Here is the Word .doc for the Complete ColossiansStudy

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 15

Friends

Colossians Study

Friends

What would you think if I sang out of tune, Would you stand up and walk out on me.

Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song, And I’ll try not to sing out of key.

Oh I get by with a little help from my friends…

We are at the end of this wonderful letter to the Colossians.  Filled with some of the most wide ranging doctrinal truth found anywhere in scripture.  It’s easy to forget that what we have been reading and studying is a letter.  To be sure, we understand that most deeply we consider these words the revelation of God, penned by Paul under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  But the vehicle that this disclosure was made by is in the form of a letter.  And so it bears the personalization that any correspondence of that sort would bear.  So in closing, Paul send greetings on behalf of those who have labored diligently with him.

Tychicus

“Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, ” (Colossians 4:7–8, ESV)

Tychicus is mentioned 5 times in the NT.  The first is in Acts 20:4 at the end of Paul’s third missionary journey.  A collection was being taken up from the Asia Minor churches to be presented to the believers in Jerusalem who were suffering deeply at the time.  There was full fledged persecution going on from all sides at this point and Paul had a target on him.  So as we read of the proximity of Tychicus to Paul we can appreciate his commitment to Paul and his love for the Gospel of Christ.

When our letter finds him, it has been 4 years since they first met in Ephesus and 2 years since Paul’s Jerusalem arrest.  He has faced numerous assassination attempts, multiple trials and jailings; still Tychicus is by his side.  So it is not surprising when it comes to the important duty of delivering this letter, along with those to the Ephesians and Philemon, that Paul selects Tychicus as the letter bearer.  And if you remember our early lessons you’ll understand that he has no easy task before him.  The trip from Rome to Colossae was a difficult one. Tychicus would first have to cross much of Italy on foot, then sail across the Adriatic Sea. After traversing Greece on foot, he would sail across the Aegean Sea to the coast of Asia Minor. After all that, he still faced a journey of nearly one hundred miles on foot to reach Colossae.  Well over a 1,000 miles in all.

But Tychicus is not just Paul’s pack mule, he comes as his spokesman as well.  Notice how Paul refers to him.  A beloved brother, identifying him in the household of faith.  Faithful minister, he is a diakonos, from which we get our word deacon as he serves Paul.  Fellow servant in the Lord, sundoulos or fellowslave when explaining their mutual relationship to the Lord.   He’ll be updating the Churches in that region as to how Paul and the other brothers are doing.  And just as he has encouraged Paul’s heart, he intends for him to do the same to those in Colossae.

Onesimus

“and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here. ” (Colossians 4:9, ESV)

Of all the names mentioned in the closing of this letter, this is the one that really intrigues me.  And not just because it’s cool to say, Onesimus, Onesimus, Onesimus, but because of the very clear sovereign moving of God to arrange the meeting.  You see Onesimus is a slave and for one reason or another, we are not told, decided he no longer wanted to be a slave.  I understand that our 20^th century sensibilities are offended by slavery, but servitude existed in the ancient world ofttimes as a means to repay debts as well as just the plain old conquering kind.  Again we don’t know the situation except that Onesimus ran away from his master and given Paul’s directions in 4:22-25, his actions were sinful.  In any event, he has run away.  Far away.  And has “luck” would have it, he ran into Paul.  And over some period of time Onesimus comes to saving faith in Christ.  And as we have read from Paul throughout this letter, genuine conversion will beget a genuinely different life as the Holy Spirit sanctifies the life.  Knowing that he has sinned in leaving his master, it is time to return home.  Of course I’ve neglected to tell you that the master’s name is Philemon and further more that he was a prominent member of the Colossian church, in fact many believe the Church met in his house.  And who else is sitting there with them than Epaphras the founder of that very church.

So traveling back with Tychicus is the runaway slave become slave of Christ Onesimus.  And with him is a letter Paul has written to his master Philemon telling about all that has gone on.  This is how Paul speaks of his new friend, “ I am appealing to you concerning my child, whose spiritual father I have become during my imprisonment, that is, Onesimus, who was formerly useless to you, but is now useful to you and me. I have sent him (who is my very heart) back to you. ” (Philemon 10–12, NET)

Though he will be returning as a slave to Onesimus, they share the same master in Christ.  “ For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female – for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. ” (Galatians 3:27–28, NET)

Aristarchus

“Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, ” (Colossians 4:10a, ESV)

Aristarchus was a Jew believer who however had a Greek name.  This was not that uncommon given the numerous Jewish dispersions that had taken place over the centuries.  According to the book of Acts he was a native of Thessalonica, first appearing during Paul’s missionary work in Ephesus.  And in one particularly violent incident got caught up in the action.  “When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia. ” (Acts 19:28–29, NAS).  He returned with Paul to Jerusalem and back to Rome and very well has remained with him during the extent of his imprisonment.  He is beside him as he pens the epistle.  God has graciously seen fit to provide encouragement to Paul during this time.

Mark

“and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), ” (Colossians 4:10b, ESV)

Mark we know a good deal more about.  He wrote one of the gospels and had been on missionary journeys himself.  But what we most notable remember Mark for is the fact that he skipped town when the going got tough.  “Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. ” (Acts 13:13, NAS)  This became no small point of contention for Paul and Barnabas when it came time for their second journey.  Barnabas wanted to give Mark another chance but Paul would not hear of it.  “Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. ” (Acts 15:37–39, NAS)

Just as I have a tendency to behave like Paul in holding a grudge, I equally need to behave like Paul in being gracious in forgiving.  He commends Mark to the Colossian believers as someone who is to be heard and welcomed as a brother.

Justus

“and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. ” (Colossians 4:11, ESV)

There’s not much of anything to say about Justus.  His name is not mentioned anywhere else in scripture.  All we do know of him is that he was one of the three Jewish believers who labored with Paul.  The bulk of the opposition that Paul faced on his journeys came from his own people, so having a few in his corner was a great comfort to him.

Epaphras

“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. ” (Colossians 4:12–13, ESV)

As we’ve noted many times before, Epaphras was the founder of several of the Lycus Valley churches and most likely the pastor of the one at Colossae.  The closest Paul ever came to his area was Ephesus, 100 miles away, so we guess that was where Epaphras heard the gospel, bringing it back to start the churches at Colossae, Hierapolis and Laodicea.  Besides traveling the over 1,000 miles to bring word of the dangerous heresies threatening the churches, he “struggling on your behalf in his prayers”.  The goal of his prayers were the same as those of Paul’s echoed in the first chapter.  To stand mature and assured in the will of God

Luke

“Luke the beloved physician greets you ” (Colossians 4:14a, ESV)

Another big name falls off of Paul’s pen, Luke a gentile believer who also served as Paul’s personal physician.  Besides this mention, Luke only appears two other times in the N.T., each time from one of Paul’s prison epistles.  He accompanied Paul on most all of his missionary trips beginning with the second, most likely because of the sickness that Paul encountered during his first journey.  He was responsible for writing a large chunk of the NT.

Demas

“as does Demas. ” (Colossians 4:14b, ESV)

As Mark was one that started out rough and finished strong.  Demas fades from the pages of scripture ominously.  He had a tremendous commitment to gospel and was with Paul during both of his imprisonments.  But for all faithful service that he had rendered thus far, it was apparently a sham.  Paul regrettably records his downfall, “Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; ” (2 Timothy 4:9–10, NAS)

Nympha

“Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. ” (Colossians 4:15–16, ESV)

As the letter comes to a close Paul sends greetings to the church in Nympha’s house.  There is some manuscript variations between Nympha (fem) and Nymphas(masc) as well as disagreement about a supposed Laodicean letter.  Which is most likely referring to the Ephesian epistle that was being carried at the same time.  In any event, Paul wanted these brothers and sisters to share with one another the words that had been given them.

Archippus

“And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” ” (Colossians 4:17, ESV)

Archippus appears here and in Philemon 2.  And in what would seem like fitting instruction for us who have spent 15 weeks in this letter, Paul tells Archippus to make sure that he completes the work that the Lord gave him.

Paul used a scribe or secretary to record his letters but would often personally pen his own greeting as he did here.

That sums up the message of Colossians: salvation is by grace through faith in the all sufficient Christ, not through human works advocated by false teachers.

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 14

Speech

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. ” (Colossians 4:2–6, ESV)

Ever since we started chapter three, Paul has convincingly made the case that a true knowledge of the Holy God will inevitably lead to a life that increasingly reflects that very Holiness.  Sadly, most of modern evangelicalism has decided that the quickest and surest way to Godliness is through busyness.  Oftentimes, activity serves as the substitute for an authentic understanding of God.  Let’s no longer fall into this trap.  This and the other NT epistles serve as a perfect reminder for the priority of thought before action.  You’ll find that each of them frontloaded with information about the person and work of God and His Christ, followed by the inevitable responses to that knowledge.  So it is with that understanding that we follow Paul’s lead as to the direction of our speech towards God and man.

Speech Towards God

It was back in our third lesson in this series where we last looked at Paul’s words on prayer.  Those were back in 1:9-14.  Those verses centered on how Paul and friends had been praying for the Colossian believers.  The thing that struck us the most about the content of that prayer was the absence of the rather mundane temporal things that most often occupy our prayer requests.  Nothing about refinancing the mortgage, which new car to buy or whether to vacation in Cabo or the Bahamas.

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ” (Colossians 1:9–14, ESV)

And as you peruse Paul’s prayers throughout the NT they are very similar.  I guess he figured that if we were growing in the knowledge of God, we’d be pretty well equipped with the other decisions of life.  But unlike the previous verses, the ones in chapter four place the readers in the petitioner position rather than the object.  So Paul guides them in their communication with God in a simple but direct command.  “Continue steadfastly in prayer”

Paul states that prayer is not optional.  And indeed the verb used is signifying a command for the reader.  But how does knowing that you are commanded to do something help you to do it, and more importantly do it to the Glory of God.  If I were to have an hour long conversation with Ashley and upon completing our talking she asked me “why did you talk to me for 60 minutes?”  I promptly blurted out that I was her husband and that is what husbands are supposed to do in order to maintain an effective marriage.  Does my response demonstrate my love for her as my beloved wife and friend?  So how then are we to think of this command to pray?  Having been given the great privilege of approaching the unapproachable God of the universe we at times still find ourselves more interested with the television.  If ever I am in need of understanding just how defective my desires still are, I need only look at the amount of time I spend in prayer with my Heavenly Father.  How can I be the recipient of such grace and mercy and yet not have more of a clinging passion to pray more?  Not out of compulsion mind you, but out of a pure desire to speak to Him who redeemed me.

