Col. 1:9-12; Psalm 19:7-14, Colossians Bible Study (3)

Here are some helps on each phrase in the diagram of Col. 1:9-12a.

a.     Filled:

                   i.      The key terms in Colossians are words like this: filled, fullness, complete/perfect, all, every, always, and so forth.  The teaching being reproved tried to say that having Christ was good but not sufficient, that there was more the believers needed beyond Christ and the Bible.

                ii.      The meaning of this word is illustrated in Acts 20 by Paul’s teaching continuing until midnight, and then to daybreak; in Acts 17 by the Jews in Berea who searched the Scriptures daily; and in 1 Thess. 2:13: receiving the Word not as the words of men but as it is in truth, the Word of God!

b.    The full knowledge of His will:

                   i.      This is a specific word used by Paul.  Most English translations translate this as “knowledge,” which is why we use the literal translation.  It is the Greek word for “knowledge” with a prefix “epi” which indicates it is the full knowledge.  These believers did not need something else from outside the Bible, the Word of God, but they needed to understand the “full” knowledge. 

                ii.      To facilitate this the Apostle Paul, in his ministry, kept back nothing that was helpful (Ac. 20:20), taught publicly and from house to house (Ac. 20:20), and preached “the whole counsel of God” (Ac. 20:27).

             iii.      It is important to note that this is the only “prayer request” in Paul’s prayer.  Everything else (the worthy walk that pleases God) is the result of the fulfillment of this request.

c.     All spiritual wisdom and understanding: The Bible (the source of knowing what is the will of God) must be understood in terms of its practical application.  These two words, wisdom and understanding, tell us this.  As we learn Scripture the Holy Spirit must be allowed to show us where Scripture reproves and corrects us and instructs us in righteousness so that we might mature in our Christian life (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  This calls for study of God’s word but also meditation on God’s word whereby we reflect on what we study.  Consider what God’s word can do for the believer in Psalm 19:7-14.  It is intended not only to help us think differently but to act and talk differently and to have different goals in life.  Heb. 4:12 speaks to this also.  This approach to Scripture will help us …

d.    To walk worthy of the Lord: The worthy walk is what we as Christians are called to walk (Eph. 4:1). It is the Christ-life for He alone is worthy (Rev. 4:11).

Col. 1:3-8; 1 Thess. 1:1-5, Colossians Bible Study (2)

5.    1:3-8: What three qualities in the lives of the believers at Colossae caused Paul to give thanks?

The answer is, of course, faith, hope and love.  These qualities are mentioned by Paul in several places in the NT.  One question is, “how could Paul see these things in these Christians?”  The answer is in 1 Thess 1:3: the doing of good works is evidence of faith (James 2:14-26); the labor (striving, sacrifice) often necessary in these good works is evidence of love; the persevering or patience whereby we do not give up in these things is evidence of hope.  (For the sake of personal study … we did not take time to read these in our study … here are additional references to these three qualities in Paul’s writings, including Hebrews, and once in Peter’s first epistle as Peter learned a lot from Paul: 1 Cor. 13:13 (foundational), Rom. 2:2-5 (theological), Gal. 5:5-6, Eph. 1:15-19, Col. 1:3-8, 1 Th. 1:3; 5:8, 2 Th. 1:3-4, Hb. 10:22-24 and 1 Pt. 1:21-22.)  Obvious application question might involve the presence of these in our own lives or the life of our local church.  Paul’s prayer in 1:9-12 will address how Christ produces these qualities in His Church.

6.    1:7: What does it mean to know “the grace of God in truth?”  How might one know the grace of God in error?

This is an important question as this letter is dealing with a heretical doctrine some are trying to bring into the Colossian church.  Col. 2:8,16-17,18-19 can be read to see this.  Jude 1:4, Rom. 3:8 and 6:1 are other illustrations of “corruptions” of grace that occurred in the early Church.  How are these seen today?  (If there are no answers to this question it is a question to be asked when you reach the end of Col. 2.)

7.    1:9-12a: Paul presents his requests for the Colossian Church. 

For clarity, I like to use a “literal” English translation for this passage, such as Youngs Literal Translation, which reads as follows, along with a diagram that I believe makes clear what Paul is praying for. I have also included a blank copy of the diagram should this be useful.  (I would suggest printing this diagram and the YLT translation for the group.  As the study continues, the diagram helps as we go phrase-by-phrase through Paul’s prayer.) (This prayer is not just valid for today; it is essential for today.  We should pray this for ourselves, and then for our loved ones and brothers and sisters in Christ.)

