JEAN'S BIBLE STUDY COM

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1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 

Col 3,1-17

(138i) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Exhortation >> Exhorting the people to work together – These instructions that Paul is giving to the Colossians is for the sake of unity. So, how important is unity? However often it is mentioned in the Bible, which is incessantly. Did Jesus talk about unity? It was His high priestly prayer! Is that important enough to prioritize unity in the Church, yet where is unity in the Church today? It is almost non-existent. Would this have something to do with Satan being extremely successful in His endeavors to weaken the Church? He has been successful enough to actually convince the Church that unity is not even something to pursue, since we almost never hear about it, and when we do it is always about unity in our church and never between churches. This is because denominations hold each other at arm’s length and never allow churches to get closer, yet here is unity in the Bible repeatedly telling us to seek its face. Why can’t people have a heart for the things that matter most to God? It starts with finding what we have in common and focusing on that, but we focus more on our differences.

Col 3,1-11

(6d) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Jesus’ yoke of death – Paul says that not only do we possess the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, but we have also died with Him. Ask, and most people would say yes, they most definitely want to go to heaven, but not just yet. If a person actually went to heaven and came back, they would anticipate going back all the more, and they would also know that dying was the process in getting there. What if God gave us the opportunity to go to heaven now, but instead of literally dying we were called to sacrifice this life and live the rest of our lives for God’s purpose, which He would consider a legitimate substitute for literal death? This is the opportunity Paul is saying God has offered us. Paul is speaking the same way that he spoke in Romans chapter six, going in detail that though we live in the flesh, he advises us to live as though we have died.

Col 3,1-9

(187g) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Dying to receive the glory of God >> Dying to self precedes the resurrection – Just like this example that Paul uses as a metaphor for dying and being raised, so we deny our flesh for the freedom to imbibe the Holy Spirit, who has come to live in our spirit, whose home is our body, but our body is not what God has saved, for it is destined for decay. Rather, it is our spirit that has been born again. The Holy Spirit has merged with our spirit and raised us to a status with Christ (Eph 2,4-7), so in that sense our soul now lives in the Kingdom of Heaven on a spiritual plane. Hence, our life is in heaven with Christ and our life on earth is already dead in a spiritual sense, making our only life the one in heaven. This might sound ghoulish and confusing but we Christians are like zombies; we are hauling around a corpse that used to be us before we got saved, and since our bodies are destined for decay, our old life has died and our real life is in heaven, that we already enjoy on a spiritual level. The more we pay attention to our spiritual side, the more these things make sense and the more they become a reality, but those who don’t commit to the grace of God after being saved, who never grow, they often get confused and bewildered because of the inherent question of the Christian to either continue living their old life in the flesh in disregard of Christ or paying attention to the indwelling Holy Spirit and allowing Him to lead us into a new life in Christ. Our bodies are experiences one thing while their spirit experiences another. We should not attempt to juggle two opposing lifestyles. The spiritual process for anyone who dies in Christ is to partake of the resurrection as we nullify the temptation of sin that dwells in our flesh by denying its power through the anointing that results from our obedience. As we continue to resist sin, its power of temptation will subside, losing its power of attraction and its ability to hold us in bondage. This is the concept of dying to the flesh, the temptation itself will die when we starve its gratification, and once these things are out of the way, the anointing can flourish.

Col 3,1-6 

(94a) Thy kingdom come >> Perspective on this life >> It is our investment in the Kingdom of God -- These verses go with verses 22-25

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Col 3,1-4

(34dd) Gift of God >> Believer owns everything >> The divine nature belongs to us

(38e) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death (Satan) >> Resurrection anointing

(50dd) Judgment >> Last Days >> Jewish Led endtime revival >> Jews become obedient in the last days

(60c) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> The second coming / End time revival

(67e) Authority >> Jesus at the right hand of the father >> We are with Him – How wonderful that Jesus has taken His seat in the majesty in the heavens (Heb 8-1,2). Jesus is seated on His Father’s throne at His right-hand, and we are seated with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2-6). This is not something even the angels have received from God; in fact, Lucifer’s tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the throne of God. God may have said something to Him similar to what He said to Adam and Eve, “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die’” (Gen 2-16,17). He may has said to Lucifer, ‘All My creation is yours, but My throne you shall not have, for in the day that you stretch our your hand to possess it you will surely die.’ It is different for man, though; God has given us His very throne, meaning that in eternity we will wield the authority of Almighty God through Christ. 1Cor 6-3 says, “Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?” God the Father has delegated all His authority to His Son, and the son will delegate all His authority to us, and we will delegate all our authority to those whom God will put in our charge. Heaven will be configured as a cascade of authority disseminating from God’s throne, similar to the nations of the world but based on opposite principles. Instead of the greatest being the greatest and the least being the least, the greatest will be least and the least greatest (Lk 7-28). That seemingly slight change makes the difference between heaven and the godlessness of this world. This is what will secure God’s throne and make it last forever and ever. America’s founding fathers tried to create a government of checks and balances, yet the ultimate check and balance is to reverse the role of greatness to that of a servant.

(109d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelations of the Holy Spirit >> Revelation of the true children of God -- These verses go with verses 9&10. This word “revealed” can be understood on various levels. We understand the first level in our ministry. When we reveal Jesus Christ to people though our ministry, we also will be revealed with them in glory. The people in our care will comprehend our relationship with God as they begin to comprehend God on their own. In this way God will reveal us as He reveals Himself to those in our ministry. On a second level, referring to the endtimes and His second coming, the revelation of Jesus Christ is a time when God will reveal those who worship Him in spirit and truth. Christ will return to this planet on a spiritual level first, and as He does He will also reveal those who are His saints and those who are not His saints. The whole world will know and understand who is the true church during His great endtime revival. On a third level, when Jesus physically returns to earth, all His saints will be behind Him, and He will set up His millennial kingdom, and God will in the most literal sense reveal His saints in glory.  

