The Epistle to the Philippians

I know I have posted at least the first half of this in multiple installments, but this is the entire first chapter's notes from my Sunday School class. Feedback is appreciated.

Philippians 1:12-18a

12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

It very well may be that the Philippian Christians were disheartened by the imprisonment and persecution of their beloved Apostle, but Paul encourages them. He tells them that his trials are serving to advance the gospel, and this indeed has been the story throughout the history of the church. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, and the bloody persecutions endured by the saints has always been an encouragement to perseverance. If you have not already, get a copy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, and read it. The stories of our brothers and sisters past enduring the most horrific tribulations with grace, hope and unbelievable courage will stir up anyone to be bold in the cause of Christ.

One great example of the supernatural strengthening given to the persecuted church is found in an early Christian writing known as “The Martyrdom of Polycarp”. Polycarp was a disciple of the Apostle John, and was martyred in A.D. 155. The author of the account is unknown, but it is generally accepted as contemporary to the event. The following excerpt is taken from Kirsopp Lake’s 1912 translation:

Now when he had at last finished his prayer, after remembering all who had ever even come his way, both small and great, high and low, and the whole Catholic Church throughout the world, the hour came for departure, and they set him on an ass, and led him into the city, on a "great Sabbath day." And the police captain Herod and his father Niketas met him and removed him into their carriage, and sat by his side trying to persuade him and saying: "But what harm is it to say, `Lord Caesar,' and to offer sacrifice, and so forth, and to be saved?" But he at first did not answer them, but when they continued he said: "I am not going to do what you counsel me." And they gave up the attempt to persuade him, and began to speak fiercely to him, and turned him out in such a hurry that in getting down from the carriage he scraped his shin; and without turning round, as though he had suffered nothing, he walked on promptly and quickly, and was taken to the arena, while the uproar in the arena was so great that no one could even be heard.

Now when Polycarp entered into the arena there came a voice from heaven: "Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man." And no one saw the speaker, but our friends who were there heard the voice. And next he was brought forward, and there was a great uproar of those who heard that Polycarp had been arrested. Therefore when he was brought forward the Pro-Consul asked him if he were Polycarp, and when he admitted it he tried to persuade him to deny, saying: "Respect your age," and so forth, as they are accustomed to say: "Swear by the genius of Caesar, repent, say: `Away with the Atheists'"; but Polycarp, with a stern countenance looked on all the crowd of lawless heathen in the arena, and waving his hand at them, he groaned and looked up to heaven and said: "Away with the Atheists." But when the Pro-Consul pressed him and said: "Take the oath and I let you go, revile Christ," Polycarp said: "For eighty and six years have I been his servant, and he has done me no wrong, and how can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"

But when he persisted again, and said: "Swear by the genius of Caesar," he answered him: "If you vainly suppose that I will swear by the genius of Caesar, as you say, and pretend that you are ignorant who I am, listen plainly: I am a Christian. And if you wish to learn the doctrine of Christianity fix a day and listen." The Pro-Consul said: "Persuade the people." And Polycarp said: "You I should have held worthy of discussion, for we have been taught to render honour, as is meet, if it hurt us not, to princes and authorities appointed by God. But as for those, I do not count them worthy that a defence should be made to them."

And the Pro-Consul said: "I have wild beasts. I will deliver you to them, unless you repent." And he said: "Call for them, for repentance from better to worse is not allowed us; but it is good to change from evil to righteousness." And he said again to him: "I will cause you to be consumed by fire, if you despise the beasts, unless you repent." But Polycarp said: "You threaten with the fire that burns for a time, and is quickly quenched, for you do not know the fire which awaits the wicked in the judgment to come and in everlasting punishment. But why are you waiting? Come, do what you will.

And with these and many other words he was filled with courage and joy, and his face was full of grace so that it not only did not fall with trouble at the things said to him, but that the Pro-Consul, on the other hand, was astounded and sent his herald into the midst of the arena to announce three times: "Polycarp has confessed that he is a Christian." When this had been said by the herald, all the multitude of heathen and Jews living in Smyrna cried out with uncontrollable wrath and a loud shout: "This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, the destroyer of our Gods, who teaches many neither to offer sacrifice nor to worship." And when they said this, they cried out and asked Philip the Asiarch to let loose a lion on Polycarp. But he said he could not legally do this, since he had closed the Sports. Then they found it good to cry out with one mind that he should burn Polycarp alive, for the vision which had appeared to him on his pillow must be fulfilled, when he saw it burning, while he was praying, and he turned and said prophetically to those of the faithful who were with him, "I must be burnt alive."

