Chapter 1

 

            Background

            The human author of this epistle is the apostle Paul. It was written during his first Roman imprisonment mentioned in Ephesians 3:1; 4:1; Philippians 1:7,9; Colossians 4:18. There were four books while Paul was imprisoned in Rome the first time: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. The apostle wound up in prison in Rome as a part of his discipline for one of the greatest failures of grace that a man of grace could ever have. He went into the temple on the advice of the pastors at Jerusalem, and there he offered a vow. He was told to do this so that the believers in Jerusalem would give him a hearing. Obviously he did not need a hearing on the basis of some legalistic action. This was human viewpoint, the offering of a vow was totally incompatible with the Christian way of life. Spiritual growth demands a lot of decisions but it does not go for one-shot decisions or offering vows of any kind. So the apostle Paul was punished by two years of prison in Caesarea and two years of prison in Rome. However cursing was turned to blessing. The rebound that occurred very shortly after his failure and the great blessings which have accrued down through the ages are in part this book of Colossians.

            The recipients of this epistle are located in the Lycus valley in Turkey. There were three towns in the area: Colosse, Hierapolis, and Laodicea. The population of the valley was composed of Jews, Phrygians, and Greeks.

            The approximate date of this epistle is somewhere between 60 and 62 AD. The occasion is the invasion of cosmic doctrine in the form of gnosticism. The pastor of the Colossians church was Epaphras, and because of this infiltration of false doctrine, and because Epaphras found that he had members of his own congregation who proved to be intellectual snobs, considered themselves superior to all other believers, and who though that they had an inside track on doctrine because they had a higher human IQ than other believers in the Lycus valley. These people were a small group of professional people. Here is the first principle from the book of Colossians. High IQ does not mean any form of spiritual superiority. Spiritual growth is not measured in terms of human IQ. The daily function of GAP demands a grace apparatus for perception, it does not in any way require high IQ. It is imperative that as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you persist on a day by day basis in desiring Bible doctrine. However the perceptive system does not depend on human ability. It is always an occupational hazard, always a danger, for people of a high IQ, people who have succeeded in a profession, have succeeded academically, to assume that they can understand portions of the Word of God that low IQ types cannot understand. Epaphras found himself with a very serious problem in the Colossians church due to the fact that he had a small group of intellectual snobs who latched on to Gnosticism.

            Gnosticism is a system of philosophy combined with some principles of doctrine into a way of life. In fact, gnosticism is a Greek word for those in the know. It is taken from gnwsij. Those who were in-the-know called themselves gnwsij types, and in the Greek that means a Gnostic. Then they contrasted themselves with believers who functioned under GAP. The basic principle of GAP is pistij. This is the way you get gnwsij and convert it into e)pignwsij. The Gnostics called these people inferior, and so there was a great controversy raging in the Colossian church between the Gnostics and the others. So great was the controversy that it forced Epaphras to go to Rome to seek counsel from the apostle Paul.

            Along with this cosmic revolution against doctrine there were four areas of apostasy with which this epistle deals specifically. Most of them are found in the second chapter. The first is legalism in 2:16, along with religious reversionism, also found in the same verse. The philosophical content of gnosticism is dealt with in Colossians 2:8, and there was a trend toward asceticism for spirituality which is stated in 2:20, 23. This particular epistle, then, is a polemical type epistle.

 

 

 

 

            The cosmic revolution in Colosse: incipient gnosticism

            1. Gnosticism derives its name from gnwsij or the intellectual snobbery which occurred throughout the early church. This was one of the greatest attacks on Bible doctrine in the early church. This came primarily from those who had adopted or were attracted to Hellenistic systems of philosophy. it was an attempt to reconcile philosophy with doctrine. They are irreconcilable but this was an attempt. The people involved in gnosticism are also involved in reversionism.

            2. Definition. A word which must be understood is the word “syncretism.” Syncretism means a combination of things. Gnosticism is the major thrust of the cosmic revolution of Satan which combines Greek philosophy and legalistic Judaism with oriental dualism to form an apostate syncretism — combining these things into one system — covered with a veneer of Christian vocabulary. It picked up and utilised the vocabulary of Bible doctrine.

            3. The polemical advantage. Gnosticism caused Paul to develop a technical vocabulary to describe certain principles of doctrine, the principles and the mechanics of the Christian way of life. So there is a great polemical advantage in gnosticism and its rise. This is best illustrated by the book of Colossians. Gnosticism itself claimed to have gnwsij which was “super knowledge.” Paul demonstrated that gnwsij, as far as the Christian life is concerned, is simply Bible doctrine in the left lobe. This is being a hearer of the Word and the Holy Spirit makes gnwsij a reality. The great polemical advantage of gnosticism was the fact that it forced a technical, doctrinal vocabulary on the Church which the Church in its purity of doctrine still retains. When these doctrines are attacked then we have these words abused or misused, or given new definitions, or simply set aside entirely. Paul says to the Gnostics in Colosse, you have gnwsij; I am presenting e)pignwsij, something which is ultimately superior to what can be learned through human IQ. Human IQ, even in the genius class, has limitations; but the grace apparatus for perception or spiritual IQ has no limitations and the whole plan of God and the whole realm of doctrine can be understood. Paul will demonstrate the polemical advantage of e)pignwsij.

            4. A general description of gnosticism. Gnosticism had technical words which become technical words in Christianity. Gnosticism begins with a dualism. Oriental dualisms had some concept of good versus evil, and gnosticism used plhrwma in opposition to u(lh which is the world of matter. Plhrwoma is the world of the spiritual. This is taken from Plato who said that plhrwma is a kind of ethereal, spiritual concept of good, and u(lh is the world of matter, including the human body. This is Platonic dualism. Plato said that the world of matter, which is the human body, traps certain things from plhrwma called aeons [a)iwn]. These aeons are imprisoned by the world of matter causing man to be created evil. That appealed to Christian doctrine because in the reproduction of man man is born spiritually dead. So this is where the attack is subtle and agrees and disagrees all at the same time. Now the world of matter imprisons these aeons. The God of the Old Testament is called by the Gnostics the demiurge and He created man evil because he created aeons in u(lh, and these aeons have to be liberated.   But God did not create man evil, God cannot in any way sponsor evil, and this is the fallacy of this particular part of gnosticism. The whole objective in salvation is to liberate the aeons into the world of plhrwma, and plhrwma becomes the heaven. So how are you going to get the aeons out of the body and out of evil and get them to heaven. That is the big problem that gnosticism poses. How are you going to save man? They claimed that there are two ways to do it: either by maximum asceticism or maximum lasciviousness. So there were two ways of salvation. They had to consider Christ in the picture and they said He was the highest aeon. He is not the saviour and He is not God, and they claimed that the cross was an optical illusion.

            5. Gnostic salvation. It is the synthesis conspiracy. In a synthesis conspiracy you attack by using a thesis and an antithesis. Thesis salvation is asceticism, and the aeons are liberated into plhrwma by abstaining from food, drink, marriage. The original Gnostics in this groups were called Essenes. The Dead Sea scrolls uncovered a lot of the teachings of the Essenes. There were also the Marcionites and the Manachaens. These are three groups that were getting saved by asceticism. Every one in the old sin nature has a trend either toward asceticism of toward lasciviousness, so whichever way there was always someone trying to be saved under gnosticism. The antithesis salvation is lasciviousness in which the aeons are liberated into the world of plhrwma by the functions of the phallic cult, and this is why you have so much immorality among the Greeks. It started with Plato, for example. This group are called the Nicolaitans and the Ophites. So we have two systems of salvation and this is the synthesis conspiracy. Both systems are wrong, and when you combine the thesis with the antithesis you have a system of salvation by works. it is designed to appeal to everyone.

            6. Gnosticism was both an experiential and philosophical attack on Bible doctrine. As a form of Greek mysticism it declared revelation apart from the canon of scripture. Therefore gnosticism was an attack upon the Bible. Gnosticism also had a system of sacraments. They had sacred names, formulas and symbols, used to have a good destiny after death. In this way the Roman Catholic church copied many of its rituals from gnosticism. So that Romanism in its ritualistic function is a perfect illustration of how gnosticism has been perpetuated from the first century right down to the present.

            Gnosticism also believed in seven world powers which are characterised as angels. Therefore Gnostics worshipped angels — fallen angels, demons. Cf Colossians 2:18. So in gnosticism we have a fusion of Babylonian and Persian concepts connected with demonism, and also we have the Phrygian worship of Sibole, the natural mother of the Phrygians, which gave rise to the basic part of the phallic cult.

            7. The leaders of gnosticism. Cerinthus, Valentinus, Basilides, Marcion, and others.

 

            The outline of chapter one.

            Verses 1,2 — the salutation.

            Verses 3-8 — thanksgiving for the plan of God.

            Verses 9-11 — the challenge of e)pignwsij, the understanding of God’s plan.

            Verses 12-22 — orientation to the plan of God in contrast to gnosticism.

            Verses 23-29 — who communicates the plan of God, or the role of the pastor in the Church Age.

 

            Verse 1, the human author of this epistle, Pauloj. This is the Greek for “little.” It is a perfect name for a man who is a genius and who through grace orientation came to realise the value of grace as over against his own very high IQ. Saul of Tarsus was a genius. He became Paul the object of grace — 1 Corinthians 15:10, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” This is also the same as the Latin Paulos which indicates Paul’s Roman citizenship. By race he was a Jew, Saul of the tribe of Benjamin, but by citizenship he was a Roman.

            His title, “an apostle,” is a)postoloj which does not mean one sent, it means admiral of the fleet. It is a military title for highest rank.

 

            The doctrine of apostleship

            1. Apostleship is a spiritual gift sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation. Exceptions are the original apostles who were already saved, they received their spiritual gift on the day of Pentecost, the day the Church began. The principle of receiving spiritual gifts is found in 1 Corinthians 12:11; Ephesians 4:11. A spiritual gift is a matter of grace, not a matter of earning it or deserving it; therefore it is in contrast to a talent. A talent or an ability is inherent or acquired.

            2. The gift of apostleship is designed to carry the Church until the completion of the canon of scripture. Therefore, this gift carried both absolute authority in administration plus absolute authority in both verbal and written communication.

            3. Apostles were not appointed until after the resurrection of Christ, Ephesians 4:8, 11. This helps us to understand that the apostles to Israel in Matthew 10 are not the apostles to the Church. The apostles in Matthew 10 were sent to Israel in the Jewish Age and are not the same as the apostles to the Church.

            4. Therefore the apostles to the Church must be distinguished from the apostles to Israel of Matthew 10:2ff.

            5. This spiritual gift exercised authority over all the local churches until the completion of the canon of scripture. Then apostleship is removed. In other words, this is the only spiritual gift of leadership that ever had authority over all the churches. Today all local churches are autonomous with authority vested in the Word of God and the local pastor-teacher.

            6. Apostles had to be eyewitnesses to the resurrection, which qualified the eleven who survived. Paul was qualified by seeing the resurrected Christ on the Damascus road, Acts 1:22; 1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:8,9.

            7. The authority of apostleship is established by certain temporary gifts such as miracles, healing, or tongues, Acts 5:15; 16:16-18; 28:8,9. Once his authority was established, however, these spiritual gifts such as miracles and healing were removed.

            8. The roster of apostles. The apostles are specifically mentioned: the eleven minus Judas Iscariot. Matthias was elected in the first chapter of Acts but he is not an apostle. No one has ever been given the office of apostle, the gift of apostleship, or the gift of pastor-teacher through an election. No one can elect a spiritual gift. Paul was the one who replaced Judas Iscariot, 1 Timothy 1:12-16; 1 Corinthians 15:7-10.

            9. Were there any other apostles beside the twelve, the original eleven plus Paul? The answer is yes, but not many. Others who had delegated authority or were sent on apostolic missions, or exercise apostolic authority. We must recognise that apostolic authority was delegated at least to Barnabas — Acts 14;14; Galatians 2:9; and to James, the Lord’s half-brother, Galatians 1:19; 1 Corinthians 15:7; to Apollos, 1 Corinthians 4:6,9; and Sylvanus and Timothy, 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:6.

 

            “of Jesus Christ,” Xristou I)hsou is a descriptive genitive. All apostles were “of Jesus Christ.” The genitive of description, “of Jesus Christ,” indicates that an apostle took the place took the place of Christ had Christ still been on earth instead of at the right hand of the Father. Each apostle personally represented Jesus Christ in leadership, in communication of doctrine, at the beginning of the Church Age.

            “by the will of God,” the means of appointment, dia plus the genitive of qelhma. it is questionable whether this should be called “will” or not, it means purpose and design, “through the purpose and design of God.” It is God’s purpose and design to have representation on the earth.

            “and Timothy,” Timothy will eventually be the great spiritual leader of the whole area.

            Verse 2, the recipients. “To the saints,” dative plural of a(gioj. This is a title for every believer. Every believer is a saint because at the moment of faith in Christ God the Holy Spirit enters him into union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer is in union with Christ, shares the life of Christ, His righteousness, and so on. The saints are gathered in the local church and the purpose of their gathering is to be fed, to be taught the Word of God.

            “faithful brethren,” the word “faithful” is pistoj, dative plural, dative of advantage. Pistoj means dependable, trustworthy, believing, or full of faith. Obviously, then, Paul is addressing this to the believers who are functioning under GAP in contrast to the Gnostic believers. By functioning under GAP they are full of faith, they are believing, the are trustworthy, they are dependable. Dependability and stability comes from the daily function of GAP. “Brethren” indicates they are in the family of God.

            “in Christ,” referring to positional truth.

            “which are” is not found in the original; “at Colosse,” the local church in that city. The local church met in the home of Philemon who is a personal friend of Paul. However, Paul had never visited Colosse so this epistle is to a congregation whom Paul had never seen.

            Notice that in verse four, “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which you have to all the saints,” and then at the end of verse eight, “declared unto us your love in the Spirit.” The major concept in this area of thanksgiving is the fact that the Colossian believers are definitely in a position to learn some Bible doctrine. The basis for this is that they do understand the basic doctrine of spirituality. They know how to be filled with the Spirit as indicated in those two verses. Because they do they will be able to continue on in the things that Paul is going to teach them.

            In verses 3-8 we have thanksgiving for the plan of God.

