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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Colossians 3:17

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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.

17. whatsoever ye do ] See below Col 3:23 for the same phrase; and for similar precepts of holy absoluteness cp. Pro 3:6; 1Co 10:31. The Christian life is nothing less than the whole life of the Christian, lived “unto the Lord” (Rom 14:6-8); everything in it is related to Him.

in the name of the Lord Jesus ] As it were quoting Him (to yourselves, and if need be to other men) as the Master (“ Lord ”) who sets the task and owns and uses the servant. On another reference of the same phrase see our note on Eph 5:20.

giving thanks ] “ always for all things,” adds Eph 5:20. The two parallels complement each other; the one Epistle more specially bids the Christian do God’s will, the other more specially bids Him love God’s will, and give thanks for it, in everything.

and the Father ] “ And ” should probably be omitted.

by Him ] The Mediator of our thanks, as of the Father’s gifts. Cp. Rom 1:8; Rom 16:27; Heb 13:15 ; 1Pe 2:5; 1Pe 4:11.

“O God,” says Quesnel on this verse, “who is a Christian, if all our words and actions are to be a sacrifice of praise, offered to God through Jesus Christ as our Priest, Pontiff, Mediator; with Him as God’s true Victim; in Him as God’s Temple; on Him as God’s Altar; after Him as our Law and Model; under Him as our Master and King; in His spirit, purposes, motives, disposition, aim, as He is our Head?”

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed – Whatever ye say or do – whether relating to temporal affairs or to religion. The command here extends to all that we do.

Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus – Do it all because he requires and commands it, and with a desire to honor him. His authority should be the warrant; his glory the aim of all our actions and words. See the general sentiment here expressed, fully illustrated in the notes at 1Co 10:31.

Giving thanks to God and the Father by him – Through him; or in his name. All our actions are to be accompanied with thanksgiving; Notes, Phi 4:6. We are to engage in every duty, not only in the name of Christ, but with thankfulness for strength and reason; for the privilege of acting so that we may honor him; and with a grateful remembrance of the mercy of God that gave us such a Saviour to be an example and guide. He is most likely to do his duty well who goes to it with a heart overflowing with gratitude to God for his mercies, and he who is likely to perform his duties with the most cheerful fidelity, is he who has the deepest sense of the divine goodness in providing a Saviour for his lost and ruined soul; see the notes at 2Co 5:14-15.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Col 3:17

Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Method and music, or the art of holy and happy living

It is always an advantage to have the laws of a kingdom as concise as possible. The amount of litigation caused by the English code is immense. In Gods government the matter is plain enough–included in ten commandments, and further reduced by Christ to, two. Our text is an instance of the terseness of Divine precepts. It contains a law applicable to every action, word, thought, place, circumstance in a few brief words. It is a great advantage to a mechanic to be able to carry with him a pocket rule or square. And so we have here a compendious rule in life which car, never fail.

I. Holy walking described. Whatsoever, etc. This rule applies to those who are in Christ. The unconverted require a radical change before they can carry it out. You cannot walk as a believer if you have not believed. But having begun at the beginning, and taken the step of salvation by faith, the walk has to be carried on by following this injunction, which means–

1. To do all through the office and name of Christ as Mediator.

(1) You are bound to offer daily praise: it must be in the name of the Lord Jesus.

(2) You are to abound in prayer. His name gives power to prayer; it is not so much your earnestness and sincerity, but His blood that speaks to God.

(3) You are to give Him your time and services in teaching the ignorant, etc.; they can only be acceptable in Him.

(4) You are to-give of your substance; if you give all your wealth, the offering presented without Christ is nothing.

2. Do all under the authority of Jesus Christ. He is your King. The business of a Christian upon earth is not an independent one; he is a steward for Christ.

3. Do all under the sanction of Christ as our example. It is an admirable course to ask, What would Christ have done in these circumstances?

4. Do all as to the glory of Christ. The Christian must not seek self.

5. Do all in the strength of Christ. With Him is the residue of the Spirit, and the Spirit is the believers power. These words are a rebuke–

(1) to those who do nothing in Christs name;

(2) to those who glory in the name of men, as of churches or of saints;

(3) to those professors who dishonour the name under which they profess to live. We-have–

II. Holy music prescribed–Giving thanks, etc. Soldiers march to battle to trumpet and drum, etc., and it is an excellent thing when Christian men know how to sing as well as work. The best music consists in thankfulness to God. We ought to praise Him in all things, but more particularly in the exercise of religion. Some people are so afraid of joy, that they seem to labour under the delusion that all who are devout must be unhappy. The text tells us under what aspect we should regard God when thus thanking Him. It is as a Father.

III. Holy motives inculcated. Inscribed on our hearts are reasons which must secure obedience. These are–

1. Gratitude. All we have has been received from the Father through Christ.

2. The worthiness of Christ. Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour.

3. Love. He claims our love, and He gives us His. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Suggestive summary of Christian duty

I. The guiding law of christian duty. Do all in the name, etc. In Christ is–

1. The purest motive to duty. Motive originates and governs action, and makes it good or bad. It is only in Christ we find the holiest and purest motive; in Him love takes the place of selfishness (2Co 5:14-15).

2. The noblest pattern of duty.

3. The highest end of duty. He is the goal towards which all actions tend. There is no higher name for it–is above every name.

4. The final authority of duty.

II. Its universal obligation–Whatsoever ye do, etc. There must be–

1. A recognition of Christ in everything.

2. Absolute dependence on Christ at all times.

3. Supreme devotion to Christ.

III. Its unvarying spirit–Giving thanks to God and-the Father by Him. Lessons:

1. The name of Christ is the greatest power in the universe.

2. All duty gathers its significance and blessedness from its relation to Christ.

3. A thankful spirit is happy in enterprise, brave in difficulties, and patient in reverses. (G. Barlow.)

Godly living

This was applied to the elect of God This is the title given by the apostle to Christians. A course of action is appointed for them to carry out.

I. What is to be done? Do all. The all refers to every act of religious life. There is to be–

(1) Humbleness of mind;

(2) longsuffering;

(3) meekness; above all

(4) charity.

The word of Christ must dwell richly in the heart (see previous verse).

II. How it is to be carried out–In the name of the Lord Jesus. This implies three things.

1. By the authority of Christ (Act 3:6).

2. For the sake of Christ (Mar 9:41).

3. For the glory of Christ (Act 15:26). (Preachers Analyst.)

The motive power of a holy life

This is one of the bold sweeping statements of Scripture. However extraordinary and extravagant, it is in keeping with the whole spirit of Christianity. Unlike other religions, that of Christ admits of no compromises. It will have all or nothing, the first place or none. The author of nature and the author of Christianity give tokens of being one and the same, in that their principles are alike simple, universal, imperious, inexorable. In both is the same quiet exertion of power, the same calm majesty of law, and the laws of each can never be trifled with with impunity. The law of gravity does not admit of dispute, neither does the law that eternal life is to be found through the Son of God. Observe–

I. The extreme breadth and lofty spirit of Christian duty. Whatsoever, etc. These words cover the whole sphere of Christian activity. Our words, thoughts, desires, labours, etc., are to be under the habitual influence of a sacred and sanctifying power which lies lurking in the name of the Lord Jesus. There are one or two simple explanations which show that there is no real extravagance in this large demand.

1. If the Christian law is just another name for the law of truth, love, and holiness, it is quite clear that we shall never get out of the range of that law, neither in this world nor the next. Not more cer tainly does the law of gravity reach from world to world than does this law prevail wherever intelligence exists.

2. If religion consists in entering the service of a God who looks not on the outward appearance but on the heart, that religion will be the only true one which produces right dispositions towards Him of faithfulness in all things, the smallest as well as the biggest. The spirit we are of determines the character of our actions whether they are holy or unholy. The life of the saint and of the sinner are made up very much of the same commonplace duties, and in all that is patent to the world there may be little difference between them: but the spirit by which they are actuated constitutes a gulf between them as wide as that which divides light and darkness, heaven and hell.

3. It were well for the Church and the world if we recognized more clearly this breadth of Christian duty. There is no act, however little, which Christ does not see and touch, and which may not tend as much to His honour as the songs of the Seraphim; there is no affection, talent, energy on which He does not put His hand and say, That is mine, and which may not be transformed into a worship as sincere as that of the communion; no step we can take in life over which He does not watch, and which may not be made a step on the road that brings us nearer Him; no time here or hereafter when it will not be a delightful duty to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. This round world may therefore become to us a temple, and this little life a song of praise.

II. The motive power of a holy life. The stress lies on the name of the Lord Jesus.

1. All the apparent extravagance of the injunction vanishes when we lay our hands on the secret of the Divine life. In the realm of spirit as of matter when we see a great result we know that behind it is a great cause; and we may search the world and we shall not find a power over human hearts comparable with that which lies in this name. What combination of forces has cut so deep a groove across the world? One or two of the worlds heroes and sages have won wide admiration and respect, but who has laid his hand on so many hearts and touched for good so many lives? Bad as the world is, what is good in it is due to Christ. Even now the good is gaining the victory, and the King is Christ. Blot out that name and you blot out the best part of history, all that is purest in morals, elevating in literature, gentle in manners, merciful in laws. Time weakens other forces, but it adds vigour to this.

2. There is no need to enter into the various component elements which go to make up this moral force. What He was and did for us, and above all what He now is and does, explains it. One phrase holds it all–He died for me. In Jesus we have not a man dead long ago, but a living Saviour and King ever near us, bearing the one name by which we may be saved. It is His presence by His Spirit in the hearts of His people which is the motive power of their holy life. The love of Christ constraineth us.

III. The sacredness of common life and labour. The key-note of this chapter is that religion is a life in Christ, so all-pervading and all-permeating this life that it hallows everything.

