Colossians 3: 1-4
(1) Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ,
Here's another therefore and an if. If you have been raised up with Christ, this means that you have died with Christ in His having died your death in your place.
keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Being raised up, stay above in your thinking processes, with Christ as He is already sitting on His throne. Where we are also already sitting with Him.
(2) Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on Earth.
Think about what is waiting for you above, take your focus off of what will cease to exist before long, that will be destroyed with the Earth.
(3) For you have died and your life is hidden in Christ in God.
When Jesus' blood has washed us clean, then God sends His Spirit into our human spirits, making them alive. This cuts the connection our flesh had with our spirits, freeing us from the bondage sin had on us. So our flesh, being cut off from our spirit, has spiritually died. We no longer are compelled to fall back into that besetting sin, we have another choice now, to do what is right.
And our life in the Holy Spirit is immersed into the body of Christ, who is the Head. We are destined to be with Him where He is, after this human body is transformed.
(4) When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Christ is the Head, we are the body; we are all one living organism together. When He returns to this Earth to reign, then He will come in His glory, shining as the sun, and we will be with Him, also shining as His body.
All creation will see us, everything everywhere, good and evil, will see that we are in Christ as His body, and will be sitting on His throne with Him as He sits on His Father's throne with Him.
O my Father, thank You so much for Your wonderful plans for us, that Your intention from the beginning was to create us to be your own children, one with Christ as He is one with You.
O Father, help us to
realize how significant You made us to be. Help us to focus on what You
are preparing for us, that will last forever, rather than on the
temporary stuff here in this world. Help us to live the rest of our
mortal lives here in view of our importance to Your plan.
Father, help us to realize how insignificant everything is in the world, and how to use these little things for the promotion of Your Kingdom.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, our Head, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Are You Sure You're Not Deceived?
Colossians 2: 16-23
(16) Therefore
We always need to see what a "therefore" is there for. We are to look back at what has just been said in this chapter.
We've just seen yesterday that Jesus has triumphed over all the spiritual rulers and authorities, so we have the victory already in Christ. So now,
no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--
We are not to let other people assert authority over us to say that we are condemned if we don't follow their rules, rules that can concern what to eat when or how to celebrate a church holiday.
(17) things which are a mere shadow if what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
All these things, food and days and ceremonies are only a reminder, a picture of what is real in Heaven. But the real substance of it all, its spiritual reality, belongs to Christ as Lord, and therefore to us as His body.
(18) Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize
Paul uses the word katabrabeuo, "to award the prize against," which means that you are not to let someone cheat you out of your reward.
by delighting in self-abasement
This is tapeinophrosune, meaning "humiliation of mind," a putting-down of your self-esteem, your self-worth, or even a harsh self-denial, which will rob you of your sense of standing in Christ.
and the worship of angels,
This is praying to anyone other than God. Some teachers say that praying to the saints or angels will get you an "in" with God, because He already has approved of them. But this places them before God in your thinking, which disobeys the First Commandment of the Decalogue: idolotry. You pray to your god, or you pray to God.
taking his stand on visions he has seen,
These visions could be dreams, or appearances of celestial beings who are suposedly saints. There are places in the world where people congregate by the thousands to receive healings, because some "saint" has "appeared" there. This is totally extra-bibilical, so these dreams and appearances are part of the "traditions" that are given equal weight with Scripture.
We must remember that the devil and his demons are "rulers and authorities in celestial places," and can work apparent "miracles" to deceive and delude and mis-guide. These false teachers in the churches do not have God's Spirit of Truth living in them, so they are believing and teaching the lies.
inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,
These teachers think that they are better or above the people, because of these visions and "special revelations" that they have received from "god." Their minds can only be worldly, because this world is the only world they know.
(19) and not holding fast to the head,
They are not connected to Christ, the Head, so they cannot receive spiritual nourishment or direction from Him. They may think that they are, but the direction they are following draws them away from God. And they want to draw us away, too, to follow them.
from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.
Christ, the Head of the body, nourishes and supports the whole body through the joints and ligaments (which are body parts--us) so the whole body grows with a spiritually healthy growth that is from God.
(20) If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world,
If you really are part of Christ's body, and God has separated you from the power of sin that resides in our fleshly bodies, then:
why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,
(21) "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!"
(22) (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)--in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?
Why do you pay attention to these teachers who are telling you that you need to do something or avoid something in order to work your way into favor with God, when God has already favored you with His Son and His Spirit?
(23) These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
All these ecclesiastical rules seem to look so good, and helpful to make someone godly; but they are all humanly devised and promote unhealthy mistreatment of the body which is the temple of God if His Spirit lives there. But even if you try to live by all these regulations, it still cannot remove your fleshly desires.
Only the Holy Spirit that God places into our spirit can separate that connection to the power inherent in the flesh to commit sins.
We see in history, that when these false teachers came into the church, and worked their way into leadership of the church, they officially brought in all these "doctrines of demons" as dogmas that were commanded to be believed.
We call this historical period, "the Dark Ages," dark in the intellectual sense that most people were not educated, so they believed whatever their teachers told them. But Christians who could read saw in Scripture how the official church had departed from the truth, and the Reformation took place, and then the next historical era was The Enlightenment.
But the devil and his demons are still working to spoil all of God's good gifts to us, and has drawn away many of the portions of the church even today. Church denominations that taught the truth in the past, through time since then have also gone astray, being deceived and deceving their followers.
