Colossians — Chapter 3

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1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye 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 whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
Abrahamic Catechism
Bible Study
Colossians — Chapter 3
◈ Zohar

• "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" — the Zohar's practice of hitbonenut (contemplation): the disciplined direction of mental attention toward the upper worlds. The Zohar teaches that whatever the mind dwells on, the soul travels to — if the mind dwells on earthly things, the soul descends; if on heavenly things, it ascends (Zohar II:200b). Attention is locomotion.

• "Your life is hid with Christ in God" — the Zohar's teaching that the righteous soul's true life is in its root (shoresh ha-neshamah) above, hidden within the Sefirot. The earthly manifestation is like the tip of a flame; the hidden root is the wick and oil (Zohar I:83b). Paul says believers' real existence is in the upper world, concealed from earthly perception.

• "Put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" — the Zohar's concept of levush chadash (new garment): when the soul undergoes genuine teshuvah, it receives a new spiritual garment to replace the one soiled by sin. This new garment is woven from good deeds and correct knowledge (da'at) (Zohar II:210a). Paul describes the wardrobe change.

• "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind" — the Zohar teaches that clothing oneself in divine attributes is not metaphor but the actual process of soul-transformation. Each quality listed — mercy (rachamim), kindness (chesed), humility (anavah) — is a Sefirotic garment that the soul puts on through practice until it becomes the soul's nature (Zohar III:99b).

• "And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness" — the Zohar's teaching that love (ahavah/chesed) is the binding force (kesher) that holds the entire Sefirotic tree together. Without love, the Sefirot fragment and fall into chaos; with love, they form the perfect unity of Adam Kadmon (Zohar II:163a). Love is the outermost garment because it holds all the others in place.

✦ Talmud

• Shabbat 105b teaches that the evil inclination begins as a visitor, then becomes a guest, then becomes the master of the house — Paul's instruction to "put to death what is earthly in you" is the Tzaddik's early-intervention strategy against exactly this process: address the Sitra Achra's infiltration at the visitor stage, before it has established household rights.

• Berakhot 60a teaches the morning prayer upon waking that acknowledges the divine has restored the soul — Paul's "you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" is the apostolic extension of this morning-prayer theology: the Chevraya's daily practice of dying-and-rising with the Tzaddik is the apostolic form of the morning blessing, the conscious act of relocating identity from the Sitra Achra's domain to the divine domain.

• Avot 1:6 teaches "Judge every person favorably" — Paul's instruction to "put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving each other" is the Talmudic character ideal of the genuinely righteous person applied to the full life of the Chevraya community: each of these virtues is a specific form of the favorable judgment that Hillel recommended.

• Yevamot 62b teaches that a man who lives without a wife lives without peace, joy, blessing, good, and Torah — Paul's instructions about household relationships (wives and husbands, children and parents, servants and masters) are not social conservatism but the Talmudic understanding that the household is the basic unit of divine service, and the Tzaddik's character must be embodied in the most intimate relationships first.

• Sanhedrin 37a teaches that whoever saves a single soul saves an entire world — Paul's instruction to "do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" is the Tzaddik's transformation of every ordinary household act into a cosmic act: the blessing said over the morning meal, the honor given to a spouse, the discipline exercised toward a child — each of these is a world-saving act when performed in the Tzaddik's name.