1. One of the leading peculiarities of the religion of Jesus is that it virtually annihilated the distinction between the secular and the sacred. As it overstepped all barriers of climate, colour, and race to call men brethren, so it passed over all barriers of priestly function to make all men holy, and so all men are now made priests unto God.

2. What God hath joined together let no man put asunder; and He has wedded religion and life. That is no religion which we cannot carry with us wherever we go; into our pleasures and sorrows, our business and closets. (J. Macgregor, D. D.)

Things sacred and things secular

It is one of the most precious effects of Christianity that it gives interest and dignity to commonplace life. Think how it would bear on the obscure toilers of Ephesus, Corinth, or Rome. Artizan, labourer, soldier, slave, would learn the truth that God cared for him, and designed him for a glorious destiny. It is through Christ that life is worthy of the name of life. The distinction between things secular and things sacred has wrought unspeakable mischief. Involves one rule of life for the person in holy orders, and another for the man who has not received a religious vocation. The monk or the nun is a religious; if any be not a priest, or monk, or nun, that person need not be so religious. It is a detestable, an irreligious distinction.

I. It is a distinction which would have been utterly foreign to the mind of an early Christian, and is quite opposed to the spirit of the new testament. Christ, therein revealed, has laid hold upon the whole of life. He has consecrated what we call secular employments by Himself engaging in them. Possible to eat and drink to the glory of God.

II. This distinction is bad, because it vanishes on nearer observation. We find it perfectly impossible to draw a sharp line. Art, science, politics, business, everyday duty, instead of being detached from religion, have such intimate relations with it that they are, or may be, and ought to be, themselves essentially religious. A bad sermon on the text, Behold I stand at the door and knock, is (it would seem) sacred; but to paint the well-known picture illustrating same text was secular. To write hymns sacred. Then was it a sacred or a secular work to write Paradise Lost, Wordsworths Excursion, or Cowpers Task? Surely, too, all great music is most truly religious. Again, is it a sacred or a secular work when a young girl, under a deep sense of duty, consecrates her life to attendance upon a suffering mother? Contrariwise, consider what are generally classed as sacred works–praying, preaching, administering sacraments, visiting the sick. How intensely secular they may become I How mean and perfunctory the spirit in which they may be performed! How easily may their motive come to be that so well expressed in Bible words–Put me into one of the priests offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.

III. This distinction is radically irreligious, Implies that all things are not of God. Churches are, but not houses we live in. Clergymen, but not men of other professions and employments. Sunday, but not other six days. But Christ claimed the world for Himself and His Father, in the sense that He claimed everything in the world. Factories and railways, camps and courts of law, mansions, museums, and picture-galleries, to say nothing of the world of trees, and rivers, and birds, and flowers, form part of the world which belongs to Him, the Heir of all things. This is the only religious view of life.

IV. Seek, then, to make your whole life religious. Pure religion is when the sense of Gods love, of the vastness of His claims, of the breadth of His commandments, so works through the life as to make it one organic whole, and when the poor unworthy distinction of secular and sacred is forgotten; when what is most religious is most human, and what is commonest is ennobled and justified by the grace which flows from Christ our Life. (J. A. Jacob, D. D.)

Doing all in the name of Christ

I. What this is.

1. To go to God through Him (Joh 15:3; Joh 15:16; Joh 16:23-26).

2. To do all by His authority (Mat 18:18-20; Mat 28:18-20; 1Ti 6:15).

3. To do all by His strength (Act 4:6-7; Act 4:10; 1Sa 17:45; Php 4:13; 2Co 12:9). Without Him we can do nothing, with Him every thing (1Co 15:10).

4. For His glory (1Co 10:31; Joh 5:23; Rev 5:12-13).

5. To live a life of faith for a supply of all things for life and godliness (2Pe 1:1-21; 2Pe 2:1-22; 2Pe 3:1-18; Joh 16:23).

6. To walk in the religion of the Lord Jesus (Mic 4:5; 2Ti 2:19; Mat 10:22; Luk 21:17; Rev 2:3; Rev 2:13).

7. To follow His example (Mat 16:24; 1Jn 2:6; 1Pe 2:21-23).

II. Why we are to do it.

1. Be cause all we are, have, or can do, is of Christ (1Co 3:22-23).

(1) All grace and strength (1Co 1:30).

(2) Adoption (Eph 1:5).

(3) Reconciliation with God (2Co 5:18).

(4) All our actual supplies (Php 4:19).

2. Because the Father has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name (Php 2:8-10). Therefore we must all honour the Son as the Father (Joh 5:23).

3. Because we cannot be accepted but by Him (Eph 1:6; Heb 13:15; Heb 5:1).

4. Because all that comes from God to us must be by His hand.

III. How we may do it.

1. We must be supposed to be in Christ first (Joh 15:4-5).

2. Supposing this we must exercise faith upon Him, and have constant recourse to Him, in all that we do for the supplies of His grace and Spirit (1Pe 2:20; 1Pe 5:7; Joh 16:16; Joh 16:23; Joh 16:26).

3. We must live in close communion with Jesus in the use of all His ordinances (Zec 4:12).

4. We must exercise our thoughts much upon Him, and be much taken up with Him in the course of our lives (Psa 73:23).

IV. some uses.

1. It is not in our power to act as we please, or for our own ends (Rom 14:7-8).

2. The impiety of those who invoke Christs name on their wicked courses.

3. We cannot expect Gods blessing on anything not done in Christs name. (H. Wilkinson, D. D.)

Doing all to the Lord Jesus

All have felt at times a painful void after absorption in active duty. There has been nothing sinful, on the contrary the work, it may be, has been sacred, undertaken with prayer, and been for the good of man and the glory of God, and yet there is no satisfaction.

I. Where is the evil in this? It is that we are slow to learn in act what we know in our souls, that we can do nothing good without God. We take it for granted and so forget it.

1. As to ordinary matters men, e.g., think it unlikely they will die to-day because they have lived safely through so many dangers, and take it for granted that their food will nourish them because it has always done so. Where, then, is there any room for dependence on God even with prayer for protection and blessing, since the feeling assumes that they will be granted without any prayer at all.

2. As to deeds of grace. It is well, as peoples devotions now are, if Christians really prayed to God to carry them through the trials of the day, as really believing that for this they needed the special help of God. How many, if they pray at all, hope to do right and escape flagrant wrong almost through the intention of doing or not doing, and think that if they call upon God in some general way things will not be much amiss with them.

3. As to daily life. Many Christians seem to think that in the daily deeds and words of life they either cannot or else must sin, and that these two are much the same. What people hate is being in earnest at all, and so they do not wish to pray for the grace of God lest they should have to be at the pains of using it. So they are ready to think that they cannot help themselves, that they must fall into sins of infirmity, and thus they cast their faults on God, or they look upon them as no great faults at all, and so they act as though they could not sin. And apart from these who learns, in the midst of his conscious and acknowledged besetting sin, to ask for the grace of God? The angry, sinful word again and again escapes, and the thought of God at best but follows it.

II. Thy remedy. Whatsoever ye do, etc., as one bearing His name, in the might of His name, and to its glory. Refer all things to Him. Let Him be the beginning from whom all flows, the end in whom all are gathered, our aim, our reward. Have Him before thee as the pattern whom thou art to copy; the Redeemer in whom is thy strength, the Master and Friend whom thou art to serve and please, thy Creator and thy heaven.

1. But can, one will say, all the little acts of life be done to Him? Were it not almost an indignity to bring them in reference to His great Majesty? On the contrary, great love shows itself most in little acts. Nothing is too small to be done for one deeply loved, and nothing but deep love will do unweariedly all little things to please whom it loves. Little things are the very instances of acceptable service in Scripture. It says not, Give your bodies to be burned for the glory of God, but, Whether ye eat or drink, etc.

2. How, then, can they be done? Do them as thou wouldest if thou sawest God by thee, with prayer that they may be done aright. He eats and drinks to the glory of God, who does so not for pleasure, but for strength for Gods service; He sleeps to Gods glory, who rests in Christ, hoping to rise to do Him honour; he does his daily task to the glory of God who plies it under the eye of God, and does it or not as and how he thinks God would have it done or not.

3. How can we do both at once without distraction–study, speak, or do and think of Christ at the same time? Will not work be done carelessly? Be thine own judge? Hast thou ever deeply loved parent, bride, husband, or child? Didst thou find that thou toiledst for them less diligently because thou thoughtest of and toiledst for them? Or hast thou done anything for mans praise, feeling that the eye whose praise thou prizedst was upon thee? Was this a hindrance? Nay, a good and a spur which quickened every nerve. And who looks down upon us? Our Father, our Friend and Brother, who came down from heaven and suffered for us, is ready to help and reward us. And shall not such love quicken us to do all things better. Does it not give strength to self-denial to take up our cross after Jesus? gladness to alms-giving to give to Jesus? cast a holy reverence round a sick room when we minister to Jesus? impart sweetness to teaching children that in them we receive Jesus? When thou hast learned to do all things to Jesus, it will shed pleasure over all dull things, softness over hard things, peace over trial. It will make contradiction sweet, to bear it meekly with Jesus; poverty, honourable to be poor with Jesus; toil, gladsome to labour for Jesus. (E B. Pusey, D. D.)

Common work in the name of Jesus

Wherever we are called to work we must dedicate the labours of our hands or our brain to God, doing all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Solomon was called to build the temple of the Lord, but every man who is an honest worker, who does his best in the place where heaven has put him, is building up a temple, holy, acceptable to God. The Minister of State in his cabinet, labouring to do right and caring nothing for popularity; and the little servant-maid in the kitchen, who scorns to tell a lie, or neglect her daily duties, are both in their respective stations working for God, doing their duty. None but pure gold may receive the special goldsmiths mark, none but true, honest work can bear the mark of the Lord Jesus. (H. J. W. Buxton, M. A.)

