A La Carte (April 25)
4 hours ago
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Colossians 4
I figured I should probably finish this out, even if most of Colossians 4 is greetings, salutations, etc.
Outline:
4:1 Treatment of slaves
4:2-6 Final instructions to the church as a whole
4:7-18 Final greetings and instructions to individuals
Paul’s last instruction to the master’s of slaves is simple. You have a master in heaven who is going to hold you accountable for how you treat this fellow human being (and perhaps fellow brother in Christ). Also, I would think, there is a call to remember how merciful God has been to the slave master, even when he sins, and how God disciplines with mercy and love. This should give the slave master a good template for mercy and discipline of his own slaves.
Paul begins his final instructions in verse 2 with a call to prayer. I recently finished a book by Packer called Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, in which he makes the observation that Paul continually exhorts people to prayer, and asks repeatedly for prayer for himself (v.3-4). Paul knows and believes in the power of prayer, telling the Phillipians to make ALL their requests known to God, who cares for them. Paul is also one of the biggest sources of what I’ll call reformed doctrines in the Bible. Election and predestination are often his themes, yet his passion for prayer was not hindered in the least. Let this be one of the thousands of examples I could bring up of how the legitimacy of God’s total sovereignty has no effect on our need to pray without ceasing, as if our prayers do not affect what God has already ordained will come to pass. If anything, our prayers should be spurred on by the knowledge that our God is sovereign enough to answer them more completely than we could imagine.
Paul also instructs them to make the most of every opportunity to interact with nonbelievers, to be wise in their conduct. Jesus’ instructions to be as shrewd as serpents and harmless as doves echo here (Matthew 10:16).
In Paul’s final instructions and greetings, I feel like I should just talk about the overall message I get from the passage. This is the importance and joy of fellowship, of having Christian brothers and sisters, and of the church. Paul speaks with great love and edifies specifically Tychicus, Onesimus (of Philemon fame), Justus, Epaphras, and Luke. He even mentions Demas who would later abandon him. If you haven’t read this passage yet, take the time to go do it. How often do you just read through the end (or beginning) of Paul’s letters just because they have little theological content? I can feel the love Paul has for his brothers as I read this. Constantly using terms like “dear ____” (v.7,9,14) or calling them “faithful”, “one of you”, “fellow workers”, etc., and sending greetings and asking for more greetings to be sent in his name to others. His brothers have provided him encouragement and comfort, and he is sending Tychicus to Colossae specifically to encourage the church there.
I suppose you can read this passage as Paul just spreading news around about his fellows, and telling them what is going on, I know I used to. But I don’t buy that anymore as I read this. Having begun to understand myself the joys of Christian fellowship, I can tell Paul loves the people he is speaking of and speaking to. The language is so affectionate and uplifting. Paul’s heart was encouraged by his brothers, as he also mentions elsewhere, such as when Titus’ absence brought Paul stress (2 Corinthians 2:13), but his appearance brought him such joy and comfort in the midst of hardship (2 Corinthians 7:5-7). If that isn’t enough, consider the tenderness with which Paul speaks to Timothy in his second letter to him. Paul showed what great love we can have for our fellow believers in how he talked to them and about them more so than we he just instructed them to encourage one another, which he also does often. The absoluteness of his love for the men and women working around him is unquestionable. Can’t we all reap this kind of fellowship with each other? It requires great humility, but the reward is priceless.
Lastly, verse 18. Let us acknowledge the fact that Paul’s love and care for this church led him to be thinking about them instead of himself, despite the fact that he was in prison (see Philippians 2:4). He got a scribe and made sure that they church would have the instruction and edification it needed. That is the depth of Paul’s love for the people. Let’s not think of this just as an example just for the head pastors of churches to follow, but for all of us in our encouragement of one another (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Cool huh? It is, after all, the God’s written word…
Don’t know what I will do next on here, but I have some ideas. I enjoy typing more than writing, so I think I will use this space for journaling about different topics. Hope this edifies all of you!
