In this section Paul continues to describe and urge upon the Colossians what their new life in Christ should look like. We stopped at 3:22 yesterday, but 3:22-4:1 really go together as Paul addresses slaves and masters.
The Bible is characterized by both unity and diversity. It is diverse, for example, in the sense that it was written by lots of different people to lots of different people in lots of different places and situations. It is also unified (which is really the dominant characteristic, though we should not lose sight of its diversity), for example, in the sense that behind all the human authors stood/stands the one Divine Author, which gives the 66 books of Scripture a union and cohesion that allows us to appropriately read one part of Scripture in light of other parts of Scripture. Scripture sheds light on Scripture. In the case of this section from Colossians, it is interesting and illuminating to read the parallel section from Ephesians (Ephesians and Colossians are very similar).
"Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven." -Col. 3:22-4:1.
"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him." -Eph. 6:5-9.
Verse 23 ("Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men") reminds me of one of Jonathan Edwards' resolutions, which I often recall and (only sometimes) put into practice: "Resolved, to live with all my might while I do live." Whatever you are doing today, whether it's something you had planned to do or something God had planned for you to do instead, do it with all your might, for the Lord.
Read the whole book tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
March through Colossians - 3:18-22
Rather than comment on individual verses in this section, I want to remind you of the big-picture message of Colossians by helping you see how this section fits into and relates to the rest of the book.
Could you summarize the message of the book of Colossians in a couple of sentences? What if you were having lunch with a new believer and they said to you, “So, I know you’ve been doing that March through Colossians thing…can you help me understand what the book of Colossians is all about?” How would you respond?
I might say something like the following. Colossians is written to a group of people who had trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation but who were in danger of being led astray from the centrality of Christ by some false teaching in the church. The letter is mainly about the supremacy of Christ over all things, including the false teaching/teachers, and also including the salvation and the new life of believers in Christ. As a letter, it includes things like thanksgivings and prayers, personal greetings and benedictions. It speaks to both who we are in Christ and how we are to live in Christ.
So, how does today’s part of the letter fit into and relate to the rest of the letter? I said that Colossians speaks to both who we are in Christ and how we are to live in Christ. Today’s section mostly contributes to the how we are to live in Christ part. It talks about family and work, basically. It addresses wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters (which is related to but not equal to employees and employers). Paul has already said that God has delivered these believers from the domain of darkness and transferred them to the kingdom of his beloved Son. Now he is telling them what life in that kingdom should look like (as we said for 3:12-17). He is saying, “This is what it looks like to be a wife in the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, no longer under the dominion of darkness.” “This is what it looks like to be a husband who walks in a manner worthy of the Lord.” “Kids, this is what it looks like to live as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.”
Part of the point is this: families matter; work matters. How we relate to each other in our families is significant. How we do our work is significant. Both of these spheres of our life should be characterized by the centrality and sufficiency of Christ. And when we lean into the sufficiency of Christ in our families and in our work, what joy and fulfillment we will experience! And we will be fulfilling our chief end: to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
3:23-4:1 tomorrow.
Could you summarize the message of the book of Colossians in a couple of sentences? What if you were having lunch with a new believer and they said to you, “So, I know you’ve been doing that March through Colossians thing…can you help me understand what the book of Colossians is all about?” How would you respond?
I might say something like the following. Colossians is written to a group of people who had trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation but who were in danger of being led astray from the centrality of Christ by some false teaching in the church. The letter is mainly about the supremacy of Christ over all things, including the false teaching/teachers, and also including the salvation and the new life of believers in Christ. As a letter, it includes things like thanksgivings and prayers, personal greetings and benedictions. It speaks to both who we are in Christ and how we are to live in Christ.