Every-day religion

Plato had a fable which I have now nearly forgotten, but it ran something like this: He said spirits of the other world came back to this world to find, body and find a sphere of work. One spirit came and took the body of a king and did his work. Another spirit came and took the body of a poet and did his work. After a while Ulysses came, and he said, Why, all the fine bodies are taken, and all the grand work is taken. There is nothing left for me And some one replied, Ah! the best one has been left for you. Ulysses said, Whats that? And the reply was, The body of a common man, doing a common work, and for a common reward. A good fable for the world, and just as good a fable for the Church. Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do it to the glory of God. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)

The essence of fiery

I begin to see that religion consists not so much in joyous feelings as in a constant exercise of devotedness to God, and in laying ourselves out for the good of others. (D. Stewart.)

The all-pervasiveness of religion

Religion is one of the colours of life which mingles most intimately with all the other colours of the palette. It is that which lends them their appearance of depth, and the best of their brilliance. If by a subtle process it is taken away, all become tarnished and discoloured. (W. Mallock.)

The acceptable prayer

As a petition to the Queen can only reach her through the hands of a minister, so we can only approach God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ. All our prayer and praises must be offered in the name of the Lord Jesus. Very many of those prayers are like letters with no name and address upon them, which never reach their destination. What is it that makes our public services in church so frequently cold and spiritless? Why is it that some of us look on church-going as an irksome task, and the hours spent in Gods house as the most wearisome of our lives? The reason is simply this, that their services are being offered in the wrong name. One offers it in his own name, he is sacrificing to selfishness; another offers it in the name of fashion, another in the name of respectability, but there can be no reality in our services unless offered in the name of Christ. (H. J. W. Buxton, M. A.)

Consistency and gratitude

I. whatsoever ye do in word or deed, etc.

1. Paul here clearly gives to Christ the whole of life. The conceptions, affections, and resolutions of the soul refer to words and works as being the principles and motives of them. For it is impossible that they should be in the name of Christ except our understandings and will so address them. The Spirit moves all, and upon this the difference between mans actions depends. It is this that gives them the right and title they have in Christian morality. Works that are the same as to external action are good in one and bad in another. The aims of an ambitious man and of a true believer have no external difference, yet if you examine the inward springs of both, you will find one a piece of vanity, the other a fruit of charity.

2. The rule is short and easy, but of almost infinite use. As a little square serves an artificer to design and mark out a multitude of lines, and to correct those that are amiss, so by this little rule there is no human action respecting which we cannot ascertain whether it is right or wrong; nor is there any part of our lives which this rule is not capable of guiding and forming to perfection.

3. Specifically the name of Christ is the rule.

(1) As the name of God signifies the Hebrew word by which the Lord distinguishes Himself, so Jesus is sometimes taken for the name which was given by express Divine command. But it is not thus taken here as if Paul simply intended that in our actions and discourses we should always intermix the word Jesus, or at least preface it.

(2) The name of God is taken for the power, authority, and will of God (Deu 18:19; 2Ki 2:24; Psa 20:7; Psa 39:16; Psa 39:24; 1Sa 17:45; 2Ch 14:11). So in like manner the name of Jesus (Act 4:7; Mat 7:22; Mat 24:5; Mat 18:20). So the apostle means–

(a) That we refer all to His glory.

(b) That we act according to His will.

(c) That we live in entire confidence in and dependence upon Him.

4. By this

(1) Paul banishes, from our mind all unfruitful works of darkness, it being evident that we can do nothing that is opposed to His will.

(2) He perfects and enlivens those of our works which of themselves are commanded of God, engrafting on them the true motive and directing them to the true end.

(3) He sacrifices those which are in their nature indifferent; e.g., if this rule is observed in eating and drinking, acts indifferent in their nature,

(a) the sacred name will purge them of the excess of intemperance on the one hand, and the foolish scruples of superstition on the other.

(b) Being referred to the glory of God, from indifferent they become holy and acceptable to God.

3. We must not so take the precept as if we were obliged in every act and word to raise our thoughts directly to Christ. It is sufficient that we frequently and ordinarily make this application of mind. But it is necessary that we have this deposition so formed in our hearts, that when circumstances allow us to think of Christ our souls may lean that way as being habituated to it.

II. Giving thanks into God and the Father by Him. These words may be taken as an independent precept (Eph 5:20) or a reason for the preceding rule, a title under which we ought to do all things in the name of Christ, so that our whole life may be an act of gratitude through Christ, which is to be preferred.

1. Thanksgiving is one of the most necessary and universal offices of a Christian. Remember what we are to God through creation, providence, and grace.

2. God the Father is the proper object of gratitude as the first principle of action, though not to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit.

3. By Jesus this gratitude is to be rendered.

(1) He is the channel by which all Gods goodness is poured upon us.

(2) Our thanks cannot be grateful to the Father except addressed and presented by Christ. Application:

1. For the confirmation of faith.

(1) We have a proof of the divinity of Christ. The faithful neither rejoice, nor speak, nor act, but in the name of God–but here it is required that our whole life be referred to the name of Christ. It must therefore be concluded that He is not a creature, but very God.

(2) Is it not an outrage to require that saints should share this honour with Christ as Rome does? (Act 4:12; 1Co 1:12).

2. For the instruction of our faith.

(1) If we would be truly Christians, we must have Christ continually before us as the pole star, the rule of our whole life.

(2) How many of us fall short of this. (J. Daille.)

The reality of religion

I. Christianity is a reality, and deals with realities.

1. If it could be shown that its requirements were unreal, its statements exaggerated, its views of attainment unreasonable, it would lose immensely in its character for truth and its power for good.

2. Here we may fall into opposite mistakes.

(1) We may take the sayings of Scripture strictly to the letter, set them clown as exaggerated, and above our capacities. This is the way with worldly people. They admire the gospel, but never think of realizing it. It is to them a mere night of stars to wonder and gaze at, not a sun to light them to their daily work, and warm their hearts with love.

(2) Some religious people, like the former, strain the Bible to its literal meaning, and then require that meaning in full, and thus lead to the same point, and encourage indolence and unbelief.

(3) Owing to a mixture of these we find Christian precept and practice widely sundered. And so men satisfy themselves with being Christian hearers and heathen livers, without the least suspicion of inconsistency.

3. Owing to this enormous abuses have sprung up under the shadow of the Church. A large proportion of the infidelity of the working classes is due to this unreal teaching. A strained and exaggerated view of religion has been put before them, alien from their habits of thought, and by no means supported by the example of its professors.

II. The text is a remedy for unreality in religion.

1. Observe the extent of this saying. It is plain that it must propose some motive and rule which shall touch daily life at every point.

(1) Nothing is more common than a man with a powerful motive which rules his whole life–gain, ambition, love of family, science, art, victory, the exercise of an energetic nature. But whatever it be, reality is its necessary condition. There are of course many visionaries, men pursuing objects which have no real existence, but to them they are not unreal.

(2) Observe how such motives act.

(a) As to their inward influence on the man himself. Are they evermore in his view and present to his thoughts? Or is not their influence for the most part rather a constraining power of which he is unconscious, rather than a stimulus carried on by conscious effort? Take a man whose motives is the advancement of himself or his family. Such an object is consciously present when he chooses to reflect on it, but day by day in the toil and struggle he is not ever thinking of it, but he is pursuing it. The labourer working under the useful light and genial warmth does not lose his time and dazzle his sight in gazing on the sun, but plies his arm with his eye fixed on his work, and so uses for its intended purpose the light God has bestowed.

(b) They are seldom loudly professed, so seldom that a man professing loudly a given motive arouses suspicion that he is acting on some other, and only using this as a blind. Here, as in nature, the deepest is the stillest; but by this very stillness all who are observant know its depth. Whatever mystery a man makes of his object in life, spectators generally arrive at correct conclusions.

2. Recur to the motive of the text.

(1) There is a wide difference between persons who pursue objects which only appear real to them, and those whose objects are absolutely real. In the case of the former pursuit will lead away from, in the case of the latter it will lead to, the truth. It is not necessary that a motive should be based on reality to be all-constraining, but it is in order that it may be a worthy motive for an intelligent being.

(2) The facts implied in the name, The Lord Jesus, rest upon evidence as strong as can possibly be alleged for anything. The belief in Christ is not only the unavoidable conclusion of a sound mind from evidence, but the only satisfactory way to account for the state of the world in which we find ourselves.

(3) But based on reality it must also be real to me, or it cannot be my motive. It must have points of contact with every part of my life. Has it these points? Not if our Lord be a mere teacher. Mere precepts cannot touch us at all points, or constrain us to do all things in a teachers name. But our Lord, being God, became man, bore our sins and carried our sorrows, grew up through our life, and tasted death for every man. Take any life, in any condition or time, and there is help and hope for it in Jesus.

(4) Now suppose a man embrace Jesus as his Saviour–let Christs love become the acknowledged fact of His life, then it will become a constraining motive, and will not be contented with influencing some of his faculties, employing some of his time; from the nature of things it must have all–Christ is mine, and I am His, and whatever I do, spiritual or secular, business or recreation, I must do all in His name.

(5) There are certain solemn times when this great motive is and must be expressly recognized; but when the whole man is possessed with the love of Christ, the whole ordinary being follows the direction of the central impulse. The Christian at his daily task is not ever pondering spiritual truths. He would be a bad workman and a bad Christian if he were.

(6) Such deep constraining motive is not usually displayed before men; but its existence is not easily concealed. If a man be a Christian, men will take knowledge of him that he has been with Jesus. (Dean Alford.)

