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THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE COLOSSIANS
General Outline of Colossians
I. Chp 1 : DOCTRINE
Christ's Supremacy & Sufficiency DECLARED
II. Chp 2 : DANGER
Christ's Supremacy & Sufficiency DEFENDED
III. Chps 3-4 : DUTY
Christ's Supremacy & Sufficiency DISPLAYED
Colossians
I. Chp 1 : DOCTRINE
CHRIST'S SUPREMACY & SUFFICIENCY DECLARED
1. 1:1-8 Lessons in Discipleship 1
1st : FAITH in Christ2nd : LOVE for the brethren3rd : HOPE in heaven
2. 1:9-14 Lessons in Discipleship IIImportance of Prayer Building Deep in Christ Sub-Structure Structure Superstructure
Col 1:15-23 The SUPREMACY & SUFFICIENCY of CHRIST
1. v15-17 The Supremacy of Christ in CREATION
2. v18-20 The Sufficiency of Christ in Re-CREATION
Conclusion :
v21 Our Past Alienation
v22 Our Present Reconciliation
v23 Our Future Glorification
Col 1:24-29 Blueprint for Discipleship
1. Know WHY … the mystery … ‘Christ in you, the Hope of Glory’
2. Know HOW … in loving communities…
3. Know WHAT … cost to consider …
4. Know WHO … as a servant …
Conclusion :
MAKING DISCIPLE
LOVING COMMUNITY.
Col 2:1-7 Rooted & Built Up In Christ1. Looking Within :
ENCOURAGED IN HEART2. Looking Around :
UNITED IN LOVE3. Looking Above :
FAITH IN CHRIST4. Looking Below :
ROOTED & BUILT UP IN CHRIST
COMPLETE in CHRIST 1 (Col 2:8-15)
1. Be Aware of ‘Christ +’2. Be Complete in Christ3. Be Alive with Christ
Col 2:8-15
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)
v16 Therefore 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.
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)
Addressing False teachers & teaching …Mixture of …Early Gnosticism…‘special’ KNOWLEDGE‘matter’ is evil, ‘spirit’ is goodattaining ‘pleroma’ – ‘FULLNESS’
Judaism ….Circumcision …Food & Drinks …Religious festivals …Sabbaths …
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)
v16 Therefore 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.
Ref to Old Testament Food Laws : Lev 113 Major Festivals : Lev 23, Deut 16PassoverPentecostFeast of Booths
Mthly: New Moons Num10Wkly: Sabbath Exo 201. “LEGALISM”
- The BONDAGE of the LAW
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)v16 Therefore 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.
1. “LEGALISM”- The BONDAGE of the LAW
Reason …v17 These are a shadow of the things that were
to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)v17 These are a shadow of the things that were to
come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Shadow : the Old TestamentReality : CHRIST
Heb 10:1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming — not the realities themselves…
Heb 9:10 “They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings — external regulations applying until the time of the new order.”
The BLESSING is in CHRIST
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)So O.T. Food Laws, Feast & Sabbath ….No Longer Applies…Reasons ….Mark 7:14-19 “it is what comes out of a man that
makes him 'unclean’.”Acts 10 – Peter’s Vision & Cornelius1 Tim 4:1-5 “… For everything God created is good,
and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,…”
With the BLESSING in CHRIST …the ‘shadow’ no longer needed
Q: Eric Liddell’s refusal to run on the Sabbath, is it
RIGHT or WRONG ?
Q: Is it LEGALISM ?
Q: Eric Liddell’s refusal to run on the Sabbath, is it
RIGHT or WRONG ?
Q: Is it LEGALISM ?
Mark 2:27 "The Sabbath was made for man,
not man for the Sabbath.
Rom 14:5-65 One man considers one
day more sacred than another; another man
considers every day alike. Each one should be fully
convinced in his own mind. 6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the
Lord….
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)v17 These are a shadow of the things that were to
come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Shadow : the Old TestamentReality : CHRISTExample …
Response to ‘LEGALISM’ …
The Spiritual Reality …is in Christ.
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)v18 Do not let anyone who delights in false
humility and the worship of angels disqualify (beguile / cheat / condemn) you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail (intruding / insisting) about what he has seen, and his unspiritual (sinful / fleshy / sensuous) mind puffs him up with idle notions (visions).
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)“MYSTICISM”Defn: the belief that direct knowledge of ‘god’,
spiritual truth or ultimate reality can be attained through subjective experience, intuition or insight.
