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The third chapter of Colossians addresses concrete ways in which Christ's sufficiency enables believers to live victoriously:

Paul outlines three areas in which Christ’s sufficiency does enable and should motivate believers to grow in grace. Although Paul packages this entire section with imperatives, beneath the surface is the fact of Christ’s sufficiency for sanctification (or else the commands would be irrelevant). (1) His sufficiency enables believers to grow individually—that is, in relation to the flesh (3:5-17). This is because believers have already put off the old man (3:5-11; cf. 3:9) and have put on the new man (3:12-17; cf. 3:10). Thus, their battle against sin is rooted in their changed nature—a direct result of the sufficiency of Christ applied. (2) Christ’s sufficiency enables believers to act responsibly in the extended home (3:18–4:1). Wives should submit to their husbands (3:18) and husbands should love their wives (3:19); children should obey their parents (3:20) and fathers must not embitter their children (3:21); slaves should obey their masters (3:22-25) and masters should take care of their slaves properly (4:1). (3) Christ’s sufficiency enables believers to focus on the needs of others (4:2-6). Thus, they are required to be devoted to prayer for Paul and his companions—especially that they might gain opportunity in their evangelistic efforts (4:2-4); and believers should themselves make the most of their opportunities in sharing their faith (4:5-6).

The epistle closes with final greetings in which the letter-bearer, Tychicus, is commended (4:7-9), and Paul’s co-laborers (4:10-14) and Paul himself (4:15-18) send their greetings.

http://www.bible.org/docs/soapbox/colotl.htm

The IVP New Testament Commentary on Colossians remarks on the importance of understanding Paul's use of the indicative (fact) and imperative (command) in Colossians 3:

The language of this passage reflects the cosmic idiom of Colossian Christology (compare 1:15-20), and the ideas it expresses are thoroughly Pauline. Three of these ideas are especially important for understanding his moral instruction. The first is discerned from the grammar of the passage. As elsewhere in his writings, Paul integrates indicative verbs (those indicating facts) with imperative verbs (those that demand something of the reader). Many scholars have recognized the importance of this grammatical relationship for Paul and have explored its significance. In my opinion, the interplay between indicative and imperative moods of the same verb within a passage expresses the logical connection between what one believes and the way one lives (compare "walk by the Spirit" in Gal 5:16, 25). If we trust what Paul proclaims to be true--that the indicatives or facts of God's salvation are found in Christ Jesus--then we also must trust that God's grace will transform us so that we are able to live in accord with God's perfect will. Our minds are in fact renewed to know God's will; our sin nature has in fact been "crucified with Christ" and replaced with the Spirit of the Risen Christ. The result is that our vices are exchanged for virtue. For Paul, the transformed life is the moral result of our participation in Christ's work and helps to validate our public confession that he is indeed God's Christ and creation's Lord.

http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/webcommentary

What Paul is up to in chapter 3 of Colossians is then summarized by IVP Commentary as structurally presented:

The second emphasis of Pauline ethics is discerned from the literary structure of this opening passage. The christological foundation for ethics is made clear by the four explicit references to Christ in 3:1-4, all of which are located at the center of the passage. Especially important in my view is the coupling of an article with each of Paul's four references to Christ. This grammatical strategy is quite unusual and may well stress the decisive importance of Christ for what follows (see Harris 1991:136).

The last two references to Christ in verses 3 and 4 form the center of an inverted parallelism and thereby give readers a visual aid to confirm Christ's central importance for life:

3: (A) Your life (he zoe hymon) . . . (B) with Christ (syn to Christo);

4: (B') When Christ (hotan ho Christos), (A') who is your life (he zoe hymon).

This foundational conviction of the moral life is fleshed out in what follows (3:5--4:1). This passage includes three codes of Christian conduct (3:5-10; 3:12-16; 3:18--4:1), each of which concludes with a summary statement of Pauline ethics (3:11, 17; 4:1). These three summary statements include a christological confession that recalls the central importance of Christ's lordship for the community's obedient response to God's will

Let's look at the introduction and  these three codes and summary statements:

Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Verse one sets a hypothetical condition with the "If ye then be risen with Christ..." followed by a moral imperative: "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." The old self is dead (3), and life now is Christ: "your life is hid with Christ in God."

