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THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS
Copyright ©
2006 Trumpet Ministries, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
The text of Colossians portrays genuine Christians, genuine disciples of the Lord. Paul addressed the. "holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse." Perhaps we should use the term "saint," or "disciple," more than we do. What we mean by a "Christian" today comes short of the biblical standard, as may be seen by a study of the Book of Colossians.
Table of Contents
THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2,3)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father (Colossians 1:1,2)
When we see the expression “the holy and faithful brothers in Christ” we are reminded of the pitiful state of Christianity in the world.
The believers of today often refer to themselves as “Christians.” Yet a Christian, according to the Book of Act, is a disciple. The Lord Jesus told us no individual could be a disciple unless he turned aside from everything in his life, took up his cross, and set out to follow Jesus every day.
There are millions of churchgoers in the world, people who attend church on a weekly basis. But how many disciples are there? Not very many, apparently. If a Christian is a disciple by definition, and a disciple is someone who has turned away from the love of the world and is learning from the Lord Jesus every day, then we can say with assurance that only a small minority of churchgoers are Christians.
Christianity is a major religion of the world. But how many holy and faithful brothers in Christ are there in this huge array of people?
I conclude that there are very few actual Christians in America, although numerous fine people attend Christian churches. They refer to themselves as “Christians,” but they are not disciples.
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters yes, even his own life he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26, 27)
The churchgoers are good people, as I have said. They believe Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for their sins. But they have not forsaken their own life to follow Jesus. What their end shall be I do not know.
We are learning today that God wants to do more than forgive our sins. He wants to lead us to victory over sin. Are the numerous churchgoers of America hearing this call of the Spirit? Are they confessing and turning away from their sins? If they are not overcoming their sins, they will not inherit the rewards outlined in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation. What, then, shall their inheritance be?
I have pondered the issue of the difference between most churchgoers in America, and the demands of the New Testament regarding the holy and faithful brotherhood. Perhaps God is going to send severe judgments on America, and then we will start living according to the Bible standards.
Paul often wrote to the “saints” in a given place, never to the “Christians.”
What is a saint? A saint is a “holy one.”
What is a “holy one”? A holy one is a person whom God has called out from the population of the world to belong especially to Himself.
What is demanded of a saint, a holy one? That his or her entire life be wrapped up in God. We notice in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews how the saints mentioned there were wholly involved in God. Abraham was wholly involved in God. God was in all David’s thoughts. David said he had set the Lord always before him; the Lord was always at David’s right hand so he should not be shaken.
American Christians have a difficult time becoming completely involved in God. We are completely involved, most of us, in making a living. To compare us with Enoch, or Noah, or Job, or Abraham, or Moses, or Isaiah, or John the Baptist, or the Apostles of Christ, reveals that we often do not come up to the standard of those with whom we hope to have fellowship some day.
Are we Christians? Yes, in the sense of being members of the Christian religion.
What demands are made on us? We attend church regularly and support the church with our finances. We may perform tasks associated with the church, although numerous believers do nothing except attend church on Sunday.
Why do we attend? Because we believe it is the right thing to do.
Would we deny Christ if not to do so meant the loss of our family or livelihood? Probably.
What is our hope after we die? Our hope is we will not go to Hell but to Heaven to live forever.
What do we plan to do in Heaven? To talk to our friends. We believe we will have no major responsibilities there.
After we have rested in Heaven for a season, what will we do when the trumpet sounds and Christ is ready for us to ride the white war stallions and install the Kingdom of God on the earth? This will mean, of course, that we will have to fight against the wicked armies, Antichrist, Satan, and the False Prophet. How will we feel about leaving our mansions and coming back to earth to fight against evil?
We probably have not thought much about this. One Christian lady told me in all sincerity that Christ will do all the fighting; we will not do any fighting because that would get our robes dirty.
I have just outlined the position of the saint, and then of the average churchgoer in America, who hopes to be “raptured” from the surface of the earth in order to escape suffering.
How do the saints, the disciples of the Lord, differ from the average churchgoer?
As I said, they are wholly involved in the Lord Jesus. He affects everything they think, say, and do throughout every day and every night.
The average churchgoer views his church as a social group with whom he is affiliated. He may be deeply involved or related to his church tangentially. But we could not say he or she is totally involved with the Lord Jesus.
The goal of the churchgoer is rest in Heaven – eternal rest from the multitude of problems we experience on the earth.
The goal of the saint, the disciple, is change into the moral image of Jesus Christ and entrance into untroubled rest in the Father through Christ. Once having attained these two states, the saint then is eligible and competent to fulfill one or more of the many roles of the Kingdom of God, such as being a part of the eternal Temple of God; being a brother of Christ; being a member of the Body of Christ; being a part of the Wife of the Lamb; and so forth.
We understand therefore that there can be a considerable difference between being a typical churchgoer, and a disciple of the Lord Jesus.
I have noticed that numerous believers do not grow substantially in the Lord after many years of faithful church attendance and participation in the work of the church. Being a former educator, I have pondered what is missing in a system that permits people to attend church for forty or fifty years and yet not experience more change in their personality.
There are at least three passages which indicate the totality of the transformation that we, as disciples, are to be experiencing:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (II Corinthians 5:17)
The old personality has been crucified with Christ and has passed away. The new Christ-filled personality has come. All the old has passed away. All the new has come. This is to be a total exchange. No part of the first personality is to remain. There is a new – utterly new – creation.
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (II Corinthians 3:18)
Every time we see the Glory of the Lord, whether through preaching, or meditating in the Bible, or in prayer, or in a mature saint, or in some manifestation of the Lord’s Presence and power, we are changed. Moses face was transfigured from seeing the Glory of the Lord. Our inward nature is transfigured from seeing the Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. (I Corinthians 15:49)
The likeness of the earthly man is common to all human beings. Adam was formed from the dust. He was an intelligent animal with a spirit that could communicate with God. We are Adam’s descendants. We are intelligent animals with a spirit that can communicate with God. We can pray, which is not true of any animal. This is the image of the earthly man.
The Man from Heaven is a life-giving Spirit. He is the Tree of Life, whom we first notice in the Garden of Eden. To partake of Him is to live and be healed.
We are to bear the likeness of the Man from Heaven. We are to become life-giving spirits. We are to be so full of the Lord that we can bring eternal life and healing to other people. We are to be trees of life, fountains of eternal life, from whom those who chose to do so may drink. The churchgoer begins his sojourn as an earthly man. He remains faithful to his church for many years. He dies an earthly man.
The disciple, the saint, the holy and faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ begins his discipleship as a saint. He remains faithful to the Lord and to his church for many years. He never dies. He passes into the Presence of the Lord as a life-giving spirit.
Why do we not experience these remarkable transformations? It is because we never have gotten down before the Lord and told Him that from this point forward we are going to live in and by His life. We are going to count ourselves crucified with Him. We are going to live so it is He who is living in us. No part of our personality whatsoever shall be held back from this consecration.
The movement from our life to His life must take place specifically, at a definite point in time and at a definite place. We must vocalize our determination, not just think about it. The step must be taken vigorously and for eternity. There can be no turning back from this sort of vow.
The believer, who has made this commitment and has followed through with it each day, will begin to grow. His or her progress over as little as one year’s time will be noticeable and outstanding.
This is the critical action that determines whether the individual remains as a churchgoer, or becomes a saint. This is how we become a holy and faithful brother in Christ.
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, (Colossians 1:3)
The Apostles were men of prayer. They gave themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word of God. They moved in prayer. They were directed in prayer by the Spirit of God.
There is a tendency today to make the Christian churches into businesses. The idea is to sponsor programs that will bring in more people and yet more people. Success is measured by how many people there are under the roof of the church.
