Christ is a believer's life. He must remember that he will receive his inheritance. The Holy Spirit brings in that which completely judges and sets aside all such speculations. You're His servant. Such is His relationship to the church. That is an attitude which is not unfamiliar today, although often it is supported by specious arguments. THE UNIVERSALITY OF CHRISTIANITY ( Colossians 3:9 b-13). Both must be directed at things above. All work is done for God so that his world may go on and his men and women have the things they need for life and living. Like others, they may have reasoned that if Christianity had done such great things in the hands of fishermen, tax-gatherers, or the like (who could be of no great account in the world's scale, or in the schools of men), what might it not accomplish if it were but arrayed in the wisdom of philosophy; if it possessed the ornaments of literature and science; if it went forth on its career of victory with that which attracts the feelings and commands the intellect among humanity? Do not lie to one another. Christian speech must be kind and pure and honest to all men and in all places. Set your affections on things above,. For unless the affections are set on them, they will never be sought after in a proper manner. Paul goes on to list some of the things which the Colossians must cut right out of life. There is no mention of virtues like efficiency or cleverness, not even of diligence or industry--not that these things are unimportant. Of God He is the image, not exactly in an exclusive, but assuredly in the only adequate sense. When we were going through Ephesians, he said, "Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." So you feel like you've got to challenge everything. The mighty work of Christ has entirely delivered from it. He also urged them to continue living in keeping with their position in Christ. It is a liberty founded on death, displayed in resurrection, known in the Spirit. Two rules: one for the wife, one for the husband. The very fact that I have accepted Jesus Christ, the whole concept is that I have renounced the life of the flesh. Orge ( G3709) is anger which has become inveterate; it is long-lasting, slow-burning anger, which refuses to be pacified and nurses its wrath to keep it warm. Hence it runs: "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven." The Christian doctrine of work is that master and man alike are working for God, and that, therefore, the real rewards of work are not assessable in earthly coin, but will some day be given--or withheld--by God. A short greeting Paul began most of his letters in this way. The ceremonies of the law have no further use (16-17).Neither should Christians listen to those who want to show their superior knowledge by mixing their own philosophies with the gospel. Now, again, my life is the reflection of what I am and what I believe. He knows everything and feels everything. He was God's chosen One in the highest sense; He was the holy and beloved. "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." It need hardly be said that they were equally true, and each in its place most appropriate, but not all equally elevated. At this point we come to one of the main and distinctive objects of the epistle. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." There was no Christianity i.e., no deliverance of man and setting him in the Second Man before Christ became first-born from among the dead. Such a desire, says Paul, is idolatry. It lies at the bottom when we think of the wants of the saints of God here below. Bibliotheca Sacra 151:602 (April-June 1994):215-27; Charles C. Ryrie, The Basis of the Premillennial Faith, pp. THE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE CHRISTIAN ( Colossians 3:18-25 ; Colossians 4:1 ). The word for slander is blasphemia ( G988) , which the King James Version translates blasphemy. Matthew Henry :: Commentary on Colossians 3 Chapter 3 I. Nor is continuance in prayer all; but vigilant watch in the same, which does not let slip the just occasion for supplication; and as all things were to be done with thanksgiving, so prayer also, which would assuredly not forget the need of those in the forefront of the spiritual warfare and toil of love. He who believes this would understand that it was still an unrevealed secret during Old Testament times. Hence it seems to me not in whom, but rightly "wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God." Circumcised and uncircumcised were drawn together in the one fellowship. THE CHRISTIAN WORKMAN AND THE CHRISTIAN MASTER ( Colossians 3:18-25 ; Colossians 4:1 continued). We can readily understand that the Spirit did not bring out the fulness of the glory of Christ then, but as it was needed. In its own nature like the rays from the sky, it was the sun not for one part of the world alone, but for every quarter. So it is said here, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Therefore he might well press, "If ye continue. Our affections should not be fixed on houses and lands; on scenes of fashion and gaiety; on low and debasing enjoyments. Pleonexia is one of the ugliest of sins but while it is quite clear what it means, it is by no means so easy to find a single word to translate it. The Jew looked down on every other nation. It is all well for a Jew, because he has got his abstinences and his restrictions. Satan knew well what he sought in alienating many a Christian from this blessed man of God, and in carping at his ministry, and the testimony he was given to bear. The first is outward and the second inward. Constructively, to my mind, this points to the great sign of His death. 1. The language does not in the smallest degree insinuate that there is any uncertainty for a believer. There was no hindrance to the flow of the Spirit in unfolding the truth. What could be more vast than the reconciliation of all things in heaven and earth? Still less was it because of anything conferred on Him, whether of power or office. Such was the position of Israel. No master can say, "This is my business and I will do what I like with it." Here the ethical part of the letter becomes more and more practical. The Greeks likened it to a fire amongst straw, which quickly blazed and just as quickly burned itself out. Christ on earth was a blessed pattern of forgiveness and forbearance. But not a few of those that were baptized from early as in later days turned out untrue to the glory of Christ. Leave me alone." He is answerable to God, just as his workmen are answerable to him. They do it with a great spirit. "Beware," says he, "lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." The word we have so translated is kakia ( G2549) ; it is a difficult word to translate, for it really means that viciousness of mind from which all the individual vices spring. Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. You're doing well--very well. And if we'll follow these rules we can have a very happy marriage and a happy relationship. I love it. It is not too much to say that everything that has been done for the aged, the sick, the weak in body and in mind, the animal, the child, the woman has been done under the inspiration of Christianity. It is heavenly glory that is waited for, but only in hope. Jesus emerged. And we, the presumption here, is that the parents are Christians and are seeking the spiritual welfare of the child. Paul was the one that God raised up to fill the gap. Such is the only sure root of all blessing, and in this above all is real faith and spirituality shown. Colossians 3:1 "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." Colossians 3:5-6 " Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. "And let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another." It is false and ruinous, whether it leaves Him out or brings Him in whether it denies the true God, or makes everything a sham god. It was not so in the Ephesian epistle, where one of the richest developments of divine truth precedes any particular allusion to the saints in that city. So, says he, "being fruitful in every good work, and growing (not exactly in, but) by the knowledge of God." Bear with one another, and, if anyone has a ground of complaint against someone else, forgive each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive each other. Ambitions which dominated the world, will be powerless to touch him. Thus baptism is not limited to signifying death. The wife is to submit to the husband. If a man does not own Him to be Lord, he is nothing whatever; but one may bow to Him as Lord, and yet be painfully insensible to the higher glory of His person, and to the depths of His grace. And now the apostle would recall them: "Walk in him, rooted and built up in him." That which is hidden is concealed; the world cannot recognize the Christian. Sometimes we say of a man, "Music is his life--Sport is his life--He lives for his work." Christ in them. (ii) There may well be a word play here which a Greek would recognize at once. THE MUTUAL OBLIGATION ( Colossians 3:18-25 ; Colossians 4:1 continued). Paul begins with a heart of pity. The significant thing is that every one of these three words originally belonged, as it were, to the Jews. The Christian ethic is one of mutual obligation, in which the rights and the obligations rest with every man. Thumos ( G2372) is a blaze of sudden anger which is quickly kindled and just as quickly dies. It is hid with Christ; not hid from us only, in point of secrecy, but hid for us, denoting security. Is this the truth? Paul could think more deeply than any man who ever tried to express the Christian faith; he could travel along uncharted pathways of thought; he could scale the heights of the human mind, where even the best equipped theologian finds it hard to follow him; but always at the end of his letters he turns to the practical consequences of it all. 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. Yes, Christ is in all, and Christ is all. Here he gives prominence, it is true, to their being "brethren." He explains this duty (Colossians 3:2; Colossians 3:2): Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. If He is, the fulness, you are made full in Him, "which is the head of all principality and power." Let His peace rule. The sentence is blotted out; the power of Satan is spoiled openly; Christ risen triumphs over all. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all ( Colossians 3:11 ). All the privileges and rights belonged to the parent and all the duties to the child. Whenever Christ, your life, shall appear, then you too shall appear with him in glory. ". What is there here to make us fond of it? Colossians 2:2-3 New International Version 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Put on the new self, which is ever freshly renewed until it reaches fullness of knowledge, in the likeness of its creator. In the presence of God the social distinctions of the world become irrelevant. God aside. Christ, and Christ alone, has truly represented God to man, as He alone was perfect man before God. May He make and keep us faithful! The apostle would have them to feel the slightest touch of another's misery; and, as their clothes are put over their body, so their tenderest feeling should be always within the reach of the miserable. And here we come back to where this passage started--that is precisely why the Christian sets his mind and heart on the things which are above and not on the things of this world. For you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. The Christian forbears and forgives; and he does so because a forgiven man must always be forgiving. They were created by Him, and for Him, equally with the Father. Second, we should continually "set" our minds on the things of heaven (our spiritual blessings and hope, our Saviors desires, etc.) Josephus uses it as a description of Isaac, the man who dug wells and gave them to others because he would not fight about them ( Genesis 26:17-25). It matters little how well taught the saint may be, nor how he may know the moral beauty and the unfailing wisdom of the word, if positive fruit be not increased: if the spirit and power of worship abound not, there is something altogether short, or wrong. There is then a healthful progress in the Lord. But there is a contrary danger. The workman must do everything as if he was doing it for Christ. And as if this were not enough, we are farther told that He is before all things, and by ( ) Him all things consist. And if we are dead to the earth, and have renounced it as our happiness, it is absurd for us to set our affections upon it, and seek it. Since God raised us with Christ and we are already as good as seated with Him in heaven, we should "keep seeking" heavenly things. It is evident, therefore, that these apostolic epistles were meant to circulate among the saints. Yet He has absolute peace, never broken or ruffled for an instant. They may wear the semblance of being altogether hostile to each other: they are both of them only hostile to the truth. It introduces another situation Paul assumed to be true for the sake of his argument (cf. Am I then false or true to the constant sign of my Master's death? 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. 89-90; David A. If a man says he abides in Christ then he ought to be walking as Christ walked. The false teachers called their books of so-called wisdom apokruphoi ( G614) , the books that were hidden from all except from those who were initiated. Who has been overlooked in the comprehensive and active grace of our God? Moreover, worldly lusts, the members which are on the earth, earthly pleasures that are sinful, may be here meant. Worldly lusts are to be denied, the deeds of the body are to be mortified, carnal desires are not to be gratified and indulged, provision is not to be made for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts; and particularly the vain philosophy of Jews and Gentiles, the traditions of the elders, the ceremonies of the law, which lay in earthly things, in worldly observances, the difference of meats and drinks, keeping of days, months, and years, new moons, feasts, and sabbath days; the rudiments of the world, the commandments and doctrines which were of the earth, and lay in not touching, tasting, and handling certain things that are on earth, and which perish with the using, as opposed to the doctrines of the Gospel, and ordinances of Christ, which are from above, and come from heaven, and have a spiritual and heavenly use: and which is the sense chiefly intended, though it is best to understand the words in their largest compass. 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