Colossians 3:16

‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another, with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts to God.'

The ‘logos of Christ' may be intended to refer to the same thing as the ‘logos of the cross' (1 Corinthians 1:18), referring to preaching concerning Christ and the preaching of the cross respectively. The Christian is to receive such sound teaching gladly, and meditate on it, and let it fill his heart and his mind. However it may also be intended to include especial reference to the teaching of Christ Himself as passed on by eyewitnesses in the tradition of the church. The emphasis here, as all through Colossians, is on Christ and no other. It is the word about Him that they should be drinking in, not speculative teaching and ideas. He should be the centre of their thoughts and His words the guiding principle of their lives.

Another possibility is that it means Christ's words to the heart of the Christian through preaching, teaching, meditation on the word of God, as Christ speaks directly to each heart. We can compare for this the parallel phrase ‘the word of God remains in you' (1 John 2:14). Indeed it is fully possible that on this occasion all these are to be included, as meaning ‘let the word of Christ, however you receive it, dwell in and possess your heart'.

‘Teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom.' While ‘with all wisdom' could refer to either this phrase or the previous phrase it seems to fit better here. It may have been intended as a warning to ensure that the ‘teaching about Christ' was sound and genuine and received wisely, but it would appear more likely that he meant that such wisdom was especially to be ensured when admonishing and teaching someone else. Such must be done tactfully and wisely so that the hearer might truly benefit. There would seem grounds here for recognising that many in the congregation would take part in ministry (compare 1 Corinthians 14).

‘With psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts to God.' These would be expressions of praise and gratitude for the grace of God at work within them, rounding off their worship both in public and in private, ‘psalms and hymns and spiritual songs' covering all forms of singing as they do today. The psalms would naturally include the Book of Psalms, but not necessarily exclusively. The hymns, some of which could be designated psalms, would probably include songs specifically composed for worship (as with the Jews), but probably included individual spontaneous contributions. Spiritual songs possibly has a wider meaning of more popular Christian songs sung as catchy tunes in day to day life. But hymns are spiritual songs too, and spiritual songs would be sung in worship. Compare Matthew 26:30; Mar 14:26; 1 Corinthians 14:15; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Acts 16:25.

Note that here the singing is ‘to God'. In Ephesians 5:19 it is to ‘the Lord'. So no differentiation is made by Paul, with respect to worship, between God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Both are equally worthy of our worship.

‘Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs' may attach to the previous phrase. Compare Ephesians 5:19, ‘Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord.' But ‘speaking to' is not the same as ‘teaching and admonishing', and in Ephesians the phrases connect with each other paralleling each other, whereas in Colossians they do not. For this reason we suggest connecting them as above.

Tertullian (c.200AD) tells us that at the love feast ‘each is invited to sing to God in the presence of the others from what he knows of the Holy Scriptures or from his own heart'. All the singing was thus not formal but even so, while the singing may be seen as teaching, it does not seem to fit in with ‘admonition'.