From women tearing their household down with their words, removing yourself from foolish company, to understanding what it means to despise the Lord – this chapter is loaded with much wisdom and unexpected advice.
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Author Archive: Pastor Mark
Let no one Disqualify you!
This week as we continue on in Chapter 2 of Colossians, we run into a word which requires a little bit of defining since it “can” be difficult to translate, especially if you allow your theological bias to influence your judgment.
The key Greek word is katabrabeuō and can be translated in various ways, the two primary ones being condemn, which carries the notion of someone passing judgment on you OR disqualifying.
Given the purpose and overall content of the letter, the context of the statement plus the fact that what was at stake was the continuation in faith of these believers in Jesus alone for salvation – the word cannot be concerned with the judgment of false teachers. No, the word MUST be disqualified. Paul is setting the metaphorical tone of a race or competition. As such, the “race” in question is something you could be disqualified from, and therefore lose your stake in the reward or prize.
But what could Paul be referring to, that these Colossians could be disqualified from, if they forsook Christ and embraced another Gospel, but their very relationship with the Father through Christ!
This is why Paul makes MUCH of the supremacy of Christ. Being IN Christ and the need to continue in their faith steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel until the end!
This lesson is a little more bogged down due to the need to focus on details in the text, but I hope it will aid you in your understanding of both Colossians and the Gospel of our Lord.
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Hope deferred makes the heart sick!
Wealth, deception, lies and deferred hope are all mentioned throughout this chapter. However, I believe if the chapter has a central theme it would be of the importance of words and the heart geography from which they come.
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Binding the Sabbath
As we progress through the letter to the believers in Colossae we run into an often misunderstood statement regarding Sabbaths. Written in the plural as it is, distinguishes it from The Sabbath day all by itself, but rather than rely upon this alone, we dug a little deeper.
Now I covered this topic back a few years ago in a mini-series and also in two (now three) articles on our website. Included in this study is an article and teaching on the subject of binding and loosening. If one does not know about this latter topic, they will be at a severe disadvantage in thoroughly studying out the former regarding The Sabbath.
It is my encouragement that you set aside all prejudices and preconceived ideas and enter into this teaching and those its references with a mind devoted to discovering what it is that God has really said regarding this topic. Remember the encouragement from James that the wisdom that comes from above is first pure, teachable and willing to yield. Those who approach any topic with the idea that they already know – cut themselves off from wisdom and the grace (influence) of God which is never wise.
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Wisdom affects your words
This chapter covers wisdom which has some very practical, everyday applications. Of particular note among them are the proper response to instruction and correction if one’s goal is to be wise.
It is quite possible that the Bible offers more in the way of HOW TO RESPOND to correction than it does about correction itself. And this makes sense since the purpose for correction from God is to redeem the wayward soul from destruction. So the way we respond determines if correction obtains its intended purpose in our hearts.
The next instruction is found in the verses about what we say. Much healing and harm can come from our words. More importantly for the student of wisdom is from what heart geography those healing or hurtful words come.
Moving these instructions to the New Covenant we see we have received the Holy Spirit from God by which we can conform to the inward image of Jesus Christ, and save our souls by the revelation of God’s word the Spirit offers.
It isn’t enough to place a guard on our mouths, though that is not a bad place to start. In the end, we require a heart change so that what is in our hearts is good. When that finally happens, our words will reflect wisdom and bring healing, restoration and a recovery to righteous paths to make life’s journey upon.
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