The sheer fact that Paul even has to issue this command should shed a little light on the fact that we don’t always want to do what we ought to want to do.  He put it like this in his letter to the Romans.  “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ” (Romans 7:18–19, NIV).  So how do I respond to this command to pray in the face of my sometimes waning desire for God?  I could look at prayer as a big plate of nasty broccoli.  Unsatisfying to my taste buds, bitter to my stomach, but eaten with the knowledge of all of its health benefits as a means to motivate me to swallow it, bite by excruciating bite.  This doesn’t glorify God.  Nor does it recognize the supreme satisfaction that is found in Him.  It regards Him only as a means to an end, namely our good.

But let’s suppose that as I continue this food illustration by first acknowledging the fact that my appetite is fickle.  One day I love chicken, the next I want peanut butter.  My stomach craves something that makes it feel horrible after eating it.  But there is one dish that I have distinct memories of not only enjoying while I ate it but causing me to crave more and satisfying me at the same time.  Maybe this is what the psalmist meant when he wrote, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. ” (Psalm 34:8, NIV).  The remnants of my fallen and depraved flesh does not want my highest good, but it is appropriate, I believe, to confess my utter dependence upon Him by means of prayer and beg that I would want what I want to want.

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.’ (Colossians 4:2, ESV).  There are three instructions included in this verse.  Paul makes a point of stating that we are to be devoted, alert and thankful.  The NLT I think provides a little more clarity on this verse.  “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.” (Colossians 4:2, NLT)

We are to be people that committed to prayer.  Not glibly throwing out a couple one liners as if God is a fast food drive thru window.  Paul’s choice of words implies commitment that involves struggling and anguish.  Our prayers are to characterize the persistent attitude that Christ taught in Luke 11.

“Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ “Then the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. ” (Luke 11:5–8, NIV)

Paul notes that we should be alert.  I take this to mean two things.  Firstly, that while we are praying that we are alert and aware of our words and attitudes.  Not engaging in vain repetition but speaking in such a way that betrays a care and concern for our words.  If you fall asleep, then stand up.  Secondly, alert to not be dissuaded or sidetracked on your way to pray.  There is nothing in the world wrong with setting out time in the day for prayer.

A third element in prayer is an attitude of thanksgiving. This is the fifth time that Paul has mentioned gratitude in this epistle. Believers are to be grateful for salvation (1:12), for growth (2:6), for fellowship with Christ and His church (3:15), for the opportunity to serve (3:17), and, here, for the guarantee that God will answer prayer in accordance with His purpose. That, of course, is what is best for our good in time and our glory in eternity.

Now Paul is asking his readers for their help.  He needs intercessory prayer. In verses 3 and 4 (cf. Eph. 6:19–20), he prays for three things related to his preaching the gospel:

1. an open door to preach;
2. an ability to explain the mystery of the gospel; and
3. the ability to speak the gospel clearly.

“At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. ” (Colossians 4:3–4, ESV)

an open door to preach

There is some good theology involved here in Paul’s request.  Way back in lesson three, we spent quite a bit of time investigating and attempting to answer the question of “why pray if God is sovereign?”  The question often begged is “since God has already determined the ends, what point does my prayer play?”

Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, “My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure”; calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.
Isaiah 46:9-11

This verse sure seems to indicate that God has a plan and it will not be thwarted by anyone or thing.  But we have left something out.  And in more time than we will spend right here we said that God has not only determined the ends of all things, but the means by which they will be accomplished.  God’s plan is so comprehensive that it not only includes the final destinies of things but also includes the secondary, creaturely processes that work together to accomplish these ends. For instance, God does not simply ordain light to shine on the earth each day; He also employs the sun, the moon, the stars, and countless other things to accomplish that end. God does not merely determine that someone will recover from a disease; He uses doctors and medicine to accomplish the healing. As the playwright of history, God did not simply write an ending for the book of time. He wrote every word on every page so that all events lead to the grand finale (Richard Pratt, Pray With Your Eyes Open, 109-10).

I promised you Biblical examples, here is one from Jeremiah.  Unfortunately this is one of those verses that we are twisting and contorting to suit our needs, but God is speaking of the future of Israel and His intentions to restore her in 29:11. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

Intentions is a bad word, they are fixed plans.  God has planned their future restoration, “for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope”.  So what is going to happen in the future to precipitate this renewal?

“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile” (vv. 12-14).

The prayers of His people are going to bring about this restoration.  Did their prayers thwart God’s desire to further punish them?  Of course not!  They accomplished precisely what God had pre-determined.  Let me leave this introduction with this thought.  Perhaps we are asking the question incorrectly.  Our original question “If God is sovereign, why pray?” should be replaced with the question, “If God is NOT sovereign, why pray?”

Both pieces are included in Paul’s request.  He is asking that his readers would serve as the means, asking God, by which He, as the holder of all doors, would make opportunities.  So how do you know that you have God has indeed opened doors?  Is there a tingling up your leg, or flip your Bible open to a random passage of scripture and perceive that mean something for you?  I’d say that our open doors most often become visible to us by walking into or through them.  We rarely have guarantees of success.  So don’t become paralyzed by awaiting spooky signs and signals.

an ability to explain the mystery of the gospel

We should notice that Paul’s requests for himself are as purely motivated as those he offered for his readers.  Remember that Paul is in prison when this letter is written.  He doesn’t request release and safe passage back home.  He asks that God would grant him the opportunity and ability to preach the Gospel.  Amazing stuff isn’t it?  He wants to proclaim the mystery of Christ.  “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”

This is the same scandalous message that landed him in prison in the first place.  So we can really translate this verse as follows: “I’m in jail because I preached Christ.  Please pray to God that He will allow me a chance to do it again.”

the ability to speak the gospel clearly

Paul adds the appeal that he would do it clearly.  In the book of Galatians Paul established himself as a fervent adherent to the truth of the gospel message over and above all other things and people.  It is there that we see how he chose to handle to perceived slight of the gentiles by the apostle Peter.  I say perceived slight because I’m not altogether certain that Peter’s motivations were incorrect.  But one thing that was certain, was the perception that it gave.  Paul was uninterested in motivations or feelings.  Of far more concern to him was the singular supremacy of the gospel of Christ.  That message must be correct.  He said it this way.

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. ” (Galatians 1:6–10, NIV)

Speech Towards Man

“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. ” (Colossians 4:5–6, ESV)

How believers live gives credibility to what they say.  Now what I didn’t say was, how believers live gives credibility to Christ and His Gospel.  He requires no validation by man.  That’s why trotting all the supposed Christian sports stars and country music singers before the world isn’t going to make a hoot of a difference to them.  The difference has to do with the reception of the words that we speak for Christ.  If those who say they are believers live as fools, outsiders or unbelievers, will denigrate the faith and shun the gospel.  In fact it is for this very reason that one of the qualifications for an elder is that “he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. ” (1 Timothy 3:7, NAS)

We never cease to be a representative of Christ and the Gospel.  All our time is graciously granted to us by God for His purposes and His alone.  We are to be living in such a way that we see our lives as instruments of God, and we are ever looking to gloriously represent Him.  Moses wrote in Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. ”

Our speech ought to follow the pattern in which we live.  We are to make gracious speech a habit of our lives.  Whether undergoing persecution, stress, difficulty, or injustice, whether with your spouse, children, believers, or in this case unbelievers.  In Ephesians Paul wrote, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. ” (Ephesians 4:29, NAS)

Our conversation should also serve as a flavoring, a purifying influence, rescuing conversation from the filth that so often engulfs it.

We should also know when, what and how to speak when called upon.  A wise person can distinguish between his audiences and speak the same truth in a variety of ways.

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 13

Home

A drum that Paul has consistently beat throughout this letter has been the importance of the Church.  You don’t need to look very far in order to understand just how important a role the Church is to play in our lives.  In the passage before us Paul provides brief, direct instructions on Christian living in the home.  He discusses the three relationships in ancient homes: Husbands and wives (3:18–19), parents and children (3:20–21), and masters and servants (3:22–4:1).  This is where we live our lives.  All the play-acting is over now.  If you’ve somehow feel that you’ve escaped the previous verses unaffected this are sure to change that.  The three relationships Paul takes up are the most fundamental to our lives.  This is where we are known for who we really are and is consequently where we are to shine the Glory of Christ most brightly.  For you see, this portion of scripture is not preeminently about having a fulfilled marriage and a good relationship with your kids.  Wives submitting to their husbands and husbands loving their wives is most deeply about manifesting the Mystery of the Church.  So first we are going to look at the mystery.  What it means, who it refers to and the place we play in it.  Then we will keep those glasses on as we look at marriage.  And we have to keep those glasses on because we have been so inundated with duty driven messages about this text that I fear our conditioning will tell us to white knuckle our way through these commands.  This entire chapter has been filled with “do this” and “don’t do that”.  Putting to death lusts and passions; putting away anger and malice are not primarily acts of our self-will.  Most supremely, they are outgrowths of the transformation that the Holy Spirit has wrought in our lives.  But we are fallen and depraved creatures who so often want the security that a checklist provides. Evidence that we are truly pleasing God.  Without which we feel helpless.  John Piper put it this way.

Manageable, duty-defined, decision-oriented, willpower Christianity now seemed easy, and real Christianity had become impossible.  The emotions—or affections, as former generations called them—which I was now free to enjoy, proved to be beyond my reach. The Christian life became impossible. That is, it became supernatural.  Now there was only one hope, the sovereign grace of God. God would have to transform my heart to do what a heart cannot make itself do, namely, want what it ought to want. Only God can make the depraved heart desire God.

So let’s get to work putting those Church lenses on.  You should remember that this idea of mystery as it relates to the Church has come up previously in Colossians.

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ” (Colossians 1:24–27, ESV)

This next passage is rather lengthy, but I think is indispensible in understanding the beauty and treasure that is Christ’s Church.

“Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, ” (Ephesians 2:11–3:11, ESV)

It is an overwhelming passage of scripture.  Anytime I hear someone say “God doesn’t care about church He cares about my heart”, I want them to read this.

Let’s first get the correct idea of the word “mystery”.  The word in our NT represents an understanding that was not previously made plain.  Paul uses the term a bunch to describe the varied aspects of God’s redemptive plan.  There are two such revelations related to the Church.  The first, as we have seen, is whom it would include, namely Gentiles and Jews or as John recorded in Revelation, “every tribe and tongue”.  The second is how it has been modeled, by marriage.  You should notice that each of these mysteries were not new events upon their revealing.  Just as God had elected and had previously been saving people outside the Jewish nation prior to the NT, marriage has been a symbol of the coming Church since Genesis 2:24.  “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

We are going to turn to Ephesians to help us draw this mystery out.  There is so much in common between Colossians and Ephesians that we will be referring to it often during our study.  Both were written during Paul’s Roman imprisonment and along with the letter of Philemon were carried by Epaphras back to be read by the other churches in the Lycus Valley in Asia Minor.  Paul wrote to the Ephesians regarding marriage:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ” (Ephesians 5:31–32, ESV)

So in a single swoop Paul has taken what we thought was ordinary and revealed it as extraordinary.  Marriage is not nor has it ever been merely a social contract.  The creation of the marriage union all the way back in Genesis was modeled explicitly after the coming union between Christ and His Church.  Wow, what a thought.  But before we look at how our marriages are to exemplify this model, let’s examine how they are obviously different.

