The passage
      v1-4. Paul restates his theology and draws a general ethical conclusion:
        i] "You have been raised". That is, you are alive to righteousness, therefore set your hearts and minds on things above. Think on these things - of love, of the fruits of the Spirit. Desire love.
        ii] "You died." That is, you died to sin, therefore do no set your minds on earthly things. Abhor evil. Paul is not telling us to renounce the enjoyment of the creation, rather to renounce evil.
      v5-11. Paul continues, given that we are identified with Christ in his death and resurrection, then we should express this reality by abhorring evil. Paul defines the evil we should flee from in two lists. Greater sins, and lesser sins:
        i] Sexual evils, v5-7. Paul lists sexual evils, which evils serve as the most destructive in human relationships. "Greed" is better understood as "covetousness", which in this context, concerns coveting another's wife or husband.
        ii] Lesser evils, v8-11. Paul then goes on to list evils which destroy trust in relationships, particularly within the Christian fellowship.

A guide to holy living
      There's a great line from a movie where two African Americans are walking past a "whites only" church in America, and one of them says, "I've been trying to get into that church since I was a kid". The other bloke responds by saying, "That's nothing, Jesus has been trying to get in there for a lot longer and he hasn't got in yet."
      The church is a bit sick. We're suffering from lack of care. We don't love, and we're not loved. The church is hurting. Most believers have witnessed a congregation brawling over some trivial issue like the color of the church carpet. Divisions and party spirit are ever increasing problems with new ministries. Hurt, grief, anger, dashed expectations, frustration, fear.... a mass of emotions. Hurting churches, hurting people, hurting each other. Why is it so?
      We all know the basic problem is sin. As Luther said, "The old Adam retains his power until he is deposited in the grave". The Bible clears up any doubt when it says, "all sin and fall short of the glory of God".
      Yet, sin runs out of control in the life of a congregation when we fail to apply the profound theology summed up in Paul's words, "Christ is all, and is in all":
        First, selfishness takes hold where there is little or no community. Paul's new Adam, the new creation, the new people of God; was one people where there was "no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free." Does this image the church today?
        Second, selfishness takes hold in the life of God's people where there is a failure to recognize the completeness we already have in Christ. Through faith in Christ we "have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." As far as God is concerned, we are as Christ is. Yet, that is not the popular view. Many believers have forgotten that they "have been raised with Christ."
        Third, there are the practical issues of morality that Paul raises. Sexual immorality stands foremost as the greatest danger confronting the fellowship of believers. Sexuality is the most intimate expression of knowing another and so to misuse it is to interfere with the knowing of God and of each other. Then there is behaviour which destroys trust. Hurtful violence in words, malice, abusive speech and lying. All destructive of our fellowship, all undermining the very nature of church as a community of believers.
      Verses 1 through 4 of Colossians chapter 3 identifies where the substance of our life resides. Our being is hidden with the risen Christ in the heavenlies and therefore our minds should be focused on that reality rather than the push and shove of this age. It is on the basis of our standing with the risen Lord that Paul says "put to death, therefore,.......", be what we are.
      "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace", Col.3:15.

v2
      froneite (fronew) pres. imp. "set your minds on" - think. Further defining "seek". "Fix your thoughts on", REB.

v3
      gar "for" - Introducing the reason why they should "set their hearts on." apoqanete (apoqnhskw) aor. "you died" - The believer is identified with Christ in his death and by implication, his resurrection, and therefore it is illogical for a believer to set their mind on human corruption rather than divine perfection.
      kai "and" - "And as a consequence", expressing result.
      kekruptai (kruptw) perf. pas. "hidden" - has been hidden. Perfect implies a present state arising from a past action. Identification with Christ is obviously the intended idea, rather than the notion that a believer's real life has not yet been fully revealed and can therefore be described as "hidden".
      en tw/ qew/ "in God" - The preposition is either expressing a locative sense, "in the sphere of the divine", or expressing agency, "by the agency of the divine." Locative is best. We are secure in our identification/union with Christ, who is similarly secure in his identification/union with the godhead.

v4
      oJtan + subj "when" - whenever. Forming a temporal clause identifying a future action.
      hJ zwn uJmwn "[Christ, who is] your life" - the life of you. Textual variant, "our", RSV. A broad meaning is best attached to this phrase, Christ is the source/substance/goal of our lives, "the secret center of our lives", Phillips.
      fanerwqh/ (fanerow) aor. subj. "appears" - is manifested, made plain/clear. Obviously referring to the second coming of Christ.
      tote "then" - Indicating what will happen following the future action that was just alluded to.
      fanerwqhsesqe (fanerow) fut. pas. "will appear" - will be manifested. A punctiliar sense seems best. Resurrected believers will appear with Christ on the day of his appearing.

