Bengel).

II THE EXCELLENCE OF THESE CHRISTIAN GRACES.

1. A heart of compassion towards those who are in a worse condition than ourselves, whether caused by sin or calamity. A compassionate nature brings pain with it, yet it is "twice blessed." Silver is no substitute for sympathy. Money sent by a rich Christian who will not take the trouble to "visit the fatherless and widows" is worth less than the sympathetic words and deeds of a poor compassionate neighbour. Refer to Christ being often "moved with compassion" and putting forth a healing touch. So now Heb_4:15; 1Jn_3:17, 1Jn_3:18.

2. Kindess" to all, perhaps especially to those who are our equals and need no special compassion. (cf. Gal_6:10; Php_4:8; 1Pe_3:8) A kind heart is a cheerful heart, and provides "a continual feast". (Act_20:35)

3. Humility." "There are many," says Augustine, "who would more readily give all they have to feed the poor than become beggars themselves before God." So humility needs to go hand in hand, with compassion and kindness. It is fostered by a true view both of our own sinfulness and the dignity bestowed upon us. We need it in prosperity lest we become insolent to our neighbours (Est_3:5; Luk_18:11) or even towards God (2Ch_26:16; Hos_13:6) and in adversity, lest we "faint," etc.. (Heb_12:5-9)

4. "Meekness; that quiet, gentle spirit which will calmly endure disappointments or slights. It is a source of power. (Ecc_7:8) It is not constantly vindicating itself and disputing with assailants. (Psa_37:5, Psa_37:6, Psa_37:11) When we see the power which meek spirits gain over others stronger and rougher than themselves, we see the words fulfilled, "A little child shall lead them.

5. Long suffering. In regard to Divine afflictions, see on Col_1:11. It is more difficult to exercise it towards men than towards God. Inrelation to our fellow sinners we may learn from God"s long suffering towards them. (See the legend of Abraham and the fire worshipper in Stanley"s "Jewish Church," 1:21.) And if we are long suffering towards those that sin against God, how much more towards those that offend us! Let us learn of God (Mat_5:45; Rom_2:4) and of his beloved Son. (1Pe_2:23)

6. Forbearance and forgiveness. "Forbearing one another." This is often the first step towards frank forgiveness. It may avert a quarrel, for which two are needed. "To conquer one"s self is the greatest of conquests," says Plato. (cf. Pro_16:32) This victory over self aids us in the victory over the transgressor. (Rom_12:21; e.g. David, 1Sa 24) "Forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any." Our Lord has laid down the law of offences among disciples (Mat_18:15-17; Luk_17:3, Luk_17:4) A Christian spirit will hail the signs of incipient repentance, and will exact no unreasonable humiliation. And even towards the most impenitent offender we may exercise the most forgiving spirit, like God, "ready to forgive". (Mat_5:44, Mat_5:45) Observe the pathetic plea urged: "Even as the Lord forgave you," etc. Our Master Christ still has this (Mat_9:6; Act_5:31) He has used it on our behalf, first when we applied to him with the burden of all the guilty past, and since then day by day. (Joh_13:10) Shall he be so prompt and free, and we be hesitating and reluctant? (1Jn_2:12) And this motive is as stringent as it is pathetic. Note the prayer taught, (Luk_11:4) the command given, (Mar_11:25, 26) the warning uttered. (Mat_18:35) Imagine an unforgiving man offering the prayer, (Mat_6:12) "As we forgive," etc., and interpret it into plain language. If we do not forgive, do not let us dare to pray. E.S.P. (1Ti_2:8)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All who are thus renewed are elected of God, holy, and therefore the more beloved of him. Holiness is the consequence of their election, and God's superior love, of their holiness.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The Rule of God’s Peace and Its Effect on Various Stations in Life.

The Christians’ conduct toward one another

v. 12. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering,

v. 13. forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

v. 14. And above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

v. 15. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

v. 16. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with race in your hearts to the Lord.

v. 17. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.

