📱 Colossians 3:9-15 in the English Standard Version (ESV):

9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

🔑 Because we have already taken off the old self and put on the new self in Christ (v. 9-10), we stop living by the old habits (especially lying) and start living by the new ones. In this new life the old divisions disappear (v. 11). Instead we deliberately put on Christ-like character—compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and especially love (v. 12-14). Christ’s peace then rules our hearts and we live thankful as one body (v. 15). The whole section is about living out the new identity we already have in Jesus.

👓 Colossians 3:9-15 in the New American Standard Bible (NASB):

9 Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it— 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free, but Christ is all, and in all.

12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so must you do also. 14 In addition to all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ, to which you were indeed called in one body, rule in your hearts; and be thankful.

🪔Colossians 3:9-15 in the King James Version (KJV):

9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 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. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 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.

🪙 Greek interlinear for Colossians 3:9-15

Colossians 3:9

Μὴ ψεύδεσθε εἰς ἀλλήλους, Do not lie to one another,

ἀπεκδυσάμενοι τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον having stripped off the old man

σὺν ταῖς πράξεσιν αὐτοῦ, with the practices of him,

Colossians 3:10

καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι τὸν νέον and having put on the new

τὸν ἀνακαινούμενον εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν the one being renewed into full knowledge

κατ’ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν, according to the image of the One having created him,

Colossians 3:11

ὅπου οὐκ ἔνι Ἕλλην καὶ Ἰουδαῖος, where there is not Greek and Jew,

περιτομὴ καὶ ἀκροβυστία, circumcision and uncircumcision,

βάρβαρος, Σκύθης, δοῦλος, ἐλεύθερος, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free,

ἀλλὰ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν Χριστός. but the all things and in all Christ.

Colossians 3:12

Ἐνδύσασθε οὖν ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, Put on therefore as chosen ones of God,

ἅγιοι καὶ ἠγαπημένοι, holy and having been loved,

σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ, χρηστότητα, bowels of compassion, kindness,

ταπεινοφροσύνην, πραΰτητα, μακροθυμίαν, humility, gentleness, patience,

Colossians 3:13

ἀνεχόμενοι ἀλλήλων bearing with one another

καὶ χαριζόμενοι ἑαυτοῖς and forgiving each other

ἐάν τις πρός τινα ἔχῃ μομφήν· if anyone against anyone has a complaint;

καθὼς καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐχαρίσατο ὑμῖν just as also the Lord forgave you

οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς· so also you;

Colossians 3:14

ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις τὴν ἀγάπην, and over all these the love,

ὅ ἐστιν σύνδεσμος τῆς τελειότητος. which is the bond of perfectness.

Colossians 3:15

καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Χριστοῦ βραβευέτω and the peace of the Christ let rule

ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν, in the hearts of you,

εἰς ἣν καὶ ἐκλήθητε ἐν ἑνὶ σώματι· to which also you were called in one body;

καὶ εὐχάριστοι γίνεσθε. and thankful be.

📝study notes

🪄꩜Jenny꩜🪄

📖 Colossians 3:9–15 — Deep Dive

⚓ Anchor: Colossians 3:9

Colossians 3:9

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.”

At first glance, we could read this as simply:

Christian rule #37: Don't lie.

But Paul gives a reason that is much deeper than “because lying is wrong.”

He says:

Don't lie because that belongs to someone you aren't anymore.

That changes everything.

---

🧭 First: Where Are We in Colossians?

Paul has already established the foundation:

Colossians 3:1–3

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is…”

And:

Colossians 3:3

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

So Paul's order is important.

He does not say:

Behave better so that you can become God's person.

He says:

You belong to Christ. You have died with Christ. You have been raised with Christ. Therefore, live like the person Christ has made you.

Identity → conduct.

Not conduct → identity.

That's the framework for everything we're about to read.

---

🧥 THE OLD WARDROBE

Immediately before our anchor verse, Paul names some of the things Christians are to put away.

Colossians 3:5

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature…”

Then he names sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed.

Then another group:

Colossians 3:8

“But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”

And then:

⚓ Colossians 3:9

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.”

Notice how much of this involves what comes out of us toward other people.

Anger.

Malice.

Slander.

Filthy speech.

Lying.

Paul isn't describing isolated private sins anymore.

He's talking about things that destroy fellowship.

And that's important because verses 9–15 increasingly move from:

the individual Christian → the Christian community.

---

⚓ COLOSSIANS 3:9 — “DO NOT LIE TO EACH OTHER”

This is stronger than simply:

“Try to be truthful.”

Paul connects lying directly with the old self.

Why?

Because deception is fundamentally contrary to the character of God.

Numbers 23:19

“God is not human, that he should lie…”

Titus 1:2

Paul describes:

“God, who does not lie…”

And Jesus says Satan operates exactly the opposite way:

John 8:44

“…there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language…”

That makes truthfulness more than good manners.

