Colossians: Chapter 3 Overview

Welcome to Chapter 3!! YEAH!!!! We are half way through with the book of Colossians. As I have been telling you we are at a turning point in the book of Colossians. 

If you are new to our study, I have a little catch up for you. I encourage you to read through the entire book of Colossians. Now, go back through chapters 1 & 2, and mark every reference to Jesus (including pronouns) with a red cross. Next make a list on what you learn about Jesus. As I mentioned above, so far in Colossians the focus has been on Jesus. So it is important for you to observe what we learn about Jesus in the first two chapters. When you make your list, just write down what you learn about Jesus exactly as it is mentioned in the text. (Example: 1:13- He (God) rescued us from the domain of darkness & transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Jesus))

Now let's turn to chapter 3 and do an overview.  Remember in an overview we are getting an birds eye view of the chapter. We won't dive into each truth that we see, but are looking what this chapter is about and how it relates to the rest of the book. Read through chapter 3. Now, read through it again and mark any reference to Jesus. Make a list on what you learn about Jesus in chapter 3. 

Now, read through chapter 3 again and look for terms of conclusion, contrasts, or lists. We have talked before that Paul likes to use terms of conclusion (the words therefore or so that) and contrasts. Another thing Paul loves is making lists. Read through chapter 3 and mark with a black rectangle any terms of conclusion. Now go back through and look for any contrasts, mark the contrast with a black slash /. When you see a contrast (like life or death, light or dark) put a / where the two thoughts divide. Now read back through one last time and look for any lists Paul makes (hint: there is one in verse 8). When you find a list number the list by putting a number by each item in the list. Please remember, at this point we are doing an overview of chapter 3. So we are not going to get into the detail of what we learn  about these terms of conclusion, contrasts, or lists quiet yet.

Now I want you to look for paragraph sections. If you are using an Observation worksheet or a NASB version of the Bible, it is easy to see the paragraph sections, you simply look for the bold verse numbers. Bold verse numbers help us to see the beginning of a new paragraph. Read through chapter 3 and write down where the paragraphs divide. 

Now let's look at each paragraph and write down the main theme of each paragraph. We determine the theme, not by interpreting the paragraph, but looking for a part of the paragraph that sums up what Paul is saying in the paragraph.

So where do our paragraphs divide? 3:1-4, 5-11,12-17,18-20,22-25. Read through each paragraph and look for a word, or phrase that sums up what Paul is saying in that paragraph. 

Now consider the rest of the book of Colossians. Write down how chapter 3 relates to the rest of the book of Colossians. I have told you this is a turning point in the book, how so?? Write down your thoughts in your journal.