            Verse 3, “We give thanks” is a present active indicative of the verb e)uxaristew. The secret to this verb is in xarij, in the middle, which is grace. Thanksgiving is based upon receiving something without earning it. This is the basic root for all the Greek words for thanksgiving. You get something without earning it or deserving it or working for it, and therefore the true basis of thanksgiving is grace. The more you understand grace the better your concept of thanksgiving. This is a present active indicative to indicate that the apostle Paul at least with an ECS is totally oriented to grace at all times. Thanksgiving, then, is simply grace orientation expressing itself toward God.

            “to God,” o( qeoj, “the God” in the dative case, God the Father. The definite article indicates a specific person of the Trinity, and not only is He the recipient of all thanksgiving since He is the author of the plan, but at the same time He is also the recipient of all prayer. Always prayer is addressed to God the Father, there is not exception to this.

            The word “and” is not found in the original and it should read, “We keep on giving thanks to the God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Whenever you are offering prayer the Bible is very clear in defining for us the object. The object is always God the Father. This is understandable when it comes to prayer for another reason. God the Son is the high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. As the high priest God the Son Himself offered prayer on our behalf, Hebrews 7:25, He is constantly making intercession for us. In addition to that God the Holy Spirit has a special ministry of intercession, as taught in Romans 8:26,27. So the other two members of the Trinity actually have an intercessory ministry and they actually offer their prayers to God the Father. These are very clearly defined lines for a purpose: to avoid error. Error can be even a matter of vocabulary. Vocabulary indicates what one is thinking and when one does not clearly understand the ministry of each member of the Godhead in the Father’s plan, then it reveals itself in sloppy prayers.

            “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” this simply indicates that the Father sent the Son and that the ministry of the Son on the cross is a part of the Father’s plan, it is the basis for paying for our salvation. So “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” is a phrase which indicates that salvation is paid for in full. Therefore, once again, grace orientation is important. You cannot pay for your own salvation, you cannot work for your own salvation.

            Grace orientation is of the utmost importance to us because it is related to daily thanksgiving. One of the two vehicles for thanksgiving is now declared — prayer. The other is praise.

            “praying,” present active participle of proseuxomai. Proj is face to face; e)uxomai means to offer petition or pray. So praying is as close as we come in phase two to face to face. The present active participle is linear aktionsart and the adverb which follows indicates that prayer is a daily function in the Christian life, pantote, and adverb of time which means at all times. Prayer is a daily function, a consistent constant function.

            “for you,” preposition peri means “concerning you.” Paul prays for the Colossians whom he had never seen. You can pray for people you do not know.

            Translation: “We keep on giving thanks to the God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, at all times concerning you, offering face to face prayers.”  

            Verse 4, “Since we heard” is an aorist active participle, there is no word “since.” It is sometimes correct to translate an aorist participle that way, or it is usually translated “Having heard,” the aorist active participle of a)kouw. A)kouw here means to hear a report. Since this is an aorist participle the action precedes the main verb. The main verb was given in verse 3, “we keep on giving thanks.” They heard the report before they gave thanks. So, “Having heard the report of your faith we give thanks.” “Faith” here is literally, thn pistin u(mwn, “the faith of you all.” The word for “faith”, pistij, must be watched very carefully because it has some technical as well as non-technical meanings. Here we have both the technical and the non-technical usage. The non-technical usage of pistij for faith refers to the inhale faith of GAP, the inhale of the Word of God. In other words, as a part of the function of GAP doctrine comes into the left lobe where it becomes gnwsij. This is objective understanding through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. If you are going to transfer that to the human spirit where it first becomes useable it is transferred by pistij. So faith transfers doctrine from the left lobe to the human spirit so that it can be used for construction material, so that it can be cycled into the right lobe where it becomes frame of reference, vocabulary, norms and standards and viewpoint. “Having heard of the faith of you all.” That is the inhale non-technical use. Then also there is an exhale. Faith exhales out of the right lobe — the faith-rest technique, using promises, doctrines, principles, or concepts. The application of those things is the faith-rest technique. There is also a technical use of the word pistij. It refers to that which is believed, the body of faith or doctrine. So the technical use of pistij is for doctrine. We actually have here all concepts, “the faith of you all.” He is thankful for the fact that they inhaled, they take in the Word of God. He is thankful for their use of the faith-rest technique. He is thankful for the fact that they have accumulated pistij, doctrine, in the function of GAP. So the Colossians have demonstrated the fact that they have passed the basic stage of phase two.

            “in Christ Jesus” emphasises the importance of positional truth on which to base Christian experience. Experience is nothing without the anchor of positional sanctification.

            The second of the basic techniques: “and the love you have for all the saints,” kai thn a)gaphn. A)haph is mental attitude love produced by the filling of the Holy Spirit. This is confirmed at the end of verse 8, “your love in the Spirit.”

            “you have” is the present active indicative of e)xw which means you have it and you hold it. This means that they are consistent in rebound, they are consistent in the filling of the Spirit.

            “toward all saints” is one of the directions of a)gaph love. It is impossible to love all of the saints unless you are filled with the Spirit, and the type of love here is a mental attitude love, a love confined to the soul and is not overt. This love is characterised by freedom from mental attitude sins.

            Translation: “Having heard the report of the faith of you all in Christ Jesus, and the love which you have toward all the saints.”

 

            The doctrine of spirituality

            1. We must learn to distinguish between the salvation ministry of the Holy Spirit and the post-salvation ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does five things at the moment of salvation. He is the agent of regeneration, Titus 3:5 cf John 3:1-16. The reason you are born again is because the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation makes you born again. The second ministry of the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation is entirely different - baptism. The baptism of the Spirit is taking every believer at the point of salvation and entering him into union with Christ. Every believer is in union with the Lord Jesus Christ and always will be — sharing His life, His righteousness, His Sonship, His heirship, His priesthood, and so on. The baptism of the Spirit is the thing that distinguishes the Church Age from all others, and the Church believer from all other dispensations. Only in this dispensation does God the Holy Spirit take every believer at the point of salvation and enter him into union with Christ, Acts 1:5, the prophecy; 1 Corinthians 12:13, the fulfillment; Ephesians 4:5, the statement of principle. }One Lord, one faith, one baptism” — “one baptism” is the baptism of the Spirit, not water baptism. The third thing that God the Holy Spirit does at salvation is the indwelling ministry. God the Holy Spirit actually indwells every believer. The fourth ministry of the Holy Spirit at salvation is sealing, 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30. Sealing is a guarantee of eternal security, it is God’s signature. The fifth thing the Holy Spirit does at the point of salvation is the presentation of at least one spiritual gift to every believer, 1 Corinthians 12:11. These five things are all simultaneous. One second later the believer is in operation phase two, the believer in time. This is stated in several ways. Paul, John, and Peter all had a way of saying it. For example, Paul’s vocabulary: Ephesians 5:18, “Be filled with the Spirit”; Galatians 5:16, “Walk in the Spirit”: John called it “Walking in the light,” 1 John 1:7; 2:10. Peter, 2 Peter 1:4 had a different way of expressing it. In effect, it is God the Holy Spirit controlling the believer. The distinction between indwelling and controlling must be understood.

            2. Spirituality and carnality are mutually exclusive and therefore absolutes in phase two. When we accept Christ as saviour we enter into union with Christ and we never get out of that union. That is a part of eternal security. However, we can get out of fellowship through sin and we are then in the status of carnality. You are either one hundred per cent spiritual or you are one hundred per cent carnal. It is walking in the light or walking in darkness. Darkness and light are mutually exclusive. Walking in darkness is carnality, walking in the flesh; walking in the light is spirituality, walking in the Spirit. You are either spiritual or carnal but not both.

            3. Imitation becomes a great issue in spirituality. In Ephesians 5:1 we are not told to be followers of God, we are told to be imitators of God in the Greek. The same thing is brought out in 2 Peter 1:4. Imitation of God is produced by the filling of the Spirit. In contrast to that, if the believer is carnal he imitates the unbeliever, 1 Corinthians 3:1, the Corinthians are carnal; in verse 3 Paul says, “You walk as men.” Walking in darkness is often used for the unbeliever in 1 John 1:6 it is used for the believer. Principle: When a believer is out of fellowship or carnal he imitates the unbeliever. So imitation is the issue in spirituality. If you are in fellowship, filled with the Spirit, you imitate God; if you are out of fellowship you imitate the unbeliever. Carnality imitates the unbeliever; spirituality imitates God.

            4. Spirituality [filling of the Spirit] is not subject to the Mosaic law — Galatians 5:18,23; Romans 8:2-4; 10:4; 13:8. The Mosaic law is a part of the divine establishment; the filling of the Spirit is a part of the Christian way of life.

            5. Spirituality produces the character of Christ, Galatians 4:19 cf 5:22,23; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 2:5,6.

            6. Spirituality accomplishes four general objectives in phase two. a) Partnership with divine essence, 2 Peter 1:4; b) Imitation of God, Ephesians 5:1 in the Greek, “Keep on becoming imitators of God”; c) Glorification of Christ. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ, not to glorify the Holy Spirit — John 7:39; 16:14; 1 Corinthians 6:19,20; d) The fulfillment of the law, Romans 8:2-4.

            7. Spirituality is obtained by the rebound technique, 1 John 1:9 based on the principle of Proverbs 1:23.

            8. Some of the results of spirituality: a) Christ is magnified in the inner life, Ephesians 3:16,17; 2 Corinthians 3:3; Philippians 1:20,21; b) Perception of doctrine under GAP, John 14:26; 16:12-24; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; c) The effectiveness of witnessing — since God the Holy Spirit is the executive of witnessing, Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 3; d) The principle of guidance and assurance. Both are dependent upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:14-16; e) Worship. All worship is accomplished in the power of the Spirit, John 4:24; Philippians 3:3; f) Prayer, Ephesians 6:18; g) Helping other believers to rebound, Galatians 6:1.

            9. Spirituality, the filling of the Spirit, produces divine good. Divine good is characterised by gold, silver, and precious stones, 1 Corinthians 3:12,14. Carnality produces human good, by way of contrast, 1 Corinthians 3:12,15.

            10. Some of the nomenclature for spirituality. Positive nomenclature, Galatians 5:16, “walk in the Spirit”; 1 John 1:7, “Walk in the light.” Negative nomenclature, 1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Quench not the Spirit.” This emphasises the production of human good. Either God the Holy Spirit controls the life or the old sin nature controls the life. If the Holy Spirit controls the life you are walking in the Spirit, walking in the light. If you are quenching the Spirit then you are producing human good from the old sin nature’s area of strength. “Grieving the Spirit, Ephesians 4:30, personal sins.

            11. Emotion or ecstatics does not characterise spirituality in the Church Age, Romans 16:17,18; 2 Corinthians 6:11,12. Ecstatics as a part of the filling of the Spirit is reserved for the Millennium only. When Christ reigns on the earth and all of the forces of Satan and all demons have been removed, then ecstatics is a part of the filling of the Spirit.

 

            Verse 5 — the Colossian understanding of phase three. “For the hope” is dia plus the accusative of e)lpij. E)lpij is generally translated “hope.” However, e)lpij is a stringer word than that in modern English. Modern English has assigned the word “hope” to something which is indefinite, something which is desired but not a reality. But “hope” 300 years ago meant something else. It means assurance or confidence or prospect. A good translation here should be “Because of the prospect [or assurance].”

            “which is laid up,” present middle participle of a)pokeimai. This word does not mean to be paid up, it means to be preserved.

            “in heaven” is literally, “in the heavens,” phase three.

            What is the content of this hope? a) After death the believer is with the Lord, 2 Corinthians 5:8; b) There is no judgement or condemnation beyond the grace, Romans 8:1; c) Because there is not judgement an appointment is canceled, Hebrews 9:27,28; d) The new home, John 14:1-3; e) The eternal inheritance, 1 Peter 1:4,5; f) Part of our content of assurance, is no more pain, no more sorrow, no more death, Revelation 21:4; g) A resurrection body exactly like that of Jesus Christ, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; Philippians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; 1 John 3:1,2.

            “Hope” is a technical word to describe our future after death.

            “whereof ye heard before,” not a)kouw this time but proakouw which is a reference to Bible class. They have heard from their own pastor Epaphras, they have heard the content of hope before. Phase three has been taught by Epaphras, it excludes all philosophical speculations which are taught in gnosticism. Therefore Paul is reminding them that it is ridiculous to be involved in gnosticism when they have already heard and understood phase three doctrine. Aorist tense: it gathers up into one entirety every time they have heard Bible teaching on phase three.

            “the word of truth,” e)n plus logoj, “in the sphere of the word of truth.” Logoj is used for doctrine, it is in the sphere of doctrine that they heard these things; “truth” is a)lhqeia, doctrine.

            “of the gospel,” a descriptive genitive of e)uaggelion which means good news. The principle is: you started in grace, you continue in grace, you will spend all eternity the recipient of grace. The Colossians first heard doctrine of phase three in connection with the presentation of the gospel. One of the factors in the gospel is resurrection and that was their first concept of phase three. The gospel has in its presentation a total grace concept and therefore they heard the gospel, they responded to it on the basis of grace. Therefore, they should understand from, verse 6 that grace growth is based on doctrine or the Word of truth.

            Verse 6, grace growth based on Bible doctrine. The word “Which” is not found in the original. There is here a definite article in the genitive case plus a participle, the present active participle of pareimi which means to be present in contrast to being absent. Actually the verse begins, “Being present.” It is a reference to the word of truth of the gospel which is mentioned in the previous verse. The hope which is laid up in heaven is a part of the great message of doctrine, and it is doctrine which must be present. The present active participle is linear aktionsart and indicates that doctrine should always be …

            “unto you,” the preposition e)ij, a directional preposition. Here it means “in you,” “Being present in you.” This phrase actually gives us the importance of the Word of God. The Word of God is located forever in the canon of scripture, but it is absolutely of no benefit unless it is present in you, unless you take it in. So being present in you is a command in a sense for the function of GAP, after you have responded to the gospel.

            “as it is in all the world,” this indicates that the gospel part of doctrine has actually gone throughout the world, as it does in every generation. The word for “world” here, kosmoj, is used for Satanic organisation. That isn’t always true but it is true in this passage. Therefore the attack of gnosticism in the Lycus valley becomes a Satanic counter attack.