Truth reflects God's nature.

Deception reflects the kingdom we've been rescued from.

😳

So when Paul says:

“Do not lie to each other…”

he isn't merely policing conversation.

He's saying:

The people of the God of truth should increasingly become people of truth.

---

🪞 WHY “TO EACH OTHER” MATTERS

There's another little phrase we shouldn't skip:

Colossians 3:9

“Do not lie to each other…”

Paul is talking about life inside the body of Christ.

Lying destroys something Christians desperately need:

trust.

And without trust:

fellowship fractures.

Confession disappears.

Accountability becomes impossible.

Correction becomes suspicious.

Relationships become guarded.

Community becomes performance.

That's probably why Paul says something extremely similar in another letter:

Ephesians 4:25

“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”

That last part explains the command.

Imagine your hand deliberately deceiving your eye.

Or your eye deceiving your foot.

Absurd.

They're parts of the same body.

Paul says that's what Christians are doing when we deceive one another.

---

👕 “YOU HAVE TAKEN OFF YOUR OLD SELF”

Here comes the clothing imagery.

Paul says:

Colossians 3:9

“…since you have taken off your old self with its practices”

And then:

Colossians 3:10

“and have put on the new self…”

Picture someone removing filthy clothes.

Paul doesn't say:

Wash your old clothes and make them respectable.

🤣

He says:

Take them off.

The gospel isn't cosmetic improvement of the old person.

It's new life.

Paul describes this elsewhere:

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

And:

Romans 6:6

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him…”

The old life isn't our renovation project.

It went to the cross.

---

🌱 COLOSSIANS 3:10 — THE NEW SELF

Colossians 3:10

“…and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

There is something beautiful happening grammatically and spiritually here.

Paul says we have put on the new self…

but that new self is being renewed.

So there is both:

A decisive change

You belong to Christ.

And

An ongoing transformation

You are becoming increasingly like Christ.

That is sanctification.

We aren't becoming Christians repeatedly.

We're becoming more and more what we already are in Christ.

---

🪞 “IN THE IMAGE OF ITS CREATOR”

Don't miss this.

Paul takes us all the way back to Genesis.

Genesis 1:27

“So God created mankind in his own image…”

Sin terribly distorted humanity's reflection of God.

But salvation isn't merely:

God forgives your sins so you can go to heaven someday.

God is restoring His image in His people.

Paul says the new self:

Colossians 3:10

“…is being renewed…in the image of its Creator.”

And who perfectly reveals God?

Colossians 1:15

“The Son is the image of the invisible God…”

So Christian transformation ultimately means:

Becoming increasingly Christlike.

Look what Paul does next.

He tells us what the new clothes look like.

And surprise surprise…

they look like Jesus.

---

🌍 COLOSSIANS 3:11 — THE OLD DIVISIONS LOSE THEIR POWER

Colossians 3:11

“Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”

Paul isn't saying human distinctions cease to exist physically or culturally.

He's saying they no longer determine someone's standing, worth, or access to God within Christ's people.

The ancient world divided people constantly.

Ethnicity.

Religion.

Culture.

Social status.

Freedom.

Slavery.

Paul drops Christ right through the middle of all of it:

“Christ is all, and is in all.”

The church should therefore become a community that the natural human world struggles to explain.

People who ordinarily wouldn't belong together…

belong together because Christ belongs to all of them.

---

👑 COLOSSIANS 3:12 — REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

Now look at how Paul addresses Christians.

Colossians 3:12

“Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved…”

Before Paul gives another command, he reminds them:

WHO THEY ARE.

Chosen.

Holy.

Dearly loved.

Then:

“…clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

There's our clothing imagery again.

Old clothes off:

anger
rage
malice
slander
filthy speech
lying

New clothes on:

compassion
kindness
humility
gentleness
patience

And there's something else I love here.

Paul doesn't say:

“Become dearly loved after you master compassion and patience.”

No.

You are dearly loved first.

Then you learn to live like someone dearly loved by God.

❤️

---

🧥 THE CHRISTIAN WARDROBE

And look how recognizable these clothes are.

Compassion

Jesus repeatedly had compassion on people.

Kindness

Christ treated broken people with astonishing tenderness.

Humility

Philippians 2:5–8

Christ humbled Himself, ultimately becoming obedient unto death.

Gentleness

Matthew 11:29

Jesus says:

“I am gentle and humble in heart…”

Patience

How patient has Christ been with His disciples?

Including us.

🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️

So Colossians 3 isn't merely describing Christian virtues.

It's describing Christ's character reproduced in Christians.

---

🤝 COLOSSIANS 3:13 — WHERE SANCTIFICATION GETS UNCOMFORTABLE

Colossians 3:13

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.”

Now Christianity stops being theoretical. 😂

It's relatively easy to love humanity.

Individual humans can be considerably more challenging.

Paul assumes Christians will irritate each other.

