Sermon 5: "Walking in Christ, Resisting Captivity" Colossians 2.6-15

Paul was thankful for the firm faith of the Colossians.  We saw that in verses 4-5.  Yet, he was concerned about the danger.  The potential for deception from the false teachers of Judaism loomed on the horizon.  They would come with clever arguments, so Paul was concerned. 

In verses 6-23, Paul begins to explain in more detail what threatens them and how they are to stand against it.  He explains how the gospel is their weapon against the enemy.  Next week, we will look at the what and how that might translate into our day.  Today, however, we will look at the how of taking a stand.  We will find this in verses 6-15. 

6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,  7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 

Paul gives the first command in verse 6.  They are to walk in Christ.  We recall that being grounded in the ‘Big Picture’ leads to a worthy walk.  Their lives should be characterized by the fact that they swim in the benefits of Jesus Christ.  Their way of living should flesh out this reality.  In usual Paul style, he gives reasons for the commands he gives.  In this case, the command is situated between the grounds. 

We find the first reason in the first phrase of verse six.  The command to walk in Christ only makes sense since the Colossians have received ‘the Lord’. Paul is not referring primarily to a personal acceptance of the truth about Jesus.  This is a semi-technical term for embracing the tradition given by the apostles. 

The apostles, no one else, hand down the tradition to which those who follow Christ are to hold.  He says, “You got the official story”.  By saying they have received ‘the Lord’, Paul summarizes everything he has already said about Jesus.  He is the king of the kingdom, he is the Lord of creation, he is the Lord of the church . . . Jesus stands at the center of everything. 

This is the authoritative story that was handed down to them.  This is the word of truth that formed them into a people of God.  That is what they received and that’s the reason for the call to walk in Christ. 

The second reason is found in verse 7.  He reminds the Colossians that they have already, in the past, been firmly rooted in Christ.  He is pointing to realities that are matters of fact.  This is something done to them. 

Plant life that is not firmly rooted withers and dies when the heat comes.  This is not what the Colossians are.  God has worked in this people so that their roots are wrapped tightly around his son.  His work applies to them. 

What does this walk look like?  The next three participles in verse 7 explain this. First, Paul says they live in Christ by continually being built up in Christ.  God constantly redirects them back to their connection to him. 

Second, they are continually being strengthened in that which they were originally taught, the gospel – the centrality of Jesus.  Again, these are passive, so we should see that it is God who brings these things about. .  So, Paul calls them to walk in Christ, because they got the official story on who Christ is and what he did, and God worked them into that story.  He grows them up in it. 

This leads to the third characteristic.  Living a life that constantly reflects on the good God has done in his Son brings an overflow of thanksgiving. 

So, being built up in him, strengthened in what they were taught and living a life of thanksgiving.  All of these taken together show us what ‘walk in Christ’ means. 

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 

Here is Paul’s second command.  It follows from the first as the reason they need to walk in Christ.  There is a danger.  Remember verse 5 from last week.  Paul was concerned that they would be deluded by clever arguments. 

Here, he reiterates his concern with greater force.  He says, “WATCH OUT!  Pay close attention to what is going on around you.”  Why?  There are those who will seek to gain control of you.  It is like an enemy force seeking to infiltrate the kingdom of the Son to carry some of his people into slavery. 

Paul conceptualizes this as warfare between different ways of viewing the world.  One makes sense of the world through the lens of the centrality of Christ.  The other seeks understanding of the world apart from Christ.  This enemy force uses empty and deceitful philosophy as its weapon.  Paul locates its origins in the tradition of men and elements of the world. 

The ‘tradition of men’ connotes a sarcastic denial that this philosophy has any real validity.  In our society, we tend to think that newer is better.  In the ancient world, the merits of a teaching were grounded in its antiquity. 

This Jewish opposition suggests that their teaching, traditions of the rabbinic schools, is authoritative.  But Paul subordinates it to the level of any other pagan religion, the stuff of men (Wright, 101).     

What he meant by ‘elemental spirits of the world’ is less clear.  The majority of commentators understand this phrase, literally ‘the elements of the world’, to describe the belief current at that time that human life was under the tyranny of spiritual forces that governed the sun, moon, stars, etc. (O’Brien). 

In fact, there was a whole host of these higher and lower beings forming a complex hierarchy.  A little of the divine was sprinkled all around.  And because the form of Judaism Paul argues against here locates itself completely outside of Jesus Christ, he equates it with these pagan notions. 

