Colossians 3:7-11 · Bible study
Colossians 3:7-11 Commentary: Putting Off the Old Self
Greek · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Colossians 3:7-11: Paul contrasts the old way of life with new identity in Christ, calling believers to put off sin and put on the new self.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Believers have definitively put off the old sinful self and put on a new self that God progressively renews; this new identity abolishes all human divisions because Christ fills everything.
- Key words: Put off (ἀπόθεσθε/ἀπεκδυσάμενοι, strip away as clothes); old man (παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον, unregenerate nature); new man (νέον, new creation in Christ); is being renewed (ἀνακαινούμενον, present passive, continuous divine action); knowledge (ἐπίγνωσις, full, personal knowledge); Christ is all and in all (Χριστὸς τὰ πάντα καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν).
- Main debate: The relationship between the already-completed ‘putting off’ at conversion and the ongoing imperative to put off sinful behaviours, is it crisis or process? Also how extensively ‘knowledge’ (ἐπίγνωσις) includes mystical vs. ethical content.
- Theological theme: Union with Christ as the basis for sanctification and the creation of a new, reconciled humanity.
- Best use: Preaching and teaching on Christian identity, transformation, and unity across ethnic and social lines.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
7When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways.
8But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
9Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices,
10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
WEB World English Bible 2000
7You also once walked in those, when you lived in them,
8but now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.
9Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,
10and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,
11where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.
KJV King James Version 1769
7In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
9Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
7wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things;
8but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth:
9lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings,
10and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
7in which also ye--ye did walk once, when ye lived in them;
8but now put off, even ye, the whole--anger, wrath, malice, evil-speaking, filthy talking--out of your mouth.
9Lie not one to another, having put off the old man with his practices,
10and having put on the new, which is renewed in regard to knowledge, after the image of Him who did create him;
11where there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, servant, freeman--but the all and in all--Christ.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
7In which ye also once walked when ye lived in these things.
8But now, put off, ye also, all [these] things, wrath, anger, malice, blasphemy, vile language out of your mouth.
9Do not lie to one another, having put off the old man with his deeds,
10and having put on the new, renewed into full knowledge according to [the] image of him that has created him;
11wherein there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ [is] everything, and in all.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
7In which you also walked some time, when you lived in them.
8But now put you also all away: anger, indignation, malice, blasphemy, filthy speech out of your mouth.
9Lie not one to another: stripping yourselves of the old man with his deeds,
10And putting on the new, him who is renewed unto knowledge, according to the image of him that created him.
11Where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free. But Christ is all and in all.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Koine Greek)
New Testament · Koine Greek · Colossians 3:7
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this passage grounds ethical transformation in the believer’s union with Christ. The past tense ‘walked’ (περιεπατήσατε, aorist indicative) describes their former conduct, while ‘lived’ (ἐζῆτε, imperfect, ‘you were living’) points to the state or condition that produced that conduct, as Vincent and Wesley note: living is the inward principle, walking is the outward action. The imperative ‘put off’ (ἀπόθεσθε, aorist middle imperative) calls believers to decisively strip away sins the way one removes a dirty garment, a metaphor for the break with the old life. Calvin stresses that the new life ‘in knowledge’ (εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν, ‘unto full knowledge’) is not mere intellectual assent but a renewal of the whole person. The ‘old man’ (παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον) is the entire unregenerate self; the ‘new man’ (νέον) is the new creation being progressively renewed (ἀνακαινούμενον, present passive participle) after the image of the Creator. All traditions agree that this new identity dissolves all human divisions, because ‘Christ is all, and in all’.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: Believers have died to their old sinful nature through union with Christ and are called to live out that new identity by putting away sinful behaviours and embracing a life of truth, love, and unity.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The relationship between the indicative and imperative in Colossians 3:9-10 | All traditions agree that the imperative ('put off', 'do not lie') is grounded in the indicative ('you have put off the old man', 'you have put on the new'). Ethical effort flows from God's prior action in Christ. | Reformed and Lutheran traditions tend to emphasize that the old man is crucified once for all and the imperative calls us to live out that accomplished reality (simul iustus et peccator). Methodist and Wesleyan traditions place greater weight on progressive sanctification, seeing the imperative as describing ongoing cooperation with grace that perfects the believer. |
| The meaning of 'the old man' and 'the new man' | All traditions see the 'old man' as the pre-conversion sinful nature and the 'new man' as the new creation in Christ, given at conversion. | Some interpreters (e.g., in the Reformed tradition) treat the 'old man' as entirely crucified and 'put off' at conversion, so that remaining sin is an alien intruder, not part of the believer's identity. Others (e.g., Wesleyan-holiness and some Catholic) see the old man as progressively stripped away through the process of sanctification. |
| The scope of 'Christ is all and in all' regarding social structures | All Christians affirm that this verse teaches the equality of all believers before Christ and abolishes ethnic, ritual, and social distinctions within the church. | The passage’s implications for existing social structures (especially slavery and gender roles) have been debated. Some argue that since Paul does not directly command slave emancipation or the erasure of all social roles, the new creation transforms relationships from within while respecting external orders. Others hold that the logic of v.11 demands active dismantling of all hierarchies in the present. |
Historical & Cultural Context
The letter to the Colossians addresses a church in the Lycus River valley in Asia Minor. The congregation faced a mix of Jewish legalism, ascetic practices, and mystical speculation known as the Colossian heresy, which threatened the supremacy of Christ. Paul’s response emphasizes that in Christ believers already died and rose (Col 3:1-4); therefore they must live accordingly.
