Paul's Prison Epistles - Lesson 2: Paul and the Colossians

you [Music] you there's a very famous story by the American author Mark Twain called the prince and the pauper in this story a prince invites a poor beggar into his castle and for fun the two exchange clothes as the story goes the beggar being mistaken for the prince is kept in the castle and lives the life of a prince but unfortunately the prince is mistaken for the beggar and is thrown out of the castle now had the prince known that he would be thrown out of the castle I'm sure he never would have agreed to change clothes with the beggar dabbling in such simple fun could never be worth losing so much in some ways the situation in kalasa during the first century resembled the story of the prince and the pauper the Christians and kalasa were being tempted to exchange the great privileges in Christ for the practice of pagan forms of worship so Paul wrote an epistle to remind the Colossians of the tremendous riches and royal privileges they enjoyed in Christ and to warn them of the serious consequences of trading these blessings for the meagre benefits that idolatry pretended to offer this is the second lesson in our series Paul's prison epistles and we have entitled this lesson Paul and the Colossians in this lesson we will be studying Paul's canonical letter to the Colossians as we will see in this letter Paul responded strongly to her etiquette eating's that introduced the veneration of lesser spiritual beings into Christian worship our study of Paul and the Colossians will divide into three parts first we will explore the background of Paul's letter to the Colossians second we'll investigate the structure and content of his letter to the Colossians and third we will focus on the modern application of this letter let's turn first to the background to Paul's letter to the Colossians Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ and writing letters was an aspect of his authoritative ministry as Christ's representative another part of being an apostle was pastoring churches and individuals and so Paul's letters were not just collections of authoritative teaching rather they were personal and pastoral motivated by love and concern for the churches and people to whom he wrote and Paul's letters were also occasional that is they were written to address specific issues in particular times and places so as we study Paul's letter to the Colossians it is important for us to know something about the occasion that prompted Paul's writing we have to ask questions like what problems did the Colossians faced what motivated Paul to write to them will approach the background to Paul's letter to the Colossians from two directions first will mention some details of his relationships with the Kailash in church in general and with individuals within the church and second will investigate some of the problems in kalasa that concerned Paul let's begin by looking at Paul's relationships with the Colossians Paul did not have the same relationship with every Colossians Christian so we will focus first on this relationship with the church in general and then on his relationship with specific individuals let's turn first to his relationship with the church in kalasa the city of kalasa was located in the Roman province of Asia in a region called Phrygia it lay in the Lycus Valley a bit to the east of the larger and more popular city of Laodicea kalasa was relatively small and by the political and economic standards of the day it was certainly the least important city to receive any of Paul's canonical letters Paul had never actually visited the church in kalasa but he cared deeply for them nonetheless listen to his words in Colossians chapter 2 verse 1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not met me personally now Paul had traveled through Phrygia during his second and third missionary journeys but for some reason he had not visited the Kailash in church possibly he had been to kalasa prior to the establishment of the church there or perhaps he had visited the city but not had the opportunity to meet the church it is also possible that he had never even visited the city of kalasa whatever the case Paul did not know most of these believers personally nevertheless we are able to learn some things about Paul's relationship with the Colossians from the details in Paul's letter to them as well as from his letter to Philemon who lived in kalasa for one thing we read that Paul had an indirect relationship with the Colossians through representatives such as his collage and friends at paffrath Philemon and an SMS and his messenger tick ACCA's second although they had not met face-to-face Paul and the Colossians correspondent with each other for instance Apophis had brought reports of the Colossians to Paul and Paul sent at least one letter to the church in kalasa namely the new testament epistle to the Colossians Byrd Paul and the Colossians ministered to each other for instance besides struggling in prison on their behalf Paul prayed specifically for the Colossians as he wrote in Colossians chapter 1 verse 9 since the day we heard about you we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding Paul regularly prayed specifically for the Colossians asking for the blessings he knew would most benefit them the Colossians ministered to Paul as well we learned from Paul's letter to the Colossians and to Philemon that the Colossians men at khafre's and an esse Masjid imprisoned and since the Colossians hurt sent messengers to Paul it is reasonable to assume that they prayed for him too in short even though Paul had not personally met most of the collaging believers they shared affection and affinity for one another making their relationship real and substantial having seen the nature of Paul's relationship with the church in kalasa we should look at his relationship with specific individuals within the Colossians with whom he was more familiar Paul had a number of friends from collosum these were not just people with whom he was acquainted but personal friends many of whom had labored alongside Paul in gospel ministry three such friends were Philemon at Thea and archivists listen to Paul's words in Philemon verses 1 and 2 which form the salutation to that letter to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker - Anthea our sister - ARCA passar fellow soldier into the church that meets in your home Philemon at least was the close friend of Paul and Paul's mention of at fiha would seem to indicate that he knew her as well many scholars believe that she was a member of Philemon's household probably his wife since our cthis was a person of status within the church Paul's address to him might be honorary but it is more likely that he was also part of Philemon family perhaps his son another of Paul's friends from kalasa was a Patras Paul referred to a Patras as his fellow worker in fellow-prisoner and mentioned that Apophis was a faithful minister of Christ and paphos remained with Paul in prison when Paul sent his letter to the Colossians Paul's friend Inessa mas' was also from collosum an SMS was a slave who appears to have sought out Paul after fleeing from Philemon and who ended up ministering to Paul in prison most of Paul's friends seem to have been associated in some way with Philemon but whatever their relationships to one another it is clear that Paul had closer relationships with these friends than he had with the church in kalasa in general but as this letter to the Colossians shows it is also clear that his relationships with these friends increased his love for all the believers in kalasa so then generally speaking paul had a fairly minimal personal relationship with the calash ensures but he also cared deeply and personally for several of its members he had strong feelings for their church not only because he was an apostle but also because of its association with his friends having examined Paul's relationships with the Colossians in general and with particulars we are ready to investigate the problems in kalasa that concerned Paul what difficulties did they face what prompted Paul to write to them while Paul was in prison he was visited by a man named Apophis who's from the