Colossians

Christless religion keeps God and humanity remote from each other.  That approach seems reasonable to people who instinctively know they are not good enough for God.  It preserves the dignity of whatever deity they worship, and protects them from the full force of the god's anger.  It also suits any religious hierarchy by preserving mysteries which only they can understand, as they teach rites and rituals for others to follow without understanding.  But faith in Christ is totally different.  Jesus Christ is God in an identifiable human body (John 1:14) - offensive t

Circumcision of male children was done by Abraham and his descendants in response to God's covenant (Genesis 17:1-14).  It marked each generation as those who were under God's authority and bound to obey His laws.  Circumcision was also a life-long sign that they were set apart, cut out from the rest of humanity to serve the Lord, only to marry within His family and to raise children who would continue in the faith.  However, although the physical surgery left a permanent mark on the body, it had no effect on changing the heart (Jeremiah 4:4).  
 

The Bible does not support the idea that we are all basically good (Psalm 14:2-3).  Yes, God’s creation was perfect but when the first people disobeyed God, everything started to go wrong (Genesis 3:1-24).  Paul confirms that since that time, when each person starts their physical life, they are already spiritually dead (Psalm 51:5) - infected and prone to sinning, and separated from God and destined for an eternity without Him (Romans 5:12).  That is all of us: by nature, our hearts are not devoted to God and our nature is set against God.

We all want to be liked.  As a part of our desire to relate well with others, we want their approval of what we do.  Every kind of society provides affirmation for people who keep the rules.  The principle is the same for tribes and clubs, professional associations, businesses, sports, religious organisations and even criminal gangs ... keep the rules and all is well, break them and beware.
 

People influence us because we allow them to do so.  They may appear wise and spiritual, and we may be fascinated by their stories and ideas, but how do we know if what they are saying is true?  The Early Church was at risk from people who seemed to be ‘spiritual’, but were false.  Some of these were legalistic religionists (Colossians 2:16-17) and others, as in today's passage, were mystics.  They had bought into a pagan mystery religion based on a belief in the power of angels.  They were spiritually false because they had lost connection with Jesus Christ, even t

People who follow Jesus Christ are different (2 Corinthians 5:17).  They have chosen to be as unresponsive as Jesus Christ to the way of living that is based on satisfying sensual feelings (Romans 6:6).     It is sometimes a tough call to obey Jesus rather than please ourselves, but even Christ did not please Himself (Romans 15:3).  Some took this to mean that ‘spirituality’ is achieved by religiously following rules of self-denial, punishing their bodies for the good of their souls.  Such practices were part of pagan worship and appealed to people who wan

Believing in Jesus is not just a journey of following a different Master.  Like marriage, it starts with an immediate transition of status and then grows into a loving relationship, confident that the bonding is strong and safe.  In the same way, the moment that a sinner repents and receives Christ, new believers have already been raised from death to life (Romans 6:4).  They are no longer under the curse of death, fearful of judgement and despairing of righteousness, because, "… God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, i

The new life of faith can only start when our old life of self-reliance is declared dead.  Identifying with Christ means that we accept His death as the punishment for our sinful 'old life'.  So, we must die to that old way of living.  We cannot continue as we did before.  As dead people are totally unresponsive, so all who identify with Jesus and have died to sin should stop responding to their previous dark lifestyle (Romans 13:12).

New life in Christ is incompatible with the old life outside of Christ: that old way of living is fundamentally opposed to His authority.  Because He died to pay the penalty for that rebellion, all those who have been released from condemnation must not return to rebellion.  The earthly nature puts a high value on money, sex and power - all good and God designed, but when desired or used wrongly they provide self-satisfaction rather than God-glorification.  Gifts of God are twisted; they are out of control and become idols - motivated by sinful cravings, the lust of the eyes

’Walking’ is one of the ways Bible writers describe living and lifestyle.  Paul, Peter and John all use Greek words that describe day-to-day living as personal step-by-step travelling.  Non-Christians ‘walk’ alone to their own satisfaction and towards their judgement.  The Christian walks in company with the Lord who is always there to lead and guide (Matthew 28:20), teaching them to turn away from sin and embrace holiness.