2017-01-27
Good Morning Dear Ones,
In review, allow me to cite COL 2: 2-3, Paul’s stated purpose in his letter to the denizens of Hierapolis, Laodicea, and Colossae. “My purpose is that you may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have 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.” In keeping with Christ’s words in JN 15: 13-15-; “everything I learned from the Father, I have made known to you.” Imagine! Nothing is held back!
Now, we need to look at what Paul means by freedom from human regulations through life with Christ. To begin, one can be sure that Christ (through Paul) wants us to be prepared to recognize human deceptions that cause us to stray from Biblical teaching-truth. In addition, we are to be strengthened in our faith in Him and thankful. Deceptive human-crafted philosophies which depend on human traditions are the stuff of the world. We are surrounded by them. This is quite opposite of Christ’s teachings, as those come from Christ, Who has the fullness of God in bodily form. We are reminded of DN 7: 13-14, in which Christ is given authority over every power and the right to be the final Judge of all creation.
COL 2: 11, “In Him you were also circumcised… in the putting off of the sinful nature, 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.” This circumcision was accomplished supernaturally, not by human hands. Dear Ones, this is huge! We didn’t have that power to choose not to sin before we came to faith in Christ. With this faith, we can do this, even if it is hard for us. Being raised with Christ means that we can’t stop God from loving us, encouraging us not to sin by means of the Holy Spirit (working as our conscience), or anticipating the day when He (God) decides we are ready to spend a blissful fellowship with Him for eternity. Does this mean we can’t sin? Of course not! What it means is that when we sin, the Holy Spirit makes clear to us that’s what we’ve done and that we must stop sinning. This is what it means to be alive in Christ. And that’s only one of the many blessings that faith in Christ brings into our lives.
The written code with all it’s human-crafted regulations has been nailed to the cross. RO 7: 6, “But now by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serving in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.” Gone from our lives is the legalism that once led us to certain spiritual death. Please do not confuse what is written here with human laws, like those pertaining to traffic safety or laws for the citizens of our country to keep the peace. We must still obey these. Instead, I refer to laws such as those applying to the format of rituals and the like. COL 2: 15 brings us a mental picture of Christ leading a parade of disarmed powers and authorities in triumph over them. Our reality is Christ, so there is no reason to allow others to judge us by what we eat or drink or other customs we follow. These judges don’t deserve to have any power over us.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before You to thank and praise You for opening to us Your wisdom. We are forever grateful to You for untying us from the ropes representing legalism brought about by human-crafted rituals and regulations. You have shown us what love is by the way You have sacrificed Your Son, Jesus, on the cross. Our opportunity for eternal forgiveness [1 JN 1: 9], justification [RO 4: 3], sanctification [PS 52: 8], and salvation [JN 5: 24] for eternity couldn’t have happened any other way. You have made us alive in Christ and dead to the captivity of sin. You empowered us to know all Christ’s teaching and to make the choice to follow it. You gave us faith in Christ, faith that is strong enough to overcome challenges to it. There will be times when the going is rough, but with Christ’s help, we will overcome. You have promised us, in the books of Daniel and Revelation, that evil will not prevail. The Holy Spirit calls us to use wisdom and patience in the determination of what is godly and what isn’t. EPH 5:11-14 speaks of how light makes evil visible and how we must wake up to discover Christ in us. We acknowledge that Your will is that we should eschew all evil. You warn us to be on our toes in 1 PET 5: 8-9. We thank and praise You for Your word, which really does give “a lamp unto our feet, a light for our path” [PS 119: 105]. We pledge to remember we are alive in Christ, especially when being attacked by the evil one. This takes self-discipline and control. We are reminded of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in GA 5: 22-23 and the armor of God in EPH 6: 14-18. These are the things that You want to see us demonstrate in the course of our lives. Without them, we cannot overcome; with them we can be victorious in Christ. These things we say in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit directs me to write about the statement, “our reality is Christ” next week. Never before in our country’s history have we come through an election campaign or transition period like the present one. At the time this message is posted, Donald J. Trump will have been inaugurated as the president of the USA. Those who opposed him have been angry enough at the election’s outcome to demonstrate in the streets, continue to speak of him disrespectfully, and some even indulge in violence. And yet, Mr. Trump and our country’s leaders have all said it is time to heal and remember we are all Americans. Had Christ Himself won this election, He too would remind us of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. While not everyone in this country is a Christian, every major faith system shouldn’t have trouble with these traits. I feel the need to write this, because of how important to the welfare of America they are. The real Ruler here is God. Remember DN 4: 17, “…the Most High is Sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.” Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2016. All Rights Reserved.
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