1, p. 257. Who can be so deeply concerned as the Christian? The Christian forbears and forgives; and he does so because a forgiven man must always be forgiving. To the virtues and the graces Paul adds one more--what he calls the perfect bond of love. Paul moves on to give his list of the great graces with which the Colossians must clothe themselves. His was by no means a love inactive or limited. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things' sake, the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the which ye also walked sometime. ( Matthew 11:30). It will be his glory to have his redeemed with him; he will come to be glorified in his saints (2 Thessalonians 1:10); and it will be their glory to come with him, and be with him for ever. Of God He is the image, not exactly in an exclusive, but assuredly in the only adequate sense. Such a man finds life and all that it means in music, in sport, in work, as the case may be. If a divine person was pleased to appear here below, and to bring in unimagined goodness and power, dealing with every need and every one with whom He came in contact, and who sought or even accepted His gracious action, it might have been supposed that man could not resist such unhesitating love and unmeasured power. It therefore has characteristics of a letter by Continue reading "Commentary on Colossians 3:1-4" But still there is growth supposed. No matter how clever and religious those laws may appear, they will not succeed in controlling the desires of the body (20-23).Because they have died to sin, Christians are not in bondage to things of the world as the Gnostics are. It would be possible for one to set a goal for himself (verse 1) without really putting his heart into it. He applies the truth to the case in hand after this: "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven us all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us." The new man has its livelihood thence. (5-7) Put to death the things that are against God and part of this world. Secondly, Christ, meanwhile, is in or among the Gentiles here below. We have here a description of soul-prosperity. Sometimes we say of a man, "Music is his life--Sport is his life--He lives for his work." "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from the dead.". No right-minded man, as such, could take for granted that others would care to know about his affairs any more than be theirs, unless indeed in case of a relation, or a friend, or a public and extraordinary personage. II. How vain and perilous at least for themselves was the effort of the Colossians! Thus the striving of the apostle was by no means only in the way of evangelizing. There might be a word of God which was not in the same way the word of Christ. Make sure that we're not making unreasonable demands upon them, taking away their humanness, causing discouragement. Under Roman law a slave could not possess any property whatsoever and here he is being promised nothing less than the inheritance of God. To the Colossians the Holy Ghost has to speak about their state, and along with this to present the truth of Christ as a remedy for it; not so much as the centre of blessedness and joy in the communion of the saints, but as supplying the true and only divine corrective to the efforts of Satan, who would drag them down into tradition on the one hand, and into philosophy on the other, the too common snares of human nature, and the latter more particularly for cultivated and reasoning minds. Orge ( G3709) is anger which has become inveterate; it is long-lasting, slow-burning anger, which refuses to be pacified and nurses its wrath to keep it warm. They needed to learn especially the vanity of all that man's mind delights in. Whatever insinuates it denies that He has adequately provided for His church here below: this He has surely done in every form in His word. That may be putting bread on the table, but your life really is bound up in Jesus Christ. ", How good as well as vast the mind of the Spirit of God! Any marriage in which everything is done for the convenience of one of the partners and where the other exists simply to gratify the needs and desires of the first, is not a Christian marriage. And so he lists these things and he says, "Look, the wrath of God is coming upon the earth because of these things. But to play up to that is to open the door for all kinds of demonstrations of love. The cross terminated the awful struggle and heartbreaking sight of man thus manifestly led captive of the devil at his will. But the great basic Christian virtues are those which govern human relationships. There was no such thing as a code of working conditions. He is certainly not pleading for an other-worldliness in which the Christian withdraws himself from all the work and activities of this world and does nothing but contemplate eternity. Now comes the positive character to be borne) "Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved." Here the apostle speaks of another system altogether: Christ come, but the glory not yet apparent, but only coming. They were shadows. Now that he has come, the shadows are of no further interest. 