            “and bringeth forth fruit,” we have a periphrastic in the Greek. It is a very strong phrase; it is made up of a participle and a regular verb form. It is a combination of two verbs. This one is a present active participle of e)imi, the verb to be, plus the present middle participle from karpoforew which means to have a good harvest, to bear fruit. In this periphrastic we have a continuity of process. The middle voice of the second participle indicates benefit. Whenever people have Bible doctrine inside of them it produces. The only source of production in the Christian life is Bible doctrine. Added in the Greek is a phrase a)ucanomenon which means “and increasing.,” a present middle participle of the verb a)uzanw. You will not find this phrase at all in the English, and it should be translated “and increasing.” The middle voice means you are benefited by the increase, everyone is. We actually have, “and bringeth forth fruit and increasing.”

            “as also in you,” referring to growth based on Bible doctrine. From the time that the Colossians heard the gospel they continued to take in doctrine under the function of GAP, and they were growing as a result. The whole basis for service, for living, for being on this earth after salvation is to learn Bible doctrine so that doctrine within you may produce according to the divine plan.

            This brings us to the point where we recognise that the Colossians church was a key church in the Roman empire. It is a key church because there are many people there with an ECS, and Paul is going to pray in verses 9-11 that everyone in the Colossian church will have an ECS; for as goes Colosse, so will go the Roman empire. The preservation of the laws of establishment in SPQR depends upon the intake of Bible doctrine, it depends upon the erection of the ECS. This is what Jesus taught at the beginning of the Roman empire when He said, “You are the salt of the earth.” The salt was a preserver in the ancient world. Believers with Bible doctrine, with an ECS, would be preservers. If the salt has lost its preserving power there is no preservation. If believers do not have an ECS there is no preservation as far as the Roman empire is concerned, as far as the laws of establishment. But what Paul is saying here also has a prophetic application, for in one generation after Paul wrote Colossians 1:6 the Antonine Caesars began their rule, and not one of them was a believer but it was one of the most glorious centuries in all of human history. The reason is was is because Bible doctrine was taken in in such a way that ECSs were constructed and there was a maximum production of divine good.

            “since the day” is literally, “from the day.” Then we have an aorist active indicative, “from the day that you heard.” The word for hearing is a)kouw which means not to hear the gospel once and be saved and that’s it, but to keep on taking in doctrine after the gospel. This is a constantive aorist tense and it means the daily function of GAP has caused them to produce.

            “and knew,” for the word “knowing” here we have the ECS described, the aorist active indicative of the verb e)piginwskw. We have had the cognate, e)pignwsij, many times. The verb is used here to indicate that so many of the Colossian believers have constructed an ECS. We have already had a constantive aorist. They heard and they heard again and they heard again Now we have an ingressive aorist because there came a time when doctrine became e)piginwskw, so the ingressive aorist means that there was a time when the ECS was constructed. They began the construction of the ECS so we have an ingressive aorist which means to come to know fully. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb by the daily function of GAP. The indicative mood is the reality of learning doctrine through the daily function of GAP.

            The first floor of the ECS is grace, “the grace of God in truth.” We have xarij, the word for grace. This is the plan of God, God does all the work, man is always the beneficiary. God the Father is perfect, He did the planning. God the Son is perfect, He executed phase one of the plan. God the Holy Spirit is perfect, He executed phase two. So xarij is God doing the work.

            Xarij belongs to God, “of God” is literally, “of the God”; tou qeou is the vocabulary form, it is a genitive of possession. Grace belongs to God. Grace is only understood, utilised, a part of our life “in truth,” e)n plus the locative of a)lhqeia which means “in the sphere of doctrine.” Grace can only be understood through Bible doctrine and grace orientation is the first floor of the ECS. So, “they came to know the grace of God in the sphere of categorical doctrine.”

            Translation: “Being present in you, even as in all the world; is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as also in you from the day you heard, and began to fully understand the grace of God in the sphere of doctrine.”

            Verse 7, the communicator of doctrine. These people have begun in doctrine; Epaphras did the teaching.

            “As” is “Even as,” kaqwj is a very strong word which indicates that the Colossians have had one pastor. It indicates that the whole ministry and the effective ministry of the Colossians is based upon this one communicator.

            “ye also learned,” aorist active indicative of manqanw. (Not didaskw, this time the principle is involved) This means to learn from someone as a teacher, to learn from the content of their message, hence believers learning from a pastor-teacher in principle rather than in mechanics. The aorist tense gathers into one entirety every time that Epaphras taught and every time the Colossians listened. The active voice: the Colossians learned through the function of GAP. The indicative mood is the reality of a proper function at the city of Colosse. The pastor-teacher communicated and the Colossians responded. This is the correct function of a local church, everything else is subordinate to this principle.

            “of Epaphras,” we have the preposition a)po, the preposition of ultimate source, “from the ultimate source of Epaphras.” In the Church Age and since the completion of the canon of scripture the ultimate source of doctrine is the pastor-teacher. There is one pastor-teacher to a local church, not a multiplicity of “elders.”

            “our dear fellowservant,” the word “dear” is not found in the original. Instead, we have a)gaphtoj which means “beloved,” it does not refer to the attitude of the congregation toward Epaphras. They did not necessarily think of him as a wonderful person, as a “dear pastor.” This is God’s attitude toward Epaphras. A)gaphtoj refers to the fact that he is the object of God’s love. It is used in some passages for all believers, it is used for positional truth. The word “fellowservant” is Paul’s attitude, another minister. The word is sundouloj which means a fellow slave. In other words, how do pastors regard each other? They are slave. Every day they go to the salt mines and study! Every day they push a cart of salt out and present it to the congregation. The congregation takes in the salt and becomes the salt of the land.

            “who is,” present active indicative of e)imi to indicate the principle of right pastor-right church. He is the right pastor for the Colossian church.

            “for you,” preposition u(per, “on behalf of you.” U(per is really a preposition of substitution. It means that the pastor-teacher represents Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. The pastor-teacher is Epaphras in Colosse where he represents Jesus Christ. So the pastor-teacher represents the Lord as far as the communication ministry is concerned. All believers represent the Lord as ambassadors but here, for communication purposes, Epaphras in their pastor for the purpose of representing the Lord. “On behalf of you” he represents the Lord.

            “a faithful minister of Christ,” the word “faithful” is the adjective pistoj and it means that he is consistent. He is consistent in the intake of the Word, he is consistent in the teaching of the Word. The word “minister” is diakonoj which means an administrator. It is used in a technical sense occasionally for a pastor. Actually, the word is used three ways. It is used in a political sense for the head of a state, Romans 13:4. It has a general use, the universal ministry of the believer as an ambassador priest, 2 Corinthians 3:6; 4:1; 6:3,18. It has a specialised use for the pastor of a local church, 1 Corinthians 3:5; Ephesians 3:7; Colossians 1:7,23; 4:7; 1 Timothy 1:12.

            Translation: “Even as you have been taught from the ultimate source of Epaphras our beloved fellowslave, who is a faithful minister of Christ on behalf of you.”

            Verse 8, the pastor’s report. Epaphras came to Rome and he is described by the relative pronoun “Who.” This refers to Epaphras at Colosse. He has had some trouble at Colosse, the infiltration of false doctrine. Even though he has done his job faithfully there is a segment of the congregation who have responded to false teaching — gnosticism, and having responded to gnosticism have stirred up so much trouble that Epaphras has gone to Rome to seek counsel of Paul with regard to this matter. The Colossian epistle was actually written to correct erroneous tendencies and to place the right pastor back in his right church with his correct ministry to move it on. There comes a time when something from the outside is necessary and the apostle Paul will write to this church this letter which is designed to correct all of its problems.

            Interestingly enough the church as a whole is relaxed, “Who also declared,” the aorist active participle of dhlow which means to report; “unto us,” Paul’s team now located in Rome; “your love,” the a)gaph relaxed mental attitude. It does not indicate any great spiritual growth, it does indicate the status of the people, they are generally a very relaxed congregation. A relaxed congregation is a responding congregation; “in the Spirit,” the instrumental case of pneuma which means the Holy Spirit. So God the Holy Spirit generally controls the people, they know how to rebound, and they are generally relaxed. That is absolutely necessary for the intake of doctrine which is the subject now of verses 9-11. The greatest challenge in the Christian life is to feed the soul daily. Notice that there is no challenge of e)pignwsij until first of all there is a)gaph love based upon the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. The word for love is a)gaph. A)gaph is a relaxed mental attitude which comes from the filling of the Spirit, Romans 5:5 says “A)gaph is shed abroad in our hearts by means of the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is a)gaph.”

            Verse 9, “For this cause,” dia plus the accusative of touto means “because of this.” Because they are qualified to take in the Word of God by using rebound when necessary. SPQR at this time is on the decline and Paul is looking for a church which has the potentialities of the intake of the Word, the construction of the ECS, and therefore the preservation of the Roman empire. The Roman empire is the fullness of time empire. In the fullness of time Jesus Christ came. He came at a time when SPQR, the Roman empire, was reaching a peak and demonstrated everything in the laws of establishment necessary for the great evangelistic movement which occurred after the resurrection of Christ and the beginning of the Church Age; first of all of all, beginning at Jerusalem and from that point going throughout the entire world. Now there has to be a stabilised system, there has to be laws of establishment in order for spiritual blessing. In time of anarchy it is impossible for a local church to even function properly, it is impossible for evangelism to operate in its proper frame of reference. Therefore, it is necessary that somewhere in the Roman empire there be raised up believers who are the salt of the earth who have the ECS. This is taught in principle in, for example, Hosea 4:1-6; Isaiah 33:6, and the report of Colossians 1:6 is very hopeful. These believers apparently have the feel of GAP, they also have the qualifications because they have the love of God which is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit controlling the life. This doesn’t mean that they are always filled with the Spirit, this does mean that they use rebound regularly and recover when necessary.

            “we also,” “we” includes Paul and his theological school that travels with him; “from the day we heard,” the word “since” in the KJV is a)po which is the preposition of ultimate source, and it translated here correctly “from the day.”

            “do not cease,” present middle indicative of pauw because Paul sees the potentialities of this congregation. It looks as though the Colossians are the hope for the survival of the Roman empire and providing a basis for great evangelism to continue as well as the dissemination of Bible doctrine. This is the infancy of the Church Age and there must be a strong system of divine establishment laws in function. Rome provides the laws of divine establishment and churches like the Colossian church provide the impetus for evangelism and spiritual growth as the Church Age begins and as the angelic conflict intensifies.

            “we keep on not ceasing to pray,” and this is the word for intensive prayer, proseuxomai. This is the prayer that is motivated. Paul has never seen this church, he has never visited Colosse, and yet we find Paul inspired to pray in a very strong way for people he has never seen. Why? They manifest positive volition, response to the Word of God. Every advance in Christianity, whether it is a group such as the Colossian church, or whether it is an individual, is related always and inevitably, and without exception, to Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine is the key.

            “for you,” we have the preposition u(per which indicates a substitutional concept, and in it there is a principle. The function of GAP is so critical and so important to both the angelic conflict and to the continuance of the Roman empire that Paul has been stimulated for intensive prayer for people he has never seen.

            “to desire” is not to desire at all, it is a present middle participle of a)itew and it is the extension of this prayer. It means to keep on asking, not to desire. This is the principle of prevailing prayer.

            “that,” result clause, “with the result that ye might be filled,” the aorist passive subjunctive of plhrow. First of all, plhrow is a transitive verb and has an object. The object is the accusative singular of e)pignwsij. E)pignwsij is Bible doctrine in the human spirit as a result of the function of GAP. Plhrow is the key verb in the Christian life.

            Plhrow is in the aorist tense, a constantive aorist. This is the point of time when the believer listens to Bible doctrine in an assembly, taught by a pastor who exegetes and communicates continually. This is a passive voice, the believer receives the action of the verb. Therefore doctrine is received, not on the basis of human ability or human merit or human perspicacity but on the basis of grace, so that IQ is never a factor in learning Bible doctrine. The subjunctive mood in this case is potential and the function of GAP is potential. It depends on your attitude toward doctrine. It depended upon the Colossian attitude toward doctrine which in Epaphras’s report had already been indicated as positive.

            The verb plhrow means, first of all, to fill up a deficiency, and since the object of the verb is e)pignwsij or doctrine in the human spirit the deficiency of the soul is filled by the daily function of GAP — the constantive aorist. The ECS is constructed on the results of the daily function of GAP. The soul has a deficiency — doctrine, ECS. Both are met by the function of GAP. Secondly, this verb plhrow means to possess, to fully possess. Since the object of the verb is e)pignwsij then e)pignwsij must fully possess every facet of life. Therefore the believer must be possessed with e)pignwsij replaced constantly so that it can be cycled to the right lobe, so that it can build the ECS. Thirdly, e)pignwsij as the object of the verb has another concept. The verb means to fill with a certain quality. Doctrine in the human spirit is that certain quality that preserves the empire, produces an ECS, results in the production of divine good. Finally, plhrow means to fully influence. The believer must be fully influenced with e)pignwsij which means the cycling of doctrine into the right lobe’s frame of reference. The key to cycling doctrine under GAP is the function of the frame of reference.

 

            The doctrine of the function of the frame of reference

            1. The frame of reference is the basis for the comprehension of more advanced doctrine. You never learn advanced doctrine until you have more basic doctrine in your frame of reference.

            2. The frame of reference establishes a new conscience which is compatible to the divine norms and standards.

            3. The frame of reference is the basis for the formation of the divine viewpoint in the dominant lobe, the right lobe. This divine viewpoint becomes the basis for application of doctrine to experience.

