Colossians Series

Chapter One

Verses Nine Through Twelve

To desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Verse 9

Paul desired that they be filled or completed with the “precise and correct knowledge” (epignosis) of His will (thelema) “of the purpose of God to bless mankind through Christ” in all (pas) wisdom (sophia) “all the treasures of wisdom are hidden in Christ.” And spiritual “emanating from the” Holy Spirit and “exhibiting its character and effects” (pneumatikos) “the mind so far forth it understands.” (sunesis)

Verse 10

That ye might walk (peripateo) “to regulate one’s life or conduct” worthy (axios) “suitably, worthily, in a manner worthy of” of the Lord (Kurios) unto all pleasing (areskeia) “desire to please”, being fruitful (karpophoreo) “to bear fruit of one’s self” [present active] in every (pas) good (agathos) work (ergon) “work, action, and deed” and (auxano) “to grow, increase, become greater” in the knowledge (epignosis) “precise and correct knowledge” of God (Theos)

Verse 9 Because of their faith in Christ, because of everything he said in verse 1 through 8 Paul had a desire, a craving for the Christians at Colosse.  He desired that they be filled or completed with the precise and correct knowledge of God’s will.  In that day and today there is a lot of false teaching, man centered teaching, some twist God’s Word, because they don’t like what God’s says.   The Colossians needed to be complete in the precise and correct knowledge of God’s will.  God’s will is to bless mankind through Jesus Christ.  We need to be truly saved.  We need to be living for Him.  We should be a reflection of Jesus Christ and His love to this world. 

Next the Bible says, “in all wisdom” All the treasures of true wisdom are hidden in Christ.  Knowledge is power according to John Hobbes.  Knowledge is Power when applied according to Winston Churchill.   Wisdom is applied knowledge.  We must apply the knowledge of Christ to our lives.  The applied knowledge or wisdom results in spiritual understanding.  We exhibit the character and effects of the Holy Spirit as we apply the knowledge of Christ to our lives.  If we know Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, then the effects of being in Christ should be present in our lives.  Every Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit.  Do we have the fruit of the Holy Spirit showing in our lives?  If we were on trial for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict us?  Are we different from the world or are we just like everybody else?

Verse 10

The reason for needing the precise and correct knowledge of Christ applied in our life to show is so that we might walk worthy.   We need to conduct our lives in such a manner that we are worthy of our Lord.  Our actions need to be in obedience to our Master Jesus Christ.  The Bible uses the word Kurios or Lord which also means Master.  When the Bible talks about Christians it uses the word doulos or slave.  We are owned by God, because Jesus Christ bought us out of the slave market of sin.  We belong to God and are to be obedient to His commands.

 

Since, Jesus died in our place and forgave all our sins; we should desire to please Him.  How do we please Him?  By doing God’s will.  We will be fruitful.  We will produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives…Love, Joy, Peace, etc.  We, also, will be fruitful in that others will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through our witness and testimony.  Last week, we looked up the Scripture that said “He who wins souls is wise.”  The wisdom of God and being fruitful means we will be out there living for God and telling others about Jesus Christ.   If we tell others about Christ, but aren’t living for Him, the world calls us a hypocrite.  If we live for Christ, but don’t tell others, the world just thinks we are a nice person.  We must both show Jesus Christ and tell others about Him.  As Christians, our lives are to be producing fruit.   

“In every good work” Our works, deeds, and actions need to be things that build up, edify, encourage, help others, etc.  We should the love of Christ through our actions.  We need to love one another.  We need to be helping those who are in need.  Our actions should bring honor and glory to God.

We need to grow in the precise and correct knowledge of God.  The way we grow is by getting fed.  A baby gets a bottle of milk.  As we get older, we more and more food.  The Bible is the Christian’s food.  Sunday School is to help you grow, but you have to listen and apply the Word.  The morning and evening service allows you to worship God through psalms, songs, and spiritual hymns.  Also, in the morning and evening service you learn more about God.  Growth takes place as we digest what we have heard and apply it to our lives.  We need to eat more than just on Sunday and Wednesday night.  If a person ate only 2 days a week, then they would get sickly and scrawny.  Many Christians are scrawny Christians, because they aren’t in the Word of God like they should be.  We need to have a hunger and a thirst for righteousness.  We should be in the Word of God day and night.  Psalms 1:2 We should read the Bible everyday, more than once a day.  We should spend time with God in prayer.  If we are ever to win the world for Christ, we need to get serious about our walk with Him.  We need to seek His will and then do it.  As our knowledge of God increases we are becoming more and more like Christ.  We must seek to do His will.