It is nothing more than a tribal religion, one among many (Wright, 102), finds its real orientation in the present evil age, the place of corruption, perpetuated by the spiritual forces of evil. 

Note carefully what Paul has done here.  He worded his description of what the false teachers have to offer in particular way for a reason.  By calling their philosophy empty and deceitful he highlights the rich treasures deposited in the truth of the word, the gospel of Christ that he preaches (O’Brien, 110).  This stuff can make no sense because it is oriented to something other than Christ. 

So, verses 6-8 give us two commands.  One, walk in Christ, is the way to follow the other, don’t get taken captive.  In verse 9-15, he goes on to give the Colossians two pieces of ammunition to fight against these enemy invaders.  You know what they are? Christ’s sufficiency and what is signified in their baptism. Look with me at verses 9-10.      

9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,  10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 

“For” makes the connection with verse 8.  Here is the reason they do not fall for empty philosophies.  The fullness is found in Christ.  Paul has already said this back in verse 15 and 19.  Christ is the image of God and in him all fullness was pleased to dwell.  Paul says here that Christ is deity in all fullness, so no other religious system will provide a way to God.  He is the fulfillment of God’s promise to dwell with his people (Wright, 103). 

But Paul does not stop there.  Jesus Christ as the fullness of deity is not just an objective reality out there.  The Colossians are in him and had themselves been filled.  What does Paul mean here?  In what sense were the Colossians filled? 

Their relationship to God is complete in Christ.  They lack no good thing regarding salvation and redemption.  They have all wisdom and knowledge in him.  In Christ, they have the love and power of God residing with them (Wright, 103).  They can be sure of his very presence. 

Further in verse 10,  he says they are not to allow the ‘elemental spirits’ (from verse 8) to possess a blasphemous position.  They are no real rulers.  Christ has power over them, they are subject to him.  His rule is all that matters.  These spiritual forces can do nothing to the Colossian believers ultimately, because they under the power of Christ. The second thing Paul points to is their baptism.  Look at 11-12.          

11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,  12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Obviously, this first phrase makes it clear that Paul is not saying these folks experienced a physical circumcision – it was without hands.  So, two questions come up.  What is this circumcision and who did it?  The picture begins to clear up in the next two phrases. 

The circumcision without hands is described as the putting off of the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ.  The first phrase refers to the manner of Jesus’ death (1.22).  It was a violent experience.  The second phrase ‘circumcision of Christ’ is simply a metaphor for his death.  Thus, it might understood this way: “in the violent stripping away of Jesus, that is his death”.

Why does Paul phrase it this way?  Remember Genesis 15, there Yahweh came to Abraham and promising land and descendants.  Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness.  He ratified this covenant by passing through pieces of torn animals, which meant that Yahweh himself would take the curse if he failed to do all he said. 

In Genesis 17, the sign and seal of that covenant was given.  This mark represented the promises and God’s guarantee.  To have this mark was to have the promise of the inheritance.  It also meant that, as a member of the community of promise, one was consecrated to God, set apart belonging to him.  So, circumcision represents the promise and consecration to God. 

Now, what if some rebelled from God and broke the covenant?  Here is where the physical act of circumcision comes in.  The rite itself was a cutting away of the foreskin, and so it was said that if anyone breaks the covenant he will be “cut off” from the people of the promise. 

Do you see that?  The very rite represented the judgment to fall on those who rejected the gracious promises of God.  Circumcision was not just a physical marker of a particular ethnic group but already included spiritual realities. 

By using circumcision as a metaphor for the death of Jesus, Paul says that he not only got the token himself when he was 8 days old.  He also underwent the curse that it represented.  He was cut off from God by his death.  Thus Paul is saying, “You guys may not have physical circumcision, but you got the one that really matters.  Make no mistake you belong to the people of God.”          

Where did they get this? Paul says it was in their baptism.  Here we see the vital connection between baptism and circumcision.  Baptism replaces circumcision as the entry rite into the people of God.  And Paul says that they were buried with him in this baptism.  They experienced his death and his burial. 

But Paul adds that in this baptism they also were raised with him.  His resurrection was their resurrection.  And note this resurrection has already taken place.  No, they have not experienced the finally consummation, the resurrection of the body (3.1-5 points ahead).  But, in light of the struggles they face, Paul wants them to no it is done.  They really are complete.  This is what their baptism represented. 

It is important to note the last part of verse 12.  Baptism does not bestow these things in and of itself.  Baptism is a sign and seal of the benefits, received and applied by those who trust in Jesus. 

