8/9/18
Tom Lowe
IIIA2b? A Labor to Present Every Man Perfect in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:28-29)
• “Special Notes” and “Scripture” follow associated verses.
• NIV Bible is used throughout unless noted otherwise.
Colossians 1:28-29 (NIV)
(Text) Col. 1:28-29: He is the one we proclaim, admonishing (instructing) and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Introduction
We have met Paul the preacher, sharing the Gospel and Paul the prisoner, suffering for the Gentiles. Now we meet Paul the prayer-warrior, striving in prayer for the individual saints that they might mature in the faith.
Christ’s message is for everyone, so everywhere Paul and Timothy went they brought the Good News to all who would listen. An effective presentation of the Gospel includes warnings and teaching. The warning is that without Christ, people are doomed to eternal separation from God. The teaching is that salvation is available through faith in Christ.
COMMENTARY
(1:28) He is the one we proclaim, admonishing (counseling) and teaching (instructing) everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.
“He is the one we proclaim.” “He” refers, of course, to Jesus Christ. “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). The false teachers exalted themselves and their great “spiritual” achievement. They preached a system of teaching, but Paul preached a Person. The Gnostics{28.2] preached philosophy and the empty traditions of man (Colossians 2:8), but Paul proclaimed Jesus Christ. The false teachers had lists of rules and regulations (Colossians 2:16, 20-21), but Paul presented Christ. What a difference in ministries!
Paul, in proclaiming this Christ who now also dwells in Gentile believers was admonishing (“counseling”) and teaching (“instructing”) everyone (Colossians 3:16). No doubt he did this admonishing and instructing because of the false teaching about Christ in Colosse. He did so wisely (Colossians 4:5-6) since his purpose was not to drive them into the hands of the heretics but to present everyone perfect{28.1] (James 1:4) in Christ. Paul was wishing that the believers would not remain spiritual babies (1 Corinthians 3:1-2), but would instead become spiritually mature (Hebrews 5:11-14). Elsewhere Paul prayed for complete sanctification of believers (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Paul preached the “fullness” of the Gospel so that believers could have the fullness of life Jesus promised (John 10:10). To this end Paul expended all his God-given strength. Developing maturity in believers took great labor or wearisome toil (1 Corinthians 15:10, 58; Galatians 4:11; 1 Thessalonians 1:3) and even struggling (Colossians 2:1; 4:12) or agonizing like an athlete in an arena (1 Corinthians 9:25; 1 Timothy 6:12). The power for this struggle came from Christ (Philippians 4:13).
Verse 27 closes with the clear, understandable statement, “Christ in you, the hope of Glory.” Verse 28 opens with “He is the one we proclaim,” referring to Christ. Paul had a singular message: Christ. He said, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). Everywhere he preached, his theme was “Jesus Christ—crucified, buried, risen and coming again” (Acts 17:3; Philippians 1:17). To Paul, Christ was glorious in His person and perfect{1] in His ministry: He satisfied Almighty God. To Paul, Christ was God incarnate—the bleeding peacemaker, Governor of the universe, because it pleased the Father that in His Christ, the Son of His love, all fullness dwelt. To Paul, it was “Christ—whom we preach.” Paul did not preach the doctrine of Christ—he preached Christ. But the Gospel is not what we preach, but it is whom we preach. No man has ever preached the Gospel who hasn’t preached Christ. Jesus Christ is the Gospel. He is eternal life. John wrote that He was going to show us eternal life, that He had seen eternal life (1 John 1:1-2). Whom had John seen? He’d seen Christ. And, my friend, today you either have Him or you don’t have Him. The Gospel is Christ—what He has done for us by His death and resurrection and what He is going to do in the future.