(113b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Heaven’s clothes >> Protection >> Shelter

(121b) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Contentment >> Content with seeking God

(140d) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> Living in the spiritual revelation of the word

(226e) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of the Kingdom of Heaven >> Reserved in heaven >> Our life is reserved for us in heaven

(233f) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Seek The Kingdom With Your Essence >> Seek the elusive Kingdom of God

(234e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Set your mind on the glory of God – According to these verses, we have already been raised with Christ in that we have the power of His resurrection dwelling in us if we have received the Holy Spirit. Paul therefore says, “keep seeking the things above where Christ is…” The Kingdom of God is our destiny. He reminds us to set our mind and affections on these things, not on things that are on earth.

(237i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> The ascension >> Believers’ spiritual ascension

Col 3,1-3

(78l) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> Abiding in Jesus -- These verses go with verse 16

Col 3-1,2

(4k) Responsibility >> The choices you make >> Accountable for your thoughts – We are not allowed to demonstrate both kingdoms of light and darkness, since they conflict with each other. If any Christian thinks he has the choice to do righteousness, he is wrong. Our only real choice is to obey Christ. Any other choice is sin of a worse kind than the unbeliever. Before Christ our bondage was natural in that everyone is in bondage to sin who does not belong to Christ, but a child of God has no business walking in bondage in that it contradicts the work of God. Everyone commits sin, but the Christian who lives and walks in sin is walking on thin ice.

Col 3-1

(92b) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> Ray of light leading to the face of Christ

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2-4 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 

Col 3-2

(165f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not partake of the world >> Do not love the world

(167d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Bound to the earth -- This verse goes with verses 5-10

Col 3-3,4

(222a) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> The Church is hidden from the world – Paul says, “You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Our spiritual life is hidden from the world. Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, so they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mat 5-16). Jesus referred to our good works as the product of our faith, but the life of our faith is off limits to the world. Our relationship with God is not something we can share with anyone. It’s like a married couple who bless many people through their ministry, but what they do at home in their bedroom behind closed doors is their business alone. This is not something they can share. So, our good works that Jesus wants us to share with the world is our ministry, but the life of God that we possess is hidden from the world. We have a type of spiritual intercourse with God that the world will never know unless they are converted and experience God for themselves.

Col 3,4-8

(78n) Thy kingdom come >> Putting your heart on display >> The result of a renewed mind -- These verses go with verses12-15

Col 3-4

(254b) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is the life of the Spirit >> We live because He is life >> We live because we are in Jesus

5&6 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,

Col 3,5-10

(2o) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Quit sinning – All sin is idolatry, and idolatry worships other gods. Worshipping the God of heaven is mandated according to the pattern that was shown us in the Scriptures (Exodus 25-40). Worshipping the true God seeks to resolve sin in our lives, which is the only form of acceptable worship. When we sin we are worshipping demons in a sense, or at least what they represent, and if we continue in sin, we cross a line that opens doors to the demonic world, which will receive our worship as they continue to push their victims further into sin and debauchery. For this reason it is essential for us to separate from sin through God’s help. There are sins of omission and sins of commission. The sins that we commit and the righteousness that we omit are linked in that one causes the other (righteousness that we omit causes us to sin). These things are done in the backdrop of the fact that God has given us a second nature to which we should pay attention. This is the evil of sin: we choose it over righteousness. This new self that God has given us is in regard to the Holy Spirit who now dwells in us, so we have a choice to practice righteousness. Before we were saved we had no choice but to get saved, and now that we have the Spirit of our salvation dwelling in us, we have a choice to serve and worship God. The process of eliminating sin is simply a matter of paying attention to the Holy Spirit and doing what He says, for He will direct us to ignore the old self and focus instead on the new person that God has created in us. This new person is a mixture of both our own soul and the Spirit of God. This new creation is not the old you, but just as unique, now a part of God who lives in us, having mixed His Spirit with ours, as it says in 1Cor 6-17, “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him,” so that you are now one with the Spirit of God. Each person who has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him is a new creation. We must quit sinning to stay out of God’s way while He continues the process of creating us in the image of His Son, by focusing on the new man that God has created in us.

(167d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Bound to the earth -- These verses go with verse 2

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Col 3,5-9

(90f) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Law is our tutor >> It shows our need for Jesus – Once Paul gives his metaphor about the death and resurrection process that we experience on a spiritual level, he becomes more literal about it, providing a list of behaviors that pertain to the sinful nature, and reminds the Colossians that it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience. He’s not talking about the world, but people within the Church who practice these things, saying that we don’t have a prerogative to allow them in our lives. Everyone commits sin because we are sinners, but a Christian who practices sin will be judged along with the world. He proclaimed these things to be idolatry, so essentially all sin is idolatry. God does not accept His people practicing sin. He sees it as the worship of other gods, which is breaking the first commandment, “You shall put on other gods before me….” The Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20, are designed in such a way that God says in the first two commandments, ‘do not commit sin; rather, love your neighbor as yourself,’ and then uses the remaining eight commandments as a list of sins that act as categories. Paul designed his rationale in much the same way, only in opposite sequence, using idolatry to summarize his argument.

