Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Colossians · About this commentary
Let the Word Dwell Richly
Colossians 3:15-17
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. · WEB
Peace is given an office, the word is given a residence, and everything a person does is put under one name.
Christ's peace is told to umpire in their hearts — the verb is from the games and means to decide, to award the verdict. Peace is given a job rather than described as a mood, and the sphere is corporate: they were called in one body.
Verse 16 gives the word the same standing: let it dwell in them richly, the verb for taking up residence used of the fullness in Christ Colossians 1:19. A resident is not a visitor, and richly rules out a minimum.
How it dwells is entirely communal — teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Those were Paul's own verbs in Colossians 1:28, and here they belong to everybody, carried in music. A congregation with few books learned its theology by singing it.
Then verse 17 gathers the whole chapter into one sentence. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Nothing is left outside it, which is the final answer to a religion of special observances. And the sentence ends where the letter keeps ending: giving thanks to God the Father through him.
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