COLOSSIANS – Part Eleven

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

www.godsbreathpublications.com

 

Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul while he was under house arrest in Rome. Epaphras, the pastor of the church in Colossae, came to Paul to share how well the Christians were growing in faith, but also to ask for help to address the issue of false teaching that was threatening the church. Paul responded by writing this letter of encouragement that is packed full of basic doctrine concerning Christ and the Gospel. It is unclear what the exact heresy was that was attempting to creep into the church at Colossae, but it had elements of Jewish observances of the Law as well as paganism and Gnostic beliefs. It is very relevant for us today, for we are surrounded by pagan beliefs and ascetic religious concepts, while at the same time dealing with a new resurgence of Gnostic conceptual influences. Paul in the following passage covers the doctrine of our new life in Christ and how we are to live because we have accepted Christ as our personal Savior.

 

Colossians 3:9b-17

“Since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

 

In the last part, Paul covered how we are to put off our old nature, our old self, with its sinful practices, and that we are to put on the new self. Here in this section of Colossians he continues by telling us that when we choose to put on the new self, we are being renewed in the knowledge of in the image of God, who gives us this new nature. The word “knowledge” here refers to deep thorough knowledge that comes from the Bible as the Holy Spirit teaches us in the ways of the Lord. We do not grow in our Christian life apart from Biblical knowledge. From this mature spiritual knowledge flows a holy lifestyle of proper choices based on the leading of the Holy Spirit and the foundation of scripture.

 

Paul shares next in verse 11 about one of the mysteries of scripture, the fact that in God’s family there is no division by race, social class, background or status. He states, “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” The Gospel of Christ broke down all barriers between people including racial, religious, cultural and social.

 

In verse 12 Paul gives specific instruction on what to do and how to live as a deeply devoted follower of Christ. He states, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

 

We are God’s chosen people. We are holy in our position before God because of our justification by the blood of Christ. We are dearly loved by God and are called by Him to put on the new clothes of the new nature by living holy and pure. We seek to live in accordance with the position of holiness we have before Him by the power of the Spirit. This holy living has specific characteristics that Paul lists for us. It is a list of desirable traits that we should be known by as we live among others. They are:

 

Compassion; showing pity, mercy, sympathy or compassion on those we have relationships with or come in contact with.

 

Kindness; the grace that pervades the person called a follower of Christ. This is a divine attribute that Christ displayed, that was part of His godly nature and should be displayed in our life as we let the Holy Spirit fill us.

 

Humility; submissiveness to God and others as well as not seeking glory for oneself, but it is not self-degradation. This differed from the false teachers who were not humble at all. It was also not common in the Greek culture for they despised weakness and actually did not even have a word for “humility” in the common Greek language.

 

Gentleness; a willingness to suffer injury instead of inflicting it on others. It is sensitivity to people that reflects the love of Christ.

 

Patience; a propensity to avoid getting angry with others even when provoked.

 

Bearing with one another, to be able to endure, to hold out in spite of persecution, threats, injury, indifference, or complaints and NOT retaliate.

 

Forgiveness, the ability to be gracious and loving when offended by acts or deeds of others.

 

Imagine how better the world would be if all Christians sought to put on the new self, the new nature that God has given us! Let us take this instruction from God to heart and be led by the Holy Spirit to live it out in all aspects of our lives. Paul also instructs us to live out these godly traits as we forgive others. Godly forgiveness is evidence that we are living as we should as Christ did. But Paul does not stop here. He gives us the central characteristic that ties all these godly behaviors together, love.

 

He states in verse 14, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Love is the belt that pulls or holds all these positive spiritual traits together. God’s “agape” love enables us to live godly when we treat others as Christ would and glorify God in the process. Philippians 2:1-5 gives us a focus on this calling we have as Christians when it says,

 

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:”

 

Paul next covers a major priority of our new life in Christ, letting the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. He says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Peace includes both the concept of an agreement, pact, treaty, or bond and also that of an attitude of rest or security. There is no strife because there is peace. There is peace in the Christian for they are in close fellowship with the Lord and are at rest because they are trusting in the Lord for all things and in all situations. There is peace in the relationships the Christian has with others because they seek to serve and minister to others without strife and conflict. The lack of peace in someone else’s life should not bring lack of peace in ours as a follower of Christ. But that is the challenge we have, to not respond to strife in the lives of others in a fleshly manner, but a godly Christ directed way. Peace is contagious, so as we put on the new nature established in the peace of Christ we can influence those around us as we deal with difficult situations of conflict.

 

It is interesting the word Paul uses here in relationship to peace. He calls for us to let “the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.” The word “rule” is used only here in the New Testament. It was used to describe the activity of an umpire in deciding the outcome of an athletic contest. Like an umpire makes a ruling on a situation in a game to lay down what must be done, we too must make a decision to let the peace of Christ rule our lives, to let this godly peace dominate our lives as we live by the Spirit of God. Paul also in this verse calls us to be thankful. To maintain a peaceful heart one has to be thankful and if you are thankful for all Christ has done for you, you will also be at peace in your heart.

 

Paul in verse 16 shares how important it is for the Word to be a constant focus in our lives as Christians. He states, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

 

Jesus spoke the gospel and quoted the Old Testament. He fulfilled the law, but also gave new Truth for us to live by. He laid a foundation in the apostles and prophets which gave us the New Testament. This divine revelation is our guide, our map in how to live the Christian life. We are to let this Word of God be our abode, our dwelling place. To dwell in God’s Word means we make ourselves at home and comfortable in the depths of His Word, the Bible. It should not be something we casually read rarely. It needs to be the focus of how we live and how we make all decisions. This is emphasized by Paul when he says we should “Let the word of Christ dwell in you RICHLY.” Richly means abundantly or extravagantly. We must be students of the Word. We must be adept at understanding it and using it as a swordsman would his weapon (2 Timothy 2:15). The truths of Scripture should permeate every aspect of the believer’s life and govern every thought, word, and deed. The Word dwells in us when we HEAR it (Matthew 13:9), HANDLE it (2 Timothy 2:15), HIDE it (Psalms. 119:11) and HOLD it fast (Philippians 2:16). “To let the word of Christ richly dwell” is identical to being filled with the Spirit as can be seen in the parallel passage in Ephesians 5:18.

 

Next Paul tells us what we are to do with the Word of God. “as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom,” Instruction can be negative, in a good way, when we “admonish” someone. This is when we have to correct and confront them for error in their thinking. It can also be positive and encouraging when we simply teach others what they need to believe. To fail to admonish someone in sin or error is wrong and to fail to teach someone who lacks spiritual knowledge is just as wrong. We need to teach and admonish each other at times when necessary.

 

Paul also gives ways in which our praise and worship can reflect what we have learned from the Word. Our beliefs and convictions from God’s Word can be expressed in singing, “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Psalms are praises in worship to God. Hymns are songs that are usually full of deep truths from the Bible. Spiritual songs were actually personal witnesses put to music that reflected how God had worked in a situation or a truth applied had brought about godly results.

 

Paul ends this portion of scripture with verse 17 saying, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” He is once again asking us to live as Christ would with our redeemed new nature and whatever we do to live our lives as Christ would.

 

In our next part we’ll get into the specifics of how to live out our holy calling in our marriages, families and even our jobs. These roles as spouses, parents, employees and employers are true testing grounds for how deeply we love Christ and wish to live for him.