            4. The frame of reference deals with the problems of the subconscious, including guilt complex.

            5. The frame of reference provides content for prayer, as in the case of the apostle Paul in context.

            6. The frame of reference provides the accurate basis for witnessing.

            7. The frame of reference provides discernment to detect false doctrine.

            8. The frame of reference provides capacity for life and capacity for love in all three categories.

            9. The frame of reference makes possible for God in grace to share His very own happiness with the believer.

            10. The frame of reference causes the proper function of the priesthood of the believer in the devil’s world.

 

            “of his will,” the genitive singular of the noun qelhma. This is a genitive which indicates the source of e)pignwsij as well as the purpose of e)pignwsij. The word qelhma does not mean His will so much as His sovereign purpose and design. God’s sovereign purpose and design for the believer is revealed always and inevitably through Bible doctrine. However, doctrine in the Bible dose not help us as such. Logoj is no good until it is converted into gnwsij and then into e)pignwsij, and how does that happen? Logoj is taken and prepared by the pastor-teacher — ICE type [Isagogics, Categories, Exegesis]. It goes into the left lobe and now it is gnwsij. That means an objective understanding. It doesn’t mean to you agree or disagree, it just means you understand what is being taught. The ministry of the Holy Spirit makes this information real. Then volition goes into operation. Then positive volition or faith transfers it into the human spirit as e)pignwsij. Then it is cycled up into the right lobe into the frame of reference, becomes part of the vocabulary, becomes norms and standards, and eventually becomes the viewpoint and is therefore applicable. It is also used for the construction of the ECS.

            Now God’s sovereign purpose and God’s design in life is communicated through doctrine and only through doctrine. There is no other way to get the will of God. God speaks through His Word, and it is up to you as a believer priest to find God’s plan, God’s design, God’s purpose, God’s will for your life through the intake of doctrine.

            “in all wisdom,” the prepositional phrase e)n plus the instrumental of sofia. What is sofia? It is doctrine in the left lobe transferred to the human spirit and transferred to the right lobe, and in the right lobe it comes out and forms new norms and standards about things in life, it forms a new vocabulary, and viewpoint. Wisdom is the application of doctrinal viewpoint to life, what you do every day.

            “spiritual understanding,” the word for “spiritual” is the instrumental feminine singular of pneumatikoj which also is the word for spiritual gifts. Sometimes it is translated “spiritual” and some times “spiritual gifts.” It refers to the whole grace apparatus for perception. Since the grace apparatus for perception only functions when a spiritual gift is functioning, namely a pastor-teacher, so the word pneumatikoj means spiritual gift generally. But here it means just “spiritual” because you are responding to a spiritual gift. With it you have the noun “understanding” also in the instrumental, and this is the word sunhsij. This word is important. It connotes a technical knowledge of a subject, therefore to understand the underlying laws and meaning of an object, therefore refers to doctrine in the right lobe. This doctrine becomes the basis of a new conscience, of a new vocabulary, the norms and standards that make up the new viewpoint of life, the divine viewpoint. This same spiritual understanding is the basis for all application of doctrine to experience.

            Translation: “Because of this we also, from the day we heard, do not cease to pray on behalf of you, constantly asking with the result that you might be filled with the e)pignwsij of his sovereign purpose and design by means of all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

 

            The doctrine of GAP

            1. We must learn to distinguish between human and spiritual IQ. You can be not very able academically and yet through doctrine become very smart because doctrine is learned by grace. It doesn’t depend upon your human IQ or your human ability. Spiritual IQ is the amount of e)pignwsij in the human spirit. The distinction between spiritual and human IQ is presented very clearly in 1 Corinthians 2:1-16.

            2. Human IQ is excluded from GAP, 1 Corinthians 1:19-2:16. To say that human IQ is a factor in learning doctrine is to imply that a low IQ believer is handicapped in learning doctrine, but all believers are commanded to study to show themselves approved. And in eternity past God found a way through grace whereby every believer can learn doctrine apart from any human merit or human perspicacity. For this reason every believer in the Church Age receives both the indwelling Holy Spirit and the indwelling human spirit at the point of salvation.

            3. The perceptive lobe is the left lobe or the mentality of the soul. As we have seen in James 1:18-25 the left lobe cannot apply doctrine. It is a staging area. When you hear doctrine it first of all goes into your left lobe but remember it is a staging area, not the place of application. Once you hear a doctrine or a principle in the teaching of the Word of God, that goes into your left lobe. Even then it cannot be understood, because it is spiritual phenomena, apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit makes it understood. Doctrine residing in the left lobe is simply doctrine comprehended. This is what is known technically in psychology as receptive comprehension — data understood but not applied.

            4. The grace provision for learning doctrine.

            a) The priesthood of the believer. Every believer is a priest and the purpose of the priesthood of the believer is twofold. First, and most important is the function in the angelic conflict. But you cannot function under the most important without a second reason. The primary purpose of the priesthood is the reception of Bible doctrine. Without this Bible doctrine there is no function in the angelic conflict. The fact that every believer is a priest automatically puts him into full time Christian service. It automatically makes him personally responsible to God for the function of his life. The believer’s priesthood means to him freedom and privacy for the function of his priesthood as unto the Lord. The priesthood of the believer means that no matter what job he has, no matter what he does in life, he must do it as unto the Lord. In that sense, then, every believer who possesses any kind of a job or any responsibility in life has dual authority. Every responsibility in life is related to authority and ultimately to the Lord. This also means that you have privacy for the intake of the Word of God. The believer’s priesthood means that the intake of the Word of God must be on the basis of privacy. That is why we have a local church.

            b) The indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. Were it not for the Holy Spirit none of us could understand spiritual phenomena, 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; 1 John 2:27. However, in order to understand spiritual phenomena the believer has to be filled with the Spirit, as per Ephesians 5:18.

            c) A means of being filled with the Spirit which is grace — the rebound technique.

            d) The human spirit is the primary target in GAP, Job 32:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12.

            e) The provision of the laws of divine establishment whereby the nation protects the freedom and the privacy of the local church. Not only does our priesthood provide a freedom and a privacy for us but our nation also provides freedom and privacy for us. Under the laws of divine establishment freedom allows people to assemble and to worship the Lord and to fulfill the principles of communication of doctrine and reception of the same.

            5. The mechanics. There are several functions that should be recognised.

            a) The communication function, operation ICE. This is the pastor communicating doctrine to the local assembly. This is fulfilled under the verb didaskw which means to communicate to a group. There is another verb, khrussw, which means to make a proclamation from a ruler to a group. Didaskw is generally translated “teach”; khrussw is generally translated “preach.” The word for “I” is isagogics. Isagogics interprets the Bible in the framework of its historical setting. The Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it is written. Therefore one of the responsibilities of the pastor is to live in another world and go back and recover all of the idiom, all of the custom, all of the historical activity from the ancient world. The “C” stands for categorical teaching. Categorical teaching is based upon hermeneutical principles of comparing scripture with scripture to determine the classification of doctrine. Every doctrine which is taught in one place is taught somewhere else with a different emphasis. Categorical teaching pulls together a subject from its various areas of scripture, classifies it, gives it its various facets and emphasis. The “E” stands for exegesis. Exegesis means to go back to the original languages and analyse each verse and each line from the standpoint of its grammar, its syntax, its etymology, and even to do that from the standpoint of the English.

            b) Operation gnwsij. This is only a stage in learning doctrine, it is not the actual learning of doctrine. What gnwsij is in terms of modern education is what we would call technically receptive comprehension. Receptive comprehension is the believer positive toward doctrine, concentrating on it, filled with the Holy Spirit, and actually understanding what is being communicated — at least in part, unless something is too advanced. Comprehension at this stage does not mean agreement. This is simply doctrine going into the left lobe. There we have receptive comprehension or objective understanding, it does not mean you agree. It does mean that you understand. If you are functioning properly under your priesthood you will not sit there and try to agree or disagree, you will sit there and try to understand what is being taught. It may be that you will have instant agreement or instant disagreement but you must never let your instant disagreement hinder from understanding the viewpoint which is being presented. This is the Word of God, it is therefore important to understand what is being presented.

            c) E)pignwsij. Gnwsij is simply objective understanding. Now, once you understand something objectively then your volition must go into operation. It must be thoroughly comprehended and then transferred or rejected. If you disagree and say no, that is as far as it goes and it is not useable. If you say yes, then faith transfers this doctrine down to the human spirit where it goes to work. E)pignwsij is the working area of Bible doctrine. So operation e)pignwsij is the transfer of doctrine from the left lobe to the human spirit by means of faith. Comprehension demands the response of volition, positive volition must function in a non-meritorious way and therefore e)pignwsij is the non-meritorious function.

            d) Operation heart. This is Bible doctrine being cycled into the right lobe.

 

            Translation of verse 9, “Because of this we also, from the day we heard, do not cease to pray on behalf of you, constantly asking with the result that you might be filled with the e)pignwsij of his sovereign purpose and design by means of all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

            Verse 10, we begin with a purpose clause. “That ye might walk” is an aorist active infinitive of peripatew. Peripatew is the simple word for walking. It means in the aorist tense to begin to walk. This is what is called an ingressive aorist and it is at the beginning of the function, “That you might begin to walk.” The active voice: the Colossian believers are going to produce the action of the verb by responding to doctrine, by the accumulation of e)pignwsij in the human spirit. The infinitive denotes the major purpose in life for the believer which is the absorption of doctrine being converted into function, dynamic function for God. Dynamic function for God is described under the phrase “worthy of the Lord.” “worthy” is an adverb, a)ciwj. It refers to the construction of the ECS and the application of doctrine from the right lobe; “of the Lord” is a genitive with the definite article and it indicates the source and the purpose of our life on this earth. Walking always depicts some function in the Christian life.

 

            The doctrine of walking

            1. Walking depicts modus operandi. It can also depict modus vivendi. (Modus operandi is overt function; modus vivendi is soul function). Walking in the New Testament is used, therefore, for the function of the believer in phase two.

            2. Walking is compatible with one day at a time. Just as walking requires one step at a time so phase two requires living one day at a time. That is the subject of Romans chapter 14.

            3. The mechanics of walking. Biped homo sapien is off balance for a moment and puts his foot forward. By putting his foot forward and down he moves forward on balance. The believer in the angelic conflict is likewise off balance but stabilised by the intake of doctrine and its application.

            4. There are three spheres of the believer’s walk. The first is in doctrine, 3 John 3. The second is in the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:16. The third is by faith, 2 Corinthians 5:7.

            5. Walking, therefore, is a description of the filling of the Spirit, Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:2-4; Ephesians 5:2.

            6. Walking is also a description of the function of GAP, Ephesians 5:15.

            7. Walking is also a description of the edification complex [ECS]: “walk in the light,” 1 John 1:7; “walking in newness of life” — Romans 6:4; “walking worthy of the vocation,” Ephesians 4:1; “walking worthy of the Lord,” Colossians 1:10; “walking honestly as in the day,” Romans 13:13; “walking in good works,” Ephesians 2:10.

 

            “unto all pleasing” is a prepositional phrase. It begins with the preposition e)ij, and here it means with a view toward something. Literally, “with a view toward every pleasing.” It can be translated “pleasing in all things.” If you please the Lord you are pleasing in all things. You are to walk worthy of the Lord, you are not pleasing people. Your objective is to please the Lord. Pleasing the Lord enters you into right relationship with people. Pleasing people will keep you off-balance all of your life.

            Verse 10, “That” introduces a purpose clause, and “That” is really a translation of the infinitive. “That ye might walk worthy” is an aorist active infinitive of peripatew. The aorist tense is ingressive. “That you might begin to walk.” The active voice: the Colossians believers produce the action of the verb. In producing it they will act a s a preservative of the Roman empire which is in a state of disintegration historically at that time. The infinitive mood denotes purpose.

            “worthy” is the adverb a)xiwj and it refers to the construction and function of the ECS; “unto all pleasing” is literally, “with a view to pleasing God in all things.” In other words, the daily function of GAP and that which attends it, the filling of the Spirit and the building of the ECS, is pleasing God in all things. Our objective in the Christian life is to please God and He is pleased in this particular function.

            “being fruitful” is a present active participle of karpoforew which means to produce. It means to bear fruit. It is made up of two words: karpoj is fruit; forew means to bear or carry. So it means to have production and to use it. This is a present active participle which indicates once you get into the habit of being filled with the Spirit and rebounding when necessary, once you start to function daily under GAP and take in Bible doctrine, and once you begin to erect the ECS, you are going to produce divine good. It isn’t looking for something to do, it isn’t being handed some assignment, God will provide for you everything necessary for production.

            The doctrine of divine good is based upon the Greek word a)gaqoj, good of intrinsic value, something that is good no matter where you find it.

 

            The doctrine of divine good

            1. There are three sources of divine good: a) The Holy Spirit. The filling of the Spirit produces divine good. What you do under the control of the Spirit is divine good in contrast to what you do in the energy of the flesh which is human good. b) The human spirit. Doctrine in the human spirit is cycled into the right lobe and therefore divine good is produced through that doctrine. c) The ECS.

            2. The production of divine good in the human race is impossible. Therefore God has provided the means of producing divine good. The only way this can be accomplished is for a person to be born again into the family of God and to utilise grace provision. Once the believer utilises grace provision he helps to resolve the angelic conflict. So the angelic conflict is resolved by the production of divine good in the human race, Romans 12:21.

            3. GAP is the means for the production of divine good in the grace perspective, Colossians 1:9,10; 2 Timothy 2:21; 3:17; Titus 2:7.

            4. The believer in phase two is the recipient of grace and designed for the production of divine good, Ephesians 2:10.

            5. The production of divine good coexists with stability in phase two, 2 Thessalonians 2:17.

            6. Therefore the function of the grace principle in the production of divine good is the very core of the Christian, 2 Corinthians 9:8; 1 Corinthians 15:10.

            7. Divine good is the basis of reward at the judgement seat of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:10.

 

            “increasing” is a present passive participle of a)uzanw. In the passive voice it means to receive growth. You don’t help yourself to grow, it is growth through grace. Growth through grace demands the daily function of GAP. This whole passage emphasises that now that the Colossians church had discovered doctrine and its importance they must now function daily under GAP.

            “in the knowledge” is a prepositional phrase. We have the preposition e)n plus the locative of e)pignwsij. E)pignwsij is Bible doctrine in the human spirit; “of God,” we have a genitive of source. The noun is qeoj, “from the source of God.”

            Translation: “That you might walk worthy of the Lord pleasing God in all things, constantly producing in the sphere of every good work, constantly receiving growth by means of e)pignwsij from the ultimate source of God.”

            Verse 11, the dynamics of GAP. In this verse there are four different Greek words for power: a) Dunamij — inherent power; b) E)nergeia, operational power; c) Kratoj, ruling power; d) I)sxuoj, endowed power.

