Colossians 3:10

Colossians 3:10, in plain English

You've put on a completely new self that's being continuously renewed—remade—into the image of the God who created you, becoming more and more like your Creator.

Why it's here

This is the hinge point of the passage. Paul has talked about removing the old self (verses 5-9), and now he says what you're becoming instead. The 'new self' isn't something static; it's being renewed in knowledge—growing in understanding of who God is and what He's like. Being made in the image of the Creator is an echo of Genesis 1:27, but now it's not just your original design; it's your ongoing restoration and transformation.

Who's speaking

Paul

Where it sits in the story

This connects 2 Corinthians 3:18, where Paul says we're being transformed into Christ's image with ever-increasing glory. It also echoes 1 John 3:2, where John writes that we'll be like Him when we see Him as He is.

The scholarly reading

You have clothed yourselves with a new identity that is continuously renewed through expanding knowledge of God, progressively conformed to the image of your Creator.

Language and setting

Paul employs the indoubted middle voice of ἐνδύω (endyo—to clothe) suggesting that believers actively participate in putting on the new self, though this occurs within God's transformative action. The phrase 'knowledge of the image' (Greek: ἐπίγνωσις...εἰκών, epignosis...eikon) likely references the Genesis 1:27 creation account, suggesting that Christian redemption restores the original imago Dei that sin had defaced. The present passive construction (ἀνακαινοῦται, anakainoutai—being renewed) indicates ongoing, continuous transformation.

Voice

Paul, synthesizing Genesis creation theology with Christian soteriology.

Significance

This fulfills 2 Corinthians 3:18's promise of progressive transformation into Christ's image and anticipates 1 John 3:2's eschatological vision. It establishes sanctification as epistemic—growth in knowledge produces ethical and spiritual transformation—a principle developed extensively by Gregory of Nyssa and Maximus the Confessor.

8But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

9Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices,

10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

12Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Read all of Colossians 3 — You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Strip off the old self like worn-out clothing and put on compassion, kindness, and love.