Christian ends lend grandeur to human life

He who lives for the glory of God has an end in view which lends dignity to the man and to his life. Bring common iron into proper contact with the magnet, it will borrow the strange attractive virtue, and itself become magnetic. The merest crystal fragment, that has been flung out into the field and trampled on the ground, shines like a diamond when sunbeams stoop to kiss it. And who has not seen the dullest rain-cloud, when it turned its weeping face to the sun, change into glory, and, in the bow that spans it, present to the eyes of age and infancy, alike of the philosopher who studies, and of the simple joyous child who runs to catch it, the most brilliant and beautiful phenomenon in nature? Thus, from what they look at and come in contact with, common things acquire uncommon glory. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

The name of Jesus set in work

Those old saints of the Middle Ages, how dearly they loved to set the name of Jesus forth everywhere, by all means, in every curious work of art–not merely of Church art, mind you, but of household and domestic furniture. Go, for example, into many of the farms round here, and notice the fire-dogs that stand in the yawning chimney: how they are wrought at the sides into those most blessed of all letters, the I.H.C., by which our dear Lord is set forth. Nothing so mean that it was thought unworthy of this monogram; nothing so glorious that it was considered unfit to have that excelling glory added thereto. There they taught us the great lesson–Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Yes, silver and gold and gems conspired together to mark out this name on the paten, or the chalice, or the shrine; the manufacturer of Limoges worked it out in his enamel; in the monastery potteries they burnt it in on their tiles; in convents they embroidered it on chasuble and cope; in the glorious windows of churches the light came in, sanctified, as it were, and hallowed by the name of the True Light; the poor peasant was encouraged, with his clasp knife, to consecrate his house by carving the same name on the hutch of his door or the barge-boards of his roof; the name of salvation could not be out of place among the dwellings of those who looked to be saved; the name which to adore will be the work of eternity, could never be out of place for the meditation and the worship of earth. (Dr. Neale.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 17. Whatsoever ye do in word or deed] Let your words be right, and your actions upright.

Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus] Begin with him, and end with him; invoke his name, and pray for his direction and support, in all that ye do; and thus every work will be crowned with all requisite success. Doing every thing in the name of God, and referring every thing to his glory, is as rational as it is pious. Could it be ever supposed that any person would begin a bad work in God’s name? However, it is so. No people in the universe more strictly adhere to the letter of this advice than the Mohammedans; for they never undertake a work, eat meat, nor write a book, without prefacing all with:-

[Arabic]

Bismillahi, Arrahmani, Arraheemi;

“In the name of the most merciful and compassionate God.”

Not only books of devotion, but books on all arts and sciences, books of tales and romances, books of poetry, and those on the elements of reading, c., begin thus nay, it is prefixed to the [Arabic] Lizit un Nissa, one of the most abominable productions that ever came from the pen of man, and is precisely the same among the Mohammedans, as the infamous work of Nicholas Chorier, called Elegantiae Latini Sermonis, falsely attributed to John Meursius, has been among some called Christians. Of both, with a trifling hyberbole, it may be said: “Surely these books were written in hell, and the author of them must certainly be the devil.”

Giving thanks to God] Even praises, as well as prayers, must ascend to God through this Mediator. We have no authority to say that God will accept even our thanksgiving, unless it ascend to him through Christ Jesus.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

And whatsoever ye do: here the apostle give a universal direction how in every capacity, both personal and relative, in every motion, a Christian may do all so as to find acceptance with God.

In word or deed; and that is in his expressions and actings, viz. comprehending his internal as well as external operations; his reasonings and resolutions within, as well as his motions without; the thoughts of his heart, as well as the words of his tongue and the works of his hand; to take (care as much as possible that all be

in the name of the Lord Jesus: elsewhere writing the same thing, the apostle adds Christ, Eph 5:20. Plato could say: Not only every word, but every thought, should take its beginning from God; but he understood nothing of the Mediator, of the love of him and the Father: but Christians know, as there is salvation in no other name, Act 4:12, so there is no acceptance of their persons and performances in any other name than in his in whom they believe, Phi 2:10; Heb 10:19,20; 1Jo 5:13; and therefore in all their desires they are to respect him, Joh 14:13,14; 15:3,16; 16:23,26; looking for his authority and warrant, Mat 18:18-20; Mar 11:9; 1Jo 5:14; following his example, Mat 11:29; 16:24; Joh 13:15; 1Pe 2:21-24; 1Jo 2:6; in all they set about, desiring strength from him, Psa 71:17; Act 4:7,10; 1Co 15:10; Phi 4:13; 2Ti 2:1; living by faith upon him, Gal 2:20; Heb 10:38; 2Pe 1:2,3; waiting upon him, worshipping and serving of him, according to his prescription, Mic 4:5; Mat 28:19,20; Ac 2:42,43; 2Ti 2:19; for his sake, Mat 19:29; 24:9; Act 9:16; Rev 2:3,13; 3:8; to his honour and glory, Psa 31:3; 1Co 10:31; Rev 4:9,11; 5:12,13; 11:13. Endeavouring to render hearty thanks unto God and the Father, i.e. to God the Father: the Syriac and Arabic do omit the conjunction copulative; however, it is to be understood expositively of God the Father of Christ, and our Father, who doth embrace us as his children.

By him; by or through Christ, Eph 5:20; Heb 13:15, the only Mediator.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

17. Literally, “Andeverything whatsoever ye do . . . do all,” c. this includeswords as well as deeds.

in the name of the LordJesusas disciples called by His name as His, seekingHis guidance and help, and desiring to act so as to gain His approval(Rom 14:8; 1Co 10:31;2Co 5:15; 1Pe 4:11).Compare “in the Lord,” Col3:18, and “Christ is all,” Col3:11.

God and the FatherTheoldest manuscripts omit “and,” which seems to have crept infrom Eph 5:20.

by himGreek,“through Him” as the channel of His grace to us, andof our thanksgiving to Him (Joh14:6, end).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed,…. Whether in preaching the word of Christ, in hearing the Gospel, in singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and in conference and conversation with each other; or in whatsoever action, civil or religious throughout the whole life and conversation, in the performance of things natural, moral, and evangelical, relating to God or man, or one another, in the world or church:

do all in the name of the Lord Jesus; both in the strength of Christ, without whom nothing can be well said or done; and according to the mind and will of Christ declared in the Gospel, which is his name; and calling upon his name for assistance in the ministration of his word, administration of his ordinances, and in the performance of every duty, directing all to, and having solely in view his honour and glory:

giving thanks to God, and the Father by him; this shows, that singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, is a distinct thing from giving of thanks, mentioned in the preceding verse. The things for which thanks are to be given, are “all things”; and the time when, always, as in [See comments on Eph 5:20]. The person to whom they are to be given is God the Father, the Father of our spirits, and of our mercies, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of us in him; and the person by whom they are to be given, is Christ, which is just and proper, since all mercies come from, and through him; nor is there any other way of bringing and offering the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to God; nor are they, nor can they be acceptable to God by, and through any other, but by him alone.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Whatsoever ye do ( ). Indefinite relative (everything whatever) with and the present active subjunctive, a common idiom in such clauses.

Do all (). The imperative has to be supplied from in the relative clause. is repeated from (singular), but in the plural (all things). is left as a nominative absolute as in Matt 10:32; Luke 12:10. This is a sort of Golden Rule for Christians “in the name of the Lord Jesus” ( ), in the spirit of the Lord Jesus (Eph 5:20). What follows (directions to the various groups) is in this same vein. Sociological problems have always existed. Paul puts his finger on the sore spot in each group with unerring skill like a true diagnostician.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

In the name. See on Mt 28:19.

Giving thanks. Notice the emphasis on the duty of thanksgiving placed at the close of the exhortations. See ch. Col 1:12; Col 2:7; Col 3:15; Col 4:2.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And whatsoever ye do” (kai pan ho ti ean poiete) “And everything (or) whatever ye do,” as an act or deed; The “whatsoever” of thing, of this instruction, is as inclusive as the “whosoever” of Joh 3:16; Jas 1:22; Mat 7:21.

2) “In the word or deed” (en logon e en ergo) “in word or in work”, in your whole activity of life, in what you do and what you say, Joh 14:15.

3) “Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (panta en onomati kuriou lesou) “Do all things in the name (by the authority) of the Lord Jesus.” Do what you do after the manner authorized by the Lord Jesus; Joh 15:14; Joh 20:21; Act 1:8; 1Co 10:31.

4) “Giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (eucharistountes to theo patri di’ autou) “continually giving thanks to God the Father through him,” through whom prayers and praises are acceptable to the Father, 1Co 15:57; 2Co 1:11; 2Co 2:14; Rev 4:9.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

17 . And whatsoever ye do. We have already explained these things, and what goes before, in the Epistle to the Ephesians, where the same things are said almost word for word. As he had already begun to discourse in reference to different parts of the Christian life, and had simply touched upon a few precepts, it would have been too tedious a thing to follow out the rest one by one, he therefore concludes in a summary way, that life must be regulated in such a manner, that whatever we say or do may be wholly governed by the authority of Christ, and may have an eye to his glory as the mark. (454) For we shall fitly comprehend under this term the two following things — that all our aims (455) may set out with invocation of Christ, and may be subservient to his glory. From invocation follows the act of blessing God, which supplies us with matter of thanksgiving. It is also to be observed, that he teaches that we must give thanks to the Father through Christ, as we obtain through him every good thing that God confers upon us.

(454) “ Comme a son but principal;” — “As to its chief aim.”

(455) “ Toutes nos œuures et entreprinses;” — “All our works and enterprises.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

MAIN HOMILETICS OF Col. 3:17

Suggestive Summary of the Law of Christian Duty.

