Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
[Put to death] … evil desires …
Summary: Paul’s instruction to put evil desires to death forces us to confront ourselves in the mirror of God’s truth.
When Paul talks about putting “evil desires” to death, he opens the door to an important and fascinating conversation.
Who decides what “evil” is?
That sounds like a simple question. Evil is “evil,” right? After all, everybody knows what “evil” is, don’t they?
Continue reading “Colossians 3:5e – Our Personal Tutor”
[Put to death] … lust …
Summary: How is lust different than sexual immorality? The difference is significant. As we look into the roots of the word Paul used, we find a life-saving warning.
Paul’s third category of things to put to death is represented in the NIV by the word “lust.” About half of all English translations use this word. The other half, with a few exceptions, use the word “passion.” Both are a fair translation, but some clarification is helpful here.
The word Paul uses in Greek is “páthos.” “Páthos” is a word that describes a feeling we humans sometimes have. It is correctly translated as “passion,” but it is a very specific kind of passion.
Continue reading “Colossians 3:5d – Good Passion and Bad”
[Put to death] … impurity …
Summary: Paul’s reference to impurity draws us into an interesting study of dross and chaff.
Paul’s list of things belonging to the “earthly nature” and that deserve being put to death includes sexual immorality, impurity, and lust. Together it would seem that all three have a lot in common and, in fact, they do. But there are differences, too.
Sexual immorality is the use of our human sexuality in ways that God did not intend. Lust is the craving for sexual immorality. Impurity embraces both but, at the same time, encompasses more.
Continue reading “Colossians 3:5c – Choose Jesus”
[Put to death] … sexual immorality …
Summary: Paul begins to detail how we live according to God’s will.
As we begin to take a closer look at the things Paul wants us to “put to death,” the first thing on his list is “sexual immorality.” (The King James Version of the Bible famously uses the word “fornication” in this passage.)
Without going into details about how this word is used or what it means, we can generally say that God has something specific in mind about human sexuality. And he should. After all, he created us!
Continue reading “Colossians 3:5b – Design Specification”
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature …
Summary: Understanding Paul’s words requires the ability to discern our invisible qualities.
The Bible talks a lot about life and death and, of course, we all know what “life and death” is.
Right?
As we have discussed in past meditations, there are two kinds of “life and death.” One is the obvious one that we see and hear about in our natural lives. People are “born,” people “live,” and people “die.” All the time.
Continue reading “Colossians 3:5a – Soul Searching”
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Summary: In this passage, Paul gives us an exciting clue about the future.
What happens when our lives are “hidden [or guarded] with Christ in God?”
In this passage, Paul answers that question. When Christ appears, then we who are “with Christ” appear with him in glory.
Paul’s answer raises a lot of questions. The first question is “How does Paul know this?”
Continue reading “Colossians 3:4 – Waiting for Jesus”For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Summary: Once again, Paul challenges us to use our understanding to discern what he means by life and death and to figure out what he means by being “hidden with Christ.”
You might remember from our meditation on Colossians 2:20, where Paul says, “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world …”, that we have already explored the concept of “death” according to the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32).
In the story of the Prodigal, he leaves home, and when he does, Dad says his son is now “dead” to him (Luke 15:24,32). Now, he doesn’t mean “dead” in the sense of cutting someone off. Some people say, “You’re dead to me!” as a way of saying, “I hate you!” It is obvious from the story that the dad does not hate his son.
Continue reading “Colossians 3:3 – Safe in Jesus”
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Summary: Understanding Paul’s thought about setting our minds on “things above” requires that we first understand what he means by “above.”
If this sounds like a repetition of the last verse, it is … kinda. Paul repeats his thought, but instead of saying, “set your hearts on things above,” here he says, “set your minds on things above.”
There is a difference!
Continue reading “Colossians 3:2 – Things Above (Part II)”
… set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Summary: Bridging the language barrier between our world and Paul’s is not always easy or straightforward. Sometimes, we have to think hard about what he is saying.
It is interesting how my mind plays tricks on me.
You can play tricks on your mind, too. The funny thing is that the mind is pretty good at tricks. Take, for example, the ltetres in teshe wdors. Did you nitoce that they are all mxied up? Even though the letters are mixed up, most of you reading this will still be able to sort out what the words are.
The same thing happens with word order in a sentence. Our sees mind the words and somehow straightens out them.
Continue reading “Colossians 3:1b – Things Above”
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ …
Summary: Paul’s words in this passage are the culmination of the point he has been working up to — that we are transformed by knowing Jesus. Not just a minor change but a metamorphosis.
Paul begins Chapter Three of his letter to the Colossians with a simple statement: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ …”
The challenge with this statement is the same one we find in many of the Bible’s proclamations; we live in two realms simultaneously. We have bodies in the physical realm that are subject to the curses that fell on Adam and Eve when they first sinned. We also have spirits that exist in the invisible realm.
Continue reading “Colossians 3:1a – Metamorphosis”