 

 

Col. 1:1-2; Acts 9:10-16, Colossians Bible Study (1)

We recently were blessed to lead a home Bible Study, using Paul’s letter to the Colossians as our material.  I want to share our “question and answer” approach with you just to encourage your own study but also because it might be useful to use with others.  References to our blog are found at https://ronandcindy.blogspot.com/.

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An introduction to Colossians can be found in your favorite Study Bible or a Bible encyclopedia.  This, coupled with maps of the area should help in setting the scene.  It is important to note Paul, as far as we know, had never been to Colossae.  Ephesus was as close as he came in the record of Acts.  Ephesians and Colossians were written at the same time (which accounts for significant similarities between the two letters) and carried by the same courier, Tychicus (Eph. 6:21; Col. 4:7). A letter to nearby Laodicea at the same time has not been saved in Scripture (Col. 4:16).

1.    1:1: In what sense was Paul an apostle by the will of God?

Consider the historical account in Acts 9:1-9,11-16 and Paul’s commentary in 1 Cor. 15:9-11.  Other passages with commentary from Paul include Acts 26:12-23 (Paul shares the Damascus Road experience and how he obeyed the Lord’s call); 1 Timothy 1:12-17. Paul’s situation as an Apostle is unique, but every believer has a “calling” to serve the Lord.  Some discussion of spiritual gifts and the direction of the local body of believers to which we belong are usually part of that call to ministry.

2.    1:2: Are the “saints” and “faithful brethren” two classes of Christians or two descriptions of a Christian?

“Saints” means holy ones, ones set apart.  Heb. 12:14 says no one will see God without being “set apart.”  We considered this question because there were Roman Catholic issues to be considered in our group.  Our blog contains 4 posts from Sept. 22-25, 2026.

3.    1:2: Who is responsible to be “faithful”? 

As with any issue of “faith” we must “continue in the faith” (Col. 1:23), yet it is the work of God that makes this possible (Phil. 1:6; Jude 1:24-25).  It requires His work of sanctification and He is faithful to do this (1 Thess. 5:23-24).

4.    Why do we need “grace AND peace”?

We previously referred to 1 Cor. 15:9-11 where Paul explains how God’s grace works in the believer to carry out His will and ministry.  But being as peace with God (which we have as believers, Rom. 5:1-2) (inner peace as in Phil. 4:6-7) we are able to receive this grace.  Thus, one of the things Jesus provided for His disciples in John 14 was peace that would keep them from being troubled or afraid (Jn. 14:1,27).

Psalm 119:113-128

 

Psalm 119:113-120 Samek:  Find courage for your path in God’s word.

Walking in the light of God’s word is not just a matter of knowing where to go; it requires great courage.  The “narrow path” is scary, full of intimidating enemies.  At the same time, God’s people are not only looking for protection; they are looking to advance in the face of those fearsome situations.  If you wonder about this, just read The Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament and see how the very men who ran from danger in the garden of Gethsemane later fearlessly preached the gospel in a hostile world.

Perhaps that is the kind of context this stanza has in mind.  The Psalmist fears being ashamed of the One in Whom he hopes (114-115).  He is concerned with safety (117).  He does not want the outcome of those who stray from the truth (118-119).  It is no time for the ambivalence of the double-minded (113).  Through the Word God is both his “hiding place” and “shield” (114).

Do we not find this to be our situation?  We desire to know God’s will for our lives in specific situations.  Then God’s word shines it’s light on our path and feet, only to reveal that the next step is fearful.  We may hesitate; we may even take the seemingly easy way around, only to find that we have missed God’s blessing.

Our Lord, in the hour before His greatest trial, was on His knees before His Father in Gethsemane.  The disciples who ran were not, though Jesus had warned them of the need for courage in the face of the coming temptation (Mt. 26:41).

The Psalmist prays for that which he must have in the face of trial.  First, “uphold me” (116) so I have the backbone to face the onslaught of the enemy.  Then, “hold me” (117) so I can be safely protected.  God does both as our hiding place and shield.

What a blessing to know that God not only leads us but He provides for us as we follow the way He lays out for us.  Is your pathway treacherous?  Bow before the Lord and plead His mercy and grace to help that you might boldly walk the path He has laid out for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 119:121-128 Ayin:  Trust God’s word when the trial is oppressive.