            “Strengthened with all might,” this contains two of the above words. We do not have a verb as such, we have a prepositional phrase. This verse in the English would start out “By every enabling power.” The word “by” is the preposition e)n, and we have e)n plus the instrumental of dunamij. It also has the word “every,” paj. So this is the provision of God’s power, and since it is dunamij which is inherent power it is God’s inherent power. God’s inherent power is omnipotence. Paj means “all” and all-powerful means omnipotence. So it is God, directly from His character who has made every provision for the believer to do the impossible which is to produce divine good. For the believer to do the impossible is to understand spiritual phenomena, to understand the mind of God, to understand the character of God, to understand the principle with which God deals with the human race, namely grace.

            Next is “strengthened” which is the present passive participle of dunamai. This is the verb that goes with the noun. We have had the noun dunamij, now we have dunamai the verb. Again, the passive voice is the voice of grace, the subject receives the action of the verb. The present tense is linear aktionsart. It should be translated “constantly being strengthened” — “By every enabling power constantly being strengthened.”

            Then we have the preposition kata. We are strengthened according to a norm or standard; “his glorious power,” literally, “according to the standard of the power of his glory.” Then we have the object of the preposition to kratoj, “the ruling power”; “of his glory,” doca refers to the essence of God. In other words, we are to understand from the first half of this sentence that everything in the Christian life from the point of salvation depends entirely on who and what God is, without exception. The literal translation brings out where the power lies. Not with us. This completely eliminates any form of human dynamics, any human talent, any human personality. There is no place for it in the Christian life. Everything depends on who and what God is, there is no exception to that. Nothing depends on human personality. Bible doctrine and the filling of the Spirit are the means of communicating the glory or essence of God to us, and God’s power manifest and displayed in the life of the believer depends upon these two factors.

            “unto,” e)ij introducing a result clause. Here it should be translated “resulting in.”

            “all patience,” paj, which means “every” or “all,” plus u(pomonh. It is a compound noun : u(po means under; monh means to abide. To abide under means, of course, patience. It is technical here for the faith-rest technique. It refers to faith-rest in suffering.

            “longsuffering,” makroqumia means stability in suffering.

            “with joyfulness,” the preposition meta means “associated with.” Here is the key. We have para with “joy” or +H.

            Translation: “By every enabling power constantly being strengthened, according to the standard of the power of his glory, resulting in all patience [faith-rest in suffering] and longsuffering [stability in suffering] associated with inner happiness.”

 

 

 

            The doctrine of happiness

            1. Happiness is related to the essence or the character of God. God always possessed perfect happiness in eternity past; this happiness is a part of His character. God is not only perfect but He possesses perfect and eternal happiness, Romans 1:25. He is also happy with His perfect plan of grace and therefore grace is the expression of His happiness. Therefore grace is the source of our perfect happiness, it is acquired through GAP and through the ECS.

            2. Happiness is related to the divine decrees. In eternity past God desired to share His happiness with man in time and this is only possible through salvation, Psalm 51:12, plus the daily function of GAP, Nehemiah 8:10.

            3. Happiness is accomplished through grace. In grace God found a way to share His happiness with man in time and therefore every benefit to man comes through grace. E.g. salvation by grace, Ephesians 2:8,9.

            4. Such happiness is confined to the plan of God.

                        a) Man enters the plan of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Acts 16:31.

                        b) However being saved means that such happiness is only potential, not a reality.  

                        c) Salvation does not imply instant or automatic happiness. The joy of the Lord which you have at the point of salvation is a realisation of salvation and an application to your life that you are saved, but there is no such thing as instant or automatic happiness because you are saved.

                        d) The moment of salvation may or may not be accompanied by emotional exhilaration. The emotion is not salvation.

                        e) The potentiality of happiness only becomes a reality when the believer functions under GAP on a daily basis.

                        f) +H, God’s happiness, is inevitably associated with Bible doctrine, Colossians 1:9-11.

            5. The ultimate of happiness in time begins with the filling of the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:22, and continues to the optimum when the final floor of the ECS is completed, John 17:17. While this is the maximum for phase two there is something beyond this happiness in phase three. it is called “exceeding joy” in Jude 24.

            6. The recognition of human happiness in time. There are three designations of happiness in the Bible: -H which is pseudo happiness; neutral H; and +H. +H is God’s happiness; neutral H is the happiness based upon observing the laws of divine establishment; -H is pseudo happiness, it has exhilaration but it doesn’t last.

            Human happiness or -H is in contrast to +H. In the devil’s world there exists, first of all, -H which is temporary and superficial. It depends upon the details of life, it depends on pleasant environment, stimulating circumstances, having one’s own way, never being crossed. However, boredom, frustration, restlessness, instability, all neutralise this pseudo happiness.

            Neutral H, the observing of the laws of divine establishment. Under neutral H two unbelievers can have a miserable life but find each other as right man, right woman and in their relationship have neutral H. This is genuine human happiness. It is a temporary exhilaration.

            7. God has designed +H to be permanent and stabilised through GAP and the ECS, John 17:13,17; Colossians 1:9-11. Inner happiness or +H possesses the capacity for both relationship with God and capacity for life in itself. The ECS completed is the ultimate in this. This happiness sustains in the most difficult circumstances of life. Here is a happiness which can pass the adversity as well as the prosperity test. Since GAP is the source of ECS GAP is the source of this perfect happiness, 1 John 1:4.

            8. Therefore we have the daily buildup of happiness. Under the universal priesthood of the believer the daily function of GAP means the daily buildup of happiness or +H, Matthew 4:4; Jeremiah 15:16; James 1:25.

            9. The problem of the plural in both languages. The plural indicates the buildup of happiness through doctrine. The doctrine builds happiness which stimulates desire for more doctrine which builds more happiness. So we have “happinesses” usually translated “blessed.”

            10. Such happiness protects from disillusion.

                        a) Disillusion regarding the circumstances of life, Philippians 4:11,12.

                        b) Disillusion regarding the details of life, Hebrews 13:5,6.

                        c) Disillusion regarding other believers, Hebrews 12:2.

            11. Inner happiness enhances capacity for love. Once the top floor of the ECS is completed and the believer’s capacity for love is intensified, along with his capacity for life, there is maximum blessing, there is double blessing [as per point ]. You have capacity to love God and to respond to His love, you have capacity to appreciate God, and you have capacity for life. This also has forward and backward implications. The fragrance of memory is looking back to a point of great happiness — Song of Solomon 3:1; 4:6; 8:6. We also have the ability to anticipate. So again there is a double portion under happiness. You can look back to the blessings of happiness, they are retained as a permanent part of your memory.

            12. Inner happiness is commanded of the believer in phase two, Philippians 4:4. This command is obeyed by learning Bible doctrine, Jeremiah 15:16; John 13:17; 1 John 1:4. Hence, any command to be happy is always a command to learn doctrine, always a command to utilise the grace provision of the intake of doctrine.

            13. Inner happiness is provided for phase three, Jude 24. This is described mechanically in Revelation 21:4.

            14. You cannot build happiness on happiness, happiness must be built on Bible doctrine, 2 Corinthians 8:2. Doctrine provides the capacity for happiness. A personal thing that makes you happy today will make you miserable tomorrow apart from doctrine and therefore happiness must be based on doctrine rather than on something that makes you happy for the moment.

            15. You cannot build your happiness on someone else’s unhappiness.

 

            Verses 12-18, the principles of orientation to the plan of God.

            Verse 12, capacity for thanksgiving is based upon the intake of Bible doctrine. It is the same capacity that we have for life. We are told, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” This is impossible apart from the intake of Bible doctrine as gnwsij, but gnwisj is no good for application until it is converted into e)pignwsij. Epignwsij is not applied, it is building material for the ECS, until it enters the frame of reference, until it is in the vocabulary, in the norms and standards, and as doctrine is put on the viewpoint launching pad. Then we have the capacity for love, the capacity for life, as well as capacity for thanksgiving.

            “Giving thanks,” present active participle of e)uxaristew. The key to this word is xarij which the Greek word for grace. Remember that the whole concept of thanksgiving is based upon grace. E)u means “good”; xarij means “grace” and the ew means doing something. So it is constantly recognising good grace. It is a present active participle which is translated “constantly being thankful.” This is true thanksgiving. it is a condition of the soul when Bible doctrine is on the launching pad. It is directed toward the Father.

            “unto the Father,” the dative of dignity. The first person of the Trinity is the recipient of thanksgiving because He is the author of the divine plan. The word “Father” indicates relationship. The moment we believe in Jesus Christ we are born into the family of God. This relationship, then, is based upon being born again and our attitude toward God the Father is constant thanksgiving. Constantly being thankful is a sign of capacity for life, capacity for love, the utilisation of Bible doctrine, the fulfillment of our being in this life.

            We now go from a present participle to an aorist participle, “which hath made us meet.” This is a dative case, aorist active participle of the verb i(kanow which means to be qualified. In the aorist tense it means that we have been qualified at the point of salvation. In the active voice the individual believer is qualified. This is the basis for thanksgiving: we have been qualified.

            “us” is literally, “you” in the plural; “to be partakers,” a prepositional phrase, e)ij plus the accusative of the noun merij. There is no verb here. Again, the sloppy translation always destroys something that is being emphasised. In this case a verb is what you would expect, but to have a prepositional phrase instead of an infinitive of a verb is great emphasis. It should be translated “for a share.” Merij does not mean partakers but it means a share. It should be translated: “Constantly being thankful to the Father, having qualified you all for a share.

            “of the inheritance,” this can also be “assigned portion.” The Greek word is klhroj which means inheritance and it also means an assigned portion; “the saints” refers to believers in union with Christ, and in this case the saints are suppose to be “in the sphere of light,” e)n plus the locative which can be translated “in” or “in the sphere of.” The noun here is fwj, one of the many Greek words for light. Being in the sphere of light in being in union with Christ.

            Translation: “Constantly being thankful to the Father, having qualified you all for a share of the inheritance [assigned portion] of the saints in the sphere of light [union with Christ].”

            If we are going to orient to the plan of God, before we ever get to one experience we must understand that behind all experiences we have eternal security. We are assigned in the future a part of the inheritance of God. We share this with Jesus Christ, which leads to the fact that we are often called heirs of God, joint heirs with the Son of God. Therefore we begin thanksgiving not with what we have at the moment but what we are going to have forever. For what we are going to have forever is infinitely more important than what we have in time. In all eternity we are going to have something that is absolutely perfect, something that cannot be changed, something that is exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think.

            So we begin with eternity and work back into time. We have a share of the assigned inheritance or the assigned portion. This has to do, then, with the concept of inheritance. The believer is God’s inheritance of grace.

 

            The doctrine of inheritance

            1. Christ is the heir of all things, Hebrews 1:12. Under the Father’s plan of grace He has assigned His Son who went to the cross and purchased the salvation of all believers, so Christ is assigned heirship of all things. This is connected with the angelic conflict. Here is where the angelic conflict and the conflict in the human race meet.

            2. This heirship is based on sonship. When we believe in Jesus Christ we become children of God or sons of God, John 1:12; Romans 8:16,17; Galatians 3:26.

            3. Heirship is based on the death of another. When someone dies they make certain people their heirs, and this heirship is based upon their death, Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4. Christ’s spiritual death is the basis for our eternal heritage.

            4. Heirship from God demands possessing the life of God. God possesses eternal life and therefore we possess eternal life as of the moment of salvation, Titus 3:7; 1 John 5:11,12.

            5. Salvation is the qualification for heirship, Colossians 1:12. Salvation is not only the qualification for heirship but this heirship becomes the basis for testing our capacity for life.

            6. Heirship is related to predestination, Ephesians 1:11. Therefore heirship includes sharing the destiny of Christ.

            7. Heirship is related to election, Hebrews 9:15. As believers we are joint heirs with Christ and as believers we share the election of Christ.

            8. The principle of heirship emphasises eternal security, 1 Peter 1:4,5. We have eternal security because we are the heirs of God.

 

            Verse 13, “Who hath delivered us.” “Who” is the relative pronoun o(j, and the relative pronoun must always have an antecedent. The antecedent is God the Father, author of the divine plan “operation grace.”

            Now for the first time we have a main verb. The qualification took place in eternity past when God the Father set up the plan. The fulfillment of it was at the cross and so we have the phrase “hath delivered,” the aorist middle indicative of ruomai which means to preserve someone from something. In other words, to rescue them from some type of terrible danger. In this case it means to be rescued from someone’s power. The aorist tense refers to the point of salvation. The middle voice: the subject is benefited by the action of the verb; we are benefited by being saved. The indicative mood is the reality of deliverance from the kingdom of darkness at the point of salvation. God the Father in eternity past designed the plan of salvation. But there is a point in time in which we believe, and this is expressed now in “hath delivered.” The word “deliver” means to rescue, to rescue from a danger, to rescue from some awful power. In this case we are talking about the power of Satan. “Who [God the Father] has rescued us” [all believers].

            “from,” e)k means “out from”; “the power,” e)cousia really does not mean power, it means basically the authority. In this case the authority of Satan is a dictatorship and so it should be translated “out from the dictatorship of darkness.”

            “darkness,” literally, “the darkness,” skwtoj plus the definite article, referring to the kingdom of Satan. Satan is the ruler of this world today. Unbelievers are said to be sitting in darkness in Luke chapter one. Darkness is the thought pattern of all who are unbelievers or for all believers who are negative toward doctrine and under emotional revolt of the soul. Darkness means confusion. This is the dictatorship of confusion. We have been taken out of this dictatorship. This is why we are commanded to have a new thought pattern, a thought pattern compatible with our new authority. From the standpoint of authority we are in something which is brand new. We are under the authority of God, the authority of grace, the authority of clear thinking. Therefore the intake of Bible doctrine fulfills this principle. As long as you as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ continue to reject Bible doctrine then you think as tough you still live in the kingdom of Satan.

            “and hath translated us,” the aorist active indicative of meqishmi which means not to translate so much as to transfer. To translate in the English means to take something in one language and make it equivalent of something in another language. So “translate” is a very poor translation because we are taken from a kingdom of darkness into a kingdom of light, we are taken into something which is antithetical. This word never did mean translate, it means “transfer.” We are transferred or removed from one place to another. The aorist tense means that one of the 36 things received at the point of salvation transfers us from the devil’s kingdom of this world to the kingdom of the Lord in this world. The active voice indicates that God the Father produces the action of the verb, and he produces it on the basis of being born into the family of God at the point of salvation. The indicative mood is the reality of being transferred from the kingdom of dictatorship or darkness to the kingdom, not “of his dear Son", but “of the Son of his love.”