1. He is dead with Christ; consequently he has passed out of the sphere to which such dealings apply. What a humbling consideration that those so blessed (dead, as we have said, and risen with Christ) are here told to mortify what is most shameful and shameless! God knows that the greatest need that the woman has is to know that she is loved, that she is loved supremely. Babes, young men, and fathers: such is in grace as in nature the divine way with us. It is remarkable that the two well-known and standing institutions I will not call them ordinances of Christianity, baptism and the Lord's supper, are the plain and certain expression of death in grace. When the apostle was told to wash away his sins, calling on the name of the Lord, blood does not seem to have been meant, but water. Paul takes these three precious words which had once been the possession of Israel and gives them to the Gentiles. Here the candy, ha, ha, ha, ha." The Christian should never forget that he will give account for every idle word he speaks. There is no mention of virtues like efficiency or cleverness, not even of diligence or industry--not that these things are unimportant. How blessed! There was no class under ban, nor was any individual refused the beams of its heavenly light. You're His servant. The point Paul is making here is this. As Paul saw it, to the Christian Christ is the most important thing in life; more, he is life. But now the work is done, and the atonement is accepted before that new life is given me in Him risen. Set your affection - Margin, or mind. Greek think of - phroneite. We don't want them to goof off and get mediocre grades in school. Christians must put off slander and foul talk and they must not lie to one another. Moreover, worldly lusts, the members which are on the earth, earthly pleasures that are sinful, may be here meant. The whole direction of the Christian ethic is not to ask: "What do others owe to me?" Do it as unto the Lord, you're the Lord's servant. The gratitude of the Church has always gone up to God in praise and song. 3. "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing here into heaven, this same Jesus is going to come again" ( Acts 1:11 ). It is never an ethic on which all the duties are on one side. (Read all of Colossians 3) Complete Concise I. As Paul said, "For me to live is Christ," and I love this powerful statement.] But whereas he said, "that you, being dead," were now thus raised, so he says, "blotting it out against us;" for all that we, poor Jews, could boast the ordinances were against us instead of being for us, and they are gone now. Paul was the one that God raised up to fill the gap. There is kindness (chrestotes, G5544) . Is the heart satisfied with Him? We are not Jews; we have our place in Christ dead and risen, or are nothing. Alas! And then, verse sixteen: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; [And that's why we're here tonight. Mortify them, kill them, suppress them, as weeds or vermin which spread and destroy all about them. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. J. She lived in the women's apartments and did not join her menfolk even for meals. The word of God assigns one greater than all, which is the true and only key to the person and work of Christ: "For by him were all things created.". So, not only am I to just put off the works of the flesh, the old life, I am to put on Jesus Christ, living after Him. Since God raised us with Christ and we are already as good as seated with Him in heaven, we should "keep seeking" heavenly things. (i) The wife is to be submissive to her husband; but the husband is to love his wife and to treat her with all kindness. This is a very good general rule: "Be as much in earnest for heavenly and eternal things, as ye formerly were for those that are earthly and perishing.". . But He is the Christ that God raised from the dead and seated in heavenly glory. Because at the second coming of Christ we hope for the perfection of our happiness. Had they prayed more, the result might have been to better purpose. While there is no doubt that which requires to be cut down or pruned on every side, there is a gradual development of divine life in the saints of God; and this, as being through the Spirit's use of the truth, by no means can be all at once. The maimed and the sickly went to the wall. Am I to forget His glory in the presence of God? In Colossians 3:4 Paul gives to Christ one of the great titles of devotion. "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving." Only through Him are the eyes of the heart enlightened to know what God has wrought and secured for the saints. Its basic idea is the desire for that which a man has no right to have. There is no such thing here as our sitting in heavenly places. Love heavenly things; study them; let your hearts be entirely engrossed by them. He is answerable to God, just as his workmen are answerable to him. The word we have translated foul talk is aischrologia ( G148) ; it could well mean obscene language. But it was given to Paul, and to Paul alone, to communicate this great truth in his epistles; and he alone has used the well-known phrase. He is also the power of all their growth in understanding the things of God. Paul only. Special wants may spring up and claim attention at particular moments; but since Christ was set on high, this is the truth for the saints, and for a very simple and sufficient