(168b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> Do not conform to the world’s version of love

(203f) Denying Christ >> Dishonor God >> Dishonor God by dishonoring your own body

Col 3,5-8

(134h) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Body of sin >> Dying to the sinful nature – Paul said to consider our body already dead and in the grave, for if we are dead we cannot sin. How do we do that and what kind of process is it? It resembles fasting! We fast because dying to self is most like starving; that is, we fast to simulate dying to self. We don’t want our bodies to literally die, so we eat again, but now that we haven’t had any food for a while, we know what it is like for our sinful nature to go without sin. When we begin a fast, we almost immediately get hungry, as though from rebellion; our body wants to eat because it knows we are not going to feed it, so it gets hungry all the more. Once our bodies realize we are not going to feed it, it quiets down and gets hungry later, and when we still won’t eat, it quiets down again, and this time it stays quiet for a long time. Waves of desire for food wash over us when we fast, and these represent waves of passion and desire for sin. We must deny them and starve our sinful nature. Dying to self is much like this; however, people are more willing to fast than they are to die to self; when our bodies cry to us for food, we are more willing to deny it than when it cries to us for sin. Every sin is a form of idolatry. Whenever we sin, we consider it more important and more valuable than God in our lives, and in that sense we worship sin. It may not seem like it at the time, but God sees sin as valuing our evil passions and desires more than we value the pleasure of knowing Him.

Col 3-5,6

(16c) Sin >> Man’s nature is instinctively evil >> Man has a body of sin

(22b) Sin >> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for security >> The idolatry of greed

(51c) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> Warning of Wrath >> God warns the Church

(134k) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Immorality >> Sexual perversion >> Basic immorality

(156k) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Living an ungodly lifestyle >> Practicing sin – We think bondage to sin is an acceptable way to live, but it isn’t to God. He wants His people free from sin. Our biggest problem is that God values our freedom more than we do, and this is the first thing that needs to change; we need a healthy value of freedom, for we just don’t value it enough. If we never get a grip on our sinful passions and desires but allow them to run rampant, we may not be destined for heaven as we think, even if we believe in Jesus and said the Sinner’s Prayer. Many consider themselves to have a lot of faith, yet their walk is filled with holes and inconsistencies and sins of every kind. God sees all sin as equally evil, but from our standpoint there are some sins that are worse than others, more addictive and destructive. For example, mismanaging our vocabulary is less destructive than committing adultery and murder, though God sees them as equal. The more we sin, the more it erodes our faith, wearing away to the point of it becoming a distant memory, and some people fool themselves saying that their memory of faith is faith itself. They once believed and assume they still do, while they live as heathens no different from the world. This just isn’t Christianity, yet it is possible that every Christian has gone through waterless places where sin has prevailed. Everybody has been wayward at some point or another, for nobody has lived a perfect life except Christ alone. He wants to deal with the most destructives sins first, and once we get a grip on those, He will then deal with us about the lesser sins, and he will continue refining us in this way. The Christian life is all about repentance and overcoming sins that have plagued us our whole lives. Some have walked the narrow way much better than others, but we all require the blood of Jesus to wash us from our sins.

(193j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Consequences for not repenting – Repentance is a lifelong process, and every Christian must go through it. When we sin, we repent. There are times that our life as a whole takes a turn; before we got saved, there were sins in our lives that we practiced, and eventually God brings us to a point when we are ready to surrender these sins, and so our lives take another turn. We repent and suddenly we understand God better; we have a clear conscience, and we understand the Scriptures, because we are living the Christian life the way the Bible teaches. Straddling the fence doesn’t work; living in both worlds is unfulfilling; we cannot be Christians and live like sinners. We all commit sin, but we should not be acceptant of sin. Every sin we commit we should deal with it, or be in the process of repentance or at least recognize it as sin and flag it for future expulsion. To simply allow sin in our lives without dealing with it is dangerous, because sin is deceitful; it has the power to lie to us about ourselves and about God. The number one thing sin will say to us is that we can walk in it and be a Christian at the same time, and that is a lie.

(195g) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Worshipping men >> Worshipping the idol of pleasure

Col 3-5

(4i) Responsibility >> The choices you make >> Accountable for your sinful nature

(250i) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Lists >> List of traits that can be found in man >> List of deeds of the body -- This verse goes with verse 8

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7-9 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 

Col 3,7-10

(84i) Thy kingdom come >> Words of your mouth >> Gossip >> Attacking a person’s name

(92f) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> You must be born again to walk on this trail

Col 3-7,8

(24l) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Unrighteous anger

Col 3,8-17

(6h) Responsibility >> Being spiritual >> Ministering to God by submitting to the Holy Spirit

Col 3,8-10

(190e) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision >> Undressing >> Take off your sins

Col 3-8

(250i) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Lists >> List of traits that can be found in man >> List of deeds of the body -- This verse goes with verse 5. These are all traits that we should try to avoid. Of the items on the list, there is one that we can all relate: abusive speech from our mouth. Slander is a form of abusive speech, but if Paul separated them, then there must be a difference. Slander defames someone’s character; whether true or false, it has the intension of destroying a person’s reputation, which brings up the next word: malice. All slander is malicious, but not all malice is slanderous; we can be malicious in other ways. Malice is doing something to intentionally inflict harm on others physically, mentally, emotionally or even spiritually. All malicious people exhibit satanic behavior. It is good to filter profanity from our vocabulary, or better yet not pick up these words in the first place like a bad habit. For those who have this problem, if we allow these words in our thought life, they will eventually come out our mouths, and so the first step in truncating our vocabulary of foul language is not to think that way in our heart. Anger and wrath are some of the most common negative behaviors known to man, though not all anger is intrinsically wrong. James put it best, “The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God” (Jm 1-20). That is, even if we have a right to be angry, still it doesn’t achieve the righteousness of God. Instead, God would call us to be patient or endure our circumstances rather than get angry. Although anger has its place, we tend to pick it up far more than we should. In other words, nine of ten times our anger is of the unrighteous variety, so we should not get angry, except in special cases.

