Who has done so? "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth; for ye are dead.". Paul begins by drawing a vivid picture of the false teachers. They weren't to eat certain kind of meats. And so, if you want to look for an opposite of Satan, you should look at Michael or at Gabriel, those angels which remain true to God who have a high ranking or the highest ranking among angels. Note well again that it is not here man striving to become dead, which is a notion unknown to the revelation of God, new or old. "Lord, I'm going to pray more. We must spend upon the stock which is laid up for us in him, and draw from the treasures which are hidden in him. At the cross. How can man brook that lie, and the world that he has built up since he lost Eden, should be made nothing of? Behind it lie four Gnostic practices. "The only true circumcision is when a man dies and rises with Christ in baptism, in such a way that it is not part of his body which is cut away but his whole sinful self which is destroyed, and he is filled with newness of life and the very holiness of God. (i) There is Gnostic asceticism ( Colossians 2:16 and Colossians 2:21). Is it merely that all the universe has thus, in the cross of the Lord Jesus, a foundation laid for their reconciliation? We are not Jews; we have our place in Christ dead and risen, or are nothing. There are two pictures here. Taste not! We will take out its leading ideas, for it is possible to see the main lines of the false teaching which was troubling Colosse; and then, after we have looked at it as a whole, we shall examine it in more detail in shorter sections. Is it all we want to draw from Him? The instruction given previously enabled the initiate to understand the play. Romans 11:33). Our truth that we have to share, it's for the church." Mark and Luke, although they were not apostles, were surely prophets. The trouble is that it is packed from beginning to end with allusions to the false teaching which was threatening to wreck the Colossian Church. Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary Colossians 2:3 ColossiansCol2:2ColossiansCol2ColossiansCol2:4 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. They use freely His name; they in word and bodily exercise do Him no small reverence; but without faith all is vain. Astrology was then, as someone has said, the queen of the sciences. When a person is baptized, this is the meaning of the act; nor has it any true force, but is an illusion, otherwise. He says, "You have been rescued from all this tyranny of legal rules. You can come always. We don't need any new revelations. But they are to be the people in whose midst the glory of Jehovah will take up its abode. Jesus Christ by his work has liberated men both from the power and from the consequences of sin. None of the others has touched on it not one. Circumcision was, indeed, the badge of a person dedicated to God; but the dedication lay not in the cutting of the flesh but in the excision from his life of everything which was against the will of God. (ii) It should be a Church in which the members are knit together in love. The spirit which makes Christianity a thing of regulations is by no means dead yet. That's my hope of glory, that work of Jesus Christ in me. (ii) It is a philosophy which has to do with the elements of this world. Here we see the other side Christ in or among you Gentiles, "the hope of glory." The better a Christian understands Gods true revelation concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ the better he or she will be able to recognize and refute false doctrine. In the one they are waiting to be taken to heaven in an actual sense; in the other they belong already to heaven by virtue of their union with Christ. Now, how can I have full assurance? We have set it out as a whole, in what is more of a paraphrase than a translation. But the works always must follow and be the result of faith. So again by Him alone do all, Jews and Gentiles, draw near to the Father. But that's a tough way to live. It presented to us the person of Him who was to reconcile; in itself it was thus a most important step towards the reconciliation; but, in fact, there was no reconciliation yet for a solitary soul: the cross of Christ wrought it all. (ii) They wished men to accept a system of astrology ( Colossians 2:8). Paul might travel down new pathways of thought but he always began and ended with the unchanging and unchangeable truth that Jesus Christ is Lord. So principalities and powers can refer to the fallen angels, or it can refer to those that are still in obedience unto God. There were evils to be corrected, dancers to be warned against; but if he thinks of that which the Father has in view for them, and of them in view of His glory, less he could not say, neither could he say more. Where sin brought man, grace brought Christ. The soul prospers when it is filled with joy and peace (Romans 15:13), and has a satisfaction within which all the troubles without cannot disturb, and is able to joy in the Lord when all other comforts fail, Habakkuk 3:17; Habakkuk 3:18. These angelic beings that God had created were in different ranks and orders. Hence, though the Holy Ghost is really on earth, dwelling in