2. “MYSTICISM” - Gnostic Seeing visions … Special experiences, visitations … Special knowledge, revelation …– BONDAGE of the MIND
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)2. “MYSTICISM” Gnostic – BONDAGE of the MINDVs ‘Christian mystics’- spirituality with direct experience of God St John of the Cross Ignatius Loyola St Francis Assisi Teresa of Avila Mdm Guyon etc
Meditation … Contemplation … Spiritual quiet retreat …
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)2. “MYSTICISM” Gnostic – BONDAGE of the MINDModern “Mysticism” … New Age Movement …
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)“Mysticism” Gnostic – Bondage of the MindResponsev19 He has lost connection with the Head, from
whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
Col 2:9 Christ is the Head …Body illustration : Rom 12 1 Cor 12
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles
of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because
they are based on human commands and teachings.
23 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.
3. ASCETISM – BONDAGE to the ‘FLESH’
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)3. ASCETISM – BONDAGE to the ‘FLESH’Asceticism (Gk) : "exercise, training, practice." Ascetics renounce worldly pleasures that distract
from spiritual growth and enlightenment and live a life of abstinence, austerity and extreme self-denial. Common in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam.
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)3. ASCETISM – BONDAGE to the ‘FLESH’
Simeon the Stylite
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)3. ASCETISM – BONDAGE to the ‘FLESH’
Simeon the Stylite
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)3. ASCETISM – BONDAGE to the ‘FLESH’Response :
v20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why,….
Know Who You Are In CHRIST …Col 2:8-15 sins forgiven debts canceled … victory assured spiritual circumcision … ‘baptism’ - death, buried & raised … COMPLETE in CHRIST …
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)Summary of Colossians
The SUPREMACY & SUFFICIENCY of CHRISTThe answer to …LEGALISM is the spiritual reality we have in Christ.
‘Gnostic’ MYSTICISM is the spiritual union with Christ, the Head of
the church. ASCETICISM is our position in Christ – through his death,
burial and resurrection.HOW NOT to live out our Christian Faith ….BUT How Then should Christians live ??
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)LIVING out our Christian Faith…
Ref John 17:14-16…
IN THE WORLD
Yet not OF THE WORLD
Ref Matt 5:13-16
You are the LIGHT & SALT of the earth …
Let your LIGHT SHINE …
John 8:12 Jesus said "I am the light of the world…”
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)
HOLY RIGHTEOUS
OMNISCIENT
OMNIPOTENT
OMNIPRESENT
IMMUTABLE
JUST
ETERNAL
TRUTH
CHARACTER / ATTRIBUTES of GOD …
LOVE
MERCIFUL
GOODNESSC
om
mu
nic
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Inco
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** List is Not Exhaustive
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)CHRISTIANS should stand for …RIGHTEOUSNESSProv 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but
sin is a disgrace to any people. JUSTICE Amos 5:24 But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream! TRUTHJohn 14:6-7 "I am the way and the truth and
the life…”
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)Relationship : Christian & “the Authorities”1 Tim 2:1-2 I urge, then, first of all, that requests,
prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may LIVE PEACEFUL AND QUIET LIVES in all GODLINESS AND HOLINESS.
1 Peter 2:13-14 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by Him to PUNISH THOSE WHO DO WRONG and to COMMEND THOSE WHO DO RIGHT.
Other Ref : Romans 13:1-5
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)Eph 5:8-14For you were once darkness, but now you are light in
the Lord. LIVE AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT (for the fruit of the light
consists in all GOODNESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TRUTH) …
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather EXPOSE THEM. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
But EVERYTHING EXPOSED BY THE LIGHT BECOMES VISIBLE, for it is light that makes everything visible.
Complete in Christ 2 (Col 2:16-23)Christians –
in the world …
to be LIGHT & SALT of the earth …
to live righteous, just, truthful lives …
to obey state ‘Authorities’ who are to punish
the ‘wrong’ and protect the ‘right’ …
if there is ‘deeds of darkness’ to expose…
Q: How can it be done practically ?
Q: What can we learn from Church history ?
Q: Who is this ?
WILLIAM WIBERFORCE (1759-1833)
‘You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you
did not know’
‘A private faith that does not act in the
face of oppression is no faith at all’
‘Let it not be said that I was silent
when they needed me.’
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)
“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the
wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the
wheel itself.”
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless.
Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
** “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and
controversy.”
“He who passively accepts evilis as much involved in it as he
who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without
protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”
“Injustice anywhere …is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.
The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
Nelson Mandela 1918-2013
“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others.”
Complete in Christ (Col 2:8-23)
In Conclusion
“You will know as much of God, and only as much of God, as you are willing to put into practice.”
Complete in Christ (Col 2:8-23)In ConclusionMust know …CHRISTwho you are in CHRISTIt’s not what you DO, BUT what Christ has DONE
and if you will accept His Offer …We cannot work for our salvation …
BUT we need to WORK OUT our salvation Phi 2:12As Light & Salt Speaking up … Standing up … for Righteousness, Justice, Truth …
