Since the Colossians were Gentiles, the Judaizers targeted them. The Judaizers taught that to become a Christian you must first become Jewish. This meant the men would need to be circumcised and would need to observe special kosher eating laws and honor certain holidays. Paul sees this as a false gospel because the Judaizers were saying what Jesus did on the cross was not enough!
Paul says faith in Jesus saves us. Getting baptized shows the world we are saved (not circumcision).
Instead, Paul says “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” – Colossians 2:6-7 NIV
How were they saved? By grace through faith so then that’s how they are to live.
And that’s how we are to live. Avoiding adding religious or superstitious practices and instead living by grace through our faith fully in Jesus.
By grace means acknowledging we need God’s help to grow and to change. God’s grace is the unconditional love He has for us that we do not deserve. Faith is our response to His unconditional love. Faith means we trust Him, we pursue Him through prayer, the Scriptures, community, and other spiritual disciplines; and we obey Him.
Obedience has negative connotations in our society but think of obeying God as being invited by someone to your surprise party.
You don’t know why they are asking you to do what they are asking, but you know you can trust them.
The result of obeying them (even though you don’t want to) is a fantastic party.
The more we spend time with God and obey His ways as shown in the Scriptures, the more we become like Jesus. Now the more you spend time with God, the more you will have promptings from God. These are thoughts we have that are from Him which will always be consistent with His character as found in the Scriptures. Having a spiritual running partner will be very important to help you discern if the prompting was from God or not from God.
#NewTestament, #Colossians, #BibleStudy, #Christianity, #BibleCommentary, #ScriptureAnalysis, #Faith, #ReligiousEducation, #Devotional, #ChristianLifestyle, #SpiritualGrowth, #ChristianTeachings, #Church, #EarlyChurch