This is a shameful practice and should be discontinued. The people who are added by our programs are not necessarily brought in by the Holy Spirit. The Lord did not add them to the church. The Father did not bring them to Christ. They are not disciples or saints, they are churchgoers and little else.
They may be fine people. But in the hour of tribulation they will fall away. They are the seed planted on shallow ground.
We measure success today by the number of people who attend a given church. The church that has five thousand communicants is infinitely better than one that has thirty. Isn’t it so?
But suppose the church of five thousand has three genuine disciples and the church of thirty members has twenty genuine disciples? Which is the "better" church? Which church will advance the Kingdom of God? Which church will offer to God the worship and holiness He requires from a body of believers?
So we are not measuring worth by the correct yardstick. We are encouraging superficial churchgoers who are bemused by the excitement of the gathering of thousands of people. Are such as these enduring the transformation from the earthly man to the life-giving spirit – a transformation that often is painful and calls forth the utmost patience and obedience on the part of the believer?
The only valid measure of the success of a local assembly is the number of people who actually are being transformed. The sheer number of people is not a valid measure. In fact, a large congregation may indicate superficiality. The people may be attending because intensive, soul-searching demands are not being made on them.
The answer to just about everything is prayer. The work that is built on prayer and sustained by prayer will result in the transformation of believers; in the construction of the Kingdom of God.
Because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints. (Colossians 1:4)
The testimony of the brothers at Colosse was that they were strong in their faith in Christ Jesus; they loved all the saints; they were holy; and they were faithful.
The church at Colosse was not like the church at Sardis. The church at Sardis had a name that it was alive, but it was dead. The church at Colosse had an excellent reputation and no doubt was alive in the sight of the Lord Jesus.
If there is one barometer by which a church can be measured, an indication that the Lord is at work and the Divinely-ordained transformation is occurring, it is love among the saints.
When a Christian church begins to experience a significant amount of bitterness and division, it is mortally ill. The church leadership needs to pray until God either removes people or enables those in attendance to confess their bitterness and turn away from it. God will heal us if this is what we desire.
If roots of bitterness are not attended to, the lampstand of the church will be removed by the Lord. It no longer is giving a true testimony. It is dying. To continue attempting to shore up a church in which there is bitterness and division is a waste of time and energy. Unless God indicates otherwise it is best that it be abandoned.
The Lord’s disciples are known by their love for one another.
The faith and love that spring from the hope is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel That has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. (Colossians 1:5, 6)
“The hope is stored up for you in heaven.” Our faith and love spring from this hope. The Gospel, the Good News of this hope, is bearing fruit all over the world. But notice that the hope is not Heaven, nor is our hope eternal residence in Heaven. Our hope is stored up in Heaven at this time but it is destined to come to the earth.
It may be true that the reason we have numerous churchgoers and few disciples is that we have gotten away from the true hope of the Gospel. Our tradition states that our hope is that when we die, we will go to Heaven and live there for eternity. The hope of eternal residence in Heaven is not found in the Old Testament or the New Testament. The original Gospel, the Gospel preached by John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, and the Apostles of the Lamb, is the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Gospel of the Kingdom is that a kingdom, of which the Lord Jesus is King of all kings and Lord of all lords, is in Heaven at the present time but is coming to the earth. The will of God is going to be done in the earth as it is in Heaven.
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament speak of the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.
I suggested previously that the reason we have churchgoers instead of disciples may be due to the fact that we have changed the Bible hope from the coming of God’s Kingdom to the earth, to our going to Heaven when we die to live forever. Why would our change of hope produce churchgoers, that is, people who attend a Christian church but who are not totally consecrated to the Lord Jesus?
I would advance a reason. If an individual trusts that his belief in Jesus guarantees his entrance into Heaven when he dies, and there is nothing he can do to be admitted to Heaven other than believe, he will not see a clear relationship between how he lives and his entrance into Heaven. He may have a vague idea that it would be better that he at least try to live righteously. But he is being taught repeatedly that he will not go to Heaven by righteous behavior, but by the grace of God. Given the number of pressures we live under, he is not going to apply time and effort to a goal already achieved.
Isn’t this the case with multitudes of churchgoers throughout the world?
Kingdom thinking is quite difference from this. Kingdom thinking does not focus on our going to Heaven when we die. We understand our residence in Heaven is temporary while we await the all-important Day of Resurrection.
We know if Christ is our life we are going to return with the Lord Jesus Christ and establish the Kingdom of God, the doing of God’s will, in the earth. Since this is the case, every day of our life is one of preparation for this most awesome event. Also, we realize the type of resurrection we attain to, will depend on our behavior today.
We have our eyes fixed on a Kingdom that is coming to the earth, and we know our position in that Kingdom, whether it is of high rank or low, depends on our obedience and faithfulness now. It is not that we earn salvation; it is that we become qualified and competent to participate in the Kingdom of God.
We have an altogether different hope, and one that makes total demands on us.
When people realize they are going to be raised from the dead and live on the earth in a sensible world, and that their position will be one they have reaped from what they have sown, and not a fantasy land they enter with their “grace ticket,” they may change from their casual attitude toward their religion to one of fervent application to what is written in the New Testament.
You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. (Colossians 1:7,8)
“A faithful minister of Christ.” “Faithfulness” is an unshakeable determination to be true to those who trust us. God is faithful to us. We can stand on His Word and never be shaken. The One who is coming from Heaven is called “faithful and true.”
Why is there an increasing lack of faithfulness in the United States? It is because we have become lovers of pleasure. God has arranged the world so it often is true that circumstances cause pain to the person who would be faithful. So to escape the pain, the individual betrays those who trust him. He lies and evades responsibility.
Faithfulness and truth are another name for integrity. God has perfect integrity, as does His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Since we are being made in the image of Christ it is absolutely necessary we possess integrity. No matter what it costs us, we are to remain faithful and true in all we do.
No one will sit at Christ’s table who is not faithful and true.
For this reason, 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. (Colossians 1:9)
Paul had heard about the fruit the Gospel had borne in these disciples, their faith and love for the saints.
Notice Paul’s prayer for them: "that God would fill them with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding."
The theme of this study of Colossians is what a true Christian believer, a saint, is supposed to be. I am contrasting this with what passes today for a “Christian.”
In our time a believer could attend church for a number of years and never grow in the knowledge of God’s will “through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” After decades of faithful attendance he or she may not have experienced significant growth in God’s will. He or she could not say, as did the Lord Jesus, “I have finished the work you gave Me to do.” Why could the American believer not say this at the end of his or her life? Because he has little or no idea what God wants him to do.
Why does he not know what God wants him to do? Because he is being taught about the unscriptural “rapture”; or else he is being instructed as to how to have a more successful life in the world – a better marriage; how to manage his finances; how to get people to come to church. He is not directed to seek the Lord until He understands God’s purpose for his life; until he is filled with all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
I realize there are notable exceptions to what I am saying. I am reflecting on what appears to me to be the majority of churchgoers in America. I may be mistaken but it seems we are in an apostate condition. How many believers do you know who truly are cross-carrying disciples, following Jesus every day with all their might? When all is said and done, these are the only true Christians; the only ones who will be raised when the Lord appears; the only ones who will inherit what we often think of when we speak of ruling with Christ.
What about the majority? I am not certain, except that they will not walk in the white robes of the royal priesthood. They simply have not been found worthy. Of this is am sure because of what the Bible says.
