Posted by Pastor Pat on September 29, 2011
To understand the Book of Colossians it is helpful to examine the three movements within the book itself; they are logical and sequential. In the first chapter Paul explains the sufficiency and singularity of Jesus Christ. He speaks of the exalted Christ. Here he identifies for the reader what is considered “orthodoxy”.
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos (“right”, “true”, “straight”) + doxa (“opinion” or “belief”, related to dokein, “to think”),1is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion.2
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Posted by Pastor Pat on July 27, 2011
The book of Colossians forms one of the most translucent revelations of Jesus Christ found within Holy Scripture. The veil has been rent and we are privileged and exposed to a full portrayal of who He is and what He has done for His people. Here we find the promise fulfilled and the picture completed.
Often, as is true with most of our handling of God’s Word, we read various pieces without seeing how the pieces fit into the bigger picture. This is unfortunate for us and demeaning to the text.
The book of Colossians is comprised of verses. These verses link together to form paragraphs and the paragraphs are part of a singular thought. Paul is not jumping from subject matter to subject matter as if there is no coherent thought and intentional design. Each of the verses and paragraphs form a thread in a beautiful tapestry. Each is a different color used by God to paint a breathtaking portrait of His Son. He is the promised seed within the Story. To understand the parts, you must understand the whole. It is the parts that make up the whole and it is the whole that brings continuity to the individual parts.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on November 9, 2010
Part 2
In Romans 3 the word “justified” is used several times (Rom. 3:4, 10, 20, 24, 26, 28, 30 [see also “righteous” Rom. 3:5, 21, 22, 25, 26). Only God can declare a man righteous and yet men continually seek ways to make themselves righteous.
“THERE ARE fundamentally only two doctrines of salvation: that salvation is from God, and that salvation is from ourselves. The former is the doctrine of common Christianity; the latter is the doctrine of universal heathenism. “The principle of heathenism is, negatively, the denial of the true God, and of the gift of his grace; and, positively, the notion that salvation can be secured by man’s own power and wisdom. Whether the works through which heathenism seeks the way of salvation bear a more ritual or a more ethical characteristic, whether they are of a more positive or of a more negative nature, in any case man remains his own Savior; all religions except the Christian are autosoteric . . . And philosophy has made no advance upon this.”
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Posted by Pastor Pat on November 6, 2010
Part 1
Romans 3:19-31
How can I be right with God? What does it mean to be right with God? How would you like to never have to worry about God being mad, angry, or upset with you? How would you like to find rest in the midst of life’s struggles? How would you like to finally measure up to God’s righteous expectations for you? Apart from sounding incredible, it also sounds impossible. But you and I can be right before God.
The book of Romans has already created a dilemma within man by revealing his position of complete spiritual bankruptcy before God (Romans 1:18-3:20). Chapter three verse ten is emphatic, “there is none righteous no not one.” In light of his condition man is barred from God’s presence, guilty of sin and a recipient of God’s full and undiluted wrath. In our next post we will consider the doctrine of justification by faith.
Posted by Pastor Pat on October 10, 2010
Read Ephesians 4:1-6
Whatever Paul brings to the table in 4:1 and following is a consequence of his previous thought. Paul begins in verse 4:1 by imploring his audience “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which they have been called.” Somehow we have twisted the thought of walking worthy to mean something that is meritorious and thus resulting in our acceptance before the Father. Yet everything up to this point clearly points out how our acceptance before and access to the Father is firmly rooted in and flowing from our in Christ status (1:5; 2:18; 3:12).
“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (Eph. 1:5).
“For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18).
“In whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him” (Eph. 3:12).
The thought of worthy is something that is compatible with or suitable to. Paul’s simple thought is that our lives should mimic our spiritual union with Christ. Whatever we are in Christ we should be while in the world. It is His life flowing into us and thus flowing out of us. Although it might be anti-climatic, let us not forget that the “us” of Ephesians is the “we” of the church and not the “us” of isolated independent individualism.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on August 16, 2010
Do you ever find yourself succumbing to fleshly lusts? Have you ever wondered why you find it so easy to do evil when the good is equally present? No matter how hard you try to talk yourself out of it, failure seems so inevitable; your frustration level is climbing; stress becomes a part of your every day life. The gap between what you know to be true and how you experience life is glaring and the schism is heart breaking.
