STUDY THEME: WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE
“MAINTAINING A HEAVENLY FOCUS.” COLOSSIANS 2: 6-3: 17.
COLOSSIANS 2: 20; 3: 1-4, 5-10, 12-14, 17.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO COLOSSIANS 2.
. In last week’s lesson we studied the doctrine of sanctification. Salvation means we are saved from the penalty of sin, but sanctification means we are set apart to God and are being saved from the power of sin.
One discipline involved in our cooperation with God in sanctification is to learn how to focus on heavenly things. When we base our desires, thoughts, and values on Christ, not on worldly influences, we live sanctified lives.
Today, our effectiveness as Christ’s representatives on earth, is increased by our maintaining a heavenly focus, by giving appropriate attention to heavenly treasures
The Book of Acts concludes in Acts 28: 30 with Paul under house arrest in Rome following his third missionary journey. It was during this two-year period that Paul probably learned from a fellow worker name Epaphras in Col. 1: 7 of false teachers who were troubling the church at Colossae.
There is no mention in Acts of Paul visiting Colossae, but his influence probably extended there during his ministry in Ephesus during his third missionary journey.
When news of false teachers and their doctrines reached Paul in Rome, he wrote the Letter to the Colossians to correct their heresies and to encourage the spiritual maturity of the church. Colossae was a town in Asia Minor located near Laodicea and on a main road from Ephesus.
An apparent attack on the deity of Jesus Christ by the false teachers led Paul to give one of the strongest defenses of that doctrine in the N.T. He also warned the believers not to be deceived by the philosophies of the false teachers or their demand of legalistic practices. In the section of Colossians we will focus on for this lesson we will examine the true path to spirituality.
Colossians is one of Paul’s four Prison letters (along with Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon). These letters were written during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome.
Paul did not found the church at Colossae. Twice in the letter he mentioned Epaphras, who seems to have founded the church in Colossae. Epaphras probably did this during Paul’s long ministry in Ephesus, when the good news was heard throughout the province of Asia. Epaphras also was the one who brought to Paul news of the church that led him to write this letter. Because Epaphras was also in prison, Paul asked Tychicus to carry this letter, the Letter to the Ephesians and the Letter to Philemon.
What did Epaphras tell Paul that led him to write this letter? Our only source is the letter itself, and we must read between the lines to try and reconstruct the situation. Apparently it was the threat to the young church from false teachings.
Scholars debate the form of this deceptive philosophy. Some feel it was a form of the Jewish religion. Others see it as an early form of gnosticism. Still others stress the pagan influences.
What we know for sure is that it resulted in two dangers to the church. For one thing, it minimized the complete adequacy of Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Lord. The other result was that it watered down the demands of Christ for a new way of living. This last point is the subject of the Focal Verses for this lesson.
Paul called the Colossians to be dead to the “ways of the world.” He asked them to allow Jesus’ death and resurrection to be real in their experience. They were to be dead to the world and alive to the heavenly life made possible through Christ.
They were to live as those who knew the One who died, rose from the grave, and will come again. This involved putting to death any vestiges of the old life, especially sexual immorality, but also including putting to death sins of disposition and speech.
They were to take off the old life like dirty clothes and put on the new life like clean clothes. Their new life should reflect the image of God that He intended people to be. Such Christian living is holy, loving, and humble. They were to forbear and forgive one another. Everything they said and did was to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Don’t be so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good.” I suppose this advice carries some element of truth, but to be honest, some Christians I know are so worldly minded they are no heavenly good! We followers of Jesus need to realize we cannot impact our world unless we maintain a heavenly focus. The theme in Paul’s Letter to the Colossians is twofold: (1) Jesus Christ is God’s fullness, and (2) believers in Jesus are complete and equipped to do God’s will. When Christ is our life, we have all we need to live godly lives in an ungodly world.
Verses from Paul’s Letter to the Colossians reveal truth about an emphasis that should characterize every Christian. Some people claim that the hope of heaven is only “pie in the sky by and by” and that it does no good on earth. Christian hope, however, challenges us to be Christ’s instruments in witnessing and in ministering in the name of the One who gives abundant and eternal life.
PLEASE READ COLOSSIANS 2: 20.
This vs. 20 is in the part of the letter in which Paul warns of false things. In Colossians 2: 4-19 Paul refuted false teachers who challenged the deity of Jesus Christ. In vs. 18 they diminished the importance of Jesus and replaced Him with a religion of ascetic practices.
In vv. 12-14 Paul reaffirmed a salvation based on faith in what Christ did for us when He died on the cross. When we put our faith in Jesus, we died with Him and were raised with Him through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul reminded the believers in Colossae that their salvation by faith in Christ was completely different from the religion of works promoted by the false teachers.