the saint and in the church, yet under such circumstances, to occupy the mind even with the blessed Spirit, would clearly have interfered with His own great aim in glorifying Jesus. Somehow or another, freethinkers and superstitious men coalesce in reality. To receive it as the faithful blow of our best friend in His own word may not seem the readiest way toward comfort; but the comfort that we get in the end from Him who thus smites is both real and stable, and rich in profit to the soul. Also the reason seems obvious. They were a people living in the world, and the whole system of Judaism supposed and dealt with a people in the world. Enduring Word Info. But our Lord is the Christ who condemned the first man, Fallen humanity by Him was detected and judged root and branch. It was they who were responsible for demon-possession and the like. "Even as Christ forgave you." It was not the Father, but the Godhead. This remains for the day of Christ's glory, and will fill a most important part in the purposes of God. And this caused Paul tremendous inner conflict, a great concern, a great burden.Paul's prayer or desire for those who he had never actually met face to face, was That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ ( Colossians 2:2 ); Now, one of the heresies that was being promulgated there in Colosse was the Gnostic heresy. He it is finally who gives vigour for all the holy conflicts we have to wage with the adversary. Let me get at that guy, he'll curse you to" God, first of all, had the hedge around Job. When love dies, the Church dies. The apostle had never been at Colosse, and the church planted there was not of his planting; and yet he had as tender a care of it as if it had been the only people of his charge (Colossians 2:1; Colossians 2:1): For I would that you knew what great conflict I have for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. Now, Jesus has blotted out these handwritings of ordinances which were against us. These men offer a philosophy which they declare is necessary in addition to the teaching of Christ and the words of the gospel. He speaks of anyone who will carry you off as his spoil. The law could never make you righteous. Very few heresies are evangelistic. That is only the result of the fact that I am righteous through my faith in Jesus. The cross of Christ is the death-knell of the world in all its pretensions before God. And of course, you take it one more step: go to Mary to talk to her son to talk to her father. (i) It is a philosophy which has been handed down by human tradition. One God and one mediator, and Jesus Christ is that mediator. He stripped the powers and authorities of all their power and publicly put them to shame, and, through the Cross, led them captive in his triumphal train. At any rate this was his mission. And not holding the Head, from which all the body by the joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God ( Colossians 2:19 ). But it is almost impossible for us to realize how dominated the ancient world was by the idea of the influence of the elemental spirits and the stars. But the great truth that Christianity preaches is, in fact, exactly that the way to God is open to the humblest and the simplest person. It's all just a part of the vanity of a puffed up mind. These are only the shadow of things to come; the real substance belongs to Christ. Paul here uses three words for wisdom. But is this all? They were openly branded as his spoils. The Spirit of God, as in the Acts of the Apostles, began with the simplest confession of Christ's name. See the same thing in the famous seventy weeks of Daniel. They might detract little or nothing as to his personal qualities; they might even affect to condescend and patronize. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is our God and Father; and He has blessed with every possible blessing, and in the highest sphere and on the best ground. Who can be so deeply concerned as the Christian? But that for which they were opposed to him was the very thing for which, most of all, they should have owned their debt under God. There He paid the price, because He died in our place. 130.]. Just as the great tree is deep-rooted in the soil and draws its nourishment from it, so the Christian is rooted in Christ, the source of his life and strength. And so the twofold warning: those that would beguile you with their enticing words away from the roots in Christ Jesus, and then those who through philosophy, the vain deceit which are after the traditions of men. require us to pronounce on evil ways in order to look into this evil doctrine or that; but the apostle speaks now of the saints in their ordinary and normal manner. God sets the boundaries in which he can work. The apostle had pulled himself away from extolling the majesty of the Messiah for a moment, but it seems his mind leaves that lofty subject reluctantly and, thus, reverts at the first opportunity. They identified religion with ritual. There are many nice shades in detail; but I have referred now to that which is the principal point whence the two lines of truth diverge. "Short Bible Colossians 4:2" is the perfect resource for you. Is the heart satisfied with Him? "Knowledge," in general, is defined