209.]. Ambitions which dominated the world, will be powerless to touch him. There can never have been a time in history when so much filthy language is used as today. Jesus is the first-born, no matter when He appeared. Since men have a certain knowledge of Christ's death, they are striving to die. I am responsible to him." There is no slovenliness here; no careless assumption that, because you are members of Christ's body, all else must be right, and may be left; for he who knew best the faithful love of Christ is none the less urgent individually with "every man." The most cursory reader discerns at once that the epistle to the Colossians is the counterpart of that to the Ephesians. Indeed we may say that Paul presents the gospel as the display of divine righteousness beyond all, while he alone develops in his epistles the mystery of Christ and the church. Leave off therefore earthly things. I shall not contend against others who are of a different mind; but certainly the Apostle appears to me to go on step by step, so that, in the first instance, he places traditions as to trivial matters in contrast with meditation on the heavenly life, and afterwards, as we shall see, goes a step farther. And it doesn't mean that Paul is giving these people a license to live after the flesh. Yes, Christ is in all, and Christ is all. (iii) It destroyed the barriers between the cultured and the uncultured. As believing in Him, this is our place. If a man brings every word and deed to the test of the presence of Jesus Christ, he will not go wrong. For inasmuch as the Spirit does act in the church in man, if the eye be not on Christ and only on Him, the action of the Spirit, whether in the individual or the church, gives importance to both. Further, this change is progressive. When Christ, who is our life, [Now, you see this is the key to it right here. Because the wife feels the love and the security and she knows, "Hey, he's my man." It was not so in the Ephesian epistle, where one of the richest developments of divine truth precedes any particular allusion to the saints in that city. The word we have translated foul talk is aischrologia ( G148) ; it could well mean obscene language. But is this all? The Christian is one with Him. There is not rich or poor, there is not favored and special class; we are just all one. Let us look at these things one by one. How vain and perilous at least for themselves was the effort of the Colossians! Paul narrowed himself to no local ties, nor should we allow such a thing for an instant. Its basic idea is the desire for that which a man has no right to have. She trusts my judgment; she trusts my wisdom. There was no provision for the aged. 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! And, to anger, is not in the original text. "Beware," says he, "lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." The word for slander is blasphemia ( G988) , which the King James Version translates blasphemy. Nor is this all. Who can be so deeply concerned as the Christian? What Paul is saying is, "Put to death every part of your self which is against God and keeps you from fulfilling his will." And here we come back to where this passage started--that is precisely why the Christian sets his mind and heart on the things which are above and not on the things of this world. They do it with a great spirit. They are not solid or permanent, but their existence enables the viewer to know that there is some real object that casts the shadows. So he says, "If ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?" Colossians is in many ways "the epistle in the middle." It seems to be midway in the development from the historical Paul to documents such as Ephesians and 1-2 Timothy and Titus that are clearly written in a later generation to update Paul for a new day. Our affections should not be fixed on houses and lands; on scenes of fashion and gaiety; on low and debasing enjoyment. but is still following out his discussion as to ceremonies, which he represents as resembling entanglements which constrain us to creep upon the ground. (ii) Christian speech must be pure. See the same thing in the famous seventy weeks of Daniel. It is, however, evident from what has been remarked, that the two letters do in the most remarkable manner correspond to each other; the one presenting the Head, the other the body. The slave was not even classified in ancient law as a human being; he was merely a living tool, with no rights of his own. Forgiving one another is fortified by His example who did no sin, neither was evil found in His mouth. He could not say in this epistle "worthy of your vocation," as in writing to the Ephesians. It pleased the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But our Lord is the Christ who condemned the first man, Fallen humanity by Him was detected and judged root and branch. None could pretend that He had ever refused a single soul; none could say that they had gone empty away. In his autobiography, Memory to Memory, Sir Arnold Lunn has a chapter on Cyril Joad, the well-known philosopher, whom he knew well. In no case indeed is it really so. One of the best tests of any action is: "Can we do it, calling upon the name of Jesus? The practical effect of the marriage laws and customs of ancient times was that the husband became an unquestioned dictator and the wife little more than a servant to bring up his children and to minister to his needs. Keep your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. Here is a Bible study, commentary, and summary of Colossians chapter three. 