QT 27 May 11

Philem 15-19 (NIV) Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back — not to mention that you owe me your very self.

NOTE: Paul says that Onesimus returns no longer as a slave but as a dear brother.  But the fact that he returns shows that he is, in a sense, still a slave.  As a slave, he has an obligation to his master.  And Paul returns him so that he can fulfill his obligation.  In the Jewish system, individuals sold themselves for a period of time for cash and work, much like the current system of sports contracts.  At the end of the contract, they were free to pursue another contract.  There were also other types of slave contracts where individuals were treated as property with little benefit to the individual.  It is not clear under which system Onesimus was.  Also, Paul agrees to pay any expense that Onesimus has caused.  In both cases, Paul gives importance to the issue of obligation.  In fact, Paul ends by reminding Philemon of his obligation to Paul.  God obviously considers our contractual and financial obligations, as well as our promises of key importance.  As believers, we have a moral duty to fulfill our obligations--it is part of our witness as believers.  What have I promised that I have not fulfilled?

QT 25 May 11

Philem 8-11 (NIV) Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul — an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus —  10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. 11 Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

NOTE: Paul seems to know Philemon.  The letter to the Colossians suggests that Philemon is from Laodicea or Colossae.  Paul was never there but the friendship with Philemon suggests that they have met somewhere.  Perhaps Paul met Philemon on his travels outside of Laodicea/Colossae.  Since Philemon has a slave, it is possible Philemon was conducting business outside of the town when he met.  But Paul also seems to know Apphia (possible Philemon's sister or wife) and Archippus (possibly Philemon's brother or son).  Paul traveled through Galatia, so it is possible to have met them in some context, i.e., visiting relatives, on a trip to the beach, or as some commentators suggest--in Ephesus (which is also not far).  In any case, there is a relationship between Paul and Philemon.

Paul states that he could command Philemon to act in a certain way, probably due to his Apostleship, but instead he chooses to appeal on the basis of love.  What a wonderful picture and contrast of the old covenant (OC) to the new covenant (NC).  In the NC, it is the heart that matters and not the strict letter of the law.  Also, in the NC, we have a changed heart because of the Word of God (which transforms our mind), and the Holy Spirit which lives within us and convicts us of our sin and also gives us the power to change.  While there is no record of how Philemon responds, Paul's confidence and the working of God's Spirit suggests that Philemon obeyed. 

In the same way, we need to carefully consider the suggestions and challenges of others to us.  We need to ask God to open our eyes to our faults and sins.  And we need to repent and seek to be obedient to God in the things he reveals to us.   

QT 23 May 11

Philem 6 (NIV) I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

NOTE: This is another example of Paul's prayer for others.  It is a request that is outward focused and spiritual, as opposed to worldly and inward.  It also reveals an interesting truth.  Our ability to understand the blessings we have in Christ is directly affected by our activity in sharing our faith.  So, if we shrink back in our willingness or activity in sharing the gospel, we miss out in understanding some of the good things that we have in Christ.  I wonder if one of those good things is seeing a person come to the Lord and that life changed.  I have seen a few people whose life the gospel dramatically changed because of my witness.  It was and still is a great joy to me to have been a part of God's work.  I think we miss out on that joy when we are not actively sharing our faith.  Lord, give me boldness to stand up and identify with Jesus in all my activities.

QT 18 May 11

Col 4:3-4 (NIV) And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

NOTE: I do appreciate prayer requests that are in the scripture, because they tend to be so much different than the modern day prayer request.  Although in defense of modern day prayer request, elsewhere in scripture, it says, "ask anything."  So, I must not be too harsh on my day and age.  Still, the prayer requests in the scripture are much more spiritual and mission focused.  They are not about self, but much bigger in scope.  They are focused on opportunities to share the message.  Someone once said that we are to pray for boldness, not opportunities, but here Paul asks prayer for open doors.  He also prays for clarity of the message.  Of course the message itself never changes, but people's needs and understanding are different.  We need to think through how to communicate in a way that captures their attention and also fully communicates the essential aspects of the gospel -- that is, our sin and rebellion from God, our inability to save ourselves, Jesus death that fully paid the penalty for our sin, our need to put our faith in Christ's work and to repent of our sin.  Repentance captures the emotion or heart aspect of our salvation.  It is not a work, Jesus did the work, but repentance shows that our heart is involved with our mind (understanding what Jesus did), and our will (asking Jesus to come into our life and be our savior).

QT 16 May 11

Col 4:2 (NIV) Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

NOTE: Having just concluded three key relationship pairs (husband/wife, father/children, and employer/employee), Paul adds a command, without the attendant "and" which follows this verse -- suggesting that this command is related to the previous discussion on key relationships.  The command is to "devote yourselves to prayer." Devote implies a commitment that is beyond ordinary practice.  It is not something to do, it is one thing you always do.  Alas, it is not always that way in my life, and more often the one thing I don't get to.  Paul also characterizes prayer as watchful and thankful.  I understand the need for thankfulness in prayer, and it has transformed my prayer life and myself as well.  Watchfulness suggests more of a contemplative aspect to prayer, and possibly more akin to a discussion with God about the issues of the day or of my life.  I do that as well, but not quite as often.  It reminds me of a statement I heard recently of an old saint who said "I must discuss this with my Lord first."  I may have quoted it wrong, but I like the thought.  That is how prayer should be, a discussion with our Lord about all aspects of our life.