As the result of this, there are many people who consider themselves to be Christians, but they don't have that relationship that God wants with them, they only have a religion. Many of these people are in churches that do not preach God's pure Truth, but some mixture of worldly tradition, or misrepresentations of Scripture that lead away from God.
That is why we must do our own research in studying our Father's love-letter to us, to be sure that we really are on that right path that leads to eternal Light. This is our responsibility as children of God, to get to know our Father, so we can live our lives as His royal children. We need to know His ways to do that, we need to think His thoughts for us, we need to adopt His attitudes as our own.
How we think determines our attitudes, and our attitudes affect our choices, and our choices build our habits, and our habits become our life. It all starts in the mind.
This is why we are instructed to;
O my Father, I pray for all those who want to be Christians, but have yet to receive Your pure Truth of what Your Son as accomplished for us. Open their minds, Father, to be able to accept the truth of Your written Word, to realize that Your Lamb of God is their personal sacrifice, soften their hearts to understand how much You Love them, and wash them in the blood of Christ. Draw them into Your family, Father, so that they will have that relationship with You that You desire.
Father, send out Your children, as messengers to cast broadly the good seed of the harvest. Let that seed fall upon all the fertile fields You have prepared, to grow into the abundant harvest You have planned.
Draw all Your unborn children to the birth into Your family, Father, and fill Your great house with all of Your uncountable children. Fill every place at Your great banquet table, that we will all eternally enjoy sweet fellowship with You and one another.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
(16) Therefore
We always need to see what a "therefore" is there for. We are to look back at what has just been said in this chapter.
We've just seen yesterday that Jesus has triumphed over all the spiritual rulers and authorities, so we have the victory already in Christ. So now,
no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--
We are not to let other people assert authority over us to say that we are condemned if we don't follow their rules, rules that can concern what to eat when or how to celebrate a church holiday.
(17) things which are a mere shadow if what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
All these things, food and days and ceremonies are only a reminder, a picture of what is real in Heaven. But the real substance of it all, its spiritual reality, belongs to Christ as Lord, and therefore to us as His body.
(18) Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize
Paul uses the word katabrabeuo, "to award the prize against," which means that you are not to let someone cheat you out of your reward.
by delighting in self-abasement
This is tapeinophrosune, meaning "humiliation of mind," a putting-down of your self-esteem, your self-worth, or even a harsh self-denial, which will rob you of your sense of standing in Christ.
and the worship of angels,
This is praying to anyone other than God. Some teachers say that praying to the saints or angels will get you an "in" with God, because He already has approved of them. But this places them before God in your thinking, which disobeys the First Commandment of the Decalogue: idolotry. You pray to your god, or you pray to God.
taking his stand on visions he has seen,
These visions could be dreams, or appearances of celestial beings who are suposedly saints. There are places in the world where people congregate by the thousands to receive healings, because some "saint" has "appeared" there. This is totally extra-bibilical, so these dreams and appearances are part of the "traditions" that are given equal weight with Scripture.
We must remember that the devil and his demons are "rulers and authorities in celestial places," and can work apparent "miracles" to deceive and delude and mis-guide. These false teachers in the churches do not have God's Spirit of Truth living in them, so they are believing and teaching the lies.
inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,
These teachers think that they are better or above the people, because of these visions and "special revelations" that they have received from "god." Their minds can only be worldly, because this world is the only world they know.
(19) and not holding fast to the head,
They are not connected to Christ, the Head, so they cannot receive spiritual nourishment or direction from Him. They may think that they are, but the direction they are following draws them away from God. And they want to draw us away, too, to follow them.
from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.
Christ, the Head of the body, nourishes and supports the whole body through the joints and ligaments (which are body parts--us) so the whole body grows with a spiritually healthy growth that is from God.
(20) If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world,
If you really are part of Christ's body, and God has separated you from the power of sin that resides in our fleshly bodies, then:
why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,
(21) "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!"
(22) (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)--in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?
Why do you pay attention to these teachers who are telling you that you need to do something or avoid something in order to work your way into favor with God, when God has already favored you with His Son and His Spirit?
(23) These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
All these ecclesiastical rules seem to look so good, and helpful to make someone godly; but they are all humanly devised and promote unhealthy mistreatment of the body which is the temple of God if His Spirit lives there. But even if you try to live by all these regulations, it still cannot remove your fleshly desires.
Only the Holy Spirit that God places into our spirit can separate that connection to the power inherent in the flesh to commit sins.
We see in history, that when these false teachers came into the church, and worked their way into leadership of the church, they officially brought in all these "doctrines of demons" as dogmas that were commanded to be believed.
We call this historical period, "the Dark Ages," dark in the intellectual sense that most people were not educated, so they believed whatever their teachers told them. But Christians who could read saw in Scripture how the official church had departed from the truth, and the Reformation took place, and then the next historical era was The Enlightenment.
But the devil and his demons are still working to spoil all of God's good gifts to us, and has drawn away many of the portions of the church even today. Church denominations that taught the truth in the past, through time since then have also gone astray, being deceived and deceving their followers.
As the result of this, there are many people who consider themselves to be Christians, but they don't have that relationship that God wants with them, they only have a religion. Many of these people are in churches that do not preach God's pure Truth, but some mixture of worldly tradition, or misrepresentations of Scripture that lead away from God.
That is why we must do our own research in studying our Father's love-letter to us, to be sure that we really are on that right path that leads to eternal Light. This is our responsibility as children of God, to get to know our Father, so we can live our lives as His royal children. We need to know His ways to do that, we need to think His thoughts for us, we need to adopt His attitudes as our own.