as "intelligence or understanding" (Thayer 119); but here it is objective, meaning "what is known concerning divine things and human duties.". Thus no room was left for striving to die. For God, again, is infinite, eternal, omnipotent and Satan is a created being. They were shadows. And that's the neat thing about God, your relationship, there's always access. The very life that I have in Christ is a witness that my sins are forgiven. You were taught to believe and trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation, for the forgiveness of your sins. Here he at once addresses himself, after the thanksgiving, to their condition and of course to their need First, as usual, he owns what they had of God. In Christ the saint is above them, and leaves them to God without anxiety or envy. Man is no longer a criminal who has broken the law and is at the mercy of God's judgment; he is a son who was lost and can now come home to be wrapped around with the grace of God. This guy's going to get us." But, as it is, I am a rational being, therefore I must be singing hymns of praise to God. It's sad really that a lot of people struggle most of their Christian life with a lack of real assurance of their salvation. His grace has qualified us now for His glory: such, as far as this goes, is the clear meaning of the Holy Ghost. See how and for what the apostle gives thanks again. Without Him all sinks at once into dissolution. You know, you're sort of on the outs, and so get someone who's on the in, and let him intercede for you." We have seen that the Gnostics believed that a great mass of elaborate knowledge was necessary for salvation. In fact, this was their fault: they were not content with Christ and Him only. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." It was the teaching of these false teachers that men were still under these influences and needed a special knowledge, beyond that which Jesus could give, to be liberated from them. 3. There were the cherubim, there were the seraphim, there were the principalities and powers and authorities and dominions, the various rankings of spirit beings. It is most true in its place; but it addresses rather the sense of responsibility than the communion of affections of the children of God. Nor can any of the angels mediate for you. are their slogans. Thus the believer can look round full of joy upon his brethren; he can count up souls from every tribe, tongue, and station. In the New Testament we find the picture of the Gentiles as having, not the written law of God which the Jews had, but the unwritten law in their hearts and the voice of conscience speaking within ( Romans 2:14-15). (iii) They wished to impose circumcision on Christians ( Colossians 2:11). The apostle, however, speaks of his service in these two respects: the gospel, which is universal in its aspect to every creature under heaven; and the church, which is a special and chosen body. Special wants may spring up and claim attention at particular moments; but since Christ was set on high, this is the truth for the saints, and for a very simple and sufficient reason it is what God the Father designed for the day of salvation. Christ, and Christ alone, has truly represented God to man, as He alone was perfect man before God. The one thing certain is that the false teachers taught that Jesus Christ and his teaching and work were not in themselves sufficient for salvation. But it does mean that there are certain beliefs which remain the foundation and do not change. He it is who has now revealed the mystery that was kept hid through ages and generations. Satan is allowed apparently to go on as if he had won the final victory; but God brings the truth of what He has done into the heart where Satan had most of all deceived before. I am beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. It appears to me then that, in writing to the Colossians, the terms employed by the Spirit of God afford clear evidence that their souls at Colosse rested on by no means the same firm and lofty ground as that which the epistle to the Ephesians contemplates; and the apostle consequently could not appeal in their case to the same mighty motives which at once rose, by the Holy Ghost's inspiration, in the apostle's heart in writing the kindred epistle. "And let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another." Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." He might well, therefore, say (and what a serious occasion for the Colossians that it was needful to say it as an admonition!) (1) The depth of Paul's conflict for the Colossians and others. Faith was not enough; circumcision had to be added. When they talked of the worship of angels, both the Gnostics and the Jews would have justified it by saying that God is so great and high and holy that we can never have direct access to him and must be content to pray to the angels. Study the bible online using commentary on Colossians and more!. They might think that this teaching is more advanced, and therefore nearer the truth, than what they heard from Epaphras. Part of him was dead and gone for ever; he was a new man risen to a new life. Yet the cross was the precise and only place where the foundation that cannot be