Category: Colossians (Page 9 of 10)

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2)

Paul repeats “the things above” verbatim from verse one. Now he connects it to one of his favorite verbs (“Set your mind”). Paul makes use of it in twenty-three of its twenty-six New Testament usages (ten of those in Philippians). It generally describes the realm of the mind: to think, to have an attitude, to form an opinion. Paul’s frequent use of the word underscores the high place he affords the Christian mind. The present tense imperative calls for continual, habitual action (“Keep thinking,” NET). We are to “seek” the things above (v.1) and “set” our thoughts upon them (v.2). “You must not only seek heaven; you must also think heaven” (Lightfoot, 207).

This is to be done rather than thinking about “the things that are on earth.” This stands as the polar opposite of “the things above” (vv.1, 2). This is the realm where “fleshly indulgence” (2:23) takes place. This is the place where the false teacher(s) centers his counsel and teaching as he prescribes “severe treatment of the body” (2:23). While the believer resides “on the earth,” his home—the center and source of his life—is from above. The believer has “been firmly rooted” and is now “being built up in” Christ (2:7). Jesus is the locus of the believer’s life and existence. The believer has died to the “elementary principles of the world” (2:8, 20). Indeed, the believer has died with Christ and is raised up with Him to a new life (2:13; 3:1). It is in Christ that the believer “has been made complete” (2:10). The ascetic, legalistic rules of the false teacher regarding diet, drink and days (2:16) are “a mere shadow of what is to come” whereas “the substance belongs to Christ” (2:17). The believer is one who is “holding fast to the head,” Christ Himself (2:19a).

The little phrase “the things that are on the earth” becomes quite significant for Paul. Christ has created all things “on earth” (2:16). God’s purpose is to sum up all things—including those “things upon the earth”—in Christ (Eph. 1:10). To this end God, through Christ, has reconciled to Himself all things “upon the earth” (Col. 1:20). Yet we are to put to death our members “which are on the earth” (3:5, NRSV). Part of how we carry this out is by not setting our minds upon these things (3:2).

Paul sets “the things above” in contrast to “the things that are on the earth.” In doing so he tells us that reality upon earth is defined by the reality of heaven, not the other way around. Spiritual truth defines tangible reality. We are on dangerous ground when we weigh spiritual matters by what appears to be the fact based on limited, earthly evidence. He who sees only the earthly sees only partial reality—missing the most vital pieces of evidence for interpreting the fuller reality.

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1)

To what precisely does “Therefore” look back?  Given what follows in the rest of the verse, it appears that the truths of 2:12 and 13 provide the most obvious connection.  There Paul speaks of the believers being “raised up with [Christ] through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” and that “[The Father] made you alive together with [Christ].”  This is a real union with Christ that is entered through faith and is witnessed to in the believer’s baptism (v.12).  The surety of these facts and experiences is in Paul’s mind here as he says, “if you have been raised up with Christ.”  The condition is of the first class, meaning that the matter is not in question, but considered assured in its fulfillment (thus the niv: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ”).  The precise verb that Paul employs makes this connection clear in that it is used only three times in the New Testament, once in 2:12 (see comments there; cf. also Eph. 2:6).  It is a compound comprised of “with” and “raise.”  The aorist tense looks to this as a definite act.  The passive voice views God as the active agent in raising the believer from death with Christ.  The word then depicts God the Father as raising the believer (through faith, 2:12) in union with Christ in His resurrection.  This is a fact for the believer.  It is not an experience to be scrambled after through zealous effort or the fulfillment of religious rites.  It is a settled fact accomplished by God through Christ.  It is a work accomplished by God and actualized through the vehicle of the believer’s resting faith, reposed upon the finished work of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ.  It is not an experience to seek, but a fact to be rested in.

This being the fact, the Apostle commands “keep seeking the things above.”  The command “keep seeking” is a present tense imperative, underscoring that the action must be taken repeatedly, continuously, and as a matter of habit.  The word carries the idea of aiming for and striving after.  It may have here the notion of “try to obtain” or “desire to possess.”  That which is to be thus sought are “the things above.”  Paul will use the precise expression again in the next verse.  But to what does it point?  Surely it refers to the heavenly realms and its realities.  It looks to the place of God’s abode.  The adverb was used by Jesus to say, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world” (John 8:23).  Paul employs to speak of “the Jerusalem above” (Gal. 4:26) and of the believer’s “upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).  Paul told those same believers “our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20).  To the Colossians he has already spoken of “the hope laid up for you in heaven” (Col. 1:5).

