An Established Community
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Key Verse: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Selected Scripture: |
CHRISTIANS WHO ARE NOT privileged to engage in public ministry may take comfort from Paul’s example in praying for the Colossians, as well as brethren in the neighboring city of Laodicea whom he had not met. As believers, we may serve God on our knees as we remember others at the throne of grace. In his petitions to the Heavenly Father, Paul desired that the brethren’s hearts might be comforted and kept together in love as they understood the mystery of God and of Christ.
This mystery can be viewed from the standpoint of the message it contains which relates to God’s eternal purpose for mankind. Additionally, another important aspect of this mystery is the fact that The Christ is composed of our Lord who is the Head, and the church which is his body.—Col. 2:1,2
Since all knowledge and wisdom are found in Christ, believers should not be deceived by persuasive words set forth by false teachers.—vs. 4
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”—vss. 6,7
Our Key Verse reminds us that if we have been convinced as to the accuracy of God’s plan as revealed to us through Jesus Christ, in order to maintain our spiritual life and standing, it is imperative that we be established and rooted in the faith rather than seeking additional knowledge through various man-made theories and philosophies.
Furthermore, as Christ is God’s unspeakable gift to us, he represents the fullness of every divine provision for our eternal welfare, and through his all-sufficiency we may be completely acceptable to the Heavenly Father. The work of regeneration in believers is identified as circumcision and unlike the typical rite of Judaism in which there was a minor surgical operation applied to the flesh of the male child, Christian circumcision relates to a heart transformation of the believers, associated with receiving the Holy Spirit. It is a burial of our wills, baptism into Christ’s death, and walking in newness of life. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”—Rom. 6:3,4
This new life in Christ was for the purpose of stimulating believers to activity in his service. Additionally, those Jews who had accepted Christ were no longer bound by the ordinances of the Mosaic Law that had continued to be in effect upon them. Gentiles who were never under the Law Covenant, but have accepted Christ and devoted their lives to following in his footsteps, are no longer under the original condemnation that befell Adam when he sinned back in the garden of Eden. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”—Col. 2:10-15; Rom. 8:1