The Christians being united in fellowship in Christ, it behooves them to lead a life in conformity with the intimacy and sacredness of that bond, to express in their whole lives and all their actions the love which unites them in Christ: Put on, then, as the elect of God, saints and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, humbleness, meekness, longsuffering. These are wonderful titles which the apostle applies to the Christians, and his use of them shows that he is an expert in the art of evangelical admonition. He calls the believers "elect of God," thereby indicating the source and fountain of all the spiritual blessings of God. God has chosen the Christians in Christ before the foundation of the world. According to His counsel of love He has elected certain people out of the mass of the redeemed to be holy and blameless before Him in love. Not by reason of our merits and works, but out of free grace, according to the good pleasure of His will, He has chosen us in Christ. A result of this election is that we are holy, cleansed, sanctified by the blood of the Lamb. Christ has borne the sins of all men earned forgiveness of sins for them all. The righteousness of Jesus is imputed to all that believe on Jesus Christ as their Savior. For the sake of Christ and His perfect righteousness they are holy before the face of God, without a spot or blemish. And therefore they are finally the beloved of the Lord. For the sake of Christ, His beloved Son, the Father loves us, the fullness of His good pleasure rests upon us, the complete measure of His love and mercy. These facts are the strongest possible inducements toward a holy life on our part; they should induce us to put on, to be clothed with, hearts of sympathy and compassion toward one another, that this feeling characterize our entire behavior toward one another. This term the apostle unfolds by naming some of the virtues that are combined with Christian love and compassion: kindness, a cordially loving disposition which knows no harshness; humility, lowliness of mind, that a Christian always places his own person on a lower level than that of all other believers; meekness, mildness over against his brother, which will overlook even an insult and knows no such thing as violent rage; long-suffering, which not only suffers wrong, but rejects every thought of vengeance and desires only the salvation of the sinner.

Just how these Christian virtues are brought out in practical life the apostle shows nest: Forbearing one another and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any, even as also Christ forgave you, so also doing yourselves. Christians should forbear, literally, hold one another up. No Christian is perfect as long as he walks in the flesh of this body, and in spite of all vigilance blemishes and faults will show. Therefore there must be such mutual bearing and helping, with much charitable overlooking of slights and injuries, as will bring out the charitable disposition which should characterize all believers. Together with this, however, must be found the willingness to show mercy, to forgive. It is not only a matter of bearing and forbearing, but also of cordial remitting of sins that have happened. The forbearing is general, the forgiving is usually a matter between two persons; but in both respects there must be a cheerful willingness among the Christians. For they have herein the example of Christ, which they must endeavor to emulate and equal. In the case of injuries which happen in Christian congregations, we can at the worst speak only of complaints on account of insults in comparison with the unspeakably great mass of guilt which is charged against every man before God. And yet, Christ freely gave His holy blood, His divine life, into death to earn forgiveness of sins for us. Can there be any question, then, of our being ready at all times to forgive a fellow-Christian for any wrong done to us?

The compelling motive and cause of the Christian’s charitable behavior as here outlined is brought out by Paul as a climax of his admonition: But over all these things love, which is the bond of perfection. The apostle retains the figure of clothing which is put on. The final, most splendid garment, which holds all the other virtues together in the heart, is the girdle of love, of true, cordial affection for the brethren. Without love all the other Christian virtues and works are useless and vain. For love is the bond of perfection. With love binding the hearts of all Christians together, the ideal of Christian perfection is attained. This love, as Luther writes, causes us Christians to be of one mind, of one heart, of one pleasure; it unites rich and poor, rulers and subjects, sick and healthy, high and low, highly honored and despised.

This thought is enlarged in the next sentence: And the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body, and become thankful. Christ has gained for us the reconciliation of the Father, He has established peace between us and God. This peace He gives through the Gospel, making us certain that we are God’s dear children. This peace, therefore, should rule in our hearts, be the governing principle of our lives in love. We should maintain it over against the attacks of Satan, the world, and our own flesh; we should hold firmly to the conviction that the mercy of God rests upon us. This certainty will make all Christian virtues become a habit with us as a matter of fact, for our hearts will be filled with the enjoyment of this peace, to which we were called in conversion. Thus the fact also that all we Christians together form one body will be expressed in our lives. Thus our gratitude toward God, which is growing in the same rate as our understanding of the mercy of Christ toward us, will always find opportunities to show its appreciation of the divine grace. The best proof of the grateful condition of our hearts toward God is that by which we show in our entire lives those virtues and works which meet with His approbation.