How we think determines our attitudes, and our attitudes affect our choices, and our choices build our habits, and our habits become our life. It all starts in the mind.
This is why we are instructed to;
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind,because this will equip us to being able to:
prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12: 2).If you find that you are attending a church that adds to or twists God's pure Truth, then I would advise you to leave that deceptive environment and seek out a different church, one that teaches the Bible clearly.
O my Father, I pray for all those who want to be Christians, but have yet to receive Your pure Truth of what Your Son as accomplished for us. Open their minds, Father, to be able to accept the truth of Your written Word, to realize that Your Lamb of God is their personal sacrifice, soften their hearts to understand how much You Love them, and wash them in the blood of Christ. Draw them into Your family, Father, so that they will have that relationship with You that You desire.
Father, send out Your children, as messengers to cast broadly the good seed of the harvest. Let that seed fall upon all the fertile fields You have prepared, to grow into the abundant harvest You have planned.
Draw all Your unborn children to the birth into Your family, Father, and fill Your great house with all of Your uncountable children. Fill every place at Your great banquet table, that we will all eternally enjoy sweet fellowship with You and one another.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, February 17, 2020
Disarmed The Rulers And Authorities
Colossians 2: 15
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
When Jesus "cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us ... having nailed it to the cross" (2: 14), that disarmed all the "rulers and authorities." There was nothing left to for them to accuse us of, as we'd been washed clean by His blood.
Now that these spiritual rulers and authorities had nothing left to attack us with, Jesus publicly displayed them as defeated, as He "led captivity captive."
Ephesians 4: 8-9
Therefore it says,
This says that He first descended into the lower parts of the Earth, which was commonly understood as being the realm of Sheol, the land of the dead. And that He led a host of captives with Him as He ascended on high, to Heaven.
Luke 23: 43
And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."
While Jesus was hanging on the Cross, He said this to the thief who was also being crucified beside him, when the thief asked Him to "remember me when You come into Your Kingdom," calling Him, "Lord." This shows that Jesus knew that He would be going down into Sheol, to the Paradise side, that very day, as He was dying. And that this thief, putting his faith in Jesus, would be one of the "captives" that He would lead to Heaven.
I have dealt with what Jesus was doing while His body was in the tomb in my blog entry, "What Was Jesus Doing?" and I described the geography of Sheol, the land of the dead, in my entry, "Paradise & Hades and Heaven & Hell."
So I am mentioning this material again, as Paul tells the Colossians how Jesus gained the victory for us by His fulfilling that personal sacrifice (in Leviticus 1) on behalf of each of us.
This is a monumental event, in history and in each of our lives, the day that we realize what He accomplished for us.
This is why Paul wrote this letter, so that they, and we, would realize how much God loves us, and to not be sucked into any other system of belief.
O my Father, Your plan for Your creation is so intricate and beautiful and perfect. Everything You do is perfect, it's all just right. Everything fits into place so cleverly, according to Your overarching wisdom.
Please strengthen us, Father, against being fooled by any other, contrary or extraenous belief systems that try to deceive us. Your Son is sufficient, He has already done it all, everything is finished, and nothing else is needed. Our destination is secure.
We only need to regularly wash off the dirt of the world as we walk in it with the water of the Word, while we promote His Kingdom until He returns to claim it.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
When Jesus "cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us ... having nailed it to the cross" (2: 14), that disarmed all the "rulers and authorities." There was nothing left to for them to accuse us of, as we'd been washed clean by His blood.
Ephesians 4: 8-9
Therefore it says,
When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men (Psalm 68: 8).(Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the Earth?)
This says that He first descended into the lower parts of the Earth, which was commonly understood as being the realm of Sheol, the land of the dead. And that He led a host of captives with Him as He ascended on high, to Heaven.
Luke 23: 43
And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."
While Jesus was hanging on the Cross, He said this to the thief who was also being crucified beside him, when the thief asked Him to "remember me when You come into Your Kingdom," calling Him, "Lord." This shows that Jesus knew that He would be going down into Sheol, to the Paradise side, that very day, as He was dying. And that this thief, putting his faith in Jesus, would be one of the "captives" that He would lead to Heaven.
I have dealt with what Jesus was doing while His body was in the tomb in my blog entry, "What Was Jesus Doing?" and I described the geography of Sheol, the land of the dead, in my entry, "Paradise & Hades and Heaven & Hell."
So I am mentioning this material again, as Paul tells the Colossians how Jesus gained the victory for us by His fulfilling that personal sacrifice (in Leviticus 1) on behalf of each of us.
This is a monumental event, in history and in each of our lives, the day that we realize what He accomplished for us.
This is why Paul wrote this letter, so that they, and we, would realize how much God loves us, and to not be sucked into any other system of belief.
O my Father, Your plan for Your creation is so intricate and beautiful and perfect. Everything You do is perfect, it's all just right. Everything fits into place so cleverly, according to Your overarching wisdom.
Please strengthen us, Father, against being fooled by any other, contrary or extraenous belief systems that try to deceive us. Your Son is sufficient, He has already done it all, everything is finished, and nothing else is needed. Our destination is secure.
We only need to regularly wash off the dirt of the world as we walk in it with the water of the Word, while we promote His Kingdom until He returns to claim it.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, February 16, 2020
See To It, Our Responsibility
Colossians 2: 8-14
(8) See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
We are responsible to see to it that we don't listen to these other teachers. They want to convince us to follow worldly ideas, and deceptive theories, and to complicate the simple gospel.
