Overflowing Gratefulness

Overview of Earlier Bible Studies

(Note: if you have read the other Bible studies in this series and remember what Paul taught the Colossians and Laodiceans, you can skip this section and go to the section titled, “The Walk.”

The people of Colossae and Laodicea lived in a mixed bag of cultures, philosophical thoughts, and religions. They lived in a region called Asia Minor, specifically the Lycus River valley, where a major highway traversed from east to west. The Babylonians, Romans, Jews, and Greeks influenced the lives of the people. To these people in the 1^st century AD, Paul wrote while imprisoned. About the Christians in Colossae and Laodicea, he received good news and understood things about which he needed to teach and correct them. (see Background of Paul's Letter to the Church at Colossae)

Several cultures, belief systems, and philosophical thoughts influenced the Christians of Colossae and Laodicea. The second Bible study in this series taught us about Paul’s greeting and introduction of himself and Timothy to the Christians. In this greeting, Paul identified himself and Timothy with Jesus and the believers in Colossae and Laodicea. (see Identification)

In the third Bible study of this Colossian series, Paul prayed, offering thanks to God for the growth of the Christians in the churches of Colossae and Laodicea as shown by their love for God and the saints. He continued to thank God because these Christians constantly bore fruit and matured. Paul identified Epaphras, the founding pastor of these churches, as a “beloved fellow bond-servant,” one who willingly submitted to Christ as Paul taught him.  (see Thanksgiving in Colossians)

Paul continued praying over the Colossian Christians to Christ in supplication for them. In these verses, Colossians 1:9-12, he told them he prayed for them daily that they would grow in Christ so they would be well-pleasing to God. Paul prayed for God to fill them with the knowledge of His will with all spiritual wisdom and understanding so they would please Him by bearing fruit in good works. He asked for God to increase their knowledge of Him, strengthen the Colossian Christians with all power, and give them steadfastness and patience. Paul ended this intense prayer by asking that they joyously give thanks to God, who qualified them to inherit eternal life with the saints and the Son in His kingdom. (see Glorious Might)

In verses thirteen and fourteen, Paul explained who this Father is of whom he spoke in verse twelve. He explained the Father is the One who will give the Christians the gifts for which he prayed for them. The Father is the one who rescued the believers, who trust in Jesus for salvation. Paul explained the Father rescues and transfers those who trust in Jesus as the Son of God from Satan’s grip and transfers them to the Son’s kingdom. These two verses told the Colossians what the Father wants to do. With the end of verse fourteen, Paul segued to who the Son is. (see Snatched and Delivered)

The Bible study of Colossians 1:15-20 told what Paul taught about who Jesus is. He told the Colossians that Jesus is the exact embodiment of God. Jesus and the Father are of the same mind. Paul explained Jesus is preeminent over all created things. Jesus always existed and created all things with the Father and Spirit ex nihilo, out of nothing. Because of this, He is greater than all created things, including angels, whom the Gnostics proclaimed were greater than Him. Jesus created all things and, in His wisdom, knowledge, and strength, holds all things together. Paul wrote that Jesus is the head of the body, the Church. He explained Jesus is more than these; He is the firstborn of the dead. Jesus came back to life and still exists. He will be first among all things, alive and dead, visible and invisible. The Father, with pleasure, shared His fullness (His superabundance) with His Son. He enabled the reconciliation of people to Him through Christ Jesus. Paul explained how holy God reconciled sinful people to Himself. For the reconciliation of every person, Jesus gave His life as the sacrifice for the death penalty each one deserves because of their sins. Anyone who trusts Jesus is the Son of God and confesses his or her sins, He will save from their sins and death. By doing this, Jesus made peace with God possible. (see Superabundant Peace)

The Bible study of Colossians 1:21-23 shows Paul used a common teaching/writing technique, conditional clauses. He stated who the Colossian Christians were before they trusted in Jesus, then told them what He wants to do for them. That “then” clause is the apodosis clause. It explains what will happen if someone does something. The “if” clause, the protasis clause, tells what must occur to get the certain reward. In these three verses, Paul told the Colossian believers, if people will trust in Jesus as the Son of God and repent of their sins (protasis, the if), then Jesus will save them from their sins (apodosis, the “then”). The Father rescues people who want Him to save them and transfers them to His Son. His Son redeems and reconciles them to God. Nothing else need happen for people to receive salvation from their sins and gain eternal life with God. The Gnostics taught otherwise. (see Attaining Hope)

With the conclusion of Colossians 1, Paul told, in verses twenty-four through twenty-nine, of his calling by Jesus and his stewardship of God upon which he felt compelled to proclaim. His calling was to serve Christ and His church clearly by proclaiming the Gospel. Within the act of clearly proclaiming, Paul said God told him to teach and admonish. He was to preach the “word of God, the mystery which God had hidden from past ages and generations.” The mystery God hid until that time is that Jesus made salvation available for each person, Jew and Greek, slave and free, men and woman. Paul explained the blessing of this mystery is salvation and the indwelling of each believer by Jesus’ Spirit, the hope of glory. Jesus Christ made all things, redeems those who trust in Him, and indwells each believer. Finally, Paul said in verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine, Jesus called him to admonish with God’s gentle persuasion. This persuasion would tell of His love for each person and the salvation Jesus offers. It would convince and convict each person to turn away from their sins and accept the salvation Jesus provides. By doing this, God rescues and transfers people who act upon the faith He gives. He transfers them to the kingdom of His Son by their trust in Jesus as their Savior for salvation. The Gnostics taught against this point. They strove to prove it to anyone who would listen to them about their philosophical thought on advanced religion. The Gnostics said Jesus was only a man and His death did not give salvation. Paul taught otherwise. (see God's Power and Gentle Persuasion)

As we began our study of Colossians 2 with verses one through five, Paul’s pastoral care for the Colossians and Laodiceans, both of whom he had never met, showed in his writing. Just as in Colossians 1:29, where Paul said he strove for the church, in Colossians 2:1, Paul struggled for the church. He did this because of the love Jesus put in his heart when He called him in Acts to proclaim the Gospel to the Jews and Gentiles. Paul concerned himself with ensuring the Christians of Colossae and Laodicea would feel encouraged and unified in love, so they would attain to “all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, Jesus Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3 [NASB]) He taught this so the false teachers could not trick the Christians with persuasive arguments. Paul, as a Christian and a pastoral leader for Christian churches, rejoiced because of the two churches’ “good discipline and the stability of their faith in Christ.” (Colossians 2:5 [NASB]) He said they were like well-trained soldiers aligned in battle array. These believers heard the Gospel and its truth. They had grown in their faith and matured in it so their love for God and Christ showed in their attitudes, actions, and words. Paul encouraged them with his words of commendation because he cared for them and did not want the Gnostics to delude them from the surety of their salvation and hope of glory. (see Rejoicing During Trials)

The Walk

“Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” (Colossians 2:6-7 [NASB])

With these two verses, Paul returned to his opening prayer for the Colossians and Laodiceans. Paul used the word “therefore” to point us to what immediately preceded the sentence. The preceding sentences of Colossians 2:1-5 were of Paul’s pastoral concern, encouragement of the churches, and rejoicing over them. In essence, Paul said, “Therefore, because you have been encouraged and united in love, and are attaining to the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, which results in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, rejoice. Rejoice because of these and because you have received Christ.”

Paul used several verbs denoting progression in these two verses. When he said, “As you have received,” he spoke to their receiving formal instruction by an ongoing traditional teaching about “Jesus Christ the Lord.” These Christians did not receive just one teaching about Jesus. They learned of Him, trusted in Him, and then kept learning about Him through the teaching of Epaphras and the Holy Spirit living within them. The Christians of Colossae and Laodicea were like sponges. They kept absorbing and growing in their faith in Christ.

Paul’s confession of faith format, “Jesus Christ the Lord,” is an early confession of faith. The Gnostics could not make this confession. They believed Jesus was just a man. The Gnostics did not trust Jesus is the Son of God and that people were to emulate His life. They considered themselves better than the Jesus-followers because they advanced themselves with higher thoughts, not by following a man who they considered as dead.