So, how does today’s part of the letter fit into and relate to the rest of the letter? I said that Colossians speaks to both who we are in Christ and how we are to live in Christ. Today’s section mostly contributes to the how we are to live in Christ part. It talks about family and work, basically. It addresses wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters (which is related to but not equal to employees and employers). Paul has already said that God has delivered these believers from the domain of darkness and transferred them to the kingdom of his beloved Son. Now he is telling them what life in that kingdom should look like (as we said for 3:12-17). He is saying, “This is what it looks like to be a wife in the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, no longer under the dominion of darkness.” “This is what it looks like to be a husband who walks in a manner worthy of the Lord.” “Kids, this is what it looks like to live as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.”
Part of the point is this: families matter; work matters. How we relate to each other in our families is significant. How we do our work is significant. Both of these spheres of our life should be characterized by the centrality and sufficiency of Christ. And when we lean into the sufficiency of Christ in our families and in our work, what joy and fulfillment we will experience! And we will be fulfilling our chief end: to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
3:23-4:1 tomorrow.
Monday, March 21, 2011
March through Colossians - 3:12-15 and 3:16-17
Well, I missed another post yesterday. Sorry about that! It’s easier for me to post something during the week, and I haven’t come up with a good system yet for posting during the weekend at home. Yesterday’s reading (Sunday) was 3:12-15 and today’s is 3:16-17. Those 2 readings really make up one paragraph, so I’ll just comment on both in one post today.
In this part of the letter, Paul addresses the Colossians positively about how they should relate to other people in the body of Christ. So listen up! He is saying to them and to us, “You have died with Christ! You have been raised with Christ! You have put off the old self and have put on the new self which is being renewed! So, put on all these things as you relate to each other.” He assumes that sin will be active and aggressive. He assumes that our relationships with others in the church will be affected by selfishness and anger. He says to bear with one another because he assumes we will need to do just that.
First, I think we should take note of the mercy and wisdom of our God in actually giving us these verses. We should do that for every part of Scripture actually. But what I was thinking about was that God would be merciful towards us not only in delivering us from the domain of darkness and transferring us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, but also in telling us what life in that kingdom should look like. He made us a part of His family, and He cares about the relationships among the members of His family. He wants us to put off the old way of life in sin (which is still around, by the way) and to put on the new way of life in Christ.
Second, I think one of the most powerful phrases in this paragraph is found at the end of verse 13: “as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” It’s so easy to let our eyes just run over the words “as the Lord has forgiven you,” without really taking it in. Take time today to reflect on that. How has the Lord forgiven me? Let your mind wander through Scripture, filling in the answer to that question with gospel truths. If we carry around in us a deep and genuine appreciation for the forgiveness we have in Jesus, we will be inclined to forgive others. Our relationships will be characterized not by coldness and criticism but by the warmth and love that Jesus Himself has shown to us. That’s part of how God wants us to live in His family, for His glory.
3:18-22 tomorrow.
In this part of the letter, Paul addresses the Colossians positively about how they should relate to other people in the body of Christ. So listen up! He is saying to them and to us, “You have died with Christ! You have been raised with Christ! You have put off the old self and have put on the new self which is being renewed! So, put on all these things as you relate to each other.” He assumes that sin will be active and aggressive. He assumes that our relationships with others in the church will be affected by selfishness and anger. He says to bear with one another because he assumes we will need to do just that.
First, I think we should take note of the mercy and wisdom of our God in actually giving us these verses. We should do that for every part of Scripture actually. But what I was thinking about was that God would be merciful towards us not only in delivering us from the domain of darkness and transferring us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, but also in telling us what life in that kingdom should look like. He made us a part of His family, and He cares about the relationships among the members of His family. He wants us to put off the old way of life in sin (which is still around, by the way) and to put on the new way of life in Christ.
Second, I think one of the most powerful phrases in this paragraph is found at the end of verse 13: “as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” It’s so easy to let our eyes just run over the words “as the Lord has forgiven you,” without really taking it in. Take time today to reflect on that. How has the Lord forgiven me? Let your mind wander through Scripture, filling in the answer to that question with gospel truths. If we carry around in us a deep and genuine appreciation for the forgiveness we have in Jesus, we will be inclined to forgive others. Our relationships will be characterized not by coldness and criticism but by the warmth and love that Jesus Himself has shown to us. That’s part of how God wants us to live in His family, for His glory.
