Colossians 2:10-15

It is important that we do not take these other passages too far in applying them. There are still distinctions in the world and in the church, however, in salvation there is no distinction. All have to come though Jesus Christ. All must fight sin. The Jews had an advantage of the scriptures, but they still must die to old self and put on the new. It did not matter who had advantage in this world and who did not. All must put off the old self and put on the new self in Christ. It is easy for us to fall into the trap Paul is writing about here. We can look at those in the world or new Christians and say “This is for you.”, however, the putting off of the old self and putting on the new self is something we have to do for our whole lives. It is something we continually look for Christ to help us do. It is not for others. It is for you.

Colossians 2:9

Before we come to Christ, we might be good people in the eyes of the world, but not according to the standard of God. All of us walked in these earthly ways. We can not say “That person needs to do this” or “Those people need to do this.” Each of us must kill the sin in ourselves through the help of Jesus Christ. Paul expands the idea of what needs to be avoid specifically. “Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie”. These seem to be specifically targeting sins of the mouth. Christ changes us from inside out. Heart and Mouth must put off old self and ways and put on the new self which is found in Christ. We are renewed to be like our creator who is holy and perfect. We die to our sinful and worldly self.

Colossians 2:8

Note well the strong language Paul uses in making his point: put to death. We are not to play with sinful thoughts or acts. Notice the list that Paul gives us. They are a list of heart issues that flow out through our words and actions. He calls this idolatry because these are things in your life that you are putting before the Lord. God hates this and He is a wrathful God. His is not an angry hateful human like wrath. God has a perfect, just, and holy wrath against sin and sinners. Christ died to set you free from these. Christian, you have power over these sinful, earthly things because you are in union with Christ. Here is real hope and help.

Colossians 2:6-7

While it is true that we can become so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good, it is equally true that we can become so focused on the things of earth that we do not seek the things that are above. Jesus tells us, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33).  You are an alien and a stranger in this world. It is not your home. We are to care about the things of this world, especially the people of this world, but we are not to get caught up in the things of this world. We want the world to honor Christ. We want people to know Jesus and His salvation. Our hope and our home is in heaven. This should give us perspective as we live our life in this world and wait on the one that is coming.

Colossians 2:1-5

We are in union with Christ’s death, resurrection, and life (Romans 6:3-5). Paul is telling you here that in Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world. You are now set free from the sinful world in which you live as a Christian. You are dead to the world and alive to Christ. Paul’s question is, “Why do you still live as though you are in the World?” There are those who will teach things that sound spiritual and good, yet they are a self-made religion that pushes you to asceticism (severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons) and sever actions and attitudes towards your physical body. These have no value in stopping sin. To do that, we must continue to look outside of ourselves (our work, our efforts, and our suffering) and look to Christ.

Colossians 1:24-29

There is a movement in some circles of the church to go backwards into the Old Testament food laws and ceremonies. There are many folks who are refusing to eat pork or shellfish. They are celebrating the old holy days of the Jews. This is not something we can or should be compelled to do. These all pointed to Christ’s coming and, now that we have Christ, we have no need of them anymore. All animals were declared clean in Peter’s vision (Acts 10:9-16). Often these efforts are an attempt to go backwards for the sake of spirituality. If we want a greater spirituality we must go forward to Christ. These are shadows! Christ is where the substance is.

Colossians 2:10-15

When Christ wins we will win too! We cannot overstate the importance of the connection we have in Christ. Paul states here that Christ is life for us. Often people will be asked, “What is your life? What is at the center of it?” They will answer with a spouse, family member, job, hobby, or the like, but the real center or real life for a Christian is to be Christ. He is our life here and now and Christ will be our victory there and then. When He appears in complete victory and judgement, this will be our victory too!

Colossians 2:9

Grace is not a cloud-like substance that floats around. It is not an impersonal power or force in our world. Grace is found in Jesus Christ. For us to have grace to be saved we must have Jesus and be in Jesus. Union with Christ is a key part of how we are saved. Our lives are hidden with Christ and in Him we are connected by the Spirit of God.  It is because of our connection to Christ that we are able to have His work credited to us and our sins taken away. It is by the real connection we have to the Son of God that our lives are transformed and we are held with God and His people forever.

Colossians 2:8

Where do you put your mind? There needs to be a part of your mind that is always aware that this world is not your home and you are not going to be here forever. Neither the individual nor the church will be in this world, as it is, forever. Because of our hope in Jesus, Paul says “if then you have been raised with Christ” we are to look to the things above. Christ is in heaven now. He is our surety of victory and salvation. We need to set our minds on the things that are above. This means that we have a vision of heaven and final victory in all we do. It does not mean that we ignore the world in which we live and where God has put us to be His witnesses and His people. If you read these devotions, please send me an email or text, or just let me know that you do.