Col 3,9-17

(128j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Living a fruitful life >> Living a continuous life of fruitfulness – Paul mentioned at least half the fruits of the Spirit, saying that these attributes are the components of unity and that love is of utmost importance. We could say that all the other fruits are contained in this one, “love,” and that we are to clothe ourselves with these things (Gal 3-27). This concept of clothing ourselves refers to manifesting in the natural realm the life of Christ to cover our nakedness. Clothes are what people see about us, so too the fruits of the Spirit are the things that people see. The fruits of the Spirit do not belong in our hearts; they belong displayed on the tips of our fingers and on the heels of our feet and on the tip of our tongue, where people can perceive them with their natural senses. If the fruits of the Spirit don’t manifest, then they don’t exist. Jesus taught that we have no choice but to display the contents of our hearts. He wanted to ensure that when our hearts are revealed, good things come of it, things that encourage people to believe in Jesus. Paul added a couple other things to the fruits of the Spirit, such as compassion. Why wasn’t compassion named in Galatians chapter five? The fruits of the Spirit are states of being, whereas compassion is an act of kindness, kindness itself being a fruit of the Spirit. We manifest the state of our hearts in ways such as compassion through the fruits of the Spirit, just as in the opposite example, anger produces various acts of violence. The fruits of the Spirit build up the body of Christ by creating an atmosphere in the heart that desires the will of God.

(238e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> New creation >> The new creation is our spiritual identity

Col 3,9-14

(113e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Heaven’s clothes >> Garments of the new creation – All these sins that Paul is mentioning are problems that the Colossian Church is having, so the early church was in no way perfect. Paul is trying to help the Church realize that practicing sin is unacceptable, saying that he laid aside the old self with its evil practices. He used this concept in other epistles, that of taking off your sins as though they were clothing. Just like our clothing is on our bodies, so most sin is manifested by the members of our bodies (except our evil thoughts) the work of our hands, the direction of our feet and the attitude of our mouth. This is why treating sin using the metaphor of clothing works so well, saying to put them all aside, in other words undress. Take off your sins and put on the new garments that God has for us, called the new self. This is how we are going to be viewed by the world from now on, in new threads. This new person that we are wearing is also being renewed. In other words, we are not static, but dynamic in that we are constantly changing, improving and growing in the true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him. This is a concerted effort of both God and us providing the will to love and serve Him, who provides the power to affect real change in our lives, created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Col 3,9-11

(78i) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind by the word >> Spirit renews as the flesh decays

(132h) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> Filled with the Spirit >> Filled to overflowing

(225b) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> Equality in heaven

Col 3-9,10

(42i) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformed >> Conform to the mind of Christ

(109d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelations of the Holy Spirit >> Revelation of the true children of God – Paul said that the new man conforms to the image of the one who created him using the true knowledge of God, not just knowledge but true knowledge. A person can point at the Bible and say, ‘This is true knowledge,’ but there are two issues at hand: one is the proper interpretation of Scripture, and the other is the proper understanding of the truth as originated from the Spirit. True knowledge is not just the Bible, but is the Bible understood by the Spirit, knowledge we understand by an anointing that lives and grows within us, which is a direct offshoot of the indwelling Holy Spirit that God placed in us on the day of our spiritual birth. Its purpose is to manifest the Kingdom of God in the world as an outward manifestation of an inward work. The anointing teaches us about the truth. The Bible is the truth, but the anointing converts the truth into true knowledge. There are many so-called Christians who don’t believe this, who are in bondage to naturalism. The people in the Bible most resembling them are the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection, angels or spirits. They don’t want to interface with the spiritual realm, so they have invented doctrines that keep the gospel in the natural realm, denying all spiritual manifestations. They understand the natural realm; they feel comfortable in their skin; they don’t want an anointing revealing the truth to them, but this is how God develops the inner man and causes him to grow into the image of Christ. In the natural realm they conform to a facsimile of truth, mimicking the true knowledge of God by replicating the fruits of the Spirit by the flesh, but it is not genuine.

(125a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love is the action of faith >> Love is the response of receiving from God

(228i) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> God works in the new creation – This was Paul’s way of describing the new self; it is a very effective analogy of what happens to a Christian when he gets saved. A second person is born inside the first, so the two of them must live in the same body. There is the first person born of the flesh, and then the second person came later, whom God personally created, fusing His Spirit with the man to become one spirit. The fleshly person still exists and accounts for the outer man, but it is the inner man who matters now. The fleshly mind remembers the good old days when he lived without God, the days when he had “self” all to himself, but now he must share “self” with a newcomer, someone who demands full control, claiming to be a better manager who won’t run the body into the shallows of selfish hedonism. The fleshly man conveniently forgets the consequences of living without restraint, while the new man constantly reminds him about the destructive power of sin, and tells the flesh that he is taking control, which is very bold. The fleshly mind tells the spiritual mind that he was here first, and for that reason he has greater right to be in control, but the spiritual mind argues that the fleshly mind that its sinful ways are ruining it for the spiritual man and will end up destroying them both if allowed to control of the body. The fleshly man claims that since he was born of flesh that he is in ownership of the body, but the new man does not acknowledge the fleshly man’s authority, because the new man has received authority from God and is mandated to take over the body and control where it goes and what it does, according to the will of God.

