About Jesus - Steve Sweetman
This Section - chapter 3 and 4
Previous Section - Chapter 3 and 4
Rules For Holy Living (ch. 3:1-17)Paul says here in the beginning of chapter three to set your hearts and your minds on Christ, "since you have been "raised with Christ". We mentioned earlier that we were raised with Christ when we first believed. We died with Him in repentance, and we are raised with Him in faith.
He encourages us to set our heart’s and mind’s on Christ, "who is seated at the right hand of God". God, and Jesus are in heavenly places. We need to turn more of our attention away from earthly things and set our heart’s and mind’s on heavenly things. Why should we do this? Because as Paul puts it in verse 2, "we are hidden in Christ". Because we have been united with Jesus because of the Holy Spirit who actually lives in us, we have a special place in Christ. We are hidden with Him and are protected in that special place where we live.
In verse 4 Paul says that "when Christ who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory" He says a couple of things here. He first says that "Christ is our life". That means that Jesus is the reason for why we now live our lives as Christians. Then he says that when Jesus comes back for the second time, we will appear with Him in a glorious state of being. I believe Paul is referring to our resurrected bodies at this point.
In most of Paul’s letters he always seems to encourage his readers to put off the old man and its evil ways. Even though we have died with Christ in repentance, we still have our old nature to deal with. It is our responsibility with the help of the Holy Spirit to put off, or not give into any of the deeds associated with our earthy nature. We do have two natures as Christians. We are earthly, yet because of the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, we are also spiritual, or heavenly.
Paul lists a number of sins from the earthly side of us. He says "because of these, the wrath of God is coming". We do need to understand, whether we like it or not, the wrath of God is coming. God does get angry. His anger was poured out on Jesus on the cross, yet there is a future sense to His anger as well. For those who reject Jesus’ act of love on the cross and continue to live in their sins, He will pour out His wrath once again. Wrath by definition is different that anger. Anger is something that is more controllable. Wrath is an emotional, somewhat uncontrollable outburst. God is said to have both anger and wrath against those who continue to reject His Son.
In verse 10 Paul says that our "new self is being renewed in knowledge of the image of the Creator". He is saying a couple of things here. First of all he is saying, even though we have a new nature, that new nature is in the process of being renewed. This is part of what salvation is all about. Yes, we did get saved when we first put our trust in Jesus, but we are also in the process of being saved, or renewed. Someday, when Jesus returns, we will be fully saved.
Paul also says that knowledge has a role to play in the renewing process. Part of the process of change, the process of renewing is based on our knowledge of God, Jesus and His Word. The influence of God’s word on our minds and our thinking process goes a long way in us being renewed into something pleasing to God. This reminds me of what Paul says in Rom. 12:2. He says that we "should be transformed by the renewing of our minds". Our minds have an important place in working out our salvation. The problem is that too many of us don’t really want to use our minds. We would simply prefer to go to the front of the church and have hands laid on us in prayer, and be magically changed. This can happen, but we cannot rule out the role of our minds in the working out of our salvation.
When it comes to Christians, "Christ is all and in all". (ch.3:11) Things like colour of skin, economic status, whether one has been circumcised or not doesn’t matter. As we gather together as the church, the thing that matters is that we are all one in Christ. This simply means that we all trust in Him for our very lives.
In verses 12 and 13 Paul encourages the Colossians, to have loving care for one another, because they are "God’s chosen people". We need to bare with one another, forgive one another, be patient with one another and so on. The idea that we are "God’s chosen people" is packed with meaning and controversy. To the Jews of the day they understood that they were God’s chosen people. To the Judaizers, Gentile Christians needed to become Jews in order to become God’s chosen people. Paul is very adamant on this point. In many of his letters he stresses the point that those who trust in Jesus are now God’s people. This is one of the main themes of the book of Galatians.