1. Our marriages are temporary.  Your spouse is your spouse only until death.  We weren’t given them for eternal companionship, God will be our eternal joy.
2. We chose our spouse much differently than Christ chose His.
   1. We sought out the nice and beautiful while He sought out the vile and depraved that He would in turn cause to become beautiful.
   2. We chose the one that loved us.  He chose the one that despised Him.
3. We gave very little to nothing for our spouse.  The dowry for Christ’s bride was nothing short of His death.

This is hugely impactful if we would but grasp it.  There is no understanding of marriage without understanding the Church.  And there is no understanding the Church without first understanding the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We could literally spend weeks developing this, but I hope that we have our perspective set.  This is about marriage, but much bigger.

Wives

The first of the three relationships Paul will deal with is that of husband and wife.

“Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ” (Colossians 3:18, ESV)

The parallel exhortation in Ephesians expands this simple command:

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. ” (Ephesians 5:22–24, ESV)

Much has been made over this instruction to wives over the years.  Usually taking the form of macho calls to the preacher to “tell her like it is”.  That sort of foolishness has no place in the text of scripture.  This is where our modern cultural norms really put us at a disadvantage.  We are a fiercely individualistic society.  We pride ourselves on our independence.  And so we anticipate that all heck is going to break loose when we dare tell someone to submit themselves to another.  Because what we typically spend all of our time doing in these verses is try to make the idea of submission palpable to wives.  Something that they’ll get used to or even like if they give it a chance.  Maybe sell them on the plan that if they’ll try this submission thing just maybe he’ll quit acting like a chowder head and start taking her out to dinner instead of making her cook all the time.  Or the ever popular, “submission is ducking so God can punch your husband”.  Essentially appealing to some selfish device to try and trick wives to bending their knee to this ancient and antiquated Middle Eastern norm.  What I want us to see is that the focus is not so much upon the husband as it is to be about Christ.

It’s not that the husband is the ultimate authority.  Even the best husbands are but a pitiful reflection of what our eternal husband will be.  Wives are to submit to their husbands not because they are worthy of it, but because you love Christ and that He “is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman and God is the head of Christ. ” (1 Corinthians 11:3, NAS)

Husbands

“Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. ” (Colossians 3:19, ESV)

Paul speaks the most intensely radical words ever uttered on the topic of marriage.  “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church”, Ephesians 5:23.  The weight of those words and the difficulty in that command are crushing to me.  The command for me to love Ashley in the same manner and with the same devotion and compassion that Christ loved and loves the Church is as impossible to me as “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  I used to pacify myself with this verse by thinking that I would most certainly take a bullet for her.  If the robber says “who dies”, I valiantly step up.  That’s easy!  How is it that the same woman that I’ll take a bullet for is the same one I’ll use cutting language on to keep her in her place and out of my emotions?  You see, I’m desperately broken and on my best days my love is self serving.  Do you want to see a picture of how Christ loves?

““Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born. “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ ”  “I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare. “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine. Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD. ~~~~

“But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his.”… “And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood. ” “At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. ”… “Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different. ”

“You bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD. “For thus says the Lord GOD: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. …I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD.” ” Ezekiel 16, ESV

This is how Christ loves His bride.  And it is to serve as our supreme understanding of the love that we are to demonstrate to our brides.  Christ has crucified my flesh with Him and is renewing my inner man so that I might radiate the Glory of His Church by loving my bride in the same manner that He loves His.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. ” (Ephesians 5:25–33, ESV)

Children

Paul now turns to the second relationship in the home, parents and children.

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. ” (Colossians 3:20, ESV)

This relationship cannot be rightly understood if the husband/wife is wrongly understood.  As Mom and Dad serve as the metaphor in the home for the body of Christ, the child’s response in obedience to them says as much about their relationship or lack thereof with the Lord than anything else they could ever demonstrate.  Paul provides the highest motive that a child can have for obedience.  “This pleases the Lord”.

Fathers

The instruction in this relationship is not one sided however.

“Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. ” (Colossians 3:21, ESV)

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. ” (Ephesians 6:4, ESV)

Pateres (fathers) should be translated, “parents”.  Paul’s command is simply to stop nagging your kids.  The parent’s definition, not the kids.  Failure to do this can crush the spirit of our children.  Always go back to the foundation of these relationships which is the Church.  Parent’s we are modeling the Body of Christ for our children and Dads, we are in a very real sense our smaller children’s model of who God is.  If we are overly critical, disinterested, crass or cruel.  That is the picture we indelibly affix in the minds of our kids as to who God is.  Both our correcting and teaching is to be focused upon the person of Christ.

Slaves

The final relationship in an ancient home was that of masters and slaves.

“Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. ” (Colossians 3:22–25, ESV)

In our day, I think it’s fair to translate that relationship into one of employee/employer.  The summation of the command to the employee is to work, not as if you are serving Christ, but to work well BECAUSE you are serving Christ.  There is no distinction between sacred and the secular.  Our work is Holy not by virtue of what tasks we perform but for whom we perform them for.

There are two reasons to do so.  Positively, the Lord will repay them.  Negatively, the Lord will repay them.

Masters

On the other side of this last relationship is the master or employer.

“Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. ” (Colossians 4:1, ESV)

Put quite simply, the master is not the master.  Christ is the master.  Whatever position of authority we have now is a veiled image of Christ as the true master.  So we should consider the grace that our Master has dealt with us as we lead others.

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 12

Peace

Isn’t it easy to identify sin in the lives of those around us?  And by easy, I mean fun.  And by fun, I mean the challenge of examining the means and motives behind what:

• kinds of cars that people drive,
• the neighborhoods they live in,
• how their kids behave,
• the clothes they wear.

It’s a sad kind of board game where I jockey for spiritual superiority among my peers.  It serves the purpose of quieting my own conscience, albeit for shorter periods of time these days, it seems.  But none the less it’s a game I’ve been playing so well and for so long, why quit now?  Well Paul has certainly made it far less fun.  In the run-up to our verses tonight Paul has made some pretty brash statements.  Statements that, if taken at face value, which we should, call a number of activities what they are.  Sin.  Nor does he provide some fanciful means of abstaining from them.  Lust, anger, backbiting, filthy language, racism are referred to as the old clothes of our former life.  He tells us to simply take them off like you would any dirty shirt.  Except this shirt isn’t one that I’m supposed to run through the wash and put back on.  This is my normal course of life when dealing with sin.  Wear it until it becomes unmanageably and noticeably dirty, then wash it off.  The more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized that this is how I’ve regimented myself to handle sin in my life.  Manage it.  Keep it “under control”.  That’s why I referred to Paul’s commands as brash or harsh.  He doesn’t seem to allow for me to play that game in any way.  In the book of Romans he wrote, “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. ”, (Romans 13:12–14, NAS).  I’ll tell you what, “making no provision for the flesh” in my own life sure seems to cut in on discovering sin in other people’s lives.  Maybe that was what Paul had in mind as he wrote tonight’s verses.  Let’s back up and read last session’s verses at the front as well.

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.  ~~~~ Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. ” (Colossians 3:5–17, ESV)

As Paul turns our attention as to how we ought to demonstrate our love for others in the faith he is picking back up an important theme of the letter first brought out in chapter one.  That was where Paul made his superlative-laden argument for the supremacy of the risen Christ.  In his list of all of the people, places and things that the Son of God rules over, he also includes the Church in vs.18.  This had no small amount of significance to the believers assembled in Colossae and surrounding areas.  In technology sectors when a company is ahead of its competitors we say they are “on the cutting edge”.  Of course, for the extremely daring types there is an entirely different kind of advancement that is even ahead of that, one that is truly leading the pack, where you really have no peers because you have advanced out alone.  That singular class of advancement is referred to as being on the “bleeding edge”.  There is no help to be found out there, you are on your own.  You sink or you swim, alone.  With that in mind, it’s not too hard to imagine the feelings and circumstances that carried Pastor Epaphras over 1,000 miles to Paul’s Roman imprisonment.  The other churches that dotted the landscape were all in the same boat.  These strange amalgamations of Jew and Gentile, slave and free, rich and poor, men and women had crushed all the normal dividing lines to assemble together and worship God in a way that was unknown to the world around them.  Trouble stalked these assemblies from without and within.  One can envision the worries and doubts that must’ve plagued them as they underwent the inevitable trials that went along with being new.  Wondering whether they were doing the right things.  They were not as sophisticated as we are today with our church manuals, orders of service and membership classes.  For these folks to learn that they weren’t just an accidental get-together, but a sovereignly ordained and called out people and that Jesus Christ was its ruler had to be a huge source of joy.

I want to take a single verse and use it as our foundation; in fact I believe it has been the focus for the preceding 13 verses.  Here is the verse “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ”, (Colossians 3:15, ESV).  Amidst all the commands to put away personal sinning has been a singular and underlying concern for the body of Christ, the Church.  We don’t lust or lie or hate unto ourselves only.  We are primarily members of Christ’s body.

• “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ” (Romans 12:5-6, NAS)
• “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! ” (1 Corinthians 6:15, NIV)
• “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body… But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ” (1 Corinthians 12:12–27, ESV)

The Church is the continuing manifestation and demonstration of Jesus Christ in the world.  Individual believers chosen (“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones” vs.3:12) to form a called out (“called in one body” vs.3:15) body.  The Church is a unique and precious treasure to God.  It is the visible presence of Christ now and the bride for whom God will give to His Son in the last days.  The uniqueness of this group of people is most obvious in the way that they live with one another.  The peace and submission that is to exist amongst its members stands in such stark contrast to our nature and culture that it is often neglected by us.  This is difficult stuff here.  So as we study these verses and evaluate ourselves in light of it, remember that smack dab in the middle is the body.  All this interrelates with the expression of Christ’s body, the Church.

There is going to be conflict in the Body of Christ.  Why?  Because there are “Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free”.  That is a lot of different stuff all coming together in one spot.  All sort of different traditions, sensitivities and the like all in one pot.  How in the world are we supposed to get along with one another and so demonstrate the Glory of Christ and the Grace of God?

