OWNING THE NEW LIFE - Notice the strong verbs in the imperative section: set your minds, put to death, get rid of, don’t lie, clothe yourselves, bear with one another, forgive, clothe yourselves (again), etc. The imperatives however, rest upon the opening line, "So if you have been raised with Christ . . ." The "do’s and don’ts of the Christian lifestyle is completely confusing and out of place without the first four verses of chapter three. These verses provide the theological foundation from which we can view our life and behavior differently.

NEW LIFE AND BEHAVIOR - The writer bids his recipients to reflect on what their new life in Christ means to them. It had been a death to the old order of servitude and fear. Now they are to allow God’s new order to control their mind-set and attitude of life. John Cassian looked upon sin in the life of the believer as sickness, illness; the antidote? For each illness or vice, he suggested an opposite (contrary) virtue. In his time it would look like this: generosity for greed, forbearance for uncontrolled temper, praise for self-pity, and industriousness for sloth or laziness.

gregory of nyssa [4th century) - if reason assumes sway over such emotions, each of them is transmuted to a form of virtue. For anger produces courage, terror caution, fear obedience, hatred aversions from vice, the power of love the desire for what is truly beautiful. High spirit in our character raises our thought above the passions and keeps it from bondage to what is base.

 

Describe your own BC / AC experience that reflects particular changes that you’ve noticed.

What is the biggest challenge to you as you endeavor to lead a life worthy of your calling in Christ?

 

 

Visit our DPS archives for additional homilies based on this passage.

You may want to play with the indicative / imperative format that is so common in Paul’s style. At the first, he indicates our position in Christ-a heavenly position-that should impact our worldview on earth. Then having established our positional place in Christ, Paul marches us back down to the nitty gritty grime-infested, anger exploding world in which we live.

Paul seeks to close the "gap" between Christian position and earthy reality. Try your hand at closing the gap! Draw on struggles, failures, gaps, and successes!

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[1] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture IX (InterVarsity Press, 2000), page 46.