Do you understand what the ammunition is more clearly?  Paul shows the Colossians that the deity of Jesus, their fullness in him and their baptism are their means to resist the enemy.  Now, Paul will more fully unpack the benefits that flow to them in their baptism and we will see just how this fills or completes them.  Look at verse 13-15. 

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 

He emphasizes what they were before Epaphras brought the mystery.  He says they were dead in their trespasses. 

This is precisely what the followers of Judaism would say about these Gentiles.  This is precisely why they would be so angry at the idea of the Colossians claiming the promises of God. 

Paul already told them that God took care of this.  They are not physically circumcised but are spiritually.  And as a result they receive life.  They are not dead any longer, cut off from God.  Now they have been brought near.  Recall Ephesians 2.11ff:

¹¹ Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-  ¹² remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  ¹⁵ by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.  ¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.  ¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

And we see in the latter part of verse 13 that God brings them near, because he has forgiven them.  He removed the obstacle, their trespasses, that separated them.  And notice that he says God forgave ‘us’. He includes the Jews in the great accomplishment of God.  This is what they gain from Christ’s work.  He unpacks this forgiveness further.  What is the structure that undergirds this forgiveness?  Look at verses 14.     

14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 

God wiped out the ‘document of indebtedness’ against ‘us’, Jews and Gentiles alike.  This is kind of like an IOU.  In fact that is the way all the commentators I looked at translated it. 

This should not, however, be taken as the Mosaic Law.  The first two chapters of Romans demonstrate that both Jews and Gentiles are indebted to God.  We are responsible as his creatures to obey, we owe him that, but we have all failed.  I am referring to what we call the “Covenant of Works”.   

Israel was retelling the story of Adam.  He was to obey God and receive the eternal inheritance for all those he represented.  In the Law of Moses, God required obedience of Israel in order to receive the blessings of the land.  Don’t misunderstand; they were not earning eternal blessing.  This was all temporal, earthly stuff intended to teach a lesson.  God teaches through Israel and the Law the depth of human sin in our failure to obey. 

Adam and Israel tell us we are all covenant-breakers, and all that we have to look forward to is death.  Unless . . . unless the debt is dealt with.  Paul says that this is precisely what happened.  They were dealt with or ‘wiped out’ when Jesus was nailed to the cross.  They were dealt with in Christ’s death.

Calvin states it eloquently, “He now says, that we have been freed from condemnation, in such a manner, that even the hand-writing is blotted out, that no remembrance of it might remain. For we know that as to debts the obligation is still in force, so long as the hand-writing remains; and that, on the other hand, by the erasing, or tearing of the handwriting, the debtor is set free.” (Commentary on Colossians).  We are forgiven, because God has wiped away the debt.           

15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. 

Finally, we get a look behind the curtain (Garland, 152).  We return to the cosmic motif of 1.15-23.  Actually, the rulers and the authorities have both a earthly and spiritual expression. The Chief Priests and rulers handed Jesus over to be condemned (Lk 24.20).  Jesus already accused these men in this position of being children of the devil (Jn 8.44ff).  Likewise, Peter says that Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and the people of Israel came together against Jesus (Acts 4.27-28). 

Yet, ultimately we would say that the spiritual forces of evil headed up by Satan are in view here.  Even if Paul has in mind the ‘gods’ that were so much a part of the pagan culture, he still knows the real cosmic force behind it is none other than the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2.1ff).  Calvin’s words again are helpful:

“There is no doubt that he means devils, whom Scripture represents as acting the part of accusing us before God. Paul, however, says that they are disarmed, so that they cannot bring forward anything against us, the attestation of our guilt being itself destroyed. Now, he expressly adds this with the view of showing, that the victory of Christ . . .”

The irony here is that the one whose bodily flesh was stripped away at death has actually stripped these authorities, which is Rome, Israel and the devil.  They are nothing before the God of the universe.  1 Corinthians 15.20-26 puts it this way:

20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

The work of Christ proclaims without restraint and with total confidence the destruction of these powers.  He has indeed crushed them. 

What has Paul given us to fight with?  Let’s work backward.  He tells our savior has totally devastated the powers and authorities, so that there are no more rivals and no more accusers.  We can count on this because the IOU has been erased, no longer exists. 

Our failure to respond as covenant servants ought to our covenant Lord has been dealt with.  And so, we who were far off, the uncircumcised Gentiles, have been brought near to God.  We are alive.  This is what we got in our baptism.  These are the benefits represented and promised there.  This is what was won by his death, burial and resurrection. 