And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, (Colossians 1:10)
“Live a life worthy of the Lord.” It is not uncommon for Christians to say, “I am not worthy. Only He is worthy.” This is not acceptable. Several times in the New Testament we are exhorted to be found worthy of the Kingdom of God. We are apt to cry “Lord! Lord!” and then not do what He says. This is not the way of the Kingdom of God. Those with this attitude will not enter, or more correctly, are not entering the Kingdom of God.
We are to bear fruit in every good work while growing in the knowledge of God. This means we are to be showing forth the Character of Jesus Christ in every aspect of our behavior, in the meanwhile learning about God, His ways, His will, and His eternal purpose in Christ.
Our greatest testimony is what kind of person we are as evidenced by our behavior. This is our light that will cause people to glorify God. By emphasizing salvation by grace and faith alone, we have destroyed the Christian witness. People cannot see our imputed righteousness. They see only our behavior. When we are not revealing the moral Character of Jesus Christ in our life, our testimony about Christ is nonexistent. We can talk about coming to see our new church and hearing our wonderful pastor, and even about the need to accept Christ as our personal Savior. But what we are and how we behave speaks with a louder voice.
The fruit the Christian is to bear is the moral image of Jesus. As we begin to bear this fruit, we grow in the knowledge of God. But such fruit is grown only in those who have left all and are following the Lord Jesus each day. It does not occur in those who are mere churchgoers, and this is why Christianity has the reputation in America that it does.
I asked the people in the congregation last Sunday night, people who have had considerable experience in Christian churches, what they assumed to be the percentage of genuine disciples in the churches. They said less than one percent.
Ask the same question in your church.
We do not bear the fruit of Christ’s image, nor do we grow in the knowledge of God, unless we are living as cross-carrying disciples. We have to be wholly involved with the Lord in all we do, practicing His Presence at every moment. It must be true for us that to live is Christ and to die is gain. We must endure all things, that Christ may be magnified in us. If this is not true of us, if we are not pressing forward to the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, we are not a true saint and we will not grow as we should.
You may protest: “Brother Thompson, if what you are saying is true, there are only a few Christians in our country.”
What I am saying is true and scriptural. As far as numbers of believers are concerned, God told Noah he was the only righteous person in the world.
There was a time when God searched Jerusalem and could not find one upright person. For the sake of one upright person, He would not destroy the city. But God could not find even one upright person. Not one!
Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. (Jeremiah 5:1)
I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. (Ezekiel 22:30)
The Jews of the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel would say, “This is foolishness! There are many righteous in our city. You are being too extreme!”
We would say today, “This is foolishness! God is going to bring all who have taken the four steps of salvation to Heaven at any moment now. You are being too extreme!”
The Jews of that day were incorrect, weren’t they?
God’s Word can never be changed, not one iota. Those who adhere to the standards of the New Testament will inherit all things. Those believers who do not adhere to the standards of the New Testament are facing much pain, whether or not they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the Bible teaches.
Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:11,12)
“Strengthened with all power.” Righteousness is a question of power. The reason we sin and disobey God is that we are weak. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
If we pray, God will strengthen us so we may have great endurance and patience.
Entering the Kingdom of God requires much endurance and patience. The true saint has withdrawn from the world culture and is living each day as the Lord leads. Living in this manner requires much endurance and patience. We are not free to run about as do those who are not living as disciples. We need God’s strength that we may endure to the end.
The average churchgoer may not realize how much endurance and patience are required. Of course, he has his ups and downs in the world. While we are in the world we experience tribulation. This is common to all people, the unsaved, the churchgoer, and the disciple. (I understand disciples are churchgoers. I am using these terms to facilitate our understanding, to draw the distinction between what is regarded as Christianity in America, and what the New Testament regards as a saint.)
But the disciple, unlike the average churchgoer, is not free to do as he pleases; to go where he desires to go; to live as he desires to live. He has to wait on the Lord to gratify his fervent desires. Therefore patience and endurance are required, and Divine strength is needed to meet these requirements.
One of our main duties as members of the royal priesthood is that of joyfully giving thanks to the Father for all things. If it were not for His elect, all God would hear from the earth would be cursing and bitterness.
God has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints. How has God qualified us? By bringing us to Jesus Christ. By giving us the benefits of the blood atonement. By putting His Spirit in us.
Salvation is preached today as though it is a democratic process in which some people choose to be saved, and others refuse to be saved or else have never heard the Gospel. This is true in a superficial sense. But the truth is, no person comes to the Lord Jesus unless the Father draws that individual. It is God who qualifies us to share in the inheritance of the saints.
I believe trouble is coming to America (as if we are not having trouble already). If persecution is added to this trouble, or results from the trouble, we will find out who were brought into the churches by the artifices of talented preachers, and who were qualified by the Father to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, (Colossians 1:13)
We are not preaching the Gospel correctly, are we? We are preaching and teaching that the purpose of salvation is to bring us to Heaven when we die so we can live there forever.
The truth is, to be saved is to be rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Christ.
Today we have an unscriptural “rapture” that brings us from the earth to Heaven.
The true Gospel brings us from the dominion of darkness to the Kingdom of Christ.
But aren’t these the same or nearly the same? No, they are not the same at all.
The earth is not the same as the dominion of darkness.
The Kingdom of Christ is not the same as Heaven.
We can live on the earth and be free from the dominion of darkness. In fact, this will be the case for everyone when the Lord returns. But at the present time, we can be free from the dominion of darkness by pressing forward in Christ each day. This is what salvation is – freedom from the dominion of darkness; freedom from sin.
So no, the earth and the dominion of darkness are not at all the same thing.
The Kingdom of Christ is the doing of God’s will wherever we are. Heaven is a place in the spirit world. There are several heavens, the highest being the location of God, Christ, the holy angels, and the saints. Heaven is a place!
The Kingdom of God is a realm of authority. The Kingdom of God is not a place; it is God in Christ in the saints governing the works of God’s hands.
So we see we are not preaching what Paul preached. We are preaching our traditions. Our discipleship is not one of waiting to die so we can go to Heaven. Our discipleship is one of removal from the dominion of darkness and entrance into the kingdom of light right now – today. Can you agree with that?
In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:14)
Redemption is shown here to be the forgiveness of sins. We notice in the Book of Acts the emphasis on the forgiveness of sins, and also on works of repentance.
It appears to me that for the two thousand years of the Church Era, the Gospel has primarily been that of the forgiveness of sins. The Lord Jesus Christ came to forgive the sins of whoever would reach out to Him by faith.
This Gospel is as true today as it ever has been.
However, in our day we are becoming aware the primary act of redemption is not, and could never be, the forgiveness of sins. The primary act of redemption is the removal of sins, which proceeds on the basis of the forgiveness of sins.
Let us think for a moment. What good would it do for God to forgive the sins of everyone in the world, or even just those who believe in Christ, if He did not remove the sinful nature? Obviously no good; for having been forgiven, the people would still be sinning. The world then would have abundant sin being continually committed by people who were being continually forgiven, with no hope of the root cause being removed so the cycle could be broken. We certainly do not look forward with joy to any such world!
No, we know somehow that the sinful nature must be removed if we are to have love, peace, and joy, in the world to come.
So the question is not whether redemption includes the removal of the sinful nature. Logic demands it and the Scripture promises it. The question is, rather, how, when, and where is God going to remove the sinful nature.
There are two main opinions today, as far as I know. The first is that when we die and go to Heaven we will not sin anymore. The corollary of that is, as long as we are alive in the world we are obligated to sin.
The second main opinion is that when the Lord Jesus comes He will remove sin from us.
The first main opinion, that when we go to Heaven we will not sin anymore, has no support in the Old Testament or the New Testament. The fact is, sin began in Heaven with Satan and the fallen lords. Therefore, this commonly held belief must be discarded. It is unscriptural.
