Colossians 3:14

Context

The Epistle to the Colossians is traditionally held to be a letter that Paul, together with Timothy, sent to the believers at Colossae in Asia Minor. Some scholars hold that a disciple of Paul wrote it in his name.

Chapter 3 opens with the exhortation to "seek those things which are above" (Colossians 3:1) and continues with a clothing metaphor: believers are to put off the deeds of the old man and put on the new man. Verses 12–13 urge them to put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering (patience) like garments and to forgive one another. Verse 14 concludes this list by calling them to add love over all these virtues: "And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Verse 15, which immediately follows, speaks of the peace of Christ and of the church as called "in one body."

Interpretation

• Love as the bond that holds the virtues together: Building on the preceding clothing metaphor, this reading sees love as a belt that binds the various virtues into one, or as an outer garment worn over all the others. On this understanding, love is what keeps the other virtues from becoming scattered and disconnected.
• Love as the bond that leads to perfection: A literal rendering of the Greek is "the bond of perfection." This reading takes the phrase to mean that love is the cord that draws the believer toward maturity and perfection.
• Communal reading: This reading notes that the surrounding context deals with church life marked by mutual forbearance and forgiveness. Here love is the bond that unites the believers into one body, and the verse is read alongside "the bond of peace" in Ephesians 4:3.

Debates and Issues

Translations differ over whether "above all these things" should be understood as "above all" (that is, most important) or as "over all these things" (put on like an outer garment). In addition, the verb rendered "add" in Korean translations ("put on" in the KJV) has no separate counterpart in the original text; translations supply it by carrying over "put on" from verse 12.

Theologically, the relationship between "perfectness" and love has been a subject of discussion. The medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas is known to have cited this verse in explaining that Christian perfection consists in charity. Methodist and Holiness churches in the tradition of Wesleyan theology describe Christian perfection as "perfect love" and sometimes read this verse in connection with that understanding. Presbyterians in the Reformed tradition do not regard love as the ground of justification (God's declaring the sinner righteous). Instead, they tend to describe it as the fruit borne by those justified by faith in the course of sanctification (the process of being made holy). Nevertheless, there is little disagreement among denominations that love is the most central virtue of the Christian life.

In the Korean Church

Because the verse emphasizes love and unity, it is often cited in sermons at wedding services and in sermons on harmony within the church.

Related Passages

• Colossians 3:12–13
• Ephesians 4:3
• 1 Corinthians 13:13
• Romans 13:10
• Galatians 5:6