Colossians 3

Proper thinkingverses 1-4

If you then be risen with Christ – seek those things which are above

where Christ sits on the right hand of God

Set your affection on things above – not on things on the earth

for you are dead – and your life is hid with Christ in God

When Christ – WHO is our life – shall appear

then shall you also appear with HIM in glory

New life in Christ describedverses 5-11

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth

fornication – uncleanness – inordinate affection

evil concupiscence covetousness – which is idolatry

for which things’ sake the wrath of God

comes on the children of disobedience

in the which ye also walked some time

when you lived in them

BUT now ye also put off all these anger – wrath – malice – blasphemy

filthy communication out of your mouth lie not one to another

seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds

AND have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge

after the image of HIM that created HIM

where there is neither Greek nor Jew

circumcision nor uncircumcision

Barbarian – Scythian – bond nor free

BUT Christ is all – and in all

Proper attitude toward othersverses 12-15

Put on – therefore – as the elect of God – holy and beloved

bowels of mercies – kindness – humbleness of mind

meekness – long-suffering

forbearing one another – and forgiving one another

if any man have a quarrel against any

even as Christ forgave you – so also do you

AND above all these things put on charity

which is the bond of perfectness

and let the peace of God rule in your hearts

to the which also ye are called in one body

and be you thankful

Biblical counseling of othersverses 16-17

LET the word of Christ dwell in your richly in all wisdom

teaching and admonishing one another in psalms

hymns – spiritual songs singing with grace

in your hearts to the Lord

AND whatsoever ye do in word or deed

do all in the name of the Lord Jesus

giving thanks to God and the Father by HIM

Instructions in personal relationships with othersverses 18-25

Wives – submit yourselves unto your own husbands

as it is fit in the Lord

Husbands – love your wives

and be not bitter against them

Children – obey your parents in all things

for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord

Fathers – provoke not your children to anger

lest they be discouraged

Servants – obey in all things your masters according to the flesh

not with eye-service – as menpleasers

but in singleness of heart – fearing God

and whatsoever you do

do it heartily as to the Lord

and not unto men

knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the

reward of the inheritance

for you serve the Lord Christ

BUT he that does wrong shall receive for the wrong which he has done

and there is no respect of persons

COMMENTARY:

DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers

: 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (5426 “set your affection” [phroneo] means set one mind on, think, to direct one’s attention and thought to something, to ponder, think the thoughts of, to be wise, have a mind, be wise, or not let one’s opinion (though just) of himself exceed the bounds of modesty)

DEVOTION: Proper thinking is very important for those who are young in the faith. They are going to have to go back to kindergarten in the school of God. It is harder for adults to go back to kindergarten because they tend to be set in their ways after a certain age. Change comes harder to older new believers.

Paul wants those who are beginners to think heavenly thoughts. We are to ask ourselves what God is trying to teach us throughout our study of the Word of God. HE wants us to learn and HE wants to be our teacher.

Learning to change our thinking and attitudes is very hard. We tend to think we know what is best for ourselves and others. Too often we hear the words in a group gathered for Bible study: “What do you think this is teaching?” That is the wrong question. We need to ask “What is the Bible teaching on this issue?” That will lead to an in depth study into what the Bible says. It doesn’t matter what we think if we can’t back it up with Bible verse that confirm what we believe on an issue.

CHALLENGE: Our churches are full of people who hold opinions that are based on human reasoning instead of Biblical teaching. Listen to the Word of God!!

DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers

: 8 But now you also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. (148 “filthy communication” [aischrologia] means abusive language, lewd or obscene talk, vulgar speech, dirty talk, foul speaking, low and obscene speech, or shameful speech involving culturally disapproved themes)

DEVOTION: Paul has taught many times about the problems we can have with our mouth. Our words can help or hurt people. One of the first places that we use our words is in our home. We can sound good for one hour on Sunday but the rest of the week we can sound very different.

We need to have consistency in our life in all areas. The area of the tongue is probably the hardest area for many believers to conquer. We have a tendency to relax at home. We don’t think that God is concerned with our “down” time. That is a lie from the devil.

HE wants to always be on our guard against the attacks of the devil. One area the enemy likes to work is at home. Our guard is down and we think that whatever we do and say to our family will stay in the family. That is another lie.

