2017-10-06
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Paul wanted those believers in Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea to know him and the faith he has in the Lord Jesus well. But, he was faced with having to convey this in his epistle to them, which had to be transmitted by his faithful assistant, Epaphras. This predicament was occasioned by his being on house arrest in Rome. COL 2: 1-23 is really Paul’s prayer for Christ’s followers. He wants to encourage them and begins with stating his reasons, in COL 2: 2-3. “I do this (prayerfully write to them) in order that they may be filled with courage and may be drawn together in love which true understanding brings. In this way, they will know God’s secret, which is Christ Himself. He is the Key which opens all the hidden treasure of God’s wisdom and knowledge.”
From this point, Paul writes his greatest concern, which is that others won’t deceive them with false arguments no matter how good they seem to be. This describes the competition to their beliefs found in the “Colossian Heresy,” which led to Gnosticism. More than anything, Paul wanted them to stand firm in their faith in Christ. Paul then turns to a description of the fullness of a life in Christ.
COL 2: 6-7, “Since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with Him. Keep your roots deep in Him, build your lives on Him and become stronger in your faith, as you were taught. And, be filled with thanksgiving.” We are taught this same idea today. One can make Christ as permanent Resident of his home by practice of Biblical teaching, regular church attendance, prayer in the home, and regular service to God. The practice of integrity and other key teaching in the Bible should extend to one’s career and other interpersonal relationships. Any other lifestyle will lead to worthless deceit and human-centered thoughts and actions. Living a God-centered life leads to spiritual fulfillment, integrity, and recognition of Christ’s Lordship over that of other spiritual rulers and authorities. COL 2: 11 is particularly compelling. “In union with Christ you were circumcised, not by human hands, but with the circumcision made by Christ, which consists of being freed from the power of the sinful self.” I’m reminded of the truth of 1 JN 4: 4, “But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit which is in in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world.” Thus, the seemingly unbreakable connection between our sinful nature and Satan himself is broken by Christ in us, so that we now can make the choice whether to give in to the temptation to sin. Remember that the law told people what is sin and what is not, but only Christ’s Atonement can bring us salvation, eternal forgiveness, and justification [JN 3: 16; 1 JN 1: 9; RO 4: 3]. We are freed from the debt of our past sins, the onus of human-crafted rules and regulations, and the power of spiritual rulers and authorities lower than Christ. [COL 2: 14-15] “These are nailed to the cross, and Christ made a public spectacle of them by leading them as captives in His victory procession.” Red flags for Christians are “people who claim to be superior because of special visions, who insist on false humility, and who worship angels” [COL 2: 18a].
Under Christ, His body is held together and grows as He wants. As believers, we live and die with Christ. Asceticism is the harsh treatment of one’s body, as the monks of the Middle Ages practiced, based on human-crafted rules and regulations. This is living as if one belonged to the world. Any elements of this human-crafted lifestyle described here do nothing to help people control physical passions. [COL 2: 21, 23]. Paul’s prayer extends to COL 3: 1-4: 6.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have given us the greatest blessing we could ever have; it is that of the choice to live a life centered in Your Son, Jesus Christ. This life gives us access to Your wisdom, the gifts of the Holy Spirit [GA 5: 22-23], and the choice not to sin when tempted. At all times, You are with us by our union with Christ. You never abandon us [PS 9: 9-10]. You will answer our prayer to give us wisdom and discernment, so that we can recognize the work of the evil one when we encounter it. You are the all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present God, Who loves us unconditionally and wants us to spend eternity with Him by preventing us from spiritual death. The love Your Son demonstrated is the love that binds us in our faith in You and in our relationships with others. You free us from faulty human rules and regulations; You see to our needs, teaching us the difference between needs and wants. You encourage us, heal us, and uplift us with Your encouragement. We acknowledge Your righteousness and generosity. We beseech You to intervene and to make Your presence known in our lives. In the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit commands me to write a review of Gnosticism’s heretical beliefs, which provided Paul with so many concerns. Knowing how the evil one provides competition to the beliefs of Christianity prepares us to deal with it. It helps us to be discerning. While Gnosticism wasn’t being practiced at the time that I personally was, with God’s help, coming to what would be my own strong belief in Christianity, there was competition for my soul from human-crafted forces. For a very short time, I was exposed to Transcendental Meditation. The meditation was good for me, but the philosophy behind it was keeping me from maturing in my spiritual life. After leaving the latter, I spent 12 years being exposed to another church’s theology, which came up wanting when I compared it to the OT and the NT. There is no question that spiritually, I was a late bloomer. By the time I left that church, I had gone through a transition to a Christian denomination that had strong central control, a lot of mean-spirited politics, and had come to some very liberal beliefs with which I strongly disagreed. With a heavy heart, I left that church and eventually ended up in a wonderful congregation for 27 years, and then, the one to which my husband and I now belong. The first great shock of my life was receiving a call to the ministry; the second one was leaving our last church in MN and coming to our present one in UT. All of this was done at the behest of the Holy Spirit! Christ has had His imprint on our lives, and we’ve never been happier or more at peace than now. We have been “circumcised, not by human hands,” but by divine ones. Praise be to God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2017. All Rights Reserved.
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