Colossians Part 8 | The Power of God in Us

We’re working our way through the book of Colossians in this series of posts. In this lesson, we are going to look at some incredible truths about the fullness of Christ and the power of God that is resident in us as His children. We’re going to see how knowing and understanding those truths exposes false doctrines and should give us confidence to live the Christian life well.

At the bottom, you’ll find a complete list of the other posts in this study on Colossians.

The Power of God in Us – Colossians 2.9-10

AWOL

First, let me say that I’m sorry I’ve been AWOL from this particular space on my website. It’s been one of those summers, both good and, well you know, life in this fallen world. Consequently, it has been all I could do to keep up with my daily posts.

On the good side, we were blessed to be able to go on an Alaskan cruise. It was wonderful. The time together as a couple and with friends was priceless. The views were breathtaking. The food, the atmosphere, just getting away. It was such a blessing.

There have been other blessings, as well. A trip to see family in California among them. This has, also, been a busier than usual counseling season with a couple of cases that have required meeting two or three times a week. Then there was COVID, my husband and I both got it for the first time. And … there have been some difficult family situations. But God is good and so faithful. Prayerfully, I hope to be a bit more regular in this space, God willing.

Now to our study, starting with some review of the background.

Background

The church at Colossae was founded by a man named Epaphras. Epaphras had traveled to Rome to visit Paul and share his concerns about the presence of false teachers in his beloved church. The book of Colossians was Paul’s response. In it, he gives a beautiful explanation of the preeminence of Christ, shares amazing gospel truths, and explains how those truths should be lived out in the life of the believer.

If you missed the previous posts, here are the links:

Introduction to Colossians

The Preeminent Christ & Why It’s Important | Colossians Part 2

What Does Christ’s Preeminence Mean to Me? | Colossians Part 3

A Summary of the Christian Life | Colossians Part 4

The Unfolding Plan of God, Crimes of Passion & Our Hope of Glory | Colossians Part 5

Rooted & Established in Christ | Colossians Part 6

The Danger of a False Gospel | Colossians Part 7

In this lesson, we’re going to look at Colossians 2.9-10 and take another look at the fullness of God in Christ and then the power of God in us.

Taken Captive

In the last post, we looked at Paul’s warning to the Colossians about the danger of being taken captive by a false gospel (Col. 2.8). As I read back over some commentaries about chapter 2, this quote stood out to me from Warren Wiersbe in his “BE” series of commentaries.

Paul continued the military image with this warning: “Beware lest any man carry you off as a captive” (literal translation). The false teachers did not go out and win the lost, any more than the cultists do today. They “kidnapped” converts from churches! Most of the people I have talked with who are members of anti-Christian cults were at one time associated with a Christian church of one denomination or another. How is it possible for false teachers to capture people? The answer is simple: These “captives” are ignorant of the truths of the Word of God. They become fascinated by the philosophy and empty delusion of the false teachers.*

Sadly, I have known this to be all too true.

The Fullness of God & the Power of God

As I said, today I want to look at Colossians 2.9-10. But I want to begin by looking at the whole passage in context:

⁶Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ⁷rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. ¹¹In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ¹²having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

After Paul warned them of the dangers of allowing themselves to be captured or beguiled by false doctrines, he begins to explain the “hows” and “whys.”

Because of the Fullness of God

Look at verse 9 again, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” That word “fullness” is the Greek word pleroma. It means the sum total of all that God is. It includes all His attributes. All His power. All that He is.

When Jesus ascended into heaven, He went in a glorified body to be sure, but a human body. He was and is the God-Man. When He appeared to His disciples, He invited them to touch Him. He urged Thomas to put his finger in the holes in hands and side.

Many of the false teachers in the first century talked about fullness, too. But their meaning of that fullness was something entirely different. To them pleroma was the source of mystical emanations through which men could come to God. But there are no emanations from God through which men and women can know or earn their way to Him. Christ alone bridged the gap between God and man.

¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross (Col. 1).

Yet, the appeal of false gospels, to those who don’t truly know God and are ignorant of good Bible doctrine can be irresistible because it appeals to our sinful, prideful nature. It’s the tower of Babel played out over and over. At the tower of Babel men thought they could find their own way to God while they disobeyed His clear commands to them. We want God or at least a god of our own making, one we can control, but we want him on our terms.