Paul tells his readers to forgive your brother as Christ forgave us. How did Christ forgive us? First of all, He had to sacrifice His life in order to bring forgiveness to us. Sacrifice may be required on our part as well, if we are to forgive others. There is another point to be made here about forgiveness, and this may be a little controversial. Yes, Christ forgave us all, yet this forgiveness is not realized on our part unless we repent. Without repentance we cannot receive the benefits of our forgiven state. It thus is clear to me that you cannot really forgive someone else unless they come with a repentant heart. You can act in a loving way towards someone who has offended you and does not want to repent. Yet this act of love is not really forgiveness. Forgiveness is something the offender receives, only after he has repented and desires to be forgiven.
In verse 14 Paul says that in all the above virtues, meaning forgiveness, patience, and humility, "love binds them all together in perfect unity". We as Christians should be united. This is not the case in many areas of the church, but that does not mean we should not strive for unity that is based on love, and to the fact that we all trust in the same Lord.
Verse 15 says, "let the peace of God rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace". Paul says that peace should be the ruler of our hearts. We are called to be in a functioning body, which is the church. For this to work out the way in which God desires, we "should live in peace" as much as possible. (see Rom. 13:18) I think we often interpret this verse to say that the peace of God should be found in our hearts in all we do. I have heard this verse quoted as a way in which we can confirm God’s will in our lives. If peace reigns, then we are in God’s will. Yet the context seems to say, have peace in your heart so you can extend it to others. This is a different idea altogether.
Paul tells the readers of this letter "to let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly". The Greek word "plousios" is translated as "richly". This word means "wealthy, or great abundance". So the idea here is that the Word of Christ should dwell within us in "great abundance". We should be rich in the Word of God. Where can we find the Word of God today. We find it in the Bible. Therefore you can see how important the Bible is for us. It needs to be in our heart’s, our mind’s and our lives in great abundance.
The Greek word "plousios" is also used in the New Testament in relation to material abundance or wealth. So in the same way we desire to be rich in this world's goods, we should want to be rick in spiritual wealth which is a good understanding of the Word of God, the Bible.
When the Word of God dwells in us richly, we can then, with all wisdom teach and admonish one another. Then and only then can this properly happen with success. Sometimes we like to teach others, that is to straighten them out on what we may think is the truth. Yet if God’s word does not dwell in us in abundance then we should be careful when it comes to teaching and admonishing others.
A proper working understanding of Biblical truth gives us much wisdom. As I said about, sometimes we'd rather use Biblical passages to clobber one another over the head with, but this is not using wisdom. The reason for the wisdom is to teach and admonish one another to bring greater health to the Body of Christ. Therefore, the importance of God's word living is us not only is for our own benefit, but for others as well. We cannot keep this wisdom to ourselves. I've always said, "the health of the Body of Christ is as only good as the health of the individual in the body.
Paul closes this chapter by saying, "whatever you do , whether in word or deed, do in the name of the Lord Jesus". (ch. 3:17) It is important to understand what the "name of Jesus" means. It is not simply doing something and saying that you are doing this or that in Jesus’ name. It is not simply praying and attaching the phrase "in the name of Jesus" to your prayer. Whenever you see this phrase used, you must understand that we as Christians are representatives of Jesus. When we work for an employer we must do what he says or else we would get fired. We must represent our employer with dignity. The same with Jesus. We are employed by Him to work in His Kingdom. Therefore we must represent Him properly because we bare His name. This is what doing things in the name of Jesus really means. I think that many don’t really see this as they should. They see it as simply adding words to a prayer.
So whatever we do, we need to do it with thanksgiving, as unto the Lord, as Paul says here. Paul uses this word thanksgiving a lot. You must realize that Paul was a very thankful person, even though he was in prison as he was dictating these words.