Labour, which was originally imposed on man as a curse, may minister very largely to the increase of human happiness. The effort necessary to contend with and subdue the hostile forces of nature, and wrest from the earth the food essential to existence, strengthens and elevates the best powers of man. All men are prompted to labour by some distinct principle or ruling passion: the savage by the cravings of physical hunger, the patriot by the love of his country, the philosopher by an inextinguishable thirst for knowledge and delight in intellectual exercises. The ruling principle of action in the believer is that of supreme devotion to the Lord; he is to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. This exhortation embraces everything previously mentioned in the epistle, and every possible duty of the Christian life.
I. The guiding law of Christian duty.Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. The name of Christ suggests the predominating principle by which the whole course of life is to be regulated, the watchword in every enterprise, the battle-cry in every conflict, the rallying centre in every disaster. In warfare, as in other things, a name is often a powerful spell to conjure with, and vast armies have been animated with the enthusiasm of action by simply mentioning the name of a Wellington, a Napoleon, a Garibaldi, a Von Moltke. But oh! how glorious and all-potent is the name Lord Jesus! It suggests the sublime dignity and redemptive achievements of Christ, and that He is the great exemplar after which all who believe in Him are to be morally fashioned.

1. In Christ is the purest motive to duty.Motive originates and governs action, and makes it good or bad. The believer does everything for Christs sake, out of love for Him and respect to His authority. The tendency in all men is to live in themselves, to act in their own name and strength, and to carry out their own selfish purposes. Selfishness is one of the mightiest and most general motives to action. It is only in Christ we find the holiest and purest motive; in Him love takes the place of selfishness. The love of Christ constraineth us (2Co. 5:14-15).

2. In Christ is the noblest pattern of duty.Not only do we see in His character the most perfect representation of moral excellence, but His whole career is an instructive example of devotion to duty. He fulfilled the will of His Father: He was obedient unto death. He has taught us how to live and how to die. One of the grandest pictures of moral heroism is seen in the maintenance of an intelligent and faithful obedience in the midst of danger and threatened death.

3. In Christ is the highest end of duty.All things in the material universe exist for Him, and in the moral realm He is the goal towards which all actions tend. Everything should be done with reference to Christ. We can have no worthier ambition than to seek in all things His glory. Cf. Mar. 9:41; Mat. 18:5; Joh. 14:14; and note how Christ lays it down as a universal principle that everything is to be done in His name. There is no higher name, for it is above every name; there is no loftier end, for He is before all things.

4. In Christ is the final authority of Christian duty.Many things have been done in the name of Christ that never had His sanction and were contrary to His authority. The most disastrous persecutions and cruellest tortures have been perpetrated in the name of Christ. These blasphemous outrages have been committed to strengthen the authority and hide the bloodthirsty rapacity of a corrupt and domineering Church. No ecclesiastical hierarchy has a right to compel the blind, unreasoning submission of a free, intelligent agent. Above all Jesuitical maxims and Papal decrees is the authority of Christ. His will is supreme in all spheres, and that will is the guiding law of duty in the Christian life.

II. The universal obligation of Christian duty.Whatsoever ye do in word or deed.

1. There must be a recognition of Christ in everything.In all our employments, conversation, public acts of worship, in social and private prayer, in secular and domestic concerns, in all matters relating to the place of our abode, in changing residences, in the connections we form for ourselves and our children. There is a comprehensiveness in this obligation which is all-embracing. Not that we are to parade our piety, to obtrude our religious notions upon everybody we meet, or to be ever unctuously repeating the name of Christ, irrespective of time or place. The merchant is not to provoke unseemly discussions on sacred subjects when he ought to be attending to the business of the counting-house; the clerk should not be reading his Bible when he ought to be posting his ledger; the servant-maid should not be praying when she ought to be cleaning her kitchen; nor ought the mother to be gadding about, or running to endless revival meetings, while her house is dirty and husband and children neglected. It is not so much that everything is to be done after one special outward form as that every duty is to be done in a religious spirit. Religion is not a series of formal acts, or a string of set phrases; but it is a life, pervading all our activities, and making every part of our career sublime. Recognise Christ in everything, and a new meaning will be thrown on passing events; the commonplaces of life will be exalted into dignity, and the future assume irresistible attractions.

2. There must be absolute dependence on Christ at all times.We cannot say and do everything in the name of Christ unless we fully surrender ourselves to Him. We are helpless and full of spiritual infirmities, but the more conscious we are of our complete dependence on Him the stronger are we in labour and in hope. In our successes, lest we be puffed up with vanityin our perplexities, lest we be discouragedin our grief, lest we sink despairing into the abyssand in our transports of joy, lest we be exalted above measurethere must ever be a full, voluntary, and conscious reliance on Jesus. Thus resting on Him and realising His life-giving power, we can say with Paul, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

3. There must be supreme devotion to Christ.All we have we owe to Him. He gave His all for us, and it is but a righteous return that we consecrate to Him all that is highest and best in ourselves. We must love Christ supremely, and then every faculty and power of our being will render homage and service to Him. We shall be obedient to His commands, we shall magnify His grace, we shall strive to walk worthy of His great name, and in all things seek to promote His glory. We pledge ourselves to Him for ever, and no consideration should tempt us to relax our devotion. George III. was a man of firm mind, with whom one had pleasure in acting. He was very slow in forming his opinion, very diligent in procuring every information on the subject; but once convinced, he would act with unflinching firmness. His beautiful speech about the Roman Catholic question shows his character: I can give up my crown and retire from power, I can quit my palace and live in a cottage, I can lay my head on a block and lose my life, but I can not break my oath.

III. The unvarying spirit in which Christian duty is to be done.Giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. They who do all things in Christs name will never want matter of thanksgiving to God. The apostle has frequently referred to this duty of gratitude, and he evidently regarded it as a very important element of the Christian character. It was Christianity that first taught the duty of being thankful even in trial and suffering. We are to thank God for the privilege of acting so that we may honour Him. A thankful spirit has a blessedness and a power of blessing which those only realise who cherish it. All thanksgiving is to be offered to God the Father by Jesus Christ, as He is our only mediator, and it is through Him we obtain whatever good the Father bestows upon us. The giving of thanks to God is one of the highest duties of religious worship; and if this be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, then all subordinate duties must be done in the same manner.

Lessons.

1. The name of Christ is the greatest power in the universe.

2. All duty gathers its significance and blessedness from its relation to Christ.

3. A thankful spirit is happy in enterprise, brave in difficulties, and patient in reverses.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE

Col. 3:17 (compared with 1Co. 11:24). The Lords Supper the Sample of the Christian Life.

I. All the objects around us are to be regarded by us as being symbols and memorials of our Lord.

II. Every act of our life is to be done from the same motive as that holy communion.

III. All life, like the communion of the Lords Supper, may be and ought to be a showing forth of Christs death.

IV. This communion is in itself one of the mightiest means for making the whole of life like itself.A. Maclaren.

Doing all in the Name of Christ.

Doing it as His agent.

II.

We are not our own, but His.

III.

Whatever it is right to do is His work.T. G. Crippen.

Christ in the Practical Life.

Here we find a rule of life.

II.

Here we find a motive.

III.

Here we find our life redeemed.Preachers Magazine.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

17. And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Translation and Paraphrase

17. And (in) everything that you do, (whether) in speech or in deed, (do) all in (a manner that will show you love and honor) the name of (the) Lord Jesus, giving thanks (always) to God the father through him (through Christ).

Notes

Probably the peak of dedication to Christ is summarized in Col. 3:17 : Do everything you do, and say everything you say in the name of Christ. (1Co. 10:31).

The name of Christ stands for everything about Christhis authority, his love, his deity, his grace, etc. Do everything in the name of Christ.

While we should do everything in Christs name, we should do it with thankfulness, not with submissive resentfulness to His overpowering authority.

Paul exhorted us to use music in Col. 3:16. The close connection of that verse with Col. 3:17 leads us to believe that our music must express thanks, as well as all our other acts,

One of the best tests of any action is: Can I do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, and give thanks to God about is? (Eph. 5:20),

The fact that we are to give thanks to God through Christ rather suggests that we are unworthy even of the right of coming to God with thanks except as we come through Christ.

Study and Review

50.

How are we to do everything we do? (Col. 3:17)

51.

What does in the name of the Lord Jesus mean? (Col. 3:17)

52.

Through whom are thanks to be given?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(17) All in the name of the Lord Jesus.Comp. here the more general exhortation of 1Co. 10:31, Whether ye eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God. This is the first principle of all godly life. The main object of all life, speculative or practical, is declared to be, not our own happiness or perfection, not the good of our fellow-men, but the glory of Godthe carrying out of His will, and so manifesting His moral attributes. We are taught that if we seek this first, all the other things shall be added unto us. But here we have the principle, not only of godly life, but of Christian life. It does all in the name of Christ, that is, as conformed to His image, and so being His representative; it looks up thankfully to God our Father, but it is through Him, having our sonship by adoption through His all-sufficient mediation. Its desire is, not only that God may be glorified, but that He may be glorified through Jesus Christ (1Pe. 4:11). Once more we trace here the special and emphatic purpose of the Epistle.

Col. 3:18 to Col. 4:1 deals with the three great relations of lifebetween wives and husbands, children and parents, servants and masters. In this section we have the closest parallelism with the Epistle to the Ephesians (Eph. 5:22 to Eph. 6:9). But the treatment of the first relation is far briefer, having nothing to correspond to the grand and characteristic comparison of marriage to the union between Christ and the Church. Even in the second there is somewhat greater brevity and simplicity. The third is dwelt upon with marked coincidence of language, and at least equal emphasis. We can hardly doubt that the presence of Onesimus, the runaway slave, suggested this peculiar emphasis on the right relation between the slave and his master.

[It will only be necessary to note the few points in which this section differs notably from the parallel passage.]

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

17. Whatsoever In the relations mentioned, though the rule may properly enough cover our entire conduct.

In the name As Christians, bearing his name, having his Spirit, moving in his presence.

Giving thanks Making the whole life abound in thanksgiving.

To God the Father Omitting and with the oldest MSS.; and always through Christ, as our only way of approach to him.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.’

