All-Encompassing, All-Redeeming Christ

(adapted from Colossians 1:15-20)

Christ is all-encompassing,

In every dimension and every degree.

The fullness of Christ in all things,

the fullness of all things in Christ,

with nothing left out at any point.

All things and everything.

Christ is the firstborn over all creation.

Not some,

not most,

but all.

All things have been created in Christ

and through Christ

and for Christ.

Not some,

not most,

but all.

Christ is before all things.

Not some,

not most,

but all.

And in Christ all things hold together.

Not some,

not most,

but all.

Christ is the head of the body,
the Church.

Christ the beginning,

and the new beginning,

the firstborn from

among the dead,

so that in all things

Christ might have

the supremacy.

Not some,

Not most,

but all.

For it was pleasing to God to have

all fullness dwell in Christ.

Not some,

not most,

but all.

And through Christ

to reconcile to himself all things.

Whether things on earth

or things in heaven,

by making peace

through his blood,

shed on the cross.

Not some,

not most,

but all.

Becoming Our True Selves

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (Colossians 3:9-10)

We are included in Christ from the beginning and reconciled to God by the death of Christ (see Chosen in Christ for the Unity of All Things). But there is still a putting off and a putting on we must do. We must “put off” our old self, our false self — it does not correspond to who we really are in Christ. And we must “put on” the new self, our true self, which is “being renewed in knowledge” in the image of our Creator (who is revealed in Colossians 1 and elsewhere as Christ). It is a process of becoming what has always been true of us, letting the reality of that truth change us so that our way of life begins to catch up with who we really are and were created to be.

We are “being renewed,” Paul says. There are a couple of things to note here. First is that it is in the present tense, which indicates that it is not yet a completed work but an ongoing one. In other words, this renewal is a process, not a once-and-done event. It takes place over time. Second, it is in the passive not the active voice. That is, it is not something we do to, for or in ourselves but something that is done to, for and in us by another. This relieves us of an impossible burden, for we could no more renew ourselves to the image of our Creator than we could have created ourselves in that image in the first place. But it is a work that God is graciously doing in us by the Holy Spirit, conforming us to image of his Son.

We are being renewed in “knowledge.” The Greek word is epignosis, and for Paul it is not about knowing God merely in our head but in our whole being. We have always been chosen in Christ, but now we begin to realize and experience what it means to be in Christ, to know and be known by him. This growing realization, which comes by the working of God within us, changes us. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” Paul says (Romans 12:2). The Greek word for “mind” here is nous and in the context of the gospel encompasses not only the intellect but the soul.

We are created in the image of God is so we may know God, experience God, fellowship with God, participate with God and express God to the rest of creation. This is a divine gift from the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit. The image according to which we are being renewed, the image of our Creator, is the image of Christ, who is the perfect expression of God and in whom all the fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form (Romans 8:29; Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 2:9). This divine renewal, then, must be the work of the God by his Spirit:

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory into glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

By yielding to this transformative work of God’s Spirit, we “put off,” or let go of the old false self and “put on,” or welcome the true self so that we may become who we really are, the person god created us to be from the beginning, bearing fully the image and glory of God. This is true freedom.

Christ In All Creation

Christ is all, and is in all. (Colossians 3:11)

Christ is intimately involved with us in our very being — and always has been. He is, Paul says, “the firstborn over all creation.”

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17)

Everything that exists was created by Christ, through Christ and for Christ. All things are created in Christ, and in him all things hold together and continue to have being. At Mars Hill, Paul affirmed with the Greek poets that “we live and move and have our being” in God (Acts 17:28). All of us are in God, in Christ our creator. We have ever been so and ever will be.

But the reciprocal is also true: All things are in Christ; Christ is in all things. “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all” (Colossians 3:11). This is true not only of the Church but of all people and, indeed, of all creation. Christ is all in all, which is why everyone and everything matters.

Christ is in all creation. This, I have discovered, is difficult for some Christians to accept. For if Christ is in all creation, they reason, then that would mean that all creation is saved. I don’t fault the logic of that; in fact, I accept that conclusion. But they do not like the conclusion, however, and since they do not deny their own logic (they would be refuting themselves by doing so), they instead dismiss the premise and deny that Christ is in all creation.

The Scriptures are clear that Christ is the beginning of all things and that all things are in him. They are equally clear that Christ is also the final resolution of all things: All things in heaven and on earth being brought into unity under Christ, reconciled to God through Christ by the blood of the cross (Ephesians 1:10; Colossians 1:19-20).

It is hard to think of how Christ could be so intimately related to all things, causing all things to be, even to the point of holding all things together in their continued existence, without himself actually being in them. Indeed, Paul says of the Christ by whom, through whom and for whom all things are created, in whom all things exist and by whom all things are reconciled to God — Paul says that this same Christ is in all things. A literal rendering of the Greek text in Colossians 3:11 identifies him as “the all and in all Christ.”

Christ is in all creation, but this does not mean that Christ is the creation. The Christian faith is not a pantheistic one. In his divinity, Christ is the creator of all things and permeates all things, but he is not the same as his creation. Every created thing has being and is a being, but Christ as creator is being itself, the source of being for everything that exists.

Yet, in the Incarnation, when God became a man, Christ became part of his own creation. In him, God joined himself to all humanity and partakes of human nature. And in him, we become “partakers of the divine nature,” as 2 Peter 1:4 teaches — though we do not become God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We remain ourselves just as God remains God’s own self.

