A Daily Devotional

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Reconciled

“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.” (Colossians 1:21-22)
 
The reconciliation act abolishes one condition and establishes another. We were “aliens . . . from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12) with our “understanding darkened” and ignorance due to a blindness of our heart (Ephesians 4:18). We were enemies whose “friendship of the world” made us at “enmity with God” (James 4:4).
 
We are reconciled now. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Indeed, we are also “saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement” (Romans 5:10-11) and are to be presented as a “chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2). Both individually and collectively, we are “being built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5) who will “shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
 
We can be absolutely sure that once we are reconciled, our alien state abolished and our adoption secured, our Lord Jesus remains the “merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). Reconciliation ensures that the Lord Jesus Himself will “stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:13).
 
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11). HMM III

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Continue in the Faith

“If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.” (Colossians 1:23)
 
In the New Testament, the use of the definite article “the” always modifies the noun that follows. In this case, “the faith” insists on a particular body of doctrine that defines the Christian life. For instance, as Paul and Barnabas were returning from their initial missionary effort, they went back to each area “confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith” (Acts 14:22).
 
There are nearly 50 occurrences in the New Testament where “the faith” is used in this way. These references always speak of obedience to specific teachings that embrace the core of the godly lifestyle that represents holiness and the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Thus, one who is “grounded and settled” in the faith will be both knowledgeable and stable in his Christian testimony and ministry.
 
It is necessary, of course, to build on the foundation of the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:11), but only the “gold, silver, precious stones” have any lasting value (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)—hence the requirement in Jude: “It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3).
 
Furthermore, those who continue in the faith will not be “moved away from the hope of the gospel.” That hope acts as “an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19) and is the drive that motivates us to maintain a purity of lifestyle (1 John 3:3). “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). HMM III

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Watchful Sobriety

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
 
Several words are used in Scripture to imply spiritual watchfulness, and each has a slightly different meaning. Only as we compare and combine these words do we get the full force of the Scripture exhortations to watchfulness.
 
One such word is the Greek word agrupneo, translated “watch.” In Mark 13:33 we read, “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” The word literally means to be sleepless and comes from two Greek words meaning “to chase” and “sleep.” It implies a purposeful and active state of awareness.
 
More commonly used is gregoreo. It is a stronger word, meaning to arouse oneself and shake off lethargy, implying activity as on the part of one who is fully awake. “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith” (1 Corinthians 16:13), and “continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). “Watch ye, therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh” (Mark 13:35).
 
A third word is nepho, which literally means to abstain from drink which would produce stupor, as well as sleep, and therefore conveys the additional idea of sobriety. By combining the teaching of these three words, we are instructed not only to keep awake but to keep active and to avoid the intoxication of this world’s seductive pleasures.
 
In our text, we see that we are not only to be sober (nepho) and vigilant (gregoreo), but we also see the reason why. Our “adversary the devil” is a vicious opponent. He stalks us both day and night with brutal cunning. We dare not underestimate him by figuratively closing our eyes in sleep or dulling our senses with intoxicants. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober” (1 Peter 1:13). JDM

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The Wisdom Mine

“Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of
understanding?” (Job 28:20)
 
In one of his monologues, the patriarch Job compares his search for spiritual understanding to man’s explorations for metals and precious stones. “There is a vein for the silver,” he said, “and a place for gold. . . . Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone” (vv. 1-2).
 
These all are easier to find than true wisdom. “It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold” (vv. 16-19).
 
Neither have animals discovered it. “The fierce lion passed by it. . . . it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air” (vv. 8, 21). “The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me” (v. 14).
 
“But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?” (v. 12). Job is driven to ask: “Where must one go to find and mine the vein of true wisdom?”
 
It is certainly “not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought” (1 Corinthians 2:6). The mine of evolutionary humanism which dominates modern education and scholarship will yield only the fool’s gold of “science falsely so called” (1 Timothy 6:20).
 