city of kalasa and a Patras told Paul about some false teachings that were threatening the churches of the Lycus Valley including the church in callosum so in order to defend the church against this false teaching Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians although we do not know all the details of the false teaching in kalasa Paul's letter tells us several things about it first the false teaching and kalasa seems to have mixed Christianity with elements of Greek philosophy second it depended heavily on Jewish law and third it insisted that there were many spiritual beings that Christians were required to venerate and to appease let's look first at the aspects of this teaching that related to Greek philosophy in the first century Mediterranean world there was no sharp distinction between religious speculations on the one hand an intellectual study on the other hand and as a result the word philosophy was typically applied to a cult religion especially those that were based on religious traditions often these traditions involved special mysteries and rights as well as secret knowledge and wisdom sadly some of these occult philosophies were finding their way into the church at callosum we can see Paul's concern over this in Colossians chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 I am struggling for you in order that you may know the mystery of God namely Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge so that no one may deceive you by fine sounding arguments Paul's words here indicate that the Colossians valued mystery wisdom and knowledge all of which Greek philosophy and religion typically valued so in response to the claims of the false teachers in collosum Paul emphasized that true mystery wisdom and knowledge were found only in Christ and not in pagan religion then in Colossians chapter 2 verse 8 Paul explicitly identified pagan philosophy as his target and condemned it in no uncertain terms see to it that no one takes you captive through Hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ here Paul directly labeled the false teaching hollow and deceptive philosophy as we have seen in typical Greek usage the word philosophy referred to religious speculations based on traditions not to purely intellectual a rational study these verses strong suggests that the false teachers in kalasa were enamored with beliefs and practices based in Greek religion and occult mysticism to gain acceptance in the church they probably embraced some elements of Christianity but they clearly did not embrace Christianity as it was taught by the Apostles or else they would not have relied on occult tradition as the basis of their system the pagan philosophy advocated by the false teachers in kalasa also seems to have included elements of asceticism asceticism is an improper avoidance of physical pleasure it is often rooted in the mistaken idea that pleasure is immoral and it sometimes go so far as to advocate inflicting physical pain on oneself Paul denounced such asceticism in Colossians chapter 2 verses 20 through 23 since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world why do you submit to its rules do not handle do not taste do not touch such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom with their harsh treatment of the body but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence Paul objected to the ascetic practices in kalasa for at least two reasons first their asceticism was based on the basic principles of the world as we will see later in this lesson this language refers to spiritual beings and angelic powers second it was of no value in resisting sin and thus provided no benefits in summary then the false teachers in kalasa tried to mix the Church's teachings with Greek traditions that were supposed to bring wisdom and strength and believers against temptation but in reality the wisdom they offered was false their practices were worthless and their teachings denied the supremacy of Christ in addition to promoting Greek philosophy the false teachers in kalasa incorporated many practices based on Jewish law however their use and understanding of Jewish law departed both from traditional Judaism and from proper Christian practices as we have seen in other lessons Paul upheld the Mosaic law and he was willing to accept and participate in many traditional Jewish practices for the sake of the gospel so if the false teachers in kalasa had employed the law in a valid way Paul would not have criticized their use of it his criticisms indicate that the false teachers were using Jewish teachings and practices in corrupt ways in Colossians chapter 2 verse 16 Paul referred to a number of Jewish practices that the false teachers abused when he wrote do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to a religious festival a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day evidently the false teachers and Colossus stressed certain practices derived from the Old Testament law these included observances of the Jewish calendar such as religious festivals new moon celebrations and the Sabbath day as well as dietary restrictions but they did not observe these Old Testament regulations in the way prescribed by the Mosaic law nor did they apply them in the way that the Apostles did on the contrary Paul declared that their practices distorted Old Testament law and endangered the eternal destinies of those who followed them as he wrote in Colossians chapter 2 verses 17 and 18 these are a shadow of the things that were to come the reality however is found in Christ do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize the Mosaic law did not associate holy days with the worship of angels but with the worship of God and it did not advocate a special diet as a means of humility or asceticism but as a sign of being set apart as God's special people the false teachers however had corrupted these laws using them in idolatrous worship and Pagan asceticism in Colossians chapter 2 verses 11 and 12 Paul added circumcision to the list of Jewish laws the false teachers abused in him you were also circumcised not with the circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ having been buried with him in Baptism apparently the false teachers in kalasa were advocating a form of Christian circumcision so Paul associated circumcision and Christian baptism in order to teach the Colossians that because they had been baptized they did not need to be circumcised in short in Colossians Paul wrote against abuses of the Mosaic law he did not write against the law itself elsewhere Paul affirmed that the law of Moses is a proper basis for Christian morality and practice and that it teaches us many true things about God but here in Colossians he concentrated on refuting the specific teachings and practices of the false teachers condemning the ways that they had corrupted particular statutes in the law and insisting that the church reject these corruptions besides employing Greek philosophy and adopting practices based on Jewish law the false teachers in kalasa promoted the worship of spiritual being encouraging Christians to venerate and appease these powers that the Colossians search was courting the worship of spiritual powers is evident in at least three ways first Paul Rho to the worship of angels second he addressed the matter of rulers and authorities and third he dealt with problems related to the basic principles of this world we should begin by looking at his mention of angel worship according to the Bible angels are God's servants and they have always played a role in creation God delegates many jobs to them from spiritual warfare to influencing national politics to delivering messages to his people to caring for the earthly needs of believers and the early church was well aware of these roles as we read in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation angels really are ministering spirits and it is important to recognize their work but according to the false teachers in kalasa angels were much more than ministers they were cosmic powers Oracle's that revealed mysterious teachings to those who would perform their cultic rites and worship them Paul directly condemned these practices in Colossians