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.