Colossians 2:3-6
by Dr. Grant C. Richison
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Colossians 2:3
"in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
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"in whom are hidden"
The "whom" here is the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is essentially
a relationship with a person. The wealth of Christianity revolves around
that person.
This is a truth not known in the Old Testament (1:26).
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"all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"
The word "treasures" means stored up. It is the word from which
we get our word thesaurus. A thesaurus is a treasury of words stored up
to compare with one another. God begins to give a catalogue of treasures
at salvation and they continue throughout the Christian experience until
and including death. The entire plan of God revolves around the person
and work of Jesus Christ.
God provides our initial salvation by forgiveness of sins in Christ. God
gives us divine operating assets while we live life in time. God saves
us eternally at physical death. That is an outline of God's thesaurus.
Note that "all" the treasures are hidden in him. They will always
be in him. Jesus is the treasure of God. The wonderful thing about the
"hidden treasures" in Christ is that we discover them by personally
accepting him as our Savior. We do that by believing that his death on
the cross forgives us of our sins.
Wisdom is the appropriation of truth to experience, 1:9. If we know truth
we will be able to apply it properly to our situation. This is spiritual
insight into who Jesus is.
Knowledge is the catalogue of truth, the power to apprehend truth. We must
first grasp truth before we can apply it. We cannot apply truth that we
do not know. Once we grasp truth, we can give an answer for our faith.
We find both "wisdom" and "knowledge" in Christ (Rom.
11:33; I Cor. 12:8).
PRINCIPLE: The Lord Jesus Christ is the key that unlocks God's treasure.
APPLICATION: We can obtain knowledge in school but not wisdom. Spiritual
wisdom comes from personal knowledge and fellowship with the Lord Jesus.
He is the key to wisdom and knowledge (I Cor. 1:23,24). He is the mind
and might of God; the brains and brawn of God.
I Corinthians states that we have the "mind of Christ." Where
do we have the mind of Christ? God has put it in writing -- the Word of
God, the unabridged revelation of God. We cannot understand the Word of
God without first knowing the Son of God (Rom. 8:7,8; I Cor. 2:14). We
cannot know the Son of God without first knowing the Word of God. Everything
that God wants us to know is in the Bible.
The unique difference about Jesus Christ from all other religious leaders
is that he is alive today. All other religious leaders are all dead and
buried but Jesus Christ is alive! A dead Confucius or Buddha cannot give
eternal life. They died themselves. Jesus rose from the dead.
I would like to invite you to know the Son of God. If you accept the fact
that he paid for all your sins upon the cross by faith, you will have eternal
life. The Bible presents no other solution. The Bible guarantees no other
answer for owning eternal life.
Colossians 2:4
"Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive
words."
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"Now this I say"
"This" refers to the "full knowledge" of verse three.
Paul has just presented the sufficiency of Christ. Full knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ protects the believer from deception. Mature believers
protect themselves from deception by their full knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
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"lest anyone should deceive you"
Paul now briefs them on why they could not discern truth from error. We
learn from our mistakes. We can probably learn more from our failures than
from our successes. The word "lest" introduces a purpose clause.
God does not want us to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Satan convinces people by beguiling them (II Cor. 11:3). If we do not
know the truth sufficiently, we leave ourselves open to undermining what
we believe. The Colossians let themselves open to the false teachers of
the Lycus Valley because they did not sufficiently know the Word of God.
The word "deceive" means to reason aside. It came to mean to
"lead astray" or "delude." It means to deceive by false
reasoning, by false logic, by a system that sounds logical but is not sound
reasoning. There are plenty of people out there who want to distort the
pure Word of God.
In the Greek Old Testament this word was used by Jacob when he reproached
Laban for refusing to live up to his side of the bargain of giving Rachel
for his wife (Gen. 29:25, LXX).
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"with persuasive words"
The terms "persuasive words" are used of a lawyer who argues that
his guilty client is not culpable. It carries the idea of our idiom: "To
talk someone into something." It is the appearance of logic. This
is a person who has the power to influence an audience toward an unjust
verdict. Recent legal cases in North America patently demonstrate how lawyers
can talk a jury off just punishment.
We must not surrender to glib and sometimes convincing arguments of false
teachers. The ignorant and unwary in our day still fall to specious arguments
because they are ignorant of God's Word.
False arguments that sound plausible can deceive. Persuasion and truth
are not necessarily the same thing. False teachers can be very persuasive
(Rom. 16:18). They need to cheat in order to ruin us. It is impossible
for them to deceive and cheat, if it was not for our own ignorance of truth.
PRINCIPLE: The true Christian should have such a grip on truth that he
or she will not listen to specious and seductive arguments.
APPLICATION: Glib talkers can rattle off philosophical sophistry. There
are many religious tricksters on the loose. They will try to "con"
Christians by enticing words. They throw kisses at the Lord Jesus Christ.