Colossians 2:6-7

Paul acknowledges that there is a real appearance of spirituality in the teaching of some men. They call us to stand up and do something for Jesus’ sake, but they call us to deny ourselves in extreme ways. These ways were so extreme that Paul calls it severity to the body. Paul says these human means and ideas are of no value to stopping sin. They are self-made religion. The rules we follow as Christians are not made up by men, but rather commanded by God. At their root is love: love for God and love for man. God takes pleasure when we turn from our sinful ways to obey His commands. He does not take pleasure in our starving or denying ourselves in ways He has not told us to do.

Colossians 2:1-5

There are going to be people who try to lead us away from Christ. They are going to insist that we deny ourselves, leading us to look to ourselves in asceticism. Christ tells us to deny ourselves, but not in the way these false teachers will. They are arrogant in their visions and puffed up with pride at their own spirituality, but the growth that is from God is found in Jesus. He is the head, and the body grows in Christ. Do not be tempted to leave Christ or deviate from Him. We must hold fast to Christ if we want to grow strong in God.

Colossians 1:24-29

There are some in our world today who want us to go back to the Jewish dietary laws found in the Old Testament. There was also an issue of how to address  meat offered as a sacrifice to idols and then sold. These issues found in the Old Testament were shadows of things to come. Christ fulfilled the shadows and overcame the idols. We find our fullness and sufficiency in Christ alone and not in the things of this world:  in eating and drinking or in outward observations. The Lord has set one holy day for His church and that is the Lord’s Day. He has declared all food good to eat. Do not go back to the old shadows when you have Christ, the light.

Colossians 2:10-15

This salvation is given to us ‘in’ Jesus Christ. When we are saved we are connected to Jesus. Paul shows us this in these verses. We are ‘filled in Him’, ‘in Him you were also circumcised’, ‘having been buried with Him in Baptism’, ‘raised with Him’, ‘made alive together with Him’.  We are in union with Christ. In John 15, Jesus teaches us that He is the vine and we are the branches. Our hope of salvation is not only in believing and trusting in Jesus. It is in our being connected to Him. Salvation works in us as we are in Jesus Christ. Are you in Jesus? Do you see His power working in you?

Colossians 2:9

The doctrine of Christ’s two natures is foundational to the Christian life. One reason we have the Nicene creed, which we say in our Worship services at the end of every month, is because it was written to address a heresy on this matter. ‘The whole fullness of deity’ means that the person of Jesus is fully God. ‘Dwells bodily’, means that the person of Jesus is fully man. The reason this is important is because our salvation is based on Jesus taking our place. To take our place on the cross he had to be man. To take our sins and pay them He had to be sinless God. This is accomplished in the one person of Jesus and His two natures.

Colossians 2:8

In our world today, there are many who want to argue with Christians using the philosophies of man, or scientific facts, or by just outright lies against Christ. We must see that Christ is above creation. He is above the thinking of man and the scientific knowledge of man. He is above the outright hatred and falsehood of man in his fallen and evil state. However, we must be careful that we do not fall prey to bad or even dishonest arguments. G. K. Chesterton was quoted as saying, “Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.” The point is that we are to keep our focus and hope in Christ, trusting Christ and His Word above the wisdom of this world.

Colossians 2:6-7

This is a significant passage in the book of Colossians. Paul is drawing a conclusion by saying, “therefore”. He is instructing them in how they are to continue in the faith. The Christian life starts with Jesus Christ. You receive Jesus by believing and trusting in Him. Paul is saying that you must continue in Jesus. Christ is not just a door into the faith. He is the way in and through the faith. We are to be rooted in Jesus and to grow and be built up in Jesus. Once you are saved, the focus does not leave Christ. It remains here, and we stand in His work and in His commands by His strength.

Colossians 2:1-5

One aspect of Paul’s ministry is to bring Christians to full assurance of salvation and trust in Christ. Here he speaks specifically of the church at Laodicea, yet it is a need for all Christians. You need to know what you believe. You need to have a full assurance that you are saved. Without knowledge and full assurance of Christ, we are open to attack by what Paul calls plausible arguments. If you are going to grow in your Spiritual life walking with Christ, then you need to be assured of the foundation that it is built upon, your salvation in Christ.

Colossians 1:24-29

Have we lost the idea that ministry is hard? The idea of the Church militant, that is, the church fighting against sin, evil, and Satan’s kingdom, was rediscovered in the Reformation.  Paul’s life is given completely for this purpose of proclaiming the Gospel and maturing the church. This was his passion. Are we willing to suffer for the ministry? Are we willing to be inconvenienced for Jesus? Where do you need to let go of your rights, your comforts, and what you want for the sake of the lost and your church?

