He assigns three reasons for this, Colossians 3:3; Colossians 3:4. The Higher Aspirations of the Soul. The very life that I have in Christ is a witness that my sins are forgiven. And so, are you walking after the Spirit? Sections. In moral truth, as well as literal fact, the veil, shadowing their state, was not yet lifted up from the unseen world. Then he gives a specimen of these: "Touch not; taste not; handle not." They have died to these; but one day when Christappears, they will live with Christ in the presence of God (Col 3:3-4). . It was the experience of the early Christians that the very act of baptism wrapped a man round with Christ. He belonged to God's chosen people and the other nations were fit only to be fuel for the fires of hell. He it is finally who gives vigour for all the holy conflicts we have to wage with the adversary. "They went out from us, because they were not of us." "And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. A blaze of light springs up among the hills; the storm ceases; the gloom is . In its own nature like the rays from the sky, it was the sun not for one part of the world alone, but for every quarter. Under both Jewish and Greek laws and custom all the privileges belonged to the husband and all the duties to the wife. "He will, for instance, set giving above getting, serving above ruling, forgiving above avenging. It is easy to distort the truth; an alteration in the tone of voice or an eloquent look will do it; and there are silences which can be as false and misleading as any words. Of God He is the image, not exactly in an exclusive, but assuredly in the only adequate sense. But the cleansing as well as expiation is by the death of Christ out of whose side flowed both. there is in fallen man, as such, a will that hates the truth, and despises the grace of God. We need the positive as well as the negative; and as we have just had the latter, so the former now comes before us. The Christian is marked by a goodness which is a kindly thing. One of the earliest descriptions of a Church service we possess is that of Pliny, the Roman governor of Bithynia, who sent a report of the activities of the Christians to Trajan, the Roman Emperor, in which he said, "They meet at dawn to sing a hymn to Christ as God." The Spirit of God, as in the Acts of the Apostles, began with the simplest confession of Christ's name. God is the Creator, man the creature, and in the presence of the Creator the creature cannot feel anything else but humility. For the baptized soul confesses that the grace of God gives death to sin in Him who died and rose again. Although there were difficulties and hindrances, how much, he feels, there is for which to praise our God and Father: "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet" (and observe well, it is not merely for the certainty that He will, but in the peaceful assurance that He has made us meet) "to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." It is necessary to mortify sins, because if we do not kill them, they will kill us. II. I am responsible to him." Simply because he wishes the child to do well, he is always on his top. Colossians 3:1-2. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, [now, you put on Jesus Christ, you put off these things, put off anger, wrath, and malice and instead, put on] bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, and if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Satan being invariably the personal and persistent antagonist of Christ, whatever is God's purpose in Christ becomes peculiarly the object of Satan's hatred and hostility. His heavy boots dragged in the sand, but I could see that he was fighting hard to conceal his distress. Occasions of sin must be avoided: the lusts of the flesh, and the love of the world; and covetousness, which is idolatry; love of present good, and of outward enjoyments. So, we're called to thanksgiving; we're called to the peace of God. He is in effect saying that his Christianity must make him a better and more efficient slave. 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. As we have reason to love him whom we have not seen (1 Peter 1:8), so we may take the comfort of a happiness out of sight, and reserved in heaven for us. More than that, in the Early Church it could, and did, happen that the slave was the leader of the Church and the master the humble member. Let them beware of philosophy and tradition; "for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." He has annulled the power of him that had the power of death that word so terrible for the heart of man, and most surely foreign to the mind and heart of our God and Father, but a stern necessity that came in through rebellion. There was no class under ban, nor was any individual refused the beams of its heavenly light. As God forgave him, so he must forgive others, for only the forgiving can be forgiven. You're not under the laws: touch not, handle not, taste not. Let the word of Christ" (it was God's word, but still called the word of Christ here) "dwell in you richly in all wisdom." Towards the end of his life Joad came back to religion and returned to the family of the Church; but it was not without a struggle, and it was the insistence of the Christian Church on sexual purity which kept him so long from making the final