The second main opinion, that when the Lord comes He will remove our sinful nature, also is unscriptural. In fact, the parable of the talents reveals that when the Lord returns He will demand an accounting from His servants as to how diligent they were with what He had entrusted to them.
So there is no scriptural support for the two main opinions of our day as to how God is going to deal with the sinful nature.
However, in the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Matthew we read that in the last days the angels of the Lord will come to His Kingdom and remove all that causes sin and all who do evil. In other words, sin will be removed at that time, and those who survive the cleansing will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.
As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13:40-43)
The above is the scriptural explanation of how the Lord will deal with our sinful nature. There is no question about this. I know of no other passage that states clearly when God will remove the sinful nature from His Kingdom. There are other passages, such as the third chapter of Malachi and the third chapter of Matthew, that speak of God purifying the royal priesthood. But I think Matthew, Chapter Thirteen is the clearest.
The question is, exactly when, where, and how this purging will take place?
“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.” The removal of sin will take place “at the end of the age.” Notice this is not speaking of the guilt of sin but of the sinful nature itself.
How will the Lord remove our sinful nature? “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.”
First, everything that causes sin will be removed, and then all who do evil. I think the first step will be opportunity for deliverance. “Everything that causes sin” will be removed from those who cooperate with the removal.
Then “all who do evil,” those who refuse to be delivered, will themselves be removed – not just the sin but the person himself or herself.
Notice in the following verse that it is people, not sin, who are in the Lake of Fire.
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)
If we do not permit the Lord to remove cowardice from us, then we shall be thrown into the fire. If we do not permit the Lord to remove lying from us, then we shall be thrown into the Lake of Fire.
It is difficult to picture how this removal will take place. So many times we picture angels with wings, when the Lord is referring to human messengers. The term “angel” means “messenger.”
I believe at least a part of this deliverance is taking place today. We have had physical deliverance, as people have been prayed for and been healed physically. Now we are experiencing moral deliverance, as we confess our sins and turn away from them.
As far as the messengers throwing sin and sinners into the fire, it must be kept in mind that all judgment has been given to the Son, and the Son has passed on much of the work of judgment to the members of His Body. Actually it is God in Christ in the saints who is doing the work of judgment.
May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, To inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, To bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, To carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Praise the LORD. (Psalms 149:6-9)
If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. (John 20:23)
What will happen to sin and sinners in that hour? “The messengers will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
What will be true of people once sin has been removed from them? “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
I don’t see how the Bible could be much clearer, more specific. But a question remains: Will this judgment and deliverance take place on the earth; in Heaven; or in both places? In my opinion the deliverance from the sinful nature will take place on earth and in Heaven at the same time. I derive this thought from the fourth chapter of First Peter, which states: “God is ready to judge the living and the dead.”
This may be difficult for us to accept. I think our difficulty in accepting the fact that the Lord will cleanse His people in Heaven (maybe we won’t have this much trouble with the idea of God cleansing His people on the earth) is due to our idea of what Heaven is like and what the people there are doing.
Because of some of the visions of the saints plus the traditional (but thoroughly unscriptural) idea of mansions in heaven, it is difficult to picture people, who have been laying about at their ease, suddenly confronted with messengers who want to deliver them from their sinful nature.
Paul says our sinful nature dwells in our flesh. So while we are contemplating this, we have to think about whether or not our sinful nature goes with us when we die. It probably does, because the sinful nature is spiritual, not physical. The sinful nature is not an integral part of the carbon compounds that compose our physical body. The sinful nature dwells in our flesh, according to Paul.
If we bring our sinful nature with us, do we continue to sin after we die? I rather doubt this, because Jesus said God’s will is done in Heaven. Perhaps it is true that the environment of Heaven, being free of demons, does not call forth the deeds of our sinful nature.
But according to the Apostle Peter, God is going to judge the living and the dead. In another place the statement is made, "It is appointed to men once to die, and after this the judgment."
So if people are held in a kind of spiritual limbo in Heaven, rather than reclining in mansions as our traditions hold, it is not too difficult to picture them standing before the Lord’s messengers and deciding whether they wish to retain their sinful nature or release it.
Those who decide to retain it will be thrown into the fire. Those who decide to let it go will shine with a righteous nature.
For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. (I Peter 4:6)
When you stop to think about it, it is not unreasonable that people in the spirit world would have an opportunity to retain or release their sinful nature. I believe the spirit world is much like our present life on earth. Some people choose to release their sinful nature. Others choose to retain their sinful nature. Isn’t it so?
But would there be circumstances in the spirit world that would call forth dormant sinful impulses? I don’t know why not? We really do not know what goes on in the spirit world, do we? But I think Peter implies strongly that the Gospel is preached to those who are dead, so they must have an opportunity to choose forgiveness and deliverance or else reject forgiveness and deliverance.
Our problem in thinking along these lines may have to do with the fact we believe people somehow are different once they are released from their body. If this were the case there would be no need for the Lord to deal with us as He does while we are living on the earth. All He would need to do would be to bring us all into the spirit world, and the problem of worldliness, lust, and self-will would be solved.
But this probably is not the case, in that most of our Christian life is occupied with our decision whether or not to press forward into the fullness of righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God. Why would this painful journey be necessary if we could be found in the image of Christ and at rest in God’s will merely by dying?
I realize Peter probably is speaking of those he mentioned earlier, who died at the time of the flood of Noah. But if even one person heard the Gospel after dying, and would have been judged accordingly, then it is possible for any number of people to hear the Gospel after dying and to be judged accordingly.
We have to go by what the Scriptures teach no matter how they conflict with our traditions.
We know today the Holy Spirit is speaking to us to confess our sins and turn away from them. We have not been called to sin in this present world but to gain victory over our sins through the help of the Lord. I am certain all true disciples of the Lord Jesus will agree to this. I do not have the same confidence concerning the majority of churchgoers, the “mixed multitude” who today are included on the membership rolls of the denominations.
So judgment and deliverance are taking place, and everyone is invited to participate. After all, what true saint wants to continue in sin when the means of deliverance is at hand?
So yes, for two thousand years the emphasis has been on forgiveness. But logic and the Scriptures inform us that at some point God must remove our sinful nature from us so we can live in peace and fellowship with Him. It is my opinion, based on over fifty years of experience and thought, that the promised deliverance from the deeds of the sinful nature has begun. It is not an instantaneous experience. It is little by little as the Holy Spirit directs.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. (Colossians 1:15)
It appears to me that the current Christian thinking concerning the Godhead leans too far in the direction of “oneness,” that is, that Christ and the Father actually are the same Person although in different forms. It is easy to see how this belief has come about. Not only does our present “oneness” doctrine appear to exalt the Lord Jesus, but several passages of Scripture seem to suggest one exalted Person who is God, but in three manifestations or forms; or even, somehow, in three Persons.
The present viewpoint is certainly reverent, but it works against what God is doing. God is bringing many sons to glory and plans on making them a part of Himself through Christ. This clearly is scriptural.
Now, if you stop to think about it, if Christ really were the Father in another form, there is no way in which we could be a part of this Oneness. Christ would always remain different from us.
But if Jesus Christ is the Son of God, if there truly is a Father whom Christ worships and obeys (which the Scripture plainly declares), and if He has been born of God and we have been born of the same Father, then we truly are His brothers. We were not the Word from eternity. We did not create all things. We are not Lord. But we are His brothers in truth.
And since we are not the Father in another form, or even Christ in another form, then it cannot be true that Christ is the Father in another form. If He is, then what we can become in Christ is limited as to relationship. Also, we would have the Lamb marrying something less than Himself.