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Colossians 3:12-13

Let’s first remember that we have been inexplicably chosen by God.  Having no intrinsic worth, dead in our sins, God in His pleasure chose us to live.  That believers are beloved of God means they are objects of His special love. Election is not a cold, fatalistic doctrine. On the contrary, it is based in God’s incomprehensible love for His elect: “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (Eph. 1:4–5)

He further set us apart, which is what the word holy means, as recipients of His great love.  In fact these are the same words that were used to describe Israel in Exodus 19:5–6. “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”  It is the word hagios translated in Colossians as holy and in the LXX Exodus as priest denoting a set apart people.

Paul’s words really serve as a setup in my mind, because what follows is really hard for me.  I don’t often “deal” with people very well.  People I like and have things in common with?  Sure, I can work with them, even when they are wrong .  That’s not a stretch to me whatsoever.  But it’s those that I don’t readily identify with that bring out my sin and ambivalence towards these verses.  “Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness.”  And the coup de grâce, “as the Lord has forgiven you”.  These are the things that really cause me to hang my head in utter defeat.  Not so much because I struggle and so often fail, but because I most often fail to even struggle.  I make up reasons for why compassion and humility aren’t necessary in particular situations and so fail to serve to body and faithfully represent Christ.  So I ask myself how in light of the belief that I was sovereignly chosen by God unto salvation can I withhold compassion from my brothers and sisters in Christ?  Just as lust and lying are to be the old garments that I take off.  Compassion, kindness and humility are to be the new clothes I put on.  I won’t investigate each of the words in that list but one I found particularly interesting was humility.  In classical Greek this word has always carried with it a negative connotation.  It wasn’t til the writing of the NT that it actually was considered a virtue.

Each of these garments has a common seam or thread that runs through them and holds them together.

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ” Colossians 3:14, ESV

Without which we would turn all these activities to merely a play.  Think about it, we can put on a smile for 60 minutes can’t we?  Politely defer to another during a disagreement.  Not vocalize the hateful thoughts we feel about another believer and maintain the act.  So Paul says that love is to envelop the body of Christ.  It is the most important moral quality in the believer’s life, for it is the very glue that produces unity in the church. Believers will never enjoy mutual fellowship through compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, or patience; they will not bear with each other or forgive each other unless they love one another. In fact, the way to sum up the commands of 3:12–13 is to say, “Love one another.”

Paul goes on to implore the Colossian Church to allow the peace of Christ to have rule and reign in their hearts.

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ” Colossians 3:15

This is just as Jesus said in John 14, “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”  As members of the called out body of Christ, the saints are to enjoy peace one with another.

All that we have looked at tonight flow from a mind that is governed by scripture.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ” Colossians 3:16

The “word of Christ” is to fill every pocket of the Christian’s life and control all of his thoughts, words and deeds.  The result of studying and meditating upon the scriptures is the same as over consumption of alcohol.  In a companion verse in Ephesians 5:18-20, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  Paul then mentions two results of the control that scripture will produce.  The first being the giving of positive truth and the second correcting error.  So here is where things get messy.  For in the process of being faithful to scripture we will inevitably be called the very names we seek to avoid.  Mean, hateful, uncompassionate and troublemakers are but a few.  And those names will come from other believers quite often.  We shouldn’t be quick to dismiss these calls without careful examination of ourselves.  The humble and meek believer should be able to receive genuine criticism and repent when needed.  Conflict doesn’t require disunity.  Another outgrowth of abiding in the scriptures is song.  Music has always had a unique place throughout the text of scripture.  A way that God has seen fit to allow his creatures to express the devotion and emotion.  And there is no greater object of a song than that of God and our thankfulness to Him.

Paul completes this section with the simplest and at the same time most comprehensive instruction he can give.

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. ”

Whatever we do, because there is no sacred-secular split in God’s eyes; He is Sovereign over all, whether by lip or life should all resound to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 11

Stop

Tonight we are going straight into the minefield of moral instruction. I’m calling it a minefield because of the danger present as we walk through these verses. Last session we talked about the perils of launching into a diatribe of commands apart from the bigger concept of the letter. Paul has not written a self-help letter of ethical do’s and don’ts. First and foremost the epistle to the Colossians has been about Christ, Christ and more Christ. He’s grand, glorious, sufficient, saving, sovereign, sustainer and Lord. All of Paul’s commands launch from the platform of this knowledge. But make no mistake, those who have experienced the new birth are commanded by their master to forsake sin and represent Him. And oftentimes that means we will hear the scripture tell us to “stop it”, when we confront our sin.

Bob Newhart’s fictional Dr Switzer serves up some needful advice to his patient covering a whole realm of ills. No probing of the subconscious is necessary, just “stop it”. There are more times than we would like to admit when we would all do well to follow that simple prescription. But I think there is a sort of strange reaction that we Christians have to commands sometimes. And it’s not as simple and overt as “I’m just not gonna do it”. It shows up in more subtle and “spiritual” ways.
• I’m praying that God takes the desire away
• I’m still working through that with the Lord
• That’s what 1 John 1:9 is for
I have mine and you have yours. It’s how we, who the scriptures have declared, “dead to sin…and alive to righteousness” deal with our repeated failures in the face of our justified position in Christ. Sometimes we vocalize our excuses, but oftentimes these go unspoken because the sins they accompany are hidden and so there is no one to vocalize them to. We make bargains with ourselves and God, essentially becoming our own defense attorney either accusing or excusing ourselves. And as they say, “a man who acts as his own attorney has a fool for a client”. I am a woefully wretched person and growing closer to God over these past 24 years has only confirmed that opinion of myself. In the weeks and months after I was born again on June 16th 1986, the list of my sinful behaviors couldn’t fill a notecard, so I thought. Now I’d need a notebook.

Ask Paul what the sins of humanity where and he’d tell you.

• “being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; ” (Romans 1:29–31, NAS)
• “But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ” (1 Corinthians 5:11, NAS)
• “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, ” (1 Corinthians 6:9, NAS)
• “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ” (Galatians 5:19–21, NAS)
• “But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ” (Ephesians 5:3–5, NAS)
All of this lies within the heart of man. Scary thought, huh? Having just recently finished chapter 2 and reading “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. ” (Colossians 2:23, ESV), we can accurately make this statement.
The approaches of the Colossian heretics failed!!! The sin is still there.
The long and short of this section is there are genuine implications of vv.2:13-15. “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. ” In light of this utter victory over our treason, rebellion and deceit do we really have a notion that we are to continue to live in the filthiness of our former lives. God forbid! We are called to live out our new life experientially, by putting to death those old sinful patterns of behavior that used to define our lives.
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. ” (Colossians 3:5–11, ESV)
It’s hard to imagine a time in the history of man when there was a culture that was more inundated with all manners of sexual perversity, yet 2,000 yrs ago when Paul set to address matters that were impacting the Holiness of believers in Colossae; it is the topic of sexual immorality that is first from his pen. He uses five pretty graphic expressions to cover all aspects of sexual sin. I’m not going to parse each of these words, just understand that it is a comprehensive list of everything our depraved world has to offer. The point is that this behaviour has no place in the life of the believer. So strongly is Paul on this that he says we should put these actions to death. The Greek tense in this command suggests a decisive action, as if Paul said, “Mortify it! Do it now! Do it resolutely!” Now we understand that ultimately this death was accomplished by Christ, but we are to act accordingly. Paul put it this way.
“For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. ” (Romans 6:5–14, NAS)
These stragglers and holdovers from our earthly nature are not to have dominion over us. Torment and taunt us, sure, but we are not to be their slave any longer. Even though Christ has made us positionally perfect in the sight of God, we live within the confines of our fallen flesh. This is why Paul has to tell these believers to put sexual immorality to death. We are victorious in Christ yet we struggle. We have been crucified with Christ to sin, yet we painfully acknowledge its influence upon us.
Romans 8:13 is helpful here: “if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” This is not “God did his part, now you do yours.” It is more like “God began a good work in you and will see it through until the end.” God intends Christians to look like his Son, and this passage directs us to flee our past and fix our eyes on that great goal, to be like Christ.
Paul offers up two reasons for his cease and desist order.
1. The first is the more startling one of the two, consider vs.6. It is “On account of these the wrath of God is coming. ” (Colossians 3:6, ESV). God’s wrath is a topic that we often skip over in our sermons, studies and songs. It is a frightening reality to us. Mainly because we cannot begin to fully understand the depths of His fury against sin and sinners. So Paul says, “this sin I want you to put to death is the reason God’s wrath is coming”. His appeal is not a passive aggressive threat. The appeal is not to fear but to faithfulness. These sins are responsible for the wrath of God that is even now here, why would the child of God want to be associated with what God condemns. STOP IT!
2. You are dead! That’s right, how or why do you act like you did before you died? “In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ” (Colossians 3:7, ESV) Of course this was the pattern of our lives when were alive to sin. We had no choice but to sin. We were enslaved to sin, but now Christ has rendered us dead to sin and alive to righteousness. Paul similarly asked the Ephesians

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:1–5, NAS)

Spurgeon asks,
Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice’s den a second time? Oh, be not so mad! so foolish! Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure? Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to thine old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight thee. But inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler—be free, and let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net again!
Let’s all understand though, just because these sins characterized the life of the unbeliever doesn’t mean they are out of reach for the believer. In fact, I believe this is why Paul has written these very words to them.
Paul isn’t finished with the negative commands. He moves on, “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another,” (Colossians 3:8, ESV). Leaving sexual sins and taking up the topic of sins of the tongue. I found it interesting, although I wouldn’t presume to lay this upon the text, that the first issue that Paul dealt with traditionally has men as its target. Now the second, again traditionally, I’m not making blanket statements, finds its home in the vocal powers of the woman. I think the way Andy Griffith put it.
Aunt Bee: “I suppose you think men aren’t capable of gossip.”
Andy: “Oh, we’re capable enough, it just doesn’t come as natural to us.”
Aunt Bee: “According to you, the Lord made two sexes… men and blabbermouths.”
Andy: “That was well put.”
Paul begins to use clothing as a metaphor for a person’s lifestyle choices. The word “put away” or “rid” (apothesthe) means “to put off” like a suit of clothes. In its ethical use here it means “throw it off like a dirty shirt”. And again Paul hits us with a list of items that all share in one way shape or form a connection to hatred that make their way out throw the vocal chords. And Paul’s simple answer to the problem? Just like a person takes off his dirty clothes at the end of the day, so should believers discard the filthy, tattered rags of their old life.
After having issued negative commands, Paul now turns to the positive ones. And when I say positive and negative, I’m not speaking of good and bad but do and don’t. Sticking with the clothing metaphor Paul says “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. ” (Colossians 3:10, ESV). Now that your old clothes are removed, you don’t want to be walking around naked do you? Put upon yourself the garments of your new life which is the process of renewal (or sanctification) that we may look more and more like Jesus Christ.
• “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. ” (Ephesians 4:24, NAS)
• “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ” (Galatians 3:27, NAS)
• “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. ” (Romans 13:14, NAS)
So what does this renewal look like as it lives itself out around others? “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. ” (Colossians 3:11, ESV). In Christ distinctions are removed. These include
• racial distinctions (Greek or Jew; Jews called all those outside their nation Greeks)
• religious distinctions (circumcised or uncircumcised);
• cultural distinctions (anyone foreign to Greek culture was a barbarian, and a Scythian was a wild, savage nomad);
• social distinctions (slave or free).
If a Greek, an uncircumcised person, a barbarian, a Scythian, or a slave became a believer, he was a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17), a “new self” (Col. 3:10), just like a Jew or free person who became a Christian. For Christ is all, and is in all. That is, normal human distinctions are overruled and transfigured by one’s union in Christ.