(9) For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
It is in Christ that we find the Source of everything we need, not the world.
(10) and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
Because He is the Head of the body, He is the brain that directs us, through the nervous system of His Holy Spirit that dwells in each of us. He is our connection. And each of us is finished, we are made complete in Him.
(11) and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
Circumcision is a cutting away. This cutting away that is not by physical hands is God's having cut our flesh away from our spiritual life, separating us from the power that sin had over us. Now we don't have to automatically give in to temptation, we have a way out of it.
(12) having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
Now Paul brings in baptism. Water baptism that we act out is a physical picture of the spiritual reality of God's baptizing, or immersing us into the body of Christ. And just as Jesus rose from the dead with a new life, so we demonstrate that we will live our lives differently from before, not giving in to those persistent temptations. And we will also be resurrected as He was.
(13) When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
We were spiritually dead, connected only to our physical flesh, which was under bondage to sin. Now that God has forgiven us, He has cut the flesh away from our spirit, severing that connection, and He has placed His Holy Spirit into our spirit, so that we are now alive with real life, spiritual life.
(14) having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
All the laws, rules, and precepts that we disobeyed incurred on our account a great debt, which Jesus paid off with His death and shedding His blood, as He was nailed to the cross.
Jesus fulfilled the Law, as He said He came to do in Matthew 5: 17. The first law that God wanted His Levites to teach His people was the personal sacrifice, which we find in the very first chapter of Leviticus, the technical book showing the teachers how to do these things.
We find there that the individual was to bring his own animal to the priest, lay his hand on the head of the animal, identifying with it, then the priest would sacrifice the animal, dying in place of the person, substitutionally. Then the blood of the animal was splashed on the sides of the altar, to cover the sins of the person, and he would then be forgiven by God.
Jesus is the Lamb of God, who is our personal sacrifice, whose blood splashed the sides of His altar, the cross. He died for us individually, as our substitute. The blood of animals could only cover sins, Jesus shed God's own blood, that has the unlimited value to wash away our sins completely.
Now God can not only forgive us, but also put His own Spirit into our spirit, making us alive. With all of our sinfulness completely washed away, we are pure so that the presence of God Himself in us will not destroy us. This is incredible!
That God would see me as perfect, clean through and through, even though I am still in my flesh, and living in this world, is totally unreal! I just can't seem to be able to get my head around this. This is a miracle, that God would put His Spirit in me and cause me to be born spiritually is totally impossible except by God Himself!
God chose for me to be born physically to my parents, and God chose for me to be born spiritually into His own family. I did not choose either of these, He is God, I am not.
And if God is calling you into this relationship with Him, then please do not refuse Him. He wants you in His family, also, but He has given you a will to choose. Don't let your flesh or the world or the devil convince you that you don't want or need God. He is our Source, and without Him there is nothing but darkness and pain and agony.
He has chosen to create a human race to be His children. But He will not force Himself on anyone. We must decide with our will that we want Him and will submit to Him, and our feelings will catch up with our will. You must decide.
You must see to it that you choose to listen to God, not any worldly philosophies, and to follow His ways. We will submit, whether to God or to a lie, it's our choice and our personal responsibility.
O my Father, please strengthen Your children to listen only to Your Truth. Show us what is not in accordance with Your ways, and lead us straight in the path You have placed our feet.
We place our hand in Yours, Father. You will never let us go, but will keep us on that narrow path, not turning to the right or to the left, not wandering off or falling into a ditch, not running ahead of You or lagging behind, but taking each step in Your footsteps. And Your Word is the footlight showing us each next step.
Send us out to share Your good news with the world. Lead us to each of Your unborn children to let them know Your ways, how Your Son has died for them, and will give them real life. Call all of Your family together, Father. Grow us all up as the body of Christ, to the full stature of the Son of God.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come rapidly, Lord Jesus!
(8) See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
We are responsible to see to it that we don't listen to these other teachers. They want to convince us to follow worldly ideas, and deceptive theories, and to complicate the simple gospel.
(9) For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
It is in Christ that we find the Source of everything we need, not the world.
(10) and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
Because He is the Head of the body, He is the brain that directs us, through the nervous system of His Holy Spirit that dwells in each of us. He is our connection. And each of us is finished, we are made complete in Him.
(11) and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
Circumcision is a cutting away. This cutting away that is not by physical hands is God's having cut our flesh away from our spiritual life, separating us from the power that sin had over us. Now we don't have to automatically give in to temptation, we have a way out of it.
(12) having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
Now Paul brings in baptism. Water baptism that we act out is a physical picture of the spiritual reality of God's baptizing, or immersing us into the body of Christ. And just as Jesus rose from the dead with a new life, so we demonstrate that we will live our lives differently from before, not giving in to those persistent temptations. And we will also be resurrected as He was.
(13) When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
We were spiritually dead, connected only to our physical flesh, which was under bondage to sin. Now that God has forgiven us, He has cut the flesh away from our spirit, severing that connection, and He has placed His Holy Spirit into our spirit, so that we are now alive with real life, spiritual life.
(14) having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
All the laws, rules, and precepts that we disobeyed incurred on our account a great debt, which Jesus paid off with His death and shedding His blood, as He was nailed to the cross.
Jesus fulfilled the Law, as He said He came to do in Matthew 5: 17. The first law that God wanted His Levites to teach His people was the personal sacrifice, which we find in the very first chapter of Leviticus, the technical book showing the teachers how to do these things.