If we stay with what the Scripture actually states, there is no problem. It is when we begin to make deductions from one or two verses that we create needless complexity.
Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. Fine. He is not the invisible God, He is the image of the invisible God. In like manner, we, according to Romans, are being fashioned into the image of Christ. This is a clear, forthright, scriptural statement.
Jesus Christ is the Firstborn over all creation. Perhaps the idea is that when He died on the cross, the first creation came to an end. He arose as the Firstborn of the new creation, we might say. The new creation began with His resurrection and will continue to develop until the new sky and earth come into view, and the glorified Christian Church, as the new Jerusalem, descends through the new sky to be established forever on the new earth. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Beginning of the new creation and the One who is developing the new creation. There shall be no end of that which began when Christ rose from the dead.
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. (Colossians 1:16)
The Lord Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the Book of Hebrews informs us. I believe this. I believe Christ, as the Word of God, worked in the beginning just as He worked while on earth. He said nothing and did nothing apart from the Father. It was the Father who created all things, but the Father did this through Christ and for Christ. How could it be otherwise? Would Christ have created all things apart from the Father’s power and wisdom? I don’t believe so.
Now you see where we come in. If it is Christ who is living in us, as the Apostle Paul stated, then Christ may banish the present earth and sky to create a new earth and a new sky—through us! Wouldn’t that be fun? We are to stand in the same relationship to Christ, as Christ stands to the Father. I believe God’s will, love, and joy are commanding this.
According to the above verse, God through Christ created all the angels—even Satan, I believe. Could God have known that Satan would rebel? I think so. At the time the Word brought forth the marvelous creature known as Satan, the day star, the son of the dawn, could God have known that this remarkable cherub one day would stand in front of his Creator and ask for worship? I think the Father knew this.
Could God have known that the guardian cherub, brought forth in the joy of creation, would one day cause his Creator such anguish? I think the Father knew all this in advance. The Lamb was slain from the beginning of the world. God is greater than we understand.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17)
In the beginning Christ was known as the Word. At some point, perhaps when He was born of Mary, He became the Son of God. Now He is Lord and Christ (Anointed) with all power in Heaven and on the earth. He sits on the highest throne. It is the Father who has done all this for His Son, in whom He is well pleased.
Christ upholds all things by the word of His power. Such power is absolutely incomprehensible to us. We are speaking of the power that upholds and directs all the stars and planets.
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so in everything he might have the supremacy. (Colossians 1:18)
The Church is the Body of Christ, the fullness of His Being.
As I said, all things of the old creation, and the new creation as well, began with Jesus Christ.
He is the First to have come forth from the dead. All who have lived on the earth and then died will follow in their appointed rank.
It is the Father’s will that Christ be supreme in all things, and so He has placed Christ as the Beginning of everything in the universe.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, (Colossians 1:19)
Can you see how clear and simple the relationship is between the Father and the Son? God made a decision. It pleased Him to have all His fullness dwell in Christ. In the same manner, it has pleased God that all of His Fullness should dwell in us who are the Body of Christ.
And to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)
Some day people may wonder if the saints are actually separate people or if they are different manifestations of Jesus Christ. We know we have lost our individuality by becoming one with Christ in God. But we know also that our identity as a separate will, a separate person, shall remain intact.
In the same manner, Christ is not an individual apart from God. He is One with God. But Christ has never lost His identity as a separate will, a separate Person. His identity forever will remain intact, just as our identity forever will remain intact although we become one in Christ in God and are filled with the fullness of God.
And 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. (Colossians 1:20)
Let’s think about the idea of reconciliation. Through Jesus Christ, God has chosen to reconcile to Himself all things in earth and all things in Heaven. The things on earth have to do with sin and rebellion against God on the part of the peoples of the earth. The things in Heaven have to do with angels who sinned and rebelled against God.
By way of the blood shed on the cross, Christ, the innocent on behalf of the guilty, reconciled all things. We know some of the angels cannot be reconciled to God. We know also that some people will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. So the reconciliation is not a blanket amnesty. Rather it is a potential reconciliation based on God’s election plus the response of the creature.
Paul stated that he attempted to reconcile people to God.
The blood satisfies God’s sense of justice and righteousness so totally that when even the wickedest person truly repents, he will be forgiven by God. As for angels, so far as I know, once they rebel against God they are doomed. No repentance is possible.
In order for reconciliation to take place between God and a human being, the human being must choose to come to God on the basis of the blood of Calvary. God has taken the first step. The next step is ours.
Once we decide to make peace with God, we receive His forgiveness and then start on the difficult path that leads to eternal life. It is not enough to just ask forgiveness. We must prove our repentance by our deeds, as Paul says.
So the road to total reconciliation is long and steep, at least in the present hour as God’s rulers and warriors are being formed. After we are forgiven there still is the sinful nature to be overcome. Our most difficult task is that of submitting our self-will to God so His will prevails in our life.
God has done His part in the task of reconciliation. Now it is up to us to run the race, to fight the fight, that God has set before us. If we are going to run this difficult race and fight this difficult fight we have to be truly desirous of being reconciled to God.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. (Colossians 1:21)
There is no question that our mind is the enemy of God. This is because we want to plan and pursue our own way while God wants us to find out His plan and pursue His way. Complete consecration to God’s will is essential to our entering the rest of God. I am not certain how many Christians are ready at this time to give over their life to God so they may dwell in untroubled rest in God’s Person and will.
As for our evil behavior, as long as we are sinning we are alienated from God. We have been reconciled legally through the blood of the cross, but in order to have lasting fellowship with God we have to stop sinning. This is possible if we will confess our sins and turn away from them with the help of the Spirit of God.
“Walk in the Spirit,” Paul told us, “and you will not fulfill the lusts of your flesh.”
If we would have fellowship with God and be received by Him we have to come out of the ways of the world around us and cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Without holiness no one shall see the Lord.
But now he 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 moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (Colossians 1:22,23)
God has brought us to Christ and has reconciled us to Himself on the basis of Christ’s death on the cross. Those who receive this Divine act by faith are made holy in God’s sight, without blemish and free from accusation.
We might think of this as an imputed holiness; an imputed purity that leaves us free from accusation. So far so good. But what then?
This seems to be as far as our thinking goes, in many instances. We now are holy. We now are without blemish. We now are free from accusation. This is how God sees us.
But is this a permanent state? Or is it a fresh start for us so we now can begin to cleanse ourselves as the Holy Spirit begins to show us the moral filth in our personality? This is the important question today. Has Christ done it all, or is there something we must do to continue what God has done.
If we seek to continue what God has done by confessing our sins and turning from them, are we being legalistic, as some charge? Are we attempting to improve on the perfect work of Calvary?
We could deduce from these words in Colossians that there is nothing more to be done. But is this conclusion really supported by the New Testament? I realize some believe this is so. But look:
“Therefore come out from them and be separate,” says the Lord. “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty. Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (II Corinthians 6:17-7:1)
Now, did the same man write the Book of Second Corinthians and the Book of Colossians? Yes, the same man wrote both epistles.
Are both of these epistles the inspired Word of God? Yes, they both are the inspired Word of God.
If we receive them both as the inspired Word of God written by the same man, then we must conclude that after God has presented us holy, without blemish and free from accusations because of Christ’s physical death on the cross, we must come out from the unclean practices of the world and be separate. We must touch no unclean thing. We must purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit. We must perfect holiness out of reverence for God.
We absolutely must do these things if we really are saints. The churchgoers may or may not purify themselves. But every true disciple must. He knows he must obey the commandments given by Christ and His Apostles.
To say there is nothing we are to do but believe is obviously unscriptural.
Paul goes on to say, in the passage above, that God has reconciled us to Himself by Christ’s physical body “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.”