These things then happened with so great speed, quicker than it takes to tell, and the crowd came together immediately, and prepared wood and faggots from the work-shops and baths and the Jews were extremely zealous, as is their custom, in assisting at this. Now when the fire was ready he put off all his clothes, and loosened his girdle and tried also to take off his shoes, though he did not do this before, because each of the faithful was always zealous, which of them might the more quickly touch his flesh. For he had been treated with all respect because of his noble life, even before his martyrdom. 

Immediately therefore, he was fastened to the instruments which had been prepared for the fire, but when they were going to nail him as well he said: "Leave me thus, for He who gives me power to endure the fire, will grant me to remain in the flames unmoved even without the security you will give by the nails."

So they did not nail him, but bound him, and he put his hands behind him and was bound, as a noble ram out of a great flock, for an oblation, a whole burnt offering made ready and acceptable to God; and he looked up to heaven and said: "O Lord God Almighty, Father of thy beloved and blessed Child, Jesus Christ, through Whom we have received full knowledge of thee, the God of Angels and powers, and of all creation, and of the whole family of the righteous, who live before thee! I bless thee, that Thou hast granted me this day and hour, that I may share, among the number of the martyrs, in the cup of thy Christ, for the Resurrection to everlasting life, both of soul and body in the immortality of the Holy Spirit. And may I, to-day, be received among them before Thee, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as Thou, the God who lies not and is truth, hast prepared beforehand, and shown forth, and fulfilled. For this reason I also praise Thee for all things, I bless Thee, I glorify Thee through the everlasting and heavenly high Priest, Jesus Christ, thy beloved Child, through whom be glory to Thee with him and the Holy Spirit, both now and for the ages that are to come, Amen."

Now when he had uttered his Amen and finished his prayer, the men in charge of the fire lit it, and a great flame blazed up and we, to whom it was given to see, saw a marvel. And we have been preserved to report to others what befell. For the fire made the likeness of a room, like the sail of a vessel filled with wind, and surrounded the body of the martyr as with a wall, and he was within it not as burning flesh, but as bread that is being baked, or as gold and silver being refined in a furnace. And we perceived such a fragrant smell as the scent of incense or other costly spices.

At length the lawless men, seeing that his body could not be consumed by the fire, commanded an executioner to go up and stab him with a dagger, and when he did this, there came out a dove, and much blood, so that the fire was quenched and all the crowd marvelled that there was such a difference between the unbelievers and the elect. And of the elect was he indeed one, the wonderful martyr, Polycarp, who in our days was an apostolic and prophetic teacher, bishop of the Catholic Church in Smyrna.

The word translated as “imperial guard” in verse 13 refers to the tent of the general in a Roman camp. When Paul used the term here, he was imprisoned in Rome, so the “tent of the general” would be the house of Caesar Nero, himself. The fact that the gospel had spread through even the household of Nero was a miracle, and had demonstrated to the brothers that God will triumph no matter the power of His enemies, granting them a boldness in proclaiming the gospel they would have never had otherwise. 

15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

This passage is difficult mainly because we don’t know who the contentious preachers were or what exactly they had against Paul. We do know from verse 14 that Paul’s imprisonment stirred up brothers to preach the gospel, and from vv.15-17, that some of those who were compelled to preach had insincere motives. What we cannot infer from the passage is that the insincere men were preaching false doctrine. Verse 18 makes it clear that Paul rejoiced in the message of these men, even if they were intending to afflict him. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul makes it clear how he feels about false doctrine, and, needless to say, he didn’t rejoice in it. 

The direct application we should take from this is simple: Do not attack those who preach the gospel correctly, even if you don’t agree with their methods or their personalities. We should never tolerate wolves among the sheep, but disagreement on secondary issues, or even a belief that someone has bad motives is not reason to divide. This can be difficult when you factor in pride, but if Paul could rejoice in the preaching of men who hated him, because they preached Christ, we should do no less.

