Colossians 4

Study Guide 147: Colossians 3-4 A NEW LIFE TO LIVE Overview In the first two chapters of this Bible book, Paul set out truths which contradict the notions of those later known as Gnostics. This heresy taught that the material was evil, and the immaterial good. God, good and spiritual, was isolated from the universe in which we live by His own moral character and nature. Jesus, in this system, was either an unreal shadow or a lower-order of angelic being. Paul directly confronted this view. Jesus is God in the flesh. And it was in His real human body through death in that body that Jesus accomplished the greatest of all spiritual tasks: our redemption. What is more, Jesus Himself is the Creator of both material and immaterial worlds, and holds authority over each. We Christians find our fulfillment in Jesus and in relationship with Him. There is no “ higher knowledge” than knowing Jesus, and no spiritual secrets that are not unveiled in Him. Now, in Colossians 3:1-25, Paul applied these basic truths to our Christian lives. Spirituality is not withdrawal from this world, but is living Jesus’ life in the world. What a privilege to help our group members discover the characteristics of true spirituality, and to help each see how he or she can live in intimate union with Jesus. HOLINESS. New Testament holiness involves joyful commitment to God and to good, expressed in all we say and do.

Commentary A famous preacher of an earlier day wrote a book about his early search for a full life in Christ. He told of his struggle for holiness — hours of prayer for purification from selfishness and wrong desires. He told how he guarded his every word and action, struggling to bring them into conformity with God’ s will. Finally exhausted by the pursuit, he contracted TB and spent a year in a sanitarium. There he met a young woman of his denomination who was recuperating from the same disease. She seemed so tranquil and pure. He watched her for weeks and became convinced that she had found the secret that eluded him. One night as he struggled in prayer, he felt he could wait no longer. He rose to find her, determined to ask for the way to peace. Before he could leave, there was a knock on his door. There she stood, her face contorted as her body shook with sobs. “ Brother Harry,” she gasped. “ I’ ve watched you all these weeks. If anyone has found the secret of holiness, it’ s you. I’ ve got to know!”

Spiritual Reality This true story illustrates the deep frustration many have felt in their search for an answer to the Gnostics’ third question: How does a human being find fullness of life? How do we experience the reality of Christ and know the meaning of a Spirit-filled life? Many suggestions have been made. Many different descriptions of true spirituality and how to find it have been given. Often the prescription promises a shortcut: immediate attainment of a higher kind of life. Among these ways are: The special experience. As the result of one dramatic moment, the Holy Spirit’ s power will flow unimpeded for the rest of your life, eradicating sin and lifting you to fullness. This is an attractive view. The change is sudden. It is clearly supernatural; God’ s work alone. And it promises freedom from the nagging tensions that have been our lot. No more struggle! Just surrender and be lifted to a higher plane. We must be careful not to dismiss special experiences altogether. God sometimes brings us to crisis confrontations with Himself, and these result in valid spiritual breakthroughs. But we deceive ourselves if we expect any such experience to confer instant sainthood. Special knowledge. This also seems attractive, appealing to our feeling that there must be something more to the simple message of Christ than meets the eye. Sometimes we expect special knowledge from learning to read the Hebrew and Greek of the original biblical documents. Sometimes it is a special key to interpreting the Bible, a key not given to the ignorant masses who take Scripture in its plain sense. Sometimes it is theosophy or some modern cult that imposes a system so like Gnosticism on Scripture that they are almost indistinguishable. And how attractive it is to believe that once I know the hidden thing, I will have fullness. How attractive to feel that knowledge sets me above others and brings me closer to God. Ritual observance. Here fullness is attained by careful keeping of prescribed rituals and taboos. We refrain from eating meat, keep Sunday or the Sabbath, guard our behavior, and keep everything within prescribed rules. Soon we have developed lists and traditions defining every situation and telling us what pleases God. This is probably the least satisfactory approach. Our attention to details leads us further and further from relationships with others. Even fellowship with Christ is set aside in our commitment to rules. But the feeling that life is empty will always intrude. Self-denial. This approach will always tempt those who are ascetically inclined. Pushing down desires, controlling the body by severe fasting or punishment, and being suspicious of anything associated with the material world has a strange appeal. It seems so spiritual! Escape from life to an ethereal plane! The Gnostics chose to do so. Spirituality had to be found beyond the world of things and persons. And so the body and desires associated with this world had to be denied. It is true that Paul told the Colossians to “ put to death, therefore, what belongs to your earthly nature” (Colossians 3:5). The Christian life has always been a walk of discipline. But it is not discipline for discipline’ s sake; we deny ourselves certain things because Christ has called us to something so much better. Licentiousness. This obviously is not a way to find spiritual fullness — but some have reasoned that since our bodies are part of the evil material universe, it doesn’ t matter what they do. They can indulge every fleshly desire, for whatever is done cannot contaminate the spiritual element within. Spiritual reality is found through special knowledge, subjective experience, or the ritual observations totally divorced from daily life. We have something of this same notion today — the idea that what we do on weekdays, in business, or other relationships has nothing to do with Sunday faith. Spirituality is pressed into a single compartment and never integrated into our total experience. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Tell the true story of the minister with which the chapter opens. Discuss: “ What do you think his idea of holiness and spirituality was?” Then survey the various approaches that many have taken in a search for spiritual vitality discussed earlier. Encourage sharing. Have any in your group tried one or more of these approaches? What happened to them? Allow plenty of time for this sharing. It is important to prepare the group for shared study of Colossians 3:1-25.