Paul said that to turn to the religious practices of the false teachers would mean believing in the elemental forces of this world. The Greek word translated elemental forces can refer to the elementary spirits in pagan religious beliefs or to the basic teachings of non-Christian practices.
The ascetic rules that required followers to abstain from certain foods or practices derived from the philosophy of the world. The true way of salvation is from heaven, not earth.
Some believes had apparently embraced the teachings of the false teachers. They sought righteousness through abstaining from certain foods, observing special days, and worshiping angels. They acted as thought they still belonged to the world rather than to Christ.
That’s the way it is for a Christian living in this world. We can’t understand all the meaning of our salvation, not just yet; but the reality is that we died with Christ when we trusted Him as our Savior. We are living dead people! Study Rom. 6: 1-11 for an elaboration of this truth.
When Christ saved us, we died to the old life and its penalty of death because of sin. By faith we have received eternal life through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and we live on a new plane---alive to spiritual things that before were strange to us.
Because believers now live in a new dimension, we should not live as if we still belonged to the world. Our new life in Christ has cut us off forever from the relationship we once had with sin and the world.
Yes, Christians still sin; but as long as we live in physical bodies, God works in us to mature us in holy living, in Christlikeness. Joined to Jesus, we already have God’s imputed righteousness, now it is our calling to grow in practical righteousness. Worldly sins should seem foul and out of place to us. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t think much of a surgeon whose operating room was filled with dirt and filth. Such things simply do not belong in a surgeon’s workplace. Neither does this world’s sin belong in the heart and life of a Christian.
Whether the word rudiment refers to elementary things or to elemental spirits, they are of the world and thus hostile to Christ. Paul said that the believers had died to these things with Christ. He asked them why they were still living as if they were of the world. In Col. 2: 8 he wrote that these things were part of a captivating and deceitful philosophy of life. They were based on human tradition and they were not of Christ.
PLEASE READ COLOSSIANS 3: 1-4.
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the heart of the Christian good news. They open the door to the Christians life. But they are also the heart of a Christian’s personal experience with Christ. We enter the door through the forgiveness of sins made possible by Christ’s atoning death for us and through the victory over sin and death made possible by His victorious resurrection from the dead.
But true faith is not just intellectual acceptance of the truth of these two events. Faith involves experiencing the death and resurrection in our own lives. That is, the crucified Savior comes into our lives not only to forgive us but also to enable us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Also, the risen Lord comes into our lives to empower godly living and to conquer death.
Another way to put it is that He comes into our lives to enable us to die to sin and to live in newness of life. Paul wrote in Gal.2: 20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
Colossians 3: 2 expands on the Christians experience of the resurrection, and vs.3-4 expands on our experience of the cross. Vs. 4 looks ahead to the coming of Christ. Christ is the theme of these verses. Notice the words with Christ…where Christ…with Christ…when Christ.
Christians “have been raised with Christ”. The presence and power of the risen Lord within us causes us to seek those things which are above. This means not that we have our heads in the clouds, but that our lives are directed upward and heavenward. This is the realm where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. This is the place of authority from which He directs the lives of those who look up to Him and follow His ways. The only way a Christian could ever be lost again is for someone to go to the right hand of God Almighty and force the believer out of His grasp! And that can’t and won’t happen.
Christians should focus on Him and His will. This means to set our affection on things above, not on things on the earth. This is what is meant by being heavenly minded. The earth is where we are, and we must live in it for the time being: however, our eternal home is in heaven. According to Phil. 3: 20-21 our citizenship is already there. We are only strangers and pilgrims on earth. We are to live by the standards of our heavenly home.
We have died to sin through the presence of the crucified Lord who now dwells in us by His Spirit. We were dead in sin, but He enabled us to die to sin. Further, your life is hid with Christ in God. This has several aspects. For one thing, it identifies the source of our true life.
Second, it gives us a sense of security to know that the world cannot see or destroy it. Third, it speaks to the nature of faith, which Heb. 11:1 says is “the evidence of things not seen.”
The world refuses to take seriously the faith of those who believe in a God they cannot see and who live by the standards of a heavenly kingdom. The world cannot see these things, but believers know these are more real than what the world can see.
Christians also believe that the crucified, risen Lord of our lives will come again to this earth. Christ, who is our life, shall appear. He is now unseen and unknown to the people of the world, but He will be seen in the future. Phil. 2: 10-11 says, “Every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
All will see Him, but only those who believe in the unseen kingdom will be saved on that day. When He appears, we shall appear with him in glory.
Although Paul did not spell it out here, other passages, as Titus 2: 11-14, show how this hope motivates godly living and service and witness for Christ.