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 10

Undead

Chapter 3 read apart from chapters one and two is incredibly dangerous.  I say dangerous because someone may hear Paul’s commands in this chapter and seek to boot-strap their way to becoming more like Christ.  Of course this is the American way isn’t it?  Rugged individualism, self made men and entrepreneurship?  This is how we live the American dream.  We see something we want and we work for it until it’s ours.  Those who go this route inevitably find the road blocked, sometimes after a week, sometimes a month or a year later.  The really determined ones will continue this work of self sanctification for their entire lives never coming to an understanding of true joy in Christ or worse, covering over the fact that they’ve never experienced the new birth at all and their self will has been their substitute.  Seeking righteousness apart from the empowering work of Christ is a dead end road.  Consider the commands coming up in the next several verses.

• Keep seeking the things above
• Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
• Put to death what is earthly in you (sexual sins)
• Put them away (sins of the tongue)
• Do not lie
• Put off the old self
• Put on compassionate hearts
• Bear with one another, forgive one another
• Put on love
• Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts
• Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
• Do everything in the name of Jesus

It is no accident that each of the NT epistles follows the pattern of the indicative leading to the imperative.  Put another way, we are told a lot about Christ that serves as the foundation for us living for Christ.

Coming out of an oppressive legalist system can cause a pendulum swing that can be easy to ride over into antinomianism where one rejects all “law” or instruction in their life.  Both legalism and lawlessness are an affront to Christ.  Nor are we searching for a middle ground between two entirely man centered systems.  Living a life that in Paul’s words is “worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” is entirely different and difficult and satisfying and agonizing.

The beauty and supremacy of Christ has been made plain to us by the awakening work of the Holy Spirit.  We have been released from the bondage and mastery of sin to love and serve God.  So why do we need to be told to flee fornication or to stop lying to one another?  Doesn’t our new love override our old ones and compel us to live it?  Boy if that were always true.  Augustine remarked about this dilemma in his own life.

“I was astonished that although I now loved you . . . I did not persist in enjoyment of my God. Your beauty drew me to you, but soon I was dragged away from you by my own weight and in dismay I plunged again into the things of this world . . . as though I had sensed the fragrance of the fare but was not yet able to eat it.”

Do you understand his frustration?  Do you identify with loving God yet living like you hate him?  Or feel the bitter sting of hypocrisy as you wax eloquently about your passions for God all the while knowing the wretched life you lead?  It’s not that you are content in this spot or wish to live a life of duplicity.  You struggle, seek, savor, sin, repent and repeat.  Always looking for the right book or regimen to unlock the mystery to not only rightly desiring God, but remaining there.  Not that identification with someone helps, but sometimes it makes me feel less alone.  John Piper wrote:

Manageable, duty-defined, decision-oriented, willpower Christianity now seemed easy, and real Christianity had become impossible.  The emotions—or affections, as former generations called them—which I was now free to enjoy, proved to be beyond my reach. The Christian life became impossible. That is, it became supernatural.

When I first read this quote from John Piper a few years ago it made me shout “YES, THAT IS IT!!!”, immediately followed by a somber “yes, that is it”.  There is an initial exhilaration in discovering the problem to be sure.  It’s the relief of knowing, “hey, I’m not crazy after all”.  But the ease is short lived because you know the solution is out of your grasp.  It’s the equivalent of living under the sentence of a deadly disease then to be told that there is a cure.  But the cure involves an operation that is beyond the capability of current medical abilities.  So what now?

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. ” (Colossians 3:1–4, ESV)

Has everybody seen a zombie movie at one time in your life?  What are some of the characteristics of a zombie?  Here is a definition.  A zombie is a dead body that has been brought back to life by a supernatural force to be controlled by someone else by use of magic.  Well you all know where I’m going with this by now don’t you.  Have no fear, I’m not gonna take it any further.  I mention it only because of the frequent use of death and resurrection language that Paul uses not only in this epistle, but throughout all his letters.

• “even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ” (Ephesians 2:5–6, NAS)
• “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ” (Colossians 2:12, NAS)
• “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, ” (Romans 6:8, NAS)
• “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. ” (Romans 7:6, NAS)
• “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; ” (Romans 7:9, NAS)
• “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ” (1 Corinthians 15:22, NAS)
• “I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. ” (1 Corinthians 15:31, NAS)
• ““For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. ” (Galatians 2:19, NAS)
• “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ” (Philippians 1:21, NAS)

So we’ve got all of this death talk that should serve as a real clue to the happy clappy, God has a wonderful plan for your life people that union with Christ is a death sentence to all we once knew.   We don’t just continue on as we were.  Everything changes, and I mean everything, from how we view work, relationships, money, hobbies, vacations, car tires, fishing poles and green bean casseroles.  Nothing should ever be the same.  We have been crucified with Christ to this whole stinking world of filth and corruption.  We don’t see it all that way immediately.  The corruption grows more vivid as Christ grows more vivid.  One of those light shining on darkness things.

So Paul begins the portion of his letter about the ethics of the believer by stating what should seem like an obvious instruction.  Since you were made partakers in Christ’s resurrection, KEEP GOING!  It’s really, that simple.  You came to Christ because you desired Him, why would you stop now?  I love the feeling of coming up for air after having been under water for sixty second.  In fact I love it so much I might just take another.  But the point is plain, you have been justified therefore search, since it’s in the perfect tense, would mean continue to search, for that which is heavenly.  And to seek after heaven is to seek after the One who reigns there.

Paul doesn’t just tell us to seek after those things, but also to fix our minds upon them.  What’s the difference?  The difference is between running a marathon and reveling in the finish.  The runner can chase the clock and envision the ecstasy of the finish line.  When Ashley and I ran our first ½ marathon, we focused a good deal of the time on our time.  I checked the watch every mile to see that we were keeping a good pace in our pursuit of the finish.  But as mile 4 & 5 turned into 9 & 10 we started to mumble and gurgle incoherent words to one another about what the finish line would feel like.  So in the midst of the seeking Paul tells the believers at Colossae to think about the eternity they are heading for.

Paul gives us the reason for his two previous statement by the use of the conjunction “γάρ” in vs.3.  We can translate it “for” or “because”.  Paul tells us to seek after and think upon things above because you died, aorist tense or easier understood as past tense.  But he doesn’t stop with them being dead, remember how I told you Paul used this dead but not really language all over the place.  Look here.  He says you’re dead, but your life is protected.  Sounds very similar to Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”  But notice the big difference here in vs.3 between old death and new life.  Sure my first life ended, why couldn’t my second one end too?  It can’t!!!  This life is hidden!  It’s protected from death by He who conquered death.  I believe there is some imputational language here in “hidden with Christ in God’.  Christ has clothed us in His righteousness and hidden us in God from God.

But we will not remain hidden.  To grasp the meaning of this we must understand why we are being hidden in the first place.  Each of us has committed what RC Sproul calls, cosmic treason against deity and stand condemned to die.  Christ imparts unto us His righteousness that protects us from the justly deserved wrath of God.  But at Christ’s return we will be changed.  “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. ” (1 John 3:2, NAS).  And I presume from this text we will no longer be hidden but revealed alongside the rest of the elect as we take our place and are presented by the Father to the Son as the bride of Christ.

Questions:

• What does it mean to “seek things above” in our lives?
• What does it mean to “set your minds on things above” in our lives?
• What does death with Christ look like?

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 9

Bullies

As we approach the half way point of this epistle it should not come as any surprise what Paul’s focus and preeminent point of instruction has been, Christ Is Supreme!  Far and above any other secondary topics, if we fail to more fully grasp the utter supremacy of Jesus Christ in this letter we have missed it.  And I mean missed it badly.  Thus far, Paul has presented Christ as:

• The beloved Son of the Father. – 1:13
• The redeemer.  – 1:14
• The visible image of the invisible God. – 1:15
• The Head over all creation. – 1:15
• The creator of all things. – 1:16
• The sustainer of all things. – 1:17
• The Head of the Church. – 1:18
• The preeminent one. –1:18
• The fulness of God. – 1:19
• The peacemaker. – 1:20
• The reconciler. – 1:22
• The one who presents us holy and blameless. – 1:22
• The Hope of Glory. – 1:27
• The mystery of God. – 2:2
• The possessor of all wisdom and knowledge. – 2:3
• The fulness of deity. – 2:9
• The head of all rule and authority. – 2:10
• The circumciser of the heart. – 2:11
• The resurrected one. – 2:12-13
• The sin canceller. – 2:14
• The triumphant one. – 2:15

It is upon these truths that Paul directs his readers to live lives worthy of The Lord Jesus Christ.  Their calling was a high one.  The God of all the seen and unseen universe had reached down and plucked them out of the deadness of their sin and given them life in His Beloved Son.  They had been set apart from the world around them to live distinct lives that would resound the glory of This King.

In our last session we came face to face with the trouble in town.  False teachers are abounding with various answers to the question of where ultimate knowledge is to be found.  From the days of Genesis a frantic race has ensued for more and more knowledge, all the while ignoring the source and giver of perfect knowledge.  Eve’s temptation in the garden was brought about by an insatiable demand for knowledge.  The serpent’s offer was such, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5, ESV)  At the heart of this temptation, to be sure, was ultimately a question of authority, but the thirst for knowledge brought it to fruition.  Today we are awash with all varieties of knowledge and information.  Just this past week Google estimated the total number of books written worldwide at 129,864,880.  We parade what we know on game shows, in class rooms, in meetings at work, on the cooking channel, on our bumper stickers, in our FB statuses.  We crave it, consume it and covet it.  Paul has made his case that all knowledge is found in Christ.  To be sure, that doesn’t mean that we will read of the third law of thermodynamics in the book of II Chronicles.  But it does mean that the sole reason we are able to state that “As a system approaches absolute zero, all processes cease and the entropy of the system approaches a minimum value.” is because that understanding first existed in the Godhead and then is permitted to be understood by the creature.  Information acquisition does not a wise man make.  For our purposes, we’ll define wisdom as Correctly Applying Truth.  This is what distinguishes the wise man from the fool.  “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. ” (2 Timothy 3:7, ESV) is how Paul describes the fool.  The wise man understands that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”.