Rules For Christian Households (ch. 3:18 – 4:1)
As in Ephesians, where Paul goes into a little more detail, he addresses how Christian families should live. He tells wives to submit to their own husbands. The Greek word "hupotaso" is the word translated as "submit" in this passage. It is a military word and means to "rank under". This may not sound all that great to the modern wife, but this is what Paul is saying. He is telling wives to rank under, or to fall in line under the leadership of their husbands. Off the top of your head, you might not like the idea, but you can’t change what Paul is saying to fit into our modern society’s way of thinking.
Verse 19 gives the husbands their job and that is to love their wives. Paul doesn’t say it here, but in Eph. 5:25 Paul tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Remember, Jesus gave His life for the church. To the degree the husband loves his wife in a Biblical sense, will be the degree that a wife will be able to submit to her own husband.
In verse 20 Paul tells the children to obey their parents. Why? Because this pleases the Lord.
Then Paul goes on to say to fathers, don’t "embitter your children". In Eph. 6:4 Paul says "don’t exasperate your children". I like the word exasperate. Too often fathers, and mothers too, exasperate their children by nagging over things that aren’t worth nagging over. If a parent is going to have a major conflict with their children, then have it over an important issue, not over issues that are unimportant.
Paul then goes on to address slaves by telling them to obey their masters as if they are obeying the Lord Himself. This is not all of Paul’s thoughts on slavery. He says more in other letters. We will not speak concerning slavery, other than to comment on the fact that Paul tells slaves to obey their masters.
This could easily be used in our modern day workplace. In verse 23 he says, "whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart". You see the word work in this sentence. Work is what Paul is talking about in this context. So as an employee we should receive this same admonition that Paul gives to the slaves.
Paul goes on to say that if you do wrong in this work environment, you will receive your reward, maybe not in this life, but in the next. If all that we do is to be done unto the Lord, then the Lord will reward us. He will reward us for doing good, and He will reward us for doing bad.
Paul doesn’t leave the issue of slavery without speaking to the masters. He tells them to treat their slaves fairly and right, for they have a Master in Heaven. I interpret this sentence to be speaking to Christian slave owners since Paul tells them that they have a Master in Heaven. When treating a slave properly in the Lord, you might say that they are not slaves in the worldly sense of the word. They become more of an employee that you look after with great respect. They cannot be considered as private property.
Further Instruction (ch. 4:2-6)
Paul continues to give further instruction to his readers. In verse 2 he says to be "devoted to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Being thankful in prayer is pretty easy to understand, but what does he mean by being watchful? Jesus often said to watch and pray. There are two aspects to this watching in respect to how Jesus meant it to be understood. He wanted us to watch so we would not enter into temptation. We need to keep our guard up. It is very easy to slip into and give into temptation. Another way in which Jesus meant when He used the word watch was to watch for His return. While praying we need to keep an eye open for His return, and watch for it. So maybe Paul might have been thinking of these two aspects of prayer when he gave these instructions.
In verse 3 of chapter 4 Paul told the Colossians to pray for him and his co-workers. Notice what he wanted them to pray for. He didn’t ask for more money. He didn’t ask for more of anything. He asked for doors to be open so he could preach the good news of Jesus. The gospel of Jesus was the driving force in Paul’s life. He wanted to preach this gospel to anyone who would listen to him. For this reason, that is the gospel’s sake, Paul was in chains in prison. So his desire was to be able to get rid of those chains as soon as possible and get on with preaching.
In the next verse Paul asks for prayer so that he could preach the gospel with clarity. This is very important. If people can’t understand what you are saying, why say it. We must preach in a way that people hear all aspects of the gospel, yet in such a way they can understand what we are saying. So often this is not the case. We use Christian terminology that no one in the world understands. We also need to know all aspects of the gospel ourselves so we can pass it along to others. Here again, many today can not properly share the various aspects of the good news.
In verse 5 Paul tells the Colossians "to be wise in the way they act towards outsiders and to make the most of every opportunity". Being wise in our behaviour is important. If we are to be criticized by non-Christians, then let us be criticized for the gospel that we preach, not for any bad behaviour that we might demonstrate. We bring shame and criticism to the Lord when we do not live what we preach. This is a major problem the church seems to always have.
