Aleethia!

This lesson was taught on Wednesday evening, 08-27-2008.

In the opening verses of Colossians 3, Paul gives a general outline of the philosophy of Christian life. He has already refuted the false teaching of the Gnostic philosophers, so now in contrast to that false philosophy, he presents the philosophy which should permeate the Christian life.

Remember that a philosophy is simply the lens through which you view the world. It is your fundamental understanding of reality and existence. Your philosophy acts as a guiding principle for your behavior.

This philosophy that Paul explains is the practical outworking of the teaching he has just presented of our being “in” Christ. This union of the believer with Christ is the root principle of the Christian life.

Paul begins verse 1 of chapter 3 with the statement

If then

This is a conditional statement. He is stating that “if” this holds true, “then” it should have this effect in our lives.

The “if” is our salvation, › Continue reading

This lesson was taught on Wednesday evening, 08-13-2008.

In this passage Paul is truly dealing with the problem of legalistic asceticism. Asceticism can be defined in this way.

Asceticism = the practice of severe self-discipline and abstinence from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons

The false teaching he’s dealing with now is this extreme version of self-denial.

In verse 20 Paul seems to turn this teaching on its head. Remember that this teaching is an outworking of the underlying Gnostic philosophy that matter is evil and the spiritual is good. It makes sense then, that these people would teach extreme self-denial. Deny yourself pleasure, food, any number of things, and you are becoming less materialistic and more spiritual.

Paul agrees that we have died to the world, and the powers that rule the world. He then asks why, considering our death to the world, would we submit ourselves to asceticism.  This turns the Gnostic thinking upside down. They thought that by denying themselves they were becoming more spiritual. Paul says, you’ve already become spiritually alive and dead to the world, so why would you submit to the world by denying yourself.

The Greek word translated as submit is a form of the word we get our english words dogma and dogmatic from. It means to voluntarily submit to a system of rules laid down by an authority. Paul is arguing that we are no longer under the authority of the world and the Devil and should therefore not submit to their legalistic system of rules.

In verse 21 Paul gives us examples of the type of regulation they are being given. He seems to almost be mocking their regulations by saying, “Don’t handle this. Don’t taste that. Don’t touch anything!”

This is legalism remixed. › Continue reading

This post is part of a teaching series on the book of Colossians. All of the lessons in this series can be found here. In the first lesson we outlined the book. In each subsequent lesson we look at one small section of the outline and seek to answer five questions concerning the text.

In this section of Scripture we’re looking at the Colossian error of mysticism or spiritual elitism. In our last lesson Paul spoke out against legalism that had sprung up as a result of the gnostic teaching taking place at Colossae. In these two verses he’s battling against an attitude of superior spirituality based on mysticism or visions and revelations.

In verse 18 he tells the Colossian believers not to let anyone “disqualify” them. This is the only place in the New Testament this Greek word is used. It literally means to act as a judge or umpire, to decide against, to declare unworthy of the prize. The idea of judging builds on verse 16, but here it is more serious. Here it is judging a person’s fitness for eternity. Think of sporting event, “let no one make a bad call against you, that results in you loosing the event.”

Part of this judgement involved “insisting on asceticism.”

When you insist on something, you demand to have it, not accepting anything else. The word translated as “asceticism” literally means humility or lowliness of mind. Someone who insists on humility is someone who is proud of their humility. If you think you have humility, especially if you tell others you are humble, you are not. Humility is so difficult to achieve. Pride is so easy to possess.

The second thing they insisted on was the worship of angels. › Continue reading

This lesson was taught on Sunday morning, 08-10-2008.

Sometimes it seems the Lord is far away and you can’t feel his presence. It seems like he has abandoned you just at the moment when you need him most. David felt that way and wrote about it in the Psalms.

In Psalm 13 we’ll look at the journey from sorrow and desolation, to joy and rejoicing. The hinge between the two, we’ll see, is prayer.

The Psalm can be divided into 3 parts which Spurgeon has labeled

the question of anxiety, 1, 2; the cry of prayer, 3, 4; the song of faith, 5, 6. ¹

Taking verses one and two let’s look at “the question of anxiety.” What is meant, is the question we ask of God while suffering from anxiety. Do you know the question? It is in the text four times.

How long?

That is the question. Have you ever felt that way toward God? Just asking him “How long will I have to suffer through this? How long till I’m out from under my parent’s authority? How long till…?” › Continue reading

This post is part of a teaching series on the book of Colossians. All of the lessons in this series can be found here. In the first lesson we outlined the book. In each subsequent lesson we look at one small section of the outline and seek to answer five questions concerning the text.

In the last lesson we say Paul dealing with the underlying philosophy of gnosticism that was held by the false teachers at Colossae. Now Paul begins to deal with specific teachings and practices that had grown out of that philosophy. In these two verses, the issue is legalism.

What is legalism? The word literally means “excessive adherence to law or formula.”

I see two courses of action that I would define as legalism for Christians.

Regarding salvation - thinking that our adherence to, or keeping of, the Law is what merits our salvation. This is self-righteousness, self-earned righteousness. This is what the Pharisees did that Jesus called them out for. They made sure to keep strict outward laws, but their hearts were wicked and unregenerate. They thought they were better than others because of their works. John Piper says that legalism occurs when people turn the commandments into a job description whose payment (wages) is salvation. ¹

Adding man-made laws to God’s Law and insisting on the keeping of them, for either salvation or church membership. This would include churches that will only allow you to be a member if you promise not to drink, or dance, or play cards, or that (if you are a girl) you will not wear pants (at least not to church). Or even if these things are not formally part of the church membership, they look down on, condemn, or withdraw fellowship, from those who do these things.

Aside from man-made regulations, we know that our salvation is not dependent on our keeping the law, it is dependent on Jesus having kept the law for us. Once we are saved, by grace not works, what is our relationship with God’s Law supposed to look like? › Continue reading

This lesson was taught on Sunday morning, 08-03-2008.

A Proverb is a short, concise, forcefully expressive saying that conveys general truth or advice.

In this lesson we’ll take a look at the first 7 verses of Proverbs 1. These verses serve as an introduction to the entire book. Here’s an outline of these verses.

• Proverbs 1:1-7 - Introduction to Proverbs
• 1:1 - Title (Proverbs of Solomon)
• 1:2-6 - Purposes (moral skill and mental acumen)
• 1:7 - motto (fear of the Lord)

Verse 1 introduces us to the author of the majority of the Proverbs, Solomon. Who was Solomon?

Solomon was the son of David. The third king of Israel. He built the Temple and the wall around Jerusalem. And he has the distinction of being the wisest man to ever live. (1 Kings 3:3-14)

God tells Solomon to ask for any one thing that the Lord could do for him, and he asks for understanding and discernment. So God makes him to be the wisest man to ever live (v12).

Immediately his wisdom is tested. The story is told in 1 Kings 3:16-28.

Two prostitutes come with a problem. › Continue reading