Having already characterized the troublemakers as those who would enslave by virtue of “empty and deceitful philosophies”, Paul now identifies the specifics of their heresies.  All of which are designed to distract the believers minds away from the supremacy of Christ in favor of the foolish wanderings of men.  No poorer exchange can be made.  In the previous eight verses Paul made a rather convincing argument as to why Christ is to be preferred, let’s read it again before we continue.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. ” (Colossians 2:8–15, ESV)

Paul’s thesis, as presented in these verses, is that Christ is to be supremely desired as a master over and above the mastery of human tradition.  Not just preferred as a master because He is the lesser of the evils of the slave pictures.  NO!  Christ is not merely to be preferred as someone would choose celery over broccoli.  Or even a peanut butter sandwich over liver.  He is all satisfying, both then and now.  They, on the other hand, are like drinking sea water.  It is so prevalent, and holds out the hope of satisfaction, yet the results are fatal.   Let’s go to our passage.

“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. ” (Colossians 2:16–23, ESV)

Did you know that there are, at least, 234 isms, each representing a philosophical, political, moral doctrine or a belief system?  Try these on for size.

• adamitism           nakedness for religious reasons
• aspheterism       denial of the right to private property
• henotheism       belief in one tribal god, but not as the only god
• undulationism   theory that light consists of waves

We are going to cover three in our study.  Legalism, Mysticism and Asceticism.  Each served to set themselves up against the superiority of Christ.  And unless someone fails to see the seriousness of these attacks, consider the final words that we read about one of the recipients of this letter, Laodicea.

“‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, ” (Revelation 3:15–17, NAS)

Sadly, each of these belief systems is alive and well.  Some operate covertly, others under different names, but be sure they are thriving.

Legalism

First up, is my favorite and yours, please give a big round of applause to legalism. Let’s define our terms so we are all on the same page.  I’m going to stick with an easy definition.  Legalism is salvation by means of human achievement.  Simple enough, but let’s clarify the implications.  Here’s what I mean.  We all know that salvation is spoken of in scripture as a past, present and future act.

• Justified at a point in time in the past.
• Sanctification as an ongoing work presently.
• Glorification as the final perfecting work in the future.

There is the kind of legalism that arose in the early church having to do with the mingling of circumcision as a prerequisite for the justification of gentile converts.  This was an action that was plainly rebuked by Paul and others in the NT.  As equally as repugnant is the form of legalism that is in view here.  “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. ” (Colossians 2:16, ESV)

Paul states that in light of all that I’ve just gotten done telling you, don’t let anyone set themselves up as your judge.  Let me ask us all a question, given all our study so far, who is the judge over all the earth and its inhabitants?  If you said Christ you just won your freedom.  The man or tradition that you permit to act as your judge will be your master.  It is him that you will answer to.  It is him that you will seek approval from.  We are to be held captive by Christ and Christ alone.  These particular men set themselves up as the arbiters over the spiritual well being of Colossian believers by passing judgment on two areas of their lives.

1. Diet
2. Days

The reference to what the Colossian believers were eating and drinking most likely had to do with OT dietary laws.  Those Levitical laws were never considered meritorious as they pertained to salvation, but were merely external signs given to mark God’s people as distinct from the nations surrounding them.  These OT symbols had been abrogated by virtue of the new covenant.  The fact that we know that these laws were no longer in force can be seen in vision Peter saw in Acts 10.

“On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky. ”

These visions primary message was to confirm the opening of the door of salvation to the Gentiles, but the choice of metaphors to demonstrate it was illustrative as well.  The abolition of the dietary laws was formally affirmed later at the Jerusalem Council which is recorded in Acts 15.  “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking”.  Nor does it consist in the observance of special days.  Whether they be the festivals of Passover, Tabernacles, Lights or the Sabbath.  Compliance with these dates on the calendar contributed not a single lick to their justification or sanctification.  Paul refers to all of these as “merely shadows”, not the real thing.  When you set off on a trip to Disney World, as soon as you get onto I95 you will see a sign for Orlando, FL 602 miles.  The sign serves to provide anticipation for your final destination, but you wouldn’t pull over and rejoice and cling to the sign.  It’s just a shadow of that which is to come.  “These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. ” (Colossians 2:17, ESV)  Who cares about that stuff now?  It’s ancient history.  It’s serves to instruct us how God dealt with His people in times past, but the destination and fulfillment for which all of those signs pointed to is now here.  How foolish to cling to the sign.  Cling to Christ.

Mysticism

So what exactly is a mystic?  It may conjure up in your mind visions of swamis with bath towels wrapped around their heads chanting around a chanting around a crystal ball.  And yea that is pretty mystical sounding to me too, but often it manifests itself in far more subtle ways.  Try these on for size and see how they fit.

• God gave me this message especially for you tonight
• The Lord put it on my heart to start a cake baking ministry
• Another one here********

Each of these smack of a mystic feel because they necessarily contain revelation exclusive to the individual.  Mysticism at its core is a belief in subjective experiences that are self authenticating and independent from any objective truth, namely scripture.  Paul writes, “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. ” (Colossians 2:18–19, ESV).  It’s quite a racket to be sure.  The shaman, witch doctor or in our case the pastor, tells us that he has been uniquely spoken to by God to be the deliverer of special revelation.  Let me give you an example.

Gail Riplinger is one of the leading proponents of a movement called King James Onlyism, which sole tenet is that the KJV of the Bible is the only uncorrupted and proper translation of the scriptures.  She has written several books on the topic.  One of the more fascinating and hard to understand proofs she presents to aid in this assertion is something she calls Acrostic Algebra.  This is a chart from her book New Age Bible Versions (p. 149).

What exactly is acrostic algebra you might ask?  Dr James White asked her the same question in a radio debate in 1993.

I began by asking about the “acrostic algebra”… I had never heard of “acrostic algebra,” so I asked Gail what it was, and why it was that while she consistently used the abbreviation NASB throughout the book, to make her “algebra” work she switched to the abbreviation NASV. Her response was tremendously revealing. She first indicated that “the Lord gave that to me one night.” Hence, “acrostic algebra” is a revelation given by God to Gail Riplinger.  Obviously, then, the validity of such an argument cannot possibly be evaluated. When asked about the switch from the NASB to the NASV, we were told that “the Lord calls it the NASV.”

How exactly do we as children of God evaluate a subjective revelation from someone?  If this was the OT when God was in the habit of giving particular revelation to individuals, we all knew whether what the guy said was correct because it actually came to pass.  “when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. ” (Deuteronomy 18:22, ESV)

The Colossian believers nor us are in any need of hidden knowledge or special revelation of any sort from any man.  There are no hidden mysteries for us to seek out.  Why do you think Paul wrote in 1:25-26 “the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. ” and in 2:2 “that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, ”.  It’s as if he’s saying, “come on people, are you serious?  All the fulness of deity dwells bodily in the person of Christ, who is the Sovereign Lord over all, even the head of the body, which is the Church.  Don’t you dare let these empty headed, power hungry, sensually driven charlatans take what God has given to you.”  Let’s hear from Peter on the issue.

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ” (2 Peter 1:3–4, ESV)

So be careful, every mystic does not carry tarot cards, some might be carrying a King James Bible.

Asceticism

Now let’s look at asceticism.  It’s the least familiar ism to us.  According to Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary, asceticism is a philosophy that “denotes strict self-control as a means of spiritual discipline”.  Didn’t help, how bout this one?  No Pain, No Gain.  That’s essentially the meaning.  The more comforts you can withhold or in some cases pains you can inflict the better, towards heightening your spiritual awareness.

“If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? ” (Colossians 2:20–22, ESV)

In the 5^th century Simeon played this out.  Reportedly under the influence of his mother Martha, he developed a zeal for Christianity at the age of 13, following a lecture of the Beatitudes. He subjected himself to ever-increasing bodily austerities from an early age, especially fasting, and entered a monastery before the age of 16.  On one occasion, moving nearby, he commenced a severe regimen of fasting for Great Lent and was visited by the head of the monastery, who left him some water and loaves. A number of days later, Simeon was discovered unconscious, with the water and loaves untouched. When he was brought back to the monastery, it was discovered that he had bound his waist with a girdle made of palm fronds so tightly that days of soaking were required to remove the fibres from the wound formed. At this, Simeon was requested to leave the monastery.  In order to get away from the ever increasing number of people who frequently came to him for prayers and advice, leaving him little if any time for his private austerities, Simeon discovered a pillar which had survived amongst ruins, formed a small platform at the top, and upon this determined to live out his life. It has been stated that, as he seemed to be unable to avoid escaping the world horizontally, he may have thought it an attempt to try to escape it vertically. For sustenance small boys from the village would climb up the pillar and pass him small parcels of flat bread and goats milk.  This first pillar was little more than four meters high, but his well-wishers subsequently replaced it with others, the last in the series being apparently over 15 meters from the ground.  After spending 39 years on his pillar, Simeon died on 2 September 459. He inspired many imitators, and, for the next century, ascetics living on pillars were a common sight throughout the area.  He has the distinction of holding the Guinness record for the longest pole sit.

As you might be able to imagine, there is a bleed over from both the legalist and mystical worlds in the life of the ascetic.  Strict adherence to man-made observances that brought special knowledge.  I’m gonna throw another ism at you that was the foundation of asceticism, that is dualism.  The teachings of dualism go back to the teachings of Plato and Aristotle.  Its very premise had to do with the pursuit of freeing the mind or spirit from the prison of its body.  And as you might be able to guess, the ascetic’s pursuit of self depravation and punishment of the body was his key to enlightenment.  It is a useless pursuit in that it focuses all of its attention upon “things that are destined to perish”.  Paul points out the pointlessness of physical pursuits in vs.22 “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

The nineteenth-century Scottish preacher Alexander McClaren wrote, “Any asceticism is a great deal more to men’s taste than abandoning self. They will rather stick hooks in their backs than give up their sins and yield up their wills. There is only one thing that will put the collar on the neck of the animal within us and that is the power of the indwelling Christ. Ascetic religion is godless, for its practitioners essentially worship themselves.

The children of God are complete in Christ and lack nothing.  Therefore we cling to and follow hard after Him.