Philippians 1:7-11

I've been on the road for work for a while, so when I returned to my Sunday school class I did a little review of the exposition of the first six verses of Philippians 1 (found here) that I taught back in August. After the review,  I was able to make it all the way to verse eleven. At this rate I should be done with Philippians sometime in 2013. Oh well, here it is.

Philippians 1:7-11

7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

Paul is confident of the perseverance of the Philippian believers because they partake of the grace of God, with Paul, during times of persecution. The affliction of Paul’s imprisonment is a gift from God as noted by Christ in Matthew 5, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account” (v. 11) No unbeliever could see this persecution as anything other than a scandalous reproach, however, true believers have an eternal perspective on such things. 

Paul also notes the defense and confirmation of the gospel by this church. All believers are called to make a defense of their beliefs to anyone who asks. (1Peter 3:15) One of the signs of a saving faith is a desire to defend and proclaim the gospel to the world and Paul sees this in the Philippians as a sign of the grace of God working itself out in evangelism and apologetics.

8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Paul makes a most serious oath of his affection for the church at Philippi. He raises this affection to the highest level possible in connecting it to the very affection of Christ for His church. 

9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

Next, Paul returns to the prayer he began in verse 3, moving from his thankfulness for them to his petition to God on their behalf. Paul prays that the love of the church would continue to grow, but not without knowledge and discernment. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul makes the statement that love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with truth” (13:6). True love is not the head in the clouds lust portrayed by Hollywood romance, but rather is a sober, divinely inspired, affection that sometimes hurts. When a Christian grows in love for God and their neighbor, a desire for the exposing of lies, and the propagation of truth will inevitably follow. 

Without this love, we will approve of things that are ungodly, so Paul connects this growth in truth exalting love with approval of what is excellent, leading to purity and righteousness. We see the approval of worldly passions daily in the culture. The truth of the gospel is always in constant conflict with this world, and whenever we find ourselves comfortable in the world, we should examine ourselves to be sure that we are pursuing holiness, in keeping with God’s truth. 

11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

The righteousness that proceeds from the love Paul speaks of comes only through union with Christ. Any righteousness we possess is alien to ourselves and comes, not from law-keeping or holy living, but rather from the imputed righteousness of Christ that we receive as a free gift. (Phil. 3:9) 

We must keep in view that the love, purity, blamelessness, righteousness, etc. are all from our relationship with Christ, and are not in ourselves by nature, but rather, are gifts of God given to His children by adoption, according to the divine purpose and decree of God, who works all things according to the council of His will. (Eph. 1:11)

Philippians 1:1-6

This is the lesson I taught in Sunday School last week. I will be going through Philippians whenever I teach this class, Lord willing.

The epistle to the Philippians has very little to no controversy as to date, origin or authorship. It is universally accepted by reasonable scholars that the letter was written by the Apostle Paul during his imprisonment in Rome between 59 and 61 AD. Acts chapter 16 gives us the account of the establishment of the church at Philippi, a city located in East Macedonia in modern day Greece, by Paul and Silas during Paul’s second missionary journey in approximately 49 AD. Paul visited the city at least two more times, in 56 and 57 AD.

During Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, the Philippian church sent Paul a gift delivered by Epaphroditus, a member of the church. When Paul received the gift he sent what is essentially a thank-you note back with Epaphroditus to the church, and we have that letter in the Epistle to the Philippians.

Philipians 1:1-6

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul addresses the church at Philippi in a friendly, familiar fashion. The church there had not questioned his authority as others in Galatia or Corinth had, so there was no need for him to belabor the point of his calling. 

He greets the church as saints in Christ Jesus, as he does in all his letters to bodies of believers. We shouldn’t overlook the implications of this word “saint”. A saint is one who is called out or set apart. All people who have repented and put their trust in Christ are called out of the world and set apart for God. There is no special status of saint as the Roman Catholic Church would say, but rather all believers everywhere and at all times are saints.

Paul also addresses the overseers and deacons. Overseer can also be translated as bishop, however, in Acts 20 Paul calls the elders, overseers. In addition to this, the pastoral epistles give the qualifications for elders and bishops, and they are virtually indistinguishable, so they may be used interchangeably.  Paul uses the plural of bishop and deacon in this passage, so we may assume that there is a plurality of overseers and deacons present at Philippi. A deacon is simply a servant of the church, and may be involved in financial distribution and other mercy ministries within the body, whereas an elder or bishop is in an authoritative role of ruling, teaching, and exhorting the body.