As the means for bringing about this ideal condition among the Christians St. Paul names the edification of the Word in teaching and singing: The Word of Christ, let it dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, in grace singing in your hearts to God; and everything, whatever you do in word and deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. The Word of Christ is not only the sum total of His sayings as recorded in the Gospels, but the entire Word of God; for of this Christ Himself is the beginning, middle, and end. The preaching of sin and grace must dwell, must have its home, among the Christians. The Christian religion is not to be a matter of Sunday only or of the sermon alone; it should also not merely be an occasional guest in the Christian homes, but it should be a member of the household, to he used and consulted day after day. The abundant comfort and strength of the Gospel should be used abundantly, not only by the pastor in the pulpit and in the homes, but also by every individual Christian. It contains the right wisdom and teaches the right wisdom for both doctrine and admonition. Our brethren. Without love all the other Christian virtues and works are useless and vain. For love is the bond of perfection. With love binding the hearts of all Christians together, the ideal of Christian perfection is attained. This love, as Luther writes, causes us Christians to be of one mind, of one heart, of one pleasure; it unites rich and poor, rulers and subjects, sick and healthy, high and low, highly honored and despised. This thought is enlarged in the next sentence: And the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body, and become thankful. Christ has gained for us the reconciliation of the Father, He has established peace between us and God. This peace He gives through the Gospel, making us certain that we are God’s dear children. This peace, therefore, should rule in our hearts, be the governing principle of our lives in love. We should maintain it over against the attacks of Satan, the world, and our own flesh; we should hold firmly to the conviction that the mercy of God rests upon us. This certainty will make all Christian virtues become a habit with us as a matter of fact, for our hearts will be filled with the enjoyment of this peace, to which we were called in conversion. Thus the fact also that all we Christians together form one body will be expressed in our lives. Thus our gratitude toward God, which is growing in the same rate as our understanding of the mercy of Christ toward us, will always find opportunities to show its appreciation of the divine grace. The best proof of the grateful condition of our hearts toward God is that by which we show in our entire lives those virtues and works which meet with His approbation. As the means for bringing about this ideal condition among the Christians St. Paul names the edification of the Word in teaching and singing: The Word of Christ, let it dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, in grace singing in your hearts to God; and everything, whatever you do in word and deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. The Word of Christ is not only the sum total of His sayings as recorded in the Gospels, but the entire Word of God; for of this Christ Himself is the beginning, middle, and end. The preaching of sin and grace must dwell, must have its home, among the Christians. The Christian religion is not to be a matter of Sunday only or of the sermon alone; it should also not merely be an occasional guest in the Christian homes, but it should be a member of the household, to he used and consulted day after day. The abundant comfort and strength of the Gospel should be used abundantly, not only by the pastor in the pulpit and in the homes, but also by every individual Christian. It contains the right wisdom and teaches the right wisdom for both doctrine and admonition. Our constant endeavor must be not only to grow in knowledge of the way of salvation and to teach others, but also mutually to encourage one another to maintain an unflagging interest in true sanctification. This can be done also by the use of psalms, the incomparable poetry of Holy Writ, hymns which are intended chiefly for use in church services, and spiritual songs, such as are more popular in form and content, but also tell of the wonderful blessings of God for our salvation. All this should not be a mere mouth service on the part of the believers, but they should, at the same time, sing to God in their hearts, and that with grace. The mercy of God is the theme of their grateful singing, of their continuous thanksgiving, even when this is not accompanied with a single word of their mouths. In most cases, however, the sincere gratitude of the heart cannot be retained in silence, but out of the fullness of the heart the mouth will sing praises to God, the Father of all mercy. The apostle’s entire admonition is therefore fitly summarized in the rule that they do everything, no matter what it is, whether it be with words or with deeds, in the name of the Lord Jesus, through whom, as our Advocate, all thanks are given to God the Father. All our words and deeds must flow from true faith in Jesus, the Redeemer, and be spoken and performed to His glory, all our words and actions being expressions of our thankfulness.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Our apostle having now finished his exhortation to the practice of that great duty of mortification of sin, called here, a putting off the old man, comes next to mention several graces and virtues, which he exhorts them to be found in the practice of; and this he styles, a putting on the new man; teaching us hereby, that a negative holiness, is not sufficient to salvation; it is not enough that we cease to do evil, but we must learn to do wll; a man may go to hell for not doing good, as well as for doing wickedly.

Observe farther, The particular graces and virtues which they are exhorted to put on.

1. Bowels of mercy and kindness; that is, a tender pity towards, and an inward sympathy with, those that are in misery; and this expressed in outward acts of succour and relief, according to our ability.

There is a natural pity which man can hardly put off, it is seated in the very nature of man; and accordingly, unmercifulness is a sin against the light of nature, as well as against the law of God:

But there is, besides this, a spiritual pity, which flows from sure love, and that a divine love; now, this is more an act of grace than of nature; this the apostle here exhorts the Colossians to, Put on bowels of mercy; they who have put on, and are clothed with, garments of holiness, will also put on bowls of mercy as a garment.

