The
Spiritual Strip and Dress Commands. Overview - Colossians 2:16-4:5
We
come to a new section in Colossians and we need to take the time for an
overview of where the apostle Paul is going from 2:16 down through 4:5. The main
body of the epistle actually began in 2:6 with the command “as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, {so} walk in
Him.” It is that primary command that really governs everything from that verse
all the way down through 4:5 and all of this is designed to help us to
understand how we are to “walk in Him.” And we must remember that there are
different elements to that walking metaphor the Scripture uses. It focuses on
the fact that it is a conscious effort, something that we think about step by
step. It is not running in Christ, not leaping in Christ, not sleeping in
Christ; it is a walking, day-by-day, moment-by-moment conscious dependency upon
Christ. Another element of this is the fact that this term “walking” was an
idiom often used in the ancient world to describe a way of life, how a person
lived. We are to walk “in Christ” and that command brings into focus for us
that this is something that is based on our positional reality in Christ, who
we are in Christ. So Paul begins the main body of this epistle with that
command to walk in Him, and that really was grounded in what we have just
finished covering in vv. 11-15.
One of the things we will see as we go
through this section is that Paul uses a series of interesting commands all
built off the same word that is often used to describe putting something on or
taking something off. It is the removal of clothes and putting clothes on, so
it is the spiritual strip and dress commands. They are really the key here to
understanding the Christian life and understanding how that abundant, rich,
full life of happiness and peace that God promised us at salvation is realized
in our experience.
Colossians 2:6-8 really lays out the
foundation with the positive command in verse 6 to walk in Him, and then a
negative warning in verse 8 to “see to it that no one takes you captive through
philosophy and empty deception.” So it begins with a reminder of what we have
in Christ and the emphasis that Paul brings out in this chapter, in this
section, is on the forgiveness that we have in Christ. Colossians 2:13 NASB “When
you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive
together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.” The Greek word
translated “forgiven” here is charizomai
which is a word that is based off of the root meaning grace,
and literally would mean to be graced out or to receive grace, to be acted upon
by grace. It has the idea and meaning of cancelling out a debt as well but it
focuses not so much on the act as upon the motive behind it, which is grace.
And it is important to understand vv. 11-15 because this is the very foundation
of being able to understand everything else that is in this epistle.
Paul was writing this epistle because a
group of false teachers espousing a popular teaching in Colosse had infiltrated
the church in some way, and some of the teachers within the church were
teaching this somewhat syncretistic false religious system. We can say a few
things with certainty about this teaching. It had a Jewish component to it. It
wasn’t necessarily the result of Judaizers but it definitely had borrowed from
a mystical element that was found in first-century Judaism. It was the sort of
melting pot of metaphysical and religious philosophical ideas that was
threatening the spiritual health of that congregation. This is why, along with
commanding them to walk in Christ, Paul then turns around in verse eight and in
just a summary statement he says, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy
and empty deceit.” He doesn’t mean philosophy in the more technical sense that
we use it where we would restrict it to maybe the writings of the Platonists or
Aristotle or modern philosophy, he is using it in a much more broad sense in
that everybody has some sort of philosophy of life, some sort of idea of what
their ultimate reality is, want happens after death, basis for right and wrong;
and in this sense the term “philosophy” would encroach upon what we often refer
to as “religious.”
This false religious system is a theft
of our spiritual wealth, the riches that we have in Christ. Ultimately, in
terms of our future destiny, in terms of our inheritance that we have in
Christ, if we fail in terms of living the Christian life today then what happens
at the judgment seat of Christ is when we see the reality of the loss of those
rewards, the loss of that future destiny that could have been ours if we had
stayed the course, stuck with the Word of God, and been faithful in our study
and application of the God’s Word.