Many children look to their parents for guidance in all areas of life. One of those areas is speech. If they see their parents who claim to be followers of Christ talking one way in public and another at home then they draw the conclusion that that is what the LORD expects. It is a wrong conclusion but it happens all too often. It happens especially in homes where one parent is a believer and the other isn’t.

The list above doesn’t need to explained, because we know what Paul is teaching. Putting it into practice for some is very hard.

The other side is there are people who have never had a problem with their words but they gain an attitude of pride in the fact that they have never used any of the words others have used. They think they are better than those who have used those words. That is another lie of the devil. We are all in the same battle. Our area of sin is different from someone who has a language problem but we all hae our own besetting sin.

CHALLENGE: Pray for one another. Both believers need encouragement in the area they are struggling. Be an encourager, not someone who is always judging others in areas where we don’t struggle.

: 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. (342 “renewed” [anakainoo] means to cause to grow up, new, to make new, restore, renovate, new strength and vigor is given to one, to be changed into a new kind of life as opposed to the former corrupt state, complete change for the better)

DEVOTION: Paul through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote this epistle to strengthen the believers in Colosse. They were struggling with false teachers. They were struggling with their old nature. They were not understanding their new life in Christ.

Paul emphasized that they were to have a heavenly outlook instead of an earthly outlook on life. They were to set their affection on things that pleased the LORD. They were to mortify their members to allow them to be called the HIS children.

This could only be done with the help of the LORD. With HIS help they were to clothe themselves with the new man daily. In order to understand how to do this they had to fill themselves with true knowledge regarding their relationship with Jesus Christ.

The “new man” uses a different Greek word for “new” which means “new in time.” This word means new in quality or fresh. This is a constant changing of a person to be more Christ-like. When we put off the “old man” or old life outside of Christ it is a fresh beginning for us. The old life doesn’t have control anymore. The new life has control because of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The problem is that we forget that we have the new man working in us and go back to the old man. It is constant battle between the two natures. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we are new people in Christ that are being refreshed on a daily basis. Each morning we have new mercies. Each day we have to put on Christ or the armor of God to fight against our enemy and his minions.

This verse gives us the secret to living in the life of the “new man.” It is through knowledge provided by God through the teaching of the Holy Spirit in the Word of God. God wants us to be learners. God wants us to teach others the truth of HIS Word. We learn by teaching others. We learn by personal struggle. We learn by listening to others. All this helps us to be more Christ-like when we meet the Father face to face. Praise HIS name.

CHALLENGE: Without the daily clothing of ourselves in the armor of God, we cannot win the battles put before us. Put on your armor before you face the world.

DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers

: 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. (3560 “admonishing” [noutheteo] means warn, exhort, instruct, teach on proper behavior and belief, rebuke for a wrong done, advice of the consequences of wrong behavior, or to put in mind)

DEVOTION: When the word of Christ dwells in an individual he is in the state of continual learning from the LORD. The LORD through the ministry of the Holy Spirit works in the life of a believer to perfect him or mature him in his understanding of the teachings of the LORD.

There are people who can read the Bible and never learn very much. There are others who read and meditate on the Word of God and because of their dedication to wanting to understand what the Bible is first teaching them about Christ then they can instruct others.

Those who genuinely dwell in the word of Christ are able to move from just learning for themselves and begin training others in what the LORD has revealed to them through their study time.

When we move from being a learner to being an instructor we need to do so with grace in our heart. There are many who teach who have no grace toward those who are hard to learn new truths from the Word of God about Christ. Frustration can take place in the learning situation if the instructor is not patient with those who come to them for learning.

When Paul mentions psalms, hymns and spiritual songs he is informing us that those who are instructors need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. These things are mentioned in regard to the filling in the book of Ephesians. It is one of the signs that a person is genuine.

CHALLENGE: When you are teaching others be sure to ask the LORD to fill you with the ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life first.

:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God. (572 “singleness” [haplotes] means 1 singleness, simplicity, sincerity, mental honesty. 1a the virtue of one who is free from pretense and hypocrisy. 2 not self-seeking, openness of heart manifesting itself by generosity. [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship)

DEVOTION: People like to think of work as a “necessary evil.” We go to work to make money, come home to eat and sleep, and wake up to go back to work. It’s even worse for Gen X’ers, since they are more prone to being workaholics, changing jobs every few years, burnout, and two-paycheck families where children are raising themselves in daycare. In addition, few people get the rest that they need for their bodies these days.