decision. Most of all this was the case in slavery. God aside. But for all that a gap was left on which, when filled up, types might more or less bear, wholly different from the history, and not more answering to the prophecy. When a man becomes a Christian, there ought to be a complete change in his personality. His function was to fill up the word of God, "even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.". It is a question now of truth and holiness in the Spirit of Christ, in short. His grave is man's grave. Then Paul uses a vivid picture. this was the serious question, and this it was which God was waiting to solve. If it is the desire for a person, it leads to sexual sin. These restrictions dealt with meats and drinks, and such like things, which perish in the using. We do not work for pay or for ambition or to satisfy an earthly master; we work so that we can take every task and offer it to Christ. Chastity was the one completely new virtue which Christianity brought into the world. Besides, we are one bread, one body. Paul was the one that God raised up to fill the gap. In Romans one he says, "For the wrath of God is going to be revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness" ( Romans 1:18 ). It therefore has characteristics of a letter by Continue reading "Commentary on Colossians 3:1-4" And as a rule, it is always what God is actually doing that is the urgently needed truth. This is the kind of peak of devotion which we can only dimly understand and only haltingly and imperfectly express. ], "The Christian has to keep his feet upon the earth, but his head in the heavens. It is used of wine which has grown mellow with age and lost its harshness. Mark and Luke, although they were not apostles, were surely prophets. But, even in making your living, if you will do things heartily as unto the Lord, it will open up many opportunities for you to witness. Servants [or employees], obey in all things your masters [bosses] according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men ( Colossians 3:22-23 ); Oh, that you could have employees like that, that are doing things as unto the Lord. The slave and the free man came together in the Church. ", How good as well as vast the mind of the Spirit of God! "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. The Christian owns his death in his very baptism; and what is wanted is not effort to attain, but the Spirit's power in acting on the truth by faith. Sometimes we say of a man, "Music is his life--Sport is his life--He lives for his work." There was no such thing as a code of working conditions. It lies at the bottom when we think of the wants of the saints of God here below. When the Christian was baptized, he put off his old clothes when he went down into the water and when he emerged he put on a new and pure white robe. Practices taught in the law may be compared to shadows. "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven." There is not only the contemplative side but the active, and this makes the saint truly passive; for if we are strengthened, it is mainly not to do, but to endure in a world which knows not Christ. Who has been overlooked in the comprehensive and active grace of our God? The false teachers called their books of so-called wisdom apokruphoi ( G614) , the books that were hidden from all except from those who were initiated. (i) Paul begins by addressing the Colossians as chosen of God, dedicated and beloved. Verse Colossians 3:2. If I have Christ as a Saviour at all, instead of struggling to die in the sense meant, I am called to believe that I am already dead. There was passion and evil desire. We may proceed to trace now the course of the Spirit of God in this deeply instructive epistle. Instead of letting the reins free now to run in the race of improving the world and bettering society, or any of the objects that occupy men as such, the saints of God should abstain altogether. Not that there may not be danger even then; save that as long as the eye is on Christ there is none, because what is inconsistent with His name is refused. Bear with one another, and, if anyone has a ground of complaint against someone else, forgive each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive each other. He exhorts to the mortification of sin, in the various instances of it, ver 5-11. Philosophy is an idol of man or nature, a blind substitute for the knowledge of God. The apostle will not sanction such an amalgam, but refuses it; and we must remember that in these exhortations it was the Lord acting by the Spirit in His servant. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. How can I show her how much I appreciate her and love her?" Of course it is not at all being dead to what a man had as a natural life in the world. e. Do not lie to one another. Hence, as the apostle Paul was one on whom God set particular honour in developing the mystery, and communicating it in inspired words also, so he was more than any other called to suffer the consequences in this present evil world. If He is, the fulness, you are made full in Him, "which is the head of all principality and power." So, says he, "being fruitful in every good work, and growing (not exactly in, but) by the knowledge of God." The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is our God and Father; and He has blessed with every possible blessing, and in the highest sphere and on the best ground. For don't be deceived, if you are living after the flesh, you are not an heir of the kingdom of God. The foundation of the apostles and prophets took in the New Testament writers in general. (2.) Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve [are a servant of] the Lord Christ ( Colossians 3:24 ). They both are thoroughly and essentially ignorant of Christ; but the Christ that they ignore, for religion or reason, is that blessed Person not so much as He who here lived and laboured, as especially dead and risen. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. And as if this were not enough, we are farther told that He is before all things, and by ( ) Him all things consist. But the apostle took every pains to, show how great was the love of Epaphras for them; for his faithful spirit knew some little of that which the apostle knew well, that the more abundantly he loved, the less he was loved. Little did the Colossians conceive that their endeavour to add to the truth of the gospel was in reality to detract from His glory. The Spirit of God applies the truth of Jesus Christ, which resists all such thoughts as human. For instance, under Jewish law, a husband could divorce his wife for any cause, while a wife had no rights whatever in the initiation of divorce; and the only grounds on which a divorce might be awarded her were if her husband developed leprosy, became an apostate or ravished a virgin. He also urged them to continue living in keeping with their position in Christ. They had done with Him, and, as far as will was concerned, they had done with Him for ever. You can't. There is more said even here to maintain the full glory of Christ. It is heavenly glory that is waited for, but only in hope. His light may detect, but His love is the spring of all His ways. It's just, "Fathers, provoke not your children, lest they be discouraged." What we read of there is that, when Christ had come, He forthwith sets up His kingdom, in which the Jews are promised to be His specially favoured subjects. "And my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellow-servant in the Lord: whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your state, and comfort your hearts; with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. 1 Paul, a an apostle of Christ Jesus b by the will of God, and Timothy c our brother,. The life of the Christian is hidden with Christ in God. They do it with a great spirit. Paul returned to his thought about the believers union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Colossians 2:9-15). What believers must do now, enabled by the Holy Spirit, is to fight the good fight of faith by focusing upward rather than downward and "around-ward". Nothing more lovely (whether spiritually, or even in its place naturally) than that each should be just what God has made him, only thenceforth diligently seeking increase of inward power by the operation of God's grace. Thus no room was left for striving to die. Neither His headship of all creation as the Heir of all things, nor His creatorial rights, would in themselves give a sufficient title to be the Head of the body. How vain and perilous at least for themselves was the effort of the Colossians! You have seen the clouds gather in the sky and settle on the hills. Christ, and Christ alone, has truly represented God to man, as He alone was perfect man before God. They had really themselves slipped away in heart: no such hope had found favour otherwise. Macho, "I know what I'm doing. 3:18-25 Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Yet it remains true, that "the hope is laid up for you," as he says, "in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; which is dome unto you, as it is in all the world: and bringeth forth fruit and groweth, as also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth." After this follow particular exhortations, on which we need not at present dwell. He is dead with Christ; consequently he has passed out of the sphere to which such dealings apply. Am I to forget His glory in the presence of God? And that is not enough. Does not this still abide true? Hey, it opens up so many opportunities to witness for you. Hence we learn, it may be seasonable to remark, that the shape given to the mystery here is not that Christ is exalted in heaven, and that the church, by the Holy Ghost sent down thence, is united to Him the Head there. He judges everything in the light of the Cross and in the light of the love which gave itself for him. It is somewhat startling at first sight to realize such a fact, but if it be a fact as I unqualifiedly assert is it not of great moment to understand it? Luther himself said, "Spare the rod and spoil the child. He will no longer live as if this world was all that mattered; he will see this world against the background of the larger world of eternity. But the distinctive character is that He is "the beginning, the firstborn from the dead" not merely the firstborn of, but the first-born out of. Fornication and uncleanness must go. The greatest scholar in the world and the simplest son of toil can sit in perfect fellowship in the Church of Christ. Note well again that it is not here man striving to become dead, which is a notion unknown to the revelation of God, new or old. 209.]