In verse 16 we will see
something similar stated. It is at this point from v. 16 to v. 23 that Paul
expands a little. And this is the only place where we have any idea of what
this false teaching emphasized. He says in v. 18, “Let no one keep defrauding
you of your prize”—the idea of theft. It is something that is ours in
Christ and it is stolen from us simply because we choose to operate on a false
system of thought rather than on the Word of God. Then there are some clues
given in terms of this religious system. That is, those who would cheat us take
the light in a pseudo humility and a worship of angels—“self-abasement
and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on {visions} he has seen,
inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.” In contrast [19] “and not holding
fast to the head …” They fail to implement the sufficiency of Christ in their
life. Instead they are looking somewhere else for the solution.
Asceticism and legalism go
together. Asceticism also crosses over to the other side in terms of mysticism,
but asceticism and legalism when played out to their logical conclusion produce
a moral degeneracy. Most people think of degeneracy in terms of immorality but
the Pharisees clearly depicted a moral degeneracy where their arrogance, their
own self-righteousness and morality, were hostile to anybody who was against
them. So morality can produce its own measure, and that morality can be based
on any number of different systems of ethics. In our world today there is a
pseudo morality on the Left as well as on the Right. Political correctness is a
moral degeneracy of the Left, just as often a moral self-righteousness is found
on the part of the Right, especially among many so-called evangelicals. Those
who have a trend toward asceticism and legalism are often very good in terms of
human good and it produces a moral degeneracy, but it has an impact and a
corollary in terms of how they think. Someone who is ascetic and legalistic has
a tendency toward rigid systems of thought. So this plays itself out in terms
of thinking and in epistemology, in rationalism and empiricism, creating
rigorous systems of thought in order to come to truth.
On the opposite end we have
licentiousness—taking advantage of God’s grace, which everybody does as
some point or another. Lasciviousness is related to physical, sexual lust.
Antinomianism is just a large word for being against the law, any kind of rules
or regulations. That leads to moral degeneracy which many people have a good
idea of, and this produces a counterpart in terms of knowledge, in terms of
mysticism. Mysticism just seeks to throw off any restraint from
revelation—because God is going to speak to me and that may give me new
insights that are apart from the Word of God. It rejects the foundations and
the boundaries that are given in terms of the Word of God. These come together,
so there is also a cross-pollination of legalism with mysticism; and that is
exactly what we see in the problem in Colosse, a cross-pollination of legalism
and asceticism in some areas with mysticism in terms of knowledge.
But what is being
established here is the foundation that we have in Christ. This comes out when
we get to two key verses, 2:20 and 3:1. Colossians 2:20 NASB “If you have died with
Christ to the elementary principles of the world …” That phrase “died with
Christ” is specifically related to what Paul taught in Romans 6:3ff, referred
to as the baptism by means of the Holy Spirit where we are identified at
salvation with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Colossians
3:1 NASB “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ…” That is
the other part of that baptism by the Holy Spirit. We are identified with His
death, burial and resurrection to newness of life. That new life is directly
related to what happens at the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Colossians 2:11 NASB
“and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands,
in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.” Here’s
the first word used for removing clothes—“removal” of the body of the
flesh. That speaks of something that happened positionally at salvation. The
power of the sin nature got stripped away. Its presence is still there but the
power was stripped away in relation to the baptism by means of the Holy Spirit.
“…in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
[12] having been buried with Him in
baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working
of God, who raised Him from the dead.” It is the ongoing walk by means of the
Holy Spirit that describes the Christian life.
Romans 6:3 NASB
“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus
have been baptized into His death? [4] Therefore we have been buried with Him
through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through
the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” We have to
understand what that newness of life is comprised of. In Colossians 2:20, 21 we
have the first reference to that. NASB “If you have died with Christ
to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the
world, do you submit yourself to decrees [legalistic regulations], such as, ‘Do
not handle, do not taste, do not touch!’” In the second “if” clause he says,
Colossians 3:1 NASB “Therefore if you have been raised up with
Christ …” Now he is going to focus on the significant part of this in terms of
our newness of life. That is what the resurrection has to do with. The death
and burial has to do with solving the sin problem in terms of our regeneration
and being given new life. The resurrection relates to the new life we have in
Christ—a rich, full life characterized by joy, peace, stability,
happiness, a sense of fulfilment in life and meaning, because we understand
God’s plan. It is a reality to us that transforms our day-to-day existence. No
matter what the circumstances may be it has revolutionized by our understanding
of that plan of God. Colossians 3:5 NASB “Therefore consider the
members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil
desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry…. [8] in contrast, “But now you
also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, {and} abusive speech
from your mouth.”