We find there that the individual was to bring his own animal to the priest, lay his hand on the head of the animal, identifying with it, then the priest would sacrifice the animal, dying in place of the person, substitutionally. Then the blood of the animal was splashed on the sides of the altar, to cover the sins of the person, and he would then be forgiven by God.
Jesus is the Lamb of God, who is our personal sacrifice, whose blood splashed the sides of His altar, the cross. He died for us individually, as our substitute. The blood of animals could only cover sins, Jesus shed God's own blood, that has the unlimited value to wash away our sins completely.
Now God can not only forgive us, but also put His own Spirit into our spirit, making us alive. With all of our sinfulness completely washed away, we are pure so that the presence of God Himself in us will not destroy us. This is incredible!
That God would see me as perfect, clean through and through, even though I am still in my flesh, and living in this world, is totally unreal! I just can't seem to be able to get my head around this. This is a miracle, that God would put His Spirit in me and cause me to be born spiritually is totally impossible except by God Himself!
God chose for me to be born physically to my parents, and God chose for me to be born spiritually into His own family. I did not choose either of these, He is God, I am not.
And if God is calling you into this relationship with Him, then please do not refuse Him. He wants you in His family, also, but He has given you a will to choose. Don't let your flesh or the world or the devil convince you that you don't want or need God. He is our Source, and without Him there is nothing but darkness and pain and agony.
He has chosen to create a human race to be His children. But He will not force Himself on anyone. We must decide with our will that we want Him and will submit to Him, and our feelings will catch up with our will. You must decide.
You must see to it that you choose to listen to God, not any worldly philosophies, and to follow His ways. We will submit, whether to God or to a lie, it's our choice and our personal responsibility.
O my Father, please strengthen Your children to listen only to Your Truth. Show us what is not in accordance with Your ways, and lead us straight in the path You have placed our feet.
We place our hand in Yours, Father. You will never let us go, but will keep us on that narrow path, not turning to the right or to the left, not wandering off or falling into a ditch, not running ahead of You or lagging behind, but taking each step in Your footsteps. And Your Word is the footlight showing us each next step.
Send us out to share Your good news with the world. Lead us to each of Your unborn children to let them know Your ways, how Your Son has died for them, and will give them real life. Call all of Your family together, Father. Grow us all up as the body of Christ, to the full stature of the Son of God.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come rapidly, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Knit Together
Corinthians 2: 1-7
(1) For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,
We saw yesterday in Chapter 1 how Paul said that his sufferings were helping to fill in what was still lacking in Christ's body, and now he wants them to know the pressure he was under in his concern for them. These Christians have never met Paul, yet he struggles in his prayers for them.
(2) that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love,
Being knit together is an idea expressed in Psalm 139: 14-16 where David writes that he was curiously wrought, "intricately embroidered," in his mother's womb.
This refers to how God not only forms our bodies as we are growing in the womb, but also describes how God is intricately working all of Christ's body parts together into a single organism.
So, our hearts should all be attuned to one another in love, as though all beating together as one in the body.
and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself,
This will result in an accurate concept of how Christ is in each of us, and how we together form His body, which is the Big Mystery that no one knew until now. This gives us all the wealth, all the riches of Christ's glory that He shared with His Father before creating anything (John 17: 5).
(3) in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Christ Jesus is God the Son, and He is the Owner of all the great wealth, not only in all of creation, but also in heaven itself, as the Father placed all Lordship into the Son's hand. In Christ we also possess all this wealth. It is wisdom and knowledge that opens all the doors.
(4) I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.
The KJV uses the word "beguile" here, which is paralogizomai, which is "to miscalculate," to deliberately mis-understand what God is actually saying in His written Word in order to deceive.
Paul does not want any of the false teachers to manipulate these dear brothers and sisters with any seductive theories that actually come from the world and the devil, as though they are in the Bible when they're not.
(5) For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
Even though Paul is not there with them, he has heard of their faith and how it has led them to show love for one another and for all Christians everywhere (1: 4), which gave them discipline and stability in their faith.
(6) Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
They have made a good start, now he encourages them to continue to live their lives according to the truth they learned when they first were saved, and not be turned away from it.
(7) having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
They learned the truth at the beginning, which formed their foundation (roots), now they need to build their lives on that base, just as Epaphras taught them (1: 7), growing up in the faith into overflowing gratitude for all that God is doing in and for them in Christ.
And we also need to remain true to the roots, the foundation, that God had the apostles lay on the base of Christ Jesus having fulfilled the Scriptures in dying and being resurrected. He finished all the work of our Redemption and Salvation from sin, and any other requirement that anyone would put on that is "another gospel" (Galatians 1: 8-9).
Paul wrote to these Colossians to warn them about teachers that had come in to that congregation, and also in Laodicea, to try to put more requirements on the simple gospel. To warn them not to be ensnared by any slick salesmen promulgating any seductive theories.
And we also, today in the church, are not to be led away from the simplicity of the gospel of Christ. Many who are considering themselves to be Christians today I fear have never heard a clear message of the good news that they could believe. Many of these dear people are trapped in churches that do not teach the Truth. They have been convinced that they already are Christians, so they don't need to be saved.
I pray for these precious humans, that God would open their hearts to be able to accept His Truth, and enter into that spiritual body of Christ.
And I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ, that they would not be led away from His Truth by any seducing spirit that would destroy their testimony.
O my Father, please keep in Your faithfulness all of Your children, that we may not be tempted above what You will enable us to overcome. You always provide a way to escape, because You want us all to grow up as Your Son's body.
