Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; (13) bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  (14) But  above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.  (15) And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. (16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the  Lord. (17) And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 

The letter to the Colossians was written by the apostle Paul – the epistle was written while Paul was a prisoner in Rome for preaching the gospel and after he appealed to Caesar for a trial as was his right as a Roman citizen. While in chains He had been visited by the  founder of the church in Colosse who traveled to Rome to inform Paul of heresy in that church involving a relapse into paganism arising from Greek philosophy and the spread of false doctrine by the Jewish legalizers.  The Greeks believed that God was good and God was spirit – and matter was evil and goodness could not creat evil/matter. This philosophy promoted worship of emanations of guides to God (angels) and that Jesus Christ was not God but another emanation.  Paul had to establish exactly what and who Christ was and that He was sufficient for salvation.  The  Judaizers also came to Colosse to corrupt the gospel and demanded that Christians needed to follow the Law of Moses and adhere  to Jewish ceremony, including circumcision. Their teaching was essentially Jesus AND works.  Our verses today are all about how God’s people grow and change. Christians are to put off their old life in darkness and to put on Christ like habits; with the transformation in faith in Christ they/we begin the process of progressive sanctification.

God is in charge of salvation in Christ and those who reject this have too high an opinion of man’s abilities. The truth is we are saved in Christ only through God’s sovereign electing grace. Christians are holy and set apart – they/we are new people in faith in Christ. Christians need to adopt a lifestyle consistent with their new life which will act as an antidote to self love, pride and a rejection of God’s love and purpose. We have been given a new eternal life in the resurrected Christ. Christians are to behave as they believe.