Outline:
4:1 Treatment of slaves
4:2-6 Final instructions to the church as a whole
4:7-18 Final greetings and instructions to individuals
Paul’s last instruction to the master’s of slaves is simple. You have a master in heaven who is going to hold you accountable for how you treat this fellow human being (and perhaps fellow brother in Christ). Also, I would think, there is a call to remember how merciful God has been to the slave master, even when he sins, and how God disciplines with mercy and love. This should give the slave master a good template for mercy and discipline of his own slaves.
Paul begins his final instructions in verse 2 with a call to prayer. I recently finished a book by Packer called Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, in which he makes the observation that Paul continually exhorts people to prayer, and asks repeatedly for prayer for himself (v.3-4). Paul knows and believes in the power of prayer, telling the Phillipians to make ALL their requests known to God, who cares for them. Paul is also one of the biggest sources of what I’ll call reformed doctrines in the Bible. Election and predestination are often his themes, yet his passion for prayer was not hindered in the least. Let this be one of the thousands of examples I could bring up of how the legitimacy of God’s total sovereignty has no effect on our need to pray without ceasing, as if our prayers do not affect what God has already ordained will come to pass. If anything, our prayers should be spurred on by the knowledge that our God is sovereign enough to answer them more completely than we could imagine.
Paul also instructs them to make the most of every opportunity to interact with nonbelievers, to be wise in their conduct. Jesus’ instructions to be as shrewd as serpents and harmless as doves echo here (Matthew 10:16).
In Paul’s final instructions and greetings, I feel like I should just talk about the overall message I get from the passage. This is the importance and joy of fellowship, of having Christian brothers and sisters, and of the church. Paul speaks with great love and edifies specifically Tychicus, Onesimus (of Philemon fame), Justus, Epaphras, and Luke. He even mentions Demas who would later abandon him. If you haven’t read this passage yet, take the time to go do it. How often do you just read through the end (or beginning) of Paul’s letters just because they have little theological content? I can feel the love Paul has for his brothers as I read this. Constantly using terms like “dear ____” (v.7,9,14) or calling them “faithful”, “one of you”, “fellow workers”, etc., and sending greetings and asking for more greetings to be sent in his name to others. His brothers have provided him encouragement and comfort, and he is sending Tychicus to Colossae specifically to encourage the church there.
I suppose you can read this passage as Paul just spreading news around about his fellows, and telling them what is going on, I know I used to. But I don’t buy that anymore as I read this. Having begun to understand myself the joys of Christian fellowship, I can tell Paul loves the people he is speaking of and speaking to. The language is so affectionate and uplifting. Paul’s heart was encouraged by his brothers, as he also mentions elsewhere, such as when Titus’ absence brought Paul stress (2 Corinthians 2:13), but his appearance brought him such joy and comfort in the midst of hardship (2 Corinthians 7:5-7). If that isn’t enough, consider the tenderness with which Paul speaks to Timothy in his second letter to him. Paul showed what great love we can have for our fellow believers in how he talked to them and about them more so than we he just instructed them to encourage one another, which he also does often. The absoluteness of his love for the men and women working around him is unquestionable. Can’t we all reap this kind of fellowship with each other? It requires great humility, but the reward is priceless.
Lastly, verse 18. Let us acknowledge the fact that Paul’s love and care for this church led him to be thinking about them instead of himself, despite the fact that he was in prison (see Philippians 2:4). He got a scribe and made sure that they church would have the instruction and edification it needed. That is the depth of Paul’s love for the people. Let’s not think of this just as an example just for the head pastors of churches to follow, but for all of us in our encouragement of one another (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Cool huh? It is, after all, the God’s written word…
Don’t know what I will do next on here, but I have some ideas. I enjoy typing more than writing, so I think I will use this space for journaling about different topics. Hope this edifies all of you!
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