In his humanity, Christ connected to all of creation, because all creation is itself connected. Through Christ, God is transforming all creation, beginning with us, to conform us to the image of the Son — and this affects all creation.

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. (Romans 8:19-22)

In the end, when all things have come to their fulfillment, we will see that God is “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28). This is the unity of all things in Christ. It is the good news of the gospel, which includes you and me and all of creation. Our part is to yield to the transforming power of God’s love that is revealed in Christ and in the hell-shattering depth of his cross and resurrection.

Christ the Source of All Being

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17)

All things are created in Christ, through Christ and for Christ. Nothing exists apart from him. He is not on the outside of anything. He is within everything, holding everything together, causing everything to continue to exist. This is true not only of material things but of spiritual things as well — it is true of everything that has been created.

God is not merely a being, not even just the greatest of all beings. He does not merely have being — he is being, and is the necessary source of all other beings. God does not merely exist; he is existence. If he were not, if existence were a separate thing that God possessed and that caused him to be, then existence would be a higher being than God. It must be, then, that God is existence and being itself, who causes all other things to be. God revealed himself as being when he identified himself to Moses as “I AM that I AM.” Several times in the Gospel, the Lord Jesus revealed himself simply as “I AM”. In Acts 17, Paul affirmed that we all “live and move and have our being” in God.

The relationship between God and his creation is not merely like that of an artisan and his artifact. An artisan can place his creation on a shelf or pack it up and ship it off to a client and be done with it. But God is not only the maker of creation, he is present throughout as the continuing source of its being. It continues to exist because God is present within every part of it. If God were absent from any part, that part would simply not exist. The idea that anything could continue to exist without God being present within it as the cause of its continued existence comes from a much later philosophy than any known by the New Testament writers or the early Church Fathers.

As the creator and sustainer of everything that exists, then, Christ is necessarily present everywhere in the universe. His presence permeates everything. He is in every part of everything, keeping them all going. He is not identical with every part — that would be pantheism — but he is ever present within them as the source of their continued existence.

The spiritual realm also is his, and he is, likewise, present throughout. Though there are souls in rebellion against him, Christ is never absent from them, for their continued existence, even as spirit, is totally dependent upon him. It is his very presence — his loving, sustaining presence — in them that becomes a torment for them for as long as they turn away from him.

The presence of Christ does not just surround us — it pervades us. Yet, though we live and move and have our being in Christ, we do not pervade him. He remains who he is and we remain who we are. We do not lose our identity but we begin to realize our true identity — who we were really created to be in Christ. In turning to Christ, we are embracing the source of our existence, blessing the source of our identity, and we experience his loving presence not as torment but as the blessing it is.

Christ is the source of all being. Only in him do we come to know our true selves. It is only in Christ, then, that we find true reconciliation — with God, the world, each other and ourselves — to become what we really are. This is God’s plan in Christ concerning all things, and in this way, Christ is making all things new.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)

The Gospel of Reconciliation

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)

In Colossians 1, Paul gives a rich account of the gospel, the announcement concerning King Jesus the Messiah. It is the gospel that has gone out into all the world, even in Paul’s day, and has been bringing forth fruit ever since (vv. 5-6). It is the gospel the believers at Colosse learned from Epaphras, one of their own, and Paul’s fellow servant (v. 7). It is the gospel by which God has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 13). It is the gospel by which we have redemption — the forgiveness of sins — through the blood of King Jesus (v. 14). Then in verses 15 through 18, Paul gives us a marvelous description of the divine Son whom this gospel announces:

• He is the image of the invisible God.
• He is the firstborn over all creation.
• All things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, including thrones, dominions, principalities and powers, were created by Him, through Him and for Him.
• He existed before everything else.
• In Him all things hold together.
• He is the head of the body, the source of the Church, its very beginning.
• He is the firstborn from the dead.
• He leads the way in everything.

And now, in verse 19, we come to the point of it all — the reason for the gospel and the purpose of the kingdom: It pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell in the divine Son, and by the Son to reconcile all things to Himself. God’s plan is that everything comes together in Christ. The One by whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together is the One in whom all things are being reconciled to God. Paul says something very similar in Ephesians 1, where he is again describing the gospel:

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him. (Ephesians 1:7-10)

This is God’s pleasure and purpose, that all things, both in heaven and on earth, be gathered together into one in Christ. It is a reconciliation of cosmic proportions — and the point of the gospel. The underlying reality of this great reconciliation is what Jesus accomplished at the cross, where He made peace through the sacrifice of Himself.

• At the cross, Jesus “disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).
• “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11).
• Now King Jesus is bringing all things into alignment with God. “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:24-25).
• All who belong to Him participate in “the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:9-11).
• Even creation itself is waiting for this great reconciliation to be fully realized. “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:19-21).

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Fulfilling the Ministry of Jesus

Having passed along the greetings of his ministry associates, Paul adds a few of his own:

Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house.

Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”

This salutation by my own hand — Paul. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen. (Colossians 4:15-18)

There are close associations between the believers at Colosse and those at Laodicea. For one thing, they are only about ten miles apart. For another, Epaphras actively ministered to both groups (as well as at Hierapolis). So, although Paul writes to the believers at Colosse, it is natural that he has them extend his greetings to those at Laodicea. Indeed, he wants to be sure that this letter itself will be shared with them all.

“Nymphas” appears to be one of these believers. Though the name in the NKJV and some other versions is masculine in form, there are also a number of other versions that render it as feminine, “Nympha,” including the NASB, NIV, ESV, LEB and CEV. The reason for this is that the early copies of this letter speak of the church that meets in “her” house. It is more likely that early copyists would have changed “her” to “his” rather than “his” to “her,” so “her” would more likely the original reading.