Paul further qualifies just where he is referencing by saying it is “where Christ is.”  True to form, Paul makes our pursuit a Christocentric one.  Our quest is not simply a “place,” but a person.  We seek Him, rather than ascribe to ascetic rules, because it is He “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3).  There Christ “is”—a present tense, on-going existence in real-time.  Indeed, we seek that place where Christ is “seated at the right hand of God.”  This marks it as a place of both authority and intimacy.  It is a place of authority in that there Christ is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age, but also in the one to come” (Eph. 2:21; cf. Col. 1:16; 2:15).  There God the Father has “put all things in subjection under His feet” and it is there that He “gave Him as head over all things to the church” (Eph. 2:22; cf. Col. 1:18).  Yes, Peter tells us that Jesus “is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him” (1 Pet. 3:22).  This is the very place Christ took His seat after “having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time” (Heb. 10:12).  It is also a place of intimacy for there Christ takes up the care and concern of His own, presenting those needs to the father in ongoing intercession (Rom. 8:34; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2).

This, then, becomes the great quest of the believer – to realize that which God has give to him in Christ.

“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form …” (Colossians 2:9)

We encounter now two of the most powerful statements in all of Scripture.  We will consider the first here in verse 9.

First the facts and details: Paul is gives the reason (“For”) for the warning just sounded (v.8).  The familiar and meaning-packed expression “in Him” follows next, being emphatic by being thrust forward in the clause (i.e., “in Him and in Him alone”).  The personal pronoun (“Him”) refers to Christ (v.8), the last word of the previous verse.  Paul now builds upon the Christological focus already so thoroughly laid down in the letter (1:15-20).  What is “in Him”?  It is nothing less than “all the fullness of Deity”!  The noun “Deity” is used only here in the NT and is employed as an abstract noun for (“God”).  There is thus a distinction to be made between our word here and the one used in Romans 1:20 (rendered “divine nature”).  Our word speaks of the Divine essence as opposed to simply the attributes of Deity.  “They were no mere ways of divine glory which gilded Him lighting up His person for a season and w[ith] a splendor not His own; but He was and is absolute and perfect God.” (Rienecker, 573)  The article makes definite just what Paul is speaking of with regard to Deity: “the fullness.”  This same noun has just been used in Colossians 1:19 where Paul says it was the Father’s “good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.”  Paul more specifically designates just what this fullness is in our present passage.  Once again the article makes definite that of which he speaks.  It describes the sum total, fullness, or even the super abundance of something (BAGD, 672).  In this case it is the completeness of Deity which resides in its fullness in Jesus Christ.  But Paul’s description of Christ is not yet sufficient, for he makes clear that it is “all” the fullness of Deity which resides in Jesus Christ.  When used with a singular noun that is accompanied by the definite article (as here) it conveys the meaning of “the whole” or “all” of that which it qualifies (BAGD, 630).  Thus it “means ‘all the fullness’ or ‘the entire fullness,’ no element of the fullness being excepted.” (Harris, 98)  Yet even here, Paul’s statement regarding Christ is not done, for he adds that this fullness is found in Christ “in bodily form.”  This adverb too is used only here in the NT.  It designates that which is corporeal, tangible, touchable, and physical.   In this way, with a great economy of words, Paul emphasizes both the complete Deity and humanity of Jesus Christ.  God Himself took to Himself a human body and lived a fully human life on this earth. 

Thus notice the ever-expanding and all-encompassing scope of the Apostle’s assertion: Jesus Christ possesses “Deity.”  Yet He possesses not just “Deity,” but “the fullness of Deity.”  And it is not just “the fullness of Deity,” but “all the fullness of Deity.”  Even this, however, is not the end, for He possesses not just “all the fullness of Deity,” but “all the fullness of Deity in bodily form”! 