What should be the proper motivation for working? It is interesting that in this passage and the parallel one in Ephesians 6, Paul addresses workers before he addresses their masters. This shows that he puts a high value on work. But he encourages these Colossian believers to approach work from the perspective of working for Christ, rather than for an earthly master. That means they are to spend every hour of their workday as if Jesus were the one looking over their shoulders and inspecting what they are doing, good and bad. He is applying this to secular work, and makes it clear that there is no sense in which “full-time Christian work” is superior to secular work unless the Lord calls you into vocational Christian work.

Would the knowledge that Jesus is your boss at work change anything about what you do during the workday? Are you working too little or too hard? Can your fellow-workers tell that you are a believer in Jesus Christ by how you work and what attitudes you show and what words you speak when you are at work? Does God want some of the ladies reading this to make the decision to return to their homes and children rather than working outside of the home?

CHALLENGE: Why do you work? Is it just to get another paycheck? Then check out what Paul has to say about workers. We are to work as if we were actually working for the Lord! He should be the top priority in all that we do. (Dr. Marc Wooten)

DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:

BODY

Chastity (Purity in living)

Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)

Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)

Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)

Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)

SOUL

Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)

Frugality (wise use of resources)

Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)

Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)

Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)

SPIRIT

Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)

Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)

Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)

Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)

Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)

Psalmsverse 16

Hymnsverse 16

Spiritual songsverse 16

Singing with graceverse 16

DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH

Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)

Word of Christverse 16

God the Father (First person of the Godhead)

Godverses 1, 3, 6, 12, 15, 17, 22

Right hand of Godverse 1

Wrath of Godverse 6

Creatorverse 10

Elect of Godverse 12

Peace of Godverse 15

Father verse 17

God and the Father of HIMverse 17

God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)

Christverses 1, 3, 4, 11, 13, 16, 24

Risen from the deadverse 1

Christ sitting at right hand of Godverse 1

Image of Christverse 10

Christ forgives believersverse 13

Word of Christverse 16

Lordverses 16-18,20, 23, 24

Jesusverse 17

Lord Jesusverse 17

Lord Christverse 24

God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)

Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)

Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)

Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)

Old manverse 9

Greekverse 11

Uncircumcisionverse 11

Barbarianverse 11

Scythianverse 11

Bondverse 11

Freeverse 11

Wivesverse 18

Submit to husband

Husbandsverse 19

Love your wife

Be not bitter against her

Childrenverse 20

Obey parents – well pleasing to Lord

Fatherverse 21

Provoke not your children anger lest they be discouraged

Servantsverse 22

Obey masters

Not with eyeservice

Not as menpleasers

Singleness of heart

Fearing God

Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)

Setting affection on things of earthverse 2

Fornicationverse 5

Uncleannessverse 5

Inordinate affectionverse 5

Evil concupiscenceverse 5

Covetousnessverse 5

Idolatryverse 5

Children of disobedienceverse 6

Walked in sinverse 7

Angerverse 8

Wrathverse 8

Maliceverse 8

Blasphemyverse 8

Filthy communicationverse 8

Lieverse 9

Quarrelverse 13

Bitterverse 19

Provoke childrenverse 21

Cause discouragement in childrenverse 21

Eyeserviceverse 22

Menpleasersverse 22

Wrongverse 25

Respect of personsverse 25

Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)

Risen with Christverse 1

Seek things from aboveverse 1

Set affection on things aboveverse 2

Dead to things of earthverse 3

Life is hid in Christverses 3, 4

Mortify membersverse 5

Put off old man of sinverse 8, 9, 12

Put on NEW Manverse 10, 14

Renew in knowledgeverse 10

Image of Christverse 10

Christ in allverse 11

Put onverse 12

Electverse 12

Holyverse 12

Belovedverse 12

Bowels of merciesverse 12

Kindnessverse 12

Humbleness of mindverse 12

Meeknessverse 12

Long-sufferingverse 12

Forbearing one anotherverse 13

Forgiving one anotherverse 13

Forgivenverse 13

Charity (bond of perfection)verse 14

Peace rule heartverse 15

Calledverse 15

One bodyverse 15

Thankfulverses 15, 17

Word of Christ dwell in you richlyverse 16

Wisdom

Teaching one another

Admonishing one another

Psalms

Hymns

Spiritual songs

Singing with grace in heart

Graceverse 16

Works and deeds in name of Christverses 17, 23

Submitverse 18

Loveverse 19

Obeyverses 20, 22

Singleness of heartverse 22

Fearing Godverse 22

Do things heartily to the Lordverse 23

Rewardverse 24

Inheritanceverse 24

Serve Lord Christverse 24

Israel (Old Testament people of God)

