For Paul, the Christian life is life in Christ in the most literal sense of the words. It unfolds in the spiritual space of the relationship that binds the Son to the Father. And all relationships between Christians, like their life itself, must...
For Paul, the Christian life is life in Christ in the most literal sense of the words. It unfolds in the spiritual space of the relationship that binds the Son to the Father. And all relationships between Christians, like their life itself, must exist precisely there. It is no accident that the apostle speaks of peace: inner peace is inseparable from dwelling in the Kingdom as the space of the relationship between the Father and the Son.
But the fullness of the Kingdom is revealed in love. In the Kingdom, love becomes not merely a relationship, but also the environment within which all relationships exist: those between people, those of each person with God and with Christ, and finally that of Christ Himself with His heavenly Father. In itself, the Kingdom is the space in which God's breath predominates, but in the context of all the interpersonal relationships possible in such a space, it is also an environment of love. God's breath is bound up with His life, with His very existence; but when someone else is drawn into His existence, a space of love arises at the point of encounter as the dynamic of that encounter itself. It is precisely love, arising through God's will directed towards the one He loves, that becomes the bridge joining the uncreated God to all the beings He has created and loves, including human beings. In relation to that which cannot be conscious of God's will, His love is revealed as God's Wisdom, present in the world even where no one can recognize it. But in relation to a person conscious of that will and of their own existence, it is revealed precisely as love.
And if relationships between people are built in the space of the Kingdom, like the relationship binding the Father and the Son, they too can only be relationships of love. This is not because a person ceases to be a creature in God's presence, but because in any relationship in which God participates and which He shapes, His love becomes predominant and forms the environment within which it exists. Such relationships cease to be purely human and become divine-human, since they are shaped not only by people but also by God. It is to the formation of such an environment of love among Christians that Paul calls the recipients of his letter, whether in relationships between spouses, children and parents, or slaves and their masters. As long as these relationships remain strictly functional, they cannot be relationships of love. But if the Kingdom comes to the forefront of each person's life and their relationships become relationships of the Kingdom, function—including social function—recedes into the background. It is of such relationships that the apostle speaks in his Letter to the Colossians.
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3:12 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.
3:13 Forbearing one another - If anything is now wrong.And forgiving one another - What is past.
3:14 The love of God contains the whole of Christian perfection, and connects all the parts of it together.
3:15 And then the peace of God shall rule in your hearts - Shall sway every temper, affection, thought, as the reward (so the Greek word implies) of your preceding love and obedience.
3:16 Let the word of Christ - So the apostle calls the whole scripture, and thereby asserts the divinity of his Master.Dwell - Not make a short stay, or an occasional visit, but take up its stated residence. Richly - In the largest measure, and with the greatest efficacy; so as to fill and govern the whole soul.
3:17 In the name - In the power and Spirit of the Lord Jesus. Giving thanks unto God - The Holy Ghost. And the Father through him - Christ.
3:18 Wives, submit - Or be subject to. It is properly a military term, alluding to that entire submission that soldiers pay to their general. Eph 5:22, etc
3:19 Be not bitter - (Which may be without any appearance of anger) either in word or spirit.
3:21 Lest they be discouraged - Which may occasion their turning either desperate or stupid.