These Christians did more than hear and believe. They made what they had received a part of their lives. Paul told the Christians of Colossae and Laodicea how to walk. He commended them for how they had already walked in Christ. Paul told them not to let the false teaching of the Gnostics mislead them. He encouraged them to keep walking in “Christ Jesus the Lord.” Because you are a Christian, “walk in Him.” He told them to keep continuing to live completely a life wholly given to Jesus. To hear and believe are not enough. A true Christian is one who follows Jesus, grows to be more like Him, and obeys Him in all things because of love for God. Matthew wrote in Matthew 16:24, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.’” John recorded Jesus’ teaching in John 15:14 when he wrote, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Other writers recorded these same types of teachings. John spoke of love for God in 1 John 5:3-5 when he said,

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? [NASB]

John spoke of loving God in John 14:15. Jesus said in this passage, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Further in this chapter, Jesus said, “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to Him.” (John 14:21 [NASB]) Each of these verses teach that being a Christian is not a static experience, but a daily growing in relationship with God, in likeness to Christ, and in obedience to and love of God. These things are about what Paul speaks in Colossians 2:6-7.

What does this “walking in Christ” require? Paul explained it for them and rejoiced over them because of their walk, just as in chapter one and in 2:5. Paul wrote in Colossians 2:7 walking in Christ includes four verbs-firmly rooted, being built up, established, and overflowing. Each of these verbs connotes ideas of building a building, with one having a double connotation of planting like a farmer.

“Having been rooted” points to what happened and what is coming. Another way to say this phrase is, “Because you have been rooted.” So, because the Colossian and Laodicean Christians “have been rooted” in their faith in “Christ Jesus as Lord,” they can grow in their spiritual journey. They have a firm foundation on which to do the other three verbs. Now that Christ rooted them in conjunction with the person’s active faith, they can go forward and grow more in Christ.

To live a life as a Christian is more than being saved at a point in time. It requires growth. Just as when a farmer plants a seed he expects it to mature into a plant from which he can reap food, Christ, when He saves each person expects him or her to grow into the full image of Him by following Him in obedience. That growth requires “being built up in Him.” This verb is a present continuous verb. It marks something happened in the past and continues into the future. This being built up connotes a plant growing with nutrition like fertilizer, water, and sun. It connotes the building of a building, too. Upon the strong and secure foundation, a builder will spend his time and money to keep building. If the builder just poured a slab of concrete, then did nothing else, people would wonder then laugh at him or her for wasting his or her money. Likewise, Christians must continue being built up in Christ. This building up is a constant increasing in Christian knowledge, which is “hidden in Christ” (Col. 2:2-3). The building up leads to a life conformed by Christ, made in the mold to which the builder laid. If the foundation is immovable and straight, what a person builds upon it will be sure and secure. The Gnostics had no security. They strove of their own limited will to think themselves into being spiritual. Humans are sinful and cannot of their own accord save themselves. Because of this, people need Jesus for their salvation and foundation. As a person roots him or herself in Christ and builds up his or her life and faith in Him, he or she grows stronger so he or she can withstand false teachers.

A true Christian who lives his or her faith shows the meaning of being established in one’s faith. Like being built up, being established is a present continuous verb. It speaks of something that began in the past and continues into the indefinite future. This part of building is making sure the beams, bricks, and stones do not cause the building to lean or sway towards other buildings or with the winds and rains. A disaster could occur from its falling because of its instability or to any natural phenomenon. As a Christ-follower, being established means to make sure and secure your belief by growing in the knowledge and wisdom of God. It gives you have a sure understanding, so teachings and thoughts of other people, like the Gnostic false teachers, do not lead you astray. Remember, in Colossians 1, Paul taught that Jesus has within Himself the knowledge and wisdom of God, so your growing in Christ grows your knowledge and wisdom and vice versa.

Paul then told the Colossian and Laodicean Christians to “be firmly rooted… just as you were instructed.” In the beginning of this letter, Paul told the Christians they could be sure of and secure in what Epaphras taught them because Paul taught him. He taught Epaphras what God taught him. These things of God Epaphras proclaimed to the Colossians and Laodiceans. Paul told the believers this so they would remember what Epaphras taught them and could withstand the teaching of the Gnostics. What the Christians of these two cities heard and learned from Epaphras and believed is the truth. Nothing any person says or thinks of his or her volition adds to it to make salvation more complete. Jesus’ sacrifice makes salvation complete, secure and sure. “Christ Jesus is Lord” was and should be their profession, just as Paul said in Colossians 2:6.

The final verb Paul used in this small passage of his letter is “overflowing.” He said, “Just as you received Jesus, so walk in Him… having been firmly rooted in Him… and overflowing with gratitude.” (Col. 2:6-7) A Christian who is walking in Jesus overflows with gratitude. This overflowing comes from a person’s heart. Its original source is God’s storehouses. This reminds us of the “fullness of God.” We learned in Colossians 1 the “fullness of God” means the superabundance of God given to Christ because He is the image of the invisible God. God’s storehouses overflow with every good thing because it comes from the character of God who is good and made everything good. Each person who trusts in Christ Jesus as Lord has this overflowing of gratitude because the Spirit of Christ lives in him or her. Christ’s Spirit dwells in each Christian and makes available His overflowing storehouses from His character and might. A Christian does not have to burdened because, amid the circumstances in which he or she finds him or herself, things like gratitude flow from God’s superabundant storehouses. Each believer can rejoice in all things. Because of God’s storehouses of gratitude and other godly characteristics, a Christian can “look for the silver lining” while going through hard times or “make lemonade from lemons.” Paul said Jesus made it possible for the Colossian and Laodicean Christians to overflow with gratitude as they walk with Christ. Though false teachers or the storms of life pummel believers, they can rest in the truth and overflow with the gratitude Christ gives them during trials. Expressing overwhelming gratitude reminds them of His strength, power, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, and reminds them of their hope of glory. These characteristics of God help Christians get through difficult times. These believers could know what God told Isaiah in Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper.” [NASB]

As long as the Christians in Colossae and Laodicea believed beyond the moment of their salvation and grew by being firmly rooted and built up in Him and established in their faith, they would overflow with gratitude. It would enable them to stand strong against whatever came against them. The Gnostics taught against what they believed, but with a growing relationship in Christ, they could grow in Him and withstand the false teaching. Just as Paul taught these Christians, each person who trusts in Christ Jesus the Lord for his or her salvation can become surer of and stronger in his or her faith if he or she grows in these four ways–by being firmly rooted in Christ, built upon what Christ laid in their hearts, spirits, minds, and lives, established in their faith, and overflowing with gratitude because of their walk and growth in Him. None of these is a static action. Christ Jesus makes each believer complete and perfect when he or she arrives in heaven. Until then, each Christian’s journey is about growing to know God in a more intimate way each day.

Thoughts to Consider:

As you consider what Paul told the Christians in Colossae and Laodicea, have you considered where you are in your relationship with Christ? To be a Christian is more than saying, “I believe.” It requires a person’s daily attention to his or her relationship with God. God wants each person who trusts in Jesus as the Messiah to walk with Him. This requires more than saying, “I do,” like a growing relationship in a marriage requires more than saying, “I do.” It requires growing on the foundation upon which your relationship with God Christ laid in your heart when you said those two words. People may call this work, but most people, those who truly seek God, call it love. Each believer should want to grow in his or her relationship with God because of his or her love and gratitude for Him sending Jesus to live, die, and resurrect to pay the penalty of his or her sins. If someone leapt in front of a car to push you out of the way, you would be grateful for a long time. Jesus did this on a much bigger scale. He leapt in front of Satan’s plan for your life and saved you from eternal death. Because of that, each believer should want to love Him more each day. To love God more each day requires being firmly rooted in, built up, and established in Him, and overwhelming with gratitude. The latter comes because of your deeper understanding of what Christ Jesus did for him or her and of what comes from God’s storehouses because a person lives closer with the Holy Spirit within him or her each day. The questions below should help you learn and grow in your walk with God.

Questions: 

• Have you believed Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior God sent to earth to die for your sin penalty so you can have an eternal relationship with God?
• Do you recall that time often and want to know Jesus more?
• Do you consider the deed done and so moved on, and now find you feel no different from before you said you believed?
• If that is the case, have you considered you may not be saved from your sins and death? True faith in Christ causes change and fruit.
• If you trusted in Jesus as the Messiah and began walking with Him, but became lost on the way, what keeps you from turning back to Him, confessing your walking away from Him, asking forgiveness, and giving your will to Him again as you seek to walk with Him anew?
• If you have been in a growing relationship with God and walk with Him each day, is there something God asks you to do that you refuse to do?
• If you have been on the walk of faith in Jesus for many years, for what can you give praise and thank God?