3:18-22 tomorrow.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
March through Colossians - 3:9-11
You can see again in this section the relationship between the indicative and the imperative that we noticed earlier on. “Do not lie to one another [imperative], seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self [indicative]. As Christians, we have already put off the old self (our life before Christ and our way of life before Christ) and we have already put on the new self (our new life in Christ now). And we are continually being renewed in knowledge after the image of our creator.
The ESV Study Bible note is helpful here: “A qualitative change of identity has already occurred in the lives of believers. It now only remains for them to bring their behavior into line with their new identity.” In this letter God graciously reveals to us our identity in Christ and then unfolds for us what our new life in Him should look like.
3:12-15 tomorrow.
The ESV Study Bible note is helpful here: “A qualitative change of identity has already occurred in the lives of believers. It now only remains for them to bring their behavior into line with their new identity.” In this letter God graciously reveals to us our identity in Christ and then unfolds for us what our new life in Him should look like.
3:12-15 tomorrow.
Friday, March 18, 2011
March through Colossians - 3:5-8
Even though we have died with Christ and have been raised with Christ (3:1-4), sin is still present in us because we are not yet in glory (3:4). Every part of us is still stained by sin: thoughts, words, actions, choices, feelings, responses, desires, daydreamings. So how does God intend for us to address this?
Put sin to death. Put it all away. When sin rears its ugly head again, slay it. Slay it through prayer. Slay it through remembering God’s Word, especially what is true of you in Christ (notice Paul’s logic: you have died…now put to death). Slay it by choosing to live in that moment for God and not for yourself. Slay it because you have died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
3:9-11 tomorrow.
Put sin to death. Put it all away. When sin rears its ugly head again, slay it. Slay it through prayer. Slay it through remembering God’s Word, especially what is true of you in Christ (notice Paul’s logic: you have died…now put to death). Slay it by choosing to live in that moment for God and not for yourself. Slay it because you have died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
3:9-11 tomorrow.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
March through Colossians - 3:1-4
What a great paragraph of Scripture this is! Such rich truth and such motivating exhortation. The main thought Paul is conveying to the Colossians is something like, “You have died with Christ and you have been raised with Christ; therefore seek and set your minds on things that are above.”
We could spend a thousand lifetimes exploring the depths of what it means for us to have died with Christ and to have risen with Christ. Or what it means to seek and set our minds on things that are above. But the one thing I want to point out today is the relationship between these 2 elements of the paragraph. Paul’s exhortation to the Colossians is grounded in what he says is true about the Colossians in Christ. This is a clear example of something you find all over Scripture: statements of what is true about believers in Christ always precede statements about how believers should live in Christ. The indicative precedes the imperative (actually, this isn’t always the case in the order of the text itself, but this is always the case logically and theologically; in other words, sometimes a passage will say “Do this” and then it will say “And do it because of who you are through God’s grace,” like in Phil 2:12-13; but many times it will say “This is who you are through God’s grace” and therefore “Do this,” like in our passage today).
So here’s the takeaway from this point. The first thing to do today if you want to seek and set your mind on the things that are above is to consider the reality that you have died with Christ and have been raised with Christ. Your life (your status of being spiritually alive now instead of spiritually dead) is hidden with Christ in God. These realities are what should drive the seeking and the mind-setting that you are called to as a Christian.
Keep it up! 3:5-8 tomorrow.