This stanza concerns itself with “oppression” (v121-122).  Oppression is what the strong do to the weak.  Knowing that the weak have no strength in themselves the oppressors enslave them; they hurt them; they take advantage of them.  The oppressors are proud (122).  They regard God’s law as void (126), thinking that dependence on the word of God is just part of the weakness of those they mistreat.

Is this not common in our afflictions?  We seek to live according to Scripture (121).  In fact we love God’s word (127).  But those around us consider that to be a weakness.  With pride they brashly beat the people of the Word with their own words.  We see it in the ridicule of atheists or in the words of a loved one who tells us how foolish we are to spend so much time in the Book.  The constant attacks may cause us to wear out as we seek God’s deliverance from our affliction (123).

So what are we to do?  What are God’s people to do any time they operate out of weakness?  Let us be clear that the answer is not that we are to try to beat the proud at their own game.  We are not to think that we can be more snide or brash in our words. We may engage them in honest debate, but we must not try to win by making fun of them or putting them down.

Instead we will do what the Psalmist does.  In our weakness we will plead God’s mercy (124, chesed, lovingkindnes).  His full provision is for those who know they are weak.  God is full of chesed (Ex. 34:6-7).  In our seeming servitude to the mighty of this world we will come to God as His servants. 

o v122: the servant of God asks God to be his surety or security.  Servants have no standing of their own and depend on the kindness of their Master to stand for them.

o v124: the servant of God asks God to be merciful, desiring only to know the will of the Master that he might follow it.  If it leads to a greater cross, so be it. 

o v125: the servant of God affirms that he is not the servant of those earthly masters who oppress him.  “I am Your servant.” 

Is the enemy oppressive?  Do you feel that you are about to cave under the pressure?  Remind yourself that this path is the one laid out for you by your Sovereign Lord.  You serve Him and Him alone.  Love His will, plead His lovingkindness, and continue to follow Him today.

Gal. 2:11-21, Sent for the Lord’s Calling 2

There are two more strategic terms to consider in the “sending” of Barnabas and Saul.  First, the church sent them away, freed them up for ministry (13:3).  But 13:4 says they were “sent out” by the Holy Spirit.  This word is ekpempō, which is properly translated because it means to “send away.”  It combines the preposition ek referring to a point of origin, and pempō meaning “to send or dispatch.” The church needed to release them and the Holy Spirit would tell them where to go for this ministry.  This term is used one other time in Ac. 17:10 when the brethren sent Paul and Silas away from Berea by night.

Then, in Ac. 13:2 we have the Lord’s instruction to “separate” these men to Me.  This term is aphorizō, another compound term with the apo prefix (to separate) with the verb orizō meaning to mark out boundaries, to determine or appoint.  So the elders at Antioch were to make a distinction between these two men and the rest of the leadership or the rest of the church.  There is a strong sense of identifying of these particular men.  Note this appointing or separating in the other uses of aphorizō in the NT.

·       Mt. 13:49: At the end of the age angels will separate the wicked from among the just.  See the definite boundary, marking out some from the whole of humanity.

·       Mt. 25:32: At the judgment of the nations Christ will separate as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

·       Lk. 6:22: The righteous are blessed when men hate them and exclude them.  To be ignored or ostracized for Christ’s sake brings a blessing.

·       Ac. 19:9: At Ephesus, among the Jews, some were hardened and did not believe the gospel, so Paul departed from them and withdrew the disciples, taking his ministry to the school of Tyrannus.

·       Rom. 1:1: Paul, bondservant of Christ, called an apostle, was separated to the gospel of God. 

·       2 Cor. 6:17: “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.”

·       Gal. 1:15: God separated Paul from his mother’s womb and called him through His grace.

·       Gal. 2:12: Peter separated himself wrongfully from the Gentile believers when some came from James, fearing those who were of the circumcision.

There are times for hard lines to be drawn, including in the calling to ministry.  This is, as we see in Ac. 13, one of the Spirit’s duties as He exalts Christ in His Church.  As always, we need to listen to what the Spirit says to the Church!

Acts 13:1-4; 15:30-35, Released for the Lord’s Calling 1

Let’s consider the “sending” words in Acts 13:1-4.  The Holy Spirit instructed the elders at Antioch to “separate to Me” Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.  The elders “sent them away.” So “being sent out by the Holy Spirit they went and sailed.  Their calling was from the Lord but they were sent by the church.  As usual, the specific terms make it clear who did what.