Again, we could conclude from this that all we are to do is to keep on believing, keep on rejoicing in our hope of meeting Christ some day. But the remainder of the New Testament does not bear this out. It simply is not enough to just keep believing in Christ, unless our believing is more than a mental assent to theological truth.
Our believing must be the kind that keeps the Lord Jesus before us at all times so we are being transformed from an earthly creature to a life-giving spirit; until we have been formed into the moral image of Christ and are dwelling in untroubled rest in the Father through Jesus Christ.
Our faith must be resulting in a daily transformation if we actually are being moved from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of light.
Probably the greatest error in Christian thinking is that our salvation consists of a specialized belief system that is largely unrelated to our behavior. You may recognize this as the influence of Gnosticism on Christian theology.
Our salvation proceeds from a daily walk with a living Person, not from the “Statement of Faith” of our denomination.
So continuing in our faith, being established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the Gospel, is not referring to maintaining our belief system but has to do with pressing forward, pressing forward, pressing forward until we are living by the power of Christ’s resurrection and sharing the sufferings of the cross.
Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. (Colossians 1:24)
You don’t hear the above verse preached every Sunday. It really does not go along with our ordinary Christian thinking. Is it actually true that Paul was called upon to suffer in his flesh the pain of Christ’s afflictions that still are lacking? We have been healed by the lashes laid on Christ. Is it a fact that there are more lashes necessary to heal the Church? A difficult question indeed.
We understand the full and perfect atonement was made on the cross of Calvary. God’s sense of righteousness and justice has been totally vindicated.
What is this then about Paul filling up in his flesh a measure of afflictions still lacking, on behalf of the Church, the Body of Christ?
Is this what Paul meant by sharing the sufferings of Christ.?
I am not knowledgeable enough to answer this question authoritatively. But I can tell you what I do know. Whenever God wants something established in His Kingdom, someone has to pay the price. There are those who say the present prevalence of Gospel work in Africa is being built on the sacrifice of missionary families who went out at the beginning of the twentieth century. Many were martyred.
Have you ever read of a work of God that was established through much suffering on the part of the pioneer? It happens, doesn’t it. Perhaps this is what Paul is referring to.
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church, it is said. Perhaps we have to see the travail of our soul before we can be satisfied.
I have thought sometimes of the Himalayas. There are some who believe there are demon strongholds there. Perhaps God will move on a believer to go there and plant the flag of Christ, so to speak. But I would think whoever is privileged to advance the Kingdom of God in that area may possibly go through years of spiritual warfare before anything permanent is accomplished.
That seems to be the way it is. If we are to enter the joy of our Lord, perhaps we will have to suffer in order for His Kingdom to be increased. I wouldn’t be surprised if such is the case.
I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness. (Colossians 1:25)
God commissioned the Apostle Paul to become the servant of the Church, the Body of Christ. Paul’s duty as a servant of the Church is to present the Word of God in its fullness.
One can see the drift of some of the large denominations of our day toward endorsing the ordination of homosexual ministers. I believe they are doing this in the interest of “social progress.”
However, it is not the duty of a Christian organization to implement social progress of this kind. The Christian organization has one, and only one, duty – to present to the members of Christ’s Body the Word of God in its fullness.
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament condemn the practice of homosexuality. Homosexual behavior is a sin like any other sin, no better and no worse. A denomination would not ordain someone who was robbing other people or publishing pornography. Why then should it ordain someone who is a homosexual?
It has nothing to do with prejudice, narrow-mindedness, bias or discrimination. The Word of God describes the practice of homosexuality as sin. Sin it is, and the Church and its ministers are to describe it as such.
My personal opinion is that these large denominations do not believe the Bible is the Word of God. If this is the case, perhaps they should go along with the social currents. God no longer is with them, and so at least they will have gained some friends who will welcome them when they die.
The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:26, 27)
A very important part of “the word of God in its fullness” is the mystery of Christ in us. Paul said this mystery has been kept hidden for ages and generations. The truth is it still is hidden.
Now, what do I mean by that?
Think about it. In our church-going religion, how is Christ presented? Isn’t Christ usually presented as the Christ of Christmas, or the Christ of Easter, or the Christ in Heaven, or the Christ who is coming again? How often do you hear an emphasis on the forming of Christ in us, or the coming of the Father and the Son to dwell in us?
The reason we are emphasizing the Christ born in the manger and the Christ who was raised from the dead two thousand years ago is that we have not actually been born again. Perhaps Christ has been conceived in us, but when Christ has really begun to be formed in us, we know the Kingdom of God is not about the historical Christ but about Christ in us. This is the mystery of the Gospel and the hope of glory.
Before His resurrection, Christ was with His Apostles but not in His Apostles. There is a vast difference between Christ being with us and Christ being in us.
If the Christian Gospel were Christ with us, some demands would be placed upon us. But because the Christian Gospel is Christ in us, the demands on us are total.
In the religion of Christianity, Christ is with us. To the disciple, Christ is in us. What a difference!
How astounded Paul must have been. The Christ is to be formed in us and then to dwell in us with the Father for eternity!
But now we have moved outside of the Christian religion. We are talking about the true Gospel and the transformation that takes place as, bit by bit, our first personality is chiseled away and Christ takes its place.
We think about dying and going to Heaven so we can be with Christ. The truth is, if we truly have received Christ and are trudging along the difficult path that leads to eternal life, we already are at the right hand of God in Christ, and Christ is being formed in us.
We are becoming a new creation, if we are carrying our cross and following Christ. The old nature is being crucified. The new nature is Christ. When Christ has been formed in us, the Father and Christ will come and make Their eternal dwelling place in that which has been formed in us.
“In My Father’s house.” Christ is the Father’s house. But there are numerous rooms. Each true saint is a living stone in that house, a room for the Father to dwell in. This is the Church, the Body of Christ, the eternal Temple of God.
Can you see what I mean when I speak of the difference between being a churchgoer and being a saint, a holy one of God? One is a religion like the other major religions of the world. But what I am speaking about is not a religion in that sense. It is a personal transformation that is occurring in us as we encounter the living Jesus each day.
Christ has been conceived in us. The supernatural Seed of God has been conceived in us. The living Word has been conceived in us. This is the hope of glory. What kind of glory? The glory of being an enlargement of God’s Person through Jesus Christ. The glory of living in eternal, incorruptible resurrection life. The glory of inheriting the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth.
For all things of the creation are of Christ and for Christ. We are an integral part of Him, a coheir, if you will, of the Father’s wealth.
The Prophets knew about the coming of Christ. They knew a Child would be born. They knew about the importance of Galilee. But I don’t believe they had an inkling that the Christ was to be formed in people. It is a mystery to the present hour because we still refer to the Christ of history, what He did and what He yet will do. But the central issue of the Gospel, the blessing for which Calvary paid, is the forming of Christ in the saints.
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so we may present everyone perfect in Christ. (Colossians 1:28)
It is easy to fall into the trap of preaching about Christ instead of preaching Christ. It is easy to conduct our services in such a manner that they are about Christ but do not include Christ. It is relatively easy to sing about Christ, instead of worshiping the Father along with Christ.
We need more of Jesus in our services. Don’t you agree? The believers must come prayed up, with the thought in mind that they have something spiritual to give – if it is nothing more than a prayer or a smile for someone. The pastor must be living in Christ to the extent he knows what Christ wants from the service.
There should be a certain amount of flexibility in the service so we do not drift into a routine. I have started to put my Bible on a chair in the front of the church and preach from it instead of going up to the pulpit. Sometimes I walk around while I am preaching and address someone personally. Stan our worship leader, is thinking of different ways to break up the routine of just singing.
