COLOSSIANS: OVERCOMING SYNCRETISM THRU CHRIST

Part VIII: Living In View Of Christ’s Sufficiency And Supremacy, Colossians 3:1-4:6

D. Godly Living In Our Private Lives

(Colossians 3:18-4:1)

 

I.             Introduction

A.    Recent research indicates that the average American adopts beliefs and practices from approximately nine distinct worldviews, what produces a jumble of often contradictory philosophies known as syncretism.   

B.    The epistle to the Colossians handled a mixture of Jewish legalism, Greek philosophy and Oriental mysticism (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1690, “The Colossian Heresy”), so it applies to the syncretism that we face.

C.    In view of Christ’s sufficiency and supremacy, Colossians 3:18-4:1 calls us to rely on our Lord to live godly lives in the private realm.  We view the passage for our insight, application and edification (as follows):

II.          Godly Living In Our Private Lives, Colossians 3:18-4:1.

A.    One’s theology necessarily produces a behavior pattern that reflects that belief system in one’s private life.

B.    Paul thus applied the sufficiency and supremacy of Christ to believers’ private lives in Colossians 3:18-4:1.

1.     Believers are to rely on Christ to live godly lives in their marriages, Colossians 3:18-19:

                      a.  Wives are to submit to their husbands as their heads since it is fitting in the Lord, Colossians 3:18. 

                                 i.         Some teach that since Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28 that there “is neither male nor female . . . in Christ” that a man’s headship over his wife applied only to fallen man as seen in Genesis 3:16, that a Christian woman is not subject to her husband since she has been spiritually “liberated” in Christ.

                                ii.         However, the headship of a man over his wife is based on the order of creation before man’s fall into sin (cf. 1 Timothy 2:12-13), so the man’s headship over the woman still applies today.

                              iii.         Nevertheless, there is a limit to the man’s headship over his wife, being clarified by the phrase “as it is fitting in the Lord,” Colossians 3:18. (Bib. Know. Com., N. T., p. 683) A wife “is not obligated to follow her husband’s leadership if it conflicts with specific scriptural commands.” (Ibid.)

                      b.  Husbands are to love their wives and not to be “embittered” (pikrainesthe, present passive imperative of pikraino, “embitter;” U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 701; Wm. D. Mounce, The Analyt. Lex. to the Grk. N. T., 1993, p. 373) against them so as “to grow angry, harsh” (Ibid.) with their wives, Colossians 2:19. 

                                 i.         A husband can become embittered against his wife if he fails to make allowances for her physical and emotional limitations “as . . . the weaker vessel” like Peter noted in 1 Peter 3:7b.

                                ii.         Husbands must make such allowances for their wives lest their prayers be hindered, 1 Peter 3:7c.

2.     Believers are to rely on Christ to live godly lives in their families, Colossians 3:20-21:

                      a.  Children in the home are to obey their parents in all things, for this is pleasing to the Lord, Col. 3:20.

                                 i.         As in the case of the wife who is to be subject to her husband, there is a limit to a child’s obedience to his parents as implied in the phrase “unto the Lord.”  A child is not obligated to obey his parents if his parents’ directives conflict with specific scriptural commands.

                                ii.         Nevertheless, children should always honor their parents in their attitude, Exodus 20:12.

                      b.  “Fathers (and mothers, cf. Prov. 1:8; 6:20) should not presume on this obedience” of their children “and embitter (erethizete, ‘provoke or irritate’) their children by continual agitation and unreasonable demands” that frustrate and discourage their children. (Colossians 3:21; Bible Know. Com., N. T., loc. cit.) “Praise for well-doing rather than constant criticism will, along with loving discipline (cf. Heb. 12:7), help rear children in ‘the training and instruction of the Lord’ (Eph. 6:4).” (Ibid.)

3.     Believers are to rely on Christ to live godly lives in the workplace, Colossians 3:22-4:1:

                      a.  Paul’s directives for slaves is applicable to employees in today’s workplace (as follows), Col. 3:22-25:

                                 i.         Employees should obey their employers in all things, not with eyeservice as if they were trying to please men, but with sincerity of heart as to the Lord and not to men, Colossians 3:22-23.

                                ii.         Employees will receive either rewards or discipline from God based on how well they heed this directive, for they actually serve the Lord in the workplace, and He is impartial, Col. 3:24-25.

                      b.  Masters in Paul’s era were like employers in today’s world, so employers must treat their employees justly and fairly, for employers are accountable to the Lord in heaven Who in turn is their Employer, Col. 4:1.

 

Lesson: Believers are to apply the sufficiency and supremacy of Christ in their beliefs to their private lives.

 

Application: May we heed Colossians 3:18-4:1 in applying Christ’s sufficiency and supremacy to our private lives.