They say nice things about him. That gives them credibility. It is amazing
how many Christians become sucked into aberrant religious systems because
they do not know enough of the Word of God to discern the true from the
false (II Cor 11:3). The Devil will make a play for our heads.
If believers fortify themselves behind the defense perimeter of verse two,
then they will be able to withstand people who talk them off from truth.
If they have an edification complex in their soul from the Word of God,
they will have stability of soul. Satan attacks the soul who has a vacuum
of truth in his soul (Eph. 4:17).
People with little truth open themselves up to negatively view the unadulterated
truth of the Bible. They are susceptible to a "fifth column"
to come in and undermine truth. Are you vulnerable to being talked into
false doctrine?
Colossians 2:5
"For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit,
rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in
Christ."
There was an insidious error at work in Colosse. False teachers were attempting
to teach that other avenues of information about God were possible other
than the Bible.
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"For though I am absent in the flesh"
Paul never visited the church at Colosse. Even though he was not physically
present with them, he was with them in spirit.
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"yet I am with you in spirit"
Paul identified with the Colossian church spiritually. Though he was not
physically present, he was able to deal with an assault upon their faith
by writing to them.
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"rejoicing to see your good order"
The words "order" and "steadfastness" are military metaphors.
They both describe an army set for battle. This is the attitude believers
must adopt if they are to stand against false doctrine.
The word "order" refers to solders in orderly rank. It means
to form an army in battle array. Soldiers are to line up in battle order.
No soldier should break rank and run. Panic will destroy any army.
General Jesus orders his Christian troops in military array. The Christian
church should march like an army, rank upon rank, with every man in his
appointed place. Jesus Christ himself arranges the disposition of this
Christian army. Every Christian should be ready to take commands from General
Jesus and go to doctrinal battle for him.
The manual for battle is the Word of God. When it comes to spiritual war,
the Christian needs to fight the battle on God's terms. In chemistry, certain
laws are crucial to follow if we do not want to meet with a violent result.
There is no latitude in the multiplication table. So the Christian life
operates on principles that carry the Christian warrior in spiritual warfare.
PRINCIPLE: Christians are to display orderly rank and solid discipline
as troops of Jesus Christ.
APPLICATION: Christians need both unity and solid understanding of the
Word of God in the face of slick-tongued heretics. A soldier's discipline
for order and steadfastness in the Word of God is necessary for a Christian
walk.
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"and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ"
The word "steadfast" is from the military term "phalanx".
A phalanx was an ancient Greek formation of infantry. Soldiers were arrayed
in rows of eight to sixteen rows making a solid block. This block could
sweep through the more dispersed enemy. The phalanx was originally deployed
by the Spartans. It was developed by Epaminondas of Thebes (362 B.C.).
This method of war reached its apex under Alexander the Great. He used
the Macedonian Phalanx (16 soldiers deep armed with a 24' spear). He conquered
all of Greece and the Near East with this system of warfare.
The Christian is to be an immovable phalanx in the Word. The Christian
phalanx is an unbreakable square. It stands solid against the charge of
the enemy. The true church holds fast to it's phalanx of faith. A true
faith refuses to yield to opposing influences. This is not a frozen orthodoxy
where all change and adventure of thinking are heresy.
PRINCIPLE: Christians are to display orderly rank and solid discipline
as troops of Jesus Christ.
APPLICATION: How solidly do you adhere to the allegiance of your faith --
Jesus Christ? Does your love never waver from him? No Christian is free
from the authority of Jesus Christ. When we reject his authority, we reject
what is best for our soul. Then we substitute drugs and alcohol for the
vacuum in our souls. When we substitute other answers for Jesus Christ,
we break rank with him. Are you the kind of soldier who stays in rank with
the Word of God?
Colossians 2:6
"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
in Him"
This verse begins a practical antitoxin to deal with seducers. It is not
enough to warn against desertion from Christ; the Christian must advance
in his daily life of faith.
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"As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord"
The word "therefore" marks the transition from the doctrinal to
the practical.
"Received" means to welcome what is brought or delivered by others.
It means to receive truth by transmission from someone else. It is the
Word of God that transmits truth about Christ.
When we became a Christian, we welcomed the doctrine of Christ; we took
Jesus in every relation and capacity; we received the person himself. The
doctrine concerning Christ is sufficient to meet any contingency in the
Christian life. Our full reception of the doctrine of Christ is the only
true safeguard against deceit. This is an exhortation to persist in the
truth.
PRINCIPLE: We become a Christian by faith in Christ's death to forgive
us for our sins.
APPLICATION: Has there been a time in your life when you personally welcomed
Christ as your Savior? You may say, "Well, I do not know whether I
have or not." We cannot marry and not know it! We either have received
Christ or we have not. We cannot receive Christ and not know it.