Jewverse 11

Circumcisionverse 11

Church (New Testament people of God)

Admonishing one anotherverse 16

Last Things (Future Events)

Believers will appear with Christ in gloryverse 4

Reward of the inheritance verse 24

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QUOTES regarding passage

13 Two Greek participles (anechomenoi, “bear with” and charizomenoi, “forgive”) expand the thought of patience. Paul uses them to show that Christians who are truly patient will manifest this attitude by (1) a willingness to bear with those whose faults or unpleasant traits are an irritant to them and (2) a willingness to forgive those they have grievances against. “Bear with” suggests the thought of putting up with things we dislike in others. “Forgive,” a word used in 2:13 of God’s action toward us, has the sense of forgiving freely. (Vaughan, C. (1981). Colossians. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians through Philemon (Vol. 11, p. 215). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)

Forbearing one another (ἀνεχομενοι ἀλληλων [anechomenoi allēlōn]). Present middle (direct) participle of ἀνεχω [anechō] with the ablative case (ἀλληλων [allēlōn]), “holding yourselves back from one another.” Forgiving each other (χαριζομενοι ἑαυτοις [charizomenoi heautois]). Present middle participle also of χαριζομαι [charizomai] with the dative case of the reflexive pronoun (ἑαυτοις [heautois]) instead of the reciprocal just before (ἀλληλων [allēlōn]). If any man have (ἐαν τις ἐχῃ [ean tis echēi]). Third class condition (ἐαν [ean] and present active subjunctive of ἐχω [echō]). Complaint (μομφην [momphēn]). Old word from μεμφομαι [memphomai], to blame. Only here in N. T. Note προς [pros] here with τινα [tina] in the sense of against for comparison with προς [pros] in 2:21. Even as the Lord (καθως και ὁ Κυριος [kathōs kai ho Kurios]). Some MSS. read Χριστος [Christos] for Κυριος [Kurios]. But Christ’s forgiveness of us is here made the reason for our forgiveness of others. See Matt. 6:12, 14f. where our forgiveness of others is made by Jesus a prerequisite to our obtaining forgiveness from God. (Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Col 3:13). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.)

3:13. Furthermore, believers are to bear with each other (i.e., “put up with each other”) with the attitudes just mentioned in v. 12. Also they are to forgive whatever grievances (complaints) they may have against others. How? By forgiving as the Lord forgave them, graciously and freely (Eph. 4:32). Grudges have no place in a Christian’s life for they may lead to the sins mentioned in Colossians 3:8–9. (Geisler, N. L. (1985). Colossians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 682). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

God has forgiven them (vv. 13–14). “Having forgiven you all trespasses” (Col. 2:13). God’s forgiveness is complete and final; it is not conditional or partial. How is the holy God able to forgive us guilty sinners? Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. God has forgiven us “for Christ’s sake” (Eph. 4:32), and not for our own sake.

Chosen by God, set apart for God, loved by God, and forgiven by God. They all add up to GRACE! Now, because of these gracious blessings, the Christian has some solemn responsibilities before God. He must put on the beautiful graces of the Christian life. Paul named eight graces.

1. Put on … tender mercies (Col. 3:12). The Greek uses the term bowels of compassion because the Greek people located the deeper emotions in the intestinal area, while we locate them in the heart. As believers, we need to display tender feelings of compassion toward one another (see Phil. 2:1ff). This is not something that we turn on and off, like the TV set. It is a constant attitude of heart that makes us easy to live with.

2. Put on … kindness (Col. 3:12). We have been saved because of God’s kindness toward us through Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:7; Titus 3:4). We, in turn, ought to show kindness toward others. “Be ye kind one to another” (Eph. 4:32) is God’s command.

One of the most beautiful pictures of kindness in the Bible is King David’s treatment of the crippled prince, Mephibosheth (see 2 Samuel 9). David’s desire was to show “the kindness of God” to King Saul’s family because of his own love for Saul’s son, Jonathan. The young man chosen was Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, a poor cripple. If David had acted according to justice, he would have condemned Mephibosheth, for the man belonged to a condemned family. But David acted on the basis of love and grace.