QT 13 May 2011

Col 3:1-4 (NIV)  Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

NOTE: Now, we move from the doctrinal portion of a letter to a group that Paul had never met, to the practical portion of a letter to a group that Paul had never met.  This is significant, because Paul is not highlighting things he said in the past, or filling in holes of things he left out.  There is no known verbal communication between Paul and the Colossians -- they never met.  Rather, this is Paul's explanation of the practical and moral requirements of the New Covenant.  If Paul meant for them to follow the law, why does he not say it here?  If Paul is just highlighting laws from the Old Covenant, why does he not highlight ceremony or dietary laws (of note -- neither he nor any of the NT authors ever do highlight those laws).  In fact, he seems to go out of the way to do just the opposite (chapter 2).  He has just told them not to judge anyone on food or drink or special days.  In the verses that follow these, he will give specific rules to judge a believer .  But his first point, has nothing to do with laws, in fact his emphasis is on our focus.  Christ should be the focus of our heart.  Our mind should be focused on spiritual things and not upon earthly things.  We have a new life with Christ, to be revealed when we are caught up to heaven.  So the New Covenant reward is in heaven, not on earth, as opposed to the Old Covenant.  Under the Mosaic law, obedience to the law resulted in defined blessings, both individually and nationally.  And disobedience resulted in very specific curses, both individually and nationally.  Under the law of Christ, our reward is in heaven and from it we await our savior.  We obey out of love for an undeserved salvation.  Yes, there is a reward, but it is a heavenly reward and not an earthly reward.  The New Covenant is very different from the Old Covenant.

QT 4 May 11

Col 2:14-19 (NIV) … having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

NOTE: This is the problem with those who want to incorporate the OT law into their NT faith, the result is a false humility.  A false humility is a belief that you are pleasing God by your obedience to laws that no one else is following, that somehow you are more pious.  And while I do not understand the worship of angels, I do understand the phrase, "… unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions."  People begin to find arguments in the scripture for the things which they do that are not scriptural.  And they reinterpret obvious scriptural truths into unobvious conclusions to justify their incorrect arguments.  Then they begin to think that they are wiser than others because they see this deep truth that others don't see.  It really is a subtle form of Gnosticism.  While I do accept the proposition that most churches in America are a poor imitations of first-century churches and first-century doctrine, and so are missing out on the reality of a relationship with Jesus Christ, I am concerned when orthodoxy is ignored.  Godly men have given their lives to study and to stand up for the scriptures, and we cannot throw orthodoxy out the window, especially when it explains the scripture in a common sense way of understanding.  In other words, be careful of the extremely small off-the-wall churches that spring up, claiming to be the real representatives of first-century churches, and of extreme minority views of doctrine -- they are most often even more wrong than the dead churches they seek to replace.

QT 3 May 11

Col 2:13-17 (NIV) When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

NOTE: Clearly the people were not following the law prior to Christ, since they are called "uncircumcision."  But when we believed, God made us spiritually alive.  He forgave all our sin.  And most importantly he canceled the written code with its regulations.  That is why verse 16 says that no one can judge us by dietary or ceremonial regulations (the law).  As the book of Hebrews also says, they are a shadow of the things that were to come, the reality is found in Christ.  The law points us to Christ.  It does not augment nor does it replace.  Christ replaces the law.  It says that he took it away.  He nailed it to the cross, the symbol of death and suffering.  They have no power or bind upon our life.

It hurts my soul so much to see people who want to be under the regulation of the OT law when there is freedom in Jesus Christ.  Why do we insist on wanting to be under the law?  Why do we need a checklist to measure our spiritual growth?  Why can we not focus on getting to know God, and allowing him to change the inner person?

QT 2 May 11

Col 2:9-12 (NIV) For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

NOTE: Verse 9 makes the case for Christ's deity very clear, "the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form, …."  And yet, there are groups that want to deny the deity of Christ, or the reality of his physical life.  But he lived among us, in bodily form.  God-man, somehow, emptied himself (Phil 2:5) to live among us.  How amazing! 

The second point is that we are circumcised in Christ, and the passage is very clear, the circumcision is not done by the hands of men, but is done by Christ' death and resurrection.  We identify with the family of God on the basis of baptism and not on the basis of circumcision.  Again, those who argue that the OT law is binding are clearly wrong, since circumcision is one of the defining characteristics of the OT covenant.  And if you can pick and choose from the OT law, who decides then what is required and what is not required?  For myself, it is clear, the NT covenant is defined by Jesus Christ and the Apostles.  The law of Christ (Gal 6:2), which is not heavy (Matt 11:30), is the requirement for me as a believer in Christ.  It is not done to curry God's favor -- I am already accepted as a son -- but it is an expression of my love to God (Jn 14:21) for my salvation.