chapter 2 verse 18 where he wrote do not let anyone who delights in the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions the false teachers claim to have received visions from angels and on this basis they encouraged other Christians to complete the proper rituals so that they might receive similar visions and perhaps the false teachers really had experienced visions though these would have been from demons rather than from God's holy angels alternatively they may simply have experienced self-induced or even drug-induced ecstatic trances or they might even have been lying whatever the case this exaggerated view of the power and influence of angels was not uncommon in the ancient world some Jewish teachers maintain comparable ideas about angels and some Greek philosophies taught similar things about their Oracle's and astral powers sadly the familiarity of these ideas to the Kailash and Christians probably made the false teachings sound reasonable allowing these false doctrines to gain a foothold in the Colossians now that we have looked at Paul's direct references to the worship of angels we should turn to his discussion of rulers and authorities in the language of the first century the terms rulers and authorities referred to spiritual beings such as angels as we have seen the false teachers in kalasa encouraged believers to worship angels and spiritual beings Paul responded to this heresy by emphasizing Christ's superiority over every power and authority in heaven and on earth he wrote of Jesus supremacy in Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 for by him all things were created things in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether Thrones or powers or rulers or authorities all things were created by him and for him here Paul mentioned Thrones powers rulers and authorities Thrones and powers translate forms of the Greek words thrown us and carrillo days both these words commonly referred to human kings and other earthly rulers but they could also refer to spiritual beings rulers and authorities in turn translate forms of the Greek words are K and EXO SIA words that usually refer to invisible spiritual powers such as angels and demons in the worldview of the false teachers in callosum the angelic and demonic spiritual authorities were significantly greater than their earthly human counterparts the false teachers greatly exaggerated the power of angels and demons so much so that they attributed to these invisible rulers actions and abilities that in reality belong to Christ alone Paul pointed out their error by praising Christ as the Lord of all creation rather than distinguishing between the spiritual and earthly authorities Paul treated them as one indicating that the spiritual and the earthly were far more similar than they were different they were both created and both were inferior to Christ the real contrast to be drawn was not of the spiritual over the earthly as the false teachers insisted but of Christ over all again as he said in Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 for by him all things were created things in heaven and on earth Paul went on to say that the spiritual forces and Christ were in direct conflict the false teachers thought that worshipping Christ was compatible with worshipping spiritual authorities but Paul indicated that regardless of how the false teachers envisioned the spiritual beings they worshiped the truth was that only demons allowed themselves to be worshipped God's holy angels have no part in such idolatry and Christ does not permit the worship of his enemies Paul addressed this point in Colossians chapter 2 verse 15 where he wrote having disarmed the powers and authorities he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross through the cross of Jesus Christ God disarmed and triumphed over the spiritual powers and authorities in other words the spiritual powers and authorities oppose God and spiritual war they were rebellious evil spirits enemies of God they were demons not holy angels but through Jesus Christ God had stripped these demons of their ability to fight and had humiliated them and defeat these fallen powerless defeated demons were the spiritual powers worshiped by the false teachers in kalasa the ones to which Paul referred as rulers and authorities now that we have explored Paul's mentioned of angels and of spiritual rulers and authorities we are in a position to see how Paul spoke of the basic principles of this world as we have already said this was yet another phrase that referred to spiritual beings in the first century the Greek term stoichea which may be translated basic principles commonly referred to the gods and spiritual powers that were associated with the stars and planets stoichea was also used to refer to the four basic physical element earth wind fire and water these basic principles or elements were thought to influence and even control the fates of men and women Paul clearly used stoichea in this way in Galatians chapter 4 verses 8 and 9 where he wrote formerly when you did not know God you were slaves to those who by nature are not how is it that you were turning back to those weak and miserable principals hear the word principals translates the Greek words to Shia and it refers to those who by nature are not gods that is it refers to the demons that masquerade as pagan gods this same meaning of stoichea is also the one Paul intended in Colossians chapter 2 verse 8 where he condemned these basic principles see to it that no one takes you captive through Hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ Paul pointed to the basic principles or stoichea as the basis for the philosophy of the false teachers in other words he was arguing that the religious traditions of the false teachers should be rejected because they appealed to false gods interestingly similar ideas about the elements and spiritual powers were held by some branches of Judaism especially during the intertestamental period this seems to set the stage for the Christian heresy that appeared in kalasa in Paul's day the false teachers in kalasa appeared to have combined Jewish legalism pagan religion and Christianity and to have encouraged the worship of these astral or cosmic powers commonly known as basic principles or stoichea the church in Colossae faced some real challenges in the first century unlike other churches they had apparently never received apostolic training although the church had been planted by godly men it had not been solidly grounded in the theology of the Apostles this made the Colossians Christians particularly vulnerable to false teaching so when false teachers began to bombard them with corruptions of Judaism and pagan idolatry was hard for them to tell the difference between truth and heresy wisely they recognize the problem and appeal to Paul for help now that we have surveyed the background to Paul's letter to the Colossians we should turn to our second topic the structure and content of Paul's letter to the Colossians Paul's letter to the Colossians can be divided into four major sections a salutation in chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 encouragement of Thanksgiving an intercession in Chapter 1 verses 3 through 14 the main body dealing with the supremacy of Christianity in chapter 1 verse 15 through chapter 4 verse 6 and final greetings in chapter 4 verses 7 through 18 the salutation in chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 identifies the Apostle Paul as the authoritative author of this letter and mentions that the letter also comes from Paul's disciple Timothy it is clear that Paul is the primary author because only he signed the letter also included in the salutation is a short blessing that functions as a greeting the encouragement of Thanksgiving and intercession found in chapter 1 verses 3 through 14 follow reports about the Colossians that Paul received from a pathos and pathos was the minister who founded the church in kalasa you will recall that he also spent time with Paul during his imprisonment while visiting Paul the Patras informed the apostle of the faith and love of the calash and believers and the two men spent much time in prayer for the Colossians so when Paul wrote