PT-3 "Settled in Understanding" (Col. 2:2c-5)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/2/2017 10:43 PM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-3 “Settled in Understanding”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 2:2c-5

            Message of the verses:  “and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. 5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.”

            We have been talking about the deity of Christ, which as mentioned is something that some of those in the Colossian church were having trouble with.  You cannot be a true believer, a born-again Christian without knowing that Jesus Christ is truly God who came in the flesh.  There is no way that anyone could be saved without the second person of the godhead coming to earth to take on flesh and blood in order to die on the cross.  In our study of John 17 we read in the first verse “Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,” and the time that Christ was talking about was what had been planned from eternity past, and that is that the second person of the godhead go to the cross to pay for our sins. 

            Paul tells us that Jesus Christ is the One in whom are “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” making Him the only One who is sufficient.  John MacArthur writes “Hidden is from apokruphos, from which we get our English word apocrypha.  It was used by the heretics to refer to the writings containing their secret knowledge.  But there is no hidden spiritual knowledge necessary to salvation and sanctification outside of Christ.  The treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ, however, are hidden from all but Christians.”  There is little difference in our world today who say that it has to be Christ plus “something,” and that something could be whatever they want it to be in order to be saved, perhaps Christ plus “good works.” 

            We also need this knowledge not only for salvation but it is also critical to assurance of our salvation because doubts can creep in, and these doubts can also be about His ability to do what He has promised.

We will now look at verse four in a way that a man named Lightfoot paraphrases “I wish to warn you against any one who lead you astray by specious argument and persuasive rhetoric.”  The NASB translates it as “I say this in order that no one may delude you with persuasive argument.”  What was going on in the Colossian church is similar to what goes on in all false claims about Jesus Christ and that is to attack the deity of Christ, and His sufficiency to save and sanctify, or even both.  Paul writes to Timothy what is really going on here in 1 Timothy 4:1 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,” and that is not only what was going on then, but what continues to go on now.

Paul has warned the church to stand firm and actually rejoices that they are doing this.  He, as mentioned, has never been to this church before as he did not begin it, and so he is “absent in body” from them as he is now in prison, but Paul does say that he is present in spirit.  “5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.”  John MacArthur writes “Taxis (good discipline) and stereoma (stability) are military terms, perhaps suggested by Paul’s close contact with Roman soldiers during his imprisonment (cf. Acts 28:16; Phil. 1:13).  Taxis refers to a line of soldiers drawn up for battle, whereas stereoma refers to the solidity of a formation of soldiers.  Taken together, they express Paul’s joy that individually and collectively the Colossians were standing firm against the attacks of false teaching.  His goal for them is that they remain settled in their present true understanding, and not yield to doubt from those attacks.”

3/2/2017 11:16 PM