Job found true wisdom only through God, and so must we, for only “God understandeth the way thereof . . . unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:23, 28). The Lord Jesus Christ is the ever-productive mine “in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). HMM

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Christ in You

“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
 
The New Covenant includes a mystery Paul had the privilege of revealing to the Gentiles (Colossians 1:24-29). The history and prophecies of the Old Covenant contained a few hints of God’s plan for the last days, but the focus was centered on the “fulness of time” when the Messiah would come (Galatians 4:4).
 
Paul seemed thrilled to “preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8) and to have the responsibility of unveiling “the grace of God which is given me to you-ward” (Ephesians 3:2). More than the obligation, Paul felt a dread judgment if he failed (1 Corinthians 9:16). It follows that we should be clear in our own declaration of this mystery.
 
Simply put, the mystery is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Obviously, that is the result of salvation. The new message is the completed work and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The promises of the prophets and the long history of Israel tend to obscure the eternal plan of God (Ephesians 3:11)—thus the detailed effort of the New Testament writers to amplify the “whosoever will” aspect of the gospel message.
 
“Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven” (1 Peter 1:10-12).
 
Now it is possible for the whole world to have a personal and eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. HMM III

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Full Assurance of Understanding

“That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.” (Colossians 2:2)
 
There are two key aspects to this message. Our hearts need encouragement by “being knit together.” The result will produce a “full assurance of understanding” and an acknowledgment of the mystery of the triune Godhead.
 
The comforted hearts are to be “knit together.” The Greek term sumbibazo means “to force together, to compact.” Paul uses this term to illustrate the impossibility of teaching God anything. “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Positively, the strength of the church body comes from being “joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth” (Ephesians 4:16). Those “joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God” (Colossians 2:19).
 
The result of the encouragement is wonderful: We should attain to the riches of “full assurance.” The Greek term plerophoria is only used four times: promising understanding in our text, a full assurance of the gospel (1 Thessalonians 1:5) and of hope (Hebrews 6:11), and the full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22).
 
The Greek synonym plerophoreo identifies “sure belief” among us (Luke 1:1), being “fully persuaded” of God’s promises (Romans 4:21). We should be “fully persuaded” in our own mind (Romans 14:5) while making “full proof” of our ministry (2 Timothy 4:5). All of this makes our testimony “fully known” in the world (2 Timothy 4:17). Perhaps the goal of “full assurance” is that we “may speak boldly, as [we] ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:20). HMM III

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Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge

“In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:3)
 
Paul had just promised the twice-born that they would be endowed with the “riches of the full assurance of understanding” that would enable them to possess an acknowledgment of the triune Godhead. The ability to understand and the profound awareness of the Trinity is possible because all “the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are in Christ—who is in us!
 
In Colossians 1:9, Paul prays that they “might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,” a sufficient awareness of information that will enable them to have “understanding in all things” (2 Timothy 2:7). Jesus explained to His apostles that His parables were devices to reveal to them “the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand” (Luke 8:10).
 
This wisdom and knowledge is the “treasure” of the Lord Jesus, not of the world (1 Corinthians 1:17-31), nor is it contained in the intellect of the “natural” man (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). The understanding and acknowledgment that comes through the world’s philosophy out of the reasoning of the unsaved mind is “earthly, sensual, devilish” (James 3:15).
 
Thankfully, “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). God’s work is “very good.” When the creation of our new man is executed (Ephesians 4:24), we are given the “mind of Christ”—not His omniscience but the kind of mind that can now understand spiritual matters (1 Corinthians 2:16). Truly, we have been made friends with God. Jesus said, “For all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:15). HMM III

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Beguiled and Enticed

“And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.” (Colossians 2:4)
 
Any man can beguile us with words that are designed to capture our reason. The unusual word chosen by the Holy Spirit to describe the process is paralogizomai. The basic meaning is “alongside of reason.” It is used only one other time, in James 1:22: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
 
That self-deception is accomplished through “enticing words” (Greek pithanologia), used only here in Colossians. It couples the term for “reason” with “persuasion” and contains the foundation for the English word “analogy,” a very similar process of using familiar words to transfer a known idea to something else. It is deception accomplished by transferring truth onto an untruth.
 