Churches did not meet in public spaces but in private houses. Nympha’s was one. Philemon’s was another. Paul’s letter to him is addressed, “To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house” (Philemon 1-2). Apphia might have been Philemon’s wife, and Archippus their son. The church met in their home.

Paul speaks of a letter he wrote to Laodicea, which he wants to be read at Colosse also, but this has never been conclusively identified. Some have suggested that it is the book of Ephesians, which is very similar to Colossians. Others suggest that it was the letter to Philemon, since he might have been closer to Laodicea and there was a church that met in his house. Or perhaps the letter simply no longer exists.

There is a personal word to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.” This is not a suggestion that Archippus has somehow been slack in his duties. We do not know exactly what this ministry entails. Perhaps he is a pastor of the church that meets in his house, or maybe he is filling the position at Colosse left vacant by the absence of Epaphras, and Paul is giving him a word of encouragement in this new role. Paul has identified a number of things about which the believers at Colosse and their leaders need to be aware, and it appears that Archippus did indeed “take heed.” Church tradition has him as the first bishop of Laodicea and numbers him among the “Seventy Apostles.”

Finally, Paul closes his letter with a few words in his own hand. His letters were usually written down by an amanuensis, a secretary of sorts. His own handwritten words were usually brief. Here, they are quite simple: “Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen.” Paul wants to remind them that he needs their prayers. It is similar to the way the letter to the Hebrews closes, “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them — those who are mistreated — since you yourselves are in the body also” (Hebrews 13:3). The message is that we are all in this together. Paul would also want them to remember that he was in chains for their sake, as well as for the gospel of King Jesus the Messiah.

Paul also usually closes with a benediction, such as, “Grace be with you.” Simple but profound. It is not merely a custom, though. Paul really has the grace of God in mind, and it is for every believer just as much as it is for him. “Amen” affirms the truth of that grace and, indeed, of all he has written to them.

Focus Questions

1. The early Church met in homes. Was this merely because of the times or were there advantages to it?
2. Why did Paul want the church at Laodicea to read the letter he wrote to the church at Colosse? Why is this letter important for us today?
3. What ministry have you received from the Lord and how do you know when you have fulfilled it?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Standing Firm

Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you, and those who are in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis. Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you. (Colossians 4:12-14)

We met Epaphras at the beginning of this letter, where Paul called him “our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf” (Colossians 1:7). Here, we find Epaphras “laboring fervently” for them. This is from the same Greek word Paul uses of himself in Colossians 1:29, about “striving” according to the energizing power of God at work in him. The word is agonizomai. Although we get our English word “agony” from it, Paul is not speaking of intense pain but intense effort.

Epaphras has great fire, great passion for the Jesus believers at Colosse. He was the one who first brought them the proclamation about King Jesus the Messiah. He is not now present with them but with Paul in Rome, many miles away. What is his fervent labor for them, then? Prayer. He pours himself out for them in intercession, pressing his desires and requests for them before God. His purpose is the same as Paul’s: That they may “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” Or as Paul put it earlier, to “present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28).

Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1:9 is that they would be “filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” Epaphras prays that they may stand in that, to be firm and confident, to come to maturity and fulfill the divine purpose destiny God has for them. His intense desire is not only for the believers at Colosse but also at Laodicea and Hierapolis. He holds all three cities in his heart with great zeal and gladly gives himself for them.

Luke was a Gentile who came to King Jesus, apparently through the ministry of Paul at Troas. He is the author of the Gospel According to Luke, and its companion piece, The Acts of the Apostles. It is not until Acts 16:10-11 that Luke begins speaking of himself as part of Paul’s missions (not by name, but by use of “us” and “we”). From then on, he was a fixture of Paul’s ministry and was with him near the end of Paul’s life. “Only Luke is with me,” Paul says in his farewell letter (2 Timothy 4:11).

All we know of Demas are Paul’s brief mentions in Colossians and Philemon, which are merely words of greeting, and this bit in 2 Timothy 4:10 that is quite telling: “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.” Apparently the growing persecution near the end of Paul’s life turned out to be more than Demas was willing to bear.

Focus Questions

1. Epaphras “labored fervently” in prayer for the believers at Colosse. What do you imagine that was like? How did that intense desire come about in his life?
2. Who is there for whom you have great zeal and what is your desire for them?
3. What do you suppose might account for the difference between Epaphras and Demas, or Luke and Demas?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Not a One Man Show

Paul was no one man show. He always had partners with him, a team of associates who worked alongside him in ministry. During the times he was in prison for preaching the gospel, he relied on them all the more. Now, as he brings his letter to a close, he offers a few words about them.

Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts, with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things which are happening here. (Colossians 4:7-9)

Tychicus is from the province of Asia, in Asia Minor, likely from the city of Ephesus. Luke includes him in Acts 20:4 as one of those who accompanied Paul on his third missionary journey. Paul mentions him in his letter to the Jesus believers at Ephesus, using similar words as here. He is a “beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord.” Is there a higher acclamation than that? In the Parable of the Talents, the commendation of the Master was, “Well done, good and faithful servant … Enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matthew 25:21, 23). Paul is sending Tychicus to see how they are doing and to let them know what is happening with Paul.

Onesimus is the slave who ran away from Philemon and wound up with Paul at Rome, where he unexpectedly became a follower of King Jesus. Paul calls him a “faithful and beloved brother” and would like to keep him there with him in Rome, because he has become so helpful to the ministry there (Philemon 11-13), but he knows he must send him back home to Colosse to sort out his affairs with Philemon.

Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him), and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision; they have proved to be a comfort to me. (Colossians 4:10-11)

Aristarchus, a Jew of Thessalonica, is another one Luke mentions as part of Paul’s missionary team (Acts 19:29; Acts 20:4). He has been faithful through thick and thin. He accompanied Paul on his voyage to Rome, where it appears he was likewise imprisoned. He is known to the Jesus believers at Colosse and they are known to him. The early Greek Church identifies him as one of the “Seventy Apostles” and the bishop of Apamea. Tradition says that he was martyred along with Paul under Nero’s persecution.

Mark is John Mark, who was Barnabas’ cousin, or perhaps nephew (the exact intent of the Greek is uncertain here). He went out with Paul and Barnabas on a missionary journey (Acts 12:25) but soon turned back for home and for some reason did not continue on with them “to the work” (Acts 15:38). Because of that, when Barnabas wanted to bring Mark on another mission, Paul refused. The disagreement between Paul and Barnabas was so sharp over this that they split up, Barnabas taking Mark and Paul taking Silas (Acts 15:37-40). Paul eventually realized that Mark was beneficial to the ministry after all (2 Timothy 4:11). Mark also became very important to the ministry of Peter, who spoke of him as of a son. Early Church history indicates that the Gospel According to Mark represents the preaching of Peter. Paul instructs the church at Colosse, “if he comes to you, welcome him.” Perhaps they have been aware of the previous dispute over Mark, and Paul wants them to know that has all now been cleared up. According to Church history, Mark was martyred in the region of modern-day Libya, not very many years after Paul and Peter gave their ultimate witness by blood.

We know very little about “Jesus who is called Justus.” Aristarchus, Mark and Justus, the only members on Paul’s team who are Jewish, have stood firm with him in difficult times and have proven to be a great comfort for him.

Focus Questions

1. Paul always had people around him who were associated with him in ministry. Why is this important and what are the advantages?
2. How did Paul view their place in ministry — as under him, with him, both? How did they see their place in ministry?
3. Who are you partnered with in the ministry of King Jesus? When things get tough, who are you there to stand with and who is there to stand with you?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Walking in Wisdom, Seasoned With Salt

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Colossians 4:5-6)

Paul concludes his instructions with a word on how believers should relate to people who do not know King Jesus or understand the faith. “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside.” It is a walk, a consistent pattern, a life of wisdom. Not the wisdom offered by the false teachers, the wisdom that is according to the principalities and powers and how the world has learned to operate under them, but spiritual wisdom — the wisdom that comes from God by the Holy Spirit at work in our spirits.

Ever since Paul heard of their faith, he has prayed for these believers to be filled with wisdom and understanding (Colossians 1:9). This is the wisdom that is able to bring every believer into maturity in our new life in Jesus the Messiah (Colossians 1:28). It is the wisdom that is found in Him, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3), the wisdom that abounds to us as we let the word that is from and about Him come and make its home in us.

We are to “redeem the time.” The word for “redeem” literally means to buy up from the marketplace. The word for “time” here is not chronos but kairos. It is not clock or calendar time but poignant time, a time that is ripe, an opportune time. This is not about time management but about preparedness. To redeem the time is to make the most of every opportunity. Thayer’s Greek Definitions offers this meaning: “to make wise and sacred use of every opportunity for doing good.” We do this by walking in the wisdom that comes from God. He will show us what to do or say, just as He showed Jesus (see previous section).

Our speech, our words, our communication, should always be gracious, “seasoned with salt.” Jesus said, “Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another” (Mark 9:50). If our words have no wisdom or grace, they will be tasteless and will not go down well, and they might be spit back at us. When they are seasoned with wise understanding and a gracious disposition, they convey the love of God in a way that might persuade the hearer and lead to their peace. In his letter to Timothy, Paul said, “a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Walking in wisdom and speaking with grace, we will know how to effectively answer those with whom we engage. Peter put it this way, “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15). This is about making a defense, not being defensive. It is giving answer, a reason for the expectation we have in King Jesus. This readiness is not especially about studying rhetoric and engaging in debates, although those may be good things to study. It arises from knowing King Jesus the Messiah, who He is and why He came, understanding from the Scriptures what God is doing in the world, walking in the wisdom that comes from God.

Focus Questions

1. What does “wisdom toward those who are outside” look like?
2. Paul speaks of “redeeming the time,” or make the most of every opportunity. What sort of opportunities do you think he might have had in mind?
3. What are some examples of speech that is “seasoned with salt”? What are some examples of speech that is not?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

The Spiral of Watchful, Thankful Prayer

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. (Colossians 4:2-4)

Paul now moves on from teaching about household relationships to offer a few words that will help the believers at Colosse keep properly focused on Jesus.

To “continue earnestly” in prayer means to be devoted to prayer, attentive to prayer, always ready to pray. The Greek word comes from a root that means to be steadfast. It is in the present tense and indicates that our devotion prayer is to be a continual activity. Elsewhere, Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17; see How to Pray Without Ceasing).

Prayer is not simply about making requests. It is an act of worship, pressing into God with all our desires and concerns. It is an activity of the Holy Spirit at work in us. “For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).

Prayer is not just for set times but for the thousand moments of each day. It is a constant fellowship with God, a running conversation with Him as we encounter the world together. Nor is prayer a private activity. We pray when we are together, we pray when we are apart, but our prayers always belong to each other because we belong to each other, and it is the same Spirit praying in us all.