to them he told them how he continually thank God for their faith and salvation and he let them know of his constant prayer that the Lord would bless them especially by giving them spiritual discernment and by strengthening them to do good works in the closing portion of Colossians the section of final greetings in chapter 4 verses 7 through 18 Paul sent greetings to the Colossians from the many people who were with him in prison the closing indicates that Paul sent this letter to the Colossians in the care of ticka cos and Inessa mmus tychicus also delivered the letter to the Ephesians and anatomist delivered the letter to Philemon this seems to indicate that all three letters Colossians Ephesians and Philemon were written and delivered at approximately the same time the closing also mentions a letter to the Church in Laodicea and instructs the Colossians to read that letter as well as to share their own letter with the Laodiceans this lets us know that even though Paul wrote these letters to specific people in particular circumstances he also intended them to be applicable to different audiences as we will see in a later lesson it is possible that Paul's letter to the Ephesians is the very one mentioned here as the letter to the Laodiceans the main body of Paul's letter to the Colossians begins in chapter 1 verse 15 and run through chapter 4 verse 6 this section details the supremacy of Christianity over the religion of the false teachers Paul's discussion of the supremacy of Christianity falls roughly into four main subdivisions first the supremacy of Christ in chapter 1 verses 15 through 20 second the supremacy of Christ ministers in chapter 1 verse 21 through chapter 2 verse 5 heard the supremacy of salvation in Christ in chapter 2 verses 6 through 23 and fourth the supremacy of Christian living in chapter 3 verse 1 through chapter 4 verse 6 we will briefly survey each of these sections beginning with the first section which focuses on the supremacy of Christ himself false teachers were trying to persuade the Colossians to worship cosmic spiritual powers and they were encouraging an ascetic lifestyle thinking that such harsh living would placate the spiritual powers and reap some benefit from these false gods so Paul began to refute these heresies by contrasting these pathetic and posture gods with Jesus Christ on the one hand Paul insisted that Christ is the king of all creation and that he possesses all perfections and authority on the other hand Paul taught that the basic principles of the world are incapable of delivering the blessings of salvation and are unworthy of reverence Paul listed many important aspects of the supremacy of Christ in Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 through 20 and most of these details contrasts with the false teachings in callosum among the details call outlined here he spoke of Christ as the image of God in Colossians chapter 1 verse 15 the firstborn over all creation also in Colossians chapter 1 verse 15 the agent of creation in colossians chapter 1 verse 16 the supreme lord in colossians chapter 1 verse 18 God incarnate in colossians chapter 1 verse 19 and the only reconciler in colossians chapter 1 verse 20 Paul began by saying that Christ is the image of the invisible God this description placed Christ in stark contrast to the gods of the false teachers listen to how Paul described Jesus in Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 and 16 he is the image of the invisible God the firstborn over all creation all things were created by him and for him although the Scriptures speak many times of all human beings as the image of God here Paul had in mind something that was unique about Jesus something associated with his power and authority over creation he had in mind the way the false teachers in kalasa used the expression image of God as they borrowed it from Greek philosophy in at least some Greek philosophies of Paul's day the universe itself was thought to be God's image meaning that it was the greatest revelation of God and that one could obtain knowledge and wisdom through its revelation we find references to this idea in writings as oldest Plato's Timaeus which is from the 4th century BC as well as the Gnostic writings about the God thrice great hermès that come from the second and third century AD so whereas the false teachers look to the planets and elements as the image of God Paul pointed to Christ as the image of God he adopted this Greek philosophical term image of God in order to show that Christ and not the demons worshiped by the false teachers was the ultimate revelation of God the one to whom believers should look for greater wisdom and knowledge of God second Paul mentioned that Christ is the firstborn over all creation again Paul chose his words carefully to refute the false teachers listen again to what he wrote about Christ in Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 and 16 he is the image of the invisible God the firstborn over all creation all things were created by him and for him the Greek term prototokos here translated firstborn often referred to superiority and authority rather than to order a birth in the ancient world the firstborn child in a family was not necessarily the one who was born first rather the firstborn was the one who had the greatest rights of inheritance he was typically the one who would lead the family after his father's death for instance the oldest male child was considered the firstborn even if he had older sisters and beyond this a younger male child could become the firstborn if the oldest son was demoted from his position for some reason now we should point out that some rather prominent cults have wrongly understood this term firstborn to indicate that Christ was actually born before the world was created that is they believe that Christ has always been a creature so that he is not equal to God the Father and power and authority but Paul associated Christ status as firstborn with his authority and supremacy over all creation and said nothing about a time when Jesus did not exist when Paul said that Christ was the firstborn over all creation he meant that Christ was the one who possessed the birthright of the father not that Christ was born or created before all others he did not mean that Christ was part of creation but that Christ was Lord over it the false gods of the false teachers had no power or authority to give any blessings to any one Christ and Christ alone was the firstborn the one who inherited all the blessings of God and who alone could give them to others third Paul said that Christ was the agent of creation the one through whom God created the universe Jewish mysticism often attributed prominent roles to the Angels in creation roles that the Bible ascribes to God and to Christ but not to angels and in Greek philosophy the elements and other astral powers were commonly assigned similar roles but Paul insisted that Christ was the only agent of creation and that these other powers were inferior to him and subject to him listen to what he wrote in Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 for by him all things were created things in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether Thrones or powers or rulers or authorities all things were created by him and for him as we have already seen the words rulers and authorities refer to spiritual powers such as the demons worshipped by the false teachers and according to Paul these rulers and authorities are all subject to Christ Christ's priority as the agent of creation makes him far superior to everything within creation forth Christ is the Supreme Lord because God lays Tim his head over the church listen to Paul's words in Colossians chapter 1 verse 18 he is the head of the body the church he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything he might have the supremacy Paul argued that Christ has been given special status in the church and among the dead so that in everything he might have supremacy the father sought to honor the son and to place him as lord over all therefore any system that seeks to supplant or qualify Christ unique sovereignty must be false FIF Paul explained that Christ is God incarnate this