There is a saying among Bible interpreters: "When you see the word 'therefore,' find out what it's there for." Chapter 3 opens with the word "therefore." We must look back to chapter 2 for context.
The dominant metaphor in chapter 2 is baptism. The two ideas of baptism are dying (submerging) and raising (emerging). Chapter 2 develops the dying motif, revealing what believers "died" to.
Chapter 3 develops the raising motif. The word "therefore" invites continuation of the argument started in chapter 2. Don't just die. Live! Don't just go under. Come up! Don't just walk into the water (to "die"). Walk out of the water and live differently! Don't just put off the old nature. Put on the new!
Claiming to live for Jesus while showing no evidence of a changed heart -- that's what is discouraged in chapter 3. My friend and my former district superintendent, Dr. Duane Durst, put it this way: "Salvation makes transformation possible but not inevitable."
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