v5
      nekrwsate (nekrow) aor. imp. "put to death" - destroy, do away with completely. "Eliminate completely from yourselves", TH; possibly "reckon as dead", Bruce.
      ta melh (oV) "whatever belongs" - the members [on the earth] / organs, parts, limbs. Here referring to the parts of the body driven by evil impulses and used for evil, "your limbs as put to earthly purposes", Moule. "Don't be controlled by your body", CEV.
      porneian (a) "sexual immorality" - All sexual activity outside marriage.
      pleonexian (a) "covetousness" - greediness, a desire to have more than others. Covetousness is associated with idolatry in Eph.5:5. It is interesting how it is included in a list of sexual sins which possibly indicates that sexual desire is on Paul's mind, a uniting desire for the human form which easily replaces a desire for union with the divine.

v6
      di aJ "Because of these" - because of which things. "On account of these very sins", Weymouth.
      hJ orgh (h) "the wrath [of God]" - wrath, anger. Dodd and others are unwilling to accept the notion of God's anger and so move to: eg. "disaster from God", Moule; "divine retribution", REB; "God's dreadful judgment", NEB. Obviously Paul is not speaking of God's "irritation" or "bad temper" etc., but rather that God is seriously affected by human sin, an affect which prompts the punishment of sin with death. If reliance on Christ prompts God's good pleasure, it is not unreasonable to hold that the denial of Christ would prompt his holy anger.
      ercetai (ercomai) pres. "is coming" - The NIV, NRSV etc. understand the present tense as futuristic, ie. a certain future event, namely the judgment of God in the last day, "will certainly come." Yet it is more likely a gnomic present indicating a permanent and universal principle, "God's wrath always comes", these sins always "bring down God's anger", Moffatt; "God is furious when he looks upon sin."
      epi touV uiJouV thV apeiqeiaV - on the sons of disobedience. A textual variant that may have slipped in to Colossians from Eph.5:6. Included by NRSV, "those who are disobedient", ie. the idolaters who have made sex their God.

v7
      kai uJmeiV "you" - you also. Either, "you yourselves", or "you and others (ie. other Gentiles)
      pote "[you] used" - once. "Previously", "at a former time"...
      periepathsate (peripatew) aor. "you [used] to walk" - walked about. "To take part in", BAGD, in the sense of conducting one's life in a particular way.
      en oiJV "in these ways" - in which. The pronoun can be read as masculine and if the longer reading of v6 is adopted, then the translation would be "among whom", ie. the readers once lived as sons of disobedience.
      oJte ezhte en toutoiV "in the life you once lived" - when you lived in them. The clause probably serves to repeat and emphasize the point already made. The readers were once dominated by "these ways" or by those "among whom" they once lived. Some translations combine both clauses, eg. "this is the way you once lived", REB.

v8
      nuni de "but now" - now but. Contrasting the previous "once lived" of v7.
      apoqesqe (apotiqhmi) aor. imp. "must rid yourselves of all" - put away. Take off, put off, remove, discard repulsive habits as if removing clothing. Simply put, "stop doing"; "put all these things behind you", Phillips.
      orghn (h) "anger" - a settled feeling of hatred.
      qumon (oV) "rage" - passionate outbursts, temper rages
      kakian (a) "malice" - a general nastiness, possibly abusive language.
      blasfhmian (a) "slander" - irreverence, blasphemy. Possibly just "insults", TEV.
      aiscrologian (a) "filthy language" - filthy speech, foul talk.

v9
      mh yeudesqe (yeudomai) pres. imp. "do not lie" - Construction serves to forbid the continuation of the lying, "stop lying to one another", NEB.
      apekdusamenoi (apekduomai) aor. part. "since you have taken off" - having put off. Lightfoot suggests that the participle is imperatival, therefore an instruction to "put off." Most translations see it forming a causal (pos. purpose) clause, "for you have finished with the old man", Phillips. Another example of "be what your are." The old self has died with Christ, so why would we return to live out a life that no longer represents us.
      ton palaion anqrwpon "your old self" - the old man. "The old human nature", CEV.
      autou "its [practices]" - [the practices] of it. Behavior that expressed the old man.
      praxesin (iV ewV) "practices" - deeds, actions. Here the evil behavior of the old man, "habits", TEV.

v10
      endusamenoi (enduw) aor. part. "have put on" - having put on. Following on from "since you have taken off", this participle forms a causal clause rather than an imperatival clause. Don't lie since we "have begun life as the new man", Phillips.
      ton anakainoumenon (anakainow) pres. pas. part. "which is being renewed" - the one being renewed. The present tense indicates "constantly renewed", "you are becoming more and more like your creator", CEV. We are becoming what we are. Note how the TEV gets tangled up in this verse.
      eiV epignwsin "in knowledge" - to knowledge. The preposition probably indicates the result of our "being renewed", so CEV, "and you will understand him better and better" (TEV, purpose, "in order to bring you"). The content of the knowledge is undefined. The knowledge of God himself is assumed by most, but given the context, a knowledge of the will of God is a distinct possibility, "to learn what he aught to be, according to the plan of God", Phillips.
      kat + acc. "in" - in conformity with, after the pattern of. Introducing a prepositional phrase modifying "being renewed" rather than "in knowledge." Handled nicely by the CEV as noted above. The restoration process has as its goal the shaping of a creature in the divine image.