Good at Being Rich by being Thankful

Why did Paul write? False teachers threatened to undermine what Epaphras had taught. More disconcertingly, the implications of their teaching threatened to remove the church from its strong Christian foundation

Philippians, Colossians, Philemon 7. The Problem at Colossae

Like many letters, this one countered a specific movement threatening to remove the church from Christ.

Philippians, Colossians, Philemon (4) The Focal Text: Colossians 2:8–3:4

Finally, the heretical doctrine was non-Christian (ou kata Christon). This by itself does not suggest it was outside the church. It does mean that it belonged outside the church. The real problem here is involvement in Christian matters with a non-Christian orientation.

Together these three characteristics provide understanding about the false teaching. It was a nonrevelational, spiritually juvenile, sub-Christian system of thought.

Colossians 2:6 (NLT)

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.

Philippians, Colossians, Philemon The Application to the Colossians (2:6–7)

They were to reflect on how they had received him, and that was to be a model for their present lives.

Philippians, Colossians, Philemon The Application to the Colossians (2:6–7)

They were to remember the nature and content of their faith at the time of their salvation, and that was to guide them throughout their Christian lives as well.

Remember the heart you had when you first connected to the life-changing power of Jesus Christ?

Heart Posture - Soft/ obedient/ broken/ dependent.

We are called to have that same heart posture as we follow him now.

Paul was writing to the Colossians arguing against false teachers and false theology. TBH our boat isn’t too different.

The world would tell us that hard times: COVID/ Loss of jobs/ Death/ etc. should make us hard. They should callus us or to use the words of the world they should make us more resilient.

“The harder the times the harder the man.”

The Holy Spirit of God through Paul tells us the opposite. He says, “Just as yo accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him.”

It’s a challenge to not get callused and constantly remember the posture of our heart when we first said yes to Jesus. For many of us that heart posture was a reflection of Matthew 5:3 ““God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”

Colossians and Philemon A. The Heart of the Matter: Remaining Centered on Christ (2:6–7)

the key theological argument of the letter to this point: Jesus Christ is Lord, and we have entered into his Lordship. The

But what does that mean and what is its significance?

It means that we live in Him and He in us. It means, what Paul will explain later in Colossians 3:3 “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Aka - “Entering into His Lordship” means that, “we are to continue to live in him, to work out just what it means in both our thinking and our acting to live under the Lordship of Christ.”

Colossians and Philemon A. The Heart of the Matter: Remaining Centered on Christ (2:6–7)

To “receive Christ”—in this verse at least—is not only a matter of believing “in” his person; it also involves a commitment to the apostolic teaching about Christ and his significance.

Colossians and Philemon A. The Heart of the Matter: Remaining Centered on Christ (2:6–7)

“Let Christ—and no other! for he is Lord—establish your values, guide your thinking, direct your conduct.”

Colossians 2:7 “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”

Ultimately in verse 7 Paul is trying to tell us how we can continue to live a life that gives Christ His rightful place as Lord.

Philippians, Colossians, Philemon The Application to the Colossians (2:6–7)

The one metaphor pictures sinking the roots of faith into the soil of Christian truth.

Colossians 2:3 “In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Colossians 2:10 “So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”

Philippians, Colossians, Philemon The Application to the Colossians (2:6–7)

The other calls to mind building on the foundation of faith.

Philippians, Colossians, Philemon The Application to the Colossians (2:6–7)

Paul frequently employed thankfulness as one of the litmus tests of Christian health.

Philippians, Colossians, Philemon The Application to the Colossians (2:6–7)

By contrast, one of the first indicators of departure from God is a lack of thanksgiving (e.g., Rom 1:21ff.). The deep roots of the faith evidence themselves in an attitude of gratitude for both the initial experience of salvation and the continued sustaining of life.

Colossians and Philemon A. The Heart of the Matter: Remaining Centered on Christ (2:6–7)

Together, these participles emphasize that believers can live lives that exemplify the Lordship of Christ only by remaining, like branches, firmly attached to the vine in which God has himself placed them (cf. John 15) and by continuing to allow God to integrate them, like stones, into the new structure that is nothing other than Christ himself

John 15:4-5 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

With this participle, Paul summarizes what he expects to happen as a result of the first two: by sticking to their roots and being built up, the readers will be established in faith.

Colossians and Philemon 1. The Evidence of the Gospel’s Power among the Colossians (Thanksgiving and Prayer) (1:3–14)

But the giving of thanks plays a prominent role in Colossians (see, in addition to v. 3, 2:7; 3:17; 4:2)—perhaps, among other reasons, because it signals the reality of their spiritual experience in Christ.

Colossians and Philemon 1. The Evidence of the Gospel’s Power among the Colossians (Thanksgiving and Prayer) (1:3–14)

For the giving of thanks implies that what has been received has not been earned but is a gift. Thanksgiving is therefore the flip side of a key Pauline theological claim: that Christians are saved by and live in grace