This fullness of Deity “dwells” in Christ. While this verb is forty-four times in the NT, only three of those uses are by Paul.  Twice here in Colossians he employs it to speak of Deity dwelling in Christ (Col. 1:19; 2:9).  The other is a reference to Christ dwelling in us (Eph. 3:17).  Here the present tense indicates that this is an ongoing state that continues in real time.  From the moment of conception onward and forever the fullness of Deity has dwelt continuously in the body of Jesus.  Even after His death, resurrection and glorification, Jesus Christ remains—continuously—the God-man, both fully God and fully man.

In thus stating the facts Paul, with an amazing brevity of words and succinctness of expression, wards off many of the great errors regarding Christ that have arisen over the centuries.

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6-7)

The Christian life is a “walk” (v.6) — a matter of putting one foot in front of the other moment by moment, decision by decision in the strength of God’s Spirit.  But just what does that “walk” look like?  The Apostle Paul tells us in v.7 as he sets forth four participles, all of which qualify the imperative to “walk in him [i.e., Jesus Christ]”. 

The first comes from the horticultural world — “rooted.”  The perfect tense of the verb indicates that this is past action which results in abiding state.  The passive voice points to God as the active agent (as also in the next two participles).  When a person comes to faith in Christ, God sends that person’s roots down deep into Christ Himself.  Like a mighty redwood whose roots go down and spread out to provide a channel for nourishment from the soil and stability from the winds of adversity, so Christ is the very “soil” from which the believer draws his life and in which he finds his security and strength.

The second comes from the architectural world — “built up.”  Here to we find a passive voice–God is the builder.  Now, however, we have present tense (as in the next two participles as well)–emphasizing the ongoing, habitual nature of the action.  We are built upon the foundation of Christ (1 Cor. 3:10-14).  We are ever and always being build up by God on this immovable foundation.  Having rooted us (downward), now God works to build us (upward).

The third comes from the legal world — “established.”  The word was used outside the Bible to describe that which was legally guaranteed.  There may be something of that notion here, but more likely is the derived sense of being “strenghened” or “established.”  That in which we are to be established is “in the faith.”  By “faith” it seems Paul has in mind here, not the subjective, personal trust of each believer, but the objective content of “the faith.”  It is “in” the sphere of the faith that God will strengthen and establish us.  Indeed, “… you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

The fourth rounds out the group — “abounding in thankfulness.”  Perhaps here the picture is that of a cup overflowing with excess.  The believer–regardless of his circumstances–should always brim over with expressions of gratitude to God.  The thankful heart is caught up with what it does possess, not what it does not have.  Falsehoods based upon empty promises find no hearing in the life of the truly grateful person.  There is no ground of appeal.  In fact, as we consider the false teaching threatening the Colossian church, we might say that worship–corporate and private–is both a safeguard and weapon against error. 

For fun, see Colossians 1:10-12 where Paul uses the same verb (“walk,” v.10) and then uses four participles to describe that walk, just as he does here.  Interestingly, the first and last use the same imagery as here: horticulture (“bearing fruit,” v.10b) and thanksgiving (v.12).

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him …” (Colossians 2:6)

We are commanded to “walk” through this life as followers of Christ.  This walk is said to be “in him.”  This little prepositional phrase is actually set before the imperative giving is special emphasis.  The antecedent of the pronoun (“him”) is clearly the loaded statement “Christ Jesus the Lord.”  The preposition “in” probably marks out the sphere in which the believer’s life is to be carried out. 

This simple phrase “in him” is used extensively in this letter to the Colossian believers to set forth dramatic and profound truths.  It was “in him” (lit.; “by him,” ESV) that all things were created (Col. 1:16).  It is “in him” that all things hold together (1:17).  The Father was pleased to have all His divine fullness dwell “in him” (1:19).  Indeed, it is “in him” that “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (2:9)! With the next swipe of his pen the Apostle says it is “in him” that each child of God has “been made complete” (NASB, 2:10).  Satan and all demonic powers have been defeated “in him” (2:15). 

Now consider that we are able and responsible to make our way step by step through this life “in him”! 

What is this journey to which we have been called?  What honor! What responsibility!  What possibilities!