With all power being strengthened according to the might of His glory to all endurance and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who made competent (to equip one with adequate power to perform duties) us for the (to make one fit to obtain a share) share of the inheritance of the (through the power or the Holy Spirit saints are rendered holy) saints in the light;

 Verse 11. From the precise and correct knowledge of Jesus Christ that comes from the Holy Spirit illuminating the Scriptures in our hearts and minds comes the power we need to live the Christian life.    The characteristics and actions of our lives are in obedience to God through the study and understanding of His Word.  The conduct of our lives produces fruit and builds the Kingdom of God.  As we grow in Christ, we get a deeper thirst for the Word of God and learn more about Him.  All of this is the background set for this next two verses…In the original language, from Verse 3 to Verse 23 is all one sentence.  We are taking this in smaller pieces so we can pull out the truths that can change our lives if we apply them.

The more we know about the Bible the more powerful Christian life we live.  The word translated strengthened and might in the KJV are based on the root word dunamis, the word we get dynamite from.  The Word of God is dynamite.  The Bible is the power of God unto salvation.  Once we are saved the Bible is the power we need to live the Christian life.  Many Christians live a defeated Christian life.  Sometimes it is hard to distinguish a Christian from the world.  We have a choice we can live the Christian life in our strength and fail or we can live the Christian life in God’s strength and succeed.  Do we want to be a failure or a success?  The choice is evident in our studying of the Word of God and applying it to our lives.   In Psalms King David states, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.”  By studying the Bible, memorizing it, we have the power to resist the temptation to sin.

The might comes from God’s glory.  Our lives need to bring glory to God.  The Westminster Confession shorter catechism states that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  The word here is different from the previous two in that it is kratos and not dunamis.  Kratos means mighty with great power.  Our strengthening and power in the Christian life comes from bringing glory to God.  The world says to bring glory to yourself.  The Bible says bring glory to God.  Instead of building up yourself, we build the Kingdom of God.  Our mindset and way of life needs to be different from the world. 

The power and might to live the Christian life comes with endurance.  The KJV translates the word patience.  A better translation is endurance.  God’s power helps us to endure through the trials of life without falling into sin.  An athlete needs endurance for when the game gets tough.  Late in the fourth quarter when the game is tied and both teams are giving it their all is when endurance is needed.  If you give out before the game is over, you lose, but if you endure to the end you win.    The endurance and longsuffering is with joy.  We can go through the hard times of life and still have the joy of the Lord.  Our circumstances do not have to steal our joy.  We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit Who produces love, joy, and peace in our lives regardless of our circumstances.  We just have to remain surrendered to Him.  How do we do that?  Through staying in the Word of God and prayer.

Verse 12. We need to give thanks to God the Father.  Why?  Because, He equips us with adequate power to perform the duties of our Christian life.  If God calls you to be a missionary, He equips you with everything you need to carry out the duties of being a missionary.  If God calls you to be a pastor, He equips you to do the job.  If God calls you to be a witness for Him at your work or school, He equips you to do so.  All Christians are called to be witnesses, and He has equipped you to do so.  The source of the power is from getting in the Word of God. 

God makes us fit to share the inheritance of the saints.  The word for saint is most holy thing.  Through the Blood of Jesus Christ washing away our sins and the infilling of the Holy Spirit, we are holy without sin.  We are fit to share the inheritance of the saints.  We have a home in heaven.  We store up treasures for the future.  We also have an inheritance here on earth.  We never go through problems alone, the Holy Spirit is our Comforter.  He will never leave us or forsake us.  We may boldly enter God’s presence through prayer and He will help us.  The unsaved do not have such help.  God makes us fit to share the inheritance of the saints.

Next week we will look at the significance of light versus darkness.  For now, we will end with that our holiness, our Christianity needs to shed light.  We are the light of the world.  Our lives should expose the darkness.  By allowing Jesus Christ to live in and through us we illuminate the world.    Just as the Holy Spirit illuminates the Scriptures to us, we need to live out the Christian life and illuminate the world.