Our Hidden Life In contrast to these shortcuts, Paul encouraged us to think in terms of gradual renewal and growth. “ All over the world this Gospel is producing fruit and growing” (Colossians 1:6). Paul’ s prayer for the Colossians was that they might also be “ bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10). Live in Christ “ rooted and built up in Him” (Colossians 2:6). The Colossian prayer provides important background for our understanding of Paul’ s pathway to spiritual fullness. That prayer reveals something that I have called in another book, the “ Colossians cycle” . The prayer that explains the cycle is found in Colossians 1:9-11. Here Paul asks God to: Fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. The first element, a “ knowledge of God’ s will,” is literally a knowledge of “ what God has willed.” That is, the apostle has not looked to personal experiences of leading, but to revelation. God has made Himself and His will known to us in the Word. Personal experience of God begins with this revelation of Himself through the Prophets and Apostles. But we are to hold this knowledge with “ all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Each of the terms here focuses our attention not on intellectual knowledge or information. Each speaks of practical knowledge: of ability to apply what is known to daily life, and see its implications for our choices and actions. As we apply what God has willed to our everyday lives, wisely letting God’ s Word guide our choices, we will live lives that are truly worthy of the Lord. In this process God Himself will be actively at work within and through us, producing the Holy Spirit’ s fruit in our personalities even as we are active in every good work. Finally, we will be “ growing in the knowledge of God.” This culminating thought is not of growth in knowledge about God, but growth in knowing Him personally. We will experience God in our lives, and find personal spiritual fulfillment, only in this way. What a corrective to many of our own practices and assumptions. Knowing the Bible is not the key — applying what God has revealed in our daily lives is what counts. Knowing what we should do is not enough — it is putting what we know into practice to live a life worthy of God. As we, encouraged by the Holy Spirit, fulfill these responsibilities God Himself produces His good fruit in our lives, and makes Himself real to us. It is against this background that Paul in Colossians 3:1-25 now shows us how to grow in a spiritual — and holy — life here on earth. It is only natural for Paul to emphasize this. He thinks of Christianity in terms of life. And all living things grow. Growth is a natural, gradual process. There is direction to growth, but the change is often imperceptible day to day. Paul’ s call is to “ continue to live in Him [Christ], rooted and built up in Him” (Colossians 2:6). This exhortation helps us resist those tempting promises of instant spiritual maturity. We are to be satisfied with Christ, to accept the growing processes of life in Him, and to resist the glamorous promises of hidden knowledge or special experiences that offer us shortcuts to glory. No wonder Paul spoke of a “ new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:10). Renewal is a process; growth is a way of life. Keeping our hearts fixed on Christ, we are to be satisfied with progress — not to demand perfection now. Paul also focused on the hiddenness of spiritual life. Experiencing fullness may not be the exciting, obvious, or supernatural thing we dream of! Paul pointed out, “ Your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:3-4). The glory will be seen when Christ appears. Don’ t look for it until then! Our perception of fullness in Christ is much of our problem. What do we expect fullness to be like? Some aesthetic experience? No wonder some look for it in a sudden endowment. Some visible mark of piety? No wonder some look to ritual and observances. In fact, we should not expect spiritual fullness to be marked off by its striking difference from ordinary living! Remember Jesus’ incarnation? What set Him apart during the early years? He was a Man among men. He laughed. He enjoyed companionship. He ate and drank like other men. He was so much a man that His own people did not recognize Him. His claim to be the Son of God was heard with amazed disbelief, for He did not fit their image of the Divine. And yet, God walked the earth in the Man Jesus. In His life, we see God unveiled. We discover holiness in the love and compassion of One whose company was sought out by prostitute and sinner. His glory? That we will see when He returns in power. Godliness in human flesh lives a Jesus-kind of life. And this is exactly what the apostle wanted us to realize. Holiness is not being “ different.” Holiness is not being “ strange.” It is being the same kind of loving person Jesus was. True holiness is hidden in daily life, expressed in the ordinary, and revealed in our living relationships with other people. With this background, we can understand how jolting the teaching of Colossians 3:1-25 and Colossians 4:1-18 really was. Holy living, the fullness of living our relationship in Christ, is to be sought in the context of our ordinary lives in this world.