            “into the kingdom,” preposition e)ij plus basileia. Baslieia is a realm or a kingdom. The preposition e)ij is a directional preposition and we have the accusative of baslieia, so “into the kingdom” is a good translation.

            There are two kingdoms of regenerate. The former one is Israel. Christ is the King of the regenerate of Israel from Abraham to the cross. There is a kingdom at the present. Christ is the ruler of the regenerate of the world from Pentecost to the Rapture. This context refers to the regenerate of the Church Age.

            “of his dear Son,” tou u(iou thj a)gaphj a)utou which is literally, “of the Son of his love.” We have an objective genitive here and it means that the Son, Jesus Christ, is the object of the Father’s infinite love. For this reason Jesus Christ is called “beloved” in Ephesians 1:6. Since every believer is in union with Christ every believer is the object of the Father’s perfect love and therefore one of the titles for believers, 1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.”

            Translation: “Who has rescued us out from the dictatorship of darkness, and has transferred us into them kingdom of the Son of his love.”

            Verse 14, the orientation to the plan of God through redemption. “In whom,” this is a preposition plus the instrumental of o(j and it should be translated “By means of whom.” This time the relative pronoun o(j has as its antecedent “the Son of his love.” It refers to Jesus Christ.

            “we have” is a present active indicative of e)xw which means to have and to hold. The present tense: we keep on having and holding redemption. The active voice: every believer. So you have and you hold forever redemption. The actual noun here is compounded, a)polutrwsij. A)po is the preposition of ultimate source; lutrow means to ransom, to redeem, to liberate, and so this means deliverance on the basis of paying a ransom. it means to buy back a slave or a captive from the slavemarket, it means to manumit or purchase the freedom of slaves. Freedom must be purchased and freedom is purchased through this principle. Redemption means to purchase the freedom of slaves.

 

            The doctrine of redemption

            1. The principle of redemption is found in John 8:31-36. In that passage the Pharisees claimed that they were free. Jesus could have pointed out to them that they were slaves to the Roman empire, that they were slaves to their religious customs; but instead He chose to point out to them that they were born slaves, they were born with old sin natures. We are born into slavery we are born with an old sin nature. This is slavery to sin. The only possible way to get out is for a free person, someone on the outside, to free us, to purchase our freedom. There is no one born on the outside, the exception being Jesus Christ, and through the virgin birth Jesus Christ was born free. That was necessary to purchase our freedom. On the cross our sins were judged. He was judged for our sins and therefore we are free to come out, and we come out through faith in Jesus Christ. That is the concept behind redemption.

            2. Christ paid the ransom for sin on the cross. On other words, Christ purchased our freedom — Psalm 34:22; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18,19. The purchase price or His blood refers to Christ bearing our sins.

            3. Redemption is a doctrine which the believer can apply in time of pressure or catastrophe and find blessing, Job 19:25,26.

            4. redemption results in the biblical doctrine of adoption, Galatians 4:4-6. This includes induction into the angelic conflict at the point of salvation, the right to the grace account of God. Remember that adoption in the Bible is not the same as adoption in life. We are adopted as adult sons at the point of salvation. Adoption in the ancient world was a custom whereby a Roman, for example, took his own son and judged him to be mature. Therefore he took off the robe of childhood and put on him the robe of maturity. This meant that he was free to marry, free for military service, free to enter into business. This was called adoption. He adopted his son as a mature person. So adoption in the Bible means to recognise maturity whereas adoption today means to take someone’s child and legally make it your own.

            5. The doctrine of redemption was communicated in the Old Testament sacrifices by the shedding of blood, Hebrews 9:22. Redemption provides the basis for the believer’s eternal inheritance, Hebrews 9:15.

            6. The blood of Christ is the ransom money or the purchase price of redemption, Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 1 John 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18,19. The blood depicts the spiritual death of Christ on the cross.

            7. Redemption includes the forgiveness of sins, Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14.

            8. Redemption provides the basis for justification, Romans 3:24.

           

            “through his blood,” dia plus the genitive of a(ima, the word for blood. The genitive means “through” or “by means of.”

 

            The doctrine of the blood

            1. The blood is the seat of animal life, Leviticus 17:10-14. “The life of the flesh is in the blood.” That is true of animals only. it implies that if an animal loses his blood he loses his life. That is the whole point of animal sacrifices.

            2. Animal blood was used in the Old Testament sacrifices to represent the spiritual death of Christ on the cross — Leviticus chapter 1-3. The physical death of Christ has nothing to do with salvation except to announce its completion. The emphasis of the cross is the spiritual death of Christ. Therefore we have a representative analogy between the animal sacrifices and the spiritual death of Christ bearing our sins. The physical death of the animal represents the spiritual death of Christ on the cross. The animal could only portray what Christ would do. Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 10:19; 13:20; 1 Peter 1:2.

            3. The doctrine of redemption was communicated in the Old Testament by means of animal blood, Hebrews 9:22.

            4. Christ did not die on the cross by bleeding to death — John 19:30,33,34. The physical death of Christ on the cross occurred from His own volition, not from bleeding, John 10:18. After His work of salvation was completed on the cross Jesus dismissed His spirit, Luke 23:46; Matthew 27:50. When Christ died physically His blood was still in His body, John 19:34.

            5. Therefore the blood of Christ is a part of a representative analogy between the physical death of animals in the Old Testament and the spiritual death of Christ on the cross bearing our sins, 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24.

            6. The blood of Christ depicts four doctrines of soteriology: a) Expiation, Revelation 1:5;

b) Redemption, Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18,19; c) Justification, Romans 5:9;

d) Sanctification, Hebrews 13:12.

            7. The blood of Christ, expiation, is the basis for the rebound technique, Leviticus chapters 4,5; 1 John 1:7 cf 1 John 1:9.

           

            “the forgiveness of sins,” the word “forgiveness” is a)fesij. It means pardon, remission, cancellation. Sins are canceled by means of the blood.

            Translation: “By means of whom we have redemption through his blood, the cancellation of sins.”

            Now we come to the one who is behind all of this, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The objective in understanding doctrine is capacity for loving Jesus Christ. The technique of occupation with the person of Christ depends entirely upon the intake of Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine gives us the capacity for love, capacity for understanding Christ, capacity for relating to the plan of God, and functioning under the plan of God during this period of the angelic conflict. It is the objective of Satan that all members of the human race function under his principles, his plan, his operation. Therefore grace as taught from Bible doctrine is the only deterrent to the onrush of cosmos diabolicus.

            In verses 15-19 we have orientation to the plan of God through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of the most important sections of all the new Testament. In these few verses we actually have more about the Lord Jesus Christ than, for example, the books of Matthew, Mark, or Luke. This is a concentrated passage on who and what Jesus Christ is.

            Verse 15, “Who” is the relative pronoun o(j. It refers to Jesus Christ. The first relative pronoun in the previous verse referred to the work of Christ,            “in whom we have redemption through his blood.” But now in this verse, “Who is the image of the invisible God” the relative pronoun still has as its antecedent Jesus Christ, described at the end of verse 13 as “the Son of His love.” Again, it refers now to the person of Christ. One verse, verse 14 on the work of Christ; four verses on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

            The deity of Christ, “is the image of the invisible God.” The verb “is” is a present active indicative of e)imi which is absolute status quo. He is, always was, there never was a time when He wasn’t .

            There are two different Greek words for image and it is very important as to which one is used here. There is the word o(moiwma which means representation. This is the word that is not used. Instead we have a word which means “exact image.” So there is no question. Jesus Christ does not have the spark of God, Jesus Christ is God. The word is e)ikon, it means an exact image. Jesus Christ is the exact image of the invisible God.

            “invisible God” is Jesus Christ in His deity, God the Father in His deity, God the Holy Spirit in His deity. But Jesus Christ is the manifest person of the Godhead.

 

 

 

            The doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ

            1. There are three verses of scripture where the deity of Christ is presented as a syllogism [a logical progression in which the subject of the first sentence becomes the object of the second sentence, whereas the object of the first sentence becomes the subject of the second sentence, and the two are placed together in the third sentence], 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Matthew 28:19. The syllogism is the Trinity is eternal. Christ is a member of the Trinity, Christ is eternal.

            2. The outstanding scriptures dealing with the deity of Christ, John 1:1-3; 8:58; Micah 5:2; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8-10; 1 John 5:20.

            3. The pre-incarnate work of Christ. This necessitates His preexistence. His preexistence obviates the concept of deity. For example, Christ created the universe, not all at one time. The heavens and the earth were created instantly; man was created on the sixth day of restoration, long after the heavens and the earth were created. The angels were created some time between the creation of the universe and the creation of man. Animal life was created in three different sections. Every act of original creation is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:10.

            4. The doctrine of divine decrees. Jesus Christ had a definite part in the doctrine of divine decrees. He is so identified with the doctrine of divine decrees as to be God. For example, whenever the divine decrees is mentioned and Jesus Christ is mentioned in connection with them, He is mentioned as God. Therefore, once again, there are certain passages where the decrees are mentioned where Christ is mentioned, and Christ is identified as God. For example, Psalm 2:7-9; 22:1-6; 40; 110. In other words, Jesus Christ is so identified with the doctrine of divine decrees as to be God.

            5. The Christophanies also indicate the deity of Jesus Christ. There are the Christophanies or the theophanies, there are synonymous terms because the only person in the Godhead who has ever been manifest, old Testament or incarnation, is always Jesus Christ. We are dealing with one special Christophany here. Jesus Christ often came as a man. He was the one who wrestled with Jacob. He also came as the burning bush to Moses. But we are talking about a specific Christophany which indicates that Jesus Christ is God, Jesus Christ appeared as an angel. As such in the Old Testament He is called the angel of Jehovah. He is also called Jehovah.

                        a) The angel of Jehovah is identified as Jehovah in the following passages: Genesis 16:7-13; 22:11-18; 31:11-13; 48:15,16; Exodus 3:1ff Cf Acts 7:30-35; Exodus 13:21; 14:19; Judges 6:11-23; 13:9-20. In all of these passage find Jesus Christ mentioned in context as the angel of Jehovah. That isn’t conclusive until in the same context the angel of Jehovah is also called Jehovah.

                        b) However, the angel of Jehovah is distinguished from Jehovah. Why? Because the angel of Jehovah is always Jesus Christ. Take the word elohim which is plural. As a plural word translated “God” in the Old Testament it refers to the entire Trinity. Whenever one or more persons are going to be mentioned we have the word Jehovah. It is used for God the Father, it is used for God the Son, and it is used for God the Holy Spirit. However it is only the Son who is the angel of Jehovah, it is only the Son who is ever a theophany or Christophany. Jesus Christ is the only person of the Godhead who ever is manifest to man or to creatures in the form of a creature, or in some other form like the burning bush, the pillar of fire at night, the cloud by day. But He is still God. Jesus Christ is the angel of Jehovah, but since He is also Jehovah the passage will say somewhere in it, “Jehovah said,” indicating that the angel of Jehovah is Jehovah and that Jehovah is the angel of Jehovah, and that this is a theophany and that this is God.

            Obviously when some other member of the Godhead is involved in some other operation where the angel of Jehovah is functioning it will say, “Jehovah said to the angel of Jehovah.” Why? Because the Father is Jehovah too, and the Father isn’t a Christophany or theophany but He is talking to a Christophany or a theophany. Genesis 24:7,40; Exodus 23:20; 32:34; 1 Chronicles 21:15-18; Isaiah 63:9; Zechariah 1:12,13. The angel of Jehovah is distinguished from Jehovah.

                        c) The angel of Jehovah is the second person of the Trinity. Two form of argument: 1. Jesus Christ is always said to be the visible God, the only member of the Trinity who is ever visible — John 1:18; 6:46; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 4:12. After the incarnation of Christ the angel of Jehovah never appears again.

            6. The tetragrammaton [means four letters]. This is the sacred name of God, JHWH. The Jews never pronounced that name, they always said “Adonai.” So when you come to something like that you can use the vowel points of Adonai, the vowel points of the verb to be. So we have two different theories. We started out by using Jehovah. Then someone came along and said no, that is Yaweh. The tetragrammaton is used for the Father and used for the Son and used for the Holy Spirit. The principle: Jesus Christ is called Jehovah in the following passages: Isaiah 9:6,7; 40:3; Jeremiah 23:5,6; Zechariah 12:10.

            7. Certain characteristics are ascribed to deity. These characteristics are specifically ascribed to Jesus Christ. So we recognise the deity of Christ from the doctrine of divine essence. The essence box is simply describing the characteristics of God, sovereignty, absolute righteousness, justice, love, eternal life, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability, veracity. All of these attributes are ascribed somewhere in scripture to Jesus Christ. For example, eternal life, Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; John 1:1; 8:58; Colossians 1:16,17; Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 1:11. For example, righteousness and justice [holiness] which is ascribed to God the Son, Luke 1:35; John 6:69; Hebrews 7:26. Love, John 13:1,34; 1 John 3:16. Immutability, Hebrews 13:8. Omniscient, Matthew 9:4; John 2:25; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Colossians 2:3; Revelation 2:23. Omnipotent, Matthew 24:30; 28:13; 1 Corinthians 15:28; Philippians 3:21; Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 1:8. Omnipresent — Matthew 28:20; Ephesians 1:23; Colossians 1:27. Any one of these scriptures proves the deity of Christ. 

 

            “who keeps on being the exact image of the invisible God,” this passage says in effect that Christ is God. he is the exact image of the invisible God.

            “the firstborn of every creature.” Jesus Christ is also humanity. The word for “firstborn” is prwtotokoj. This word means firstborn as a new creature, as the head of a new generation, but definitely a human being. Firstborn means prior generation, the firstborn, the head of a new creation, and the humanity of Christ was born. The deity of Christ always existed. This is taught in Isaiah 7:14; 9:6. However, “firstborn” is technical. It not only means the beginning of a new creation but it also indicates special privilege. For example, there were three privileges of the firstborn in Israel. The firstborn had the privilege of rulership, the priesthood of the family, and heirship. Christ became man and as man He became the head of the Church. He is the last Adam and He has a new creation, the Church. So Christ is the ruler of the Church — we will see this in verse 18. he is also the high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek — the book of Hebrews. Christ is also the heir of all things, Hebrews 1:2. Heirship includes the double portion and Christ is the double portion in eternity of both Israel and the Church. These are His double portions.