Paul wants us to take seriously that it is Christ Who lives through us. He is Jesus the Lord, and we are His people. When a servant wore the livery of his lord he was seen as acting in the name of his lord. This explains the change to ‘the Lord Jesus’. We act in the name of our Lord. We have ‘put on the new man’, we wear Christ’s livery, thus all we say and do must in accordance with His will and requirements. We must let Him live His life through us. We must ensure that we live totally for Him as a good servant would for his master.

‘Giving thanks to God the Father through Him.’ Again the emphasis on being thankful. If we spent more time being thankful our spiritual lives would blossom. Note that our approach to the Father is ‘through Him’. This reminds us that of ourselves we have no right of access. It is because we genuinely come in His name, through the redemptive work He carried out on our behalf, that we have expectation of a hearing, even for the expressing of gratitude. Access to God is not the easy thing that it is portrayed by many to be. But it is easy for us because of Him (Heb 10:19-22). ‘Through Him’ has special significance in this letter for it excludes any intermediaries.

‘To God the Father’. The unusual Greek formation ‘to theo patri’ suggests that there is more emphasis on God as ‘abba, Father’, while stressing His Godhead, rather than God as Father of creation. (Compare the probable similar reading in Col 1:3).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Col 3:17 . The apostle having announced in Col 3:16 the first way in which the abundant indwelling of the word of Christ must manifest itself by , and having set forth as the second the . . ., now adds the third , and that, indeed, as one embracing the entire conduct of life; the , and , attaches it to the two participial clauses in Col 3:16 , not, however, introducing another participial mode of expression conformed to the foregoing, but leading over, through the verb to be supplied, into the direct form of discourse: And whatsoever ye do by word or by work, do all in the name of Jesus . The , is the absolute nominative , placed at the beginning with rhetorical emphasis, and syntactically independent. See Khner, II. 1, p. 42; Winer, p. 534 [E. T. 7I8].

] Comp. Aesch. Prom . 659: . See Pflugk, ad Eur. Hec . 373: “Dictis factisque omnis continetur actio.” For instances of and associated in that order and conversely, see Bornemann, ad Xen. Mem . ii. 3. 6; Lobeck, Paral , p. 64 f.

] again emphatically prefixed, not, however, taking up again the previous , but rather: in the case of everything which is done by word or deed, all is to take place in the name of Jesus; [163] no element of the doing is to be out of this sphere! The imperative is to be supplied from the context. Comp. on Eph 5:21 .

.] Not: with invocation of (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Melanchthon, and others), but: so that the name is the holy moral element, in which the action proceeds , inasmuch, namely, as this name, as the sum of the faith which moulds the new life, fills the consciousness, and gives to the action its specific Christian quality and consecration. would not be substantially different. Comp. on Eph 5:20 ; Phi 2:10 ; Joh 14:13 . “Illum sapiat, illum sonet, illum spiret omnis vestra vita,” Erasmus. The ideal character of the requirement is misapprehended, when, with Cornelius a Lapide, it is lowered to a mere consilium . See, on the contrary, Calovius.

. . . .] accompanying definition: whilst ye at the same time give thanks , etc. Comp. in Col 2:7 , Col 4:2 , Col 1:12 ; Phi 4:6 . In the apostle’s view, there belongs essentially to the devoutness of Christian life the self-expressing piety of thankfulness for all Christian bliss, in the consciousness, assurance, and experience of which one does everything in the name of Jesus. Since . denotes thanksgiving , Grotius ought not to have taken the participle in a declaratory sense (“ quid sit in nomine Christi omnia facere et loqui”); a misinterpretation, which Hofmann rightly rejects, but substitutes another explanation which neglects the verbal import of : namely, that Paul declares the doing here required to be a thanksgiving , etc., doing, which is practical thanks. is never in the N. T. equivalent to , gratias referre .

] Father of Jesus.

] For Jesus, as the personal historical mediator of Messianic bliss through the work of atonement, is therewith for the Christian consciousness the mediator of thanksgiving; He it is, through whose benefit the Christian can and does give thanks . Comp. Rom 1:8 ; Rom 7:25 , al . Hence in Eph 5:20 : . . . Both the thought and expression were so habitually in use and belonged so essentially to the circumstances of the case, that the hypothesis of a contrast to the mediation of angels (Theodoret, Bengel, and many others, including Bhr) is unfounded, more especially seeing that the entire context has no polemical reference.

[163] Paul, as is well known, is fond of placing close beside each other different forms of with different references. See Wilke, Rhetor, p. 381; comp. also on Phi 4:12 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 2188
DOING ALL IN THE NAME OF CHRIST

Col 3:17. 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.

SUPPOSING the existence of one Supreme Being to be acknowledged, our obvious duty towards him must be, to exercise such a dependence on him, as shall evince a consciousness, that in him we live, and move, and have our being [Note: Act 17:28.]. This being what, for distinctions sake, I will call natural religion, we may see what must, of necessity, be required of us under the Christian dispensation. By the Gospel we are informed, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator and Governor of the universe; and, consequently, must be entitled to all that regard which, as Theists, we pay to the Supreme Being. But He is further revealed to us as the Redeemer of the world; and, consequently, as standing in a still nearer relation to us, as our vital Head; from whom we derive all supplies of grace and peace, and to whom we must ascribe all the blessings which we enjoy, whether in time or in eternity. What, then, is evangelical religion? It is not an assent to certain principles, however accurate those principles may be: nor is it a practice of certain duties, however commendable those duties may be. It is a habit of mind, by means of which Christs universal agency is acknowledged, and the whole soul goes forth to him; receiving every thing from his fulness, and improving every thing for his glory.

To unfold this more clearly, I will endeavour to shew, what, under the Gospel dispensation, should be the habit of our minds,

In all that we do for God

In my text, we are told to do every thing in the name of Jesus Christ. Now, by this expression, I understand that we should do every thing,

From respect to his authority

[St. Paul says, We command you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly [Note: 2Th 3:6.]. It was by the authority of Christ that he issued that command; and from a respect to that authority was that command to be obeyed. In like manner must we have respect to Christ in every thing that we do: for he has said, Then are ye my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. It must be a matter of indifference to us what man may enjoin, unless it have the sanction of our blessed Lords authority also. We must always ask ourselves, What does the Lord Jesus Christ require of me? That I will do, at all events, and under all circumstances. If it be approved of man, I will do it, not so much to please man, as to please the Lord: and if it be disapproved by man, I shall still do it, because it will please my Lord: nor will I be diverted from the path of duty, though the whole world should combine to oppose my progress. My Lords will being clearly ascertained, I shall need nothing to encourage my exertions, nor will I suffer any thing to obstruct them.]

From love to his name

[We read of receiving a child in Christs name, and of giving a cup of water in his name [Note: Mar 9:37; Mar 9:41.]: that must import that we do it from love to Christ. And this should be the one spring of all our actions: The love of Christ should constrain us [Note: 2Co 5:14.]. It is not necessary that there should be in our minds, on all occasions, a long train argumentation to call forth this principle: a mother needs not such a process to call forth her love to her infant offspring: if an occasion fall for the exercise of that principle, it is ready for action at all times, and at a moments notice. And so should it be with us, towards our Lord Jesus Christ: there should be in us such a deep and abiding sense of our obligations to him, that, in every thing we say, and in every thing we do, we should desire to please him.]

In dependence on his grace

[The Prophet Micah says, All people will walk every one in the name of his god; and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever; that is, in an entire dependence upon him. Now, to whom must we look for direction in all our ways, but to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has engaged, as our Shepherd, to go before us [Note: Joh 10:4.], and who has told us in all things to follow his steps [Note: 1Pe 2:21.]? And on whom shall we rely for assistance in our difficulties, but on him who has directed us to be strong in the Lord [Note: Eph 6:10.], and assured us that through his strength we shall do all things [Note: 2Co 12:9. Php 4:13.]? And through whom can we hope for acceptance, but through Him, our Mediator and all-prevailing Intercessor [Note: Eph 3:18. 1Jn 2:1-2.]?]

For the advancement of his glory

[When Peter and John had healed a man that had been lame from his mothers womb, the spectators were ready to ascribe the miracle either to the power or holiness of those who had wrought it: but the Apostles instantly gave the glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name, and by whose power alone, it had been wrought: His name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong, whom you see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all [Note: Act 3:6; Act 3:16.]. Thus, whatever it be that we either say or do, we must consult his glory, and labour to advance it. Nothing is too insignificant for us to attend to in this view: Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we must do all to the glory of God [Note: 1Co 10:31.]. If it be thought that it would be presumption to suppose that any thing we can do can by any means advance his glory, we quite mistake: for, in his last intercessory prayer, he said, All mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them [Note: Joh 17:10.].]

The same habit of mind must be cultivated, also,

II.

In all that God does for us

There may be many occurrences which, to flesh and blood, are painful: yet, in them must we see nothing but an occasion of praise and thanksgiving. Job blessed God as well for taking away his property as for bestowing it [Note: Job 1:21.]. And thus must we also in every thing give thanks, knowing that this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us [Note: 1Th 5:8.].

We, in all circumstances, have occasion to praise our God
[Those things which have the most painful aspect are yet in reality the fruits of love: for whom God loveth, he chasteneth; and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth [Note: Heb 12:6.]. Indeed, the beneficial tendency of our afflictions is often as clear and visible as if it were pointed out to us by a voice from heaven. For who does not see how trials wean us from the world, and purify us from our dross? We are told, and we find it true, that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, even a hope that maketh not ashamed [Note: Rom 5:3-5.]. But, independent of this, so great are the blessings of redemption, that they ought to swallow up, as it were, every other consideration; and to fill our souls with unutterable joy and gratitude, even in the midst of all the troubles that either men or devils can inflict upon us. In the first chapter of this epistle, the Apostle puts this in a most striking point of view. He supposes the Colossians to be oppressed with heavy and long-continued afflictions: and he prays for them, that they may be strengthened with all might, according to Gods glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering, with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, who bath made them meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered them from the power of darkness; and hath translated them into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom they had redemption through bis blood, even the forgiveness of sins [Note: Col 1:11-14.]. Must they under their trials be content with exercising patience? no: or long-suffering? no: they must be filled with joyfulness; and be so borne up by a sense of Gods mercy, and by the wonders of redeeming love, as to have not a word to utter but in a way of praise and thanksgiving. This then, beloved, is to be the frame of your minds at all times; as it was of Paul and Silas, when in the prison and in the stocks they sang praises to God at midnight [Note: Act 16:25.].]