Paul ends his greeting with his typical “grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. First, we see that the grace and peace we have as believers comes from God and not from the bringer of the message. While Paul had done many things for the Philippians, including bringing them the Gospel, the grace and peace they have is a gift of God brought by the means of Gospel proclamation.

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 

The apostle begins with thanksgiving to God, letting the Philippians know that he has great joy because of them and that he prays for them constantly. The joy that Paul has is a direct result of their perseverance in the faith from the day he brought the Gospel message to them until now. He speaks of this perseverance in terms of a partnership with him, and we must, as believers, see one another as partners in Gospel ministry rather that those folks we run into on Sunday morning. It should bring us great joy that we have other believers to walk in this sinful world alongside. Prayer for one another should never be seen as a burden, but as a joyful privilege, that God has provided brothers and sisters for us to lean on and to support. We should take pleasure in the triumphs of the brethren, and mourn with each other in times of loss. If we partake of the Gospel, we have a great many brothers and sisters with whom we should share our lives with, not just the doughnuts in the lobby.

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

This is why Paul thanks God for the perseverance of the Philippian believers. It is not Paul that began the good work in them, nor was it the Philippians that will bring it to completion. This is a promise that we can hang our hat on! God Himself began the work in us and He WILL see it completed. Paul leaves no room for man’s decisions in this equation. Paul can have a joyful resolution that all of those who trusted in Christ and repented of their sins will continue trusting and repenting until the day of our Lord. This concept is not new to Pauline writing, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Romans 8:31-35

We can see now that the partnership in the Gospel is an eternal, God initiated, God sustained, thing. We should fall to our knees daily and praise God for beginning this good work in us and our brothers and sisters, as well as being faithful to complete it. 

The Bad News

I taught this to the youth at my church some time ago.

“Deceitful and Wicked”?

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart” says Proverbs 21:2. Our society teaches us that we are good people, who sometimes make mistakes, but we can make up for those mistakes by doing good deeds. You have probably been told by teachers, friends, parents, etc., that you are a good person, but the Bible has a radically different view of who we are at heart.

The Apostle Paul doesn’t hold back when he talks about the condition of all people:
“What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:9-20)

When Paul talks about “works of the law” he is referring to the law given to Moses in the wilderness. The Lord gave the ten commandments to the Jews to show them their need for a savior. No one could possibly fulfill one of the commands, much less all ten! Have you ever lied? Stolen? Dishonored your parents? Maybe you can say you’ve never murdered anyone. However, if we dig into the scriptures a little we can see that we’ve all violated that one too. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:21,22)

We can see that we’re in trouble, but it gets worse! Paul says later in Romans, “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” (14:23) This is serious! If anything that someone does that isn’t from faith in God is a sin, what can someone who doesn’t have faith possibly do to make God happy? The answer is simple, NOTHING! Therefore, we can agree wholeheartedly with the prophet Jeremiah when he says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

The heart of every person who you’ve ever met is deceitful and wicked. This has implications for eternity. What does God do with people who violate his law? Most people would, at this point, start shouting: “But what about forgiveness? What about all the good things that I’ve done? If no one can please God, He must throw everyone into Hell, but that can’t possibly be true!” Let’s take a look at what the Bible has to say about it.

Eternal, Conscious, Torment. Really?

If we are all sinners, what does that mean? Well, the Apostle John says, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8) Ouch. Did you catch that last group in the list? Liars. In the lake of fire. This isn’t looking good. How many lies do you have to tell to be a liar? Is the Jesus we see in paintings, meek and lowly, knocking at the door of our hearts begging to be let in really going to send people to Hell? Aren’t we talking about the mean old nasty from the Old Testament?

Paul says in his second letter to the Thessalonians, “since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9) It sure seems clear that Jesus is the one afflicting those liars, idolaters, and murderers we heard about in Revelation, doesn’t it?

So, here’s the verdict, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Everyone dies. Once. No reincarnation, no second chances offered here. We will all die, and stand before Almighty God to give an account of what we have done. Claiming to be a Christian won’t save you, either. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23) Apparently, going to church, going to youth camp, doing fundraisers, casting out demons, or any other “mighty work” just aren’t going to get rid of this sin problem.