Comments on the Text: Colossians 3-4 Raised with Christ (Colossians 3:1-4). Paul began by stressing the fact that we have been raised with Christ. Earthly regulations and concepts of spirituality are to be set aside. Our attention is to be fixed on things above, on Jesus, for it is only in Him that our real life can be found. Two ways of life (Colossians 3:5-11). Paul compared two ways of life. One way flows from what is called the “ earthly” nature. This is not the material nature (e.g., the physical body) but the sin nature shared by all of humanity. The evil things that flow from the human heart are to be rejected by God’ s people. There is no place in the spiritual life for “ sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed.” The believer is to be rid of such things as “ anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language.” It is these things which pollute us and block our experience of Christ, not the fact that we exist as material beings in a material universe. Evidences of holiness (Colossians 3:12-17). But the truly spiritual life is not an empty life. That is, it is not so much characterized by what is absent from it as by what is present. So Paul tells us that as God’ s chosen people we are to cultivate such virtues as “ compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” In our relationships with others we are to “ bear with [put up with] each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.” Love, which motivates all these expressions of our new life, is to characterize all our personal relationships. All this may fall short of our dreams and images about spirituality. But these common things are the material from which spirituality is forged. These are the evidences of true holiness. Opportunities to serve (Col. 3:18-4:1). Different stations in life become irrelevant when holiness and spirituality are in view. In every relationship — as children, spouses, citizen, and/or slave — we have full opportunity to live a holy and truly spiritual life. Prayer (Colossians 4:2-6). The way of life that Paul sketched is supernatural. Thus Paul emphasized the role of prayer. We are to depend on the Lord ourselves, and encourage others to focus their lives on God. Greetings (Colossians 4:7-18). Paul concluded with greetings to his Colossian friends, and by claiming a runaway slave, Onesimus, as his “ faithful and dear brother” (Colossians 4:9). For the touching story of this young slave, see the Book of Philemon.

Summary The Gnostics, whose influence was shaking the Colossian believers, had a notion of spirituality that drastically distorted the Christian way. It was rooted in a doctrine that robbed Jesus of His central place. Rather than seeing Jesus as the focus of all God’ s acts, the Gnostic pushed Him aside as one of a series of intermediaries. Thus Jesus would no longer be the touchstone by which the believer measured his life, or the source of power and daily guidance we all so desperately need. Jesus would also no longer be the pattern for the truly spiritual life. The “ compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12) that marked Jesus’ days on earth were far too ordinary to be viewed by the Gnostics as “ spirituality” ! Though Jesus lived the truly spiritual life, His incarnation was not seen as the model of the Christian’ s calling. Instead, an individual under the Gnostic influence wandered off in a futile search for some experience or hidden knowledge that would transform the mundane. How important that Jesus truly be the center of your life and mine — and the center of the life of those we teach. He and He alone is the hope of glorious things to come in this life as well as in eternity (Colossians 1:27). And it is Jesus who calls us to live the same life on earth that He lived; a life of holiness, as holiness is expressed in the ordinary events of each succeeding day.

Teaching Guide Prepare In what ways is your own spiritual life and experience satisfying?

Explore

1. Tell the true story of the minister that launches this study. Ask your group members to try to define his concept of holiness. Is that concept accurate? Why, or why not?
2. Explain the various approaches to seeking holiness discussed in the commentary. Encourage your members to share their own experiences if any have approached the spiritual life from one of these avenues. See “ link-to-life” above.

Expand

1. Give a minilecture on the Colossians cycle explained in the text. If this shaped a Christian’ s understanding of his or her spiritual life, how would such a person define spirituality? How would he or she define holiness?
2. Point out that Jesus was Himself the one truly holy and spiritual Person that this world has ever known. Discuss: “ If we built our idea of holiness and spirituality on what we know of Jesus’ life on earth, what would characterize our ideas?” After your group has tried to define spirituality by reference to Jesus, break into pairs to study Colossians 3:1-25. What in this chapter would reinforce or modify the definition of holiness/spirituality just arrived at?

Apply Go back and write a short note to the minister whose story opens this study, sharing how he can find peace and know true holiness.