Many people say, "I suppose I'm a Christian, I hope I am." Do
you know for sure that you have made a decision to receive Christ? No one
in their right mind would say, "I think I'm married, I hope I'm married,
I suppose I'm married, I don't really know." If someone where to ask
you, "Have you received Jesus Christ's death to forgive your sins?"
you may say, "I am not sure." Then you are not a Christian. When
the minister asks, "Will you have his man to be your husband?",
you answer, "I do." When someone asks you, "Will you have
this Man Christ Jesus to be your personal Savior?", you either say,
"I do" or "I won't." If you say, "I do,"
he will forgive you immediately of all sin, past, present or future.
Titles of the Lord Jesus are very informative. They reveal nuances the
author intends in a given context. This is what we find in this verse.
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"Christ Jesus the Lord"
The Greek says, "the Christ Jesus, the Lord." Note the two definite
articles. This is the full title of our Lord.
Note the title "Lord." When we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior,
we get more than a Savior; we get a Lord. When we married our wife, we
did not say, "I take you as my partner in business." No, we took
her as our wife. Partnership in business may involve an aspect of marriage.
When we receive Christ, we get more than that for which we bargained.
We did not know much about our salvation when we began a Christ, but we
need to find out that he is Lord as soon as possible.
He is Lord (II Cor. 4:5). That makes us a slave. We need to learn that
we are no longer our own. Our Savior and Lord bought, ransomed and redeemed
us.
PRINCIPLE: Jesus Christ is more than a Savior; he is our Lord.
APPLICATION: We need to recognize that Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives.
That recognition will change how we live. Simple volition cannot execute
the Christian life. When we lose consciousness of willing to do something,
we sin and fail. Therefore, it is not will itself that delivers us, it
is the object of our will that makes the difference, the Word of God that
reveals Jesus the Lord.
Is the Lord Jesus Christ the object of our choices? If we appropriate the
person and work of Christ to our lives by many choices, the sovereign Lord
will strengthen us to execute the Christian life. When we recognize the
sovereign Lord as Lord, God will enable us to live the kind of life he wants
for us.
The "as" refers to the point when we received Christ as our Savior.
The "so" refers to continued trust in the ongoing principles of
Scripture for our daily walk with God. Spiritual life begins with faith
and it continues by faith.
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"so walk in Him"
The point of this verse revolves around two monosyllables -- "as"
and "so." The point of the "as...so" clause is comparison.
The "as" refers to the point when we received Christ as our Savior
(John 1:11,12). The "as" refers to the truth that we receive
Jesus Christ's death for our sin by faith. The "so" refers to
continued trust in the ongoing principles of Scripture for our daily walk
with God. Spiritual life begins with faith and it continues on faith.
The comparison between becoming a Christian and continuing as a Christian
is faith.
"Walk" means live. It means the whole round of activities of
the individual life. The word "walk" comes from two words, "to
walk" and "around," "to walk around." This word
conveys the idea to live as a course of life. We are to live the entire
course of the Christian life by faith. Conduct must accord with the truths
of our faith.
As we have received him by faith when we became a Christian, so we need
to walk day by day by faith. II Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we walk
by faith, not by sight." The Christian life rotates around faith.
That is how it begins; that is how it continues. By faith God delivers
us day by day from the power of sin.
Faith, not feeling, is the basis of victory. Some folk verify their walk
with God by feeling. We are a Christian as much when we do not feel like
a Christian as when we do feel like it. We live the Christian life by faith
whether we feel like it or not. Our feelings have nothing to do with it.
I am still married whether I feel like it or not!
The Exodus generation in the Old Testament failed to mix the promises with
faith (Heb. 3:7-4:16). We cannot live the Christian life if we do not claim
the promises by which we live it. If we do not know the promises, how can
we claim them? The Exodus generation had a great future, a land flowing
with milk and honey. For forty years they wandered in the desert of carnality
because they did not apply enough of God's Word to seize the future God
promised them.
PRINCIPLE: We utilize the same faith by which we became a Christian to live
daily before God. A growing faith staves off retrogression.
APPLICATION: Feelings are fickle. They can lead us astray. Some people
say, "I read the Bible and I do not feel anything." When we read
a letter from a loved one, some things we may feel and others we may not.
Some components of the letter may state simple fact. Other aspects of
the letter may involve emotion. That does not mean that the parts of the
letter that contain emotion are the only valid part of the letter. When
we read the Bible, at times we may feel something and other times we may
not. Feelings are not the issue. When we read the Bible we read a communication
from our Heavenly Father. We welcome ("received") what he wants
us to know.
As we appropriate the provisions of God by faith, God's Word becomes a part
of us. It is through our choices about the Word that the Word assimilates
into our lifestyle. The Christian grows one day at a time.
Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. All rights reserved.
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