Colossians 3 Footnotes

3:18 The text does not call on wives to render blind obedience to their husbands but rather to offer submission to the husbands’ leadership consistent with the ethical demands of the gospel (“as is fitting in the Lord”). The result is a form of male leadership that did not conform to the patriarchal patterns of the day but instead was modeled on the servant leadership of Christ. See note on Eph 5:22-25.

3:22 Paul gave slaves perspective on how to live as Christians within this socioeconomic institution of their day (see the notes in Philemon).