Start in v3: “they sent them away.”  The Greek term is apōluō, a term combining the preposition apō (separation of a part from the whole) and the verb luō (to loose any person or thing).  Thus the Holy Spirit is directing them to free Barnabas and Saul from their responsibilities at the Antioch church.  Whatever obligations they had were to be eliminated and they were to be freed up to do their work.

We need to do a complete listing of the 69x this term is used in the NT so we will do that here.  The idea of “release” has strong ties to the gospel and the work of Christ on the cross.  In all these cases someone is being released from obligations.

First: “divorce” is a releasing of one’s spouse, including Joseph’s plan to “put away” Mary (Mt. 1:19).  Jesus taught on “divorce” (Mt. 5:31,32; 19:3,7,8,9; Mk. 10:2,4,11,12; Lk. 16;18).

Second, it was used of sending away a crowd, including the feeding of multitudes when Jesus did not want to send them away without feeding them (Mt. 14:15,22,23; 15:32,29; Mk. 6:36,45; 8:3,9; Lk. 9:12; Ac. 19:41; 28:25).

Third, it was used of releasing prisoners including whether to release Barabbas or Jesus (Mt. 27:15,17,21,26; Mk. 15:6,9,11,15; Lk. 22:68; 23:16,17,18,20,22,25; Jn. 18:39; 19:10,12; Ac. 3:13) and of the apostles and others accused of gospel preaching (Ac. 4:21,23; 5:40; 16:35,36; 17:9; 23:22; 26:32; 28:18; Hb. 13:23).

It is used of “forgiveness” (releasing one from a debt, Mt. 18:27; Lk. 6:37).  It is used of release from infirmities (Lk. 13:12; 14:4), demon possession (Lk. 8:38), those delivering the decision of the council (Ac. 15:30,33).  The disciples wanted Jesus to sent away the Syrophoenician woman because she was causing trouble but Jesus had compassion on her (Mt. 15:23).  And Simeon, God having promised him he would see the Savior before he died, knew when he saw the Child at the temple that he was released from this life (Lk. 2:29).

This brings us back to Acts 13:3. Saul and Barnabas were among the prophets and teachers at Antioch and those are positions with obligations.  They had been called of Christ to do this.  But now the Lord had a different direction.  Saul knew from the time of his conversion that this day would come (Ac. 9:15-16; 22:14-21).  Jesus, the Head of the Church, works with His gifted men (Eph. 4:11) to do His will.  This is how a church, even now, should work!  Releasing people to do what the Lord has called them to do!

Romans 16

·       16:1-27: Encourage the gospel locally.

Paul was concerned with individual churches as well as the Body of Christ in all the world.  We see it in this chapter, in a way we see it in most of his letters to churches.  He knew people in these churches.  He sought to encourage them. 

You may consider it trivial as you read through 16:1-16, but I assure you, it is not.  First, in this longest list of “greetings” in any of his letters, Paul describes a wonderful church family.  In this church are:

Fellow-workers.  House churches.  Long time converts.  Dear friends of Paul.  Relatives of Paul.  Fellow-prisoners of Paul.  Women who work hard.  Slaves.  Married couples.  Jewish Christians.  Notable households.  Children of notable Christians. Partial families.  Young single men.

In general, there was social diversity, national diversity and religious diversity (various religions from which these people had come when they trusted Christ). 

Paul’s encouragement to this church also involved an admonition to deal with those who cause division.  This was standard for his letters because there was not a church that did not deal with issues that could be divisive if not handled in a wise and godly manner. 

Then he encouraged them with these words: And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.  Amen.  These are words of hope, to be sure.  But there are differences as to exactly what Paul was referring to in mentioning Satan.  Was it the previous people who caused division, who were serving Satan in causing disunity among the brethren?  Is it the final crushing of Satan when Christ returns, an event said to be happening “shortly” in Rev. 22:7,12,20?  Is it a reference to Nero or perhaps Claudius who had banished the Jewish people, including Jewish believers in Christ, from Rome (Ac. 18:2).  He specifically says that Satan will be crushed under “your feet.”  This sounds more like a victory for the gospel than a victory over the political enemies of the day.  Whatever the meaning, again we must agree, it was a word of encouragement for a church that was facing a particular attack attributable to Satan.

The closing verses (16:25-27) are also a great encouragement.  Because of the gospel of the grace of God that was working in these believers, Paul could assure them that they would be established, that God would complete the work that He had started in them.  He is reminding them, and us, that the content of this Epistle to the Romans, being the good news that is God’s power unto salvation (1:16-17), is sufficient to complete His work in them and to thus bring eternal glory to Jesus Christ.  Amen!