Philemon and Colossians
December 23, 2014

Colossians seems to be filled with the condensed, collected wisdom of Paul's many years of ministry.   He doesn't spend a great deal of time on any one subject, but shares quick to the point insights on a variety of topics.   If it weren't for the fact that he asks Philemon to get a guest room ready for him I would think that he already knew that he was going to stay in Rome.   That comment confuses me a little.  It makes it seem like he is planning to leave Rome.  I had always assumed that Paul knew that this was a one way trip.

Colossians 1 tells us that all things were made by Jesus, and that the fullness of the Godhead is seen in Him.  This is a wonderful, tantalizing mystery that almost compels us to share our feeble examples of how it can be true.   God must chuckle as we attempt to describe how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are separate yet one, and how all three created the universe.   It's similar to asking a four year old how a space ship works.

In 2:8 Paul warns against "hollow and deceptive philosophy".  As I understand it, philosophy is the study of the nature, cause or value of a certain truth.  It is deciding what is right and true about something.   There are people in every age who want to challenge what the Bible says about the Messiah.  In fact, they want to challenge the validity of the Bible itself.   It seems here that they were doing that by trying to assign too much value to what people ate or drank, the worship of angels and the celebration or reverence of certain days.   Paul rejects all such things.  If I understand Paul correctly, he is saying that you don't need to adhere to anything in order to experience salvation, because it is the free gift of Jesus Christ.   He isn't saying that you should do many of these things, ie: go to church, take care of your physical body, and celebrate spiritual holidays....only that they should be an expression of love to Jesus.   An outpouring of appreciation to Him.    I think the false teachers were trying to say that these things were neccesary for salvation.   It's that kind of warped thinking that results in people believing they are Christians because they go to church every Sunday, and repeat a canned prayer they memorized when they were 5.   The Bible doesn't allow for that.  We must have a genuine relationship with the creator in order to be forgiven of our sins.   No "deeds" will suffice.

If I had to summarize in broad strokes what Paul is saying here, I would summarize it this way:  "Because you have been forgiven much, and loved much by Jesus, behave in the same way toward one another.  Set aside position and status, set aside personal preference and comfort so that you may be completely unified with all others who are in Christ, your brothers and sisters."

Learning how to live the transformed life,


PR