David sought Mephibosheth and assured him not to be afraid. He invited Mephibosheth to live in the palace as a member of his family, and to eat at the king’s bountiful table. This is the kindness of God! You and I have experienced an even greater kindness, for as Christians, we are God’s children and shall live with Him in heaven forever!

3. Put on … humbleness of mind (Col. 3:12). The pagan world of Paul’s day did not admire humility. Instead, they admired pride and domination. Jesus Christ is the greatest example of humbleness of mind (Phil. 2:1ff). Humility is not thinking poorly of oneself. Rather, it is having the proper estimate of oneself in the will of God (Rom. 12:3). The person with humbleness of mind thinks of others first and not of himself.

4. Put on … meekness (Col. 3:12). Meekness is not weakness; it is power under control. This word was used to describe a soothing wind, a healing medicine, and a colt that had been broken. In each instance, there is power: a wind can become a storm; too much medicine can kill; a horse can break loose. But this power is under control. The meek person does not have to fly off the handle because he has everything under control.

5. Put on … long-suffering (Col. 3:12). This word is literally “long-temper.” The short-tempered person speaks and acts impulsively and lacks self-control. When a person is long-suffering, he can put up with provoking people or circumstances without retaliating. It is good to be able to get angry, for this is a sign of holy character. But it is wrong to get angry quickly at the wrong things and for the wrong reasons.

6. Put on … forbearance (Col. 3:13). This word literally means “to hold up” or “to hold back.” God is forbearing toward sinners in that He holds back His judgment (Rom. 2:4; 3:25). Meekness, long-suffering, and forbearance go together.

7. Put on … forgiveness (Col. 3:13). This is the logical result of all that Paul has written so far in this section. It is not enough that the Christian must endure grief and provocation, and refuse to retaliate; he must also forgive the troublemaker. If he does not, then feelings of malice will develop in the heart; and these can lead to greater sins.

It is Christlike to forgive (Eph. 4:32), and forgiveness opens the heart to the fullness of the love of God. The very instant we have a complaint against another person, we should forgive him in our hearts. (“Family forgiveness” is another matter. We should go to the offender and seek to help him in love. See Matt. 18:15–35.)

8. Put on … love (Col. 3:14). This is the most important of the Christian virtues, and it acts like a “girdle” that ties all the other virtues together. All of the spiritual qualities Paul has named are aspects of true Christian love, as a reading of 1 Corinthians 13 will reveal. Love is the first of the fruit of the Spirit and the other virtues follow—joy (Col. 3:16), peace (Col. 3:15), long-suffering, gentleness, kindness, and meekness (Col. 3:12).

When love rules in our lives, it unites all these spiritual virtues so that there is beauty and harmony, indicating spiritual maturity. This harmony and maturity keep the life balanced and growing. The gnostic system could never do this. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 138–139). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

3:13 as the Lord forgave you. See notes on Mt 18:23–34; Eph 4:32. Because Christ as the model of forgiveness has forgiven all our sins totally (1:14; 2:13, 14), believers must be willing to forgive others. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Col 3:13). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

When teaching His disciples to pray our Lord told them to say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” and He added, “When you stand praying, forgive: for if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you.” Some have thought the earlier passage is on lower ground than the later ones, but it does not seem necessary to put the one in any sense in opposition to the others. The forgiveness of which our Lord was speaking to His disciples was not the forgiveness of a sinner, but the forgiveness of a failing saint, one who could address God as “our Father,” whereas the forgiveness spoken of here in Colossians and also in Ephesians is that of the sinner. Addressing His disciples our Lord says, as it were, “You are failing from day to day, you constantly need your Father’s restorative and governmental forgiveness, and yet you cherish feelings of malice and enmity and an unforgiving spirit toward your brethren who offend you. If you do not forgive them you cannot expect your Father’s forgiveness when you come to Him confessing your failures, and as long as this spirit of malice is cherished by you, you cannot really pray in faith.” Here Paul takes it up in another way. He says, as it were, “Think how freely you have been forgiven; think how much God has cast behind His back. In the light of this how can you hold hard feelings or maintain an unforgiving spirit toward those who have sinned against you? If God had dealt with you according to your offences, how fearful would your judgment be, yet He in Christ has graciously forgiven all. He has put away every sin; thus making you fit for His holy presence. Your responsibility now is to forgive as you have been forgiven.” (Ironside, H. A. (1929). Lectures on the Epistle to the Colossians. (pp. 148–149). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.)