            “of every creature,” the genitive singular from ktisij which refers to human beings. Notice that Christ was not created, he is the firstborn of every creature. This problem is resolved by going to the genitive case here. This is what is called a genitive of reference. Christ was “the firstborn with reference to all created beings” is the way it should be translated. Christ is supreme as a creature, prwtotokoj means supreme.

            Translation: “Who keeps on being the exact image of the unseen God, the privileged firstborn with reference to all creatures.”

 

            The doctrine of the hypostatic union

            1. In the person of Christ are two natures inseparably united, without mixture or loss of separate identity, without loss or transfer of properties or attributes, the union being personal and eternal.

            2. Scripture: John 1:1-14; Romans 1:2-5; 9:5; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14.

            3. The incarnate person of Christ includes His deity. Jesus Christ is God, He is coequal and CO-eternal with the Father and with the Spirit; and the incarnation does not diminish His deity, therefore He is undiminished deity.

            4. The incarnate person of Christ includes true humanity. Jesus Christ is bona fide humanity with a body, soul, and human spirit, but minus the old sin nature. Through the virgin birth Jesus Christ avoided both the imputation of Adam’s sin and spiritual death at birth, therefore the old sin nature.

            5. The two natures of Christ are united without transfer of attributes. The attributes adhere to their corresponding natures. In other words, the essence of deity cannot be changed. The infinite cannot be transferred to the finite. To rob God of a single attribute of His essence would, of course, destroy His entire deity. To rob humanity of any essence of humanity would, of course, destroy His humanity. So all of the essence o f deity is only deity in the person of Christ; all of the characteristics of humanity are only characteristics of humanity in the person of Christ. Christ is the God-Man and there is no transfer of the attributes of deity to humanity or the attributes of humanity to deity.

            6. No attribute of the essence of deity was changed by the incarnation. In fulfilling the purpose of the first advent certain attributes of deity were used, but this does not imply that they were surrendered, destroyed, or in any way neutralised. That would be the false doctrine of Kenosis.

            What happened to the deity of Christ at certain times during the incarnation? This is the true doctrine of Kenosis. Christ voluntarily restricted the independent use of certain divine attributes in keeping with the plan of the Father for the first advent. During the incarnation Jesus Christ gave up the independent exercise of His divine attributes in living among men and their limitations, but His deity was in no way destroyed or blighted.

            7. Therefore, the union of divine essence and human nature in the incarnate person of Christ must be considered two things: a) hypostatic; b) personal. The word “hypostatic” is derived from a Greek New Testament word u(postasij. This means to stand under, to take upon one’s self something else without losing what you have. Therefore Jesus Christ without losing His deity took upon Himself true humanity. The word is actually used in the Greek of Hebrews 1:3. So hypostatic refers to the whole person of Christ as distinguished from his two natures, divine and human. This is also said to be personal because personal refers to the emergence of the unique person of the universe. Jesus Christ is God. As God Jesus Christ is CO-eternal with the Father who is God and with the Holy Spirit who is God. But Jesus Christ is different from God in that He is man. But He is different from man in that He is God. He is absolutely unique. His uniqueness led to the cross, it means He is the only saviour. His uniqueness destroys salvation by any other way.

            8. We have a false interpretation of the hypostatic union. The hypostatic union does not imply that deity possessed humanity or that the deity of Christ indwells the humanity of Christ. This is not taught in the scripture. Furthermore, the union was more than harmony or sympathy. That is the liberal view. It is personal. Two natures, divine and human, have been combined into one hypostasis, one essence, one person, forever.

            9. Therefore Jesus Christ, the God-Man, has one hypostasis, one essence, forever. The attributes of both the divine and human natures belong to the one person of Christ. The characteristics of one nature, again, are never attributed to the other. This means that during the first advent Jesus Christ could be at the same time omnipotent and weak, omniscient and ignorant. However, the ignorance of His humanity was quickly overcome by the daily function of GAP and the erection of the ECS — Luke 2:40, 52; John 1:14. In other words, Jesus Christ in His deity was always omnipotent even though His humanity on earth was weak. That has all changed since the resurrection of Christ but these conditions did exist during the incarnation.

            10. The necessity for Jesus Christ becoming a member of the human race:

                        a) To be our saviour. Jesus Christ as God cannot go to the cross. Sovereignty cannot be subject to the death of the cross. Eternal life cannot die. Omnipresence cannot reduce itself to one point. Immutability: these characteristics cannot be changed. To go to the cross Jesus Christ had to be man. Therefore Philippians 2:7,8; Hebrews 2:14,15 say that Christ had to become a member of the human race to go to the cross and die for our sins.

                        b) Mediatorship. Under the concept in the Bible of mediatorship a mediator is someone who pulls two parties together. And a mediator must be equal with both parties. He must be God and He must be man. Jesus Christ was always God but He didn’t qualify as a mediator until he became true humanity, Job 9:32,33; 1 Timothy 2:5,6.

                        c) Jesus Christ had to become true humanity to be our priest. A priest is a man who represents man before God, Hebrews 7:4,5,14,28; 10:5,10-14 Jesus Christ became the high priest by becoming true humanity.

                        d) In 2 Samuel 7:8-16; Psalm 89:20-37, we have the fact that God promised David he would have a son who would reign forever. The Davidic covenant would not be fulfilled apart from the incarnation of Christ. Jesus Christ had to be born the son of David and he is directly descended from David through the two sons of David by Bathsheba, Solomon and Nathan. Solomon is the line that goes down to Joseph, the legal line; Nathan is the line that goes down to Mary, the real line. Jesus Christ, from His real mother and from the legal side, was descended from David. Therefore Jesus Christ was a Jew, He was from the tribe of Judah from the family of David, and by coming this way in His humanity and through resurrection and second advent he will fulfill the Davdic covenant forever.

            11. Everything verbally communicated by Christ during the incarnation came from one of three sources: from His deity, as in John 8:58; from His humanity, as in John 19:28; from His hypostatic union, as in Matthew 11:28. For example, Jesus said, “Before Abraham existed on this earth, I was eternally.” He spoke from His deity. It was His deity that preexisted Abraham. From His humanity he said, “I thirst.” Deity doesn’t thirst, only humanity. But from His hypostatic union He said, “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” That is His hypostatic union, the God-Man, the only saviour.

            12. Therefore we have categories of attributes as related to the person of Jesus Christ.

                        a) Attributes which are true of His whole person. For example, Jesus Christ is redeemer or saviour. We saw Him as redeemer in Colossians 1:14. This is an attribute which is true of the entire person, both natures are essential in the function of redemption.

                        b) Attributes which are true of His deity — but the whole person of Christ is the subject. When Christ spoke in John 8:58 He spoke as the God-Man. But He said “I existed eternally” and only His deity existed eternally. So the attribute is true only of His deity but the whole person is the subject.

                        c) Attributes true only of His humanity but the whole person is the subject, John 19:28, “I thirst.” Jesus Christ was speaking as the God-Man but only the humanity of Christ can thirst. However, this classification disappears after the resurrection, ascension, and session.

                        d) The person is described according to His divine nature but the predicate of the human nature, Revelation 1:12-18. Here the deity of Christ is in evidence, yet Christ is described as “the one dead, yet he lives.” Death is only possible for the humanity of Christ. So the person is described according to His divine nature, according to attributes of deity, but the predicate of the human nature. In other words, the predicate “he dies” refers only to the human nature.

                        e) The person is described according to the human nature but the predicate of the divine nature, John 6:62 where we have the title Son of man. The title Son of man belongs to the human nature of Christ but ascending up where He was before applies to the divine nature.

                        f) The person is described according to His divine nature but the predicate of both natures, John 5:25-27. Christ as the Son of God spoke to those who were spiritually dead. Those who were spiritually dead heard [positive volition] and lived. But in the future Christ will execute judgment as the Son of Man from His human nature.

                        g) The person is described according to His human nature but the predicate of both natures, Matthew 27:46. Christ was speaking from the viewpoint of His human nature but the pronoun “me” has reference to both natures. “Why hast thou forsaken me?” Both natures were involved. Christ was being judicially forsaken as the God-man because he was bearing our sins in His own body on the tree — 1 Peter 2:24.

 

            Verse 16, the one who created man became man. “For” is not for at all but it is the Greek o(ti which is a causal particle. It means because, not for.

            “by him,” the preposition e)n plus the instrumental of a)utoj, and it should be “by means of him.” By means of His very own self, a)utoj is really a reflexive pronoun. The very own self is Christ who is now in hypostatic union. In verse 15 he is the exact image of deity but He is also the firstborn of every creature. “Now by means of his very own self.”

            “all things,” the nominative plural of paj. It has a definite article so it has to be translated “the all things.” The all things refer to the heavens and the earth, the universe, angels, mankind.

            “were created” is the aorist passive indicative of the verb katizw. The aorist tense indicates that each one of these creations was instantaneous. It took a second. God snapped His fingers and the universe existed. The equivalent in the Hebrew is bara, to create out of nothing. The passive voice indicates that these things were created out of nothing. The indicative mood is the reality of this creation.

            “that are in the heavens.” There is no verb here at all, it is simply the preposition e)n plus the locative, and that means “in the sphere of the heavens.” Then we have a different preposition for the earth, “that are in the earth” is “upon the earth” and we have the preposition e)pi.

            “visible” is a nominative plural neuter of o(ratoj. In the plural this means “the visible things.” Then we have the nominative neuter plural for invisible, a)oratoj, the “invisible” things. Visible like man, invisible like the structure of the universe. So we have in this part, “the visible things and the invisible things.”

            “whether,” again there is no verb. We have a little construction here called “whether or” and it is a repetition of two words, e)ite e)ite. Here it is translated “whether or.”

            “thrones,” these words are all in the plural. These are actual principles that function in the earth today. We have the nominative plural of qronoj. Qronoj here in the plural refers here to the sovereignty or the power of a national entity. With the creation of man God has set up a system for man’s survival, in spite of the fact that we have Satan ruling the world and in spite of the fact that man’s existence resolves the angelic conflict. Man could destroy himself — old sin nature. Man obviously could degenerate, he could be destroyed by Satan. So to protect all of that we have the world qronoj which means that mankind is divided up into groups. it is not God’s will for mankind to be one group until the Millennium, until Jesus Christ reigns. Qronoj, then, is the principle of nationalism. God is the source of nationalism and the power and the authority of human government. So not only did Jesus Christ create the universe but he set up a system, a series of laws and structure, for the protection of mankind. Qronoj is the first one. Again, this is in the plural and means a number of sovereign entities.

            “dominions,” again, the nominative plural kuriothj. The word means constituted authority. Here we have the laws of divine establishment. God has set up a system for the human race to be governed and therefore to survive.

 

            The laws of divine establishment

            1. The laws of divine establishment are for the orderly function and survival of the human race during the angelic conflict. These laws operate from the fall of man, they did not operate in innocence. They will operate until the second advent of Christ. They apply to the believer and the unbeliever alike. They provide blessing and protection for the human race. They guarantee the perpetuation of the human race in history during this phase of the angelic conflict.

            2. The basis for all of these laws in the principle of volition. Volition is divine institution #1. Man has free will. Man is an entity with free will. The law of free will guarantees both human freedom and privacy. This freedom of choice and right to live gives the human race the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — provided, of course, that it does not violate common law. The exception to this is always the criminal. While there is a variation in human ability — inherent and acquired — all member of the human race are free to believe in or reject Jesus Christ as saviour, John 3:18, 36.

            3. Man obviously is not alone. Therefore the basic unit of a group under the laws of divine establishment is divine institution #2, tight man and right woman. Marriage is based upon divine design, then, of one right man for one right woman. Marriage is both the framework and the protection for category #2 love. Marriage forms the basis for stability in society and rejects that concept of anarchy known as communal living.

            4. Divine institution #3 is family. This is where we come to the point of perpetuation of the human race. The physical birth of man always finds the baby helpless. There are two times when you are totally helpless. One is at the point of physical birth and the other is at the point of the new birth. In both cases everything is provided. At the point of physical birth God has provided protection, provision, and training. This is accomplished through parents. Parental authority is the basic authority of life. In addition to food, shelter and clothing parents must train the children in he functions and the principles of life. The parents provide for the children a basis for thought. Children could never think apart from vocabulary. Children can only advance as far as their vocabulary will take them. This includes the inculcation of principles of authority. Children should be taught respect for privacy, property, the rights of others, respect for law and order, patriotism. Ad to this the responsibility of Christian parents to evangelise and to provide doctrinal teaching for their children, Deuteronomy 6:6-9; 7:9. Next comes a respect for the content of doctrine as taught by a pastor-teacher, as well as recognition of his authority, Hebrews 13:7, 17.

            5. Nationalism. The principle of nationalism is found in Genesis 10:5; Acts 17:26-28; Deuteronomy 32:8. Nationalism protects the freedom and the rights of X number of individuals in the human race. This includes national definition, racial, geographical, and linguistic. Remember that one of the national definitions is linguistic. The language content of a nation determines the ability of the nation.                    * There must be interior protection in a national entity and the principle of the police officer and police work is part of proper law enforcement. Secondly, there must be exterior protection and this demands a military establishment. No national entity can survive the fall of its military establishment. As the military establishment declines it becomes a very definite thermometer to tell you the temperature of a nation. If you want to know where a national entity stands with regard to degeneracy this can be very easily understood by watching its military.

                        * There is also the principle of government which must protect the freedom, property, and rights of its citizens. The Bible does not advocate any type of government. Type of government is not as important as the concept of government. The government must protect the freedom and the rights of its citizens.

                        * Economy based on free enterprise. The government must not interfere with free enterprise. Once the government interferes with business the economy will destroy itself or it will be maintained on a false basis so that any moment the whole thing collapses.

                        * Common law. Common law with objective type legislation to protect freedom and property of the individual. The law must not be subjective so as to invade individual rights or steal personal property.

                        * Common culture. There must be a common culture which reflects the spiritual life, the morality, the nobility of essence, patriotism of the nation through literature, art, drama and music. Eventually there must be a culture which expresses the best in a national entity.