“Being vigilant” speaks of watchfulness, wakefulness, always being alert. With all the miracles he performed, Jesus said that He could do only what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). He judged only as He heard the Father judge (John 5:30) and spoke only as the Father showed Him to speak (John 8:28), so that He did only those things which pleased the Father (John 8:29). In other words, He learned how to watch the Father and listen for His voice. The focus of our watchfulness, then, is the Father, and on Jesus, who shows us the Father. The Holy Spirit is given to help us in this, of whom Jesus said, “ All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He [the Holy Spirit] will take of mine and declare it to you.” Being alert, in our prayer, to the works of the Father, the things of Jesus and the activity of the Holy Spirit, we will come to all the understanding and discernment that we need.

As we continue in prayer and watchfulness, we discover how much we have to be thankful for, about King Jesus, how God is working through Him in the world, who He is in us and who we are in Him. Giving thanks to God for all He does and reveals to us brings the cycle of prayer to completeness, spinning our spiral of worship forward. It is in this prayerfulness, this watchfulness, this thankfulness — this worship — that we keep our focus properly oriented on King Jesus.

Paul also wants the believers at Colosse to be sure to remember him in their prayers, that God would give him and his associates (whom he will mention shortly) an “open door” for the message of the gospel. His passion is to preach the “mystery” of the Messiah to the whole world, to proclaim that Jesus is not just King of the Jews but the Lord of heaven and earth who has come to bring the shalom, the wholeness that comes from God, into all the world. He desires, as he said earlier, “to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). It is for this that he has gladly endured the chains of imprisonment, and he has no intention of backing down from it. He wants to make the mystery apparent, that it may be seen by all. And he wants to speak it boldly as well as clearly (see Ephesians 6:20).

The “open door” Paul seeks might be release from prison so that he can have greater mobility to go forth. But his passion for the good news about King Jesus is such that he is ready for the message to go forth even if he himself remained in chains.

Focus Questions

1. Is devotion to prayer a dull or difficult thing to do, or a source of wonder and amazement for you?
2. How does watching or listening for the Lord play into prayer?
3. Why is thanksgiving important to this kind of watchfulness and prayer?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Onesimus and Philemon ~ Receiving a Brother

In his section on household relationships (Colossians 3:18-4:1), Paul gives extra attention to how slaves and masters who are believers are to share their new life in Jesus. Though he speaks in general terms, he also has some specific individuals in mind. There is a man named Philemon, a faithful follower of King Jesus, who hosts meetings of the church in his home in or near Colosse. At the same time Paul writes to the believers there, he also prepares a brief, personal letter to Philemon. Paul’s desire for him is, “that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus” (Philemon 6).

Philemon has a servant named Onesimus, who ended up in Rome, where Paul is imprisoned for preaching the gospel of King Jesus. Most likely, Onesimus had some sort of falling out with Philemon and ran away to make an appeal to Paul, because Paul exercised spiritual oversight for the church at Colosse. This journey took an unexpected turn for Onesimus, however, when Paul led him to faith in Jesus the Messiah.

Paul now writes Philemon seeking a kindly disposition towards Onesimus. He does not speak by spiritual command but by the appeal to love (vv. 8-9): “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me” (vv. 10-11). Paul speaks of him as a son begotten in the faith by Paul himself. In his letter to the believers at Colosse, Paul speaks of Onesimus as a “faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you” (Colossians 4:9).

In Paul’s thinking, and indeed in the new reality of King Jesus, Onesimus and Philemon were on equal footing. It was the existing culture and economy — leftovers from the principalities and powers that Jesus disarmed — that needed to be addressed here. The old way of masters and slaves makes no sense to the new life we have in Jesus and so must give way. “I am sending him back,” Paul says and then adds, “You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart” (v. 12).

Paul wants Philemon to receive Onesimus, not as a runaway slave who has been returned and subject to severe treatment, but as dearly and affectionately as Paul himself has received him. An even greater desire, however, is that Onesimus be able to come again to Paul and assist him in the ministry of the gospel (v. 13). But Paul will not do that without Philemon’s consent, nor will he compel Philemon to do so (v. 14). His appeal is purely that of love and the order of new life in King Jesus, so that Philemon might receive Onesimus fully as a brother in the Lord.

For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave — a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. (vv. 15-16)

Though we do not know for certain the outcome of this appeal, it is hard to imagine that Philemon would refuse Paul’s request — when you realize that someone is your brother, how can you any longer treat him as anything less? The historical tradition of the Church is that Onesimus was martyred for his faith shortly after Paul’s death. He has been canonized as a saint by several Christian communions and is remembered every February 15.

Focus Questions

1. Paul wants Philemon to be effective in sharing his faith. How does his request of Philemon play into this?
2. Though Paul had spiritual oversight of Philemon, he did not want to “command” him in this. Why not?
3. What are other ways believers might treat other believers as less than brothers or sisters?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

New Life in the Home

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. (Colossians 3:18-4:1)

When the word of Messiah is at home in us, it fills us with His abundant wisdom. Paul shows us now what this wisdom looks like in our domestic relationships. The form of instruction he uses here is that of the “household code.” This form was a common feature of Greek and Roman teaching on ethics. They outline the duties and responsibilities members of a household owed to one another and especially to the paterfamilias, that is, the father of the family, the head of the house. In other words, they define how wives should act toward their husbands, children toward their fathers and slaves toward their masters, and it was all rather one-sided.