We learn from Paul that this is what it means to be complete in Jesus Christ, our God and king. 

Do you want to stand against the enemies that try to take you captive?  Paul is saying to us, “Stand here!”  Grasping these realities and believing them is what it means to “Walk in Christ”. 

Sermon 4: Colossians 1.24-2.5

Sermon 3: Colossians 1.15-23

Remember, the context here is a prayer. Paul offers praise and thanksgiving to the Father for the grace he has displayed among the Colossians. The gospel bears great fruit and God gives the increase (1-8). He then moves on to the central focus of his prayer. He asks that God would fill the people with the knowledge of his will. Everything else flows from that (9-14).

We pick up today at 15 there are two things you need to keep in mind: FIRST, in your bible it may appear as a new sentence, but it continues what Paul was praying in 14. I said last week that Paul’s final mark of a worthy life is thanksgiving. Specifically, they were to be thankful for what I called the big picture of God’s redemptive purpose. I said it was interesting because the knowledge he prayed they would be filled with gets encapsulated in the thanksgiving of verses 12, 13 and 14. If you remember, Paul mentions four things:

1. We have been qualified for the inheritance, the New Heavens/New Earth, God’s rule.
2. We have been rescued from this present evil age.
3. We have been transferred to the kingdom of the son.
4. We have redemption right now, forgiveness of sins right now.

Now, we will see Paul blow up this ‘Big Picture’ of God’s redemptive purpose. He fills in more of the detail and colors in the lines. He has already shown us that the centrality of the Son in his rule over the kingdom (12-14). Now he shows us the centrality of the Son in all of time and history. Paul shows us just how big the ‘Big Picture’ really is. First, he relates Jesus to creation (15-17). Second, he relates Jesus to the church (18-20). Third, he folds us into the whole picture (21-23).

The SECOND thing to keep in mind is the context. The people of Colossae face the harassment from a contingency of Jews. Their storyline is a simple one. Yahweh created this world to glorify himself, but sin has distorted the reason for creation. God, therefore, intends to restore it to the fullness he planned. Yahweh would work for the salvation of his people, and the establishment of the earth in justice and righteousness. For the Colossians to claim that the promises of Yahweh had come to them was unthinkable. The Jewish teachers sought to undermine the faith and confidence of these Gentiles. Keep that context in mind as we move through this final portion of Paul’s prayer for these precious people. Look with me at verse 15-17.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

“Image” means simply that when you look at Jesus you see the very nature and character of God perfectly revealed; you see the invisible become visible (O’Brien, 43). When we ask what God is like, Paul answers look at Jesus. And when he says look at Jesus, he means look at how he reveals himself by what he has done. Remember, last week I said we grow in knowledge and mature by that knowledge. Here, Paul is more specific: we grow in and by our knowledge of the Son (think 2 Cor 3.18).

So, when you look at Jesus you see God. But Paul adds this – when we look at Jesus, you see the firstborn of creation. He does not have in mind that Jesus was the first created being. Instead, Paul is referring to Jesus relationship to creation as one having the status of the firstborn. The usage of this idea throughout the bible reveals a couple things. The firstborn was object of special love of the Father. He holds place of priority and supremacy. So it is with Jesus, and his supremacy is invested with the right to rule and have authority. He is not a created thing but stands above creation and supreme over it. That’s what Paul says in 15. Verse 16 follows right along with this. The first word of verse 16 shows cause. When we ask why Jesus, the image, is called the firstborn, the answer "because . . . verse 16".

16 For by (in) him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things were created through him and for him.

Everything was created in, through and for him. That means the visible stuff and the invisible stuff, the cosmos that we can see and the spiritual realm we can’t see. Specifically, Paul refers to the thrones, powers, rulers or authorities, the spiritual realities we can’t see (All of these “powers and authorities” were created “good”. Even Satan, the deceiver, was a part of the good creation. Since the rebellion and fall into sin, these spiritual realities are depicted as the spiritual forces exerting power over this world order [Eph 2.1ff, Eph 3.10, 6.12]). But what does ‘in, through and for’ mean?

Christ is said to be the firstborn of creation, the supreme one, because all things were created with the “central place and all-embracing significance” of Christ in full view (Ridderbos, 82). We understand our place and the place of all creation as we look at the place Jesus holds. He is supreme, everything lines up on him. Think about Adam. The man and the woman appear at the climax of the creation account. Everything was created with a view to the place the man and the woman would hold. They held the primacy of place over the rest of creation as those who would rule and hold dominion and rule. Creation understands its place in terms of the kingship of Adam. One animal asks another animal, “What are you called?” The other responds, “I don’t know, let me ask Adam.”