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10-12 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him- 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. 12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 

Col 3-10,11

(135m) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Similarity in the body >> The things we have in common >> Common salvation

Col 3-10

(34f) Gift of God >> Believer owns everything >> True knowledge belongs to us

Col 3-11

(53f) Paradox >> Opposites >> Freedom and bondage >> Slaves are free/free are slaves

(190j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Circumcision >> Circumcision is a sign of obedience >> Symbolism over substance

Col 3,12-17

(6b) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Jesus’ yoke of love

(74a) Thy kingdom come >> The heart >> God wants you to bless your brother from the heart – Unity requires everyone’s participation; we must together agree to live in the love of God. If only one person chose to live in a state of unity, there would be no unity. The person would be thrown to the curb like a dead dog in a matter of weeks after everything useful was taken from him. Unity requires the participation of everyone to come into agreement as to how they will behave as a group and how they will react when offended by the brethren. Things happen; sins are committed; people take advantage of others, and what is required if unity is to exist at all is for everyone in the group to respond appropriately. Instead of seeking justice, they are to apply the principles that Paul has arranged in these verses, showing those who walk in the flesh that there is a better way. If they are born of God, it is possible to convince them, but if they are not, they will never be convinced that there is anything better than the ways of the world.

(95i) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Having an obedient attitude >> Attitude of a servant

(250k) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Lists >> Terms of graduating to the next level >> List of spiritual traits in descending order

Col 3,12-15

(78n) Thy kingdom come >> Putting your heart on display >> The result of a renewed mind -- These verses go with verse 17. The things that Paul mentioned produce unity, and they also happen to be the result of renewing our minds in the word of God, and its effects transform our lives (Rom 12-2). We are the product of our own thinking; our identity is defined by the summation of our thoughts. We look in the mirror and find it is easy to believe the misnomer that we are the substance of our bodies. However, we look at our rotting corpse after we’re dead and say, ‘That’s not me;’ therefore, it never was you. Paul is saying we can change our identity by renewing our minds, because ultimately we will do whatever is in our hearts, and what we do is who we are. The heart represents the inner core of our thoughts; we have peripheral thoughts and ideas, things we would like to do, things we wish we could do; and then there are the things in our hearts that manifest on their own. Our behavior happens from the heart. The law commands us to behave, and if we don’t, then someone in a blue uniform will handcuff us and haul us to jail, so we do have some control over our hearts, otherwise we would all be in jail. We need to renew our minds so our desire for evil is replaced with doing the will of God. As members of the body of Christ we do things with the goal of unity in mind. Having an overall goal is important, because it provides personal motivation and incentive to do the will of God, and we are the first ones of a long line of people to benefit.

(43d) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Conform to the ministry of Christ’s church – It is interesting the wording that Paul used, “Put on a heart of compassion.” Some might say he was using poetic license; actually he was trying to express something that he had been conveying all through his epistles: the anointing, which is defined as, ‘an outward manifestation of an inward work.’ This implies that we must be born-again; those who are born-again are children of God, and those who are not born of God are not His children. If we work with God to avoid violating our conscience and serve the voice we hear in our hearts directing us on the narrow way, the anointing will grow. The indwelling Holy Spirit works in our hearts, while the anointing clothes the members of our bodies. Our clothes represent us in the world; the same is true with the anointing. It consists of things like: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Anybody can act compassionately, they can do random acts of kindness, can model humility, display gentleness and show a little patience, but nobody’s flesh is designed to act this way for long, so anyone who consistently displays these traits we know are born of God and possess an anointing. It is interesting that Paul tells us to bear with one another and forgive each other. If anyone is born again and carries an anointing, why would there be a need to bear with one another or to forgive each other, since no one would be offending anyone. That is in an ideal world. Those who walk in anointing are fallible just like everybody else; they make mistakes and screw-up and they offend people, but we use the same anointing to bear with one another and to forgive each other.

(99c) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Enduring the will of God >> Enduring people (patience)

(99m) Thy kingdom come >> Perseverance >> Persevere in ministering to the body of Christ

(120d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Forgiveness >> Forgiving your brother >> As God has forgiven you – Forgiveness is easy to discuss but not so easy to perform. We say, ‘Forgiveness is definitely something we should do,’ yet our hearts reject the personal circumstance in our lives about a person who has wronged us. ‘What he did and said is not forgivable,’ we say. If that were true, then maybe we are not forgivable either. The fact is, almost everyone is forgivable; therefore, we should forgive almost everyone. Sometimes they haven’t said or done anything against us; we just can’t forgive them for the kind of person they have become. If we want to reach them with the gospel, we must forgive them; otherwise we won’t believe they will listen to our message.

(123d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Spiritual affection >> Compassion >> Reaching out to those in need

(126h) Patience (Key verse)

(126l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Patience >> Be patient with your brother

(128f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Gentleness >> Be gentle in all your ways >> Be gentle toward one another

Col 3-12

(77n) Thy kingdom come >> God ministers to people through the humble >> Humility gives a blessing

(124d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Acts of love >> Love is one of the fruits of the Spirit

(127a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Kindness >> Be kind like God >> Practice the kindness of God

(133g) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> The body of Christ is holy >> We have made ourselves holy through Christ – Paul is referring to exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit in our daily walk with God. The Bible teaches that since we have been chosen of God, we are to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility and patience; God expects us to do this. Is it a commandment? If we say yes, then we must admit that the only difference with the new covenant is a change of commandments, but if we say it is not law, then some people will get the idea that it is optional and simply choose not to follow Paul’s advice. We are the children of God and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, who gives the desire to please Him, being opposite  of the flesh. We have the desire to do God’s will living in us, and so Paul is speaking to that born-again person in us, who does not require any commandments or law to obey God, because obedience is in our heart. We will experience resistance in our flesh, but if anyone wishes to do God’s will he will overcome this resistance and live in such a way as to please Him.