The language of ‘putting off’ and ‘putting on’ clothes draws from common metaphors for moral change in the Greco-Roman world, but Paul roots it in the reality of baptism (Romans 6:19). In Colossians 2:12, 13 he says believers were buried and raised with Christ, the indicative that drives the imperative here. The vice list (anger, wrath, malice, slander, shameful speech) resembles catalogues found in ethical teaching of the time, but Paul’s focus on speech shows that the tongue reveals what is truly in the heart.
Verse 11 strikes a radical note. By listing ‘Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free,’ Paul names every social and ethnic barrier known to the ancient world, including the Scythians, a people notoriously regarded as the most savage barbarians. The new creation in Christ cancels these distinctions. This would have felt deeply counter-cultural in a stratified Roman society where ethnicity, circumcision, and legal status determined one’s place. Early readers would see the gospel not merely reforming individual lives but creating a fundamentally new human community where Christ occupies the space once filled by these divisions.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants in Colossians 3:7-11. The passage is textually stable. Minor differences in translation (e.g., ‘blasphemy’ vs. ‘railing’ in KJV versus ASV/BSB) reflect semantic range of βλασφημίαν (slander/evil-speaking) rather than manuscript variation. The inclusion of ‘Scythian’ is attested across all major witnesses.
Reception History
This passage has been foundational in Christian teaching on baptism and new identity. The Cambridge Bible notes that Ignatius of Antioch (c. AD 110) already used the phrase ‘the dispensation of the New Man, even Christ’ in his letter to the Ephesians, an early witness to the connection between the ‘new man’ here and Christ Himself. In the Reformation, Calvin and Luther drew on vv.9-10 to argue that justification by faith produces a real but progressive renewal of the believer’s life. The verse about the abolition of ethnic and social distinctions (v.11) was frequently invoked in 19th-century debates over slavery and later in 20th-century movements for racial reconciliation in the church. The image of ‘putting off’ the old self and ‘putting on’ the new has been sung in hymns of conversion and used in catechetical instruction across denominations.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Your past is real but it is not your identity. Paul does not flinch: ‘You also once walked in those, when you lived in them.’ The imperfect tense, ‘you were living’, points to a settled condition. That was your environment and your action. But now, in Christ, that condition has died (Col 3:3). You are no longer defined by what you were.
- Putting off the old self is both a once-for-all event and a daily choice. The aorist participle ‘having put off’ (ἀπεκδυσάμενοι) describes the definitive break at conversion: you already stripped off the old man. Yet the imperative ‘put off’ (ἀπόθεσθε) says: keep realising that reality. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, shameful speech, lying, these are the old garments that do not fit the new creation.
- Renewal happens in the atmosphere of knowing God. The new self ‘is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.’ The present passive participle signals continuous action: God is the agent, and He renews us by deepening our knowledge of Him. This knowledge (ἐπίγνωσις) is not bare facts but personal, transformative encounter. As we see the image of God in Christ, we are changed into that image, and the walls between us fall away.
Five-point outline
- You used to walk in these sins, that was your life.
- Now you must put them all away, decisively and continuously.
- Don’t lie to each other, truthfulness marks the new community.
- You have put off the old man and put on the new, which God is renewing in knowledge.
- In this new humanity there is no Greek or Jew, slave or free; Christ is all, and in all.
