One Verse at a Time

This episode looks at Colossians 2:19, “and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” The church, unlike chickens, cannot run without our head. We need Christ for life, unity, and growth. We look to him and ask for grace to hold fast to him.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:18, “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind.” We do not need to subtract from (“don’t enjoy God’s gifts”) or add to (“worship angels”) God’s word to us. We must fix our eyes on Christ alone.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:17, “These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” We don’t need to add things to what the Bible says about relationship with God. We must keep Christ at the root and our works as the fruit of this relationship.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:16, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.” We need to know our foundation (Christ) so well that we can push back when others say we must do something or cannot do something in order to follow Christ. We also need to know the foundation well so that we can help others line their life up with what we believe.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:15, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” When Christ forgives us of our sins while also satisfying God’s justice, the devil is stripped of his power to accuse us before God. We can live confidently in the knowledge of our forgiveness, and in Christ we also conquer over the devil. Good news, indeed!

This episode looks at Colossians 2:14, “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” Our sins have been forgiven because justice has been satisfied and the legal demands of our sin have been paid for on the cross of Christ. May we live in this freedom and look to no one else but Christ for our comfort and security.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:13, “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.” We were DEAD! Yet, God made us alive together with Christ, thus forgiving us of our sins through faith in Jesus. We praise God for doing the work of granting us new life, thanking him and then living in a holy manner from the overflow of our new life.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:12, “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” As recipients of heart circumcision, when we respond in baptism we see a clear picture of our dead hearts being raised to new life in Christ. We should praise the one who alone can bring the dead to life, thus refusing to look to any man-made philosophies or lesser spirits.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:11, “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.” Old Testament circumcision pointed forward to New Testament heart circumcision. We look to Christ and not to man because in him alone do we receive transformation for our hearts.

This episode looks at Colossians 2:10, “and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” The one who rules all things offers us all things in relationship with him. We praise God for that reality and ask him to fill us more and more with his fullness.