2. Humbleness of mind; whereby a man, sensible of God’s goodness, and his own infirmities, hath an humble apprehension, and a modest estimation of himself: The more holiness anyh person has the more humility he has; humility is a certain evidence of our holiness, because it is a great part of our holiness.

3. Meekness and long-suffering, which moderate anger, and enable us to put up affronts and injuries. This is a spirit and temper divine, and truly Christ-like; none so abused and affronted as he; but, being reviled, he blessed, and committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. When another hurts thee by unjust provocation, why shouldst thou hurt thyself by sinful passion? Christ was a Lamb for meekness; it doth not become any of his followers to be like lions for fierceness.

4. Forebearance, and mutual forgiveness; Forbearing one another and forgiving one another. No Christians are so perfect, but they are liable to offend one another; he must have no friends, that will have a friend with no faults, and consequently they stand in need of forgiveness from each other.

Learn hence, 1. That Christians are obliged, by the laws of their holy religion, to forbear and forgive one another.

2. They are obliged to imitate Christ in this duty of forgiveness; Christ forgives us universally, freely, sincerely, so as never more to upbraid us with the fault he has forgiven us; such a forgiveness are we to exercise towards our brother. As Christ forgave you; so also do ye.

Observe lastly, The argument which St. Paul makes use of to press the Colossians to the practice of the forementioned duties, and that is drawn from their election and vocation; Put on as the elect of God, bowels of mercy. You that had the favour to be chosen of God out of the heathen world, to be his church and people, and are now holy and beloved of God, let the sense of this divine favour oblige you to humility and meekness, to long suffering and mutual forgiveness, yea, to the love and practice of universal holiness.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12–15. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God. As a chosen, holy and beloved nation, put on these graces. A heart of compassion (Revision), etc. These are all traits of Christ, and must be found in us if he is our life.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved

This can be made active. AT: "as those whom God has chosen for himself, whom he desires to see live for him alone, and whom he loves" (See: Active or Passive)

put on a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience

The "heart" is a metaphor for feelings and attitudes. Here it is spoken of as if it has certain feelings and attitudes, and as if it were clothing to wear. AT: "have a merciful, kind, humble, gentle, and patient heart" or "be merciful, kind, humble, gentle, and patient" (See: Metaphor)

Bear with one another

"Be patient with one another" or "Accept each other even when you disappoint each other"

Be gracious to each other

"Treat each other better than they deserve for you to treat them"

has a complaint against

The abstract noun "complaint" can be stated as "complain." AT: "has a reason to complain against" (See: Abstract Nouns)

have love, which is the bond of perfection

Here "bond of perfection" is a metaphor for something that causes perfect unity among people. AT: "love one another because it will unite you perfectly together. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

chosen one

holy

beloved

forgive

lord

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

12. ἐνδύσασθε. Taking up ἐνδυσάμενοι (Col 3:10), but applying the figure to details. Here also is the aorist chosen because the present would imply an only gradual acceptance of the following virtues (cf. note on ἀπεκδυσάμενοι, Col 3:9).

οὖν. Including the argument from ἀπεκδυσάμενοι, Col 3:9, but with special reference (cf. Col 2:6; Col 2:16, Col 3:1; Col 3:5) to the immediately preceding words; i.e. because this active life of godliness is alone consistent with the ideal set before you.

ὡς. By mentioning their actual state (Eph 5:8; Phm 1:16) he shows the reasonableness of the act commanded.

ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ. Contrast ἐκλεκτῶν θεοῦ (Rom 8:33). Here τοῦ marks perhaps a slight pause in thought after ἐκλεκτοί, but less strong than our English “chosen and that of God.” St Paul leaves the thought of the new man and reminds his readers of their having been chosen by God.

On ἐκλεκτός in the N.T. see Lightfoot, and for its relation to the O.T. see especially Hort on 1Pe 1:1; 1Pe 2:9, who brings out the truth that “God’s choosing is not for the sake of His chosen alone; they are chosen because He has a special ministry for them to perform towards the surrounding multitude.… As is the election of ruler or priest within Israel for the sake of Israel, such is the election of Israel for the sake of the whole human race. Such also, still more clearly and emphatically, is the election of the new Israel. Nor is the principle of less validity in respect of the individual members of the new chosen race. Each stone in the spiritual house of God has its own place to fill, and was chosen by God for that place. Each member of Christ’s spiritual body has its own work to do, and was chosen by God for that work.” So here St Paul evidently employs this epithet to urge them to greater consistency in their relation to others.

