Colossians 3:3 (KJV)

Passage

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Nearby Context

Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "dead", "life", and "christ". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "dead" and "life", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Set your affection on things above not..." into verse 4's "When Christ who is our life shall...", so "dead" and "life" belong inside that flow. In Colossians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "dead" and "life" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.