remarkable statement surpasses any claim made about the so called rulers and authorities of Greek paganism and Jewish mysticism listen to Paul's words in Colossians chapter 1 verse 19 for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him all the fullness of God dwells in Christ making Christ the incarnation of the Supreme God the rulers and authorities worshiped by the false teachers in kalasa were lesser spiritual beings although they were sometimes called gods by Greek philosophy they were not generally thought of as supreme deities by contrast all the fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ this means that Christ is the incarnation of the God who created the universe the one whom all others must obey is Lord this makes Christ far superior to the lesser spiritual beings worshiped by the false teachers finally Paul spoke of Christ as the only reconciler between God and man Paul explained this fact about Christ in Colossians chapter 1 verses 19 and 20 where God was pleased through him to reconcile to himself all things whether things on earth or things in heaven by making peace through his blood shed on the cross God plans through Jesus to reconcile to himself all things that is Jesus Christ is the agent and the means through whom God is purging sin from the world and making peace with humanity the feeble powers worshiped by the false teachers were demons concerned with stealing glory and authority from Christ and using it to tyrannize their worshipers their goals were petty and they lack the ability to bless their worshipers in a meaningful way but Christ was the way to God the gospel Paul preached was that God was restoring all of creation to a sinless pristine and eternally blessed condition and he was doing this through Jesus Christ and only for Jesus Christ through Jesus alone sins could be forgiven and God's favor gained there was no need to bother with the petty and powerless spirits of the false teachers access to God and his spiritual blessings was freely available in Jesus in at least these six ways Christ as the image of God the firstborn over all creation the agent of creation the Supreme Lord God incarnate and the only reconciler Christ is superior to all the so-called gods worshipped by the false teachers in kalasa after demonstrating the supremacy of Christ over the spiritual powers Paul asserted the supremacy of Christ's ministers this portion of his argument appears in Colossians chapter 1 verse 21 through chapter 2 verse 5 Paul argued that because Christ was superior to the false gods Christ's ministers were superior to those who served the false gods Paul's argument consisted of five main ideas the reconciliation accomplished through the Christian gospel which he mentioned in Colossians chapter 1 verses 21 through 23 and in chapter 2 verse 5 Paul's own altruism in Colossians chapter 1 verse 24 Paul's divine commission in Colossians chapter 1 verse 25 the superior revelation provided by the gospel in Colossians chapter 1 verses 25 through 28 and in chapter 2 verses 2 through 4 and the empowerment of Christ ministers which Paul addressed in Colossians chapter 1 verse 29 through chapter 2 verse 1 Paul began by focusing on the reconciliation that the Colossians had already experienced through the gospel as we read in Colossians chapter 1 verses 22 and 23 he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight without blemish and free from accusation this is the gospel that you heard and of which I Paul have become a servant Christ ministers are superior because they preach a gospel that actually reconciles believers to God the false teachers in kalasa encouraged people to placate demons and perhaps they also offered reconciliation with God but in reality no reconciliation ever took place for them because their so-called gospel had no power to save by contrast the collaging believers had already experienced the true reconciliation that comes through the true gospel preached by God's ministers they were already forgiven and stood before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ this should have encouraged them to trust in Paul's word and to reject the false teachers second Paul pointed to his own altruism speaking of his suffering on behalf of the church as he wrote in Colossians chapter 1 verse 24 I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions as we saw in a prior lesson Paul's suffering benefited the church by providing a powerful witness to the gospel encouraging the church and completing the sufferings of Christ by contrast the false teachers in kalasa were neither in prison nor persecuted by highlighting his willingness to suffer on behalf of the church Paul made it clear that Christ ministers were more altruistic than the false teachers third Paul spoke of his divine commission unlike the self-appointed false teachers in kalasa Paul had been appointed to his Apostleship by the lord himself Paul described his commission in Colossians chapter 1 verse 25 I have become the church's servant by the Commission God gave me to present to you the Word of God in its fullness as we see here God himself called Paul as an apostle in his younger days Paul had been a zealous persecutor of the church but then the risen Lord Jesus had appeared to Paul and converted him at this time Jesus also appointed Paul to be his apostle giving him authority to speak on Jesus behalf this meant that Paul's Authority was far superior to that of the false teachers Paul described their teachings in Colossians chapter 2 verse 8 where he wrote see to it that no one takes you captive through Hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ the false teachers relied on idolatrous ideas that human beings had invented unlike Paul they had not been granted authority to speak for God and had not been called by God to teach the church forth the revelation that Paul had received was superior to that attested by the false teachers listen for example to Paul's words in Colossians chapter 2 verse 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine sounding arguments Paul described the words of the false teachers as deceptive and by contrast his own words revealed the truth helping Christians avoid the false teachers deception in fact according to Galatians chapter 1 verses 15 through 18 Paul spent three years in the desert of Arabia and in Damascus receiving revelations from God the false teachers however relied on traditions that had been passed down through human hands this made Paul's revelations far superior to those of the false teachers now it was very significant that Paul's revelations came from God that they were not mere human inventions like the teachings of the heretics and kalasa but even more importantly the content of Paul's revelations was superior to the false teachings and collosum in his letter to the Colossians Paul described his revelations as a mystery that God had revealed to him and has treasures of wisdom and knowledge and Paul did not keep these treasures to himself they were the very gospel that he preached they were the truths of reconciliation to God and participation in his kingdom on the basis of Christ's sacrifice received by means of faith this Proclamation was better than anything the false teachers offered fifth Paul roted the superior empowerment of Christ ministers speaking of the fact that God gave power to his ministers Paul did not labor in his own strength rather God empowered and motivated Paul to work and to suffer as his apostle the Holy Spirit gifted Paul with astounding gifts providing him with words to speak and opportunities to speak them and miracles to confirm his witness in order that Paul would advance the kingdom of God on earth as Paul wrote in Colossians chapter 1 verse 29 I labored struggling with all his energy which so powerfully works in me Paul's authority words and power came from God himself and the false teachers in kalasa could not compare their ministry and their message were devoid of power and worthless in meaning in summary then we see that Paul emphasized the superiority of Christ ministers by writing about the reconciliation accomplice through the Christian gospel their altruism their divine commission the revelation they had received and their