Angelic Conflict part 343: Future work of Christ [Bema seat] – Col 3; Joh 14:27; Eph 3:17.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 343: Future work of Christ [Bema seat] - Col 3; JOH 14:27; EPH 3:17.

 

Col 3 is a great place to see the difference between good and evil.

 

COL 3:1 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

 

COL 3:2 Set your mind [phroneo] on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

 

COL 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

 

Don't limit God by setting your mind on the things of the earth.

 

COL 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

 

COL 3:5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body [suppression] as dead to [put to death your earthly members] immorality [fornication, GAL 5:19], impurity [uncleanness, GAL 5:19], passion [inordinate passion], evil desire [kakos - bad things of 2CO 2:5], and greed [desire to have more], which [singular - covetousness] amounts to idolatry.

 

COL 3:6 For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come [but not upon the believer],

 

COL 3:7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

 

A continued list of bad is given in verses 8 and 9.

COL 3:8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger [abiding and habitual], wrath [boiling agitation], malice [desire to injure], slander [injuring the name of another], and abusive speech from your mouth [low and obscene speech].

 

COL 3:9 Do not lie to one another [meaning it is still going on], since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

 

COL 3:10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge [continued intake of doctrine] according to [after the manner of] the image of the One who created him

 

COL 3:11 — a renewal in which there is no distinction [there cannot be when all believers are in union with Christ] between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

 

Then comes a list of divine good or fruit that are directed towards others.

 

COL 3:12 And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved [sanctified and loved], put on [expression: aorist imperative: to be obeyed at once] a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

 

"put on" - evndu,w[enduo] = to envelop in or cloth in. "to become so possessed of the mind of Christ as in thought, feeling, and action to resemble Him and, as it were, reproduce the life He lived." [Thayer]

 

COL 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

 

COL 3:14 And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

 

"Love is the outer garment which holds the others [virtues] in their places." [Lightfoot]

 

All virtues are bonded together in virtue love and thus making that which is complete. Perfect bond is better translated as a complete bond or mature bond. Mature or complete would mean that they, the virtues, are in good working order.

 

COL 3:15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

 

Christ left peace or tranquility of the heart as a legacy to His Church.

 

JOH 14:27

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

 

"Rule" is brabeuo, an athletic term meaning to be umpire. The conflict in the believer's heart is between the flesh and the Spirit, between good and bad and the peace of Christ must umpire in order to make the proper choices.

 

Lightfoot says: "Where ever there is a conflict of motives or impulses or reasons, the peace of Christ must step in and decide which is to prevail." [Lightfoot]\

 

This individual peace will extend to the body of Christ in the local church creating a unity in the members.

 

COL 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

 

"Dwell within" is the Greek word enoikeo [in and dwell] and it means to live in a home or to be at home. The believer is to so yield himself to the word of God that there is a certain at home-ness of the word in his being.

 

The word of God is the mind of Christ. If the word of Christ is richly at home in your heart then Christ is also.

 

EPH 3:16-17

that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell [katoikeo: down and dwell] in your hearts through faith

 

While enoikeo speaks on indwelling a home katoikeo speaks of settling in to a home fixedly or permanently.

 

The soul should not be a place of conflict, tension, uneasiness, stress, or division. The soul should be your ultimate home, made together with your Husband.  

 

The Husband's mind and the bride's mind need to become one in partnership or fellowship.

 

And it is to richly dwell or abundantly dwell. It should not just be your favorite subjects but the entire realm of the scripture. Therefore, the word of God is the key to Christ's peace in our souls.

 

The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God that we know as He talks to us and guides our lives. He can efficiently talk to us to the extent to which we know the Word. That is the language He uses.

 

COL 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly [abundantly] dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

 

"admonishing" - nouqete,w[noutheteo] = to warn, exhort, or admonish. It has the ideas of encouragement as well as reproof or warning.

 

This is not judgment but encouragement and warning.

 

Though we don't practice this today, in the early Church it was not unusual to employ verse or rhythm for theological teaching or statement according to Marvin Vincent, author of Word Studies in the New Testament. This might explain the admonishment and encouragement with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Certainly if one were to admonish another in poetic or melodic tones it would not be in harshness or judgment.

 

The thankfulness is in this situation, just as we saw its benefit in our capacity for blessings, the key to success. It is the same word in the Greek that means grace, and in this case it has an article before it making it a certain type of grace.

 

Thankfulness is grace for daily living. It enables the divine energy from the HS to flow through the heart of the believer. Thankfulness for what he has right now.

 

Thankfulness is a form of happiness and peace. It is the capacity for all things.

 

I cannot be thankful and judgmental at the same time. If I am warning another believer in gentleness and I am thankful to the Lord for all that He has given us, one of which is forgiveness, then I won't forget that all anyone has that is good is from the Lord and if believer so-and-so is in need of warning (not policing) then I will see the need of his restoration in grace and simultaneously watching myself from becoming arrogant and judgmental.

 

GAL 6:1

Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.

 

It is not a coincidence that Paul had to admonish both the Galatians and the Colossians. The Galatian church was infiltrated by Judiazers who got them to believe in restoring the Mosaic Law and the Colossians were infiltrated by Gnostics who got some of them to believe that Christ wasn't who He said He was. Paul had to warn, encourage, and admonish both churches and he encouraged them to do the same within their ranks whenever false doctrine arose, yet with thankfulness and gentleness.

 

COL 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

 

A wife takes on the name of her husband and a good wife brings honor to that name. We have taken on the name of our Lord. We are called Christians. We only find this word used three times in the NT. This name was originally given to believers as a name of contempt, but it eventually became a name of honor for those who bore the reproach of Christ.