We could spend a thousand lifetimes exploring the depths of what it means for us to have died with Christ and to have risen with Christ. Or what it means to seek and set our minds on things that are above. But the one thing I want to point out today is the relationship between these 2 elements of the paragraph. Paul’s exhortation to the Colossians is grounded in what he says is true about the Colossians in Christ. This is a clear example of something you find all over Scripture: statements of what is true about believers in Christ always precede statements about how believers should live in Christ. The indicative precedes the imperative (actually, this isn’t always the case in the order of the text itself, but this is always the case logically and theologically; in other words, sometimes a passage will say “Do this” and then it will say “And do it because of who you are through God’s grace,” like in Phil 2:12-13; but many times it will say “This is who you are through God’s grace” and therefore “Do this,” like in our passage today).
So here’s the takeaway from this point. The first thing to do today if you want to seek and set your mind on the things that are above is to consider the reality that you have died with Christ and have been raised with Christ. Your life (your status of being spiritually alive now instead of spiritually dead) is hidden with Christ in God. These realities are what should drive the seeking and the mind-setting that you are called to as a Christian.
Keep it up! 3:5-8 tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
March through Colossians - whole book
If you've been following along in the reading schedule, this will be the 3rd time now that you've read through the whole book of Colossians in one sitting. I hope you are benefiting from this, much like the original hearers/readers of Colossians would have benefited when the letter was read to them (no doubt in its entirety), or perhaps when they had occasion to read it themselves.
I came across this great anecdote a while back on another blog. The quote is from a work by James Gray (1851-1935) called How to Master the English Bible. It appears that he has much to say in this book that is helpful, and let's not get on him too much for his title (most certainly our primary goal should be to be mastered by the Bible, but we would do well to have a goal of mastering the special revelation God has given to us). Here's the anectdote:
"The first practical help I ever received in the mastery of the English Bible was from a layman. We were fellow-attendants at a certain Christian conference or convention and thrown together a good deal for several days, and I saw something in his Christian life to which I was a comparative stranger—peace, a rest, a joy, a kind of spiritual poise I knew little about. One day I ventured to ask him how he had become possessed of the experience, when he replied, 'By reading the epistle to the Ephesians.' I was surprised, for I had read it without such results, and therefore asked him to explain the manner of his reading, when he related the following: He had gone into the country to spend the Sabbath with his family on one occasion, taking with him a pocket copy of Ephesians, and in the afternoon, going out into the woods and lying down under a tree, he began to read it; he read it through at a single reading, and finding his interest aroused, read it through again in the same way, and, his interest increasing, again and again. I think he added that he read it some twelve or fifteen times, 'and when I arose to go into the house,' said he, 'I was in possession of Ephesians, or better yet, it was in possession of me, and I had been "lifted up to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus‚" in an experimental sense in which that had not been true in me before, and will never cease to be true in me again.'"
3:1-4 tomorrow.
I came across this great anecdote a while back on another blog. The quote is from a work by James Gray (1851-1935) called How to Master the English Bible. It appears that he has much to say in this book that is helpful, and let's not get on him too much for his title (most certainly our primary goal should be to be mastered by the Bible, but we would do well to have a goal of mastering the special revelation God has given to us). Here's the anectdote:
"The first practical help I ever received in the mastery of the English Bible was from a layman. We were fellow-attendants at a certain Christian conference or convention and thrown together a good deal for several days, and I saw something in his Christian life to which I was a comparative stranger—peace, a rest, a joy, a kind of spiritual poise I knew little about. One day I ventured to ask him how he had become possessed of the experience, when he replied, 'By reading the epistle to the Ephesians.' I was surprised, for I had read it without such results, and therefore asked him to explain the manner of his reading, when he related the following: He had gone into the country to spend the Sabbath with his family on one occasion, taking with him a pocket copy of Ephesians, and in the afternoon, going out into the woods and lying down under a tree, he began to read it; he read it through at a single reading, and finding his interest aroused, read it through again in the same way, and, his interest increasing, again and again. I think he added that he read it some twelve or fifteen times, 'and when I arose to go into the house,' said he, 'I was in possession of Ephesians, or better yet, it was in possession of me, and I had been "lifted up to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus‚" in an experimental sense in which that had not been true in me before, and will never cease to be true in me again.'"
3:1-4 tomorrow.
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