empowerment by the Holy Spirit after emphasizing the supremacy of Christ and his ministers Paul insisted on the supremacy of salvation in Christ in chapter 2 verses 6 through 23 Paul's discussion of the supremacy of salvation in Christ divided into two main sections his praise for life and union with Christ in Colossians chapter 2 verses 6 through 15 and his condemnation of life lived under subjection to the elements in Colossians chapter 2 verses 16 through 23 in the first section Paul describes several benefits of salvation in union with Christ beginning with a benevolent and invigorating aspects of the lordship of Christ in Colossians chapter 2 verses 6 through 10 in these verses Paul indicated that because Christ is our Lord we are rooted built up and strengthened in him and we feel great thankfulness toward him as a result those who followed the false teachers were captives to the petty spiritual powers they worshiped but those under Christ's lordship were given authority to rule with him as Paul wrote in Colossians chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 for in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form and you have been given fullness in Christ who is the head over every power and authority Christ has divine authority over every other power and because believers are united to Christ they share in that divine authority second Paul also mentioned the spiritual vitality that believers have because we are in union with Christ Paul explained this blessing in Colossians chapter 2 verses 11 through 13 for example in Colossians chapter 2 verse 12 he rose you were buried with him in Baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead because we are united to Christ believers participate not only in Christ's death resulting in our forgiveness but also in Christ's resurrection and life resulting in the rebirth of our spirits third because believers are united to Christ we obtain forgiveness from sin and we are freed from having to merit salvation through works of the law Paul expressed these ideas in Colossians chapter 2 verses 13 through 15 as he wrote in Colossians chapter 2 verses 13 through 14 he forgave us all our sins having canceled the written code nailing it to the cross God's law condemns fallen mankind to death but because we are united to Christ in his death we have already died to death that the law requires we have served our sentence so that now we are free from all condemnation against the backdrop of these blessings in Christ Paul condemned the message of the false teachers in callosum life in union with Christ is characterized by the blessings of Christ's lordship but life under subjection to the elements places one under the tyrannical lordship of mere creatures as Paul wrote in Colossians chapter two verses 16 through 18 this results not only in judgment but also in the loss of the blessings Christ offers further whereas union with Christ produces spiritual vitality subjection to the elements results in separation from Christ and therefore in spiritual weakness as Paul wrote in Colossians chapter 2 verse 19 he has lost connection with the head from whom the whole body supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews grows as God causes it to grow finally while union with Christ grants forgiveness and frees one from the loss condemnation subjection under the elements leads only to asceticism Paul commented on the worthlessness of such asceticism in Colossians chapter 2 verse 23 such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence subjection to the false gods of the heretical teachers in kalasa resulted in harsh living that was of no use against the sin although such harsh living was supposed to lead to blessings the demons had no power to bless anyone by contrast union with Christ provided freedom rather than subjection and truly destroyed the power of sin over the believer through these contrasting aspects of life in union with Christ and life lived under subjection to the elements Paul demonstrated that the salvation offered in the true Christian gospel was far better than the so called blessings offered by the false teachers in kalasa finally after addressing the supremacy of Christ and his ministers and of the salvation offered in Christ's gospel Paul turned to the supremacy of Christian living in Colossians chapter 3 verse 1 through chapter 4 verse 6 in this section Paul demonstrated that the Christian lifestyle is far more ethical than the lifestyle advocated by the false teachers the false teachers in kalasa seem to have been very concerned with ethical living after all the goal of their harsh living was to avoid fleshly indulgence and in some respects it may have been that their ethical standards or goals agreed with those of the Christian Church regarding these kinds of sins but there was a problem with their approach simply put asceticism doesn't work the fact of the matter is that fallen human beings lack the willpower to resist sin so no matter how hard we fight to avoid sin we always lose this means that in order to live ethically in order to obey the ethical standards that God is set for us we have to rely on something bigger and more powerful than ourselves in some ways Paul's teaching on Christian living resembled the teaching of the false teachers in fact Paul even went so far as to say that it was right to focus on the heavenly and spiritual and not only earthly listen to his words in Colossians chapter 3 verse 2 set your minds on things above not on earthly things according to Paul we are to value the spiritual and heavenly things more highly than the earthly things this perspective was also shared by the ascetic teachers at least superficially also like the ascetic teachers Paul taught strongly against fleshly indulgence for instance in Colossians chapter 3 verse 5 he wrote put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature sexual immorality impurity lust evil desires and greed which is idolatry Paul agreed with the false teachers that fleshly indulgence is evil but he disagreed on how to avoid such sin Paul and the false teachers also differed in many other ways for example although the false teachers ostensibly believed that they should focus on heavenly things their teachings that Paul criticized were all rather earthly although they may have had the goal of spirituality they tried to reach that goal through a constant focus on earthly matters in Colossians chapter 2 verse 21 Paul summarized their teachings as being do not handle do not taste do not touch although the ascetics claim to point to the spiritual realm their teachings focused on mundane earthly matters the ascetics seem to have been so preoccupied with their ascetic practices that they did not bother to emphasize ideals that were really heavenly and spiritual although their goal may have been spiritual all their efforts were spent on earthly things Paul on the other hand taught specific ways that believers could focus on and strive for things that were spiritually oriented he insisted that they ceased their earthly sins but he also knew that this was impossible from a fallen human perspective listen to his words in Colossians chapter 3 verses 9 through 11 you have taken off your old self with its practices and to put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator Christ is all and is in all Paul explained that the key to ethical living is this believers are united to Christ Christ is in all and because of this union with Christ we have new cells or new natures and we are being inwardly renewed by God this union and renewal enable us to live ethically the false teachers were not true believers they did not believe the gospel and therefore they were not united to Christ they did not have new natures and they were not being renewed by God as a result all their attempts to avoid sin were doomed to failure believers however are united to Christ and therefore we are empowered to obey God's ethical standards but Paul did not stop with this idea rather he pushed on to offer some practical ways that believers can rely on God's power rather than on their own will power to overcome sin listen to his instructions in Colossians chapter 3 verse 12 therefore as God's chosen