During His training of the disciples, Jesus often warned that it was possible for His followers to be deceived by those who would come and make attempts to claim some role with His authority. “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:5). “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:11). “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24).
 
The stated purpose for gifted leaders in churches was to prevent the immaturity of disciples who would be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14). Although God has made provision for our stability in “wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3), we are warned that we can be beguiled by listening to the “enticing words” of those who deny Christ. HMM III

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Order and Steadfastness

“For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.” (Colossians 2:5)
 
Apparently, the church at Colossae had a reputation for structure. No doubt godly elders kept vigilance on their behalf. Perhaps they were guided by the clear rules in Proverbs 4:20-26.

    “Incline thine ear unto my sayings.”
    “Keep them in the midst of thine heart.”
    “Keep thy heart with all diligence.”
    “Put away from thee a froward mouth.”
    “Let thine eyes look right on.”
    “Ponder the path of thy feet.”
    “Let all thy ways be established.”

There was an obvious steadfastness to their faith—a “stiffened” and even “obstinate” faith, as the Greek term implies. These believers were not babes in Christ, nor were they easily swayed by “enticing words” (Colossians 2:4). But as important as those attributes were, it was necessary to extend the church atmosphere and function into a lifestyle that each member embraced (Colossians 2:6).
 
The reader may remember that the disciples were first labeled “Christians” in Antioch (Acts 11:26). The name was meant as a derogatory comment, but it was given because the lifestyles of Christ’s followers reflected His teachings.
 
The basis for this identity is “that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not practice the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7). “Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). HMM III

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Regeneration

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)
 
Perhaps the greatest purpose of Christianity is to take that which is only flesh and see it reborn as Spirit—to see spiritual life born where before there was only death. But then, even in the most mature of believers, there remain aspects of the old nature mixed in with—even at war with—the new. In frustration Paul cried, “I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me” (Romans 7:21). But each Christian should, through the power of God, be winning that war.
 
Christ came to regenerate the spiritual side of man. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).
 
Too many Christians still have their spirits buried deeply within the flesh, having “yielded [their] members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity” (Romans 6:19). But Christ came to change all that. “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).
 
Through faith, “according to his abundant mercy [He] hath begotten us again” (1 Peter 1:3). To “beget” means to reproduce a like kind. Since He has “begotten us,” we should be becoming like Him in attitudes and aims. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).
 
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). This is the object of Christianity. JDM

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Christian Metaphors

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)
 
The Christian believer and his characteristics are described in terms of many colorful metaphors in the Bible. In our text, Christ calls us “my sheep,” and has also said: “I am the good shepherd, . . . and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15). If we are truly His sheep, then we will surely follow Him, receiving safety, peace, and nourishment.
 
He has also said: “Ye are the salt of the earth: . . . Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14). We are therefore expected to bring the salt of preservation and joy to a bland, tasteless, and otherwise decaying world, and the light of salvation to a dark, sinful world.
 
In another beautiful metaphor, the Lord Jesus has likened us to fruitful branches: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” (John 15:5).
 
The apostle Paul compares us variously to soldiers, to athletes, and to farmers: “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. . . . if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits” (2 Timothy 2:3, 5-6).
 
With regard to our Christian life and witness, Christ said we must be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). The apostle Paul compares us to individual members in a great body (1 Corinthians 12:27). Peter says we, “as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,” and also are like “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5, 9) to offer up spiritual sacrifices.
 
There are many other beautiful and meaningful figures of speech in the New Testament, all of which help us to appreciate the richness and fruitfulness of the Christian life. HMM

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Rooted and Built Up

“Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:7)
 
The Christian walk must be “rooted” and “built up” to endure. The word picture goes back to the parable of the sower. “Behold, a sower went forth to sow. . . . Some [seeds] fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. . . . the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended” (Matthew 13:3-6, 20-21).
 