I am confident that all who read this can identify with Paul’s dilemma as lamented in Romans 7:19. Those who do not identify fall into one of two categories: those who are spiritually dead as an unbeliever, and those who are spiritually deceived as a believer.
Honesty and transparency are difficult, for they leave us vulnerable. The alternative, however, is mask wearing, and I have always found mask wearing to be uncomfortable as well as stifling and “plastic.”
So, let us be honest – both you and I struggle. While we do not struggle with the truth claims of faith, we do struggle with our progression forward. We want to see Him and have Him use us in an unprecedented way. We want to see Him with the eye of faith. We want to believe that which awaits us can swallow up the trials of this temporal world. We want to believe that somehow in the midst of all this “craziness” God is in control. And yet . . . we struggle. We struggle at work; we struggle with our kids; we struggle with our spouse; and we struggle financially, emotionally, physically, and, at times, spiritually. We just flat out struggle. Life is hard; nothing appears to be easy. We want the supernatural and miraculous. We want God to snap His fingers and fix all of our problems. Yet despite all of these desires, it is still incredibly difficult to do right when wrong is so easy.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on March 3, 2010
Read Ephesians 1:3-14
Throughout this short letter, Paul speaks of God’s superabundant activities flowing from Himself to His people. Such words as “rich, lavish, surpassing greatness, surpassing riches, unfathomable riches, surpasses knowledge and far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” (1:7, 8, 18, 19; 2:4, 7; 3:8, 16, 18, 19, 20) are employed in an attempt to capture the magnitude of God’s person and work to redeem His people from sin’s debt and to adopt them as sons. All of this was written by Him into His story (1:4, 5, 9, 11, 21; 2:7, 10; 3:11).
Paul’s opening sentence reaches from verse 3 to verse 14. Here is an avalanche of descriptive words that unveil what God did in the securing of His people for Himself. Here we read of God as a tri-unity working (energy) to secure for Himself worshipping sons and daughters. Our passage speaks of God the Father blessing (v. 3), choosing (v. 4) and adopting (vv. 5, 6) trespassers into His family. We can equally note the activity of the Son to redeem slaves by forgiving debt by means of His own substitutionary and voluntary death (vv. 7, 8). It is the Son who makes known to us the mystery of their eternal purpose (vv. 9, 10), how from rebellion, division, and damnation He brings peace, harmony, and life. It is through Him and in Him all things created find the object that silences the rage from within and the loneliness that robs and destroys. What is the outcome, the inheritance of His activity? Through Him, the alienated are adopted, the rebel is restored, the indebted are pardoned and the forsaken are chosen.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on January 23, 2010
The church of Ephesus played a significant role in the life and ministry of the apostle Paul. By simply noting the occurrences of the city in the New Testament it becomes apparent that the church of Ephesus was a prominent center for the apostle Paul and the apostle John. Let us consider the following verses as they are found in the New Testament record:
1. Paul’s first visit to Ephesus happened in Acts 18:18-21.
This is the first occurrence of the word in the New Testament.
2. In Paul’s absence, Priscilla and Aquila instructed Apollos (Acts 18:24-28).
When you read the narrative it is straightforward and clear.
3. Paul returned to Ephesus, taught the disciples and evangelized the unbelieving (Acts 19)
1. Taught on Spirit baptism (Acts 19:1-7)
2. Taught on the kingdom God for two years (Acts 19:8-10)
3. God performed extraordinary miracles through Paul (Acts 19:11-22)
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Posted by Pastor Pat on November 20, 2009
Read Ephesians 4:17-32
The intent of this article is to show how what we once were in Adam we no longer are, but still have. Paul’s point from the beginning of the letter all the way through chapter 3 is to note how those who were once in sin’s debt and alienated from God are now redeemed from sin and adopted into God’s family. He is their Father and they are His children.
Paul is clear in verses 17 through 22 as to what this in Adam condition looks like both as a state and as a function. I would like us to consider the graphic nature of Paul’s language in describing those apart from Christ. There are several descriptive phrases that help us mark the unbelieving state and practice.
First, there is the futility of their mind (v. 17). The word “futility” speaks to vanity, emptiness. “The word contains the idea of aimlessness, the leading to no object or end.”[1] It is the same word used in Romans 8:20 (“For the creation was subjected to futility. . .”) and in 2 Peter 2:18 (“For speaking out arrogant words of vanity. . . ”). There is emptiness to the conclusion drawn by those who do not and will not acknowledge God. Because there is no fear of God within their thinking, they have no wisdom (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 9:10). This is the manner of life that characterizes the unbelieving.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on October 19, 2009
“Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22)
Peter’s question in verse 21 is intriguing because it is either very sincere, innocent or it is deceptive and pharisaical. Perhaps Peter thought he was already reasonably forgiving or he was maybe thinking of a situation where he was being “victimized” and wanted to know when he could “pull-the-plug” on another individual relationally.