What Paul does with the household code, however, is unexpected, unheard of, even revolutionary. Household relationships in this new life in Jesus is not a one-way street — it runs both ways. We see this here in his letter to the believers at Colosse and also, more extensively, to in Ephesians 5:21-6:9 (Peter has a similar code in 1 Peter 2:18-3:9).

Wives are to submit to their husbands. This is “fitting,” or appropriate for our new life in Jesus. Indeed, submitting to one another appropriate for all of us. In his letter to the believers at Ephesus, Paul prefaces his household instruction with the words: “Submitting to one another” (Ephesians 5:21) That is, every believer is to submit to each other.

This is revolutionary! For husbands, it means that they are now to love their wives and not be bitter or ill-tempered toward them or provoke them. This love is not just a matter of having kind affections toward them. No, this is the kind of self-giving love Jesus has for us. Indeed, in Ephesians, Paul adds, “Just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Jesus submitted His whole life for the sake of the Church, and that is how husbands are to love their wives, submitting themselves for the sake of their wives. Note also what Paul does not say. He does not say, “Husbands, rule over your wives,” or “Husbands, make your wives submit.”

Children are to obey their parents in all things. This pleases the Lord and is, indeed, in keeping with the Fifth Commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).

But now there also is a word to fathers: “Do not provoke your children.” Do not be quarrelsome or contentious. Do not push them to anger, for example, by continual fault-finding or dealing unfairly or unreasonably with them. This is so that they do not become discouraged and no longer willing to try. Or they dishonor their parents instead of coming to maturity and walking in the favor and blessing of the Lord. The love of King Jesus expressed through fathers has much influence over this.

Now Paul speaks to the relationship between bondservants and masters. In his letter to the believers in Galatia, he said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). In other words, there is full equality for every believer in Jesus, regardless of ethnicity, social stature, or whether one is a man or woman. For servants and slaves, this was a new reality, one that undermines abusive institutions. Though they were still servants according to their present social structure, the old system that operated according to the principalities and powers, it was now King Jesus they were really serving. Just as Jesus came to be a servant and offer His life on the cross, and in so doing disarmed the powers, in the same way, those who belong to Him overturn corrupt institutions and power structures by serving as He did.

How much more true this was for masters who took Jesus as their own Master. They were now answerable to Him for how they treated their servants. Realizing that Jesus came as a servant Himself for their sake would present a tension that eventually pulls down the walls of corrupt systems. This would be heightened for believing masters who had believing servants — how could they now continue in a system in which they made slaves of their own brothers and sisters? Treating them justly and fairly must ultimately turn out to mean giving them their freedom.

Focus Questions

1. How does the new version of the “household code” Paul presents demonstrate the “disarming of the powers”?
2. How does it demonstrate the new reality of who every believer now is in Jesus?
3. In what ways do these actually change societal structures?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

The Word that Qualifies Us

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Colossians 3:15-17)

Paul continues his talk on what the new life we have in Jesus should look like on us, with everything bound together with love as the mature and complete expression of that life. Now he shifts the analogy. “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” The Greek word for “rule” is brabeuo, which speaks of a judge in an athletic competition. We came across it earlier, in Colossians 2:18, where Paul said, “Let know one cheat you of your reward.” There the form was katabrabeuo, to “judge against,” and Paul was talking about the false teachers who were trying to disqualify believers by teaching them they needed something besides King Jesus. But here, it is the peace of God that comes to make the decisions.

Being Jewish, Paul would have understood peace as shalom, the wholeness that comes from God. It does not come to condemn but to teach us how to live this new life in Jesus. The false teachers gave their pronouncement, “Disqualified.” But the peace of God speaks over us and declares, “Qualified!” God has called us together in one body — the body of Jesus the Messiah — so that we may know and enjoy this peace. This should lead us to a life of continual praise to God, and in a moment, Paul will tell us how we come into that.

Since we are the body of King Jesus, we should be attentive to His word. It is the word that comes from Him that guides us, not the word of angels, or the teachers of the “mysteries,” or the superstitions of folk religionists, or lists of rules and regulations. The word of the Messiah is the message of the Gospel, the teaching about who He is and why He came, the things He said and did — all that comes from Him and pertains to Him. It comes to fill us abundantly with His wisdom.

With this word and the wisdom it brings, we are to teach and exhort each other. The way we do this, Paul tells us — and here is something we were not expecting — is with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. This is worship, an activity of the Holy Spirit in us. It is only by the Spirit that we can say, with any conviction, that Jesus is Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3). In his letter to the believers at Ephesus, Paul speaks of this same activity coming as a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20)

On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus taught that Holy Spirit would take the things of Jesus and declare them to us (John 16:15). That is, He comes to teach us about Jesus. When we are filled with the Spirit, then, it will always be about Jesus. This is the grace of God at work in our hearts, bringing praise to God. Everything we say and do is to be done in the name of King Jesus the Messiah (not in the name of angels). In this way we give proper thanks to the Father through Him.

Focus Questions

1. How does the peace of God rule in our hearts?
2. In Ephesians 5, it is being filled with the Holy Spirit that leads to psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Why does Paul emphasize, here in Colossians, that it is being filled with the word of the Messiah that leads to those things?
3. What does it mean to do all things in the name of King Jesus? Why is this important?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Clothes for Your New Life

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. (Colossians 3:12-14)

Paul has shown us that the clothes of our old identity do not belong to the new identity of who we now are in Jesus the Messiah. They must be put off. But he does not leave us with nothing to wear. Now he speaks of what we are to put on, things that reflect our new life in Jesus. But first, he briefly reminds us of that identity: We are “the elect of God, holy and beloved.” Chosen of God. Set apart by God. Dearly loved by God.