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 8

Mastery

Thus far in the epistle, Paul has made only feigned references to the insidious nature of the heresies facing his readers.  Let’s consider a few of them.

“asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ” (Colossians 1:9, NIV)

“He is the image of the invisible God… all things were created by him and for him. ” (Colossians 1:15–16, NIV)

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ” (Colossians 1:19, NIV)

“God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. ” (Colossians 1:25–26, NIV)

“My purpose … that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ” (Colossians 2:2–3, NIV)

Each of these verses, singularly and as a whole build a big and beautiful picture of an all powerful and sufficient Saviour and Lord.  And if the letter ended here, the Colossians would’ve been as blessed to receive it as we are to read it now.  All that has been written thus far can stand on its own as the greatest and fullest descriptions of the supremacy of Christ in all of scripture.  But there is more.  And the more we read, the more we are given to understand that Paul’s choice of words are quite intentional with respect to the troubles that are being faced by his first century readers.  The great truths that they have been instructed in are going to make an equally great difference as to how they react to their present difficulties.  That which he has said so far, about the person and work of Christ, are going to have very practical repercussions as they face their trouble.  Speaking of practical.

A real pet peeve of mine is when I hear of a Church that advertises the idea that they preach “practical or relevant messages”.  I always want to ask “what the heck other kind is there?”  Of course I know what they mean when they say that.  They mean they are going to take a contemporary topic that strikes their fancy, back their way into an unrelated piece of scripture and proof text it til they’re all quite certain that the Bible was written for the expressed purpose of addressing their particular situation.  In the end, most people want to be told to do something, and more importantly, told exactly what to do.  This is why we hear bandied about the phrase that “The Bible is an instruction manual for living”.  I believe this to be an incredibly vile characterization of God’s revelation of Himself.  As if we hold in our hands the equivalent of the setup directions for our new gas grill.  The Bible is the very breathe of God put into words for the purpose of revealing the resplendent person, nature and work of the Godhead.  Having already condescended Himself to be understood in written form, we do a great disservice to Him in our efforts to further condescend Him to the disinterested and unbelieving.  For the child of God, the greatest desire that we should approach the Word of God with is that we might know Him.  And having known Him, loving what we know and desiring more and more and more.

As we have said many times through this series in Colossians, knowing God more intimately is our desire.  And we recognize that none of us live in a vacuum, Oreck, Hoover or otherwise.  We all live, breathe, eat, love and hurt in a real flesh and blood dying world.  Existentialism is not what we are after.  We do not strive after God to think upon Him only.  We follow after Him as a means to an end.  And that end is Him.   A true understanding of our Holy God, far from being “puffed up knowledge”, is the most practical and relevant thoughts that we can think.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:8–15, NIV)

I want us to focus upon a single word here in our text tonite.  And that is the word captive.  In vs.8 it appears as a verb that carries with it the traditional definition of “carrying off as booty or as a prisoner in wartime” or “to control completely, to take control of, to make a captive of”.  I would argue that captivity is not the question for us, but our captor.  For all men serve someone.

“knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ” (Romans 6:6, NAS)

“For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, ” (1 Thessalonians 1:9, NAS)

“But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? ” (Galatians 4:9, NAS)

“But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. ” (Romans 7:6, NAS)

Freedom is really an allusion.  The vilest reprobate will declare his freedom from within his chains of sin, but he is totally and completely unable to see and savor that which is most to be desired, namely God.  And for all of our talk of being “free in Christ”, we understand, or at least we should, that we are his slaves.  How’s that for a paradox for you?  We are free to see, savor and yes, serve Him.  We were unable to do this until God enabled us to.  So you see, slavery is not the problem, at issue is the master.  Put another way, whose slave are you?

Slavery is a distasteful and repugnant word to us.  In our own country’s experience it brings to mind images of auction blocks, shackles, whipped backs and the like.  Families bred, split up and sold off to the highest bidder all for the sake economic stability.  The avoidance of the term slave extends throughout most all of our English translations of the Bible.  In our effort to avoid the discomfort associated with the word, we have lost the impact of understanding our status before God is that of property.  He owns us.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. ” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NAS)

“And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. ” (Revelation 5:9, NAS)

And no passage of scripture makes this point any plainer than that spoken by Christ in His Sermon on the Mount.

““No one can be a slave to two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be a slave to both God and wealth. ” (Matthew 6:24, literal translation)

Whose slave are you?

Warning vs.8

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. ” (Colossians 2:8, NIV)

This is the beginning of the warnings against the false teachings that have been making their way through the Colossian and surrounding churches.  Verse 8 serves as a general “shot over the bow” for all the specific manifestations of this teaching that will be discussed in more detail to come.  At issue here is wisdom, and more specifically what kind of wisdom, which is to say, its source.  The word philosophy, as it appears it our text, comes from two Greek words, phileō, “to love,” and sophia, “wisdom.”  There is nothing wrong with wisdom.  In fact, far from it, wisdom is spoken of repeatedly in scripture as something to be greatly desired.

“How blessed is the man who finds wisdom And the man who gains understanding. ” (Proverbs 3:13, NAS)

“Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. ” (Ecclesiastes 7:19, NAS)

It is upon Paul’s lips each time he reveals the contents of his prayers.

“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ” (Colossians 1:9, NAS)

“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. ” (Ephesians 1:17, NAS)

But just as much as true Godly wisdom is to be sought after, false wisdom is to be rejected.

“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. ” (1 Corinthians 1:17, NAS)

“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. ” (James 3:14–15, NAS)

You see, the door swings both ways.  And the wisdom you submit to will be your captor.  Paul characterizes the wisdom of the false teachers as vain, empty deceptions.  He goes on to further define their wisdom in the following ways.

• It is according “to the traditions of men” So much of human’s religiosity is cultural, not biblical (cf. Isa. 29:13; Col. 2:23). Often we pass on what we have received without checking the Bible for ourselves!  Just because people have believed something and handed it down through the years does not make it true. Tradition usually serves merely to perpetuate error.
• It is according “to the basic principles of this world”, ceremonialism, meats, drinks, washings, asceticism and pagan symbolic mysteries each typify very crude carnal activities which will be brought out in the verses to follow.

Those that pursue this brand of wisdom will be in the words of Paul to Timothy:

“holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these…led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ” (2 Timothy 3:5,7, NAS)

The warning is plain. Do not be held captive by worldly wisdom.

The instructions are equally plain. Be held captive by Christ’s wisdom.

The next seven verses are set as an explanation as to why.  Why is Christ better?  Is it just Paul’s opinion?  Does that brand of wisdom just happen to work better for Paul?

The Reasons

Now that it’s time to explain why Christ is better than the wisdom and philosophies of the world, I want you to understand that Paul returns to his Christology of 1:15-20.  Who said theology isn’t practical.  Far from being impractical, it is indispensable.  Now that Paul turns the Colossians attentions towards the problems they are facing at home, he presents that which he has already taught them as the solution.  Each of the answers the Paul presents in these seven verses are responses to questions posed by the heretics in their midst.  The fact that Paul restates 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God”, by saying “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ” means that this fact has been questioned by the false teachers.  Possibly a reference to vs.18 where a “worship of angels” is mentioned.  Do not however get the impression that Paul is in a debate class with the heretics.  That somehow each of them is offering their equally valid positions for consideration.  The presentation of Christ in these seven verses is meant to utterly decimate the arguments of this and every other false wisdom, 1^st century or 21^st.

1. Christ Is God vs.9 — “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ”
   There is no divinity that exists outside of Christ.  This is why not only salvation cannot be found outside of Him, but true wisdom does not exist outside of Him.
2. Christ Fills Us vs.10 — “and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. ”
   The verbal form of the noun fullness from the previous verse is used to describe our union with Christ.  He who is the absolute, sovereign Lord over all people, powers and property, remember 1:16 “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ”, has fully completed us.  John MacArthur says it this way.
   At salvation, believers become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4) and are made complete.  Believers are spiritually complete because they have fellowship with God. They are morally complete in that they recognize the authority of God’s will.  They are mentally complete because they know the truth about ultimate reality.  To maintain that those who were made complete in Christ still lacked anything is absurd.  Those who are “partakers of the divine nature” have, through “His divine power,” been “granted… everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3).  All true believers are complete in Christ and do not need the teachings of any cult or false teacher.
3. Christ Releases Us vs.11 — “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, ”
   Proper interpretation of this verse is rooted in the OT understanding of the rite of circumcision.  A biblical view recognizes the physical act of circumcision as an outward demonstration of an acknowledgment of a need for cleansing from sin.  All that man produces is sinful and his greatest and most visible perpetuation of that is by means of reproducing the sinful species.  Thus the part of the anatomy God choose to demonstrate the sign.  The fact that this act was not saving but only symbolic is made abundantly clear in the OT itself.  “Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. ” (Deuteronomy 30:6, NAS)  The outward act was meant to show forth an inward heart.

   In stark contrast to the powerless act of outward circumcision, Christ has cleansed us of our sinful nature and loosed us from the bondage and chains of sin that we had so long dwelt in.  We have been made free from sin to serve the Living God.  But if Christ has truly “put off our sinful nature”, then why do I continue to do what I do?  Paul laments with us in Romans 7.

   “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ” (Romans 7:15–23, ESV)

   The “new creature” as Paul calls us in II Corinthians is still robed in unredeemed flesh.  So we wage our war against the flesh, but we do not war with our flesh.  The battle we fight is done through the empowerment of Christ

4. Christ Empowers Us vs.12 — “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead. “
   Paul steps out of the OT symbol of circumcision to the NT symbol of baptism.  In a similar manner, baptism serves as the outward manifestation of the inward union with the sufferings, death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  For the believer it is how we assert death to the old man and newness of life to the awakened man that God has empowered to serve Him.
5. Christ Cleanses Us vs.13-14 — “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. “
   While we were yet dead.  Not hurt, nor sick, nor diseased, nor merely impaired, but dead.  It was in this condition that God came upon us.  It was in this condition of deadness that God looked at us.  Wallowing in the vileness of our rebellious acts and the uncleanness of our sinful passions. It was there that God, owing nothing to the dead rebellious sinner, made us alive.  He took all the violations of the many citations, laws, statutes, edicts and commands that we had broken and all the many debts we had accrued because of our transgressions against him and cancelled them.  All this that stood against us Paul says was nailed to the cross.  John Piper asks “How was this damning record nailed to the cross? Parchment was not nailed to the cross. Christ was. So Christ became my damning record of bad (and good) deeds. He endured my damnation”
6. Christ Triumphs vs.15 — “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
   In a use of very vivid language Paul tells us of Jesus Christ’s humiliation of his enemies by explaining that he has disarmed, or more literally, disrobed them publicly.  The illustration of the Roman victory parade is used as imagery.  This is when a triumphant general would march through the city streets towing the defeating and bedraggled foes of his conquest behind him.

