This week, as requested by some, I have recorded a Bible study for you, looking at Colossians 1:9-14, concentrating especially on v. 11-14. Here is a brief summary of what was discussed in the study.
I began with a few thoughts from Psalm 25, which we looked at last week. David has a Holy Week theme, confessing his sins and his need for forgiveness. God does forgive and then teaches David, as God’s forgiven child, to seek to follow in His way and will for his life.
God says much the sa...
This week, as requested by some, I have recorded a Bible study for you, looking at Colossians 1:9-14, concentrating especially on v. 11-14. Here is a brief summary of what was discussed in the study.
I began with a few thoughts from Psalm 25, which we looked at last week. David has a Holy Week theme, confessing his sins and his need for forgiveness. God does forgive and then teaches David, as God’s forgiven child, to seek to follow in His way and will for his life.
God says much the same things in Col. 1:9-10. He teaches and fills the Colossians and us with His Word, that we may understand and seek to live in a way pleasing to Him and be doing much good and growing even more in knowledge of God.
We want to live this way, according to God’s will, in thankfulness for God’s grace and love; but we find ourselves falling very far short of what He wants for us. The Law of God shows us our sins and that we can never do enough for ourselves or for anyone else, to be acceptable to God. See Psalm 49:7-9, 15, for example.
God turns us back to Himself for strength and power that we need, in Col. 1:11. Anything we can accomplish in our Christian life, then, is really only by the power of God, for God’s glory. God strengthens us, not to do spectacular things like Jesus did. We are strengthened, Paul, says, “for all endurance and patience” (v.11).
These are important Biblical words, for what we need in these challenging days. The words literally mean “remaining under” and “being long suffering.” We face many challenges and struggles in our life. With the current pandemic, we are very limited, with little control over what we can do; and we don’t know how long this will last. This is true of many situations in our life. As we lean upon our Lord and His strength for us (see Psalm 50:15, for example) we receive help to persevere and endure in what we have to remain under and to have patience, even if we have to suffer a long time in the process.
We can even have endurance and patience, with joy and thanksgiving, as Paul says, in v.11-12, because of the Good News of what God has already done for us. “He has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (v.12). God has already qualified us for eternal life, and counts us as saints and gives us His light.
How did He do this? He rescued us from the power of darkness - the realm of sin and Satan and death, and transferred us (removed us from Satan’s kingdom) and placed us in “the Kingdom of His beloved Son” - Jesus. He did all this for us, as a gift. He did it, and we also receive from Him “redemption” (literally, we are “ransomed”: the payment is made by Jesus to set us free from the condemnation of sin and Satan and eternal death). We have this through the “forgiveness of our sins.” Our sins are let go, sent away so far that they can never be found, through the blood of Christ. (See Scriptures such as Psalm 103:12, Micah 7:19, Isaiah 43:25, Isaiah 44:22, and Ephesians 1:7, etc.)
There is nothing to condemn us when we are in faith in Christ as a gift of God’s doing. We are pardoned, and our debt of sin is canceled, and our future is secure in Jesus (v.14). (Pay attention to the many big, important Biblical words in this short passage, describing God’s work and action for us! What hope and joy we have in Him!)