When we sit in our cars and one next to us begins to roll, we get disoriented. It looks like we are moving, but we know we are not. In order to prove this to ourselves, we find a stationary point. By this one point we understand where we stand and where everything else stands around us. Jesus is the stationary point. Everything is supposed to take its cue from him. And in verse 17 Paul restates what he has just said in 15-16.

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

That Jesus came before all creation certainly means that he was prior to it. But coming ‘before’ also says again that he has the primacy over all created things. And because everything was created with him in mind as supreme and for his glory, Paul can say that everything holds together in him. This does mean that God holds all things together by his providence, yet Paul means more. Christ gives rhyme and reason to all existence. Everything makes sense only when it is considered in light of him.

Do you see what Paul has done? Remember, the Jewish storyline began with Yahweh creating the universe. Paul says, ‘Colossians, don’t worry you on track, because Jesus is Yahweh!” He implicitly seeks to strengthen their confidence, so that they are not moved by the false teachers.

Now, we might say, “Understanding that we see God when we look at Jesus, that he is supreme over all created things, that everything is meant to fall in line and glorify him, is great. But this does not look like the case since everything is messed up by sin.”

That tension sets us up to understand the connection between 15-17 and 18-20. Remember, Paul has already shown that Jesus is Yahweh the creator. In the next three verses, Paul will show how Jesus answers the rest of the storyline. Just as Jesus is Yahweh the creator, so he is Yahweh the Deliverer, the bringer of salvation. Look at verses 18-20.

18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Saying he is our, the church’s head, calling him the beginning and the firstborn from the dead stresses the significance of Christ’s resurrection. These labels emphasize again the high place Jesus holds. Now, however, Paul is discussing not the creation, but the redeemed.

That he is the head means that: 1. He secured a people for himself. 2. He is our ruler and our authority. 3. As ruler Christ gives the body what it needs to grow. 4. The goal of his rule and care is that we grow in conformity to him, we look like him (Eph 4.16). That he is the firstborn means that he stands as the source of all blessings that flow from God. In other words, because Jesus was raised all the blessings of redemption may be poured out. He is the firstborn son who gains the inheritance for us all.

But again, we have to ask why Paul describes the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection this way, like a gate at the head of the church that opens to unleash the blessings of God? How can Jesus be described this way?
Look at verses 19-20 . . . Because . . .

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

Once again Paul points out that Jesus is the fullness of God. The presence of God is fully present in Jesus. When you see him, you see Yahweh. And what does he do?

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

God is pleased to reconcile all things through Jesus. Do you hear the connection between 15-17 and 18-20? In 15-17 all things were created in, through and for Jesus. Now we see that all things were reconciled through Jesus. Why is Jesus the head of the church, the beginning, the firstborn from the dead? Why does he stand at the head of the redeemed like a floodgate of blessing? HE RECONCILED ALL THINGS. What does that mean?

Paul speaks of an objective reality (Luke 4, Eph 1, 1 Cor 15). He is talking about “reconciling” as the objective reality of what Christ has accomplished and will be true for all creation. By the pouring out of his blood and his resurrection, God has moved all the obstacles to secure the harmonious creation he intended. He has established the certainty of the coming New Heaven and earth, the place where he will rule and where there will be peace because all things will be in conformity to his justice and righteousness with the son at the center. Or we could say it this way. The centrality of Christ in all creation (15-17) comes to fruition in time and history and is secured through the death and resurrection of Christ (18-20). All creation finally fulfilling its purpose, getting lined up under Jesus, is a certainty because of Christ’s work on the cross.

This is what the work of Christ has done. This is the reconciliation he has accomplished. He is Yahweh, the one who delivers his people and restores the world. It makes sense that Paul would now call him the head of the church, the firstborn from the dead.

Do you see what we are claiming by describing the connection between 15-17 and 18-20 this way? God’s goal for the church and all creation is the same. Both get ordered appropriately under Jesus as the king. Romans 8.18ff speaks of creation groaning for release from the futility to which it has been subjected. When will creation be released? When the church, the people of God are released. When we are raised and experience the fullness of God’s kingdom. In fact, we could say that the existence of the church assures creation that it’s day of freedom is coming by displaying the wisdom God and his incredible triumph over those thrones and powers and rulers and authorities – the spiritual forces of evil (Eph 3).