moved was laid. You see, God uses him for the purpose of testing our devotion and commitment to God. It is evident, therefore, that these apostolic epistles were meant to circulate among the saints. Ancient ink had no acid in it; it lay on the surface of the paper and did not, as modern ink usually does, bite into it. The word is sulagogein ( G4812) and could be used of a slave-dealer carrying away the people of a conquered nation into slavery. That's the purpose for which John wrote his little epistle, "These things write I unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life" ( 1 John 5:13 ). Here follow the reasons why the apostle had so great a conflict, on account of the above persons, and why he was so desirous they should know it; one is, the consolation of their hearts. Why do you want to enslave yourself all over again? Thanksgiving is the constant and characteristic note of the Christian life. Let us hearken, "But now, ye also put off all these." It was their spiritual welfare about which he was solicitous. To the Colossians the Holy Ghost has to speak about their state, and along with this to present the truth of Christ as a remedy for it; not so much as the centre of blessedness and joy in the communion of the saints, but as supplying the true and only divine corrective to the efforts of Satan, who would drag them down into tradition on the one hand, and into philosophy on the other, the too common snares of human nature, and the latter more particularly for cultivated and reasoning minds. Oh, what majesty, as well as adaptation to need, in the truth of God! This 10-week Bible study for women explores Colossians verse by verse to help readers understand how the Christian life is meant to be lived through the risen Lord Jesus Christ. The most cursory reader discerns at once that the epistle to the Colossians is the counterpart of that to the Ephesians. The essence of Gods revelation is Christ (cf. Now he may have the blessed enjoyment of communion with Christ, but it is a Christ crucified on earth. As the King James Version has it, Jesus Christ blotted out the handwriting of ordinances which was against us; as we have translated it, he wiped out the charge-list which set out all our self-admitted debts, a charge-list based on the ordinances of the law. To the Jew it was circumcision; to the Christian it was baptism. 3. Colossians 2, Bridgeway Bible Commentary, One of over 125 Bible commentaries freely available, this commentary provides a free-flowing commentary on the entire text of each biblical book, along with background material. For him this was not theory but fact. v. 2 "Affection" is mind think about things above. To understand that word is to understand the amazing mercy of God. Another reason is this, that the presence of the Spirit of God, both in the individual and in the church, is a most essential part of christian privileges, while, for the reasons already alleged, it was not for the well-being of their souls that it should be unfolded here. All things were created by Him, no doubt; but they were created for Him also not by Him for the Father. Infinitely vainer is the thought for any man to impart fresh worth to Christ, than for David to have met Goliath in Saul's armour. For inasmuch as the Spirit does act in the church in man, if the eye be not on Christ and only on Him, the action of the Spirit, whether in the individual or the church, gives importance to both. They have access because of relationship. And so he points them back to the beginning, as you've received Christ Jesus so walk ye in Him. Such is the fruit of His word thus dwelling in us. I have been circumcised in God's eyes, that is, I have been set apart to live after the Spirit before God. 2 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. Nothing more lovely (whether spiritually, or even in its place naturally) than that each should be just what God has made him, only thenceforth diligently seeking increase of inward power by the operation of God's grace. As this gives us the new estate, and position, and relation in which stands the glorious person of the Lord Jesus, so next we have a view of His work suitably to the object of the epistle: "For all the fulness was pleased in him to dwell." Satan knew well what he sought in alienating many a Christian from this blessed man of God, and in carping at his ministry, and the testimony he was given to bear. Receive David Guzik's Weekly Devotional. So, says he, "being fruitful in every good work, and growing (not exactly in, but) by the knowledge of God." His was by no means a love inactive or limited. There was the view of those who said that in itself it was enough to put a man right with God. And that means that I do not depend upon my works as a righteous basis in my standing before God.I don't say, "Well, I'm righteous because I pray so many times a day. Rooted and built up in Him. Who and what is the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption? Here we enter not merely what clears one out from the rudiments of the world, but what introduces us into the new thing. And now He is risen from the dead, the beginning of a new order of existence altogether; and as He is the Head, so the church is His body founded, indeed, on Christ, but on Him dead and risen. Sorrowful circumstances may, alas! It is false and ruinous, whether it leaves Him out or brings Him in whether it denies the true God, or makes everything a sham god. A man seeks to shine in the world now; it is a heedless if not heartless forgetfulness, that here He knew nothing but rejection. We have here a description of soul-prosperity. God, they argued, had said to Abraham, "This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you, and your descendants after you; Every male among you shall be circumcised" ( Genesis 17:10). In the Spirit are both built together for God's habitation. 