He doesn't say:

“If somehow somebody someday gets on your nerves…”

He says:

Bear with each other.

Meaning Christian community requires endurance.

And then comes the standard:

Colossians 3:13

“Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

Uh oh.

Not:

Forgive when they deserve it.

Not:

Forgive after they apologize perfectly.

Not:

Forgive if you weren't hurt too badly.

Our reference point is:

How did Christ forgive me?

That is a brutal standard for pride.

And a beautiful standard for grace.

---

❤️ COLOSSIANS 3:14 — THE OUTER GARMENT

Colossians 3:14

“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

I picture Paul saying:

You've put on compassion.

Kindness.

Humility.

Gentleness.

Patience.

Now throw love over the whole thing.

Because without love, even virtues can become performance.

You can appear patient while despising someone internally.

You can perform kindness for approval.

You can imitate humility while secretly enjoying how humble everyone thinks you are. 😂

Love gives the rest their proper orientation.

1 Corinthians 13:2

“…if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”

Love binds Christian character together.

---

🕊️ COLOSSIANS 3:15 — WHO GETS TO RULE?

Colossians 3:15

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.”

That word “rule” is fascinating even without getting buried in Greek grammar.

Think:

Who gets the deciding vote?

When anger says:

Fight.

When pride says:

Prove yourself.

When resentment says:

Make them pay.

When fear says:

Protect yourself.

Paul says:

Let the peace of Christ rule.

Not the peace of avoidance.

Not pretending conflict doesn't exist.

Christ's peace.

The peace produced when Christ governs His people.

And again Paul brings us back to community:

“…as members of one body…”

Verse 9:

Don't lie to each other.

Verse 11:

Christ is in all.

Verse 13:

Bear with each other.

Verse 14:

Love binds everyone together.

Verse 15:

You are one body.

This whole passage is deeply relational.

---

🙏 AND THEN PAUL SLIPS IN THIS LITTLE COMMAND…

Colossians 3:15

“And be thankful.”

Three words.

Easy to skim right past.

But gratitude is going to show up three times in verses 15–17.

Colossians 3:15

“be thankful”

Colossians 3:16

“with gratitude”

Colossians 3:17

“giving thanks”

That repetition isn't accidental.

A heart increasingly governed by Christ becomes a thankful heart.

Because Christianity continually reminds us:

Everything I have ultimately rests on grace.

---

🧵 NOW LOOK AT THE THREAD

This passage has an incredible progression:

OLD SELF

⬇️

Put away deception and destructive behavior.

⬇️

NEW SELF

⬇️

Being renewed into the Creator's image.

⬇️

NEW COMMUNITY

⬇️

Old divisions lose their authority.

⬇️

NEW CHARACTER

⬇️

Compassion • Kindness • Humility • Gentleness • Patience

⬇️

NEW RELATIONSHIPS

⬇️

Bearing with • Forgiving • Loving

⬇️

NEW GOVERNMENT OF THE HEART

⬇️

The peace of Christ rules.

⬇️

NEW RESPONSE

⬇️

Thankfulness.

That's beautiful theology.

---

⚓ Why Verse 9 Is Such a Good Anchor

Now let's come all the way back.

Colossians 3:9

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.”

The deepest question behind the verse isn't merely:

“Did I tell the truth?”

It's:

“Am I trying to wear something Christ already told me to take off?”

😳

Because lying can be bigger than outright fabrication.

We can deceive through:

half-truths.

strategic omissions.

exaggeration.

pretending motives are purer than they are.

presenting ourselves differently depending upon the audience.

hiding wrongdoing to preserve reputation.

letting someone believe something we know isn't true.

And here's where I think our Heart Check is going to get interesting later:

Sometimes deception isn't primarily about fooling other people.

Sometimes we're protecting an image of ourselves.

And Paul says:

You don't need that old costume anymore.

You've been given a new identity.

You are:

Colossians 3:12

“God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved.”

That person can afford to walk in truth.

Because her worth no longer depends upon maintaining an illusion.

❤️

---

🔥 One Last Connection I Don't Want Us to Miss

There is a gorgeous progression between Genesis → Christ → us.

Genesis 1:27

Humanity created in God's image.

⬇️

Sin corrupts humanity.

⬇️

Colossians 1:15

Christ is “the image of the invisible God.”

⬇️

Christ saves us.

⬇️

Colossians 3:10

The new self is “being renewed…in the image of its Creator.”

Do you see it?

God's work isn't simply getting His children out of judgment.

He's restoring in them what sin damaged.

His image.

And that means every time Christ produces:

truth instead of deception,

compassion instead of indifference,

kindness instead of cruelty,

humility instead of pride,

gentleness instead of harshness,

patience instead of irritation,

forgiveness instead of vengeance,

love instead of division,

peace instead of chaos…

we are watching the image of Christ emerge in His people.

That makes this passage much bigger than a morality checklist.

It's restoration. 🥹❤️