The law of God should drive us all to our knees in despair. No amount of good we can do will make up for the countless times we’ve sinned against God. The standard God has given us to live up to, in order to get into Heaven, is simple. Perfection in thought, word, and deed, from the cradle to the grave. How are you doing?

Hell is real. We all deserve to go there, right now. Ignoring it won’t make it go away. Today, I’m 31 years old. It seems like yesterday I was 21, and the day before that I was 16. Life is fleeting, merely vanity to use biblical language (Ecclesiastes 1:2). In less than 100 years, all of us will be wherever it is that we’re going, forever. If we skip along through life, without taking these things seriously, chasing after all that the world has to offer, in the end we will be able to answer Christ’s question, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36) with a resounding, nothing.

Indicative and Imperative in Paul’s Letter to the Colossians

What follows is the lesson I taught yesterday in our Sunday school class. Enjoy.

In language we have distinctions between moods that an author may use. Here we will discuss the difference between the indicative and imperative moods in Pauline writing, and the theological implications of that distinction. The letter to the Colossians will be used as a case study.

The indicative mood is the most common mood used in all languages. The indicative is used when making positive statements, stating facts, or simply telling of a particular situation. The easy way to remember this is to look at the root (indicate). The imperative mood is used when an author wishes to exhort or command his audience to do something or behave in a specific way.

The gospel is by definition, indicative. No one can do or be the gospel. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians said, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” (1 Cor. 15:1-5) We see here that the “good news” is a statement of facts, not a command to do anything.

The law of God is, in contrast to the gospel, inherently imperative in mood. The precepts that God gives us are not statements of how things are, but rather are commands of what we must do to please God. We must understand that the laws of God cannot be followed by the mere will of fallen man, Paul makes this very clear. “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7,8) There must be a way for us to please God, and if we simply focus on the imperative passages in the scripture, we will consistently fail to live up to them.

Paul never gives us a command to follow without grounding that imperative in a gospel indicative. The letter to the Colossians is an excellent example of this structure. The letter begins with a typical Pauline greeting and moves directly into indicative statements of what God has already done for us in Christ. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13,14)

The Apostle then moves into a high Christology, describing who Christ is and what he has done in creation (both indicatives). “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17) Paul continues by describing what God has done through him in his ministry to the church, and says of His saints, “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)

In chapter 2, verses 6-8, Paul gives an imperative to walk in Christ, not being taken in by human traditions or philosophy, but in verse 9 he takes off into another indicative, proclaiming the deity of Christ. He further grounds the imperatives of verses 6-8 in one of the most profound gospel indicatives of the entire scripture, “And 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, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:13-15)

After these amazing statements, Paul then tells the Colossians that their standing in Christ removes the need to follow the festivals or sabbaths, and not to let anyone judge them for these “human precepts and teachings”. In fact, he says that they are mere shadows of the reality, which is Christ. (Colossians 2:17)

Now that Paul has made the position of the saints clear and irrefutable, he begins to show them what the proper response of Spirit-born believers should be. Now begins the imperatives, but Paul still doesn’t hammer the believers with pure law, but sprinkles gospel indicative throughout his commands so as not to forget why these things are to be done. An example is “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4) Paul here commands the Colossians to seek the things of Christ, (laid out in verses 12-17) and not the things on earth, (laid out in verses 5-9), but why? Because they have died, and their life is hidden with Christ in God!

Next, Paul lays out the proper way for a Christian household to operate, wives submitting to husbands, husbands loving wives, children obeying parents and so on. He continues with orders for masters and slaves, commands to walk in wisdom and to have gracious speech. No one can do any of these things without the indwelling Holy Spirit, and no one can be indwelt by the Spirit apart from the work of God in Christ! Paul completes his letter with some final greeting from his companions and news from his prison cell.

This wonderful letter displays the proper use of law and gospel that we should all seek to apply to our own lives, as well as in our exhortation of fellow believers. The imperative without the indicative is legalism. The commands of God are good and holy, but apart from the good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ they can only condemn and kill.