2:11-12 In him you have been circumcised with a circumcision not made by man's hands, a circumcision which consists in putting off the whole of that part of you which is dominated by sinful human nature, which you were able to do by the circumcision which belongs to Christ. Sometimes that word means to comfort, sometimes to exhort, but always at the back of it there is the idea of enabling a person to meet some difficult situation with confidence and with gallantry. And later, when Joseph came to the Pharaoh and interpreted the dream and was placed by the Pharaoh as the head over Egypt. They needed to be drawn away from every theme and object but Christ Himself. In the ritual of baptism, how many people today are falsely trusting in the ritual of baptism for the reality? Not a prophet, not even the smallest shred of any prophecy, reveals such a truth. So, Jesus has authority over all the principalities and powers. What then was his struggle? There'd be no sense of existing. They needed to know, I will not say, that Christ suffices only; but that there is such fulness of blessing and glory in Christ as utterly to eclipse and condemn all that flesh would glory in. He wants all churches to be strong, through the believers loving one another and having a full understanding of their riches in Christ. Nor is continuance in prayer all; but vigilant watch in the same, which does not let slip the just occasion for supplication; and as all things were to be done with thanksgiving, so prayer also, which would assuredly not forget the need of those in the forefront of the spiritual warfare and toil of love. Am I to forget His glory in the presence of God? Impossible that He could be aught but the first-born. All question, therefore, of what existed before His death and resurrection is at once excluded. We have now traversed the varied contents of the epistle, and it is evident that the Holy Ghost forms an integral part of the divine truth unfolded in it from beginning to end. Paul goes further. Let no one rob you of your prize by walking in ostentatious humility in the worship of angels, making a parade of the things he has seen, vainly inflated with pride because he is dominated by his sinful human nature and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, supplied and held together by the joints and muscles, increases with the increase which only God can give. In material science it is not so, in schools of doctrine it is not so: there is something altogether circumscribed, in known limits, and definite enough to satisfy the mind of man. And I was endeavoring by my efforts, by my works, to be accepted by God and to be righteous before God. He had heard of the church from Epaphras, who was the minister there, who had told Paul of the love that these people had for Jesus Christ and of the faith. And what a blessing when you have that full assurance as we sing, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine." Then he went on: "Any priest can circumcise a man's foreskin; only Christ can bring about that spiritual circumcision which means cutting away from a man's life everything which keeps him from being God's obedient child.". They must be rooted and built in him. I would make so many promises to God. Neither completeness in Christ, nor joyful sense of heavenly relationship, nor heed to our own relations in this life, should weaken for an instant, but rather minister to an increased sense of the need and value of depending on God. The apostle will not sanction such an amalgam, but refuses it; and we must remember that in these exhortations it was the Lord acting by the Spirit in His servant. Men were in debt to God because of their sins and they knew it. Colossians 2:20-23. As we have seen, the Jews had a highly-developed doctrine of angels and the Gnostics believed in all kinds of intermediaries. It is really what man is; and such is the nature which alone we had as children of Adam. 3. Yet it is never the sign either of life or of bloodshedding, but of a state of privilege beyond. No one will deny the visions of the mystics, but there is always danger when a man begins to think that he has attained a height of holiness which enables him to see what common men--as he calls them--cannot see; and the danger is that men will so often see, not what God sends them, but what they want to see. We do not know precisely what that teaching was. Do we look for such happiness, and should we not set our affections upon that world, and live above this? When the Christians unite in breaking bread, they show forth the death of Christ till He come. They wished to