This is not the place to discuss the technical sense of “elect” in theology. That St Paul used it as meaning more than admission into the visible Church, and saw in it the actual reception of spiritual blessings on the part of the “elect,” may be inferred from Rom 8:33, τίς ἐγκαλέσει κατὰ ἐκλεκτῶν θεοῦ; θεὸς ὁ δικαιῶν. But he nowhere seems to say that the ἐκλεκτοί cannot be lost, which is of the essence of the meaning of the word in Calvin’s system. Calvin appears to have used it in the sense attached to it in the Gospels, e.g. Mat 22:14. ἐκλεκτοί occurs only here in the third group of the Epistles. But Eph 1:4 is somewhat similar in argument, καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους κ.τ.λ.

ἅγιοι, Col 1:2, note. This and ἠγαπημένοι can hardly be (1) vocatives, for there seems to be no parallel to such an address (ct. Heb 3:1, ἀδελφοὶ ἅγιοι); nor (2) substantival expressions to which ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ forms an attribute; i.e. “as holy and beloved ones elect of God,” for all the emphasis lies on ἐκλεκτοί; nor (3) certainly predicates after ἐκλεκτοὶ, i.e. “chosen of God to be ἅγ. κ. ἠγαπ.,” for there is no example of such a use of ἐκλεκτός. Ct. the infinitive after the verb, Eph 1:4. But (4) they are simply fresh epithets unfolding thoughts included in ἐκλεκτοί: and thus strictly speaking subordinate to it, not co-ordinate; i.e. “chosen, including of course being consecrated and being loved.” Thus ἅγιοι regards the Colossians as set aside for God’s use out of a sinful world, and ἠγαπημένοι as being the objects of special divine love. Bengel’s note is interesting: “ordo verborum exquisite respondet ordini rerum: electio aeterna praecedit sanctificationem in tempore: sanctificati, sentiunt amorem, et imitantur.” But he is surely wrong in his interpretation of ἠγαπημένοι, St Paul saying nothing about our realisation of God’s love.

καὶ. See notes on Textual Criticism.

ἠγαπημένοι. See note on ἅγιοι. Pass. partic. of believers, 1Th 1:4 (εἰδότες, ἀδελφοὶ ἠγαπημένοι ὑπὸ [τοῦ] θεοῦ, τὴν ἐκλογὴν ὑμῶν); 2Th 2:13; Jud 1:1†. It indicates “the settlement and fixity of the Divine love; on whom He has set His love” (Moule).

It is perhaps not too fanciful to remember that each of the three epithets is used of Christ (e.g. ἐκλεκτός, 1Pe 2:4; ἅγιος, Mar 1:24; ἠγαπημένος, Eph 1:6). If believers share His privileges, and if eventually He will be to them everything (Col 3:11), let them now put on His virtues.

σπλάγχνα. Literal, and perhaps in conscious contrast to τὰ μέλη of Col 3:5. The viscera were considered to be the seat of the emotions, as “heart” with us. Cf. 1Jn 3:17, Phm 1:7; Phm 1:20. In Phm 1:12, σπλάγχνα is purely metaphorical. See further Plummer on Luk 1:78. Strictly σπλάγχνα refers to the nobler viscera, “the heart, lungs, liver, etc., as distinguished from the ἔντερα, the lower viscera, the intestines, e.g. Aesch. Agam 1221, σὺν ἐντέροις τε σπλάγχνα” (Lightfoot on Php 1:8). But in the only two passages in the LXX. where it represents a Hebrew word, Pro 12:10; Pro 26:22, it has not this limitation, nor in Aquila and Symmachus, Gen 43:30; Amo 1:11, nor in Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, Isa 63:15.

οἰκτιρμοῦ, sing.†. Apparently a possessive genitive. Contrast Php 2:1, and cf. Luk 1:78.

χρηστότητα, “kindliness,” “sweetness” (Rheims in 2Co 6:6; cf. Mat 11:30). The subst. is used in the N.T. by St Paul only, e.g. 2Co 6:6; Gal 5:22. χρηστός occurs in the parallel passage in Eph 4:32.

See Trench, Synon. § lxiii., who says it is a grace “pervading and penetrating the whole nature, mellowing there all which would have been harsh and austere.” οἰκτιρμός may move us to do kind things but χρηστότης makes us do them in a kindly way.