Our identity as the elect of God is in Jesus the Messiah. He is the one God has chosen, the one He has anointed, the one He has established to have dominion over the earth. Jesus is the one of whom the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Remember that Paul writes to the believers here as “saints and faithful brethren in Christ.” It is in Jesus the Messiah, the Elect One, that we ourselves are chosen, set apart and dearly loved by God. We are “accepted in the Beloved,” that is, in Jesus (Ephesians 1:6). Not just individually, but all of us together in Him.

These, then, are the kind of clothes we have now for our new life in the Beloved. Notice that, like the list of things we are to put off, these are all about our relationships and how we treat one another. Paul speaks over two dozen times in his letters about the ways we should treat each other, and several times about the ways we should not. (Search Paul’s letters for “one” plus “another.”)

• Tender mercies. Not merely acts of mercy but an attitude of tenderhearted affection and compassion.
• Kindness. Gentleness and goodness toward each other.
• Humility. Not lifting ourselves up and looking down on each other.
• Longsuffering. Being patient with each other.
• Bearing with one another. Being tolerant toward each other, putting up with each other even when it is difficult (as indeed it sometimes can be).
• Forgiving one another. Paul expands on this one, which should tell us something about how important it is. If we have a quarrel with or complaint against anyone, we are to forgive, just as Jesus has forgiven us.

All of these are expressions of love. Love bundles them all together. Jesus said that all the law and the prophets are fulfilled in the command to love God with everything in us and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of that. The early gnostic teachers located perfection or completeness in understanding the mysteries, the secret wisdom they brought. But Paul identifies love, the kind that comes from God, the kind that Jesus demonstrated, as the bond of perfection. As we set our hearts to love each other with that kind of self-giving love, we are brought together into completeness and maturity, well-suited to the destiny God has for us.

Focus Questions

1. Why does Paul spend so much time on how believers should treat each other?
2. Why does forgiveness receive such prominence in this list?
3. How do all these things tell us about love?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

A Renewed Image

But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. (Colossians 3:8-11)

In the previous section, the sins Paul listed were mostly of a sexual nature. It should be obvious that these do not come from the new life we have in Jesus but are alien to it. They are part of the old life and come under the judgment of God. But now Paul brings another list of things to “put off.” This list is mostly about our attitudes toward one another, how we treat each other. It largely concerns our communication — which is to say, our mouths and how we speak to one another.

The things in this second list might not seem as wrong to us at the things in the first. But for Paul, the things in this second list were just as bad, if not worse, than those in the first. For one thing, they are not as obvious and, consequently, are the kind of things that Jesus believers are more likely to get caught up in. We pretty know we should avoid the obvious sins, but the less obvious ones can slip in easily “under the radar.” However, they are just as destructive to our lives and just as harmful to our relationships with one another.

• Anger and wrath. The Greek words for these are very similar in meaning. “Anger” appears to be a disposition, and “wrath” the expression of that disposition.
• Malice. Ill-will toward others.
• Blasphemy. Slander, speaking ill of others, whether about God or other people.
• Filthy or obscene language. Weymouth translates this as “foul-mouthed abuse” (New Testament in Modern Speech).

Paul adds one more category of communication and sets it out by itself: “Do not lie to one another.” There is no room for deceitfulness with each other. His reason he gives here is this: “You have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man.”

“Put off” and “put on.” It is like a man changing out of filthy rags into a fine, new suit. He puts off all the old clothes and is made clean. Afterwards, he does not put those rags back on; they are fit only for the trash bin. No, he puts on the new clothes, the fine suit. That is what Paul pictures for us here. We have been washed clean in Jesus and made new with His life. The old way of life no longer fits. It does not reflect who we now are in Jesus and it stinks of death. We have put off the “old man” and put on the new — it happened when we received King Jesus as our own. Having put on the new man, why should we go back and wear any of the raggedy, stinking clothes of the old man.

This new life we have put on, the new person we have become in Jesus, is “renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” From the beginning of creation, God made man to be in His image, to be like Him (Genesis 1:26). When Adam rebelled against God, this image was marred in the fall, but in Jesus it has been made new. Now our thinking is being renewed, made new by knowing God through Jesus the Messiah.

In his letter to the believers at Rome, Paul speaks in a similar way about the renewal of the mind: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2). To be conformed to the world, the way it thinks and behaves, would not reflect who we really are in Jesus. We need to be transformed, so that our outward being reveals the true nature of our inward being and the new life we have. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds, to think God’s thoughts after Him, walk in His ways and fulfill the destiny He has for us.

God’s purpose, Paul tells us, is to conform us to the “image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). Jesus is the perfect image of God, and as we are conformed to Him, we are being conformed to the original image in which God created humanity — to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and have dominion (Genesis 1:28). In this way, the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven.

In this new life we have in Jesus, and the new creation of which we are now a part, it does not mater if one is a Jew or a Gentile. Those categories are no longer operative, the distinction between circumcision and uncircumcision no longer, the uncultured and the uncouth are both welcomed, and the slave is on equal footing with the free. All that matters is King Jesus the Messiah, who we are in Him and who He is in us.