Making the most of every opportunity is important as well. So often we let opportunity slip by us. Sometimes we think that we need to make opportunity to show or to preach the gospel. Maybe at times we do need to make an opportunity but many times there are opportunities in front of our very eyes that we ignore.
In verse 6 Paul says. "let your conversation be full of grace and seasoned with salt". Full of grace is easy to understand. We need to be careful in the things we say and as much as possible extend grace in all that we say and do. What does it mean to be seasoned with salt? Maybe we will never know exactly what Paul was thinking here until we can ask him in person in Heaven, but I have an idea. Salt makes one thirsty. If our conversation can produce a thirst for the gospel in others, then we have seasoned what we have said with salt. We have said something that has left a desire for a person to think more of the good news.
Once that person begins to think about what you have told him, then he will ask you questions. At this point the last half of verse 6 is important. We need to know how to answer the various questions that people ask. We need to know what the Bible says in order to know these answers. Therefore we need to study that Bible to find these answers.
In Paul’s closing remakes he tells the Colossians that he is sending Tychicus to fill them in how Paul and his company are doing. Paul does not take the time in this letter to do that. That’s too bad. I would have liked to have known more of the details of how Paul was doing. Yet remember, writing letters back then was not as easy as it is today for us.
Onesimus is going along with Tychicus. Onesimus was a slave that was on his way back to his master Philemon. You can read a little of his story in Paul’s letter to Philemon.
We see in verse 10 that Paul was not the only one in prison. He says that Aristarchus, "my fellow prisoner" sends his greetings too. Along with Mark". It appears that the Colossians knew about Mark and had certain instructions concerning him if he were to come and visit them. Someone called Jesus, or Justice, was also with Paul. Him and the before mentioned people were the only Jews that were a part of Paul’s team. He most likely says this because Paul almost always had his struggles with the Jewish element of the church.
Epaphras sent his greetings in this letter as well. Paul says that he was one of the Colossians. Paul says that he "wrestles in prayer for them". The Greek word "ponos" is the word that is translated as "wrestle" here. It means to "toil, or work hard" The toil or work produces a certain measure of stress, pain and suffering. So you have a bit of a picture concerning how this man prayed.
Paul continues to list the names of people who send their greetings to the Colossians. One of these men is Luke "the doctor". This is the verse, (ch.4:14) where we learn that Luke was a doctor.
Verse 16 is interesting. Paul tells the readers to send this letter to Laodicea after they have read it. I guess Paul wants to get full use out of the things he writes. You can’t blame him for that. The interesting part of this verse is this. He tells the Colossians to read the letter he sent to Laodicea. Well, we do not have that letter. It is not found in the Canon of Scripture. It’s not found anywhere. This is one of Paul’s letters that we know he wrote, but must have been lost along the way in history somewhere. Wouldn’t it be great if we found this letter and could identify it for certain that it was this lost letter. I wonder what he told those people at Laodicea. I also wonder how many other letters that Paul wrote that we don’t have. Still I have another wonder. I wonder if we found this lost letter, and if we could prove that it is indeed the letter to the Laodicians, if people would accept it as Canonical.
In verse 17 Paul exhorts Archippus to "finish the work he started". We really don’t know what this means, but we do know that Paul was always thinking about the work of the Lord and doing it, until it was completely finished. One of Paul’s motivating forces in life was not to do something, especially the work of the Lord in vain.
Paul closes this letter by saying that he wrote the greeting, or the closing remarks of this letter in his own hand writing. You might have well heard the clanging of the chains as the pen went across the page, because in the same breathe he says, "remember my chains". The rest of the letter was most likely dictated to someone else to actually write.
Paul finally closes by saying "grace be with you". Paul more than most knew and understood how important the grace of our Lord Jesus is.