(219c) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> Man is a spectator of his own salvation >> God has chosen us

KJV    NAS  /  Navigation Bar

13-15 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Col 3-13,14

(131i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Interdependence >> Encouraging one another – Paul is talking about unity, which is the one state that has power to overcome every obstacle; it is the most powerful (positive) force in creation. It’s reciprocal is jealousy, which does more to tear down the brethren, while unity has the power to bring them together. These things that Paul is commanding the Church are impossible in the flesh. Looking at history, at all the wars man has fought, they collectively represent man’s willingness to walk in the flesh, and that represents a tremendous will, because there have been many wars, none of which were necessary. So, when Paul says to do these things, he is telling us to fight the forces that seek war. These forces are very powerful and are led by little voices in the head that tell people they have rights and are justified in their retribution against their enemies. These forces against unity are an alternate view as though shortcuts to Christianity when in fact it is not Christianity at all. Instead they are shortcuts to selfish pride and indignity, and their end is the way of death. People choose war more often than they choose unity; in fact, they choose unity so infrequently that it is doubtful that anyone has ever really seen unity in their lifetime, the type that Jesus outlined in his High Priestly Prayer (John chapter 17). Man has probably not witnessed unity in a perfect state, though man has often witnessed war in a perfect state. We have seen people walk in perfect hatred and perfect vindication, but we have rarely seen unity in the bond of peace for long?

Col 3-13

(12m) Servant >> Jesus is our example of a servant

(124e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Acts of love >> Do to others as you would have them do to you – A person who is born of God has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, leading him to live a life of unity in the bond of peace, yet we rarely see it, because people are disobedient to the Holy Spirit. Most so-called Christians are more convinced by their flesh than they are by the ways of God, though they claim to believe in Him. There are many Christians who will not take vengeance on their enemies, which is the right thing to do, but they fail to include the righteousness that God has prepared for them from all eternity (Eph 2-10), which would define them as Christians, and because they omit righteousness, they can’t help but commit sin in its place. Therefore, the best defense against sin is to include the righteous acts that God has prepared for us. Omitting righteousness is actually more destructive than committing sin; it is the very cause of sin. The absence of righteousness is the environment for sin to grow and fester in a person’s life or in a church, and the number one omission of righteousness is prayer.

Col 3,14-17

(131d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Brother depends on you >> To help build the temple

(234k) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Be a blessing >> Be a blessing and love your brother

Col 3,14-16

(129f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> love perfects unity >> Love is the mortar between the blocks

Col 3-14,15

(216g) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Compelled by the Spirit >> God forces us by His love

Col 3-14

(43j) Judgment >> Satan destroyed in the absence of sin >> Perfected in love

(61b) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Certificate of debt—Law of commandments / Records of our past

Col 3-15

(91h) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> Walking along the narrow way >> Those who walk in their calling are united

(126b) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace >> God is at peace >> The Peace of God

(136h) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ consists of individual members >> We should live as Christ lived – The peace of Christ desires to rest in our hearts, yet there are many reasons we don’t have His peace. We can run into adverse circumstances that can be very upsetting, and then there are times when things go well and we want the peace of Christ to settle in our hearts, but God wants His peace to remain with us regardless of the circumstances, like the dove that rested on Jesus at His baptism. It represented His anointing and stayed with Him throughout His ministry. If we make any sudden moves, it startles the dove, so we must be very still and quiet, so the bird will stay perched on our shoulder. Jesus never did anything to scare away the anointing, and Paul wants the peace of Christ to remain with us too. We get scared and flinch and start walking in the flesh and He flies away. If we stop thinking the thoughts of God, suddenly the thoughts of the world rush to take their place, and before long they flow from our mouths, and the dove flies away. We must calm ourselves and get back in the word of God and prayer and the dove will return to us. Paul says that one of the ways we keep the dove perched on our shoulder is to be thankful. Gratitude and thankfulness is a type of worship. The opposite of being thankful is to be like the Israelites exiting Egypt and spending forty years wandering in the wilderness, grumbling and complaining about everything. If we don’t learn to be thankful, we will find ourselves in the same situation.

Col 3,15-17

(81k) Thy kingdom come >> Pray without ceasing >> For the Church >> Giving thanks

KJV    NAS  /  Navigation Bar

16&17 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Col 3-16,17

(252j) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship God >> Worship God by your lifestyle – We should do our good works in the name of Jesus in that it is basically Him doing it through us. Paul is giving us a standard that we should do all things in His name to promote His kingdom in the world. Everybody we know should know we are Christians, and every good thing we do is for the Lord. They should know that our lives are dedicated to His cause and that we worship God the Father through Him. The purpose of our existence is to glorify the Father through His Son. We need to understand that when we worship Christ, we are worshipping the Father. We shouldn’t forget about the Father because He didn’t forget about us. We worship the Father because He sent His Son that we might be forgiven and accepted into His kingdom.

Col 3-16

(34l) Gift of God >> Be generous like your Father >> Give to your brother

(78l) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> Abiding in Jesus -- This verse goes with verses 1-3

(80j) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word to minister to people >> To edify one another – Paul is not talking to pastors only but also to the Colossian Church as a whole, saying to the assembly that they were called not just to evangelize the world, but also to edify one another. We all know that the pastor is called to minister, but so is the assembly called to become students of God’s word and use it to minister to one another. We sing our songs to the Lord and at the same time edify one another. We can open the hymnbook and sing songs that have been written before us, or we can write our own and become psalmists if that is how God has graced our ministry. We know there is music in heaven, and Jesus said, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mat 6-10). Music and singing to the Lord in this life is always appropriate, simply because it is also done in heaven. Man was blessed us with the gift of music, the ability to interpret rhythm and melody. Many animals appear to enjoy music, or perhaps they are just imitating us, but none of them can write or play music. If it weren’t for man there would be no music in this world. Young infants who have barely begun to walk show an appreciation for music above all other animals, so music is engrained within us, and God has given it to us to enjoy as a teaching tool and as a means of expressing our love and gratitude toward Him.