After Jesus ascension, the disciples stood looking up to heaven. The angels asked the disciples why they stood looking up. The angels assured the disciples in Acts.1: 6-10 that Jesus would come again but that the disciples should be found fulfilling their mission of witnessing when Christ returned.
Our salvation, present and future, is totally dependent on Jesus Christ. We must look to Him and Him alone for our salvation and spiritual growth.
PLEASE READ COLOSSIANS 3: 5-10.
Put to death in vs. 5 means that we should live out what Jesus did for us on the cross. Paul’s thought finds a parallel in Romans 6. There, Paul wrote in Rom. 6: 2 “we died to sin.” Paul’s statement does not mean we cannot sin, but rather that we are free from sin’s penalty and dominion. The spiritual reality is that all believers “went to the cross” with Christ and were crucified, buried, and raised with Him. Now we have the Holy Spirit living in us to enable us to live holy lives.
Our position now is “in Christ Jesus, “but we also live in a wicked world with its powerful influence for evil. Maintaining a heavenly focus is a lifelong process of working out practically what God has done within us.
According to Col. 3: 5-7, we have five things to put to death. Our spiritual position is that we are dead to sin; therefore, Paul said we must apply this reality to specific behaviors and attitudes.
Believers must execute daily certain worldly desires. One is sexual immorality, a broad term encompassing a whole range of impurities. The two words include what we look at, what we think about, as well as what we do.
Second, we are to mortify impurity. Another possible translation is “uncleanness.” Impurity is related to sexual immorality, but it includes both mental and moral contamination. The godly person must maintain a pure condition of mind and heart so sin will not find a lodging place.
Third, we should put to death lust. The word refers to evil passions, those desires we allow to live in our minds and hearts that fester and eventually rise up to lead us into acts of sin.
Evil desire must also be put to death. At issue here is the strong inward yearning and craving for those carnalities of the flesh that dwell within us.
Fifth, we must daily mortify greed, or avarice---the selfish desire to have more and more. Greed makes us guilty of idolatry, the worship of things rather than God.
The logical question may arise, “If I died with Christ to sin, why must I still put sin to death?” We are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ, but we operate in two dimensions: in Christ (spiritually) and in the world (physically). When we get to heaven, we will be free from the propensity toward sin that remains with us each day.
One glorious aspect of our having been dead to sin but being alive in Christ is that God’s wrath is removed from us---instead it was poured out on Christ for us. Sin once dominated us; we walked in these things. But no more---we have new lives that empower us to overcome sins.
Vs. 8 contains another list of vices, but here Paul changed the metaphor a bit. Rather than saying these vices must be put to death, he said these must be put away. Like Lazarus when Jesus raised him from the dead, we must put away our grave clothes and put on new ones.
We never think of putting on new, clean clothes over old, soiled ones. We must deal with sins severely. The sins here must be kept in check each day. Anger refers to a state of surly disposition, a “slow boil” if you will.
Wrath is the acute manifestation or explosion of anger. Malice could be defined aptly as the “mental brew” that remains after outbursts of anger and wrath.
Slander could mean verbal offenses against both God and people. Another snare we must put off daily is filthy language, low and obscene speech in our daily conversations. Finally, we must not lie to one another.
For all of us who have put on the new man, these sins should be stripped away from us because a profound change has taken place. That dynamic change has put us into a relationship with Christ in which we are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of God.
As we put to death the old man, the sinful nature fades in power and control over our lives. At the same time the new man grows in knowledge and power to reflect the image of God. The image of his Creator refers to the unique creation of human beings that set man and woman apart from animals.
One aspect of the image was the creation of man as righteous and holy. Sin destroyed this important component of the image of God. Jesus Christ came to provide believers with a restoration of the righteousness through faith in Him. The new man is the new nature that responds to God’s will and obeys Him.
Sin rears its ugly head in our lives almost daily; but our attitude toward it should be that because we are now in Christ, we want sin stripped from us like an old, dirty garment so we can put on the new garments of righteous living.
PLEASE READ COLOSSIANS 3: 12-14.
In Col. 3: 5, 8 Paul listed he sinful characteristics of the old man that Christians are to put off. In vs. 12-14 he listed spiritual characteristics that Christians should put on. Paul referred to believers as God’s chosen ones. This stresses God’s sovereign initiative in calling believers. Paul also addressed the Colossian believers as holy and loved. Christians are holy because of our position in Christ and we are to progress in holiness or sanctification throughout our Christian lives.
Paul’s commanded to put on the positive characteristics of the new man was intended to give direction to their sanctification. Loved reminded the readers of God’s love for them and prepared them to be instructed to love one another.