For next week’s Bible study, read Colossians 2, particularly focus on verses 8-15.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8 [NASB])

Rejoicing During Trials

Overview of Earlier Colossian Bible Studies 

Up to this point, we have studied all of Colossians 1 and the background of this letter through eight Bible studies. The first study taught us the background of the Colossians. In that study, we learned the Colossae Christians lived in a multi-cultural and multi-religion geographical region called Asia Minor. Different intellectual teachings abounded there. The one that affected the Colossians believers most was an early form of Gnosticism. This Gnosticism proclaimed advanced thought brought salvation. They considered Jesus Christ’s salvation as insufficient. (see Background of Paul's Letter to the Church at Colossae)

The second Bible study came from Colossians 1:1-2. In this study, Paul wrote who he and Timothy were and helped the Colossian Christians identify with them since these men had never personally met the Colossians. He stated his Jewish and Christian background and explained they both came from the same geographical region as the Colossians. By doing this, Paul would have more credibility, and the believers in Colossae would trust what he told them in his letter. (see Identification)

In Colossians 1:3-8, Paul began his prayer to God by thanking Him for the Colossian Christians’ growth in their faith and in their love for God and the saints. He thanked God that they bore fruit and matured, which showed their faith. Paul spoke of Epaphras, too, the founder of the churches in Colossae and Laodicea. He said Epaphras was a man they could trust because he discipled him. Paul said, Epaphras is like himself, a “beloved fellow bond-servant” of Christ. (see Thanksgiving in Colossians)

In his prayer, after he gave thanks for the Colossian church, Paul interceded for them. In Colossians 1:9-12, he asked God to grow them in Christ so they would be well-pleasing to Him. Paul asked they have the knowledge of God and that He would give them His strength, power, steadfastness, and patience. At the end of this prayer, he asked God to give the Colossian Christians a sense of thankfulness to Him, the One who qualified them to inherit eternal life with the saints and His Son. (see Glorious Might)

Colossians 1:13-14 is Paul’s explanation of who the Father is, the One to whom he alluded in verse twelve. This Father is the One who would give them the gifts for which Paul asked for the believers in Colossae. He rescued them from their sins and eternal death and transferred them into His Son’s kingdom. Verse fourteen is the segue to Paul’s Christology he would write in verses fifteen through twenty. (see Snatched and Delivered)

Colossians 1:15-20 records what Paul taught about Jesus, the Son of God. He said Jesus is the exact embodiment of God. The Son of God and God have the same mind. Paul wrote Jesus is preeminent over all creation and existed and created all things with the Father and Spirit out of nothing, ex nihilo. This meant angels, as created beings, are lower than the Son of God. His teaching went against the teaching of the Gnostics and others who proclaimed angels were greater than Jesus, whom they considered was just a man. The Gnostics did not consider Jesus equal to God because Jesus had a mortal body. Material things, to them, were worth nothing. Paul taught Jesus holds all things together and is the Head of the body, the Church. He taught the Father shared His “fullness,” His superabundance, with the Son. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, enabled reconciliation of people to the Father through His sinless life, death, and resurrection. By these, He redeems each person who trusts in Him from the power of sin and death. Jesus paid the sin penalty for each person with His death on a sinner’s cross. (see Superabundant Peace)

Paul wrote in Colossians 1:21-23 using a teaching and writing technique called conditional clauses. These “if-then” statements, protasis-apodosis statements, teach if something happens, then another thing will occur. Paul used this technique to teach if the Colossian Christians would believe in Jesus, He would save them from their sins and their just death penalty. Before this conditional clause, he reminded them of what they were before God rescued and transferred them to His Son’s kingdom. Paul told the Colossian church the Son redeems and reconciles them to God. Nothing else need happen for people to receive salvation from their sins and gain eternal life with God. The Gnostics taught otherwise. (see Attaining Hope)

With the conclusion of Colossians 1, Paul told, in verses twenty-four through twenty-nine, of his calling by Jesus and his stewardship of God upon which he felt compelled to proclaim. His calling was to serve Christ and His church by proclaiming clearly the Gospel. Within the act of clearly proclaiming, Paul said God told him to teach and admonish. He was to preach the “word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from past ages and generations.” The mystery that God hid until then is that Jesus made salvation available for each person, Jew and Greek, slave and free, men and woman. Paul explained the blessing of this mystery is salvation and the indwelling of each believer by Jesus’ Spirit, the hope of glory. Jesus Christ made all things, redeems those who trust in Him, and indwells each believer. Finally, Paul said in verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine, Jesus called him to admonish with God’s gentle persuasion. This persuasion would tell of His love for each person and the salvation Jesus offers. It would convince and convict each person to turn away from their sins and accept the salvation Jesus provides. By doing this, God rescues and transfers people who act upon the faith He gives. He transfers them to the kingdom of His Son by their trust in Jesus as their Savior for salvation. The Gnostics taught against this point. They strove to prove it to anyone who would listen to them about their philosophical thought on advanced religion. The Gnostics said Jesus was just a man and His death did not give salvation. Paul taught otherwise. (see God's Power and Gentle Persuasion)

Paul’s Pastoral Care of the Colossian Church

Paul had a pastoral care for the Christians in Colossae, though he had never met them. His concern came from the love which Jesus instilled in him. This love is for each person to become a Christian and grow in the full knowledge of God with His power, steadfastness, strength, and patience. Paul wanted these Christians to have the full knowledge of God so they could stand against heresies, thoughts, and beliefs that tried to convince them to abandon God. He struggled for them. This care of the Colossian Christians by Paul included rejoicing at the growth and stability in their faith in Christ. His own struggles and resultant rejoicing during and after the difficulties showed Paul’s pastoral care of the Colossian and Laodicean churches.

Struggling for the Church

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, ² that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.”  (Colossians 2:1-4 [NASB])

Paul said he struggled on behalf of the churches at Colossae and Laodicea. He wanted them to be aware and understand well what he endured for them. This struggle is like his striving wrote about in Colossians 1:29. In Colossians 1:29, the striving connoted a striving or struggling like in an athletic contest or in warfare, battling difficulties and dangers. In Colossians 2:1, Paul’s struggle is his internal battle of wanting to be in Colossae to confront the heresy with them while he was in prison. It concerned Paul that the Colossian Christians could not fight the fallacies of the false teachers. As a teacher of the Gospel, Paul struggled and fought with them by writing the truths the Christians needed to know and remember to counter the heresies taught in these cities.

Paul’s concern for the Colossians is four-fold. His first concern was that, while they struggled and lived with these false teachers, their hearts would receive encouragement. Paul wanted these believers to experience comfort and strength because Jesus is their Savior. He wanted them to know and remember they have the hope of an eternal reward with Jesus in heaven. Paul wanted these Christians to remember to hold fast to the fact they do not combat life alone but are with other believers and God is with them.

Later, in verse two, Paul said he wanted them to remember Christ united them in love with other Christians. They did not live through hardships alone. The Christians had the love of Christ in them, knitting them into a oneness to help, encourage, and stand with each other. This love was not the phileo love of the Greeks. It was not love for mankind. This love Paul wrote about is God’s agape love. God’s character defines it. He is the fount of agape love.

Paul concerned himself with reminding the believers in Colossae and Laodicea that they “attain to all the wealth” that comes from being a believer in Jesus Christ. This wealth is like the “riches of God’s glory” in Colossians 1:27. Just as those riches, the wealth is the mystery of God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Paul worked to make sure these believers remembered what they gained within themselves when they trusted in Jesus. This wealth of their faith, the saving knowledge of Jesus, comes from the full assurance of understanding. The full assurance is complete confidence and conviction of insight in the knowledge God gives about His mystery. Remember, God gives faith to people. People must act upon that faith, seek Him, and trust in Jesus for salvation to “attain all the wealth” that comes from God. Acting upon this faith results in a “true knowledge of God’s mystery,” in knowing Jesus Christ Himself (vs 2).

Paul, in his pastoral concern for the believers in Colossae and Laodicea, made sure they knew the mystery is true knowledge and wisdom found only in Christ. In Colossians 1:27, the mystery was Christ living in the Gentiles. In Colossians 2:3, Christ holds within Himself all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Again, Paul used the terms riches and wealth. The wisdom and knowledge of God are treasures and are in Christ. This countered what the Gnostics taught that the way to God and salvation is through philosophical thoughts. The only way to have the highest wisdom and knowledge, God’s wisdom and knowledge, is through Jesus Christ. The path is first to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, then get the knowledge hidden in Him. A person’s trying to get absolute knowledge first as the way to get salvation, as the Gnostics taught, is impossible. Included in the salvation Jesus Christ gives are all wisdom and knowledge, not just what a mortal being can conceive. It includes all the riches in God’s storehouses. Why content yourself with Gnostic teaching when you can go above and beyond that. God has superabundant knowledge and wisdom hidden in Jesus Christ, and when you accept Him as the Son of God and trust in Him for salvation, you have this wisdom and knowledge available to you.