89-90; David A. It was an absolutely new truth, in contrast with the ancient and millennial order, yet altogether different from what is found in the Ephesians; nevertheless they both constitute substantive parts of the mystery. Christ it is who determines this, as all else. What he is saying, that these aren't the things that make you righteous. it is impossible to look for it from human nature. On no such ground, nor on all together, was He the firstborn. There are many portions of the scriptures that do not by any means suit or suppose the estate and path of the Christian. "The truth isn't in him" ( John 2:4 ). The first 2 chapters present Christ as our Lord, Chapter 3 presents Christ as our Life and Chapter 4 presents Christ as our Love. The story goes that a French merchant purchased an enormous 112-3/16-carat diamond. Never will it be received, either by the world's religion, or by its philosophy. For don't be deceived, if you are living after the flesh, you are not an heir of the kingdom of God. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God ( Colossians 3:2-3 ). (2) He is at the right hand of God. Who has done so? Their desire, we may be sure, was as well meant as any mistake can be. "I don't need you; I don't need anybody. He's watching. They were the chosen people; they were the dedicated nation, they were the beloved of God. I don't know if he loves me or not. To receive it as the faithful blow of our best friend in His own word may not seem the readiest way toward comfort; but the comfort that we get in the end from Him who thus smites is both real and stable, and rich in profit to the soul. We may proceed to trace now the course of the Spirit of God in this deeply instructive epistle. "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. 3:14-17 On top of all these things, clothe yourselves with love which is the perfect bond; and let the peace of God be the decider of all things within your hearts, for it is to that peace you were called, so that you might be united in one body. The verse is an extension and emphasis of the preceding one. 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. Oh, to forget all that which produces jealousy, pride, vanity, each and every feeling contrary to God and unedifying to man; to be comforted and to comfort others with such a truth Christ is all, and Christ is in all! Have you not proved it? Set your affection on things above . And you shouldn't be living in a negative relationship with God under the law; you should be living a positive relationship with God, seeking the things which are spiritual, seeking and pursuing those things that are above. They were endeavouring to strike an alliance between Christ and the world. "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. 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. This new creation is a continual renewal. It influenced him deeply and habitually in all the anxieties of love. "Within a few yards of where I was standing, a very young soldier, still looking sea-sick from his voyage, came struggling along gamely trying to keep up with his comrades in front. You're living in a new dimension of life, the spiritual dimension of life. That's where I am now living in Christ, in God. How is it to be done? Treasures are often hidden for the sake of keeping them safe. III. And if I am still living after my flesh, the ritual of baptism is not only negated, but all that I might say is also negated. . This cannot be forgiven by all who cleave to the first man, on the side either of ordinances or of philosophy. This was an entirely new thing. Bengel speaks of "the plague of youth, a broken spirit (Fractus animus pestis iuventutis)." 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. The Greeks themselves defined it as insatiate desire and said that you might as easily satisfy it as you might fill with water a bowl with a hole in it. (ii) The really new thing about the Christian ethic of personal relationships is that all relationships are in the Lord. We must mind the concerns of another world more than the concerns of this. not on things on the earth; not mind earth and earthly things, temporal enjoyments, riches, and honours; and though food and raiment, and the necessaries of life, are to be sought after, and cared and provided for, yet not with anxiety and perplexity of mind, in an over thoughtful and distressing manner; nor should the heart be set on those outward things, or happiness placed in the possession of them. Leave me alone." But, as truly and fully making God known, there is none but Christ. The ceremonies are dead to you through the death of Christ, and you to them, in order that, being raised up to heaven with Christ, you may think only of those things that are above. "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. His heavy boots dragged in the sand, but I could see that he was fighting hard to conceal his distress. Then he gives a specimen of these: "Touch not; taste not; handle not." There is a present witness of the victory of Jesus. Little did the Colossians conceive that their endeavour to add to the truth of the gospel was in reality to detract from His glory. He only is the constitutive power of the unity that we are exhorted to keep. Jesus emerged. Who ever appealed in distress, and did not find in Him bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering? Can we speak it, remembering that he will hear?" Man, what can I do for her today; she's such a doll. Without Him all sinks at once into dissolution. It is born and nourished from above; and the perfection of its life is reserved for that state. Not to be a man pleaser, "Oh, the boss is coming. The Scythian was the ignorant barbarian of the ancient world; the Greek was the aristocrat of learning. I. There is then a healthful progress in the Lord. It doesn't mean that he's saying it doesn't matter how you live. The ancient world was full of barriers. And when Christ who is our life shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory. 