. They have pressed other truth, which is incompatible with anything else but justification by faith; he asserts it often and openly. And to challenge that is to court problems. All things were created by Him, no doubt; but they were created for Him also not by Him for the Father. I am aware that men have reasoned much about it; but this is a proof that evidence fails. In classical Greek there is no word for humility which has, not some tinge of servility; but Christian humility is not a cringing thing. There were evils to be corrected, dancers to be warned against; but if he thinks of that which the Father has in view for them, and of them in view of His glory, less he could not say, neither could he say more. Scripture must not be sacrificed rudely to our seeming comfort. Can we speak it, remembering that he will hear?" He does not say "against you," because, in truth, the Colossian saints had never been under the law and its ordinances; they had been Gentiles. If a man says he abides in Christ then he ought to be walking as Christ walked. "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing," urges he, "being fruitful in every good work." Therefore, we should not be guilty of these things. Different nations, who either despised or hated each other, were drawn into the one family of the Christian Church. Now, if that is so, the Christian must rise from baptism a different man. They use freely His name; they in word and bodily exercise do Him no small reverence; but without faith all is vain. Men's Ministry Home Women's Ministry Home Children's Ministry Home Pastor's Ministry Home. In it is another kind of blessedness and glory; for it a new order of existence appears; and not least of all beings we ought to understand this difference. A father's stroke that chastises the erring is a mercy. The language does not in the smallest degree insinuate that there is any uncertainty for a believer. It is true. His glory is in heaven. Not that others did not supplement this or that. 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. Such was the position of Israel. If a man brings every word and deed to the test of the presence of Jesus Christ, he will not go wrong. "This creep! Things on earth are here set in opposition to things above. Long ago Aristotle had defined praotes as the happy mean between too much and too little anger. We must mind the concerns of another world more than the concerns of this. Matthew Henry :: Commentary on Colossians 3 Chapter 3 I. III. Because at the second coming of Christ we hope for the perfection of our happiness. As the waters close over him, it is as if he was buried in death; as he emerges from the waters, it is like being resurrected to a new life. In fact, this was their fault: they were not content with Christ and Him only. Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. That is the meaning of all that seems good in the world's piety. Indeed, the trappings which men so cry up are a positive hindrance to Christ; and in the precise measure in which they are prized, they reduce their votaries to slavery, and the faith they profess to zero. He it is who strengthens the inner man to enjoy through Christ all the fulness of God. Leave me alone." It has only to be heard by a heart touched by grace to carry conviction. There is no mention of virtues like efficiency or cleverness, not even of diligence or industry--not that these things are unimportant. 89-90; David A. In it there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free man, but Christ is all in all. "Let the peace of God be the decider of all things within your heart." The Colossians, like others, would have liked this well enough; it is just what they were about, and the very thing that the apostle is here correcting. I could imagine that, feeling as he did, his rifle and equipment must have been like a ton weight. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also ye are called in one body; and be thankful ( Colossians 3:15 ). We are so in profession and obligation; for we are buried with Christ, and planted into the likeness of his death. But here writes the lowly-minded apostle, in the full assurance that, though he had never seen them, or they him, it would be real and mutual gratification to know about one another from him who went between them. '. This may seem a strong statement, and I wonder at none feeling surprised, till they have rigidly examined it with the scriptures; for probably no one could believe it unless he had proved its truth. This is the fountain of all true knowledge, and so Christ is the truth as to everything and every one. We must live such a life as Christ lived here on earth and lives now in heaven, according to our capacities. Colossians 3:1. Do you say, Yes, but why not God create by the highest as an instrument? He it is who fills the saints, guarding them from the excitement of the flesh, and guiding into that holy joy which issues in thanksgiving and praise. It is not a question of the lower ranks of creation only, but takes in the highest "whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him." The treatment of the idiot and the simple-minded was unfeeling. But there is always a problem in the relationship of parent and child. 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