The last struggle Paul mentions he has for the Christians in these two cities is to ensure the false teachers do not delude them by persuasive arguments but, instead stand firm in their conviction of salvation through Christ. He wrote to these people to make sure false teachers did not beguile them into trusting in a false teaching. The words “persuasive argument” come from the Greek word pithanologia, a speech made intending to persuade someone to one’s way of thinking. This way of speaking strives to gain an acolyte to one’s beliefs. Contrary to that is God’s gentle persuasion to lead people to truth and salvation. God’s gentle persuasion comes from the two Greek words pistis/pistos and prosecheuchomai. These words in English are faith and prayer. Remember, God gives each person faith for them to act upon and trust in Jesus for their salvation. Added to this, as we pray and commune with God, His indwelling Spirit puts into our heart, soul, and mind those things for which He cares about so we can pray in agreement with Him. God’s persuasion benefits the listener, not the speaker. The Gnostics spoke for their own benefit to get people on their side.

Paul struggled like an athlete or soldier to keep the Christians in the churches in Colossae and Laodicea strong in their faith as they stood against the false teachings in their cities. He reminded them Christ united them in faith with each other and with Himself. They were knitted together in love for God and each other with God’s unifying love for each of them. The Christians already had all the wealth of the true knowledge of God’s mystery, Jesus Christ. Hidden within Him are God’s treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Why put trust in the partial knowledge the Gnostics proclaim when they have Jesus, who is all the wisdom and knowledge of God. Finally, Paul reminded these believers not to fall for the persuasion of the Gnostics who seek only to get more acolytes. Instead, stay steadfast in the faith, knowledge, and wisdom you received from God through Jesus. The first type of persuasion is egocentric, while God’s persuasion is other-centered.

Rejoicing Because of the Church

“For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.” (Colossians 2:5 [NASB])

Paul’s pastoral concern went beyond struggling within himself for the Christians because he could not be with them to fight the false teachers. As a man with a pastor’s heart, he rejoiced for and because of them, too. To grow a church and be part of a church requires growing in easy and hard times and the resultant rejoicing at where God has taken grown it.

In verse five, Paul reminded the Colossian and Laodicean churches he stood with them. Though they may have felt they stood alone in their contest with the Gnostics, Paul struggled with them. He was with them in spirit and proved it with his letter to the Colossians. Paul stood with them in the same Spirit and in the joining of their heart and purpose. He identified with these churches and with Christ. Paul rejoiced over them. He rejoiced over their “good discipline.” This phrase has a military connotation. It means to be in an orderly array, like in military ranks, so they are ready for whatever may come. These Christians had grown and were ready to battle the false teachings like an army ready to fight its enemy.

Along with that, Paul rejoiced to see the “stability of their faith in Christ.” This stability means being immoveable or having a solid front like a military battalion standing ready for battle. The Colossian and Laodicean believers were immoveable in their faith, in their persuasion, of who Jesus is. They understood Jesus Christ is the mystery. He holds all knowledge and wisdom and gives salvation to all who trust in Him. These Christians were steadfast because of their discipling by Epaphras and their spiritual growth as they met obstacles and relied on God to lead them. The Gnostics had moveable benchmarks for what they considered advanced thought. Each person based his or her idea of advanced thought on his or her own thinking. Whatever a person determined was never the ultimate. Only God’s superabundant knowledge, wisdom, and understanding can be the standard. Christ gives from this fount to each person who believes in Him as the Son of God. Paul rejoiced that the Christians of Colossae and Laodicea stood their ground in their faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul had a pastoral concern for the Christians in Colossae and Laodicea. They faced the Gnostic idea that advanced thought raises a person to the spiritual realm and saves him or her from evil. The Gnostics considered all things material as evil and all things spiritual as good. Colossian Christians battled this heresy. Paul wrote to encourage them and to rejoice at the way they steadfastly stood while battling this false teaching. He encouraged them and reminded them of their unity in God’s agape love. Paul wrote to remind them of their attaining all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, which results in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, Christ Himself. He taught them the mystery is Christ in them from chapter one. He then stated the mystery is that Christ is the wisdom of God. Because of this, they had access to God’s full wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Paul wrote to encourage the churches so no false teachers could delude (persuade) them to follow a manmade belief. Besides writing to encourage the Christians, Paul rejoiced over their growth so they could be ready for whatever false teaching tried to trick them into considering something Epaphras did not teach them. He rejoiced that the Colossian and Laodicean churches were steadfast and immoveable in their faith in Christ, even though the Gnostics had persuasive arguments. Paul’s letter was the letter of a pastor who cared for his flock, his church given to him by God to lead and protect.

Thoughts to Consider

Have you heard that doing enough good deeds during your life will earn your entrance to heaven? Have you heard that this life now is all you get, so do what you want no matter the consequences? These and other thoughts are manmade ideas to appease them of their sinfulness. Possibly, these thoughts came from Satan to assuage guilt and keep people tricked and not knowing the absolute truth. Satan’s thoughts and, often, humankind’s thoughts are untrue. They do not originate with God. The truth is agape love originates with God. Created things originated with God. Salvation originates from God with Jesus’ gift of His life as the sin sacrifice. The resultant knowledge of God’s mystery, Jesus Christ, and His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, comes to the people who believe in Him with the faith He gives to trust in Jesus as the Son of God and receive salvation from sins.

Questions:

• What have you heard about life after death?
• What do you feel when you do wrong things?
• Do you proclaim your insights about heaven?
• Are your proclamations the same as Paul’s?
•  Do you proclaim these insights to get people to assume you have more profound thoughts than they have heard?
• Whose teaching do you trust is being the right way to heaven?
• What keeps you from believing in Jesus as the Son of God and your Savior?

For next week’s Bible study, read Colossians 2, especially concentrate on Colossians 2:6-7.

“Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” (Colossians 2:6-7 [NASB])

God's Power and Gentle Persuasion

Overview of Earlier Colossian Bible Studies

This Bible study series on Paul’s letter to the Colossians helps us understand the background of the Colossian Christians. These Christians lived in Asia Minor and had the Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Phrygian cultures, religions, and philosophical thoughts surrounding them. The teaching assaulting the Colossian believers most was the early Gnostic teaching about “advance Christianity.” The Gnostics considered all matter evil and spiritual good. For the Gnostics, salvation occurred through advanced thought. This so-called advanced religion caused confusion for the Colossian Christians. (see Background of Paul's Letter to the Church at Colossae)

Paul was a well-educated man. He was a Pharisee of the highest order and had credentials to prove his high-ranking position as a Jew who was well-educated. If Paul preached to Jews, those credentials would help his listeners identify with him. In Colossae, Paul spoke mostly with Gentiles, non-Jews, and so had to help his readers and listeners identify with him and Timothy, his student and helper. To help them identify with them, he said they were of the same faith and from the same geographic region as the Colossians (Colossians 1:1-2). By telling them this, Paul helped the Colossian believers in Jesus trust what he would tell them in his letter about Jesus, salvation, and God. Paul’s identifying with the Gentiles gave his words validity. (see Identification)

Paul prayed to God in Colossians 1:3-8 thanking Him for the Colossian Christians. He thanked Him for the growth in their faith and in their love for God and the saints. Paul said the believers in Colossae bore fruit and matured, which showed their faith. In this opening prayer, he made known to the Colossians he knew Epaphras, their founding pastor. Paul had discipled Epaphras at length. This let the Christians there understand they could trust what Epaphras taught them. Paul said, like himself, Epaphras was a “beloved fellow bond-servant” of Christ. (see Thanksgiving in Colossians)

Paul continued to pray after thanking God, as he interceded for the Colossian believers. In Colossians 1:9-12, he asked God to make the Colossian Christians grow in Christ so they would be well-pleasing to Him. Paul prayed for the knowledge of God to fill them. He asked God to give them His strength, power, steadfastness, and patience. At the end of the prayer, Paul asked God to give these Christians a sense of thankfulness for Him who qualified them to inherit eternal life with the saints and His Son. (see Glorious Might)

Paul spoke of the Father in verse twelve when he interceded to God for the Colossian Christians. In verses thirteen and fourteen, he explained who this Father is. The Father is the One who will give them the gifts for which he prayed for the Colossian Christians. He rescued them because they trusted in Jesus as the Son of God. Paul declared the Father rescued and transferred believers into His Son’s kingdom. With verses fourteen, he segued to teaching about the Son of God when he wrote this Son is the one who redeems. (see Snatched and Delivered)

