The interpretation of the “Putting on the new self” metaphor in Colossians 3:10 has historically unfolded in various ways, involving uncovering its origins, social implications, exploring Paul’s logic within in, or delving into its close relationship with Paul’s theological thoughts (Frederick 2019, 207–19; Canavan 2012, 134–78; Kim 2004, 152–75).
In this paper, I will take approach of focusing more on the contextual function of the metaphor, arguing that “Putting on the new self” in Colossians 3:10 serves as Paul’s creative vehicle to demonstrate that his ethics in Colossians is inseparable from the portrayals of Christ presented in the letter (Col 1:15–20; 2:9). The metaphor highlights that Paul’s ethics in Colossians is Christocentric in the sense that Christ is the foundation, power, and goal of believers’ ethical behavior in their entire life.
As mentioned, I will focus more on the literary context of Colossians 3:10, drawing on concepts from metaphor theory to facilitate my exegesis of Colossians 3:10–17 and explore the meaning of the metaphor. This methodology, especially understanding the concepts of novel and conventional metaphor, and their relationship, will enhance our understanding why similar clothing metaphors are positioned in close proximity (Col 3:10, 12, 14) and why Paul chose that kind of clothing metaphor in the middle of his ethical discourse.
This examination will demonstrate how effectively Paul communicates his various theological thoughts implied in his ethics through the clothing metaphors (Col 3:10, 12, 14; cf. Col 2:15; 3:8–9). For instance, the meaning of the novel metaphor of putting on new self (Col 3:10) is “elaborated” through conventional metaphors of clothing (Col 3:12, 14). Furthermore, this paper will emphasize that Paul’s ethics in Colossians is closely linked with his Christology, as Christ’s supremacy serves as the source of believers’ ethical behaviors, and his presence empowers them to actualize their new identity (Col 3:11b, 15–17; cf. 1:27–29; 2:6–7, 10). The metaphor conveys such a notion.
In this regard, this paper offers a modest contribution to understanding how Christology is foundational for believers’ ethical reality in various ways, and to how the understanding of metaphor facilitates the interpretation of Pauline ethics.
Grounded in George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s Metaphors We Live by (1980) and other scholars on metaphor (Kövecses 2010, 2017; Gibbs 2019), I will engage with studies on Paul’s ethics through clothing imagery such as Michael Thompson’s Clothed with Christ (1991), Jung Hoon Kim’s The Significance of Clothing Imagery in the Pauline Corpus (2004), and other related works including John Webster’s article, “‘Where Christ is’: Christology and Ethics” (2010); James W. Thompson’s Moral Formation according to Paul (2011) and Apostle of Persuasion (2020), and Joshua W. Jipp’s Pauline Theology as a Way of Life (2023).