Paul did not attempt to be spectacular. He did not desire to be advertised as “the world’s greatest Bible teacher,” nor did he crave to be known as the world’s number one evangelist. Christ Jesus, the one and undivided all-sufficient Savior was the singular subject of his preaching. Paul did not preach high-sounding messages, but his preaching was definite and precise, clearly expressed in words easily understood. He did not speculate in the things unknown to man, he did not announce subjects concerning mysteries that are secrets known only to Jehovah God. He did not deal in meats and drinks, days and garments. He preached Christ—the Man, the person, the Mediator, in whom we are complete. He did not cater to crowds who desired to be gratified by prying into the Celestial arena of spirits and angels. He did not suggest that angels should be worshiped or prayed too. He never substituted anything for Jesus Christ. His message was faith, hope, love—all wrapped up in Jesus, the greatest of these being love, because God is love and Christ is God. His one theme was Christ, in whom we have pardon by His blood, by whose spirit we possess purity, righteousness and, eventually, perfection without spot or wrinkle when we shall stand in His presence.
“Admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom.” Paul not only preached Christ, but he also taught Christ,” for in Christ are “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). It was not necessary to introduce any new teaching, for all that the believer needs to know is related to Jesus Christ. “Teaching everyone with all wisdom” was Paul’s concern. Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. The false teachers promise to give people a “hidden wisdom” that would make them “spiritually elite.” But all true spiritual wisdom is found only in Jesus Christ.
Paul made it his business to instruct men, as well as to exhort{28.3] them. Exhortation and warning are of little use where there is not sound instruction and a careful infusion of the truth. It is one of the duties of the ministry to instruct men in those truths of which they were formerly ignorant; see Matthew 28:19; 2 Timothy 2:25.
Paul’s message was for all men, regardless of race, creed or color. He warned the sinner to repent, believe, and trust, or else he may have to stand before God alone—condemned, helpless, hopeless and hell-bound. He warned the Christian to present his body a living sacrifice, his members as instruments of righteousness, and whether eating, drinking, or whatsoever the believer should do, all should be done to the glory of God. While it is good to proclaim positive truth, it is also necessary to “WARN” God’s people against the lies of the enemy (Acts 20:31). This does not mean warning of danger, but “bringing all of the claims of the Gospel to their attention.” Our word “WARN” is commonly used in the sense of cautioning against danger. The Greek word here means to put in mind; to admonish; to exhort. The idea the apostle expresses here is that he made it his chief business to bring the offers of the Gospel fairly before the mind of every man. Since it had the same claims on all; since it might be freely offered to all, and since it furnished the only hope of glory, he made it the object of his life to inform every man of it, as far as he could.
I believe there are two commands here for ministers today—these are two things we should be doing. We are to preach the Gospel in order to win sinners to Christ and to save them from the wrath that is to come, and we are to teach every man in all wisdom. In other words, we are to seek to build up men and women so that they may grow in grace and become faithful members of the body of Christ; they are to be encouraged to serve Christ in the local assembly.
Paul emphasizes “everyone”; “teaching everyone in all wisdom.” To the Corinthians Paul said, “Christ is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, that no flesh should glory in His presence.” Christ is perfect{28.1] wisdom. He urged the unbeliever to accept free and full salvation . . . “by grace, through faith.” He begged the Christian to present his all to God, and to look to God for comfort, strength and abundant fruit-bearing. He preached the Gospel with great wisdom. Paul was trying to drive home to the Colossians the glorious truth that Christ died for everyone, loves everyone, and longs to save everyone. Every man had a place in Paul’s prayers. He did not pray limited prayers for a limited group. He prayed for everyone.
The motive for Paul’s preaching and for his prayers is stated in the last of verse 28: “so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.”
Certainly everyone he had attempted to instruct was not saved; but that did not keep him from having a deep desire to see everyone saved. He refused to be content with anything less.
Verse 28 notes
[28.1} The word “perfect” means mature or complete, not flawless. It was a favorite word with the Gnostic teachers. It described the disciple who was no longer a novice, but who had matured and was fully instructed in the secrets of the religion. Paul used it to mean “complete, mature in Christ.” This is the goal of all preaching, warning, and teaching. Paul wanted to see each believer mature spiritually. To mature, we must grow daily in our faith.