With verses fifteen through twenty, Paul taught about who Jesus, the Son of God, is. He is the exact embodiment of God. They have the same mind. Paul said Jesus is preeminent over all created things. Jesus existed and created all things with the Father and Spirit ex nihilo, out of nothing. Paul taught that Jesus is greater than all created things, including angels. This teaching blatantly went against the Gnostics who believed angels, as spiritual beings, were superior to Jesus, who they considered just a man. The Gnostics did not consider Jesus equal to God. Paul continued by teaching Jesus holds all things together. He is the Head of the body, the Church. The Father shared His fullness, His superabundance, with the Son. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, enabled reconciliation of people to the Father through His life, death, and resurrection. By these, He redeems each person from the power of sin and death those who trust in Him. Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for the sin penalty of each person. (see Superabundant Peace)

The last Bible study taught about Colossians 1:21-23. In these verses, Paul used a common teaching/writing technique, conditional clauses. He stated who the Colossian Christians were before they trusted in Jesus, then told them what He wants to do for them. That “then” clause is the apodosis clause. It explains what will happen if someone does something. The “if” clause, the protasis clause, tells what must occur to get the certain reward. In these three verses, Paul told the Colossian believers, if people will trust in Jesus as the Son of God and repent of their sins (protasis, the if), then Jesus will save them from their sins (apodosis, the then). The Father rescues people who desire Him to save them and transfers them to His Son. His Son redeems and reconciles them to God. Nothing else need happen for people to receive salvation from their sins and gain eternal life with God. The Gnostics taught otherwise. (see Attaining Hope)

Calling

Why did Paul become involved with people throughout the Roman empire? Why would a Jew care about the Gentiles? The answer to both those questions is one word: Jesus. Because of God’s saving love for one who considered himself most unworthy to receive forgiveness, mercy, and grace, Paul faithfully exercised Jesus’ call on his life. He felt responsible to proclaim the Gospel to unreached people, particularly the Gentiles. In Colossians 1:24-2:5, we will learn why Paul concerned himself with a Gentile church he did not found. This Bible study of Colossians 1:24-29 covers the first part of that reason. It, too, will help us understand how. Paul’s interest in the Colossian Christians occurred because of his call by Jesus. His call was to serve and proclaim.

To Serve Christ and His Church

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and, in my flesh, I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the Church, in my filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Of this Church, I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit…” (Col. 1:24-25a [NASB])

Paul said he rejoiced in his sufferings. He did not mean he loved to suffer from afflictions, misfortune, and evil. A person rarely puts him/herself into afflicting situations without a reason. He/she does not experience suffering at the hands of someone else without cause either. A person allows suffering or puts him/herself through suffering to help other people or to grow in knowledge. In Paul’s case, he suffered afflictions at the call of Jesus to proclaim to the Gentiles of the salvation He offers.

Paul, as a redeemed child of God through the salvation Jesus gives, based everything he did on his relationship with Jesus. Paul stated why he allowed himself to suffer and how he could suffer. In the second part of verse twenty-five, he said he went through these afflictions for the sake of the Church of whom Jesus was the head. Paul endured afflictions so the Church could grow closer to Christ, its head, and be used to share the Gospel with other people. In the last phrase of the first sentence, he stated he suffered for Christ. Paul willingly suffered for Jesus and His purpose because of his love for Him and His call on his life. He suffered for the Church because of the love Jesus put into his heart for the Gentiles and His call on his life. Paul willingly suffered so the Gospel of Jesus Christ would spread, and more people would come to know Him as the Son of God, their Savior from sin and death. His agenda was not comfort.

Paul’s suffering afflicted his physical body, yet he rejoiced while going through them. Why was he able to rejoice while suffering? How could he rejoice while living through difficulties? Paul rejoiced while suffering because he kept his eyes on Jesus. He remembered Jesus’ love for him and his calling by Him. Paul rejoiced because of the hope set before him, the prize of the upward calling (Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 3:14). Paul kept his eyes on Jesus and the hope of his eternal reward of living with Him in His kingdom. He rejoiced while suffering because he understood the Gentiles would have this hope, too.

Without keeping his eyes on Jesus and His purpose for him, Paul may have become stuck in the quagmire of his afflictions and troubles. Jesus taught His disciples about keeping their eyes on Him and not the storm in Mark 4:35-41. Just as this explains why Christians can suffer and rejoice, it explains how to rejoice in suffering-by keeping your eyes on Jesus. How could Paul rejoice while living through difficulties? He rejoiced, he said, because he shared, on behalf of the body (the Church) and Christ, the persecution unbelievers wanted to afflict on Jesus. “Filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” does not mean Jesus’ sacrifice was not enough for the salvation of sinners. It means since Jesus was not on earth in bodily form then and the people wanted to persecute Him, they persecuted His disciples as an extension, “on behalf,” of Jesus. The suffering of Christians does not mean salvation is incomplete. It means the Church, the saints, are going toward completion. That completion will occur when Christ returns to earth. The suffering Paul experienced gave him more reason to rejoice because it produced his identification with Jesus (Philippians 3:8-14). When Paul said he was “being crucified with Christ” or for Christ, he meant he no longer lived for himself, but Christ lived in him (Galatians 2:20). Paul understood his afflictions as bearing the dying of Jesus. It meant dying to his right to himself, too. This enabled him to rejoice because of being in a closer relationship with Him and His suffering. Paul rejoiced to suffer, and he bore suffering because of his love for Jesus and because of Jesus’ strength in him. He could rejoice while suffering by keeping Jesus ever forefront in his mind. Paul could rejoice because he understood what reward believing Gentiles would receive. This allowed him to rejoice in his sufferings, to take the Gospel to the Gentiles.

The suffering of Christians does not mean salvation is incomplete. It means the Church, the saints, are going toward completion.

Would Paul have suffered for Gentiles had he not been a Christian? No. Jews considered Gentiles unclean. Paul, who had been a Pharisee, would have avoided them like he did the Samaritans. Being a Christian does not necessarily mean a person would suffer for others. Yet, being a Christian, one whom God called to be His steward, should mean he/she definitely would love others and would willingly suffer for them so they could hear the truth of the Gospel. Jesus taught each Christian is to love all people and share the Gospel. It is part of the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:34-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). Paul’s love for Jesus would make him willing to answer the call and suffer for the people whom He loves. Paul was a minister. The word “minister” comes from the Greek word diakonos meaning servant or steward. Paul was a servant to those for whom God sent him. His service included preaching and teaching the Good News of Jesus Christ, loving as Jesus loves, and willingly suffering so all people would come to hear the Gospel. Servanthood means putting one’s self and one’s plans after the love of Jesus and His plans for the people He loves. For Paul, being a minister with the duties given him by God meant doing “all things for the sake of the Gospel, so that I (he) may become a fellow partaker of it.” (1 Corinthians 9:22) Paul was a servant of God and loved Jesus Christ with his whole being. He loved the Gentiles because of Jesus. Since Paul was a Jesus-called minister according to the stewardship of God for the benefit of the Colossians, he rejoiced in his sufferings for their sake to share on behalf of Christ’s body, the Church, in filling up what was lacking in Christ’s afflictions. (Colossians 1:24) His love and obedience meant he rejoiced in his sufferings.

To Proclaim the Gospel Clearly

“Of this church, I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make know what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose, also, I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” (Colossians 1:25b-29 [NASB])

Paul’s interest in the welfare of the Gentile churches included teaching clearly the full word of God. He took seriously his calling from Jesus, as recorded in Acts 9:1-19. Paul was Jesus’ chosen instrument to take His name before the “Gentiles and kings and sons of Israel.” He realized from that time he was to suffer for Jesus’ name sake (Acts 9:16). How did Paul enact this calling with the Colossian Christians through this letter? He repeated for emphasis he was to “fully carry out the preaching of the word of God.” This means God called him to “minister (serve) according to the stewardship of God.” (Colossians 1:25a) Of what was Paul to preach? To whom was he to preach this message? What was the benefit of this message? To what end was Paul to preach? These are just a few questions Paul answers in these five verses.

Of what was Paul to preach?

Paul said he was to preach the “word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from past ages and generations.” He understood well Jesus made him His servant to tell the Gospel and suffer for it. Paul’s love for Jesus and the people whom Jesus loved compelled him to go forward despite hunger, beatings, and, perhaps, death. This preaching of the word of God, he said, was a mystery, which God hid from past ages and generations. What was this “mystery?” The Gnostics spoke of mystery in their advanced thought as if only they could receive the benefits of the mystery. They spoke as if they were the chosen ones. Only spiritual things were worthy of consideration. Material things were not. Paul probably used the word “mystery” to catch the attention of the Gnostics and the people the Gnostics confused. Even venerated scholars and men and women of faith in “past ages and generations” did not know this mystery of God, he said. By saying “past ages and generations,” Paul emphasized no person since the beginning of time knew this mystery, not even the Gnostics who proudly proclaimed they knew the mystery. He had the attention of most everyone who read and heard this letter in first century Colossae because he spoke of this mystery. Paul wrote to the Colossian Church to teach them clearly about the mystery of God.