introduce all kinds of rules and regulations about what a man might eat and drink and about what days he must observe as festivals and fasts. This is my task; I do it, and will not desert this post, as long as it may be given me to fill it; and I exhort You to join with me in this same song." The word here used has two senses; first, "to bring, or knit, together" (as in Colossians 2:19, and Ephesians 4:16 ); next," to carry with us" in argument i.e., to "instruct," or "convince" (as in Acts 9:22; Acts 16:10; 1Corinthians 2:16 ). Traditions And The Stars ( Colossians 2:8-10). Every right-minded person revolts from it as a lusus naturae, and a piece of affectation or acting. So, being dead in your sins, the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made you alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses. (ii) It may well be that there was another struggle going on in Paul's mind. It is enough. But for all that a gap was left on which, when filled up, types might more or less bear, wholly different from the history, and not more answering to the prophecy. But this is not at all the divine way of dealing with the Christian. "And my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord: whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your state, and comfort your hearts; with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. Still less was it because of anything conferred on Him, whether of power or office. Our struggle is never for ourselves alone; always the honour of Christ is in our hands and the faith of others in our keeping. We must never allow one truth to be either shut out or enfeebled by another; but then we need also to remember that there are, and have always been, those that, having begun seemingly well, have ended by becoming the enemies of Christ and the church. Philosophy, on the contrary, made matters worse, as indeed did the resources of human religion. And though having not seen them, yet he is greatly concerned for them. (iv) There is the worship of angels ( Colossians 2:18; Colossians 2:20). (1 Corinthians 1:18.) I don't have to go through a chain of command. It used to be said that in the ancient world when a law or an ordinance was cancelled, it was fastened to a board and a nail was driven clean through it. Again, on each Lord's day, when we are gathered together to Christ's name, what is before us according to God's word and will? Not that there may not be danger even then; save that as long as the eye is on Christ there is none, because what is inconsistent with His name is refused. "For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom [or rather which] are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." This is called the riches of the full assurance of understanding. (c) Paul goes on. No scheme of salvation, or Divine knowledge, ever equalled in its depth and excellency the Gospel plan. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." You can make no comparison between Satan and God as far as opposites or even alikes. (v) The true Church should have in it a soldier's discipline. Beloved, the Christ that we know gives no glory to the first man; neither does He put honour on ordinances or human priesthood. There is a figure especially characteristic of the divine nature morally considered I need not say light, as we are told more fully in the epistle to the Ephesians. They were endeavouring to strike an alliance between Christ and the world. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." (i) It should be a Church of courageous hearts. And this I say, [Paul said,] lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. The word which he uses is parakalein ( G3870) . How blessed! This may be understood either of the mystery of the Gospel, which contains the rich mines and hidden treasures of all divine truths; so called, because of the richness and intrinsic value and excellency of them; and because of their variety and abundance, being the unsearchable riches of Christ: or of Christ himself . What could be more vast than the reconciliation of all things in heaven and earth? 2:8-23 Beware lest there will be anyone who will carry you off as his spoil, by insisting on the necessity of a so-called philosophy, which is, in fact, an empty delusion, a philosophy which has been handed down by human tradition, and which is concerned with the elements of this world, and not with Christ; for in him there dwells the fullness of the divine nature; and you have found this fullness in him who is the head of every power and authority. He's everything; He's all. And after this mortifying experience where the very man who prompted all of his anger against the Jews, he was forced by the King to give him a position of honor. . "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." He meant to reconcile man spite of himself; He would prove His own love to be the conqueror of his hatred. And so, He spoiled the principalities and powers. So, all of these things within the law only foreshadowed what was accomplished by Jesus. This, then, shows Christ, in a certain sense, in the Gentiles here below; as, in the Ephesians, Christ is seen above and we in Him. He was a minister both of the gospel, and, as is said a little