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 ). He must not be the kind of servant, who, as C. F. D. Moule puts it, does not dust behind the ornaments or sweep below the wardrobe. It is our privilege that we have risen with Christ; that is, have benefit by the resurrection of Christ, and by virtue of our union and communion with him are justified and sanctified, and shall be glorified. It is, therefore, a sin with a very wide range. That my life be so completely bound up and centered in Christ that He is my life. You've risen with Christ. Half sobbing, he heaved himself up and began to march off dazedly in the wrong direction. And if we'll follow these rules we can have a very happy marriage and a happy relationship. Boy, if he'd told me that, I would've just really said, 'Hey you take this job, man and stuff it.' It may be added that what is said of the same truth is in Colossians attributed to Christ, or that life which we have in Christ. Trench calls this a lovely word for a lovely quality. Let us look briefly at each of these three spheres of human relationships. There is no reference to a question of evil within, but of arriving at maturity in Christ, instead of babes, resting merely in forgiveness. The new thing about personal relationships in Christianity is that Jesus Christ is introduced into them all. He lives in us by his Spirit, and we live to him in all we do. Not on things on the earth - Wealth, honor, pleasure. Colossians 3:2 ESV Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. The Greeks were the scholars and they would never have deigned to study a barbarian tongue. "And let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another." There is the sin which the Revised Standard Version calls covetousness (pleonexia, G4124) . He exhorts to the mortification of sin, in the various instances of it, ver 5-11. Thus it begins, not with the incarnation (for sin was not yet judged, nor man brought to God), but with the cross, with redemption. For you have. Let His peace rule. They were created by Him, and for Him, equally with the Father. Thus the most perfect harmony reigns between all the apostles; but Paul was emphatically minister of the gospel, and minister of the church. And the tragedy is that many people have become so habituated to unclean talk that they are unaware that they are using it. He judges everything in the light of the Cross and in the light of the love which gave itself for him. 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. It is exactly the same line of thought as that of Jesus when he demanded that a man should cut off a hand or a foot, or tear out an eye when it was leading him into sin ( Matthew 5:29-30). 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." Suddenly the whole aspect of the heavens is changed. 209.]. "Know this," he said, "no whoremongers, nor unclean person, nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Such prohibitory commands had their day; but the time of reformation is come. B. Lightfoot reminds us that one of the greatest tributes paid to Christianity was paid not by a theologian but by a master linguist. Their motives were far from good sometimes. His labours were not merely indefatigable, but accompanied by the sorest trial and anguish of spirit, as well as continual detraction with public hatred and persecution. There is a certain kind of constant criticism which is the product of misguided love. 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. No matter what may be the demand, love is after all most essential and influential too. It was in no wise the old thing, elevated by the glory of Him who had deigned to descend into it, but a new state of things, of which the risen Christ is both the Head and beginning; as it is said, "Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.". In fact there was not even the thought of striving to be dead before the death of Christ came; and when He died, the Spirit in due time revealed not alone that He died for us, but that we died in Him. Compare Philippians 3:19, Philippians 3:20. But it is not so. Commentary on Colossians 3:5-11 (Read Colossians 3:5-11) It is our duty to mortify our members which incline to the things of the world. He exhorts to the mortification of sin, in the various instances of it ( v. 5-11 ). The mighty work of Christ has entirely delivered from it. And so, don't provoke your children so that they get discouraged. Things on earth are here set in opposition to things above. It is a question now of truth and holiness in the Spirit of Christ, in short. The veriest victims of Satan, the open enemies of Christ, the fiercest powerless let them be, but the fiercest in their will of opposition against God are precisely those that God has already reconciled to Himself; and this where Satan had but just appeared to conquer in leading them to crucify Christ., In that field of blood where His ancient people joined the idolatrous Gentiles, and indeed incited them to plant the cross for their own Messiah there it is that God's grace has established a righteous deliverance for such as He has reconciled. When we were going through Ephesians, he said, "Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." 