Lastly, we must understand that these glorious truths are for believers only! The law is to an unbeliever, primarily, a mirror to show them their need for redemption, but for the regenerate, it shows what good works are, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) An unbeliever cannot walk in good works, because they hate God! (John 7:7) The imperative is used in evangelism properly when the unbeliever despairs of their own righteousness in light of the standard laid before them. (Romans 3:19) The gospel is to a believer, a glorious truth of what has been done for them, but to an unbeliever it is foolishness and a stumbling block. (1 Corinthians 1:23) Until a sovereign work of regeneration wrought by God Himself is worked on an unregenerate heart, they will not ever see the beauty of Christ and His gospel.

Essentials

Essential?

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

No matter what our society tries to say, there is such a thing as absolute, objective, transcendent truth. Jesus Christ is that truth. If we are to call ourselves followers of Christ, we must seek to know this truth as revealed in the Word of God. The Bible lays out essential truths that must be affirmed in order to call yourself a Christian. One problem we face is raising nonessential truths to the level of essential, thereby alienating fellow believers to whom we should be showing grace as we seek to understand the hard truths of scripture. The bigger problem is when people lower the importance of essential truths, thereby watering down the Gospel and losing the faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

First, let’s define some terms. The definitions I will here lay out may not be agreed upon by all, but they will suffice for this lesson. 

A heretic is a person who denies one of the essential doctrines of the faith, but we must be careful to distinguish between a formal heretic and a functional heretic. A functional heretic is someone who misunderstands one of these essential truths but is willing to correct their error when presented with the truth from scripture. A formal heretic is one who denies an essential truth even when presented with scriptural evidence that they are in error. Every believer has been or is a functional heretic if you look closely at their beliefs, but the Holy Spirit is indwelling these saints and will correct us all in due time. 

The difference between an orthodox belief and a heterodox belief must also be distinguished. An orthodox position is in accordance with sound doctrine as revealed in the Bible. A heterodox belief is in opposition to sound doctrine, but may not constitute heresy, as it does not necessarily deny essential truth. All heresy is heterodox, but not all heterodoxy is heresy.

There is some more refining that must be done, but bear with me. 

A primary essential is a truth statement that if denied indicates a lack of regeneration, and is clearly demonstrated in scripture to result in damnation.

A secondary essential is a truth that is not plainly stated in scripture as being essential, but denial of such would still constitute an unregenerate heart, as it distorts or flatly denies who God is and what He has done as revealed in scripture.

A primary nonessential is a truth that is plainly taught in scripture, but not indicated as being essential to salvation. However, denial of a primary nonessential would strongly indicate a lack of regeneration, because it is a denial of God’s Word.

A secondary nonessential is a truth that is debatable between saints, and affirmation or denial has no bearing on the state of someone’s soul.

What follows is a list demonstrating some doctrines in each of the aforementioned categories. This list is taken directly from the “doctrine grid” as found on www.carm.org.

Primary Essentials

Jesus is both God and man. 

See: John 1:1,14; 8:24; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 4:1-4

Jesus physically rose from the dead. 

See: John 2:19-21; 1 Corinthians 15:14

Salvation is by grace through faith. 

See: Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 3:1-2; 5:1-4

The Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus according to the scriptures. 

See: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Galatians 1:8-9

There is only one God.

See: Exodus 20:3; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6,8

Secondary Essentials

God exists as a Trinity of persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Nature of God)

Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. (Nature of the incarnation)

Jesus is the only way to God the Father

See: John 14:6

Primary Nonessentials

Moral integrity

See: Exodus 20:1-17

Fidelity in marriage in heterosexual relationships.

The condemnation of homosexuality.

The inerrancy of scripture.

Baptism not necessary for salvation

See: Acts 10:44-48

Secondary Nonessentials

Predestination, election, limited atonement, free will.

Communion every week, monthly, or quarterly, etc.

Saturday or Sunday worship.

Pre, mid, post trib rapture.

Premill, Amill, Postmill, Preterism

Continuation or cessation of the charismatic gifts.

Baptism for adults or infants.

Musical instruments in church.

This list is not exhaustive, but a pretty good representation of the issue at hand. We must understand that everything we believe is important. The nonessentials should be debated in love and we should know where we stand on these issues. The point is simple: do not separate from brothers and sisters who disagree on secondary nonessential issues. There are different denominations for a reason, namely, we are too thick to understand what the correct position is on these secondary issues. But make no mistake, there is a correct position, and we should diligently seek to discover the answer from the Word of God.