ταπεινοφροσύνην, Col 2:18, note. Cf. the list in Eph 4:2. Neander, Plant. I. 483–5 (the reference is due to Ell.), has some remarks on this word all the more valuable from his Jewish experience. He says e.g. “ταπ. bears an immediate relation to God alone, and according to the Pauline views can be transferred to no other being; men and created beings in general are not its objects; for humility is the sense of dependence on the Creator as such, and places the whole assemblage of created beings on a level.… Yet he who is rightly penetrated with the feeling of dependence on God in reference to his whole existence and conduct, and with the nothingness of everything human while living only for oneself, will not pride himself in his abilities, but feel that they are bestowed upon him by God for a definite object, and must be used in dependence on Him; in his intercourse with others, he will bear in mind the defects, the limits, and imperfection of his own character and abilities, and his dependence, with that of all other men, on their common Lord.”

πραὗτητα. Humility leads to meekness, the receptive attitude of the soul towards another when that other is in a state of activity towards it. It is exercised primarily towards God, Mat 5:5; Mat 11:29, but, as receiving all things at His hands, issues necessarily in meekness towards men. Compare Trench, Synon. § xlii.

μακροθυμίαν. See Col 1:11, note. “Patience,” “forbearance,” the spirit of mind that excludes all irritation at the faults and failings of others; cf. 2Ti 4:2.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12.] Put on therefore (as a consequence of having put on the new man, to whom these belong) as the elect of God (see reff. and 1Th 1:4), holy and beloved (it seems best to take, as Mey., ἐκλεκτοί for the subject, and ἅγ. and ἠγ. for predicates,—1) because ἐκλεκτοί is a word which must find its ground independently of us, in the absolute will of God, and therefore cannot be an adjunctive attribute of ἅγιοι (καὶ) ἠγαπ.—and 2) because ἐκλεκτοὶ θεοῦ is used in reff. and ἐκλεκτοὶ in several other places, as a substantive), bowels of compassion (see reff., and Luk 1:78. The expression is a Hebraism: and the account of it to be found in the literal use of σπλάγχνα as the seat of the sympathetic feelings: cf. Gen 43:30), kindness (see on Gal 5:22), lowliness (towards one another—see on Eph 4:2), meekness (Eph. ib.: but here it is primarily towards one another; not however excluding but rather implying meekness towards God as its ground), long-suffering (ib.), forbearing one another (see ib.) and forgiving each other (ἑαυτοῖς is not = ἀλλήλοις, as De W., al.: but the mutual forgiveness of the Christian body is put in marked correspondence to that great act of forgiveness which has passed upon the whole body, in Christ. ‘Forgiving yourselves,’ did it not convey to our ears a wrong idea, would be the best rendering: doing as a body for yourselves, that which God did once for you all), if any have cause of blame (the phrase is a classical one—cf. Eur. Orest. 1068, ἓν μὲν πρῶτά σοι μομφὴν ἔχω—Phœn. 781; Soph. Aj. 180, and other examples in Wetst.): as also (καί; besides, and more eminent than, the examples which I am exhorting you to shew of this grace) the Lord (Christ: in Eph 4:32, the forgiveness is traced to its source, ὁ θεὸς ἐν χριστῷ. Mey. compares the expression ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν) forgave (see on Eph 4:32) you, so also ye (scil. χαριζόμενοι—do not supply an imperative, by which the construction is unnecesarily broken. Chrys. carries this χαρίζεσθαι to an exaggerated extent, when he says that it extends not only to τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν θεῖναι—τὸ γὰρ ‘καθὼς’ ταῦτα ἀπαιτεῖ—καὶ οὐδὲ μέχρι θανάτου μόνον στῆναι δεῖ, ἀλλʼ εἰ δυνατὸν καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα; thinking perhaps on Rom 9:3):

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12-17. Virtues to be cultivated, kindness, love, forgiveness, in Which God’s forgiveness of us is to be the pattern; mutual teaching and admonition, and in everything thankfulness, everything being done in the name of Jesus Christ

12. ἐνδύσαθε οὖν, having put on the new man, put on also these virtues.

ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ. cf. Rom 8:33; Tit 1:1. In St. Paul κλητοί and ἐκλεκτοί, κλῆσις and ἐκλογή (Rom 9:28, Rom 9:29), are coextensive, as indeed they seem to be in other N.T. writers (cf. Rev 17:14) except the Gospels, where κλητοί and ἐκλεκτοι are distinguished (Mat 24:22, Mat 24:24, Mat 24:31 al.). ὡς ἐκλεκτοί has a significant connexion with what precedes, since the ἐκλογή is presupposed in what is said in vv. 10, 11.

