Colossians 3:7 tells believers that their old way of living, marked by the sins Paul has just listed, was once the ordinary pattern of their lives. Paul is reminding Christians in Colossae that they did not always belong to Christ, and that the habits they are now leaving behind were once their normal way of walking through the world. The verse is written by the apostle Paul, traditionally identified as the author of this letter, to the church in Colossae, a congregation of mostly Gentile believers in the Roman province of Asia.
You also once walked in those, when you lived in them…
Colossians 3:7 (WEB)
What Colossians 3:7 Means
The verse begins with “You also,” which links the readers to a larger group. Paul has just spoken about the sins that belong to people who do not know God, and he now places his readers in the same category they once occupied. The word “also” signals that they are not being singled out for shame. Everyone who has come to faith has a past, and Paul wants them to see it honestly.
The phrase “once walked in those” uses the image of walking, which in the Bible often describes a whole way of life rather than a single action. To walk in something means to live by its rules and let it shape your daily choices. Paul is saying that these sins were not occasional slips for his readers but the direction their lives were moving. The phrase “when you lived in them” makes the same point from another angle: those patterns were the environment they breathed in.
What the verse does not do is pronounce a permanent verdict on the readers’ identity. It describes the past tense of their lives, and the very next verse turns to what they must do now. The verse does not suggest that a believer can never struggle again, nor that a past failure defines who they are. It simply places the old life behind them so that the call to change can be heard clearly.
The Context of Colossians 3:7
The letter to the Colossians was written to a church Paul had not personally founded but whose faith he cared for deeply. Colossae was a small city in the Lycus Valley, and the believers there faced pressure from teachings that promised a deeper spiritual knowledge while pulling them away from Christ. Paul writes to anchor them in the supremacy of Christ, who is described earlier in the letter as the image of the invisible God and the one in whom all things hold together.
Just before verse 7, Paul speaks of believers being raised with Christ and having their true life hidden with him in God. Verses 5 and 6 name the sins that belong to the old life and warn of God’s judgment on those who remain in them. Verse 7 then looks back over that list and says the readers once lived inside it. Verse 8 immediately follows with the command to put away anger, malice, slander and similar sins. Read in this setting, verse 7 is a hinge: it reminds believers of who they were so that the command to change in the following verses carries real weight.
Key Phrases in Colossians 3:7
Ephesians 2:1-2
1 You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience…
(WEB)
This passage describes the readers as once dead in their trespasses and sins, living according to the course of this world. It parallels Colossians 3:7 by reminding believers of a former way of life that has been left behind through what God has done in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
(WEB)
Paul writes here that anyone in Christ is a new creation and the old things have passed away. This verse shares the same contrast between a former life and a new one, showing that the change Paul describes in Colossians is rooted in the new life that Christ gives.
A Short Prayer From Colossians 3:7
Lord, thank you that my past does not have the final word over my life. You know the patterns I once lived in and the places where I still feel their pull. Help me to see clearly what belongs to my old way of living, and give me the courage to leave it behind. Let my daily choices reflect the new life you have given me in Christ, and when I stumble, lift me up and remind me of your grace. Amen.