people holy and dearly loved clothe yourselves with compassion kindness humility gentleness and patience believers can succeed in ethical living by emphasizing heavenly spiritual virtues like compassion and kindness rather than by focusing on the sins we are trying to avoid and we can be motivated to live by focusing on God's love for us and choice of us rather than by concentrating our efforts on placating the whims of false gods Paul's strategy for ethical living was superior to that of the false teachers in two very important ways first it was effective because it relied on God's power rather than on our own second it was effective because it focused attention away from sin and earthly matters and on to positive virtues and spiritual values and the bottom line was that Paul strategy worked unlike ascetic practices which are of no value against sin Paul's method actually made ethical living possible Paul's letter to the Colossians was designed to address the idolatrous heresies introduced by the false teachers the false teachers advocated pagan ways of relating to the spiritual powers and ineffective ways of pursuing righteousness in response to these problems Paul preached Christ he preached the supremacy of Christ as Lord and King in the superiority of Christ ministers he preached the incomparable value of salvation in Christ and victory over sin through Christian living at each and every point he made it clear that what the false teachers promised only Christ could deliver now that we have explored the background to Paul's letter to the Colossians and its structure and content we should turn our attention to our third subject the modern application of Paul's letter to the Colossians how can we as modern Christians apply these ancient teachings to our lives although there are many ways we might rightly apply Paul's teaching to our modern lives we will focus on the two types of application that most concerned Paul in his original audience the necessity of remaining loyal to Christ alone and the value of focusing on spiritual matters on a daily basis let's begin by looking at the necessity of remaining loyal to Christ alone in the collage in church the believers were being encouraged to mix their worship of Christ with the worship of other spiritual powers although these other spiritual powers were not presented as demons we have seen that any power they actually had and any benefits that actually came to their worshipers were demonic but whether these powers were demons or elements or angels the Colossians should not have worshiped them sadly the social climate of the first century made it hard for the Colossians to see the truth of this matter during the first century the dominant religious ideas in the Roman Empire were polytheistic that is most people believe that there were multiple gods and spiritual powers and most societies within the Empire not only acknowledged the existence of many gods but also worshipped many gods for most people within the Roman Empire at this time it was normal to worship the dominant gods of the Civic cult such as Zeus as well as local gods and even household gods so although Christ demanded that believers worship him exclusively there was great social pressure encouraging the early Christians to worship other gods as well in fact when the Roman Empire began to persecute Christians during the first century it was largely because the Christians refused to acknowledge and to worship the gods of the Civic cult it was argued that the Christians had angered the gods by refusing to worship them and that the gods would punish the whole of Roman society if the Christians were not called to account the Romans did not demand that Christians stop worshipping Christ but only that they also worshipped the Roman gods from the first century Roman perspective one could worship many gods without any sense of conflicting Allegiance but Christ demands exclusive worship if we worship Christ we cannot worship anything else this is why Paul insisted that the Colossians remain steadfast in their faith as he wrote in Colossians chapter 1 verses 21 through 23 God has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight without blemish and free from accusation if you continue in your faith established and firm not move from the hope held out in the gospel if we do not remain faithful to Christ then we prove that we have not been truly reconciled to God and if we are not reconciled to God then we do not share in the hope held out in the gospel simply put if we do not remain faithful to Christ we are not saved loyalty to Christ is of utmost importance sadly our modern world frequently challenges our loyalty to Christ by presenting many different gods for us to worship polytheism can be found in Eastern religions such as Taoism one of the three classical religions of China Hinduism the dominant religion of India in Shinto the traditional religion of Japan and in the Western world then new age movement has adopted many aspects of these Eastern religions beyond this Mormonism teaches that Mormons are God's in the making then too there are many smaller polytheistic religions from tribal and folk religions in Africa and Asia to Scientology in Hollywood California the list could go on and on in other modern societies Christians are constantly pressured by atheism so that they are encouraged to abandon all belief in God in Christ Christianity is often ridiculed as a primitive and barbaric set of beliefs that cannot stand the scrutiny of science many believers who have not studied theology and science sufficiently are unable to provide answers to these challenges and their faith is shaken in other cases the philosophical relativism of modern society leads to a strong insistence on religious tolerance as a result all exclusive claims to truth and salvation are condemned Paul taught that loyalty to Christ is the only way to salvation but when modern Christians echo this idea we are often accused of arrogance and intolerance and we feel pressured by society to acknowledge other ways of finding eternal blessings but not all pressures come from outside the church for instance in some liberal Protestant churches praise is now offered to wisdom or Sathya who is personified as a female deity other liberal Protestant churches endorse the philosophical relativism of their societies teaching that many or even all religions are valid path to salvation even if they deny Christ the truth is that no matter where we live it is likely that we feel pressures to be disloyal to Christ these may be pressures to accept the validity of other religions and gods or pressures to deny the God of the Bible they may come from the government from our schools from our neighbors and friends from our families or even from our church leaders but if we are to remain true to Paul's teachings we must reject these false notions and embrace Christ alone only Christ is worthy of worship and only he offers true salvation and spiritual blessings we must remain steadfast in our loyalty to Christ alone now that we have looked at the importance of remaining loyal to Christ alone we should turn to our second type of modern application the value of focusing on spiritual matters every day of our life although attention to earthly matters is of some value we benefit most greatly when we approach life from a spiritual perspective when we come to faith in Christ a miraculous thing happens our spirits are renewed within us before we come to faith we are dead on the inside unable to respond positively to God we're God's enemies not only because we have sinned against him and deserve his judgment but also because we hate him and will not submit to him but God loves us so much that he refuses to allow us to remain his enemies and so he sends his Holy Spirit to renew our spirits so that we are inwardly restored so that we eat Gurley repent of our sin and submit to the Lord at the same time the Spirit of God indwells us uniting us to Christ and guaranteeing our future blessings in him our salvation does not depend upon our earthly pursuits but upon the spiritual realities of our renewed spirits and our union with Christ and it is for this reason that Paul encouraged the Colossians to focus less