later, of the church two very different spheres, seldom united in the same individual. Tradition never manifested the true God. Now, because I am believing and trusting in Jesus Christ, I do want to know Him. Not only that, the law which these people were trying to push upon the Colossians, this verythe ordinances of the law, the observances of the Sabbath days, the dietary laws, the types of meat that you can eat, and the various traditions of the Jews as far as the dietary laws, he said that Jesus Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross ( Colossians 2:14 ); So, Christ is the end of the law to those that believe. Jesus himself had said that it made no difference what a man ate or drank ( Matthew 15:10-20; Mark 7:14-23). (iv) The true Church must have the power to resist seductive teaching. He it is who strengthens the inner man to enjoy through Christ all the fulness of God. Then come allusions to his various fellow-prisoners and fellow-servants, particularly noting Epaphras, who laboured fervently in prayer for them. If I am depending upon my efforts and my works to make me righteous, I can never have full assurance. There was much that was blessed at Colosse; and the apostle loves to give full credit for it. It's important that we distinguish that, vitally important that we distinguish that. The same words are used to describe distinct gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:8. These things at first sight appear far apart, but they are not so in result. 2. He must have longed to go to Colosse himself. Instead of letting the reins free now to run in the race of improving the world and bettering society, or any of the objects that occupy men as such, the saints of God should abstain altogether. 2. Pauls message reveals to people the plan of God that had not been made known to previous generations. Written for individuals or groups, author Lydia Brownback provides conversational teaching, practical application questions, and additional recommended resources to help women live Christ-centered lives focused on the . "And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. Now comes the positive character to be borne) "Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved." In Colossians 1:25-29 and Ephesians 3:3-5, the earthly recipients of the treasures are described as the apostles and prophets and the saints who heard them. Next we enter on the apostle's thanksgiving. The foundation of the apostles and prophets took in the New Testament writers in general. Thus the mystery includes, first, Christ as Head above, we though here being united by the Holy Ghost to Him glorified. Proud, fallen nature is satisfied even by these efforts to put down the body; whereas God would have the body to have a certain honour in its own place, and that of the Christian is the temple of the Holy Ghost. It's buried, and now I'm going to live a new life after the Spirit. You've renounced the life of the flesh. God's Way of EscapeMay 7, 2023 - 3:43 pm. But what we do need is fresh experiences in the old truths of God's word. Thus it is that He rises into a new condition, leaving behind that which had fallen under vanity or death through its sinning chief, the first Adam. But there is far more than that: "If ye then be risen with Christ." The idea here is, that in reference to the wisdom and knowledge needful for us, Christ is what abundant treasures are in reference to the supply of our wants. He forgave you all your sins and wiped out the charge-list which set out all your self-admitted debts, a charge-list which was based on the ordinances of the law and which was in direct opposition to you. And one thing about children, they have access always to the Father. Have you not got the substance? "That very act," he said, "has already happened to you in baptism." He was God's chosen One in the highest sense; He was the holy and beloved. (i) Men were dead in their sins. These things change from time to time and from place to place. But He is also the One on whom we build. Such was the position of Israel. [Note: Dunn, p. This passage has certain basic Gnostic ideas intertwined all through it. Yet there were men not wanting then that denied him to be an apostle. How many times in my endeavors to please God would I promise God that I was going to be better. Paul exhorted his readers to continue to believe and practice the truth of Gods revelation. So to the church he says, "I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation [or stewardship] of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God. There is nothing that Gnostic knowledge and Gnostic intermediaries can do for men--Christ has done it all already. After this follow particular exhortations, on which we need not at present dwell. Thus the fact of prying into that which God has not revealed, and man has not seen, such as speculations about angels, is the patent proof that the heart is not really satisfied with its portion. That there are certain beliefs which remain the foundation of the fact that I am righteous my! Endeavoring by my efforts, by my efforts and my works, be. God as far as opposites or even alikes been set apart to live after Spirit... 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