[28.2} “Gnosticism” (The Greek means "having knowledge"), is a modern name for a variety of ancient religious ideas and systems, originating in Jewish-Christian communities in the first and second century AD. This sect believed that the material world is created by a command of the highest God, which placed the divine spark within the human body. This divine spark could be liberated by gnosis. Some of their core teachings include the following:
1. All matter is evil, and the non-material, spirit-realm is good.
2. There is an unknowable God, who gave rise to many lesser spirit beings called Aeons.
3. One evil, lower spirit being is the creator who made the universe.
4. Gnosticism does not deal with "sin", only ignorance.
5. To achieve salvation, one needs to get in touch with secret knowledge.
[28.3} “Exhort” means to give urgent advice, recommendations, or warnings.
(1:29) To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
“To this end I strenuously contend.” What a picture of prayer! So much of our praying is calm and comfortable, and yet Paul exerted his spiritual muscles the way a Greek runner would exert himself in the Olympic Games. This does not mean that our prayers are more effective if we exert all kinds of fleshly energy. Nor does it mean that we must “wrestle with God” and wear Him out before He will meet our needs. Paul was a tireless worker for Christ; he labored in both the word and doctrine, by preaching Christ, warning sinners of the danger they were in, teaching them the way of salvation, and their duty; with this in view, that, in the great day of the Lord, he might bring a large number of them, and set them before Christ as the hallmark of his ministry, as instances of the grace of Christ, and as being perfect in Him.
Paul described a spiritual striving{2]: it was God’s power at work in his life. True prayer is directed to the Father (Matthew 6:9), through the Son (in His name, John 14:13-14), in the power of the Holy Spirit (Jude 20). When the Spirit is at work in our lives, then we can pray mightily in the will of God.
The ministry was not a sideline with Paul; it was not something he did lightly, a frivolous work to pass away the time. The ministry made a demand upon every faculty of the Apostle and upon every moment of his time. To Timothy, his son in the Gospel, he said, “For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:10). Paul plays his full part in this work of ministry. “Labor” means toiling almost to the point of exhaustion. “Striving” means agonizing, putting in great effort as in an athletic contest (see 1 Corinthians 9:24-27). So the fact that he is empowered does not mean that no effort is required of him. But while the effort is his, the power is not. That is given to him by Another. It results from the working of God which works in him “in power” (dunamis), dynamic power (compare Ephesians 3:20; Philippians 2:13). And without that effective power all activity would be in vain.
Paul had many enemies with which to contend (Philippians 1:29, 30; 1 Timothy 6:5; 2 Thessalonians 3:2). I believe they caused him to spend many hours in agonizing prayer—prayer that produced many tears.
In the last part of the verse, Paul confesses that his striving for the souls of men is according to “all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” Paul was a dedicated servant—soul, spirit and body. He labored not only under divine instruction and divine energy, but he labored just as far as divine energy enabled him to labor. Hear him as he says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them?yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).
Paul received his message by divine revelation. He delivered that message by divine power. He said, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). His singular motive was to present every man perfect in Christ, through the preaching of Christ, and he knew that this would be accomplished only through the power of Christ. He knew human power and influence could not change the hearts of men.
A minister may learn the methods and the genius of building a great organization and drawing great crowds; but without grace, holiness and spiritual support, any ministry is vain. “OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD” (2 Corinthians 3:5, 6).
“With all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” Paul is giving us his very personal testimony: “This is what I’m laboring, striving{29.1] to do, according to His working, which worketh in me mightily.” Oh, this should be the desire of everyone today who is working for Christ—that He would work in us mightily to do two things: to get out the Gospel that man might be saved and then to build them up in the faith. These are the two things the church should be doing today.
[29.1} “Striving” means “to agonize.”