Illustration hooks
- A person moving out of a rented house: before they furnish the new place, they throw out the old furniture that does not belong in the new home. Putting off the old self means discarding the sinful practices that do not match who you now are in Christ.
- A company rebranding: the logo, uniforms, and signs all change. Employees train themselves to answer the phone with a new greeting. The old identity is gone; everything must align with the new one. The church is God’s rebranded humanity.
- A workplace where people from every background sit at one table: former rivals collaborate. The same grace that removed your sin also removed the reason for division. Christ is the only status marker that counts.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If I have already “put off the old man,” why do I still struggle with anger and lying?
- How can I tell whether I am “living in” sin or just “walking” in it from time to time?
- What does “being renewed in knowledge” look like day to day, is it more Bible study or more prayer, or something else?
Leading a Discussion
This passage shows that Christian morality is not about trying harder. Paul grounds every command in a statement of what God has already done. Because you have died with Christ, you can now put to death what belongs to your old life. Because you have put off the old man and put on the new, you can stop lying and start living as one new humanity. The goal is not just behaviour change, it is being remade into the image of the Creator, where Christ fills every category that once divided people.
Discussion questions
- What does Paul mean by ‘walked’ in v.7, and how does it differ from ‘lived’? Why does he use both verbs?
- Look at the vices listed in v.8: anger, wrath, malice, slander, shameful speaking. Why does Paul place so much emphasis on speech? What do these reveal about the heart?
- Why does Paul single out lying in v.9? What does truthfulness have to do with the new identity in Christ?
- The phrase ‘having put off the old man’ is a participle in the aorist (past action). How does that help you understand the relationship between conversion and daily sanctification?
- Verse 10 says the new self ‘is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.’ How is renewal connected to knowledge? What kind of knowledge is this?
- Verse 11 lists social barriers: Greek/Jew, circumcision/uncircumcision, barbarian/Scythian, slave/free. Which barriers in your own community does the gospel challenge most directly today?
- What would it look like for Christ to be ‘all and in all’ in your church’s life together?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Romans 6:19 | I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh; for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification. |
| Romans 6:20 | For when you were servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. |
| Romans 7:5 | For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law worked in our members to bring out fruit to death. |
| I Corinthians 6:11 | Some of you were such, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God. |
| Ephesians 2:2 | in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. |
| Colossians 2:13 | You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, |
| Titus 3:3 | For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. |
| I Peter 4:3 | For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke emphasizes that the new self is renewed in knowledge, contrasting heathen ignorance with Christian understanding of God and self. This renewal erases every human distinction: Greek, Jew, barbarian, slave, free. Christ alone is the source, maker, and savior of all, and he is equally present in all believers.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes traces the vice of lying directly to the old corrupt nature, noting that deceit reigns everywhere the gospel has not reached. He emphasizes that being renewed in knowledge restores what humanity possessed at creation: an intelligent acquaintance with God that sin had clouded.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin distinguishes between living and walking, treating them as cause and effect: believers who have died with Christ must no longer give themselves to the vices they once practiced. Regeneration, he argues, requires both putting off the old man and putting on the new, which is a renewal of the whole soul, not mere knowledge but a transformative illumination that restores God’s image.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentary emphasizes a crucial distinction: believers have already stripped off the old man in Christ positionally, yet they must now actively realize that fact by putting off sinful practices. The new man is continuously being renewed, not merely created once, through a deepening knowledge that progressively conforms them to the image of God.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes highlight that in the new creation, all human divisions—ethnic, religious, cultural, social—are abolished. The old self with its vices is stripped away; the new self is renewed in knowledge to reflect the Creator. In Christ alone, every believer finds full identity and unity.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill stresses that the believer’s past life of walking in sin is decisively finished; the command to put off sinful practices is rooted in that already-completed break. He notes that the “new man”
Vincent's Word Studies Evangelical 1887
Vincent emphasizes that the believer's renewal is an ongoing process, not a one-time event, and its goal is full knowledge. In this renewed condition, there is no room for distinctions of nationality, ritual privilege, education, or social rank. He also carefully distinguishes the specific vices to be put off, noting that "filthy communication" means foul-mouthed abuse, not merely crude talk.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley distinguishes between the inward principle of life and the outward actions that follow. He then stresses that Christ's renewing work makes all external distinctions irrelevant, whether Jew or Gentile, educated or barbarian. Christ himself becomes everything in those who are transformed.