I pulled into a gas station a couple weeks ago and saw something new at the pump. If I wanted, I could push a button to mix a chemical with the gas that would improve my gas mileage. The advertisement explained that the additive would clean the engine valves and boost performance. Is this just “hype”? I thought. I didn’t have time to Google it, and it only cost an extra five dollars. So I gave it a try. Sure enough. On the very same trip under the very same conditions I got about 3 mpg better performance.
I think I will use some kind of additive again periodically. But here’s what I want you to keep in mind. The additive did not boost performance because it supplied my car with some extra special fuel. It simply cleaned out the junk building up around the valves, so the engine could do better what it was already doing.
Think of Paul’s letter to the Colossians as that kind of an additive. He’s not supplying something they didn’t already have, but cleaning their mental and spiritual valves so they could function better.
We all need that kind of help from time to time, don’t we. And not just about spiritual things. Over time married couples, for example, can accumulate various sorts of contaminants: unkind words, disappointments, broken promises, selfish habits build up. Gradually the marriage is not running as smoothly as it once did. But add a marriage counseling the mix. You won’t get any secret, but perhaps some help to get back in touch with what you’ve already had.
As I read through Paul’s letter to the Colossians I saw him doing exactly that: So let’s take a look.
Colossians and Syncretism
Colossae was one of several cities in Asia Minor located in the Lycus River valley. It was on a main cross country trade route, so it was subject to many cultural and religious influences. This was a time in world history, not unlike ours, when exposure to multi-culturalism makes people wonder whether there might be something they’re missing, some truths, some experiences, some beliefs, some life skills that could be added to or could replace what they already believed or practiced that would make their life better.
So it was common for people to incorporate a mixture of ideas, beliefs and practices into their life. Additives. This is called syncretism. But unfortunately these additives, for Christians, would actually be contaminants: beliefs and practices that would gum up the works. That was Paul’s concern.
Scholars are not in agreement about the exact nature of the influences that threatened the church in Colossae, nor how contaminated they already were. But it was enough of a problem to prompt Paul to write this letter in which he was essentially saying to them, “You don’t need anything more…”
This comes through what I want to teach you this morning having to do with grammar and Paul’s use of the present perfect tense verbs. I don’t expect you to be a grammar scholar so a little review is in order.
A Little Grammar Lesson
In the English language we have verb tenses that tell us when an action takes place. For example, tell me when the action takes place according to each of these verbs:
• I walked to the store. (Past)
• I am walking to the store. (Present)
• I will walk to the store. (Future)
Simple? In fact, those are examples of what’s actually called simple past, present and future tense verbs. Let’s go just a little deeper though. For example, what if I say:
• I have walked to the store.
This is known as the present perfect tense. In grammar, for an action to be called “perfect” means it is a completed act. “I walked to the store” is a perfected act—over and done with. But by adding the auxiliary verb “have” tells you that the act is complete but the condition extends into the present. Because when you say, “I have something” it means it is in your possession now.
When you say, “I had something” it means it is no longer in your possession now. When you say, “I will have something” is means it will be in your possession in the future, but it is not yours right now.
Simply put, a present perfect verb—using the auxiliary verb “have”—means this act is complete but pertains to the present.
So when a person pushes his chair back at Thanksgiving, rubs his stomach and says, “I have eaten all I can eat,” he is referring to a completed act (“I’m through”) creating a current condition.
What if I say, “I had eaten all I could eat…” That’s past perfect. It’s a completed act that occurred in the past, but doesn’t necessarily refer to your current condition.
What if I say, “I will have eaten all I can eat…” That’s future perfect. You anticipate eating your fill, but it hasn’t happened yet.
But when you say, “I have eaten all I can eat,” your eating is done but your condition remains. “I am stuffed!”
Paul and Present Perfect Verbs
These present perfect verbs—past acts that remain true in the present—form the heart of Paul’s message to the Colossians as he tries to protect them from syncretism. They dominate the very first chapter. Let’s look.
Paul begins by telling the Colossians how pleased he is to hear about their spreading reputation of remarkable faith and love. He heard those reports from Epaphras, the man who started the church in Colossae. Paul tells them that those good things he heard about: 1:5-6 …spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you.
These are the first two examples of present perfect: “you have heard” from the “gospel that has come to you.” There’s the first shot Paul fires over the bow of syncretism.
The people of Colossae don't need any more input from anybody adding to what they have already heard. Their hearing of the gospel is a completed act extending into the present.
Multi-culturalism and Insecurity
Now before I go on to read the next verses, keep in mind again that the Colossians are living in this multi-cultural world, surrounded by people who have lots of different beliefs, leading people to worry:
Maybe there is something else I need to believe or do in order to please God and have a blessed life. We are all tempted to think like that from time to time: Am I doing enough? Is there something more?
Particularly in Colossae, there were some philosophies mixed with religious traditions circulating urging people to attain greater spiritual heights through legalistic rules or drastic forms of self-denial.
