Colossians-Combating Heresy(NLT)
Colossians was written around 61 A.D. During Pauls imprisonment in Rome. It is therefore one of his “Prison Epistles”. “Who is Jesus”? From the earliest days of Christianity, there has never been a shortage of alternatives and theries regarding this question. Pauls letter to the Colossians addresed this question as well as combating pagan ideas that were creeping into the Church and its teachings. The Colossian church included Greeks, Jews, and native Phrygians. They all wanted too cling to their own ideas and wanted to incorporate them into their new faith. False teachers had taken ideas from Astrology, magic, paganism, and Judaism to produce and incorrect doctrine that presented Jesus as some “angelic being”. Paul knew that this stuck at the very heart of the message of the Gospel. By trying to retain circumcision, food laws, etc.. the whole basis of Christian living was being changed which depended on Christ alone just as it begins with him. Paul includes several titles for Jesus in this letter to counter that idea and teaching.
The first thing that Paul teaches us in Colossians is how to pray for other Christians. It is easy to pray for a non-Christian because you know what to pray for, “For them to know and accept Christ”. How do you pray for a Christian?
Paul gave guidelines on how to pray for other Christians
1 Be thankful for their faith and changed lives (1:3)
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
2 Ask god to help them know his will (1:9)
3 Ask God to give them spiritual wisdom and understanding (1:9)
9 So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom.
4 Ask God to help them live to honor and please him (1:10)
5 Ask God to give them more knowledge of himself (1:10)
10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.
4 Major Themes of Colossians
1 Christ is God
Colossians 1:15-17
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation. 16 Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. 17 He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together.
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, Lord of all creation, and Lord of the new creation He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is eternal, preexsistent, omnipotent, equal with the Father. He is supreme and complete
2 Christ is Head of The Church
Colossians 1:18
18 Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything.
Because Christ is God, he is the head of the church, his true believers. Christ is the founder, the leader, and the authority on earth. He requires first place in all our thoughts and activities.
3 Union with Christ
Colossians 1:19-22
19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross. 21 This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, 22 yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
Because our sin has been forgiven and we have been reconciled to God, we have a union with Christ that can never be broken. In our faith connection with him, we identify with his death, burial, and resurrection.
4 Heresy
Colossians 1:23
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed by God to proclaim it.
False teachers were promoting a heresy that stressed self-made rules. They also sought spiritual growth by discipline of the body, and visions. This search created pride in their self centered efforts. We must not cling to our won ideas and try to blend them with Christianity. Nor should we let our hunger for more fulfilling experience let us trust in teacher or group more than we trust in Christ (Cults).
Paul answered the various tenets of the Colossians heresy that threatened the Church. These heresy’s came from several different influences and some of them even contradicted each other. These are the heresy’s that Paul had to deal with and how he corrected and countered them.
The Heresy
Heresy
“Spirit is good; matter is evil”
Answer-1:15-20 God created heaven and earth for his glory. Nothing that God has created and called good can be evil. (1)False teachers argued that God would not have come to Earth in the form of a man. Paul argued that Christ was the exact likeness of God and in human form he died for us. (2) They believed God did not create the world because he would not have created evil. Paul said Jesus created Heaven and Earth.
(3) They said Christ was not the unique Son of God but an intermediary between people and God. Paul said Christ existed before anything. (4) They refused to see Christ as the source of salvation insisting that people could find God through their won strengths and by obtaining knowledge. Paul said salvation is through Christ alone. The way to be free from sin is to trust Christ to take it away and erase it. (Acquitted by Judge)
Heresy
“One must follow ceremonies, rituals, and restrictions in order to be saved or perfected.
Answer-2:11, 16-23, 3:11 These were only shadows that ended when Christ came. He is all you need to be saved!
Heresy
“One must deny the body and live in strict asceticism”
Answer- 2:18-23 Asceticism is no help in conquering evil thoughts and desires, instead it leads to pride.
Heresy
“Angels must be worshiped”
Answer-2:18 Angels must not be worshiped; Christ alone is worthy of worship.
There was a time when people worshiped Angels. Scrolls were written instructing people on how and who to conjure up for whatever problem they faced.