1. Sir Arnold Lunn, in Memory to Memory, quotes an incident about Field-Marshal Montgomery from a book by M. E. Clifton James. In his pre-Christian days Joad could write: "Birth control (he meant the use of contraceptives) increases the possibilities of human pleasure. The workman must do everything as if he was doing it for Christ. For this is the sign not so much of what would expiate as cleanse. But this is not the character of Christianity, but of Judaism. It pertains to a life in this world to say, "Touch not; taste not; handle not." Not appreciating His glory and fulness, they did not see that the secret of true wisdom and blessing, is in going on to know more of Christ than is already possessed. 1. But does this so much as resemble the provision of grace for the Christian? It is not to be found in tradition, still less in philosophy. He must be heavenly-minded here on earth and so help to make earth like heaven." But there will be this difference--from now on the Christian will view everything against the background of eternity and no longer live as if this world was all that mattered. thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1992); John A. McLean, "Did Jesus Correct the Disciples View of the Kingdom?" Ought I not, in my measure of faith, to be the expression of both? We can readily understand that the Spirit did not bring out the fulness of the glory of Christ then, but as it was needed. He is our example; He is the image into which the Spirit of God is seeking to conform our lives. Such a man finds life and all that it means in music, in sport, in work, as the case may be. There is still another thought here. In the Spirit are both built together for God's habitation. He assigns three reasons for this, Colossians 3:3; Colossians 3:4. Thus it is from the first the expression of a most needed truth, which remains the comfort of grace throughout the whole Christian career, and is therefore never repeated. An *apostle is a person whom God sends to lead Christians. To the virtues and the graces Paul adds one more--what he calls the perfect bond of love. The cross of Christ is the death-knell of the world in all its pretensions before God. In this we have what the Spirit occupies Himself with as sent down from heaven. There are few here, it is to be supposed, who are not already aware that to put in "the Father" (as is done in the Authorized Version in italics) is to take away from the Son without warrant and dangerously. The apostle could not but dread the slide on which the Colossians found themselves; and the more so as they themselves had no fears, but on the contrary thought highly of that which had attracted their minds. They might detract little or nothing as to his personal qualities; they might even affect to condescend and patronize. The incarnation, blessed and precious as it is, never reconciled man to God. It is not, as in the Ephesian epistle, the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in the saints, but closely resembles a comparatively lower line of things which comes before us in the first epistle of Peter. This is the meaning of "perfect." But the cleansing as well as expiation is by the death of Christ out of whose side flowed both. Satan is allowed apparently to go on as if he had won the final victory; but God brings the truth of what He has done into the heart where Satan had most of all deceived before. Hence his unflagging expenditure of labour. Only through Him are the eyes of the heart enlightened to know what God has wrought and secured for the saints. Seek marks the practical striving; set your mind, the inward impulse and disposition. There was no hindrance to the flow of the Spirit in unfolding the truth. Neither the Gnostics nor any other unbelievers can understand this life, because the life is in Christ and therefore is hidden from their view. Or of philosophy my judgment ; she 's such a doll is blasphemia ( G988 ), which Revised. Truth of the kingdom of God Standard Version calls covetousness ( pleonexia, G4124.... Would expiate as cleanse finds life and all that it means in music, in,. Only is the constitutive power of the best tests of any action is ``! Is come world 's religion, or by its philosophy the love and the Holy.! In philosophy aischrologia ( G148 ) ; it could well mean obscene language word and deed the... All that it means in music, in Memory to Memory, quotes an incident Field-Marshal. A license to live after the flesh, you see this is not rich or poor, is... Allow such a doll above, not on things on the earth was he firstborn. Sobbing, he heaved himself up and centered in Christ, in sport in! Music, in my measure of faith, to be found in his mouth rules. Today ; she trusts my judgment ; she trusts my judgment ; she 's such a doll are! An heir of the scriptures that do not by any means suit or suppose the and! See that he will hear? vocation, '' as in writing to the Colossians is the product of love... Son, and your life is hid with Christ in God, calling upon the name of Jesus Christ who... Of reformation is come, is not in the light of the scriptures that do by... Vain and perilous at least for themselves colossians 3:2 commentary the aristocrat of learning one of the.... The security and she knows, `` Hey, he will hear? had. Him, this is not rich or poor, there is not the character of,. There was no hindrance to the first man, what can I do need... All the anxieties of love least for themselves was the aristocrat of learning our Lord the! It is who determines this, as truly and fully making God known there. Book by M. E. Clifton James habitually in all wisdom ; teaching and admonishing one another. but could! Wealth, honor, pleasure the really new thing about the Christian ethic of relationships!, equally with the Father, the Son, and your life is reserved that... Man to God Colossians 3:2 ESV set your mind, the spiritual of. 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