Ver. 13. Forbearing one another, &c.] Not only bearing one another’s burdens, and with one another’s weaknesses, but forbearing to render evil for evil, or railing for railing, or to seek revenge for affronts given, in whatsoever way, whether by words or deeds: and forgiving one another; all trespasses and offences, so far as committed against themselves, and praying to God to forgive them, as committed against him: if any man have a quarrel against any; let him be who he will, high or low, rich or poor, of whatsoever age, state, or condition, and let his quarrel or complaint be what it will, ever so great, or ever so just and well-founded, yet let him put up with it, and forgive it: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye; what God is said to do for Christ’s sake, Eph. 4:32 see the note there, that here Christ is said to do: as Mediator, he has procured the remission of sins by the shedding of his blood; and as God he forgives sins freely, fully, forgetting the injuries done, not upbraiding with former offences, and that too without asking, and before there is any appearance of repentance; and so should the saints forgive one another, as they expect to have an application and manifestation of forgiveness to themselves. (Gill, J. (1809). An Exposition of the New Testament (Vol. 3, p. 202). London: Mathews and Leigh.)

FROM MY READING:

Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)

“The difference between ‘admonish’ and ‘teach’ seems to be that, whereas the former has mainly in view the things that are wrong and call for warning, the latter has to do chiefly with the impartation of positive truth, cf. Col. 3:16; they were to let the Word of Christ dwell richly in them, so that they might be able (1) to teach and ‘admonish’ one another, and (2) to abound in the praises of God. (Vine dictionary)

The news this week about COVID-19, known as the coronavirus, has certainly, to understate it, escalated: New infections, grimmer projections, lots and lots of cancellations (including—can you believe it?—March Madness). The news changes so quickly day by day, even hour by hour, that it’s hard to keep up, much less know, really, what to think about all of this.

C.S. Lewis once said that we should read three old books for every new one. I think we should read three C.S. Lewis books for every new one. He never faced the coronavirus, of course, but in the late 1940s, the world was coming to grips with another threat: nuclear annihilation. The bomb was only a few years old, and in the hands of sworn national enemies. The uncertainty of what exactly could happen, not to mention what might happen, was palpable. In that context, C.S. Lewis wrote an essay entitled “On Living in an Atomic Age.”

I’m grateful to one of my BreakPoint colleagues, Ashlee Cowles, for reminding us of this essay along with some sage advice: Whenever you hear “atomic bomb” in this essay, think “coronavirus.”

“We think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb,” Lewis begins. To those who wonder how it’s possible to go on in the face of such a threat, Lewis recalls that theirs was not the first generation to live under a threatening shadow. In fact, if we’re honest, we all live under a sentence of death, and for some of us, that death could even be “unpleasant.”

The important question, says Lewis, is not whether or how we will die but if in the meantime we will be doing “sensible” and “human” things like “praying, working … reading, listening to music, bathing the children.”

Lewis asks his readers to consider the important but unsettling truth that “Nature does not, in the long run, favor life.” It’s an ominous observation that points to an essential worldview truth: “If Nature is all that exists—in other words, if there is no God and no life of some quite different sort somewhere outside of Nature—then all stories “will end in the same way: in a universe from which all life is banished without the hope of return.”

How do we respond to this unsettling truth? Lewis saw only three options: The first is suicide, something not uncommon in Britain of the 1940s and 50s. The second, “simply to have as good a time as possible. The universe is a universe of nonsense, but since you are here, grab what you can.”

Of course, as Lewis noted, “there is, on these terms, so very little left to grab—only the coarsest sensual pleasures.” Whether we’re talking about sex or listening to music, the pleasure is diminished by the knowledge that any enjoyment we might derive are merely “illusions,” the product of “irrational conditioning” determined by our genes.

The third response, Lewis said, is to “go down fighting,” to live as if the universe has meaning. We can insist on being rational and merciful even when the universe is not. Of course, if we choose that option, there’s no way to actually prevail against the “idiocy” of the universe—it would still win. Our insistence on being rational and merciful has no real justification.

The hopelessness of those three options should instead lead us to a different conclusion: “We must simply accept …,” said Lewis, “that we are spirits, free and rational beings, at present inhabiting an irrational universe, and must draw the conclusion that we are not derived from it.”

