He was minister of both, and of the latter, it would seem, in a peculiar and weighty sense: not merely as ministering to the church, but as the instrument that God has employed to make known to us its character and calling more than any other. Paul takes these three precious words which had once been the possession of Israel and gives them to the Gentiles. He insists that the slave must be a conscientious workman. How can that be? . Of course the Ephesian saints were so; but here it is expressed. Once again all the rights belonged to the master and all the duties to the slave. If a man brings every word and deed to the test of the presence of Jesus Christ, he will not go wrong. In it there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free man. Because I live you shall live also,John 14:19. Men of different nationalities, who would have leaped at each other's throats, sat in peace beside each other at the Table of the Lord. David gave this proof of his loving the house of God, that he diligently sought after it, and prepared for it, Psalms 27:4. It is heavenly glory that is waited for, but only in hope. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Let us hearken, "But now, ye also put off all these." The whole of the Christian life is lived in Christ. Circumcised and uncircumcised were drawn together in the one fellowship. II. There can never have been a time in history when so much filthy language is used as today. But woe to such iniquitous and ungrateful adversaries! e Grace to you and peace from God our Father.. Thanksgiving and Prayer. (iv) It destroyed the barrier between class and class. The Colossians from their dabbling with tradition and philosophy were in danger on this side. Although there were difficulties and hindrances, how much, he feels, there is for which to praise our God and Father: "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet" (and observe well, it is not merely for the certainty that He will, but in the peaceful assurance that He has made us meet) "to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." But the great basic Christian virtues are those which govern human relationships. It inherited that from the Jews, for Philo tells us that often they would spend the whole night in hymns and songs. Not only did he preach the one and teach the other (which the others no doubt did too), but he has committed to inspired writings the gospel as none other did; and he has, alone of all, brought out the church in the fullest way. But alas! He was a minister both of the gospel, and, as is said a little later, of the church two very different spheres, seldom united in the same individual. There is the forbearing and the forgiving spirit. Paul begins with a vivid demand. The apostle addresses the Colossian Christians in terms substantially similar to those which are addressed to the saints at Ephesus. He earnestly presses to mutual love and compassion, ver 12-17. The pursuit of tradition or of philosophy, as a graft on Christianity, continually tends to bring in that which poisons the springs of truth, and grace is always annulled by either. Actually, I have seen something that I think is a terrible evil. Both must be directed at things above. He is all, and He is in all. We have here a description of soul-prosperity. They had really themselves slipped away in heart: no such hope had found favour otherwise. 3:14-17 On top of all these things, clothe yourselves with love which is the perfect bond; and let the peace of God be the decider of all things within your hearts, for it is to that peace you were called, so that you might be united in one body. That is the meaning of all that seems good in the world's piety. Satan being invariably the personal and persistent antagonist of Christ, whatever is God's purpose in Christ becomes peculiarly the object of Satan's hatred and hostility. It is never an ethic on which all the duties are on one side. His was by no means a love inactive or limited. There is humility (tapeinophrosune, G5012) . We are offered two realities; things above and things on earth. And you just went ahead and did it. These things at first sight appear far apart, but they are not so in result. Since men have a certain knowledge of Christ's death, they are striving to die. There is no scale of angelic beings forming a ladder to link Christians with God (18-19).Having been set free from the bondage of sin through Christs death, Christians should not get into bondage again by becoming slaves of religious regulations that people want to impose upon them. Where sin brought man, grace brought Christ. Husbands, love your wives and do not treat them harshly. Since we are raised from the death of sin, and resurrected to a new life, our contemplation should be on the heavenly world. What a change! It has been described as ruthless self-seeking. Commentary on Colossians 3:5-11 (Read Colossians 3:5-11) It is our duty to mortify our members which incline to the things of the world. A blaze of light springs up among the hills; the storm ceases; the gloom is . Here we enter not merely what clears one out from the rudiments of the world, but what introduces us into the new thing. We have to loose everything, and then