Code 1:

Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Col 3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

Col 3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Summary:

Col 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

With the old self dead, the new life is to evidence itself by abstaining from the worldly practices of fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, and filthy communication. Why? The Christological principle is unity in Christ: "Christ is all, and in all." The new self is renewed in knowledge "after the image of him that created him." Consider Intervarsity Press's Commentary on the revolution effected by the death of Christ:

I would contend that the genius of Paul's ethical teaching is not the various codes he provides to describe the moral life. They contain nothing new; in fact, Paul's Judaism offered a much more comprehensive morality than did his Christianity. Indeed, Torah had already codified God's will. For Paul the problem is practical; it has to do with the sorts of persons we are and whether we are actually able to do God's will. Thus, Paul's moral innovation stems from his christological monotheism. His claim is that in Christ we not only are forgiven and redeemed by God but are also transformed into new persons, capable of knowing and doing the will of God. Nothing less than a moral revolution was triggered by the death and resurrection of Jesus!
http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/webcommentary

Code 2:

Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Col 3:14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Summary:

Col 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

In the second code, Paul moves from the negative "put off"  pagan vice to the positive "put on" Christian virtue: renewed in the knowledge and image of God, Christians are put on mercy, kindness, humbleness, meekness, longsuffering, charity, and peace; the word of Christ is to dwell within the Christian as wisdom, resulting in joy: teaching, admonishing, and singing. Summarizing, Paul reminds Christians that what they do in the name of the Lord Jesus is also done to the Father.

The tone of Paul's moral exhortation changes from negative to positive as he shifts his attention from pagan vice to Christian virtue. This shift of emphasis reflects the natural movement of conversion out of darkness into light. In the previous passage Paul addresses the community as a "new self" because with Christ they have put to death the "old self" and have risen to newness of life. In this passage Paul defines Christian character rather than prescribes rules to obey. For him, morality is a matter of what sort of person one becomes in Christ, where one "puts on" the capacity for doing the good that God has willed. Therefore, believers are transformed by the working of divine grace into people who have the character to do God's will. This new character results in and is clearly demonstrated by transformed relationships within the church (3:12-17) and the home (3:18--4:1).
http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/webcommentary

Building upon the foundation of a transformed self and a transformed set of relationships within the church, Paul next addresses family relationships in the final code:

Code 3

Col 3:18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.

Col 3:19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

Col 3:20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.

Col 3:21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

Col 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God;

Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Col 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Col 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Summary

Col 4:1 Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

The Intervarsity Press Commentary rightly sees that Paul's purpose is christological and eschatological:

With closer scrutiny, however, we should find critical differences between the secular and Christian worlds and between their codes for family conduct. For example, Paul calls his readers to observe his code for reasons that are both christological (3:18: as is fitting in the Lord) and eschatological (3:24: you will receive an inheritance from the Lord ). That is, his reasons are religious and not societal. Further, the egalitarian sociology of God's people (see 3:11) is radically different from the hierarchy and patriarchy of the Jewish and Roman worlds. Where the new age has dawned in Christ, people are valued as equals regardless of their station or role. The believer's way of seeing has been transformed by divine grace, and this renewal of the mind has resulted in a new sense of being and a new capacity for doing. In this sense, then, calls to submit to or love another mean something very different for the believer than for the nonbeliever. In fact, Paul, who teaches that God's grace works within the community to produce a distinctively virtuous life (3:12-17), would no doubt argue that without our participation with Christ in God's saving work the intent of such household rules is corrupted so that they produce only vice (see 3:5-9).

http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/webcommentary

When Paul is read correctly in Colossians, he does not advocate submissiveness: relationships are built and grounded in Christian love. Recall the mystery of verses three and four:

Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

The normal distinctions are erased and replaced by an equalitarian sociology where individuals are valued as equals. The reader should note, too, that Paul addresses husbands, telling them to love their wives; children, the resulting creation of the husband-wife relationship, telling them to obey their parents (mother and father); Paul then addresses relationships in which typically one individual is perceived as stronger than the other, an outcome that Paul sees as a matter of flesh and not spirit: fathers are not to provoke their children, and servants are to obey masters according to the flesh. All, however, is to be done with singleness of heart and heartily as to the Lord (23). Once again, the Intervarsity Press Commentary renders the morality exactly:

Paul's general concern stems from the deeper logic of his gospel, introduced in the opening thanksgiving: ideas about God are embodied in action toward others, and only the truth about God's grace can produce holiness and peace in human lives. In this light, Paul has made three critical points in his description of the Christian life.