on earthly matters and more on spiritual ones theologians often describe those who have not come to faith as unregenerate by contrast the term regenerate is applied to those who have faith these terms identify the state of the spirit or soul of each person to be unregenerate is to be spiritually dead and to be regenerate is to be spiritually alive those who are unregenerate are under God's judgment because of sin also they have no moral ability that is they cannot do things that God counts as morally pure moreover they have no moral desire that is they do not want to do things that God counts as morally pure in short the unregenerate are not saved cannot save themselves and do not want to be saved by God on the other hand those who are regenerate are forgiven because they are United to Christ who died for their sin according to the requirements of God's law further there were nude spirits possess moral ability so that they are able to obey God as well as moral desires so that they also want to obey God it is hard to overestimate the value of the spiritual change that takes place within us when we come to faith regeneration makes us new people we are not just forgiven we are also spiritually changed regeneration is the spiritual change that Paul described in Colossians chapter 2 verse 13 where he wrote when you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature God made you alive with Christ he forgave us all our sins we were once dead in our sins meaning that we were under God's judgment but then God made us alive and forgave our sins we were also dead in our sinful nature meaning that we had evil natures with no moral ability or desire but again God made us alive as a result we now have the ability to desire good and to do good our old unregenerate spirits had no moral ability or desire but our renewed spirits have both moral ability and desire when we were spiritually dead before we were regenerated and United to Christ the King it would have been useless for us to focus on spiritual things or things above even if we had wanted to but now that we are regenerate the most reasonable thing for us to do is focus on new lives in a new direction our spirits have been made new now we are spiritual people and the most logical thing and the most natural thing and the most beneficial thing for us to do as spiritual people is to focus on our spiritual lives and so Paul continued in Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 & 2 by writing this exhortation since then you have been raised with Christ set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God set your minds on things above not on earthly things because we are seated above with Christ we should focus our minds on things that pertain to heaven we are now aware of the true authority structure of the universe we know how the world works and what things bring true blessings and this knowledge should change the way we live our lives now at some points in history Christians have mistakenly thought that when Paul said to focus on heavenly things and not on earthly things he meant that we should withdraw from the normal human life in order to pursue heaven without distraction the medieval aesthetic monks are a good example of this type of thinking some live this Hermits sequestered from the rest of society some sat in caves are on top of poles for huge periods of time others caused themselves physical harm they earnestly believe that the best way to grow spiritually is to escape the influence of the normal unspiritual world but they were wrong in fact in some respects they made the same mistakes that the false teachers in kalasa had made the famous educator Booker T Washington founder of the school that is now called Tuskegee University discredited as the author of this American proverb one man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him in many ways Washington applied to human relations what Paul taught about the inner lives of Christians that is to say if we focus all our energies on suppressing our sinful desires we are still focusing on sinful desires yes suppressing sin is a good thing even a good work and Paul encouraged believers to put their fleshly sins to death but Paul's point was not simply that we must adopt a new approach to earthly matters it was also that we should refocus our attention away from earthly matters and on to spiritual matters but the spiritual or heavenly matters Paul had in mind require our participation in the world listen to his words in Colossians chapter 3 verses 12 through 16 clothe yourselves with compassion kindness humility gentleness and patience 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 to be heavenly minded is to focus on the one who has ascended to heaven namely Christ in order that we might be more like him while we are here on earth and notice the kinds of matters that Paul called heavenly or spiritual most of them are interactive virtues virtues that are primarily and in some cases only expressed toward other people such as compassion kindness humility gentleness patience forgiveness love and peace in the context of community these virtues cannot be exercised apart from active life in the present world and in fact in Colossians chapter 3 verse 16 through chapter 4 verse 6 Paul explained many different ways that believers can apply these virtues within the context of their many earthly relationships for instance he wrote that believers should teach and admonish one another by singing Psalms hymns and spiritual songs together he directed wise to submit to their husbands and husbands to love their wives instructed children to obey their parents and parents to encourage their children he exhorted slaves to be obedient and productive and he commanded masters to treat their slaves in the same way that Jesus who is the master of us all treats his church he asked for prayers that God would strengthen him as he proclaimed the gospel and he directed the Colossians to be diligent and wise when their own opportunities for evangelism arose all of these instructions pertain to spiritual or heavenly matters and yet they can only be carried out through active involvement in the present world for Paul to be heavenly or spiritually minded is to reflect on how wonderful Heaven is right now and to find ways of making the present world more like heaven it is to concentrate on our new spiritual natures and on the good works that are appropriate to them it is to do the same good works on earth that are always done in heaven it is to love others to forgive others to be kind and gentle and humble it is to treat others in the same way that Jesus treats them in short in order to focus on spiritual matters we have to concentrate on building the kingdom of God right here right now on this earth in this lesson we have taken a close look at the Apostle Paul and his association with believers in callosum we have explored the background of Paul's letter to the Colossians as well as its structure and content finally we have discussed the modern application of the teachings the Colossians received from Paul Paul's letter to the Colossians contains many important lessons for us today it teaches us about Christ's supremacy and of the high regard we should have for his apostles and their teachings it explains our role in the kingdom of God and the great salvation we now enjoy and it encourages us to live with spiritual attitudes as people who participate in heaven and work to bring our heavenly values to earth as we move forward in our Christian lives remembering the lessons Paul taught in this letter will help us maintain our faith and live as productive and blessed members of God's kingdom [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Thirdmill

Views: 23,659

Rating: 4.745223 out of 5

Keywords: For the World, Third Millennium Ministries, Mission, Christian Theology, Study, Apostle Paul, Free, New Testament, Missions, Prison Epistles, Truth, Theology Matters, Ministry, Seminary, Scripture, Biblical Education, Prison Letters, God, Bible, Education, Theology, Paul, Third Mill, Reformed, Jesus, Reggie Kidd, Holy Spirit, Colossians

Id: uWv_d6XvIP4

Length: 91min 11sec (5471 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 23 2017