In other words, we must reject naturalism and embrace “a much earlier view:” biblical theism. It’s the only grounds on which we can avoid the despair brought on by the knowing that we are under a “sentence of death,” whatever form that death takes.

Lewis’ words are just as relevant today as they were seven decades ago. For people who believe there is a God, doing the “sensible” and “human” things are possible because we have hope. For those who don’t have that hope, no amount of toilet paper or cans of Spam stacked in the garage can make anyone truly safe, much less solve the ultimate question of meaning that haunts us all.

Today as yesterday, the world is still in God’s hands. Nothing has changed. Whatever the next chapter of this coronavirus story might be, the same questions remain to us: Will we trust God? And then, will we love our neighbors? And finally, how shall we then live?

(Break Point)

JOY

And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world,that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. John 17:13
How in practice do we have this joy? The first thing is to avoid concentrating on our own feelings. Many Christian people spend the whole of their lives looking at their own feelings and always taking their own spiritual pulse, their own spiritual temperature. Of course, they never find it satisfactory, and because of that they are miserable and unhappy, moaning and groaning.
The secret of joy is the practice of meditation—that is the way to have this joy of the Lord. We must meditate upon Him, upon what He is, what He has done, His love to us, and God’s care for us who are His people.
And obviously—this almost goes without saying—we must avoid everything that tends to break our fellowship with God. The moment that is broken, we become miserable. We cannot help it; whether we want it to or not, our conscience will see to that. It will accuse us and condemn anything that breaks our fellowship with God and His Son. The joy of the world always drives out the other joy, as does any dependence on the world; so we must avoid sin in every shape and form. Let us stop looking to the world, even at its best, for true joy and for true happiness. But above all, we must look at “these things” (John 17:13) that He speaks of, these truths that He unfolded. Let us meditate upon them, contemplate them, dwell upon them, revel in them, and I will guarantee that as we do so, either in our own personal meditation or in reading books about them, we will find ourselves experiencing a joy we have never known before. It is inevitable; it follows as the night the day.
A Thought to Ponder: Let us stop looking to the world. We must meditate upon Him, upon what He is, what He has done.

(From Safe in the World, pp. 116-118. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

Matthew 7

Jesus teaches His followers concerning the need to follow the Lord fully in everything.

INSIGHT

Love is the basis of all that God asks of us. Jesus says, “Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). This teaching goes hand in hand with what Jesus urges later in Luke 10:27, that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.

We want to be appreciated, loved, treated with dignity, and esteemed. This, then, is the way we ought to treat others. The double benefit is that when we treat others that way, they begin to treat us the same, and our relationships are characterized by depth and meaning. (Quiet Walk)

The Beginning of Creation
“But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.” (Mark 10:6)
These words of the Lord Jesus Christ ought to settle once and for all, for those who take His words seriously, the controversial question of the age of the earth. The earth was created essentially at the same time, He said, as the creation of Adam and Eve. Christ was quoting from Genesis 1:27: “male and female created He them.” This greatest of God’s creative works was “from the beginning of the creation,” not 13 billion years after the beginning of the creation, as modern old-earth advocates allege.
One can understand why atheists believe in evolution and an almost infinitely old universe, for they really have no other alternative. One who believes in a personal God, on the other hand, only dishonors God if he believes such humanistic speculations rather than God’s Word. God is omniscient and omnipotent, as well as loving and merciful, and He would never do anything like this. The great ages assumed by evolutionary geologists supposedly involved billions of years of suffering and dying by billions of animals before man ever evolved. Surely this would have been the most inefficient, wasteful, and cruel method that ever could have been devised for “creating” human beings. Since man’s creation was God’s main purpose, there is no conceivable reason why He would waste billions of years in such a meaningless charade as this before getting to the point. In fact, the only reason He took six days instead of an instant of time was to serve as a pattern for man’s workweek (Exodus 20:8-11).
In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ was not only a creationist but was Himself the Creator of all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; etc.). Therefore, He is the best possible witness as to when He created man and woman, and He said it was “from the beginning of the creation”! (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)

Pat writes on Facebook: Just returned from Aldi’s. Apparently we’ve gone from reasonable planning mode to impending zombie apocalypse. Seriously people, how many boxes of cereal and pasta could you possibly need??

The primary role of the elders was spiritual care and teaching, while the deacons were responsible for the “material ministries of the church, specifically distribution of relief to the poor. (p. 31, Developing Leaders for the Small Church by Glenn C. Daman)

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