Heresy
“Christ could not be both human and divine”
Answer-1:15-20, 2:2,3 Christ is God in the flesh, he is the eternal one, head of the Body, first in everything. Christ is supreme! This heresy still continues in some Faiths to this day.
Heresy
“One must obtain secret knowledge in order to be saved or perfected. This is not available to everyone”
Answer-2:2,18 Gods plan is no mystery, it is Christ himself. This plan has been revealed to all.
Heresy
:One must adhere to human wisdom, tradition, and philosophies”
Answer-2:4, 8-10, 3:15-17 by themselves, these can be misleading and shallow because they have human origin, instead remember what Christ taught and follow that as ultimate authority. We do not need to disregard “knowledge” but admit that there are things that we do not know yet. (Aethiests)
Heresy
“It is even better to combine aspects of several religions”
Answer-2:10 You are complete through your union with Christ; he is all sufficient.
You don’t need to seek God by means of New Age religions, cults or unbiblical doctrines.
Take risks-God will guide you, Give more-God will supply you, Love more-God will energize you, Say I can and God will amaze you!
Heresy
“There is nothing wrong with immorality”
Answer-3:1-11 Get rid of sin and evil because you have been chosen by God to live a new life as a representative of the Jesus. (Feel good verses be good preachers)
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come(NIV)
17 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!(NLT)
Receiving Christ as your personal Savior is the beginning of a New Life. This is only the 1st part. Unfortuneatly, this is where some people stop. You must continue to follow his leadership, grow as a Christian, be rooted in a church, built up and strengthened in your faith. We do this in 3 ways.
1 Commit your life and submit your will to him.
Romans 12:1,2
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
2 Seek to learn from him, his life, and his teaching
Colossians 3:16
16 Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
3 Recognize the Holy Spirits power in you
Acts 1:8
8 But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Galatians 5:22,23
22 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.
The fruit of the Spirit is the work of the Spirit in us. The Spirit reproduces the character traits that are found in the nature of Christ. If we want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us we must join our lives to him (John 15:4,5)
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me.5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
We cannot gain these traits on our own efforts. They are a gift from God and the work of The Spirit.
The 2nd part is understanding your new life in Christ. If you are secure in your identity you will be secure in your faith.
Colossians 2:6,7
6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.
Verse 8
8 Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ.
There are many man-made approaches to life’s problems. That approach becomes false religion. To resist that you must use your mind, keep your eyes on Christ, and study Gods Word.
Verses 11,12
11 When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure—the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
Here, circumcision is related to baptism. Baptism by immersion parallels the death, burial of our old sinful ways, and the resurrection to new life in Christ.
Verses 13,14
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.
Think about how you were, and the things you used to do before you knew Christ. Does that old self resemble you now? We will still slip up or sin. The difference is that before we were saved we were slaves to our sin, but now we are free to live for Christ.
Galatians 2:20
20 I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Verse 16
16 So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new-moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.
This refers to Jewish dietary laws and holy days/celebrations.
Verse 18
18 Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on self-denial. And don’t let anyone say you must worship angels, even though they say they have had visions about this. These people claim to be so humble, but their sinful minds have made them proud.
False teachers claimed that god was far away and could only be approached by Angels. They taught people had to worship angles to get to God. This is unscriptual. Angels a re Gods servants and it forbids worshiping them.
Revelation 22:8,9
8 I, John, am the one who saw and heard all these things. And when I saw and heard these things, I fell down to worship the angel who showed them to me. 9 But again he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this scroll. Worship God!”
Exodus 20:3
3 “Do not worship any other gods besides me.”
Colossians 2:20-23
20 You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the evil powers of this world. So why do you keep on following rules of the world, such as, 21 “Don’t handle, don’t eat, don’t touch.” 22 Such rules are mere human teaching about things that are gone as soon as we use them. 23 These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline. But they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person’s evil thoughts and desires.
We cannot reach God by following rules of self denial and rituals or by practicing religion. All rules are not bad but keeping them will not earn us salvation. Man made religions and cults focus on effort, Christianity focus’ on Christs work.
How do we identify Man made religions and cults?
