Stand or Fall – Colossians 2 (NIV)
Stand or Fall – Colossians (NIV)
I love Paul’s form of communication. He tends to be very clear about what he hopes for and what he hopes the result to be. In chapter 2, he says he contends for those at Laodicea…
Goal:
1. encouraged in heart
2. united in love
So that:
They have full riches of complete understanding
In order that:
They may know the mystery of God (Christ -> wisdom and knowledge)
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Paul clearly wants them to be solid in all ways and have the ability to stay that way.
In Christ we have been made whole. We were circumcised and baptised along with Him.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
He put it all on the cross and took away the power and authorities (Ephesians 3:10).
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
Beware of people trying to tie you down in heart and mind about all types of ceremony and complexity and side practices.
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?
This last paragraph sounds like someone taking their good intentions around personal convictions and making them rules for everyone else too.
There’s always tons of messages we can take out of the same few verses. What I’m getting today is a bit of: know what you believe. It’s so important to know what you believe and why you believe it. Be able to defend (even if you don’t have to) what you believe. That’s for YOU.
If you can’t explain why you believe what you believe, then you might not really believe it. You just hope it’s true. Maybe someone you trust believes it and so you do too. But if you can’t explain and defend it, that’s trouble. Not because you need to debate someone, you need to know why so you can discern what’s true and what’s false in other beliefs.
If you can’t do that, then chances are with a good argument comes along, you won’t know why not to believe. It sounds good. Seems like the right idea. And now you’re growing a beard because "elder" means "bearded one" and if God wants elders, we need to all grow beards. Stuff like that.
Be able to stand your ground (even if just to yourself) on what you believe. If you can’t stand on your beliefs, you’ll fall for anything.
* Paul’s Prayer
* Kingdom of His Son
* Reconciled
* Solid, Not Deceived
* Alive with Christ
* Human Commands