The characteristics Paul commanded Christians to put on in verses 12-14 are specific and related to a common purpose. Paul did not simply list the opposite characteristics of the sinful actions to avoid in the vs. 5 and 8 but targeted virtues that promoted love and unity within the church.
The false teachers and doctrines that had penetrated the church created divisions. Paul sought to repair the damage by correcting the doctrine and then urging godly traits that would restore relationships.
The first characteristic of the new man in Christ is heartfelt compassion. Compassion refers to the qualities of mercy and pity. Compassion is a characteristic of God that describes His willingness to save and comfort us. Paul urged believers to imitate God’s deep compassion for us in our dealings with one another as believers. A sympathetic attitude promotes peace and harmony with others.
Kindness is also a divine attribute that describes God’s mercy toward sinners in salvation. Kindness thus describes an attitude that treats others more favorably than they deserve.
Humility and gentleness are also essential qualities of a Christian’s new way of living. Humility refers to an attitude that is concerned with the needs of others and esteems the importance of others. It is the attitude that led Jesus to come out of heaven to be our Savior. Humility is not thinking negatively about ourselves but thinking positively of others and their needs.
Gentleness or meekness implies a gracious attitude toward others—even those who oppose us. Gentleness is the opposite of anger, aggression, and retaliation. In Numbers 12: 3 it says, “Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.”
Patience is a synonym of gentleness. Patience literally refers to someone who takes a long time before becoming angry. The patience Paul wanted the Colossians to exhibit was a forbearing spirit toward the faults and offenses of others.
Paul urged believers to be accepting of one another. The verb means, “to endure.” “to put up with,” or “to forbear.” Paul did not urge a toleration sin as many do in our culture. He referred to an attitude that takes into consideration the reality that we are imperfect and so are others. He did not want believers to give up on one another but to work together when differences emerged. Forbearance is putting up with the minor annoyances of human relations.
In addition to accepting one another Paul urged forgiving one another if any one has a complaint against another. No relationship with others can be sustained without forgiveness. We all sin and others are often hurt by our words or deeds.
An unwillingness to forgive leads inevitably to broken communication and relationships.
Paul seems to have anticipated that some might object to his command to forgive others. They might say, “You don’t know what that person did to me.” So Paul stated the obligation to forgive just as the Lord has forgiven you. God has forgiven us, and He demands that we be willing to forgive others. Christ is our model and power for forgiveness.
The climax of Paul’s list of virtues is found in vs. 14—“put on love”. Love (agape) is the greatest characteristic of the new man. Love is defined as God’s motivation in sending His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins (John 3: 16).
Love is the gravitational force in relationships that holds us together no mater what forces may try to pull us apart. Love is the lubricating oil of human interaction that dissipates the heat of conflicts and maintains the vitality of the individual parts of the church.
All the virtues we are to put on can be summarized in the last garment Paul said we should adorn---love. Above all means the most outstanding feature of our new life is love. It is the thread from which all our new garments are made. It is also the one virtue that welds together the church (the body of Christ) in perfect unity.
In first century cultures the common and universal piece of clothing called the sash or girdle completed one’s dressing for the day. This garment integrated all the others, and it held all the others in place. In the same way, the love Paul spoke of here is God’s love for us and through us. He loved us unconditionally, and when we express that kind of love we experience the bond of unity.
In John 17: 21, Jesus said that unity would be a distinguishing mark of His followers. Unity among believers is essential as a testimony to the world of our connection to the Father. Unity is necessary to accomplish the purpose that God has given to His church. When Christians put on the new man in Christ, they encourage one another and work together as a unified body to accomplish the will of God.
TEACHER READ COLOSSIANS 3: 17.
Colossians 3: 17 is a summary statement containing a principle to guide believers every word and deed. It provides Christians with a rule of thumb for determining moral issues and actions. The simplest, most basic rule of thumb for living the Christians life is to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Paul meant that every expression in life was to be oriented toward saying and doing those things that are in accordance with the will of Jesus Christ for our lives.
If a word will not bring glory to Jesus Christ, it should not be said. If an action contemplated will not honor Christ, it should not be done. Paul urged believers to speak and act in ways that would honor the name of our Lord Jesus.
This was Paul’s way of urging believers to consider what Jesus would say and what Jesus would do in every situation of life. Paul concluded by urging gratitude (giving thanks ) to God the Father in all we do. This is to be done without reluctance or despair or legalistic duty. Every word and action should be in accordance with God’s will for our lives in Christ Jesus.
THE LESSON NEXT WEEK IS FROM MATT. 5: 1-16, 1 COR. 1: 18-31 AND 2 COR. 6: 24 TO 7: 01. THE QUESTION IS “WHAT CAN GOD ACCOMPLISH THROUGH ME?” A.V. DAUGHERTY <altav@swbell.net>