Last Sunday night, after the Communion service, I called everyone to the front. There were approximately fifty in attendance, all people I knew well.
I wanted to do something different. So I said to the people, “I want to do something different but I don’t know what. So would everyone please come forward?” We have a large area in front of the chairs where we do our flags, banners, tambourines, and expressive moments.
I asked the musicians to take their places. Then I asked Stan to lead us in a chorus titled, “Shout to the Lord.” After we sing it once we all are to shout.
So I said, “as soon as we come to the place where we all shout, I want you to pick out someone while your are shouting and pray for them at the top of your voice.”
Well, that kind of broke the ice and we had a good spirit in which to fellowship and then leave the building.
This is what I mean by preaching Christ and not about Christ. We just have to get in and bring Christ to people where they can respond actively and get hold of the Lord. We were shouting to the Lord and shouting in prayer; I hope bondages were being broken.
I wait before the service until I know what God wants said to those people at that time. Sometimes I tell them in a few words what God is saying, before I expand upon it with passages of Scripture. It may be that everyone does not hear from God in the same manner I do, but I am sure that all preachers have their way of finding out what God is saying.
When we find out what God is saying, then we get down in front of the people and lay it before them as well as we can. We try to bring Christ to them; to preach Christ to them; not talk about the historical Jesus. The living Christ is here, now. Let’s lay hold on Him and find out what He has for us.
Maybe this is what Paul meant when He said, “proclaim him, teaching everyone so we may present everyone perfect in Christ.”
Everything in a Christian service should be designed to present the believers perfect in Christ. If what we are doing is primarily entertainment, then we need to hold this before the Lord to see if we truly are redeeming the time and doing the Lord’s will.
To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:29)
Preaching is labor. Preaching is a struggle as we attempt to bring Christ into the personalities of people. God gives us the energy we need when we are doing His will.
There are forces that fight against us as we labor in the Word. Sometimes there is demonic interference. I pray before every service that God will give a clear spiritual atmosphere in which to preach.
Sometimes the people are lethargic. This often is true during holidays. It is difficult to get them up into the Presence of the Lord.
Sometimes there is brooding discontent in the congregation. Then we have to be careful to remember that God did not call us to berate the sheep but to feed them. We just keep on feeding them, feeding them. This is what we have been commanded to do. So we do all we know to do to arouse their interest in what we are saying.
If we are saying what God wants said, the Holy Spirit works with us. We do not have to bring about the results by our own wisdom or strength. The Spirit will give the increase if we are faithful to present the burden of the Lord and not our own ideas or the prevailing traditions.
If we have been absolutely faithful to bring to the people what God is saying, whether it is something pleasant or a rebuke, those same people will be our joy and rejoicing in the Day of the Lord. A part of us has been sown in them.
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. (Colossians 2:1)
Paul is struggling for the saints in Colosse that they may come to a fuller grasp on Christ. If a minister of the Gospel is not struggling to accomplish God’s will in the people, then he or she needs to go to the Lord to find out why. Is he merely entertaining himself by preaching marvelous sermons?
This reminds us of Paul’s statement in Galatians that he was travailing that Christ might be formed in the saints. The disciples in Galatia had been saved and filled with the Spirit, as we use these terms. But they were being influenced by Jewish teachers who were attempting to bring them back under the Law of Moses.
Paul understood well that the reason the Galatian believers were vulnerable was that Christ had not been formed in them. We realize from this that just because we have been saved and filled with the Spirit does not mean redemption has been completed in us. The truth is, being saved and filled with the Spirit is the entrance into the process of redemption, not the finished work.
The work of redemption includes three great dimensions. The first dimension is that of removing from us all of our sinful nature, all of our self-will and all of our worldliness. The second dimension is the forming of Christ in us, which results eventually in the redeeming of our body at the coming of the Lord. The third dimension is the coming of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to make Their eternal abode in us.
The removal of all spiritual darkness from us.
The forming of Christ in us, including the making alive of our mortal body.
The entrance into us of the Fullness of God.
The physical people and land of Israel are an example of God with people.
The Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul are an example of God in people.
God being with people is necessary, and God shall be with His elect and with the saved nations for eternity.
However, the purpose of the work of redemption is not only or primarily to enable God to be with people. Redemption enables God to be in people, and this is what God desires.
As long as God merely is with people the results can be disappointing. We see this in the Garden of Eden. We see this ineffectiveness in the history of Israel. We see this in the history of the Christian churches, which to this day have not focused on the forming of Christ in people.
The goal of redemption is to produce new creations in which God can dwell; in which God can find rest.
I was meditating this morning on the thirty-sixth chapter of the Book of Ezekiel. I noticed how the Lord described the purpose for the new covenant, the covenant described in the Book of Hebrews.
Therefore say to the house of Israel, “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:22-28)
God is saying here that He is going to give a new covenant to His elect so He will be revered as holy among the nations of the earth. Jesus told us our light would be our righteous works that would cause the people of the world to glorify God.
If we maintain that God is speaking here to the physical people and land of Israel, and not to the Christian people, we do not understand the relationship between Israel and the Christian Church.
First, not all Israel are Israel. As Paul said, it is not by physical birth that someone becomes Israel but by God’s calling. No Jew is Israel by birth. He must be called, as were Jacob and his sons.
Second, we who are Gentiles are Israel in this sense. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile; there is only the one new Man, the one Olive Tree, the one Seed of Abraham, which is Christ. The Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, such as the passage from Ezekiel above, do not apply to someone merely because he or she has been born a Jew. They apply only to God’s elect, whether Jewish or Gentile by physical birth. There is only one Israel, one Seed of Abraham, one Church of God. The issue is the Divine calling, not physical birth.
This is why “Replacement Theology” is so fundamentally incorrect. Replacement Theology states that the Christian Church has replaced Israel. The Christian Church has not replaced Israel; it is an integral aspect of the whole house of Israel, the house that began with Abraham.
The first Christian church comprised 5,000 Jewish men plus whatever wives and children were included, all keeping the Law of Moses. These Jews were the first members of the Body of Christ, the Wife of the Lamb. At what point, then, did replacement occur? The replacement doctrine is unscriptural, and mischievous in its consequences.
God said he would cleanse us from our impurities and idols; give us a new heart and a new Spirit; move us to follow His decrees and be careful to keep His laws.
How totally we have misunderstood the new covenant! We have taken a covenant whose intent was to create righteousness in God’s elect so the nations would glorify God, and have transformed it into a means of our going to Heaven with no moral transformation being necessary. We have totally perverted God’s intentions, turning it into a means of bringing unchanged man into God’s Presence in Heaven.
This is the work of Satan, the master deceiver.
This further understanding of what I have been teaching for years caused me to stomp around the house (before breakfast) and otherwise express indignation and upset.
Then there came a sort of picture into my mind of how unsatisfactory it is to God that He merely be with us. God wants to be in us – as close to us as possible. He wants to be in all our thoughts, words, and actions. It is the body and blood of Christ that accomplish this ultimate closeness.
The Life of Christ, which is the Life of God, is formed in us. Then the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can find rest in us in perfect fellowship. This ultimate closeness is what God desires, and absolutely nothing else will suffice.
How God is going to bring His people to understand His purpose in forgiving them is that He might work in them until they keep His moral laws, and that He wants to dwell in them for eternity, I have no idea. It will require more than a reformation. It will demand an absolute revolution in Christian thinking, because our understanding of the nature and purpose of Divine grace has been removed from the Scriptures and mangled until it does not even resemble God’s intention; it is the very opposite of God’s intention.