1 does it stress man-mad rules over Gods grace?
2 Does it foster looking down on others or does it exercise discipline by loving others?
3 Does it stress secret knowledge over the Word of God?
4 Does it elevate “rule keeping” over elevating Christ?
5 Does it neglect or ignore Christ all together?
6 Does it disregard the family rather than hold it in esteem as the Bible does?
Following such rules and doctrine can make a person appear to be morale, but it can do nothing to change the heart. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
Chapter 3 “How do we live the life?”
Verses 1,2
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power. 2 Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth.
Setting our sights on heaven means striving to put heavens priorities into daily practice.
Becoming a Christian means a definite break with the old self-centered, self-indulgent ways of life. We begin moving in a new direction and begin to be renewed in the likeness of Christ.
Verse 3,4
3 For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
“Hidden with Christ” means we are concealed and safe. Take heart in salvation and live each day for Christ. He gives us power to live for him now and gives us hope for the future. He will return!
The rest of Chapter 3 tells us how to act now to be prepared for Christs return.
Verse 5-10
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry. 6 God’s terrible anger will come upon those who do such things. 7 You used to do them when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you.
Be unresponsive to sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. This doesn’t warn against sex but against sexual perversion. What is the difference?
Heterosexual, monogamous marriage, and commitment to lifelong fidelity are pleasing to God. The rest is dangerous. The anger of God refers to judgment on the bad behaviors.
Lying disrupts unity and destroys trust.
“New nature”-means that your conduct should match your faith. Every Christian is in a continuing education program. This process is lifelong and we must never stop learning all that we can from and about Gods ways.
Verse 13
13 You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
The key to forgiving others is remembering how much God has forgiven you of.
Let god worry about those who have wronged you.
Verse 14,15
14 And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Christians should live in peace with other Christians and the world. This doesn’t mean that conflicts dissappear but that we work with love to resolve and overcome them.
Verses 16,17
16 Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Early Christians had the Old Testament but not the New Testament yet. Stories were handed down through songs and direct telling/preaching. Music is still an important part of worship. To increase your thankfullness to God, take inventory of what he has done for you.
You are representative of Christ all the time-bring honor to Christ when you speak.
In verses 3:18-4:1 Paul gives rules for the household.
Verse 3:18,19
18 You wives must submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. 19 And you husbands must love your wives and never treat them harshly.
A husband must put aside his own interests to serve his wife and not abuse his leadership role. Likewise, a wife is not to undermine her husbands leadership role and duties.
Verses 20,21
20 You children must always obey your parents, for this is what pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, don’t aggravate your children. If you do, they will become discouraged and quit trying.
Children must be handled with care. They need discipline administered with love.
Problems occur when parents are afraid to correct their children. Children need the guidance of security and structure. Boundaries and guidelines will not embitter a child. Instead, they will set the child free to live within those boundaries.
Chapter 4
Verse 2-4
2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Don’t forget to pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to preach about his secret plan—that Christ is also for you Gentiles. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
Have you ever grown tired of praying for something when the answer comes slowly?
Paul encouraged us to devote ourselves to prayer. Persistence is and expression of our faith. Faith shouldn’t die if and answer comes slowly. The delay may be Gods way of working in your life to prepare you for the answer.
The “Secret Plan” was Christs Good News of salvation. Paul dedicated his life to this mission.
Verses 5,6
5 Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone.
We should live wise in our contact with non Christians. And make the most of every opportunity to witness to them. When we do, it important to always be gracious in what we say. We must respect them if we want them to respect the message we are bringing to them.
CLOSING
What do we learn from Paul in this letter about things we need to do in our New Life in Christ?
1 Put to death these things which destroy a church, a group, or a Christian
Sexual immorality, Impurity, Lust, Evil Desires, Greed
2 Rid ourselves of these things
Anger, Rage, Malicious behavior, Slander, Dirty Language, Lying
3 Clothe ourselves in these things
Mercy, Love Kindness, Humility, Gentleness, Patience, Forgiveness.
These things are relationship builders which we are to express and demonstrate as members of Christs Body. As we demonstrate these things are relationship with Christ will grow as will our new life in him.