he is going to take off. "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." Nevertheless, he lets the Colossians know what he went through for their sakes and other saints who were before his heart, even though unknown in the flesh. Thus it is that He rises into a new condition, leaving behind that which had fallen under vanity or death through its sinning chief, the first Adam. Colossians 2:9-10. . We need the positive as well as the negative; and as we have just had the latter, so the former now comes before us. God knows that the greatest need that the woman has is to know that she is loved, that she is loved supremely. He must remember that the time will come when the balance is adjusted and evil-doing will find its punishment and faithful diligence its reward. "You must not only seek heaven, you must think heaven" (Lightfoot). Goodness by itself can be stern; but chrestotes ( G5544) is the goodness which is kind, that type of goodness which Jesus used to the sinning woman who anointed his feet ( Luke 7:37-50). Treasures are often hidden for the sake of keeping them safe. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord ( Colossians 3:16-18 ). As such not born merely, but risen again from the dead He is the beginning. Ought I not to share my Master's shame and dishonour here? You seem to have such a good attitude. There are many nice shades in detail; but I have referred now to that which is the principal point whence the two lines of truth diverge. She never appeared on the streets alone, not even to go marketing. He is the Head of the body one of the chief topics of this epistle. It is not, as in the Ephesian epistle, the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in the saints, but closely resembles a comparatively lower line of things which comes before us in the first epistle of Peter. THE MUTUAL OBLIGATION ( Colossians 3:18-25 ; Colossians 4:1 continued). He has annulled the power of him that had the power of death that word so terrible for the heart of man, and most surely foreign to the mind and heart of our God and Father, but a stern necessity that came in through rebellion. In the presence of God the social distinctions of the world become irrelevant. Now, as we had mentioned when we were going though Ephesians, God gave very simple rules for marriage. He uses the same line of thought in Romans 8:13: "If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live." This will obviously give him a new set of values. Under Jewish law a woman was a thing, the possession of her husband, just as much as his house or his flocks or his material goods. Our affections should not be fixed on houses and lands; on scenes of fashion and gaiety; on low and debasing enjoyments. 3:5-9a So, then, put to death these parts of you which are earthly-- fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, the desire to get more than you ought--for this is idol worship; and because of these things the wrath of God comes upon those who are disobedient. They needed rather reproof, and they are warned that the course on which they were entering was slippery and perilous. Christians must put off slander and foul talk and they must not lie to one another. Leave off therefore earthly things. I shall not contend against others who are of a different mind; but certainly the Apostle appears to me to go on step by step, so that, in the first instance, he places traditions as to trivial matters in contrast with meditation on the heavenly life, and afterwards, as we shall see, goes a step farther. Let us take the cases one by one and look at them in the light of this new principle. Finally, Paul gives the great principle for living that everything we do or say should be done and said in the name of Jesus. It is hid with Christ; not hid from us only, in point of secrecy, but hid for us, denoting security. Seek marks the practical striving; set your mind, the inward impulse and disposition. Accordingly, he brings in now for this object the twofold truth: "for in him," says he, "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. The Christian is one with Him. To make laws to live by is the way of the worldly person, not the way of the Christian. We may proceed to trace now the course of the Spirit of God in this deeply instructive epistle. Surely union with Him in His death will lead us to die to the world which is alien to us, and to live in aspiration, thought, desire, love, and obedience with Him in His calm abode, whence He rules and blesses the souls whom, through their faith, He has made to live the new life of heaven on earth. In Colossians the argument requires that our resurrection with Christ, as well as death and burial, should be distinctly stated. Half sobbing, he heaved himself up and began to march off dazedly in the wrong direction. Everything which could break the heart of a holy man from day to day he passed through. Tradition never manifested the true God. "I don't need you; I don't need anybody. Bible study tool. "As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellow-servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit." It is plain that however blessed this is, still it supposes wants, and a measure of weakness, and this for the ordinary walk of the Christian; that they might "walk worthy of the Lord," says he. We have not to imagine a reason, for the Spirit of God has given His own, and this will be found to set aside all others. "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing," urges he, "being fruitful in every good work." Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him ( Colossians 3:7-10 ): So we should be as John says, walking as Jesus walked. And as He is the image of the invisible God, so is He the first-born of all creation; for the Holy Spirit here brings together a kind of antithesis as to Christ in relation to God, and in relation to the creature. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. The Jews are enemies, and unbelieving; the Gentiles are specially the object of God's present ways. He always ends with an uncompromising and crystal clear statement of the ethical demands of Christianity in the situation in which his friends are at the moment. Paul goes on to list some of the things which the Colossians must cut right out of life. "You must not only seek heaven; you must also think heaven." "You must not only seek heaven, you must think heaven" (Lightfoot). The average clergyman is shocked and outraged by the prospect of shameless, harmless and unlimited pleasure which birth control offers to the young, and, if he can stop it, he will." But so it is. 3 f We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of g your faith in Christ Jesus and of g the love . A man alive in the world is under these ordinances, and owns them. Who and what is the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption? The first two chapters present Christ's person and work and the last two His peace and presence. Do you say, Yes, but why not God create by the highest as an instrument? This is the kind of peak of devotion which we can only dimly understand and only haltingly and imperfectly express. Yet it remains true, that "the hope is laid up for you," as he says, "in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; which is dome unto you, as it is in all the world: and bringeth forth fruit and groweth, as also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth." '. (ii) There may well be a word play here which a Greek would recognize at once. To the former the Holy Ghost could launch out into the fulness of our blessing in Christ. Their desire, we may be sure, was as well meant as any mistake can be. See how and for what the apostle gives thanks again. Meanwhile, instead of the Jews enjoying glory along with Christ in their midst, rejected by the Jews, Christ is in the Gentiles; and they who receive His name are waiting for heavenly glory with Christ. God knows that the greatest need a man has is to be macho, to feel he's in control. 209.]. I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me,Galatians 2:20. There is no such thing here as our sitting in heavenly places. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things' sake, the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the which ye also walked sometime. For this is the sign not so much of what would expiate as cleanse. No right-minded man, as such, could take for granted that others would care to know about his affairs any more than be theirs, unless indeed in case of a relation, or a friend, or a public and extraordinary personage. Thus the believer can look round full of joy upon his brethren; he can count up souls from every tribe, tongue, and station. They have undoubtedly taught that which is consistent with it and even supposes it. [Note: Lightfoot, p. Nothing more lovely (whether spiritually, or even in its place naturally) than that each should be just what God has made him, only thenceforth diligently seeking increase of inward power by the operation of God's grace. As Rev., set your mind. Nowadays to mortify the flesh means rather to practise ascetic discipline and self-denial. Accordingly the path of Christian duty is grounded on these wondrous truths. The Christian never stood on any such fleshly ground. The Spirit, having secured His glory, is more at liberty as to every other topic. Not inside of youlike some dormant seed that, once found, can be watered, nurtured, and coaxed into maximum fruit-productionbut hidden. When the youngster realized who it was that had given him friendly help, his expression of dumb adoration was a study." Don't provoke your children. And what a deliverance from self to see Christ in them! Moreover, worldly lusts, the members which are on the earth, earthly pleasures that are sinful, may be here meant. So, says he, "being fruitful in every good work, and growing (not exactly in, but) by the knowledge of God." It is interesting to see that from the beginning the Church was a singing Church. 1. And whatever you may be doing in word or in deed, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. And now He is risen from the dead, the beginning of a new order of existence altogether; and as He is the Head, so the church is His body founded, indeed, on Christ, but on Him dead and risen. Colossians Greeting. Hey, it opens up so many opportunities to witness for you. 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