Father, continue to strengthen us, and send us out to storm the very gates of hell, to snatch out of the flames those who are falling into them, to rescue them, and draw them into the peace and safety of Your one fold with one Shepherd.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation, to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
(1) For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,
We saw yesterday in Chapter 1 how Paul said that his sufferings were helping to fill in what was still lacking in Christ's body, and now he wants them to know the pressure he was under in his concern for them. These Christians have never met Paul, yet he struggles in his prayers for them.
(2) that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love,
Being knit together is an idea expressed in Psalm 139: 14-16 where David writes that he was curiously wrought, "intricately embroidered," in his mother's womb.
This refers to how God not only forms our bodies as we are growing in the womb, but also describes how God is intricately working all of Christ's body parts together into a single organism.
So, our hearts should all be attuned to one another in love, as though all beating together as one in the body.
and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself,
This will result in an accurate concept of how Christ is in each of us, and how we together form His body, which is the Big Mystery that no one knew until now. This gives us all the wealth, all the riches of Christ's glory that He shared with His Father before creating anything (John 17: 5).
(3) in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Christ Jesus is God the Son, and He is the Owner of all the great wealth, not only in all of creation, but also in heaven itself, as the Father placed all Lordship into the Son's hand. In Christ we also possess all this wealth. It is wisdom and knowledge that opens all the doors.
(4) I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.
The KJV uses the word "beguile" here, which is paralogizomai, which is "to miscalculate," to deliberately mis-understand what God is actually saying in His written Word in order to deceive.
Paul does not want any of the false teachers to manipulate these dear brothers and sisters with any seductive theories that actually come from the world and the devil, as though they are in the Bible when they're not.
(5) For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
Even though Paul is not there with them, he has heard of their faith and how it has led them to show love for one another and for all Christians everywhere (1: 4), which gave them discipline and stability in their faith.
(6) Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
They have made a good start, now he encourages them to continue to live their lives according to the truth they learned when they first were saved, and not be turned away from it.
(7) having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
They learned the truth at the beginning, which formed their foundation (roots), now they need to build their lives on that base, just as Epaphras taught them (1: 7), growing up in the faith into overflowing gratitude for all that God is doing in and for them in Christ.
And we also need to remain true to the roots, the foundation, that God had the apostles lay on the base of Christ Jesus having fulfilled the Scriptures in dying and being resurrected. He finished all the work of our Redemption and Salvation from sin, and any other requirement that anyone would put on that is "another gospel" (Galatians 1: 8-9).
Paul wrote to these Colossians to warn them about teachers that had come in to that congregation, and also in Laodicea, to try to put more requirements on the simple gospel. To warn them not to be ensnared by any slick salesmen promulgating any seductive theories.
And we also, today in the church, are not to be led away from the simplicity of the gospel of Christ. Many who are considering themselves to be Christians today I fear have never heard a clear message of the good news that they could believe. Many of these dear people are trapped in churches that do not teach the Truth. They have been convinced that they already are Christians, so they don't need to be saved.
I pray for these precious humans, that God would open their hearts to be able to accept His Truth, and enter into that spiritual body of Christ.
And I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ, that they would not be led away from His Truth by any seducing spirit that would destroy their testimony.
O my Father, please keep in Your faithfulness all of Your children, that we may not be tempted above what You will enable us to overcome. You always provide a way to escape, because You want us all to grow up as Your Son's body.
Father, continue to strengthen us, and send us out to storm the very gates of hell, to snatch out of the flames those who are falling into them, to rescue them, and draw them into the peace and safety of Your one fold with one Shepherd.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation, to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Friday, February 14, 2020
The Mystery Revealed!
Colossians 1: 24-29
(24) Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.
The afflictions Christ feels in His body is thlipsis, "under pressure" to fill up, antanapleroo, "to supplement, to fill in," like filling in the spaces between the tiles when laying a floor, what is lacking, not quite finished yet.
Paul is saying that his sufferings, pathema, "emotional pain," for the sake of the church, is helping to fill in some of the spaces between the body parts, to grow up the church. He's rejoicing that God is using him for this.
(25) Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit,
Paul is a servant of Christ's body, the church, including this congregation in Colossae, and is aware that he will give an account to God as a steward, someone who is responsible for someone else's property. This is to benefit these believers in Colossae.
so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,
(26) that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,
He says that what he is preaching is something new, that no one had known before, but God is now revealing it to His saints who are Christ's body.
(27) to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
He says that what is new is that Gentiles are placed into the body, the same as the Jews; God is treating both the same, unlike before; both are being placed together into the same organism which is Christ's body. And that Christ is living in the bodies of His Gentile saints in the person of His Holy Spirit, the same as in His Jewish saints. This gives us all the great hope of the prospect that we will enjoy the same glory that Christ has with the Father, as His body! This is amazing!
(28) We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.
Paul does not leave anyone out. He will share with every person who will listen, that Christ will complete every man or woman who is willing to turn to Him. Christ wants for every person to be whole, not lacking in anything, but to grow up to maturity. (He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance II Peter 3: 9 KJV.)
(29) For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
This is why Paul works so hard, endures so much suffering, travels so far, so he can reach as many people as he can. He realizes that he is only one person, but when God is working in even one person, He can do mighty things through him. So God's power is working mightily in and through Paul.
O that I might be as sold out as Paul was, so that God would work on and in and through me, too. I want to be used of God, as Paul was willing to be.