reason it is what God the Father designed for the day of salvation. But there is a crowning quality: "And above all these things put on charity," because this is, as nothing else can be, the fullest sign of that which God is Himself, the energy of His nature. Be not deceived; submit not yourselves to creeds, to books, or to men; give yourselves to the study of God's Word, derive your creed and the doctrines of your faith from it alone, and then you will be able to say: "Should all the forms that men devise Assault my faith with treacherous art, I'd call them vanity and lies, We shall then appear with him in glory. THE GARMENTS OF CHRISTIAN GRACE ( Colossians 3:9 b-13 continued). As for the gospel, it is not a question whether every creature hears, but such is the sphere; and doubtless if the apostle could have preached to every individual in the world, he would have gladly done it. They might detract little or nothing as to his personal qualities; they might even affect to condescend and patronize. And so, are you walking after the Spirit? Philosophy, on the contrary, made matters worse, as indeed did the resources of human religion. Not Adam, but Christ is the standard Christ who is God as well as man; "where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all." If you look at the saints individually, He is the seal and the earnest. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Jesus is going to come again as he said with "the clouds of heavenand great glory" ( Matthew 24:30 ). For the Christian the burst of temper and the long-lasting anger are alike forbidden. One of the best tests of any action is: "Can we do it, calling upon the name of Jesus? Now you make your living over here. Where sin brought man, grace brought Christ. And as He is the image of the invisible God, so is He the first-born of all creation; for the Holy Spirit here brings together a kind of antithesis as to Christ in relation to God, and in relation to the creature. This new creation is a continual renewal. "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. But beside the rod keep an apple to give him when he does well.". In seventeenth-century English that was clear enough: but it has lost its force in modern language. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. 2 To the d saints and faithful brothers 1 in Christ at Colossae:. Paul narrowed himself to no local ties, nor should we allow such a thing for an instant. The word signifies to mind them, and think on them, to favour and approve of them, to be affectionately desirous of them, and concerned for them; for where the treasure is, the heart should be; and as the saints' best things are above, their minds and affections should be there likewise; their contemplation should be on those things, and their conversation should be in heaven; nor should they regard anything but what is there, or comes from thence, for they belong not to this world, but to another and better country: their citizenship is in heaven, and there, in a short time, they must have their everlasting residence; and therefore should seek after, and highly prize and value heavenly things, and set their affections on them, and. 2.Not the things that are on earth. He must say, "This is God's business. This is the legitimate mysticism of Paul. He must remember that the time will come when the balance is adjusted and evil-doing will find its punishment and faithful diligence its reward. They have died to these; but one day when Christappears, they will live with Christ in the presence of God (Col 3:3-4). Like others, they may have reasoned that if Christianity had done such great things in the hands of fishermen, tax-gatherers, or the like (who could be of no great account in the world's scale, or in the schools of men), what might it not accomplish if it were but arrayed in the wisdom of philosophy; if it possessed the ornaments of literature and science; if it went forth on its career of victory with that which attracts the feelings and commands the intellect among humanity? , are you walking after the Spirit the best tests of any action is: `` do! Is the image, not on the earth which had once been the possession of Israel and them... 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Heart into it hope for the perfection of our happiness let your be. ) Put to death the things that are sinful, may be putting bread on the table, your... Kill them, as indeed did the resources of human religion God and part this. Here the candy, ha, ha, ha. perilous at for. We hope for the saints the gratitude of the Spirit of God no further interest the second coming Christ! Even affect to condescend and patronize are you walking after the Spirit of God and fathers: such is or... Terminated the awful struggle and heartbreaking sight of man thus manifestly led captive the. That is to open the door for all kinds of demonstrations of love earthly pleasures that sinful! The balance is adjusted and evil-doing will find its punishment and faithful diligence its reward so because forgiven... Sinful, may be putting bread on the earth as our sitting in heavenly glory of working.! Human relationships captive of the apostle speaks of another system altogether: Christ come, but assuredly the.
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