First, Christian morality is properly motivated by mindfulness of the "things above," where the enthroned Christ is found (3:1-4). When people confess Christ's lordship over all creation (1:15-20), they will resist the separation of morality into compartments, one spiritual and the other material. The values of God and the norms of God's reign, which Jesus incarnated during his messianic mission, inform all spheres of the church's conduct. In this sense, the believer's public conduct, whether in word or deed, will be at odds with the values of the secular order, whether at work or at home.

Second, Christian morality is set within the new creation (3:9-10), an egalitarian community (3:11), which has "put to death" by God's grace all vices that result in death rather than life and therefore undermine God's purposes for creation.

Third, the new life that characterizes the faith community now hidden with Christ in God (3:1-4) bears witness to God through Christ by word and deed (3:12-17).
http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/webcommentary

Matthew Henry analyzes Colossians three into a section addressing spiritual life and the need to mortify sin and a section recommending love and relative duties. He says of chapter three, " The apostle, having described our privileges by Christ in the former part of the epistle, and our discharge from the yoke of the ceremonial law, comes here to press upon us our duty as inferred thence." He goes on in his conclusion to remark on Paul's broad understanding of duty:

      It is probable that the apostle has a particular respect, in all these instances of duty, to the case mentioned 1 Cor. vii. of relations of a different religion, as a Christian and heathen, a Jewish convert and an uncircumcised Gentile, where there was room to doubt whether they were bound to fulfil the proper duties of their several relations to such persons. And, if it hold in such cases, it is much stronger upon Christians one towards another, and where both are of the same religion. And how happy would the gospel religion make the world, if it every where prevailed; and how much would it influence every state of things and every relation of life!

http://www.apostolic-churches.net/bible/mhc/MHC51003.HTM

From husband to wife to children, Paul moves to the master-slave relationship:

Paul completes the Colossian Haustafel by turning his attention to slave masters. Already he has described the sociology of the community located by God's grace in Christ, which makes "slave and free" equal because they are both in Christ and he in them (3:11). It should not surprise the reader, then, that Paul promotes an alternative understanding of the Roman institution of slavery. The gospel does not necessarily seek to reverse the social arrangements between slave and master; in this case, Paul does not exhort the master to emancipate the slaves (however, see Philemon). Rather, his instruction is for the master to provide slaves with what is right and fair-- something any virtuous person would do (compare 3:12). Although other codes in the ancient world also encouraged the humane treatment of slaves (see O'Brien 1982:232), the issue for Paul is where one finds the moral competency to do what the code outlines. The requisite virtue to do what is right and fair belongs to the "new creatures" found in Christ.

However, Paul's teaching also presses the christological incentive behind such behavior: you know that you also have a Master in heaven-- mind the "things above"! The relationship between earthly masters and the heavenly Master provides the moral impetus for just treatment of household workers. Further, if the phrase "Master in heaven" alludes to 3:1-4, as most commentators suppose, then it conveys an eschatological meaning as well. According to the Jewish moral tradition, inhumane treatment of slaves would bring down the Lord Almighty's wrath on Judgment Day (compare Jas 5:1-5). According to Paul's teaching, a relationship with Christ transforms all earthly relationships, including those between masters and slaves. So the Christian master, transformed by God's grace, will naturally treat slaves fairly and will therefore "appear with [Christ] in glory" (3:4).
http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/webcommentary

Nave's Topical Bible introduces into Paul's admonition for Christians to set their affections on things above and not on earth a list of possible competing affections:

Affections
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