What That Looks Like Today

Certainly there is false teaching of every kind today just as there was in Paul’s time. But lest we think this doesn’t really apply to people we know, think about discussions you’ve had with family, friends, or others. I frequently come across an eclectic, cafeteria syle, I get to decide my own truth, hodge-podge of positive thinking, science, religion, and mysticism.

Sometimes it’s demonstrated by statements that often start with “Well, I just believe …” Somewhere along the line, they usually say they believe in God. But that statement is followed by all their qualifiers.

Reasons why they don’t like organized religion or problems they have seen in churches.
Explanations as to why the Bible isn’t actually the Word of God.
False beliefs about Jesus. He was a good man or a good teacher, even a prophet but no more.
Why science has trumped the Bible’s version of creation, history, even gender and other moral issues.
Sometimes telling me that they know what the Bible says but justifying why they are going to live life their own way (homosexuality, living together, etc.). It often includes the belief that Jesus loves them just the way they are.

Others may be part of an organized church, but their understanding of doctrine is shallow or nonexistant. Instead, theirs is a mix of what they consider religious experiences, unexplained events they may fearfully consider demonic, moralism, and family traditions. Still others are involved in thinly veiled Eastern mysticism.

You probably know people caught up in some mix of these ideas.

Could you or someone you know be caught up in a mix of religious experiences, unexplained events you may consider demonic, moralism, family traditions and/or mysticism? What’s the answer? #religion #God #soulsurvival

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The Elemental Spirits of the Word

Back to our text, verse 8 told us that these empty philosophies and false doctrines were “according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” The King James Version says “after the rudiments of the world …” That word “rudiments,” translated “elemental spirits” in the English Standard Version, means “one of a row or series.” We might say the ABCs of something or the basics.

Many of these false teachers Paul was addressing were Gnostics. According to Warren Weirsbe, they believed that angels and heavenly bodies influenced people’s lives. Many of the basics of their false doctrines had to do with astrology and horoscopes. Paul pointed to this in verse 16 when he referred to new moons and Sabbaths, in other words, living by the calendar in a religious sense.

Why It’s Foolishness

Look back at verse 8 again. It begins, “See to it that no one takes you captive …” and verse 9, “For …” or because “in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Why would we settle for foolish and empty philosophies when we have Christ? Or as the prophet Jeremiah said:

… my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jere. 2.13).

But that’s not the end of Paul’s reasoning.

Our Amazing, Generous God & His Power

Look at verse 10:

¹⁰and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Again quoting Wiersbe:

When a person is born again into the family of God, he is born complete in Christ. His spiritual growth is not by addition, but by nutrition. He grows from the inside out. Nothing needs to be added to Christ because He already is the very fullness of God. As the believer draws on Christ’s fullness, he is “filled unto all the fulness of God” (Eph. 3:19). What more does he need?

We are complete in Christ. I, especially, like that second sentence, “His spiritual growth is not by addition, but by nutrition.” And what is the nutrition we need? It’s the Bread of Life. It’s knowing Christ through His Word.

2 Peter 1 says:

³His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

As my friend Sandra Campos said once while teaching a Bible study:

If you are a Christian, the divine power of God has been granted to you at the time of salvation and continues in you. This is the same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead. God is a generous God. He has blessed His children with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1.3). He is so generous that He did not spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all (Rom. 8.32).

Does this mean we have enough of His divine power to face trials and losses? Does that mean we have enough power to die to self and live for His glory in a fallen world? Does it mean we have enough divine power to serve God at the capacity that He has called us to serve? Yes. that’s what it means!

We have enough power to live the Christian life, to love God and others as we should, and to be light in a dark world. We’ve got that power resident in us.

As we continue our study in the next post, Paul is going to paint and even bigger picture of what all this means as he addresses another aspect of false teaching present at Colossae, legalism. Be sure to sign up for the weekly newsletter so you don’t miss it.

We have enough power to live the Christian life, to love God and others as we should, and to be light in a dark world. #God #faith #powerofGod #Christianlife #soulsurvival

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*Wiersbe, Warren W.. Be Complete (Colossians): Become the Whole Person God Intends You to Be (The BE Series Commentary) (p. 88, 91). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.