O my Father, You used Paul to plant Your church all over the world, as it was known in his day. Father, You have chosen the human race of man to be Your children, and You are not willing that any of us would miss out on this opportunity. You know that many do not want You, but every person needs to hear how much You love them, and want to help and heal and grow them.
Send out Your children, Father; send us to all those who are still pre-born into Your family, that we may share with each one, and You will bring them to the birth. They only need to hear Your gospel, but they need a preacher, and the preachers need to be sent!
Father, please accomplish Your Plan of the Ages according to Your will and Your timetable. You are never late, even though we tend to get anxious in looking for your workings. Show us how You are patient, so that we also can be patient, waiting for our great hope in Your glory.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim the Lordship if Jesus, our Christ, Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
(24) Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.
The afflictions Christ feels in His body is thlipsis, "under pressure" to fill up, antanapleroo, "to supplement, to fill in," like filling in the spaces between the tiles when laying a floor, what is lacking, not quite finished yet.
Paul is saying that his sufferings, pathema, "emotional pain," for the sake of the church, is helping to fill in some of the spaces between the body parts, to grow up the church. He's rejoicing that God is using him for this.
(25) Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit,
Paul is a servant of Christ's body, the church, including this congregation in Colossae, and is aware that he will give an account to God as a steward, someone who is responsible for someone else's property. This is to benefit these believers in Colossae.
so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,
(26) that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,
He says that what he is preaching is something new, that no one had known before, but God is now revealing it to His saints who are Christ's body.
(27) to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
He says that what is new is that Gentiles are placed into the body, the same as the Jews; God is treating both the same, unlike before; both are being placed together into the same organism which is Christ's body. And that Christ is living in the bodies of His Gentile saints in the person of His Holy Spirit, the same as in His Jewish saints. This gives us all the great hope of the prospect that we will enjoy the same glory that Christ has with the Father, as His body! This is amazing!
(28) We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.
Paul does not leave anyone out. He will share with every person who will listen, that Christ will complete every man or woman who is willing to turn to Him. Christ wants for every person to be whole, not lacking in anything, but to grow up to maturity. (He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance II Peter 3: 9 KJV.)
(29) For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
This is why Paul works so hard, endures so much suffering, travels so far, so he can reach as many people as he can. He realizes that he is only one person, but when God is working in even one person, He can do mighty things through him. So God's power is working mightily in and through Paul.
O that I might be as sold out as Paul was, so that God would work on and in and through me, too. I want to be used of God, as Paul was willing to be.
O my Father, You used Paul to plant Your church all over the world, as it was known in his day. Father, You have chosen the human race of man to be Your children, and You are not willing that any of us would miss out on this opportunity. You know that many do not want You, but every person needs to hear how much You love them, and want to help and heal and grow them.
Send out Your children, Father; send us to all those who are still pre-born into Your family, that we may share with each one, and You will bring them to the birth. They only need to hear Your gospel, but they need a preacher, and the preachers need to be sent!
Father, please accomplish Your Plan of the Ages according to Your will and Your timetable. You are never late, even though we tend to get anxious in looking for your workings. Show us how You are patient, so that we also can be patient, waiting for our great hope in Your glory.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim the Lordship if Jesus, our Christ, Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Do You Continue In The Faith?
Colossians 1: 21-23
Paul has just stated that Christ Jesus has reconciled all things in heaven and on Earth in His authority of having all the fullness of God to dwell in Him (that we saw yesterday).
Now Paul is going to make it personal.
(21) And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
(22) yet He has now reconciled you
Christ has also reconciled each member of the church at Colossae, and by extension, each of us all through the centuries who have become members of His body, the church. Even though we have formerly engaged in all manner of evil works from a mindset hostile to God.
This is how He did it:
in His fleshly body through death in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--
This is why He had to be human, in order to die a human death in the place of us humans as the Lamb of God. And to have physical blood to shed, God's own blood, to splash on the sides of His altar, the cross; to wash away every shadow of a stain of sin from each of us. That is how He cleanses us pure enough for God the Holy Spirit to come and live permanently in each of us.
When he says, holy and blameless and beyond reproach, he's saying that the blood of Christ has washed us completely pristine clean and pure. This is one of the most amazing things God has told us in His word. That He would be able and willing to "wash us up" like this, after all the evil and wickedness we have indulged in, in rebellion against Him, is just fantastic!
(23) if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
Paul is telling them (and us) that if they have not continued to believe the original message of the simple gospel, that has never changed; then they are not washed clean. In believing something else, anything else, then they have been led away from God and His salvation.
When someone has been drawn to God, and realized that Jesus took their place in death on the cross, because they deserve that execution, not Jesus; that is when His blood will wash them completely clean so the Holy Spirit can live in their spirit. This is being "born again," or "born from above," (John 3: 3-8) into God's own family.
Then with God the Holy Spirit living in every person who has been born again, He makes us all members of one body, the body of Christ, with Christ Jesus as the Head. This is a permanent position.
But if someone thinks that they are a Christian, but they have been pulled away from the simplicity of this gospel, then they have never been born spiritually, because once you're born, you can never be unborn again.
Paul has heard that other teachers have come to Colossae who mix Christianity with worldly philosophies, diluting the purity of the message, and seducing people away from God, as we will see in Chapter two.
When false teachers come into the church denominations and congregations and bring in other ideas, Scripture calls these "seducing spirits" with "doctrines of demons" (I Timothy 4: 1). Paul tells Timothy about some of these doctrines in this chapter of his first letter to Timothy.