In doing it, however, we must still have respect to the Lord Jesus Christ for the acceptance of our very best services
[Continually is this inculcated in the Scriptures of truth. We must give thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ [Note: Eph 5:20.]. Praise is a sacrifice which must be offered on him as our altar; and be presented by him as our great High Priest, even as the animals were under the Jewish law [Note: Heb 13:15.]; and it is therefore called the calves of our lips [Note: Hos 14:2.]: nor can any sacrifice, however holy, be acceptable to God, but as offered to him through Jesus Christ [Note: 1Pe 2:5.]. This is particularly to be borne in mind at all times. We must never sacrifice unto our own net, or burn incunse to our own drag [Note: Hab 1:16.], but do on earth as they are doing in heaven. Not a voice is heard in heaven which does not give glory to God and to the Lamb: nor on earth should a soul be found that does not say, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise.]

Let me now observe,
1.

If this be religion, how little is there of true religion upon earth!

[Where do you find men of the character above described? How few are there, how very few, in whom this is found to be the prevailing habit of their minds! An attention to doctrines is frequent; nor is regard for moral duties uncommon: but such views of Christ, such respect to his authority, such love to his name, such dependence on his grace, such zeal for his glory, and, withal, such an overwhelming sense of his love as swallows up every other feeling; where are these found? In how very small a measure are they possessed by the very best amongst us! and how far are the generality from possessing them at all! Yet it is by this standard that all Christian experience must be tried. My dear brethren, get your minds rightly instructed in this matter; and then will you be able to form a right judgment, both of your own state and of every thing around you.]

If this be true religion, how happy a man is the true Christian!

[Doubtless the Christian must be conscious of innumerable defects, and must find cause in himself for the deepest humiliation. But, in proportion as he has attained this experience, tell me whether he be not happy? tell me whether he be not a far happier man than the possession of the whole world could make him? I know that an ignorant ungodly world will deride this as enthusiasm: but the passage which I before cited, in reference to natural religion, is amply sufficient to shew that this experience is most rational, and indispensable to the Christian character. What are the feelings of one who, in the daily habit of his mind, lives, and moves, and has his being in God? Precisely such are the Christians feelings towards the Lord Jesus Christ, only elevated by a sense of redeeming love. Believe ye then in Christ; and abide in him by the exercise of faith and love: and let him be your life: yea, live altogether by faith in Him who has loved you, and given himself for you. Then will you rejoice in him even now, with a joy that is unspeakable and glorified, and soon be partakers of all the fulness of joy at Gods right hand for evermore.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

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.

Ver. 17. Do all in the name ] By the warrant of his word, and with an aim to his glory. For his sake and service; and to God’s acceptance, through Christ’s assistance.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

17 .] general exhortation , comprehending all the preceding spiritual ones. And every thing whatsoever ye do in word or work (so far is a ‘nominativus pendens’) all things (do) in the name of the lord Jesus (not as Chrys., c., Thl., &c., , nor as Thdrt., who treats it as a dehortation from the worship of angels, which they were to exclude by their always : but much as the common so that the name of Christ is the element in which all is done which furnishes a motive and gives a character to the whole) giving thanks to God the Father (where is not expressed, the words must be taken as approximating in sense to that more technical meaning which they now bear, without exclusive reference to either our Lord or ourselves, and should be rendered ‘ God the Father ’) through Him (as the one channel of all communication between God and ourselves, whether of grace coming to us, or of thanks coming from us. Cf. His own saying, ).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Col 3:17 . : a nominative absolute. is governed by (not , as Sod.), supplied from . . This is not something additional to actions done in the name of Christ; but these actions are themselves expressions of thankfulness.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

deed = in (Greek. en) work.

name. See Act 2:21.

Lord. App-98.

Jesus. App-98.

giving thanks. See Act 27:35.

and. Omit.

Father. App-98.

by. App-104. Col 3:1.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

17.] general exhortation, comprehending all the preceding spiritual ones. And every thing whatsoever ye do in word or work (so far is a nominativus pendens) all things (do) in the name of the lord Jesus (not as Chrys., c., Thl., &c., , nor as Thdrt., who treats it as a dehortation from the worship of angels, which they were to exclude by their always :-but much as the common -so that the name of Christ is the element in which all is done-which furnishes a motive and gives a character to the whole) giving thanks to God the Father (where is not expressed, the words must be taken as approximating in sense to that more technical meaning which they now bear, without exclusive reference to either our Lord or ourselves,-and should be rendered God the Father) through Him (as the one channel of all communication between God and ourselves, whether of grace coming to us, or of thanks coming from us. Cf. His own saying, ).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Col 3:17. , ye do) The word is used in a wide sense, so as also to include the act of speaking.-, all things) viz. do ye.- , in the name) so that it may be just the same as if Christ were doing it, Col 3:11; or at least that you may be able to prove all things to Christ [to do all things so as to gain His approval]. The man who can say, O Jesus Christ, I have done this in Thy name, certainly proves his conduct to Christ. In the name of Christ, i.e. for the sake of Christ: comp. the following verses.- , by Him) not by angels.-Theodoritus.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Col 3:17

And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,-To do a thing in the name of the Lord Jesus is to do it for him and as He directs. Do it by his authority; do it as his servant, for his honor and glory. He is the only mediator between God and man. Does any one believe if Christ were here in person as we are that he would go into any human society and do things as they require ? We are required to give and do all we do as the servants of God. Jesus, when on earth, did nothing save what God required. He had no will of his own, no wish or desire to do anything save the will of God. If we are his disciples and do his will, we will not enter or remain in any society that Jesus did not appoint or command. God and his institutions are entitled to the whole undivided service of man in carrying out the will of God. He has nothing to divide with others. God cannot reward for what a man does as a member of another body, and to divide his time and service with that of others is to vitiate all the service rendered. God will not accept a divided or mutilated service. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Mat 4:10). But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. (Mat 15:9). God demands our whole time and service in his church. We need it all there to make us loyal and true citizens of that kingdom.

[Our eating and drinking-acts which seem remote from the interests and sentiments of the spiritual life-these are to be sanctified through the word of God and prayer (1Ti 4:5), by the mention of Christs name in thanksgiving to the Father, who through him sends us all lifes blessings. And if our mere physical necessities of life are capable of being thus hallowed, there is nothing in family relations, or secular employments, or social duties, which may not receive and does not demand the same consideration. We should associate Christ with everything we do, doing all as his servants and under his eye, and in such a way that, in every part of our work, he may be glorified in us, and this will be a safeguard to the Christian. If he is to do everything in Christs name, he must do nothing unworthy of that name, nothing with which he cannot associate it. Nowhere, in any company or in any business, must he forget, whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, that this worthy name is the name which he bears, and whose honor is in his keeping. This is the seal which every true Christian wears upon his heart: Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness. (2Ti 2:19).]

giving thanks to God the Father through him.-By living a life of constant gratitude to God the Father in the manner all is done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both in his gifts and in his chastisements, praise him. Such gratitude is through him since what he is and what he has done as our Redeemer not only makes us grateful, but gives us a Mediator for the expression of our thanksgiving. The first human motive? in the Christian life is gratitude for redemption, and it does not lose its power as we feel more and more how great a Redeemer the Lord Jesus is.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

whatsoever: Col 3:23, 2Ch 31:20, 2Ch 31:21, Pro 3:6, Rom 14:6-8, 1Co 10:31

in word: 2Th 2:17, 1Jo 3:18

in the: Mic 4:5, Mat 28:19, Act 4:30, Act 19:17, Phi 1:11, 1Th 4:1, 1Th 4:2

giving: Col 1:12, Col 2:7, Rom 1:8, Eph 5:20, 1Th 5:18, Heb 13:15, 1Pe 2:5, 1Pe 2:9, 1Pe 4:11

God: Eph 1:17, Phi 2:11, 1Th 1:1, Heb 1:5, 1Jo 2:23

Reciprocal: 1Ki 18:32 – in the name Psa 34:1 – General Psa 86:11 – unite Psa 100:4 – be thankful Ecc 2:26 – wisdom Son 4:3 – lips Son 7:9 – the roof Son 7:13 – I have Eze 45:17 – peace offerings Dan 6:10 – gave Zec 7:6 – did not ye eat for Zec 10:12 – walk Zec 14:20 – shall there Mat 14:19 – he blessed Mat 26:30 – when Mar 6:41 – blessed Mar 8:6 – gave thanks Joh 2:2 – both Joh 14:13 – in my Rom 6:11 – through Rom 7:25 – thank God Rom 15:18 – by word Rom 16:22 – salute 1Co 1:14 – thank 1Co 5:4 – the name 2Co 4:15 – the abundant 2Co 5:15 – live unto 2Co 8:16 – thanks Eph 4:29 – that which Eph 6:1 – in Eph 6:5 – as Phi 4:6 – thanksgiving Col 2:6 – walk Col 3:15 – and be Col 4:2 – thanksgiving 2Th 3:6 – in the 1Ti 4:3 – with Heb 6:10 – which Heb 13:21 – through Jam 1:22 – be Jam 2:12 – speak Jam 5:13 – let him sing 3Jo 1:5 – General Rev 7:12 – thanksgiving

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

(Col 3:17.) , , -And whatever ye do in word or in deed, do all of it in the name of the Lord Jesus, or Whatever ye are in the custom of doing, etc. On the use of with the present, see Winer, 42, 3, b, (). This concluding precept is general in its nature. Some take , with Flatt and Bhr, in an absolute case, others think it better to regard it as repeated in the plural form . Meyer takes the whole clause, as far as , as an absolute nominative. There is an earnest rapidity in the composition which may easily excuse any rhetorical anomaly. The rule laid down by Khner is, that a word of special importance is placed at the beginning of a sentence in the nominative, to represent it emphatically as the fundamental subject of the whole sentence, 508. No doubt, special emphasis is laid on , for the apostle’s idea is, that while some things are done formally in the name of the Lord Jesus, everything should be done really in it. The imperative is to be supplied. The plural individualizes what has been put collectively under the singular . As for the whole of what you do in word or in act, let every part or separate element of it be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. The apostle has just spoken of formal religious service, and surely it is to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. But not it alone-all speech and action must be imbued with the same spirit.