Colossians 1:23

We must continue on in the Gospel. You must continue in the way that you began. It is not a continuing in your works or in your attainment. It is a continuing in Christ by faith. It is a continuing in believing and trusting in Jesus Christ. We are called to be stable and steadfast in our faith. There is no other way to continue except in Christ. He is our hope in the beginning of our salvation, the middle of our salvation, and at the end. Jesus takes us all the way though to God. We show ourselves to be in Jesus when we stay in the faith and seek to please Him in all we do. Is this where you are? Is it your desire to please God in all you do?

Colossians 1:22b

Have you ever gone out only to find that you had a spot or stain on your clothes? It is embarrassing, and if bad enough, we will go home and change our clothes. We were covered with the stain of our sins. They had separated us from God. They weighed on us and were leading us to death in hell. Jesus, in saving us, makes us holy. He does not just take away your sins. He gives us the goodness of His life so that in this world, and most importantly before the judgement seat of God, you will be found holy, blameless, and above reproach.

Colossians 1:22a

We see Paul draw attention again to the importance of Jesus coming to be one of us. Jesus coming as a man is significant to His work as our savior. Paul restates and emphasizes that the death of Jesus was in the body of flesh. Jesus gave His real body to reconcile you to God and so that you may be presented before the Lord holy and blameless in Jesus. The only way sinful men can be found not guilty in the sight of the Lord is to be covered with the blood of Jesus. In Jesus you are reconciled to the Lord and to the Lord’s people. This is a major change in who you are. You are no longer hostile and alienated. Now you are reconciled to the one God because the one God came to save you!

Colossians 1:21

Our offense to God is real. Paul addresses this to the Christians in Colossae, telling them that they were once alienated and hostile in mind to God. It is easy for us to start thinking we have done something to aid, help, or cause our salvation. However, there is nothing farther from the truth. We are helpless. We were actively opposing God in our mind and by evil deeds. We need Jesus. He had to take our place and open our minds and draw us back to Himself. There is a real problem if you do not understand what Paul is talking about in verses 19-23. At the heart of this section is our salvation and that it comes directly from, and only from, knowing Jesus Christ and the works He did for you.

Colossians 1:20

Salvation is through Christ alone. He came to bring reconciliation and peace. There are many who see the church as just trying to get our market share of folks who buy into our philosophy. In reality, the message of the church is that we have offended a holy and just God with our sin. We stand in danger of His wrath and hell itself. We need to be reconciled to God! The only way this happens is by the blood of Jesus Christ. He came as a man, stood in our place, and took our death that we might have life. Do you see that salvation is in and by Jesus alone?

Colossians 1:19

Our salvation depends on Jesus being fully God. If Jesus is just a man like any other, His death has no power or ability to save. However, if Paul is correct that the fullness of God is in Jesus then He has the power to save you. It is because salvation was beyond the ability of any mere man. It took God becoming man. It was Jesus putting on flesh so that He could take our place. This is what Jesus did in our salvation. Jesus humbled Himself , but did not give up being God when He took on flesh. He is fully man and fully God. This is a critical doctrine for your salvation.

Colossians 1:18

Paul’s focus moves from the whole world to the church. If the whole world holds together in Christ, then it is logical that the church finds its power in Christ. He is the  head of the church. Paul ties in Jesus’ resurrection (firstborn from the dead) as further proof  of Christ’s power. Paul goes on to state that in everything Jesus should have preeminence. He is eternal God, creator God, and sustainer God. He is the head of the church. He is the one who has saved us and the pathfinder who has blazed a way for us in His resurrection from the dead. Now that you have Jesus, do not turn back to the Old Testament shadows and ceremonies. When you have the spiritual reality of Jesus Christ given to you in the Gospel, do not settle for an outward religion of physical beauty of sights, sounds, and smells. 

Colossians 1:17

In the Star Wars movies, there is an impersonal power called “The Force”. This fictional power upholds the whole universe and many say it is based on eastern religions and philosophies. However, there is a real power that holds the world together and His is Jesus Christ. In the first part of verse 17, we see that Jesus is before all things. He is eternal. He is the creator in verse 16. Paul teaches us that all things hold together in Jesus Christ (17b). There are many who want to say that God created the world and then walked away or at least steppe d back. However, this is not what the Bible teaches. This is not what Paul says. The whole world is held together in Jesus. Again, is this the Jesus you believe in? Is this the Jesus that you worship?