Paul’s presentation is complete.  The question of who is your rightful master is plain and unambiguous.  Let’s read it one last time so as to not miss the overwhelming flood of exultation for Christ and his work.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. ” (Colossians 2:8–15, ESV)

To worship such defeated and humiliated beings would be the height of folly.  Christ is the Master and Lord.  In light of this we are to, in the words of Paul from 1:10, “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 7

Walk

As we begin to step into the second chapter of this epistle to the Colossian believers, it would be a good idea to look back at where we’ve come.  Sometimes in our diligence to thoroughly study a book of scripture, we end up losing the theme of it at the expense of its parts.  It’s easy to find meaning in a verse or two that place it in conflict with the book in which it is found.  This is why it’s important, when it’s possible, to read through the book you are studying in its entirety, repeatedly.  It helps keep us from compartmentalizing the pieces and missing the forest for the trees.  What has taken us 6 hours to cover in study would take us 3 minutes to read.   And it is in those broad sweeps that we are able to return our eyes to the whole of a book.  Which in the case of Colossians is the Supremacy of Christ.

To be sure, the entirety of scripture can be said to be all about Christ.  But we do understand that themematically, different portions of the Bible have varying focuses.  And Paul’s letter to Colossae would have to be considered one of the most, if not the most, Christ-centered book in the Bible.  Consider what he has said thus far.

He opens his letter by greeting the “saints in Christ at Colossae”.  Then proceeds to gush forth thanksgiving to God upon hearing that they have come to “faith in Christ Jesus”.  And that the message of the good news of Christ that they heard and believed is also going out to the rest of the world.  Paul then turns from thanksgiving to prayer as he asks that God would fill them with wisdom in order that they live worthily of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Praising God that He has transferred them from a life of darkness to the Kingdom of His beloved Son.  What follows next is one of the most comprehensive, superlative laden, all encompassing descriptions of the power and majesty of Jesus Christ found anywhere in the text of scripture.  In fact it is vv.15-20 that makes up what I would consider to be the theme of Paul’s letter.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him. He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” (Colossians 1:15–20, NET)

Standing upon this platform, Paul lays out the all-sufficient reconciling work of Christ in vv.21-23, the sanctifying work of suffering in vv.24-25 and the revealed mystery of Christ and the Church in the remainder of chapter one.  This serves as the foundation and authority for everything else to come in this epistle.  Having been blown away by the awesome scope of Christ’s dominion and power over ALL things, how could this church not sit enraptured at the reading of this letter written to them?  A letter that is about to get very specific about issues, troubles and concerns that they are facing right then.

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. ” (Colossians 2:1–7, ESV)

Agony (vs.1)

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, ” (Colossians 2:1, ESV)

Paul’s words in these verses continue his thoughts from vv.28-29 in the preceding chapter.  The proclamation of the Gospel and associated labor he is expending on behalf of his readers is done so that they might hear, understand and be made perfect by the gospel.  He expresses the sheer agony that he has endured on behalf of not only the Colossians, but the nearby church at Laodicea and others whom he has never visited.  The love of the apostle was not limited to those he personally knew; it extended to all who had not met him personally.  The mention of Laodicea (also in 4:16) indicates that the heresy had spread there too, though it was probably centered in Colosse.

As we learned last week when discussing why Paul found joy in his suffering, he states again that pain that has purpose is of great worth to him.  He is aware of the great dangers that they face.  This is why he has labored so diligently in proclaiming the Gospel.  This same Gospel that will present them perfect in Christ one day will also bring them encouragement, unity and understanding

Encouragement, Unity & Understanding (vs.2)

“I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.” (Colossians 2:2, NLT)

Paul uses the word parakaleo to express the consolation that he wishes for these believers.  This is the same root word used in John’s Gospel to give name, by way of His role, to the Holy Spirit (helper).

““I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; ” (John 14:16, NAS)

““But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. ” (John 14:26, NAS)

““When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, ” (John 15:26, NAS)

Its basic meaning is to “call alongside for help and encouragement.” It was a metaphor from the Roman legal system; the concept of a defense lawyer comes from this word.  This shared comfort would inevitably bring them together to be of like mind.  The unity he desires for them harkens back to his metaphor for the Church as a physical body.  Dependence and care amongst the several parts of the body is actually the contributor towards the encouragement Paul seeks.  Listen to how the .NET translates it, “My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged”.

Paul wants them to be encouraged and unified, but above all he desires them to have understanding.  This isn’t the first time we’ve heard this and it certainly will not be the last.

“understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace” vs.6

“asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ” (Colossians 1:9, NET)

“growing in the knowledge of God” vs.10

Paul’s longing for them to understand the truths of the Gospel are reflected in his commitment in proclaiming it to them in vs.28

“ We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ. ” (Colossians 1:28, NET)

Paul does not view knowledge of the Holy as a hindrance to Godly living but the secret to it.  We error greatly when we divorce serious study and meditation upon the person of God from the Christian life.  Our understanding of God is to fuel our behaviour.  Paul states that there are great riches that lie at the door of the person who understands the mystery of God.  Of course the same Paul who speaks of suffering as joy doesn’t imply money when he says riches.  The wealth that lies in store is an understanding of the person of Christ.  Would you take any amount of money as substitute for a fuller understanding of Christ?  Is there a desire within you that is greater than that of knowing Christ?  Paul didn’t think so.

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace ” (Ephesians 1:7, NAS)

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ” (Ephesians 1:18, NAS)

“so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ” (Ephesians 2:7, NAS)

“To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, ” (Ephesians 3:8, NAS)

These are not pie in the sky riches that are of no real worth.  For the believer who truly counts Christ as their treasure, a greater knowledge of Him surpasses all other things.  God’s mystery from eternity past revealed, known and understood.  Christ Jesus in us, Our hope of glory.

Hidden Treasure (vs.3)

“ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ” (Colossians 2:3, NET)

Paul is about to launch into his arguments against the false teachings that are attempting to gain a foothold in the Colossian, Laodicean and other nearby churches.  As if he was driving a nail into the wall, Paul will use this verse as the springboard upon which he will defeat every false argument thrown against him.  The focus of all the heresies making their way through the Church had to do with a group of people who were peddling some secret knowledge that was acquirable only by those who participated in their mystical programs.  His statement here is deliberate and to the point.  ALL WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE is found ONLY IN CHRIST.  And I don’t mean that all spiritual wisdom and knowledge is found in Christ.  Or all good advise about religious matters are found only is Christ.  I mean that Christ, the Creator, Ruler, Sovereign and Lord over all things is the source from which all understanding flows.  In making this grand all encompassing statement, Paul has not only placed a shot across the bow of their battleship, he has sunk it.  Referring to their secret forms of spirituality, Paul takes a swipe at them by stating what was God’s mystery for ages is now fully revealed.  God’s mystery is a person, God’s plan is a person, and God’s salvation is a person, not human knowledge or effort.

Warning (vs.4)

So sure and complete are the treasure of knowing Christ that Paul readily identifies them as the bulwark against the deceitful arguments that are attempting to ensnare them.

“I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments.” (Colossians 2:4, NLT)

This deception was perpetrated by means of eloquent reasoning, plausible arguments and/or persuasive speech. False teachers are usually logical, attractive, persuasive individuals (so different from Paul).

“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. ” (1 Corinthians 2:1–5, NAS)

Within this first century warning is a reminder to us as well.  While heresy is sometimes glaring and easy to identify, it is oftentimes subtle.  Let me give you a couple of things that almost always appear within the frameworks of false teachers.  They’ll deny two things, they’ll deny the deity of Christ, and they’ll deny His sufficiency to save.  They might agree that Christ saves, but mark it down, there will be a “but” in there.  A big “but” or little “but” makes no difference.  The mere presence of a “but” or an “and” for that matter changes everything.  And sometimes that altering of Christ’s power to save pertains to the saving work in sanctification, not justification.  Those additions that are thrown in along your Christian walk are just as hideous.

But the point is not that these errors are powerful and convincing.  The point is that a humble, unyielding confidence in the treasures of Christ are superior in every way to the potions and spells of these charlatans.

Present (vs.5)

“ For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ. ” (Colossians 2:5, NET)

Quite often we hear the words “I’m thinking about you” or the Christian equivalent “I’m praying for you” when someone is trying to express identification with you about a place or situation of difficulty that you find yourself in.  Paul finds himself unable to come to them because of his imprisonment, but that doesn’t mean that he has resorted to sentimental quips of comfort.  He readily admits that he can’t be there in person, but that doesn’t hinder his ability to help them.  The fervency of prayer in which he has already written of in the previous chapter has proven effectual in accomplishing what God had ordained for them.  Namely, that their faith in Christ proves firm to weather the storm.  John MacArthur comments on this verse:

Taxis (good discipline) and stereōma (stability) are both military terms, perhaps suggested by Paul’s close contact with Roman soldiers during his imprisonment (cf. Acts 28:16; Phil. 1:13). Taxis refers to a line of soldiers drawn up for battle, whereas stereōma refers to the solidity of a formation of soldiers. Taken together, they express Paul’s joy that individually and collectively the Colossians were standing firm against the attacks of false teaching. His goal for them is that they remain settled in their present true understanding, and not yield to doubt from those attacks.

Walk (vv.6-7)

Well the time has come.  The referee has read the boxers the instructions in the center of the ring.  Each has returned to his corner awaiting the opening bell.  This is where the trainer leans over to his fighter to whisper one last piece of advice.  The one thing that if held onto, will bring him back victorious.  As soon as the bell rings there is no time for strategy or training.  That time is over.  Paul has prepared the believers in Colossae well.  Now all is left is to live in what they have learned.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. ” (Colossians 2:6–7, ESV)

You remember how you came to Christ?  The only way anyone comes to faith in Christ is as a blind, deaf, beggarly cripple.  Thankful for any morsel of mercy that the Master has to offer.  We come absolutely dependent upon His provision that we are unable to live and breathe without Him.  We sadly become all too independent as the days go by.

Paul’s words to them are to remember the utter dependence that brought them to Christ, and to continue to live the same way.  Our life depends upon nearness to Christ.  How is it that one moment we were dead in our trespasses and sin and clinging to Christ that he might grant us repentance and faith, and the next find ourselves living utterly independent lives away from reliance upon Him.  That which gave us life, continues to give us life.  Paul says we are to live now in the same manner we began to live in.  The way the scuba diver clings to his oxygen tank.  The way the sky diver treasures his parachute.  It is life, He is life.