Several of our church denominations and congregations are being led by these false teachers. Many of the members of these churches may think that they're Christians, but they have not been taught the Truth.
To know if your pastor is teaching the Truth, you must know what the Truth is. That is why each member of God's family is responsible to do his or her own Bible reading and study, to be able to recognize when they hear error.
In the U.S. government, Treasury officials who are tasked with recognizing counterfeit money study the real dollar, the real hundred dollar bill. Then they will be able to pick out anything that doesn't conform to the legal tender.
We are tasked to study our Father's love letter to us, to be familiar with what it says: the stories and rules and ideas that God told us, so we would know Him and His ways. Anything that is contrary to what He said is false and wrong. It's counterfeit.
Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians to encourage them to remain faithful to the Lord, in spite of the false teachers that have been trying to disrupt them.
O my Father, I pray for all those who want to come to You, but have yet to hear Your Truth. I pray that You would lead them to open their own Bibles, to research Your Word, to hear Your faithful teachers, and to search for You with all their hearts. Then You promised that You would be found of them, and then they will experience Your great salvation from the power of sin over them.
Father, send out Your children into their own families, and neighborhoods, and places of employment, and the communities they live in. Send me, Father, into my own neighborhood and community, and call to Yourself my own family members who have yet to come to salvation.
Use me, Father, to help Your children to grow to maturity, and to be able to share Your love with many others who are yet to be born into Your family. Use my life, my words, my gifts and abilities, my possessions, to bring growth to Your family, Your Kingdom.
Grant me good success in all my endeavors to worship You and to love You by loving others. Let all that I do, moment by moment, day by day, bring glory to You through my Lord Jesus Christ.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
Paul has just stated that Christ Jesus has reconciled all things in heaven and on Earth in His authority of having all the fullness of God to dwell in Him (that we saw yesterday).
Now Paul is going to make it personal.
(21) And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,
(22) yet He has now reconciled you
Christ has also reconciled each member of the church at Colossae, and by extension, each of us all through the centuries who have become members of His body, the church. Even though we have formerly engaged in all manner of evil works from a mindset hostile to God.
This is how He did it:
in His fleshly body through death in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--
This is why He had to be human, in order to die a human death in the place of us humans as the Lamb of God. And to have physical blood to shed, God's own blood, to splash on the sides of His altar, the cross; to wash away every shadow of a stain of sin from each of us. That is how He cleanses us pure enough for God the Holy Spirit to come and live permanently in each of us.
When he says, holy and blameless and beyond reproach, he's saying that the blood of Christ has washed us completely pristine clean and pure. This is one of the most amazing things God has told us in His word. That He would be able and willing to "wash us up" like this, after all the evil and wickedness we have indulged in, in rebellion against Him, is just fantastic!
(23) if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
Paul is telling them (and us) that if they have not continued to believe the original message of the simple gospel, that has never changed; then they are not washed clean. In believing something else, anything else, then they have been led away from God and His salvation.
When someone has been drawn to God, and realized that Jesus took their place in death on the cross, because they deserve that execution, not Jesus; that is when His blood will wash them completely clean so the Holy Spirit can live in their spirit. This is being "born again," or "born from above," (John 3: 3-8) into God's own family.
Then with God the Holy Spirit living in every person who has been born again, He makes us all members of one body, the body of Christ, with Christ Jesus as the Head. This is a permanent position.
But if someone thinks that they are a Christian, but they have been pulled away from the simplicity of this gospel, then they have never been born spiritually, because once you're born, you can never be unborn again.
Paul has heard that other teachers have come to Colossae who mix Christianity with worldly philosophies, diluting the purity of the message, and seducing people away from God, as we will see in Chapter two.
When false teachers come into the church denominations and congregations and bring in other ideas, Scripture calls these "seducing spirits" with "doctrines of demons" (I Timothy 4: 1). Paul tells Timothy about some of these doctrines in this chapter of his first letter to Timothy.
Several of our church denominations and congregations are being led by these false teachers. Many of the members of these churches may think that they're Christians, but they have not been taught the Truth.
To know if your pastor is teaching the Truth, you must know what the Truth is. That is why each member of God's family is responsible to do his or her own Bible reading and study, to be able to recognize when they hear error.
In the U.S. government, Treasury officials who are tasked with recognizing counterfeit money study the real dollar, the real hundred dollar bill. Then they will be able to pick out anything that doesn't conform to the legal tender.
We are tasked to study our Father's love letter to us, to be familiar with what it says: the stories and rules and ideas that God told us, so we would know Him and His ways. Anything that is contrary to what He said is false and wrong. It's counterfeit.
Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians to encourage them to remain faithful to the Lord, in spite of the false teachers that have been trying to disrupt them.
O my Father, I pray for all those who want to come to You, but have yet to hear Your Truth. I pray that You would lead them to open their own Bibles, to research Your Word, to hear Your faithful teachers, and to search for You with all their hearts. Then You promised that You would be found of them, and then they will experience Your great salvation from the power of sin over them.
Father, send out Your children into their own families, and neighborhoods, and places of employment, and the communities they live in. Send me, Father, into my own neighborhood and community, and call to Yourself my own family members who have yet to come to salvation.
Use me, Father, to help Your children to grow to maturity, and to be able to share Your love with many others who are yet to be born into Your family. Use my life, my words, my gifts and abilities, my possessions, to bring growth to Your family, Your Kingdom.
Grant me good success in all my endeavors to worship You and to love You by loving others. Let all that I do, moment by moment, day by day, bring glory to You through my Lord Jesus Christ.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
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