But what is meant by the phrase-in the name of? [Eph 5:20.] The Greek Fathers explain it widely- . Jerome is farther in error when he renders it-ad honorem, for that would represent with the accusative. Vitringa, Observat. Sac. p. 327, says that the phrase corresponds to . It rather corresponds to , and strictly means-by his authority, or generally, in recognition of it. To speak in His name, or to act in His name, is to speak and act not to His honour, but under His sanction and with the conviction of His approval. This is the highest Christian morality, a vivid and practical recognition of Christ in everything said or done. Not simply in religious service, but in the business of daily life; not merely in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, but in the language of friendship and of bargain, of the forum and the fireside; not simply in deeds which, in their very aspect, are a Christian compliance, such as almsgiving, or sacramental communion, but in every act, in solitude and in society, in daily toil, in the occupations of trade, or negotiations of commerce. This is a high test. It is comparatively easy to engage in religious discourse, but far more difficult to discourse on everything in a religious spirit; comparatively easy to do a professedly Christian act, but far more difficult to do every act in a Christian spirit. In the one case the mind sets a watch upon itself, and speaks and acts under the immediate consciousness of its theme and purpose, but in the other, the heart is so influenced by religious feeling, that without an effort it acknowledges the name of Christ. Men may for the occasion solemnize themselves, and word and act may be in direct homage to Christ, but the season of such necessity passes away, and the sensations it had created lose their hold. Thus the associations of the Sabbath fade during the week, and the emotions of the sanctuary lose themselves in the market-place.

Still, the apostle does not inculcate any familiar or fanatical use of Christ’s name, it is not to be mixed up with the phrases of colloquial life. A man is not to say, in Christ’s name I salute thee, or in Christ’s name I buy this article or sell that one, charter this vessel, or engage in that speculation. But the apostle means, that such ought to be the habitual respect to Christ’s authority, such the constant and practical influence of His word within us, that even without reference to Him, or express consultation of Him, all we say and do should be said and done in His spirit, and with the persuasion that He approves. Christianity should ever guard and regulate amidst all secular engagements, and its influence should hallow all the relations and engagements of life. This is the grand desideratum, the universal reign of the Christian spirit. The senator may not discuss Christian dogmas in the midst of national interests, but his whole procedure must be regulated, not by faction or ambition, but by that enlightened patriotism, which, based on justice, is wise enough to know that true policy can never contravene morality, and is benignant enough to admit that other states are interlinked with our progress, and that the world is one vast brotherhood. The merchant is not to digress into a polemical dispute while he is concluding a sale, but love of profit is not to supersede rectitude, nor is the maxim, that there is no friendship in trade, ever to lead him to take undue advantage, or accomplish by dexterity what equity would scarcely permit. The tradesman, as he lifts his tool, is not to say, in Christ’s name I strike; but in the spirit of Him who was among His disciples, as one that serveth is he faithfully to finish the labour assigned him, ever feeling himself to be under the great taskmaster’s eye. Art, science, literature, politics and business, should be all baptized into the spirit of Christ.

-Giving thanks to God even the Father by Him. The sentiment is found in Eph 5:20, more pointedly and fully expressed, and in almost the same connection. As ye give thanks to God by Christ, so think all and speak all in Christ’s name, who is the medium of thanksgiving. Blessings come through Him, and through Him thanks are to be rendered. With this clause, Kypke wrongly connects the previous one, thus-always in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God.

The apostle now comes to the inculcation of some special duties belonging to social and domestic life. Steiger, after Chrysostom and Theophylact, has remarked, that only in Epistles addressed to Asiatic churches do such formal exhortations occur, and he endeavours to account for it by the supposition that the liberty proclaimed by the false teachers had developed a dangerous licentiousness and taught a kind of Antinomian exemption from the rules and obligations of morality. It is true, as Meyer replies, that no direct polemical tendency is discernible in this section: still there must have been some reason why, in his letters to Asiatic communities, Paul dwells so strongly on this important branch of ethics. We may have little more than conjecture, yet we know that the apostle penned no paragraph in vain, and that there must have been more than accident in the fact that conjugal duty is not mentioned in the Epistles to Rome, Philippi, and Thessalonica, but is specially dwelt upon in those to Ephesus and Colosse, as also in the Apostle Peter’s epistles to churches in the same region. The exhortations tendered by Paul to Titus as a Cretan pastor, when he touches on the same subject, have more of a general character, and those found in the epistle to the church in Corinth were called forth by peculiar queries. But here, and in the twin epistle, the apostle places special stress on the conjugal relationship, and its reciprocal obligations; as also on the relative duties of parents and children, of masters and slaves. Chrysostom gives, as the reason, that in such respects these churches were deficient, though he does not specify the source of such deficiency. His own homilies supply one form of illustration, for they abound in severest reproofs against the indecencies, luxuries, and immoralities of wedded life, and the picture is evidently taken from the state of manners that prevailed in the Byzantine capital, in which the discourses seem to have been delivered. It would thus appear that in the Asiatic cities there was great need to enforce the duties originated by the marriage tie, and it may be, that forms of false doctrine had a tendency to excite spurious notions of so-called Christian liberty. It is easy to conceive how a creed of boastful freedom would speedily work its way among slaves. The reader will not forget how, at the period of the Reformation, the principles of a licentious liberty were not only received, but to a great extent acted out by the Anabaptists of Munster.

Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians

Col 3:17. Word or deed. According to Luk 6:43-45, a man’s words are the fruit of his heart or thoughts. Therefore, the phrase in italics includes one’s entire conduct, and the command is that it must be all in the name of the Lord Jesus, otherwise it will be wrong. That cannot mean that merely professing the name of Christ in connection with a thing will make it right. Mat 7:22 Mat 24:5 shows persons doing things “in the name” of the Lord, who we know were not doing right. The phrase can mean only to do all by the authority of Christ. Since His authority is known only in the New Testament, it follows that Christians have no right to any thought, word or deed, that is not authorized by that volume.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Col 3:17. And whatsoever ye do, etc. This verse may be regarded as summing up all the preceding exhortations, or as a third manifestation of the indwelling of the word of Christ, or, better still, as an advance in thought: not only let His word dwell in you, but let your whole conduct find in Him its sphere and motive.

In the name of the Lord Jesus. Not by invoking Him at all times, but by making Him the centre of our lives, so that His name stands for the source of our strength, the guide in our duty, the keynote of our words, the end of our effort.

Giving thanks to God the Father through hint. This is the manner in which all is done in the name of the Lord Jesus, namely, by living a life of constant gratitude to God the Father. Augustine: Both in His gifts and in His chastisements, praise Him, who either wins thee by giving, that thou mayest not want, or punishes thee when wandering that thou mayest not perish. Such gratitude is through Him, since what He is and has done as our Redeemer not only makes us grateful, but gives us a Mediator for the expression of our thanksgiving. The first human motive in the Christian life is gratitude for redemption, and it does not lose its power as we feel more and more bow great a Redeemer the Lord Jesus is.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Here our apostle lays down a general rule for the right of management of all our words and actions, in the whole course of life; Whatsoever ye do, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God for all the mercies you receive by Jesus Christ.

Learn hence, 1. That all our thoughts, words and actions, must and ought to be done in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; that is, to do all by the authority and command of Christ, to do all in the power and strength of Christ, to do all for the honour and glory of Christ, to do all after the pattern and example of Christ.

Learn, 2. That all prayers and thanksgivings, as they are only due to God, so they must be performed by us through Jesus Christ, that so they may find acceptance with God; Giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the {m} name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

(m) Call upon the name of Christ when you do it, or do it to Christ’s praise and glory.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

This verse covers all other thoughts and actions.

"The NT does not contain a detailed code of rules for the Christian, like those which were elaborated with ever-increasing particularity in rabbinical casuistry. Codes of rules, as Paul explains elsewhere (e.g., in Gal 3:23 to Gal 4:7), are suited to the period of immaturity when he and his readers were still under guardians; the son who has come to years of responsibility knows his father’s will without having to be provided with a long list of ’Do’s’ and ’Don’t’s [sic].’ What the NT does provide is those basic principles of Christian living which may be applied to all the situations of life as they arise (cf. 1Co 10:21)." [Note: Bruce, Commentary on . . ., p. 285.]

The basic principle, as opposed to a set of specific rules, is this. We should say all words and practice all deeds in harmony with the revelation of Jesus Christ, namely, under His authority and as His followers. The "name" comprehends everything revealed and known about the person bearing the name. Moreover we are to do all with thanksgiving to God. The fourth imperative is implicit in the Greek text, but the translators have supplied it in the English text: "Do."

When faced with a question about what the Christian should do, Paul taught that we should simply ask ourselves what conduct would be appropriate for one identified with Christ. "What would Jesus do?" is quite similar. This approach is vastly different from the legal one that provides a specific command for every situation. In this contrast we see a basic difference between the New and Old Covenants.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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