According to the Lord of the harvest, some will respond “with joy” to the gospel message, but without any root they will not last in either their joy or their Christian testimony—they “fall away” (Luke 8:13). Just what is involved in a “root” that stabilizes and provides nourishment for the seed of the gospel in the human heart?
 
Fervent love for God’s Word and for the work of the ministry is surely a foundational element—“being rooted and grounded in love, [we] may be able to comprehend . . . the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge” (Ephesians 3:17-19).
 
The root also requires being “stablished in the faith”—all the “counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). “Stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle” (2 Thessalonians 2:15). These factors should make us to “be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). With good roots, we will “build up,” being affirmed in the faith, increasing in that walk with real thanksgiving. HMM III

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Beware!

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)
 
In spite of the resources available to the twice-born—and in spite of assurance, order, steadfastness, a good walk that is rooted and built up in Him—it is still possible for a Christian to be plundered by the world’s crafty message. We can “fall from [our] own stedfastness” (2 Peter 3:17) or even lose “those things which we have wrought” (2 John 1:8).
 
The one who “spoils” a believer will use philosophia, a Greek word that means “fond of wisdom.” It is used only one other time, in Acts 17:18 of the philosophers on Mars Hill. Interestingly, the biblical word for “wisdom” is most often used in a negative way when referring to man’s wisdom. “Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20). Believers can be robbed of their steadfastness in Christ if they become fond of the wisdom of the world.
 
The spoiler also uses “vain deceit” and the “traditions of men” to plunder the believer. Jesus castigated the Pharisees because they had “made the commandment of God of none effect by [their] tradition. . . . teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:6, 9). Paul warned Timothy that he must avoid “profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith” (1 Timothy 6:20-21).
 
The robber will even use “the rudiments of the world.” The term “rudiment” means “to belong to a series, to be in rank” or “to come to an agreement.” Essentially, this technique is using logic to “prove” a point, securing a change of mind. We are told the world’s rudiments will “spoil” us when the logic is “not after Christ.” HMM III

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Complete in Him

“And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” (Colossians 2:10)
 
The term pleroo simply means “to fill up.” We are “complete” with the power that “worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20).
 
Many passages amplify and reiterate this concept. Once we are “born again” (John 3:7), the creation miracle that is the second birth is sufficient for “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). As “newborn babes,” we must “desire the sincere milk of the word that [we] may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). There is no instant maturity to be had, but the resources are innate to the “new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
 
The key to understanding and applying both the authority and the ability of this “complete” resource is “use.” That is, confidence grows as our senses are “exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). All too often we apply the declaration “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17) only to the salvation moment. But that principle is the operative power throughout our lives.

    “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments” (Psalm 111:10).
    “I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts” (Psalm 119:100).
    “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).

We are “filled up” because “all fulness” dwells in Christ (Colossians 1:19). We have been given “exceeding great and precious promises: that by these [we] might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). HMM III

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he Circumcision of Christ

“In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.” (Colossians 2:11)
 
During the millennia when God was preparing the earth for the coming of the promised Messiah, the sign of relationship was focused on physical purity through the unique nation of Israel. Hence the requirement of male circumcision, a poignant identity that would emphasize the genetic line as well as reinforce the personal commitment.
 
That dramatic message, amplified throughout the lifetime of Israel in the feasts and liturgical observances, was radically changed when the Messiah came in “the fulness of the time” (Galatians 4:4) to fulfill and complete the promises. Thereafter, the mystery of the grand plan of God was revealed “which was kept secret since the world began” (Romans 16:25): “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God” (1 Corinthians 7:19). Now the message is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
 
This “circumcision” of Christ is “not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God” (1 Peter 3:21). This public declaration (not a private ceremony for Jewish families) demonstrates that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). The sign of the new relationship is for all who believe in the completed work of the Messiah. This “circumcision” dramatizes the creation of the “new man” (Romans 6:4) and tells the story of salvation in a way that anyone can both participate in and remember. HMM III