Why did Peter say, “Up to seven times?” Let us consider some historical insight.
“It was Rabbinic teaching that a man must forgive his brother three times.” (Barclay, Matthew, 193). The prophet Amos uses the formula, “For three transgressions and for four” which many have “deduced that God’s forgiveness extends to three offences and that he visits the sinner with punishment at the fourth.” When Peter suggested “seven times,” he thought he was going very far. He expected commendation by His Lord.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on June 16, 2009
“And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs,
and gave them authority over the unclean spirits”(Mark 6:7).
The word used for “authority” is the word used to describe a person whose position gives them the power to act and order. Mark uses the word “authority” nine times. Jesus taught as one having authority (Mark 1:22). He exercised “power” over demons (Mark 1:27). In healing the sick Jesus revealed His power over sin and its consequences (Mark 2:10). It is this same transfer of “authority” He gave to the twelve disciples (Mark 3:15; 6:7). The power exhibited by Jesus Christ was evident to all; from where this power came was openly questioned (Mark 11:27-33). The religious establishment desired to assign its source to Satan. Jesus openly refuted such blatant error.
There is a parable unique to Mark in Mark 13:28-37. In the parable our Lord speaks of the time when He will be physically absent from the work. Verse 34 continues the thought found in Mark 3:15 and 6:7 where authority is given to His servants in His absence. It is through His people that His presence is continued. It is because of this authority transfer that His people are able to go into all the world and call everyone, everywhere to repentance and faith in Christ. It is the same idea contained in Matthew 28:18 where Jesus is described as having been given all authority in heaven and in earth.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on December 10, 2008
“And Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’” Matt. 16:6
The Pharisees started well. Their intentions were noble, but somewhere along the way they lost sight of what truly mattered and in so doing their “traditions” took precedence over the very Word of God (Matt. 15 & Mark 7). What does it mean to live under the laws of legalism? It is tragic, but Paul’s battle with legalism in the Galatian church is not yet finished. If we learn anything from our Lord’s temptation in Matthew 4 and Peter’s statement in 1 Peter 5:8 it is that the devil is a relentless foe. Today’s victories are never sufficient for tomorrow’s battles. We would be foolish to think that legalism has not wormed its way into our own lives and into the life of the church. It is an obstinate antagonist that has absolutely no scruples.
A legalist believes his upbringing makes him a child of heaven (Matt. 2:9). He actually thinks where he was born, to whom he was born and to what he was born makes him better than others. He is more concerned about obedience to rules than about the salvation and deliverance of the hurting (Matt. 9:11, 14, 34; 12:2; Lk. 14:3; Jn. 9:16). Rather than break their “traditions” they would rather see the hurting, despair and the hungry, die (Lk. 7:39). A legalist loves money more than ministry (Lk. 16:14). They have convinced themselves that a price can be put on the human soul.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on December 9, 2008
“But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.” Gal. 2:4
It is hard for us to imagine the abject horror of being awakened in the night by the screams of terror as men, women and children are carried off from knowing the joy of freedom into the chains of slavery. They were becoming the victims of the slave trader. Those people whose livelihood dealt with the cargo of humanity. Our nation poured out its lifeblood to resist and eventually overthrow slavery. Yet Paul continues to deal with spiritual slave traders, people whose intent is to make cargo of human souls. Their delight is found in bringing into captive those who were once free.
What appears to be the Galatian problem? Apparently the believers in Galatia were being “troubled” (Gal. 5:12) by “false brethren” (Gal. 2:4). The agitation created by them was real (Gal. 4:17). They were “bewitched” (Gal. 3:1) into leaving their position of liberty to be once more entangled with the yoke of bondage (Gal. 5:1). Paul saw such a move as shocking (Gal. 1:6). Why would anyone abandon a position of liberty for one of bondage? They were running well (Gal. 5:7), but now were being “hindered” and thus “overtaken in a fault” (Gal. 6:1). Those who turned back had “fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4) and needed to be “restored” (Gal. 6:1).
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