In this we discover that the ‘all things’ created in, through and for Jesus have never been out of God’s control or the reach of his sovereignty after all. We realize the Philippians 2 is true, that everything in heaven on earth and under earth will bow. And, as one commentator suggests, the rulers and powers and authorities that Christ removed still hang around, but “they cannot finally harm the person who is in Christ and their ultimate overthrow in the future is assured” (O’Brien, 56).

In these final three verses Paul shows us how they fit into all this.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

He first equates them with the powers that we talked about earlier. He says, “You people stood in direct opposition to God from the inside out”. That was “the walk” they reflected before. All of this reconciling work, the work God did to bring all things back to their place to secure the fulfillment of his kingdom . . . all of that has landed on these people, and it has landed on us. This reconciling work has “qualified” us. It has made us adequate to stand before a Holy God. You will stand under the judging gaze of God and there will be no charge against you. This is the power of the work Jesus has accomplished.

But there is a catch. How do we hold on to this certainty? How do we know we will participate in this cosmic work of Christ? Look at verse 23.

23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Participation requires stability and steadfastness. That is finding security and being solidly grounded in a particular foundation. Many houses in Greenville have had foundation problems. The ground shifts, the foundation moves and the structure of the house get compromised. Walls get cracked and doors don’t close or open. Paul wants them to remain firmly founded so they are not compromised. What is the foundation? The Faith or the hope of the gospel you heard. Remember, Paul has already talked about this hope, the gospel. He said that was the root that brought the fruit of faith and love.

What is he saying to us? Don’t move from the message of what God has done in Christ Jesus. Don’t be moved from the work that Jesus has done; that brought us out of the kingdom of darkness, that defeated the powers/rulers/authorities and that secured the ultimate defeat of sin and restoration of all creation under the rule of God. Don’t be moved from your focus on the work of Christ that made certain your righteous standing before the God of the universe when he returns to establish his kingdom. Paul tells us, “Don’t look away from the ‘Big Picture of God’s Redemptive Purpose’. Don’t look away from Jesus”.

Do you see all that is at stake in Paul’s prayer? Our king is supreme over all creation and it will experience the end that God has intended. Jesus has accomplished a truly cosmic work. And our joy, the reason we offer a joyful thanksgiving is because we have been infolded into this grand story. We have experienced the reconciliation accomplished in Christ. The call this week is to meditate on these sweet realities and again grow down deep in them. May our prayers be saturated with a desire to see God cement the confidence of Westminster Presbyterian in our only hope, the gospel alone. And as we do this may our Father grow us into a people who live to glorify him.

Dr. Laura Comes to Christian Radio

Well . . . I just found out that Dr. Laura is in the 2 pm slot on The Word 100.7 Dallas.  Now, let me say I do not, I repeat DO NOT, expect a radio station to be the church.  So, let's get that out of the way first.  I checked their website to see their mission statement and they still claim to bring the finest in "Christian Talk Radio".  So they still desire to be a Christian voice.  TO SUMMARIZE: I don't expect them to be the church.  I do expect them to be clear in their understanding of Christianity. 

I wrote The Word an e-mail about this recently.  I explained my comments above and went on to add my assumptions about why they brought her on board.  My hunch is they see her as a common ground voice (common grace voice) expressing moral values that seem to work toward a good society.  I still don’t know exactly how I feel about all of that, BUT I get it.  I agree with some of the stuff Dr. Laura has to say. 

My major concern revolved around their promo of her new slot.  They list off a number of the things Dr. Laura is “Pro”, like kids, marriage and life.  However, they add that she is Pro-10 Commandments . . . . (deliberate silence for effect) . . . SHE IS JEWISH.  She is quite open about this.  Everybody knows it.  I, for one, am glad she is so open about her presuppositions.  But this is a huge question for me.  How can a radio station that is Christian by its own claim try to sell her as pro-10 Commandments?  She does not believe Jesus is Yahweh.  That is no small wrinkle in the Christian understanding of what it means to be Pro-10 Commandments.  This seems to me at best a bad theological oversight, and at worst a horribly shallow attempt to say "See evangelicals, she says the same things we do".  My final comment to the station went like this: “If you brought her on as a common ground voice, fine.  But it seems that you could promote her in a less confusing way.  In other words, don't promote common ground where there is none.”   

I think this exemplfies how communication mediums like Christian radio can confuse evangelicals about the distinctiveness of our message and open the church up to more of the therapeutic-pragmatism that saturates our culture.  I guess Jesus did not really have to die and raise from the dead for us to talk about morality.      

Fin