To whom was he to preach the message?

In Colossians 1:26, Paul said, this mystery “has now been manifested to His saints.” Who are these saints? The word “saints” comes from the Greek word hagios, which means the set apart ones. The saints are people whom God makes holy and sacred. They are the followers of Jesus Christ, the people made righteous by Him. They are ones who believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The saints are the ones to whom God “willed to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles.” God gives faith to trust in Jesus Christ. These saints understand God’s purpose and plan is that each person believe in Jesus and receive salvation. John stated this in John 3:16 when he wrote, “for whoever will believe in Jesus Christ will be saved.” The saints of God include each person whom Jesus makes righteous by faith in Him.

What was the benefit of this message?

To answer this question, we need to understand more of what Paul wrote. What mystery did he write about? Since Paul was a master orator and teacher and used lots of clauses, we must break out from the clauses what the mystery is. In verse twenty-five, Paul said he was to preach the word of God. The word of God is the Gospel, the good news of God’s plan for salvation from sin and death and reconciliation with Him. Notice after he wrote “the word of God” he put a comma and said in verse twenty-six, “that is, the mystery.” The mystery is the word of God, the Gospel. To make sure his readers and hearers understood exactly what he meant, Paul said in verse twenty-seven, after many more clauses, “this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The mystery is Jesus Christ’s presence among and for the Gentiles, too. The salvation Christ offers is not just for the Jews. Paul said this mystery, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, was unknown by anyone before and is for everybody, Gentiles included. God did not exclude the non-Jews from His salvation and reconciliation plans. He wants all people to return to a righteous relationship with Him. He called Paul to preach and teach His word, the Gospel, to Gentiles and every person. Upon belief in Jesus Christ as Savior, Jesus’ Spirit lives in the believer. Christ’s indwelling a person is “Christ in you.” Christ is the hope of glory, so Christians have the hope of Christ living in them. As Christians, hope is only in Jesus–a certain hope of forgiveness of sins and eternal life with Him in His kingdom, heaven, after His return to earth. That hope of eternity with Christ in His kingdom is what Paul called “the riches of the glory of the mystery.” The riches people get for themselves rot or decay. Only the riches of God’s glory, the glory of the mystery, gives true hope and is eternal. This hope in believers of Christ strengthens them and keeps them until His return to earth. This hope is the hope of glory. Christ dwelling in them is the hope of glory, the hope of being in God’s glory and exhibiting God’s glory within them. Only when a person looks to what is eternal and has his/her hope in Jesus can he/she obey to the point of suffering for Christ’s sake and for the sake of unbelievers. That suffering for Christ shows love for Christ and the love of Christ to other people. Paul proclaimed the mystery of salvation available through belief in Jesus Christ for every person. Assured salvation and eternal life with God is what Paul proclaimed.

To what end did Paul preach?

Obviously, Paul wanted to be obedient to Jesus’ call on his life, but another purpose for proclaiming the mystery existed. Paul said in Colossians 1:28, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man (person) and teaching every man (person) with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ.” Paul proclaimed the Gospel, but he did more. He admonished people and taught them with all wisdom. Our English word “admonish” comes from the Greek word noutheteo.  Noutheteo means to warn, counsel and appeal positively to the mind of a person by supplying spiritual food while reasonably urging the person to turn to God’s best. Another way to define noutheteo is gentle persuasion of spiritual truths from God. Notice these truths are God’s truths, not human truths. God’s truths come from His character of being true. God’s character defines truth. Man’s truths vacillate depending on what is the intellectual fad of the time. Human persuasion is faulty. Godly persuasion is holy because He is holy. Godly persuasion comes because of God’s love for each person. Human persuasion comes from love of self and one’s thoughts. Paul arrived at this point of wisdom. His desire was to lead each person to accept the truths of God, His love, mercy, grace, and salvation. Because of that, he said he taught “with all wisdom.” This wisdom is the same wisdom Paul prayed for the Colossians in Colossians 1:9. This wisdom is spiritual wisdom coming from God. Believers can receive God’s wisdom if they ask. God gives it when we ask Him and labor for His will. Paul, as a man called by Jesus to tell the mystery to the Gentiles, had an abundance of knowledge of God, His will, and His wisdom. When he taught, he taught the wisdom of God. He would do nothing less because he was responsible to every person with whom he spoke to tell the truth of the Gospel. James 3:1 expresses this responsibility. In it, James, wrote, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.” [NASB] Paul understood he bore the responsibility of teach God’s truth because, if he didn’t, God would hold him accountable for leading people away from Him.

Paul was accountable to each person to tell him/her the truth so he/she could be made “complete in Christ.” (vs. 28) Being “complete in Christ” means being perfect and mature because of completing the spiritual journey. Each of us knows we are not perfect. Christians grow toward perfection each day as they live the life God wants and as they grow closer to Him. When a Christian dies and goes to heaven, he/she attains perfection because of Jesus’ gift of salvation. When the mortal body passes away with its sinful passions, full maturity in Christ occurs for the Christian. The end to which Paul preached was to stand rightly accountable to God for teaching and preaching His truth with His wisdom. His other aim was to persuade people gently with God’s truth so they would come to have a personal relationship with Jesus and receive teaching that leads to growth in their spiritual life until God calls them home.

Paul labored because of: 1. the mystery from God, 2. the people who had not heard of the salvation Jesus offers, 3. the truth of the love of God and of salvation He offers to each person, 4. the perfection and maturity each believer gains in heaven, 5. his call from God to minister, 6. his love for God and the instilled love for each person, and 7. his accountability to God and to people to proclaim the truth of the mystery. He did not labor grudgingly for God and other people. That would lead to sadness, not rejoicing in suffering. Paul labored (strove) “according to His power, which mightily works within me.” (vs 29b) Laboring connotes toiling at work with one’s whole being until depleted and exhausted. Paul strove like an athlete or soldier who worked for One who commands him. To this One, Jesus, he gave total allegiance, servitude. Paul voluntarily submitted himself to God. He became His bond-servant. God, as his Lord, gave Paul His power to labor as a minister for Him to each person-Gentile, Jew, slave, free, male, and female (Galatians 3:28). This power of God is the superabundance of His energy that comes from His being. God made His power available to Paul through His indwelling Spirit. Paul could only do these works because of God’s power. He worked with God’s strength and might to do what God called him to do.

Paul was accountable to Jesus and to the people he taught. He was a steward, a servant, to God to minister to people. He labored to proclaim the Gospel by admonishing and teaching. People would understand the mystery of God. They would trust in Jesus as the Son of God. These believers would grow to maturity on their spiritual journey and receive the riches of the glory of this mystery, the hope of glory, life with the Son in His kingdom. Just as Paul identified with the people and Christ, he served both with all he had, even to the point of persecution, trials, and suffering. For him, these afflictions he endured he counted as gain in that he was doing his share to suffer as a follower of Jesus Christ. Paul rejoiced in his identification with Jesus in this way. He rejoiced to serve people, though he faced affliction, to mature the Church, Jesus’ body. Paul could only do these things with God’s superhuman strength and power/might. None of what Paul did would or could he have done and endured if not for His strength, commission, and might.

The Colossian heretics, the early Gnostics, challenged the Christians in Colossae with their philosophical thought on advanced religion. They strove to prove they were right by saying the Gospel Epaphras taught was not enough for salvation. The believers in Colossae were not yet mature enough in their faith to combat them on their own. Paul sought to teach them and admonish others about the mystery of God. The mystery is that salvation through Jesus Christ is enough for each person to have forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God in heaven. For the Gnostics, living with the far-off God was laughable. They found bodily resurrection disgusting.

Paul’s love and obedience meant he rejoiced in his sufferings.

Do you rejoice in your suffering for Jesus Christ?