(89j) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Jesus is the wisdom of God

(139e) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Encouragement >> Encouraged by the word of God

(239j) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> The gift of teaching >> The ability to teach is a gift from God

(249h) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >> True perception of wealth >> The infinite and eternal wealth of God >> Being rich in Jesus

Col 3-17

(67k) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> Praying in Jesus’ name

(78n) Thy kingdom come >> Putting your heart on display >> The result of a renewed mind -- This verse goes with verses 4-8

(85h) Thy kingdom come >> Words that are spoken in faith >> Verbalize your faith

(115a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Working God’s grace through Christ >> Worship God through Christ

(124c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Acts of love >> Love is the proper motive for all you do

(250a) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >> In all things ... >> Glorify God in all things – Obviously there are some things we cannot do in Jesus’ name, such as commit sin. For example, we cannot bash our enemies over the head in His name, and if we cannot, then we should not. This suggests that we can use this verse as an acid test for our behavior in those cases when we don’t know what to do and are having trouble deciding on our options. Ask if we could conscientiously go with a certain plan in Jesus’ name, and if we can’t, then it eliminates that option in a process of elimination, until we come to the right choice that agrees with God’s word. Paul is saying that we should do all that is good and right in His name and for His glory, but if we can’t speak His name over the things we say and do, then we shouldn’t say and do them.

KJV    NAS  /  Navigation Bar

18-21 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.

Col 3,18-25

(194i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Yield to God’s right to direct your way – It is fitting that wives should be subject to their husbands in the Lord. “Fitting” means appropriate. The marriage relationship is very much like the relationship of Jesus with His Father, who willingly submitted to His authority. We know the Father doesn’t always ask His Son to do things that are fun or pleasant, but required Him to take on the cross. So too, husbands sometimes require their wives to do difficult things. This kind of speech is totally outlawed by society today; nobody is allowed to talk about women submitting to men. This is how rebellious our society has become that just talking about this is to use some of the most blasphemous combination of words in the English language. In fact, if we blasphemed the name of Jesus, it would not seem as bad as telling women they needed to submit to their husbands. These are fighting words! There are some men that are total jerks; women are not obligated to submit to their abuse, for Paul is talking about that which is fitting in the Lord. If the expectation of the husband is appropriate, then it is fitting for the woman to submit to him, but if the husband acts unseemly (1Cor 13-5), the woman has no obligation to submit to his stupidity and brutality, only to the aspect of a man that is Christ-like. If the man has no Christ-likeness in him, then it is her duty to rebuke him and tell him that she has no intension of submitting to his abusive personality unless he repents and believes in Jesus. In this case, she shouldn't have married him in the first place (2Cor 6-14).

Col 3-18,19

(3c) Responsibility >> To the Family >> Instruction about marriage – Colossians is similar to Ephesians in that they both talk about unity and about relationships between men and women. His instruction in both cases are that women should be submissive and that men should love their wives, suggesting that these are the two main problem areas of most marriages. Husbands have a tendency to become bitter against their wives in response to their defiance, so it is no wonder women don’t submit if their husbands don’t love them. However, this is not what Paul is saying. These two destructive forces feed on each other to create a vicious cycle that Paul is trying to break, and it must be broken on both ends. No one individual can mend a marriage; both the man and the woman must be involved in fixing and improving their marriage relationship. However, he is not saying that the man should correct his ways if the woman does, and that the woman should correct her ways if the man does, but that they should independently correct their ways at the same time, eliminating the “if” and making the needed changes on an unconditional basis for Jesus’ sake and not for the sake of the spouse. However a marriage cannot be healed unless both do their part in creating unity in the family structure. This is also how we establish unity in the Church; we must eliminate that giant word “if,” and do what God commanded us, regardless of other people. Be faithful and God will reward us, if not in this life, then in the next.

(73h) Authority >> Respect authority in the family >> Respect the institution of marriage

Col 3-19

(24k) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Anger >> Unforgiveness – The husband should not be embittered against his wife when she is acting like a jerk. This is a scenario of a good man whose wife is not submitting to him. Paul says not to be embittered against her but to love her instead, and allow the love of God to soften her heart. The best way to make a woman change her heart is to love her.

Col 3-20,21

(73i) Authority >> Respect authority in the family >> Respect your mother and Father – “All things” means everything. Does that mean when the parents are unreasonable that children should submit to them? Of course not! We are talking about the ideal scenario of Christian parents who love the Lord. Paul addresses the imperfect scenario in other places, such as 1Corinthians chapter five of a man having relations with his stepmother, and he rebukes him severely. Paul would not command children to obey parents who remotely resembled this lifestyle. He is talking about good Christian parents making reasonable demands on their children. They are to obey their parents, because it is for their benefit; it is to the advantage of the family as a whole; it is to the advantage of the Church in general and for the purpose of promoting the Kingdom of God in the world. If children can place in their conduct the good traits their parents require of them, it turns them into good people and teaches them how they ought to live. When they do evil, it teaches them to be evil, and when they do good, it teaches them to be good. When their parents teach them to be good, it is so they don't spend their life in prison or die young. Through all this advice to families Paul is addressing rebellion and naming submission as the solution. When Christians model their lives after the Lord Jesus Christ, people have an obligation to submit to them.