Focus Questions

1. Why must we put off these old ways of dealing with one another? What harm do they do?
2. Why is there so often a difference between the new person we really are in Jesus and the way we act?
3. Paul speaks often in his letters about the image of God. Why is image so important?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Putting Old Ways to Death

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. (Colossians 3:5-7)

All our “side slips” (trespasses) have been forgiven. The indictment that accused and condemned us has been nailed to the cross in the body of Jesus. The principalities and powers have been disarmed. We are dead to all these things. But that is not a license to go back to the old ways of the world and the sinful behaviors that once held us in bondage.

The brief list of sins Paul gives here are mostly sexual in nature and were apparently at issue in the culture of that day, as well as in the false teaching that was being hawked.

• The Greek word for “fornication” is porneia (from which we get the word “pornography”) and refers to any illicit sexual intercourse.
• “Uncleanness” speaks of sexual immorality and the pursuit of such (see Romans 1:24).
• “Passion” is lust or inordinate affection.
• “Evil desire” is licentiousness.
• “Covetousness,” or some versions say “greed,” is insatiable hunger or desire.
• “Idolatry” is giving priority to anything other than God.

This list sounds very much like modern Western culture with its insatiable desire for all kinds of sexual behaviors and abuses, to the point where sex has become a very prominent idol. They are part of the old ways of a fallen world and God’s wrath will come on all of them. Such perversions and idolatries may have been part of who we once were, but they have no place in our new life in Jesus.

Some strains of the false teaching Paul has been addressing believed that matter is inherently evil and the physical body beyond redemption. Therefore, they said, it does not matter what one does in or with the body. But Paul will have none of that. The body is not beyond redemption, it will be transformed in the resurrection to come, when Jesus returns. For He is the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18) and the guarantee of our own bodily resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). So, yes! It does matter what we do with our bodies. We now have new life in Jesus the Messiah, as well as the promise of the resurrection of the body, and how we live now should demonstrate that reality.

Paul says, then, “Put to death your members which are on the earth.” These “members” are the appendages, the remnants of the way we used to live in the world before we receive His life. We are now dead to them. Though they still have a voice, it is an echo that no longer has any authority, and the only power it has over us is whatever power we yield to it. “Put to death” means to make it dead, deprive it of its power, destroy its strength.

How do we do that? Not by beating ourselves up, treating our bodies harshly or trying to keep a list of rules and regulations. As we saw earlier, such things “are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:23). And Paul has already given us the answer: We are already dead to these things! We died to them with Jesus the Messiah. We have also been raised with Him and He is now our life. What is needed now is to live in the truth of that. In other words, it is a matter of faith — that is, believing the truth of who Jesus is in us and who we are in Him. In his letter to the believers at Rome, Paul put it this way:

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:11-14)

To “reckon” means to account it to be so, to treat it as the truth that we are indeed dead to sin and alive to God. When temptation comes and the voice of the old ways tries to reassert itself, we do not have to let any of it in. It has been stripped of its power and we do not have to give any of it back. Instead, we answer with the truth: We are now dead to sin and alive to God (it helps to make this a personal declaration: “I am now dead to sin and alive to God”). Instead of yielding ourselves to the old, fading echoes of who we once were, we present ourselves to God, yielding ourselves to Him. The grace of God and the power of the new life we have in Jesus accomplishes in us what rules and regulations never could.

Focus Questions

1. Why does it matter what we do with our bodies now?
2. How do we “put to death” the remnants and silence the old voices?
3. How does asserting the truth of who we are in Jesus help us?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Hidden in God

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:3-4)

All who believe in Jesus now have a new life, one that is from a higher realm. Not the old realm to which we had once become accustomed, one influenced and controlled by principalities and powers. These have been disarmed now and we are no longer subject to them. We died to them. Oh, they are still present in the world and they still have a voice, but they no longer have any authority over us. The only power they hold now is the power we yield or attribute to them. Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). His authority extends over all the powers and they must all bow and acknowledge that He is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11).

Jesus the Messiah is now the source of our lives. Indeed, He is our life. In his letter to the Jesus believers of Galatia, Paul made this declaration: “I have been crucified with Christ; 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 for me” (Galatians 2:20). The life of the Messiah is now at work in us — He lives in us, we live in Him.

But this new life is “hidden.” The Greek word is crypto, which is, of course, where we get our English word “cryptic.” This life is not apparent to the senses. It is not perceptible to the ordinary ways we were once accustomed to seeing things when we were caught in under the influences of the principalities and powers. However, it is not hidden in those powers or in the hierarchy of angels, as the gnostic teachers might have imagined. No, our life is now hidden with the Messiah, in God.

Once, when we were spiritually dead, we were disconnected from the life of God. We could not perceive or understand that life. But now, in Jesus the Messiah, we are dead to everything alien to that life — those things no longer have any power over us and we no longer have to yield to them. Because we are now made alive to God. As Paul said to the believers at Rome, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:11).

When the Messiah “appears,” that is, when He comes again, this life we have in Him will be revealed in all its glory — the glory of Jesus Himself. This glory is not a place, as some Christians tend to think, it is an expression of identity. It is a revelation, the unveiling of who we are in Jesus and who He is in us. The apostle John says something very similar to what Paul says here.

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)

John concludes from this that everyone who has this “hope” (expectation) purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure. Because we have the expectation that who we are in Jesus and who He is in us will one day be revealed in all its glory, we no longer have to live according to what we once were. We are free to begin living this new life we have in Him and become who we really are. Paul will speak more to this in his letter.

Focus Questions

1. In what way have we died? In what way have we been made alive?
2. How does this new life we have in Jesus turn human systems upside down?
3. How might this new life be revealed in us even now?

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The Focus of Our Faith
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
Bite-Size Studies Through Colossians
by Jeff Doles

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