Thoughts to Consider

What have you heard people say that sounds inconsistent with God’s Word? Has it caused you to wonder then waiver in your faith? Maybe you were the one who strove to disprove what a Christian believed by arguing unreasonably with them. Maybe you caused them to doubt their knowledge of God. Do you expect the doubt you instilled in the other will remove the Christian from the hand of God? Do you assume you will gain heaven by reasoning out about what good you can do to earn heaven? Whether you are the person who argued against God’s word or you are the person who listened to another person’s ideas about gaining eternal life, recognize only one way leads to eternal life in God’s heaven. God gives it freely to each person who trusts Jesus is His Son who lived a sinless life, died a sinner’s death, and rose victorious from death to forgive the sins of each person who believes, to cleanse them from the stain of sin, and to give them eternal life with Him in heaven.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son. This is the judgment, that Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:16-19 [NASB])

No other way exists to have eternal life and to have the stains and guilt of sin removed from your heart, mind, and spirit. Because Jesus is God incarnate (in the flesh) and He lived a sinless life, only His sinless crucifixion can atone for your sinfulness. He died so you and each person would not have to pay the judgment penalty of death for your/their sins. God is holy and people are sinful. Holiness and godlessness cannot be in the same place. Similarly, light and dark cannot be in the same place.

“For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” (John 3:20-21 [NASB])

Questions:

• What sins have kept you chained in your heart, mind, and spirit?
• Why do you allow them to keep you chained and ensnared to Satan?
• What keeps you from believing in Jesus, the Son of God, who came to take away your sins?
• What do you proclaim as the final truth about salvation that teaches opposite of the Gospel, the mystery of Jesus Christ?
• Why do you try to make yourself appear better than others by proclaiming this counter to the Gospel?
• Will you come to Jesus now believing in Him as the Son of God and accepting the salvation and eternal life with Him He offers you?

For next week, read Colossians 1-2, especially Colossians 2:1-5.

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf…” (Colossians 2:1a [NASB])

Attaining Hope

In this Bible study series of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we have learned the city of Colossae had a Christian community mixed among Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Phrygians. Each people group had their own culture, religions, and thoughts. The Greco-Roman philosophical thoughts mixed with religious ideas created the earliest form of Gnosticism. Gnosticism is a religious belief that all matter is evil and spiritual is good. Ancient Gnostics believed the way to salvation was through advanced thought. They proclaimed their so-called advanced Christianity and caused confusion and speculation about its validity. (see Background of Paul's Letter to the Church at Colossae)

Before he began to encourage and teach the Christians in Colossae, they needed to know who he was so they would know they could trust what he would tell them. They needed to identify with him and Timothy. Paul began his letter to these Christians in Colossae identifying himself and Timothy by their common faith and their common area of residence (vs 1-2). Both Paul and Timothy grew up in Asia Minor where Colossae was located. Paul told the Colossian Christians he and Timothy identified with Christ Jesus, just as they did. (see Identification)

In Colossians 1:3-8, Paul prayed and gave thanks for the Colossian Christians. He thanked God for their growth in faith in their love for God and the saints. Paul wrote that they bore fruit and matured in their faith. He made known he, too, knew Epaphras, their founding pastor and teacher, because he himself discipled Epaphras. He identified Epaphras as one who knows Jesus Christ, too, and said he taught them the Gospel truthfully. Epaphras is a “beloved fellow bond-servant” of Christ. (see Thanksgiving in Colossians)

Paul continued to pray for the Colossian Christians in Colossians 1:9-12. In this passage, he prayed for the Colossians to grow in Christ so they would be well-pleasing to God. Paul prayed God would fill them with the knowledge of His will with spiritual wisdom and understanding. He prayed the Colossian believers would bear fruit of good works and asked God to increase their knowledge of Him. Paul asked the Lord to strengthen them with His power and give them steadfastness and patience, too. At the end of his prayer, he asked that God give the Christians in Colossae joyous thanksgiving to and for Him who qualified them to inherit eternal life with the saints and the Son in His kingdom. (see Glorious Might)

In verses thirteen and fourteen, Paul explained who this Father is of whom he spoke in verse twelve. He explained the Father is the One who will give them the gifts for which he prayed for the Colossian Christians. The Father is the one who rescued the Colossian believers and any person who trusts in Jesus for salvation. Paul explained the Father rescues and transfers those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God from Satan’s grip and transfers them to the Son’s kingdom. These two verses told the Colossians what the Father can and wants to do. With the end of verse fourteen, Paul segued to who the Son is. (see Snatched and Delivered)

The Bible study of Colossians 1:15-20 (Superabundant Peace) told what Paul taught about who Jesus is. He told the Colossians that Jesus is the exact embodiment of God. He and the Father are of the same mind. Paul explained Jesus is preeminent over all created things. Jesus always existed and created all things with the Father and Spirit ex nihilo, out of nothing. Because of this, Jesus is greater than all created things, including angels, whom the Gnostics proclaimed were greater than Jesus. Jesus created all things and, in His wisdom, knowledge, and strength, holds all things together. Paul wrote that Jesus is the head of the body, the Church. He explained Jesus was more than these; He is the firstborn of the dead. Jesus came back to life and still exists so He will be first among all things, alive and dead, and visible and invisible. The Father, with pleasure, shared His fullness (His superabundance) with the Son. He enabled the reconciliation of people to Him through Christ Jesus. Paul explained how holy God reconciled sinful people to Himself. For the reconciliation of every person, Jesus gave His life as the sacrifice for the death penalty each one deserves because of their sins. Anyone who believes Jesus is the Son of God and confesses of his or her sins, He will save from their sins and death. By doing this, Jesus made peace with God possible.

If…Then

With Colossians 1:21-23, Paul continued his teaching about Jesus Christ. These three verses tell what Christ has done and will do for believers if they believe in Him. Verses fifteen through twenty told of who He is in relation to God, the universe, and the church. With the next three verses, Paul taught about what Jesus would do for them by using a common form of teaching, the conditional statement. Most people understand conditional statements. Basically, they say, “If you will do this, then I will do that.” Biblical scholars call this teaching tool “If…then” protasis and apodosis. Protasis is the clause that has the condition, you must do something to get something. Apodosis tells what you get if you keep to your side of the bargain.

In verses 15-20, Paul explained what the apodosis is (what people will get from Jesus) if the Colossians and other people will do something (the protasis). If people will believe in Jesus as the Son of God and repent of their sins (the protasis) then Jesus will save them from their sins (apodosis). Paul said Jesus did this for the believers of Colossae because He is the image of God, preeminent over creation, the Creator of all things, firstborn from the dead, the Head of the church, the One who has the fullness of God in Him, and has His purposes-to reconcile all things to Himself. (Colossians 1:15-20) Let’s look closer to see who the Colossian Christians were before reconciliation, what Jesus did for them, and what the Colossian Christians had to do as their part of this conditional clause (covenant).

You were…

“And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds…” (Col. 1:21 [NASB])

 When Paul began writing this conditional statement, he knew he clearly had to remind the Colossians Christians who they were before they believed in Jesus as God’s Son. They, and we, need reminding of our sinfulness. That will remind each of us of God’s grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness.

Paul said the Colossian believers formerly had alienated themselves. This verb comes from the Greek word apallotrioo and means to estrange or separate oneself from someone. Before they believed in Jesus as the Son of God, the Colossian Christians had willfully estranged themselves from God by doing what they wanted. Until they acted on the gift of faith God gave them, they had no strength to combat the temptations to willfulness. Human strength is imperfect against Satan’s temptations. Only Christ’s strength gives people victory. This verse recalls to us verse thirteen where Paul said, “He rescued us from the domain of darkness.”

Paul told the Colossians they were more than willfully alienating themselves from God. They hostilely combated Him in their minds. The mind and heart are where temptation strikes first. Our minds might say, I want that, or I have a right to it. Our hearts, with its desires, agree. This illustrates a hostile mind. This mind separates us from God because, by reasoning with our human mind and heart’s desires, often we do things opposite of God’s plans. With this statement, Paul showed the early Gnostics’ belief about philosophical thoughts giving a person an advanced Christianity was contrary to God’s plan. With hostile minds, he said they engaged in evil deeds, the things about which Paul prayed in verses six and ten. These Colossian Christians, before they believed in Jesus, alienated themselves from God in heart, mind, and spirit. These caused them to act immorally and separate them from God. Sin affects the four parts of each human.

Yet He did...

“Yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.” [NASB]

 What did Jesus do? He gave the apodosis. The apodosis is denoted with the word “yet”. Paul said Jesus “has reconciled,” the Colossian Christians. This verb, reconciled, means Jesus provides what each sinner needs to change from one state to another, a 180-degree turn. Jesus makes each person righteous, taking them from the position of a sinner to one who is cleansed from all unrighteousness. He did this with His crucifixion and resurrection. His reconciliation continues to affect people now. Jesus reconciles and keeps reconciling because people continue to sin until they get to heaven. Once a person gets to heaven, He makes them perfect. This reconciliation is the same as the “redemption” in verses fourteen and twenty. Reconciliation occurs because of the price Jesus paid for each person who believes in Him. He bought each person who trusts in Him out of bondage to sin and death and made them clean and righteous in the sight of God. Reconciliation means Jesus mediated with God for all people. His sinless life, death, and resurrection was the mediation for each person. It enabled our reconciliation to holy God. Jesus’ redeeming us, His paying the price for our sins, reconciled us to God if we trust He is the Son of God and repent of our sins. Jesus completely changed us from one state to another, from sinner to saved, a cleansed child of God.