ἅγιοι καὶ ἠγαπημένοι are best taken as predicates of ἐκλέκτοι which with and without τοῦ Θεοῦ is used in several places as a substantive.

καί is om. by B 17 Sah., and Lightfoot brackets it, thinking that the sentence gains in force by the omission; cf. 1Pe 2:6.

σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ. “A heart of compassion.” σπλάγχνα, like “viscera,” denoted especially the nobler inward parts, heart, liver, and lungs, and figuratively the seat of the emotion, as we use the word “heart.”

The singular οἰκτιρμοῦ is supported by very preponderant authority.

χρηστότητα, cf. Eph 2:7.

ταπεινοφροσύνη. Eph 4:2, πραύτητα μακροθυμίαν, ibid.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12–15. ‘Therefore, as the elect of God, as a people consecrated to His service and specially endowed with His love, array yourselves in hearts of compassion, in kindliness and humility, in a gentle and yielding spirit. Bear with one another: forgive freely among yourselves. As your Master forgave you His servants, so ought ye to forgive your fellow-servants. And over all these robe yourselves in love; for this is the garment which binds together all the graces of perfection. And let the one supreme umpire in your hearts, the one referee amidst all your difficulties, be the peace of Christ, which is the destined goal of your Christian calling, in which is realised the unity belonging to members of one body. Lastly of all; show your gratitude by your thanksgiving.’

12. ἐνδύσασθε οὖν] ‘Put on therefore’, as men to whom Christ has become all in all. The incidental mention of Christ as superseding all other relations gives occasion to this argumentative οὖν: comp. iii. 1, 5.

ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ] ‘as elect ones of God.’ Comp. Rom. viii. 33, Tit. i. 1. In the Gospels κλητοί and ἐκλεκτοί are distinguished as an outer and an inner circle (Matt. xxii. 14 πολλοὶ γάρ εἰσιν κλητοί, ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί), κλητοί being those summoned to the privileges of the Gospel and ἐκλεκτοί those appointed to final salvation (Matt. xxiv. 22, 24, 31, Mark xiii. 20, 22, 27, Luke xviii. 7). But in St Paul no such distinction can be traced. With him the two terms seem to be coextensive, as two aspects of the same process, κλητοί having special reference to the goal and ἐκλεκτοί to the starting-point. The same persons are ‘called’ to Christ, and ‘chosen out’ from the world. Thus in 1 Thess. i. 4 εἰδότες τὴν ἐκλογὴν ὑμῶν κ.τ.λ. the word clearly denotes election to Church-membership. Thus also in 2 Tim. ii. 10, where St Paul says that he endures all things διὰ τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς, adding ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸι σωτηρίας τύχωσιν κ.τ.λ., the uncertainty implied in these last words clearly shows that election to final salvation is not meant. In the same sense he speaks of an individual Christian as ‘elect’, Rom. xvi. 13. And again in 1 Cor. i. 26, 27 βλέπετε τὴν κλῆσιν ὑμῶν ... τὰ μῶρα τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο, the words appear as synonymes. The same is also the usage of St Peter. Thus in an opening salutation he addresses whole Christian communities as ἐκλεκτοί (1 Pet. i. 1; comp. v. 13 ἡ συνεκλεκτὴ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι, i.e. probably ἐκκλησία), as St Paul under similar circumstances (Rom. i. 6, 7, 1 Cor. i. 2) designates them κλητοί; and in another passage (2 Pet. i. 10) he appeals to his readers to make their κλῆσις and ἐκλογή sure. The use of ἐκλεκτός in 2 Joh. 1. 13 is apparently the same; and in Apoc. xvii. 14 οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ κλητοὶ καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ καὶ πιστοί this is also the case, as we may infer from the addition of πιστοί, which points to those who have been true to their ‘calling and election’. Thus the Gospels stand alone in this respect. In fact ἐκλογή denotes election by God not only to final salvation, but to any special privilege or work, whether it be (1) Church-membership, as in the passages cited from the epistles; or (2) The work of preaching, as when St Paul (Acts ix. 15) is called σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς, the object of the ‘election’ being defined in the words following, τοῦ βαστάσαι τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐνώπιον [τῶν] ἐθνῶν τε καὶ βασιλέων κ.τ.λ.; or (3) The Messiahship, 1 Pet. ii. 4, 6; or (4) The fatherhood of the chosen people, as in the case of Isaac and Jacob, Rom. ix. 11; or (5) The faithful remnant under the theocracy, Rom. xi. 5, 7, 28. This last application presents the closest analogy to the idea of final salvation: but even here St Paul treats κλῆσις and ἐκλογή as coextensive, Rom. xi. 28, 29 κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκλογὴν ἀγαπητοὶ διὰ τοὺς πατέρας· ἀμεταμέλητα γὰρ τὰ χαρίσματα καὶ ἡ κλῆσις τοῦ Θεοῦ.