2:16 Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
2:21, 23 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
These are the problems Paul is dealing with, worried that the people might be pulled into false beliefs and unnecessary practices. So he’s been praying for them and let’s them know: 1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Notice the subtle point he is making: The source of spiritual understanding is God and the gospel, not human beings or through some strict forms of self-denial. Then Paul goes on to explain why he is praying for God to fill them with this knowledge:
1:10-11 We pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way:
o bearing fruit in every good work
o growing in the knowledge of God,
o being strengthened with all God’s glorious power to have great endurance and patience…
o joyfully giving thanks to the Father
And now comes a series of three key present perfect verb phrases (1:12-13) as Paul describes the Father:
o who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
o For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
o and [has] brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
Present Perfect and the Gospel
It’s Paul’s use of the present perfect that is vitally important for the Colossians, because it tells them what they should believe about their current condition as believers. Let’s review each of these past acts creating a present condition.
o “who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints…” That’s over and done with extending into the present. They should not believe that there is some additional work they must do or requirement they must meet in order to share in their full inheritance as children of God. Nothing else. Just simply believing the word of truth they have already heard.
o “he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness…” That’s over and done with extending into the present. They should not believe that there is any power of evil that still dominates their life that hasn’t been broken.
Now before I move on to the next phrase, I want to give you one more powerful piece of information about this letter.
Paul is writing to a church he did not start and had not visited. Without knowing any of them personally he is telling them they are “qualified” and they are “rescued.” How does he know that? Because they believed the gospel. He did not need to know them or ever visit the church, because he knew what the gospel—the true gospel—accomplishes.
So when he simply heard the reports of their faith and love, he knew they had heard and received the true gospel. The gospel was at work in them doing what the gospel does.
The fact that Paul wrote this to people he had never met, means that if Paul were writing today to our church, to you and me, he would say the exact same thing. He doesn’t need to know us personally to know that we are qualified and rescued, because those are conditions based not on what we have done, but based on the gospel of who Jesus is and what He has done.
If any person believes that gospel, they—meaning we too—are qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints. All of the riches of the kingdom of God belong to you.
The Gospel of Total Freedom
Now, according to Paul’s present perfect verbs, if you believe the gospel, you are also rescued from the dominion of darkness! To be rescued means that you are no longer subject to the control of any evil power. You are fully out. No longer hostage. A kidnap victim can’t be considered rescued until the kidnapper no longer has any power over that person.
Well, what about the fact that I still find myself drawn to wrong thoughts and desires? Doesn’t that mean that I am still under its control? No, it means you are letting yourself be controlled unnecessarily.
Paul says in Romans: 6:17-18 Thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
That’s the gospel. Anyone who believes this “word of truth” is not under the dominion of sin and evil. Straight and simple. It is always disappointing to hear Christians say anything that uses the word “can’t” when it comes to righteous living, whether it is:
• I can’t forgive.
• I can’t love him.
• I can’t find peace in my heart.
• I can’t overcome this addiction.
And they hide behind all sorts of excuses or turn to all sorts of human techniques to try to deal with their dysfunction.
On the contrary the New Testament writers are in perfect harmony when it comes to our ability to live holy lives here and now. They would never tolerate anyone who claims that we are unable to live out the full expectations and expressions of godliness.
The apostle Peter concurs totally with Paul when he wrote:
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given [present perfect] us everything we need for life and godliness…
That’s what every believer has available. Paul is saying in Colossians that nothing else is needed. But you have to do exactly what Paul wrote in Romans:
Romans 6:11 Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
You have to believe and act on it.
Romans 6:12, 14 Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires… For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
When God gave us the gift of salvation through Jesus, it was like he was giving us a car that would take us anywhere we needed to go to be holy. Where do you need to get to in your life in order to be holy? To a place of more patience? To a place of kindness? Where do you need to go? His saving grace will take you there. But He can’t help it if we don’t drive that car.
Finally Paul writes one more present perfect verb in this opening section.
• “he has brought us into the kingdom of the Son…”
That’s over and done with extending into the present. Paul does not want the Colossians to believe that they somehow still stand outside, even partially, of the fullness of the kingdom and authority of Jesus. They are fully inside; they are fully enveloped in an environment of His authority.
In the past I have told you about my extreme personal problem than led to my arrest, a problem that had plagued me for years, one that I could never resist no matter how hard I tried and how disgusted and ashamed I was with myself.
But I remember the day I was delivered, the exact moment and place I was. One thought came into my mind, like a flash of lightning. It was a simple thought: the arresting idea of a “present perfect” verb. I have been delivered in Jesus. Nothing else happened. No one else was there. No one laid hands on me and prayed against the enemy or my 16-year addiction. But for the first time in my life I believed what was already the case for me. I realized that through Jesus I had been given a deposit into my personal bank account of all the spiritual riches and resources of God’s holiness.
Then the next time I was tempted, I simply by faith pulled out my spiritual checkbook and wrote a check for “deliverance” from that immediate temptation. And I walked away. That happened one more time when I had to draw upon my deliverance account to fend off a temptation. I did it again, and have never had a temptation since that day. Total victory. Total transformation.
Ever since that time, the words of a traditional communion liturgy have meant so much to me:
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who gave in love Your only Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption, who by His sacrifice, offered once for all, did provide a full, perfect and sufficient atonement for the sins of the whole world…
There’s the perfect. “Full, perfect and sufficient.” All you have to do is believe it, and all Jesus is and all He has is yours now. Later in Colossians Paul puts it this way: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Present.
Perfect.