The important part is how Jesus did this. Nothing else has ever nor would ever be enough of a sacrifice to cleanse us from the stain of our sins and release us from the grip of Satan and death, eternal separation from God. Christians do not need Gnostic thought on advanced Christianity. Jesus sacrifice is enough. Paul said Jesus reconciled us “through his fleshly body.” He had to become a man, to live as a man, never to submit to temptation, to die as a man for the sins of all humanity, and then to rise as the victorious Son of God. He had to be 100% man and 100% divinity for the sacrifice to be perfect for our redemption and reconciliation. Only God could do this. Only He could be God and be in human form. No person can make him or herself God and offer the perfect sacrifice for his or her sins. God, in His three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, desires for us to accept the reconciliation He gives.

Jesus’ sacrifice occurred so He could present us before God. For no one else in creation do we need to be holy except before holy God. When Paul said, “to present you before Him,” this literally means to stand before the face of God. Without Jesus’ sacrifice, we could never be face to face with God because holiness and sinfulness cannot be in the same place just as light and darkness cannot be in the same place. Jesus gave us this hope that He laid up for us in heaven (vs 5). He qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light (vs 12). Jesus makes each believer in Him “blameless and beyond reproach”. He makes us unconvictable for our sins because He paid the price for our cleansing and release from Satan’s grip. To be face to face with holy God, we must be “blameless and beyond reproach”.

Jesus justified and made each believer righteous and continues to do this for each person who trusts in Him. What Jesus does, He does fully. No half-measures occur. Nothing can ever snatch us from God’s hands. When Jesus saves us, He saves us for eternity. God had to do the reconciling of people to Himself, unlike what the Gnostics taught with their intellectual reasoning.

If you will…

“If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.” [NASB]

 This trifold conditional statement unfolds like this.  You Colossians were, but Jesus will, if you will. We’ve studied the first two folds of the conditional statement. What did Paul teach the Colossian Christians and us later Christians we must do and be sure of for Him to redeem and reconcile us?

With the first words of this side of the conditional statement (protasis), Paul said, “if indeed” you count yourself as saved. He then adds three things that should occur in your life. “Indeed” comes from the Greek word ge which emphasizes the word to which it adjoins. “Indeed” adjoins “if.” The part Paul emphasized was “If.” He used the antithesis to emphasize his point. If you are not a Christian who is “firmly established” is the antithesis. Remember, people taught philosophical thought and Gnosticism as the better way to live. Paul pointed out only Jesus provides the salvation sufficient for your reconciliation to God, resurrection from the dead, and eternity in heaven. Gnostics considered resurrection from the dead disgusting because they considered the body evil, so resurrection did not happen. Paul’s use of the antithesis to emphasize leads us to understand his words this way. “If indeed you are a Christian who continues in your faith in Jesus Christ, this means three things.”

What are the three things that prove a person has Christian faith? First, let’s understand what Paul meant by “continue in your faith.” For the people of Paul’s day, “continue” meant they persevered no matter what. Perseverance is more than endurance. Perseverance is endurance lived out. Paul meant these Colossian Christians, and all Christians, continuously would persevere in their faith, the deep conviction and trust that Jesus is the Son of God. He said, “If indeed you continue in your faith” three things will be evident.

Paul stated, “your faith will be firmly established.” He uses building metaphors in this passage. Firmly established faith comes from Jesus laying the foundation of your faith. He speaks truth and is Truth. Truth makes a building stable and grounded in the soul, unlike what the Gnostics tried to convince them. As Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians in verses three through twelve, we must make our faith established firmly by holding onto the faith, maturing, and bearing fruit. We must work out what Christ has put in us. (Philippians 2:12-13)

Added to this, Paul said, “your faith will be steadfast.” This word “steadfast” comes from the Greek word hedraios meaning to be solidly based and morally fixed. It gives Christians a firm purpose in mind and action. It makes us immovable from the faith and truth in which we first believed. When our faith is steadfast, no matter what happens to us, we will not forget God loves us and Jesus gives us the victory. No matter what happens, we have the hope of our salvation and life eternally in God’s kingdom. Our foundation will rest on the Truth, Jesus Christ. It will stay secure and steadfast no matter what comes against it. Nothing can shake us from the foundation of our faith. Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians to be steadfast in their faith in verse twelve.

The third thing that will be evident in the life of the Christian, Paul said, is their faith will “not move away from the hope.” What did Paul mean with this combination of words? “Moved away” means to dislodge, like a building built poorly so its walls fell. What is this hope? Hope is being sure of that to which you hold or on which you stand. The Gospel gives this hope. With this hope, Christians will remain unmoved from Christ, the Truth and the Life. Nothing can snatch us out of God’s hands. We have the joyful anticipation of being with Him forever and His being with us now to make our faith grow and to keep us strong despite storms that come against us. Understand, these three things do not make a person a Christian, but they are fruit from a person who has given his or her life to Jesus and that life has grown these fruit as her or she grew in their knowledge, wisdom, and understanding from, and strength through God.

This Gospel is nothing new, but “was proclaimed in all creation under heaven.” Every created thing proclaims the Gospel, God’s love for humanity and desire to have a saving relationship with us. He formed all creation (vs 16). Every living thing declares His might, knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Each living thing bears testimony to God’s sovereignty. In Romans 1:20 [NASB], Paul said, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they (the ungodly and unrighteous) are without excuse (for not believing).” God made Himself evident in creation as He created, as He walked in the Garden of Eden, as He worked in and for His people in the Old Testament, as He walked among us in the form of Jesus, as He rose victorious from the grave, and as He saves and lives in those who have faith to trust in Him as the Son of God. To this, Jesus made Paul a minister for Him.

Formerly, the Colossian Christians sinned and alienated themselves from God. They became hostile against Him in mind and in deed. Then, He made a way for their reconciliation to Himself. Christ reconciles each person who trusts He came in the form of a man, while wholly divine, to die a bodily death and be resurrected to life to give salvation and eternal life. He does this to present each believer in front of God as holy and blameless and without reproach. God will not find sin and the stain of sin on any believer. This happens if we have firmly established faith in Jesus that is steadfast and immovable from the hope the gospel of Jesus Christ gives.

Thoughts to Consider:

This world is full of philosophies, conspiracy theories, hate, evil, religions, and cultures. Many options satisfy the heart, mind, and body and cause them to think those options are truth. When Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians, angelology, Gnosticism, and other cultures and thoughts existed besides faith in Jesus, newly planted in Colossae but established in creation by God. These thoughts, cultures, and religions vied to gain acolytes. To be better than Christianity, the Gnostics wove a web of thought to convince Christians their ways were better than what Epaphras taught them. Though the Colossian Christians battled these things, Paul said he was pleased to hear a good report about them and their faith. He prayed for their faith. With these three verses from today’s study, Paul reminded the Colossian believers of who they once were and of Christ, who they believed for salvation. Next, he reminded the Colossian Christians their faith is established on Christ, the foundation, and is steadfast and immovable. Finally, Paul said they had the hope Jesus gave them through their faith in Him. He interwove these three verses with his prayers for them in verses three through fourteen. He returned to who Christ is and how He is the Redeemer from verses fifteen through twenty.

Today, decide if you will accept the salvation Christ offers. Ask yourself if you will uphold and enact the conditional statement and make a covenant with God. If you are already a Christian, examine your life to see if you have a faith firmly established, steadfast, and unmoved from the hope of the Gospel.

Questions to ask yourself:

·         Unbeliever, will you examine your heart, mind, and soul?

o   Do you now recognize Jesus is the Son of God?

o   Will you accept His gift of salvation and give your life to Him?

o   Will you grow in your new faith and mature producing fruit of that Gospel to which you professed?

·         Christian, will you examine your life to see if you have the true faith?

o   Are you firmly established with Christ as your foundation?

o   Are you steadfast so that nothing can move you from Christ?

o   Are you sure of your hope of the gospel so that whatever comes against you will not remove your hope and testimony in Jesus?

For next week, read Colossians 1 again and pay particular attention to verses 24-29.

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” [NASB]