ἅγιοι κ.τ.λ.] These are not to be taken as vocatives, but as predicates further defining the meaning of ἐκλεκτοί. All the three terms ἐκλεκτοί, ἅγιοι, ἠγαπημένοι, are transferred from the Old Covenant to the New, from the Israel after the flesh to the Israel after the Spirit. For the two former comp. 1 Pet. ii. 9 γένος ἐκλεκτόν ... ἔθνος ἅγιον; and for the sense of ἅγιοι, ‘the consecrated people of God’, see the note on Phil. i. 1. For the third word, ἠγαπημένοι, see Is. v. 1 Ἄσω δὴ τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ κ.τ.λ., Hos. ii. 25 τὴν οὐκ ἠγαπημένην ἠγαπημένην (as quoted in Rom. ix. 25). In the New Testament it seems to be used always of the objects of God’s love: e.g. 1 Thess. i. 4 εἰδοτές, ἀδελφοὶ ἠγαπημένοι ὑπὸ Θεοῦ, τὴν ἐκλογὴν ὑμῶν, 2 Thess. ii. 13 ἀδελφοὶ ἠγαπημένοι ὑπὸ Κυρίου (comp. Jude 1); and so probably Rev. xx. 9 τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἠγαπημένην. For the connexion of God’s election and God’s love see Rom. xi. 28 (quoted above), 1 Thess. l.c. The καὶ is omitted in one or two excellent copies (though it has the great preponderance of authorities in its favour), and it is impossible not to feel how much the sentence gains in force by the omission, ἐκλεκτοὶ Θεοῦ, ἅγιοι, )ηγαπημένοι; comp. 1 Pet. ii. 6.

σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ] ‘a heart of pity’. For the meaning of σπλάγχνα see the note on Phil. i. 8, and for the whole expression comp. σπλάγχνα ἐλέους Luke i. 78, Test. xii Patr. Zab. 7, 8.

χρηστότητα κ.τ.λ.] The two words χρηστότης and ταπεινοφροσύνη, ‘kindliness’ and ‘humility’, describe the Christian temper of mind generally, and this in two aspects, as it affects either (1) our relation to others (χρηστότης), or (2) our estimate of self (ταπεινοφροσύνη). For χρηστότης see the note on Gal. v. 22; for ταπεινοφροσύνη, the note on Phil. ii. 3.

πρά"υτητα κ.τ.λ.] These next two words, πρά"υτης and μακροθυμία, denote the exercise of the Christian temper in its outward bearing towards others. They are best distinguished by their opposites. πρά"υτης is opposed to ‘rudeness, harshness’, ἀγρίοτης (Plato Symp. 197 D), χαλεπότης (Arist. H. A. ix. i); μακροθυμία to ‘resentment, revenge, wrath,’ ὀργή (Prov. xvi. 32), ὀξυχολία (Herm. Mand. v. 1, 2). For the meaning of μακροθυμία see above, on i. 11; for the form of πρά"υτης (πράοτης), on Gal. v. 23. The words are discussed in Trench N. T. Syn. § xlii. p. 140 sq., § xliii. p. 145 sq., § liii. p. 184 sq. They appear in connexion Ephes. iv. 2, Ign. Polyc. 6 μακροθυμήσατε οὖν μετ’ ἀλλήλων ἐν πρά"υτητι.

J. B. Lightfoot, St Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon: a revised text with introductions, notes and dissertations (London: Macmillan, 1875) — public domain. Electronic text from Project Gutenberg (ebook #50857). Covers Colossians and Philemon only (the verse-by-verse notes; introductions and dissertations are omitted); Lightfoot's companion Galatians and Philippians volumes are not included, as the available public-domain scans carry garbled Greek that cannot be faithfully reproduced.