We have to look at the
distinction between the fact that he says that we have already put off these
things in Christ and now we are to put them off. There is a distinction between
our positional reality and the reality of our experience in Christ—living
out and walking by means of God the Holy Spirit. Colossians 3:10 NASB “and
have put on the new self …” That has happened positionally. We put on the new
man at the instant of salvation but we still are involved in a process of
stripping off the residual elements of the sin nature in our life.
The putting off/removal in
Colossians 2:11 occurred at the instant of salvation. That is our positional
removal of the power of the sin nature. Something also happened with regard to
this at the cross. Colossians 2:15 NASB “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities,
He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”
Jesus is said to have disarmed principalities and powers. As we have seen, this
is not a word that is used in a military context outside of Scripture. It is a
word, though, that is used in removing somebody’s trappings of power. That is
what occurred at the cross in terms of the forces of Satan, the fallen angels.
Then we get down to 3:9, 10 “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside
the old self with its {evil} practices.” Since the power of the sin nature is
broken he says, “Stop lying.” You have a new life in Christ, live
characteristically of that. “… and have put on the new self who is being
renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created
him—” We are new creatures in Christ but the new creature is going to
starve to death if he is not taking in the Word of God so that the new man is
properly nourished and grows to maturity. Then in 3:12 a different form of the
word is used again, and this refers to experiential reality. NASB
“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
All of this section builds
to a crescendo at the end of verse 17. It ends with three commands: verse 15,
we are to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts; verse 16, we are to let
the Word of Christ dwell in us richly; verse 17, we are to do all things to the
glory of God in the name of the Lord Jesus. That describes this new life that
we have, that as representatives of Jesus Christ everything that we do reflects
upon Him.
Then in verse 18 down
through 4:1 Paul is going to take all of this and apply it to all of our
different relationships—marriage, wives and husbands, husbands and wives,
children to parents, parents to children, slaves to masters and masters to
slaves—concluding that with Col 3:23, 24 NASB “Whatever you
do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that
from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord
Christ whom you serve.” Notice the future focus. We get cheated of that
inheritance if we get into the false philosophies and false religions.
Then as he wraps up the
main body of the epistle he goes back to prayer. Colossians 4:2 NASB
“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with {an attitude of}
thanksgiving; [3] praying at the same time for us as well, that God will
open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of
Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; [4] that I may make it clear
in the way I ought to speak.” Then he goes into his final conclusion. [5] “Conduct
yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. [6]
Let your speech always be with grace, {as though} seasoned with salt, so that
you will know how you should respond to each person.”
This gives us an overview. What he is talking about is that
Christ is sufficient because of what happened transactionally in terms of the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. But it is not just some abstract doctrine and
something that happened but it so radically transforms our relationship to our
sin nature that we don’t have to do what it says anymore. And that puts upon us
a demand to live differently. But we can’t do that in the flesh; we can only do
that of we are walking by the Spirit. And only through the Spirit are we able
to truly overcome the flesh, which is what Paul describes in Galatians 5:16ff.
As we get into this we are going to come to understand the dynamics of the
threat. The Colossian threat had certain manifestations but generally speaking
we have similar threats. We need to understand the dynamics of those threats
and then we understand the solution, which is our position in Christ, and how
that applies on a day-to-day situation whenever we face temptation and the
battle. But the bottom line is that Christ is sufficient.