Col 3-20

(3o) Responsibility >> Children are accountable to their parents

(87k) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Obey authorities -- This verse goes with verses 22-24

(247i) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> Things that please God

(250b) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >> In all things ... >> Be obedient in all things

Col 3-21

(3n) Responsibility >> Parenting >> How to discipline your children

(75a) Thy kingdom come >> Let not your heart be hardened >> Numb from over stimulation

(176j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Extremes >> Truth is never found in your conduct on either extreme of any circumstance

KJV    NAS  /  Navigation Bar

22-25 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

Col 3,22-25

(13i) Servant >> Support the body >> Servant in the work force

(73g) Authority >> Respect Positions Of Authority >> Respect your boss at work – We are to serve our employers as though we were serving Christ, as though we were fulfilling our calling from God, as though we were reaping eternal rewards, because in fact this is part of it. He has called us with a holy calling and our means of income is part of that calling. We could have an important career and make a lot of money, or we could have a simple job that virtually anyone could do; either way it doesn’t matter, because we are all called to do our very best work at whatever we are doing in order to bring glory to God. In this life all we reap is a paycheck, and we know how fast money spends, here one day and gone the next, hardly eternal; but at the same time God intends to reward us for being good employees in this life as we work wholeheartedly as for the Lord. That is, if we do our jobs for Christ instead of for our foreman, God will reward us for our wholeheartedness with a better job in heaven. If we do our jobs for the sake of money, that is all we will receive; but if we do our work for the glory of God, garnishing the gospel of Christ, then in fact we are working for Him. If we have a fancy career making lots of money and in charge of many people, and have been entrusted with authority, we are not to forget that we have an inheritance coming from the Lord that will outshine any greatness we may have achieved in this life in ways we cannot even imagine.

(94a) Thy kingdom come >> Perspective on this life >> It is our investment in the Kingdom of God -- These verses go with verses 1-6

(101j) Thy kingdom come >> Ambition >> Be an ambitious businessman for God >> Ambitious in the business world of this life 

Col 3,22-24

(78d) Thy kingdom come >> Sincerity >> Taking God to heart >> Having a genuine heart

(87k) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Obey authorities -- These verses go with verse 20

Col 3-22

(88k) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Revering God

(171f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Decorating the outside to simulate the inside >> Playing the part to be accepted by men

(197b) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling Against what God wants you to do >> Refusing to take on responsibility

Col 3-23,24

(31d) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> His favor enriches your life

(36j) Gift of God >> Inheritance >> We are heirs through sanctification

(75c) Thy kingdom come >> Motives of the heart >> Being motivated to do the will of God

(226d) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of the Kingdom of Heaven >> Reserved in heaven >> Our inheritance is reserved in heaven – If our job is miserable and we hate going to it, if we wake up and can’t stand our lives, knowing we have to go back to that pit-hole again and do the same dumb thing and deal with the same stale problems, Paul is telling us to remember our inheritance. We are a special person, born of God, one in a hundred going to heaven. No matter how miserable our life, we are destined to receive an inheritance from God that is eternal. We will inherit heaven itself and the new creation. After God creates the new heavens and the new earth, He will give it to us and we will own it as stewards of the manifold grace of God. Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore…” (Mat 28-18). The day is coming when God will give us all authority to reign with Him in heaven and on earth. We might have to hold down this stupid, ridiculous job for now, but a day is coming when we will own all things as fellow heirs with Christ.

(233l) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seek His glory without wavering >> By all means seek the glory of God

KJV    NAS  /  Navigation Bar

Col 3-25

(48f) Judgment >> Levels of judgment >> Judged according to your deeds >> In this life – Verse 25 is a summation of chapter three. Christians should not have a problem with sin, should they? We are humans, so we will always wrestle with sin for as long as we are in the body. Afterward, God will give us a new body that cannot be tempted, but until then the struggle continues. God is the one who brings about retribution for the sin of the Church, and he does it by His Spirit through conviction. There are also circumstantial consequences, especially when our sin involves other people, which it so often does. Paul wants the Church to properly manifest Jesus Christ in the world and we cannot do that while we are practicing sin.

(51h) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> No partiality among us with God – Was Paul really talking to Christians when he wrote this? Yes he was writing to them; they were and still are his main audience. Was he talking about this life only, or was he also talking about the life to come? In this life people sometimes get away with murder, but in the life to come, all debts are paid, so Paul was talking about Christians in the life to come receiving the consequences of their sin without partiality. Where does that fit with grace? The reason many people pick and choose certain preferred verses from the Bible is that the rest doesn’t fit with the doctrines they have chosen to believe. They don’t know how this verse seamlessly fits with the subject of grace; after all, hasn’t God forgiven us? “Without partiality” means that God doesn’t care about our doctrines of grace and mercy; He doesn’t care about all the good things we have done. The person who was a missionary and came home and murdered his friend will go to jail just the same; but more than that, Paul was talking about the judgment of God. How does that apply to grace? We know that a Christian is forgiven, but when he sins, there are both temporal and eternal consequences that will befall him.

(88g) Thy kingdom come >> Fear the judgment of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Fear the consequences of your disobedience

(218e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest >> We choose our actions, not their consequences >> Reaping the harvest of our works – Temporal consequences come from man; if we have committed a crime, he will stand before a judge, who will pass sentence against us, and in eternity God will review our lives and recall the sin we have committed, and if we are Christians we will have escaped the White Throne Judgment, so our sin will not condemn us to hell, but it will keep us from a full reward, according to 2Jn-8, “Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.” God has prepared a reward, and it is waiting for us in heaven, but our sins keep chipping away at it, so by the time we get there, some people’s reward will have eroded to nothing (1Cor 3,12-15). Many Christians are willing to accept this; they only care about getting to heaven, but the truth for many is that they just don’t want to go to hell. However, with an attitude like this, they are of all least likely to see heaven. A person who really wants heaven will live for God in this life, but the one who has a mediocre faith is likely to undershoot heaven and land in God’s dragnet leading to the White Throne Judgment and to eternal punishment. Those who love God and have made a full commitment to Him, though they sin every day, they immediately repent and seek restitution of those they have offended and restoration with God. For this reason their sins are resolved and mediated in this life, and so this verse scarcely relates to them, but those who have given themselves to want and pleasure, Paul says beware not only of the consequences of sin but of hell itself.

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