Colossians 3:3 (DRB)

Passage

For you are dead: and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Nearby Context

Colossians 3:1 Therefore if you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:2 Mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth.

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

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

Colossians 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil concupiscence and covetousness, which is the service of idols.

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 "Mind the things that are above not..." into verse 4's "When Christ shall appear who is your...", 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.