I know the power of God’s Spirit is sufficient to accomplish such a revolution, and that the revolution shall occur; because this is what God wants. There is no power in the universe that can prevent the will of the Father from being accomplished. I rest in this.
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, (Colossians 2:2)
I think in the verse above we may see the problem with the current emphasis on evangelism. It appears almost all of the time and energy of the Christian churches is spent on gaining converts. People who have been Christians for twenty or more years sit in church Sunday after Sunday hearing the same evangelistic message, in the hope somehow there may be a sinner present who needs to hear the “old, old story.”
I do not say there are not churches that God has impressed to emphasize evangelism. But I am certain this is not true all of all churches.
If it is God’s intention that the saints be encouraged in heart and united in love; if they are to have the full riches of complete understanding that they may know the mystery of Christ; if they are to have Christ formed in them and come to the stature of the fullness of Christ, then it is obvious this is not going to be accomplished by listening once again to the old, old story.
Time and effort should be spent on the forming of Christ in the believers, and everything done in the services should be directed toward this goal. Evangelism is scarcely mentioned in the Epistles. The emphasis is on the growth of the believers in Christ.
One disciple who is growing into the image of Christ, who is dwelling in untroubled rest in the Father through Christ, is more of a threat to the kingdom of Satan than ten thousand spiritual babies who are living in their fleshly appetites. This is why I believe the emphasis on evangelism and numbers of people and churches, with almost total neglect and ignorance of bringing the church members to maturity in Christ, is of Satan. It reflects nothing more than the desire of the Christian leaders to be “successful.”
I understand there are exceptions to the above statements. I know there are men of God upon whom God has placed the burden of evangelism. But my observation tells me that most of the emphasis on evangelism is not coming from the Spirit of God but from the ideas of leaders who are not hearing from God.
If I am hearing from the Lord, He is demanding that we follow the Holy Spirit in the work of confessing our sins and turning away from them. Am I really hearing from God or am I deceived in this? Is this God’s will for His churches today? Should we be stressing the need to come to a greater knowledge of the mystery of God? Should we be pursuing Christ with all our strength that we might know Him in fuller measure? How do you feel about this?
In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3)
If we want information in any area of the universe, the Person to ask is the Lord Jesus Christ.
I know from experience that He knows how to patch a hole in a wall. I know, also from experience, that He understands algebra.
A friend of mine said the Lord helped him perform giant swings on a horizontal bar.
“All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
One time when I was driving home after preaching at Brother Dowell’s church in Lemon Grove, I was crossing a bridge over a major valley. The valley, in San Diego, is filled with stores and other major structures. I don’t know how many homes are down there.
Anyway, it is a known fact that this valley is a major conduit between a dam to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. If we had enough rain, and the dam broke, a major catastrophe would occur. Much of what is in the valley could be carried off to the ocean.
As I was thinking about this, the Lord said: “I take no pleasure in the pain people suffer, the destruction of their goods, during this kind of event. If the builders had asked Me, I would have shown them how to avoid destruction.”
In Christ are hidden “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
It is a shame that people do not ask the Lord about everything in their life, since He has the answer to every question.
People might think the Lord doesn’t want to be bothered with the details of their life. They are mistaken in this. He does indeed want to be bothered. If we ask, our joy is increased as we receive the answer. Also, God is glorified in Christ.
But when we do not ask, trusting in our own wisdom, everyone loses.
I tell you this so no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. (Colossians 2:4)
Arguing religion is a useless practice. Each individual defends his own position. Nothing is gained except people are able to get their opinions and irritations off their chest.
The demons love to reason. They will reason with you all day and all night if you are foolish enough to respond to them.
One time a preacher called me and wanted to set a time to discuss the pre-tribulation “rapture.” He knows I will have nothing to do with unscriptural traditions and he wanted to show me how the “rapture” is scriptural.
I told him that arguing eschatology is against my religion. He seemed to be amused by my answer. He said, “I like that.”
There is no need for any of us to lack wisdom. The Bible says if we lack wisdom we are to ask for help from God, and He will give us wisdom generously and not scold us for asking.
There is a simplicity in Christ. When Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons come to the door, I notice that they try to start our mind along some line of thinking. I imagine they are trained to do this.
I always bring the conversation back to Christ. When we have Christ we have all we need. It is not necessary to enter a discussion about some other emphasis. Such talk and reasoning lead away from Jesus Christ and produce confusion.
For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. (Colossians 2:5)
It is a marvel to me how many religious ideas there are in the world. Brother Dowell used to comment that of all the religions in the world, he could not understand how he ended up in the right one.
It is true. When we have the Lord Jesus Christ we have everything. Satan will attempt to lead us into another line of thought, another emphasis. We need to hold steady in our faith in Christ, praying always that God will keep us from deception and help us to draw closer to Christ each day.
As a pastor I know how quickly people can be drawn into unprofitable beliefs and practices. We have to pray fervently and patiently that God will open their eyes and bring them back to a daily walk in Christ.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, Rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6, 7)
We have to learn to live in Christ. Living in Christ is much more than just going to church on Sunday, as important as that is. We are to live in Christ every moment of every day and night, seven day a week, if we are to regard ourselves as disciples of the Lord.
I have learned that the best way to live in Christ is to keep asking Him about everything I am doing. I ask Him to help the people in the church. I ask Him to help me write what He is showing me. I ask Him what to eat so I can remain strong and healthy.
I ask Him about the little things also, such as what to do about something that is broken; what time to go to bed and what time to get up; how much exercise to perform; the balance between work and rest. Sometimes people do not have these choices, but they have other decisions to make. There is nothing too insignificant to bring to the Lord. He is interested in the smallest detail.
Our life is made up of numerous decisions, isn’t it. Well, if we look to the Lord for each decision, we are living in Him. It is just as simple as that.
Living in Jesus in the manner I have just described can be difficult in America because of the rapid pace of our life. There is so much to do each day, so many pressures and responsibilities, so many dangers. It is very easy to just flow along without looking to the Lord. We use time making decisions. We can use that same time asking the Lord for His help. Try it and see!
Anyone who works with plants knows how long it takes to grow roots. Roots do not appear suddenly. It is true also of Christ. When we first receive Christ the roots are very small and fragile. But if we keep praying, reading our Bible, gathering with fervent saints if possible, obeying what the Lord tells us personally as well as from the Bible, our roots will grow strong and deep.
Growth in Christ occurs slowly. There are saplings, and then there are oaks of righteousness. I personally have been a disciple of the Lord for 61 years. As I look back on my life, I realize becoming a disciple of Jesus was a wise choice. I am very thankful that God has put in my heart the longing to seek His will diligently. This desire for righteousness is a gift.
As I draw near to the end of life in this world I know I will not die but walk into the Presence of the Lord and continue with the tasks He has given me to accomplish. It is no small blessing to have no fear of death.
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. (Colossians 2:8)
I am not certain what Paul means by “hollow and deceptive philosophy”; “human tradition”; “basic principles of this world.” I do know, however, that the Judaizers were attempting to convince the new believers that they were to be circumcised and keep other aspects of the Law of Moses.
Perhaps Paul is giving the same warning that we find in verse 20 and 21 of this chapter: “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’”
Some were stressing these regulations, perhaps under the direction of angels they were worshiping.
In any case, Paul is telling us to avoid such human commands and keep our eyes focused on the Lord Jesus. In Him and in Him alone is all we need for life in the present world and preparation for the next.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, (Colossians 2:9)
Now here is a marvelous statement. The Fullness of God lives in bodily form in the Lord Jesus Christ. As I stated previously, it is not that Jesus Christ is the Father, it is that the Fullness of the Father dwells in Christ.
The reason that I make a point of this is that God wants to dwell in us in His Fullness.
And to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may