                        * A government administration which functions in compliance with the above principles.

            6. The divine institutions and the laws of established are designed to protect human freedom. This in turn makes evangelism a bona fide function in every generation — either evangelism or the lack of evangelism, depending on negative or positive volition. The national entity must separate religion and state to protect the freedom and rights of individuals.

            7. As a part of the angelic conflict Satan attacks both the gospel and Bible doctrine. He also attacks the divine institutions and laws of establishment. Any Satanic attack upon the human race, like the communist conspiracy, always attacks the establishment as well as the Word.

            8. When a national entity declines certain alternate divine laws come into operation. These are laws of judgement. These are laws connected with national disaster, laws which function when there is national degeneration. These are called the five cycles of discipline in Leviticus 26. But the concept is that a national entity which has declined to a certain point must come under punitive measures from God.

 

            So that we have not “thrones or dominions” but “human government or constituted authorities.”

            “principalities,” the nominative plural of a)rxh which refers to demon rulers in Ephesians 6:11. That is how it is used here, “demon rulers.”

            “and powers,” literally, “authorities”, e)cousia here, as in Ephesians, is used for demon authorities.

            Then, again, we have the phrase, “the all things,” ta panta, used previously for angels, mankind, and the physical universe.

            “were created,” the perfect passive indicative of ktizw. The perfect tense is something that happens in the past with the result that it continues. Therefore we translate it “stand created.” The passive voice: creation is received. The indicative mood is the reality of that creation.

            “by him,” dia plus the genitive is “through him”; and next, “for him,” e)ij plus the accusative which should be translated “for the use of him” or “for the purpose of him.”

            “Because by means of him [Christ] the all things were created, in the sphere of the heavens, and upon the earth, the visible things and the invisible things, whether human governments or constituted authorities, or angelic rulers and authorities: the all things through him and for his purpose stand created.”

            Verse 17, “And he is,” kai a)utoj e)stin. We have the present active indicative of e)imi, “And he keeps on being.”

            “before all,” the preposition pro plus the ablative of paj. That is, before all creatures. This is a reference to the eternity of Jesus Christ. The eternity of Jesus Christ is declared in Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; John 1:1-13; John 8:58; Colossians 1:17; Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 1:11.

            “and by him,” e)n plus the instrumental; “the all things,” ta panta; “consist,” perfect active indicative of sunesthmi, which does not really mean to consist, it means to hold together, to exist, to continue in its status quo. It is in contrast to ktizw, the verb to create, in that it refers to preservation rather than creation. In other words, by means of Him the all things, the universe in which we live, the angelic creatures who are a part of the unseen conflict, and the human race, continue to exist; exist in the past with the result that it will continue to exist.

            Translation: “And he is before all, and the all things by means of him hold together.”

 

            The doctrine of the sustaining of the universe

            1. The continuation of the universe and all its creatures depends upon the omnipotence and immutability of Jesus Christ, Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3.

            2. So-called scientific laws simply do not exist. These are divine laws rather than scientific. Science has no way of enforcing them, cannot guarantee that they will continue tomorrow.

            3. These so-called scientific laws are based upon the statistical assumption that the universe which operates according to a fixed norm will continue to do so. While science can observe these laws science cannot guarantee these laws.

            4. The universe with its matter, energy, and operating laws of God will not always exist as it does at the present time, 2 Peter 3:10-12; Revelation 20:11.

            5. Known scientific laws and phenomena depend entirely upon the faithfulness of God, which is omnipotence plus immutability plus veracity. Every text and every discovery of the pattern of the universe is a treatise on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 13:8.

            6. By the word of His power Jesus Christ holds the universe together — Hebrews 1:3.

            7. The reason for doing so is to resolve the angelic conflict. This resolves the angelic conflict in history and brings many sons into glory, Hebrews 2:10.

            8. Summary: To allow grace to run its full course Jesus Christ is holding the universe together. Christ is holding the universe together right now, tomorrow, the next day, the next. The laws of sustaining the universe belong to God. They demonstrate His faithfulness, His perfect character. These laws can be changed or overruled by the sovereignty of God as illustrated in 2 Peter 3:10-12. However, the promises and doctrines of the Bible are unchangeable. The universe will change but the Bible will not. You have more stability in the Bible than you have in the universe. While God has promised to maintain the universe under its present state for history it will change. In contrast, the believer will remain forever, even surviving the destruction of the present universe, Hebrews 12:26-28.

            9. Conclusion: Therefore scientific laws are simply the faithfulness of Jesus Christ holding the universe together, and at the same time holding back eternity so that the human race will have the opportunity to appropriate the grace of God through Jesus Christ.     

 

            Presenting now Jesus Christ as the head of the Church. We have seen Him as the creator of the universe, as the sustainer of the universe. We have seen Him as to the uniqueness of His person, the hypostatic union, and to the uniqueness of His work on the cross. Now all of these things are brought together in verse 18: Jesus Christ is the head of the Church.

            Verse 18, “And he is,” the present active indicative of e)imi, the absolute status quo verb. He is now, always will be, there never was a time when He wasn’t.

            “the head of the body,” the word for head is kefalh. It means the head as that portion of the human anatomy but it also connotes a superior rank, the supreme authority, and it is sued in that sense here. The head controls the brain which controls and dictates the functions of he body. The head contains every facet of the soul and therefore it becomes a synonym for superior rank. There is no higher rank in the Church than the Lord Jesus Christ. However, Jesus Christ does not personally and individually direct things in every local church. This is where He has appointed those to represent Him. That is why the one who has the gift of teacher in the local church also is called under a hyphenated concept, poimhn — pastor. He is the shepherd-teacher, the presbuteroj, the highest rank, the e)piskopoj, the overseer. Therefore, between the congregation and Jesus Christ is the gift of pastor-teacher and the function of pastor-teacher. The gift in itself does not become meaningful until it has been properly exploited, shaped, trained under years of discipline whereby the gift can be utilised properly under the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

            Notice that when it comes time to mention the superior rank of Jesus Christ it is mentioned in connection with one of seven different ways of designating the Church universal. The word which is used here is the Greek word swma which means body. It is used among other words for the Church in Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 11:3; 12:12,13; Ephesians 1:22,23; 5:23, and many other passages. The word “body” is used in a special sense. It always refers to the Church on earth, believers in the Church Age on earth. During the Church Age Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father and the Church universal is located in two places. The dead in Christ as with Jesus Christ, face to face with the Lord, and the living are on the earth. The word “body” here is used for both groups, the living on earth and the dead in Christ. However, it is always used for the designation of the Church before the Rapture. For the living on earth Jesus Christ is the head. And there is a breakdown of organisation, He has appointed pastor-teachers over local churches. But any believer located on the earth is a part of the body of Christ. The Church is called after then Rapture, the bride. Bride always refers to the Church or believers of the Church Age in resurrection body, so we must learn to distinguish between body and bride as the two most commonly used designations for the Church. The Church is made up of every believer. Every believer is in union with Christ in anticipation of the future day when the Church will be the bride of Christ.

            Right now the Church is called the body of Christ. The word “body” emphasises a feminine aspect. The body of the woman was taken from the man, just as the soul of the woman appears to have been in incubation in the man until it was transferred to the woman. When it says that Jesus Christ breathed into man the breath of lives (plural) there were two lives being placed in Adam — Adam’s own soul, which was bara, and the woman’s soul which was also bara, because the woman was not structured on the sixth day. This came much later. And yet it says, “Male and female created he them.” Jesus Christ created the soul of both. And when from the body of man a rib was taken and on that woman was bana — built, constructed — her soul was bara’d . But everything was created on the sixth day and the woman did not come into existence until some days later. So that her soul was taken out and placed in her body. The woman has a soul which responds to her right man. She also has a body which responds to her right man. The body is the Church. The body of the woman was designed to respond to the man. Now, the body of Christ is designed to respond to Jesus Christ who is the head of the Church. However, the woman also has a brain, a soul. Actually, the brain or the soul should dictate to the woman and when she is properly organised it does. In this analogy the brain is the pastor-teacher. Jesus Christ as the head of the Church communicates to the body of Christ through the pastor-teacher. In the analogy of the body the whole purpose of the body is to be filled, to respond, and all believers are designed to respond to Bible doctrine. This is fulfilled by the function of GAP.

            “the church,” e)kklhsia is also feminine. So the word “body” is a designation of the Church to indicate believers on the earth — it is a woman’s body here; a responding believer responding to doctrine.

 

            The doctrine of the Church

            1. There are several ways of designating the Church by way of technical nomenclature.

                        a) The most important from the standpoint of our early understanding is the phrase “in Christ” which occurs innumerable times in the New Testament. “In Christ” is positional sanctification. One of the 36 things every believer receives at the point of salvation is to enter into union with Christ. The baptism of the Holy Spirit takes the believer and enters him into union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That makes the believer “church.”

                        b) The second designation is the word “body.” It is the body of a woman, a responding body. The body of the “woman” is designed to respond to the mind of Christ and/or Bible doctrine.

                        c) The third word is “church,” e)kklhsia, and it is used in the scripture in five different ways:

                        A. The word e)kklhsia comes from the Classical Greek. It means a convocation of people and it was used in the Classical Greek in Athens for the assembly of the citizens. Some 30,000 Athenians would get together to vote under a democracy. This is the way we occasionally find it used, for example in the book of Acts, Acts 19:25 we actually have the Attic Greek use of e)kklhsia, people meeting together for legislation, to run a city state.

                        B. Acts 7:38, we have the assembly of the Jews called e)kklhsia.

                        C. There is also in Matthew 18:17 e)kklhsia used with reference to a synagogue, so the word was used when the Jews got together for worship.

                        D. The universal church, all believers. This is one of two technical uses, Ephesians 1:22,23; 5:25-27; Colossians 1:18.

                        E. The local church, the use is also technical — believers in a specific geographical area meeting under a pastor-teacher. Two things are involved. They have one pastor-teacher and they meet in a specific geographical area.

            2. The dispensational orientation. Dispensationally, the Church is called a mystery age. The Church is called a mystery in Romans 16:25,26; Colossians 1:25-27; Ephesians 3:1-5. What does the word “mystery” mean? The Greek word musthrion refers to a form of doctrine in a Greek fraternity which was unknown outside of the fraternity. The mysteries were the doctrines of a fraternity which were only known to those who were initiated. This word in its meaning is modified in the new Testament to refer to the whole body of doctrine of the Church Age. The Rapture of the Church is a point in that body of doctrine, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the universal priesthood of the believer, the believer being an ambassador for Christ, the universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the act that Christ indwells every believer in this age. All of this is a part of a body of doctrine and this body of doctrine was a mystery never revealed in the Old Testament times. The Old Testament talks about the death of Christ but that was in the Age of Israel. It talks about the resurrection of Christ but that was in the Age of Israel. it talks about the ascension of Christ and the session of Christ; that occurred in the Age of Israel. The Church Age did not begin until 10 days after the ascension and session of Christ. From the ascension the Old Testament skips over to the Tribulation, to the second advent, to the Millennium, and an occasional passage on the eternal state. But there is nothing in the Old Testament about the Church Age. It was a mystery, the doctrines of the Church age were unknown to the Old Testament writers, to the believers of the Old Testament. The Church Age information was never even revealed until Jesus Christ in His upper room discourse and in the Garden of Gethsemane discourse actually gave the first information. The first prophecy of the Church came from Jesus Christ: “On this rock I will build my church” in the future tense. It is not until we get into the epistles that there is any real revelation with regard to Church doctrine. Until the writers of the epistles there was no general information.

            This is important to understand, so important that the doctrine of the mystery has many applications. When Peter was speaking on the day of Pentecost how was he going to explain to Jewish unbelievers that here were Jews, believers, who had just entered a new dispensation? They had just had the baptism of the Holy Spirit, had been entered into union with Christ, and were responding to this new truth. How was he going to explain that these people were not drunk? He has to take them back to the book of Joel which they do understand and say this is like what is going to happen in Joel. The Joel passage is future, it is Millennial spirituality. Peter says it is like that. In other words, it is spiritual phenomena, not drunkenness. So he takes them to a Millennial passage dealing with spiritual phenomena where the Holy Spirit is related to it. This shows that Peter himself had to use something not in the mystery section.

            3. The beginning of the Church Age is the day of Pentecost — Acts chapter 2, probably 30 AD. There are three concepts under the beginning of the Church Age:

                        a) It was future from the time of Jesus Christ on earth. We know this from the future tense of Matthew 16:18. We have the Greek verb o)ikodomhsw, “I will build,” future active indicative. The future tense indicates that the Church did not exist at the time that Christ spoke and that it was future from the time that Christ spoke in Matthew 16:18. This is to head of that concept of theology that there was a church in the Old Testament. This is a confusion of Israel and the Church. The Church actually began for the first time in human history when the baptism of the Spirit began. We also know that in Acts 1:5 the Church had not begun yet, “John truly baptised with water; but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days hence,” 10 days later. So when Jesus spoke these words the baptism of the Spirit had not occurred even then. it was not until the departure of Jesus Christ that the Church actually began.

                        b) The way in which the Church started — 1 Corinthians 12:12,13. The historical moment was Acts 2:1-3 Cf Acts 11:15,16.

                        c) Date. The best date seems to be 30 AD. It began on the day of Pentecost, on the feast of Pentecost, literally.

            4. The termination of the Church Age.

                        a) The Rapture is the end of the Church Age, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. That describes the Rapture but it doesn’t say that is where the end is. How do we know that the Rapture is the end?

                        b) By comparing Colossians 2:14,15 with Revelation 19:6-8; Zechariah 13:2 and 1 Thessalonians 3:13. By putting these four passages together we learn something. We learn that at the second advent the Church comes back with Christ. But for the Church to come back with Christ had to be in heaven. Obviously the Church cannot be in heaven and be in the Tribulation at the same time, so it had to be moved out at some point. By putting all these things together it is very easy to come to the correct conclusion that the Church was removed before the Jewish Age was concluded, and that the Church came back to terminate the Jewish Age.

            5. Synonyms. There are a number of synonyms for the Church, seven are outstanding. They all represent a different doctrine.

                        a) The last Adam and the new creation, Galatians 6:15; 1 Corinthians 15:45-47; 2 Corinthians 5:17.

                        b) The head and the body, Ephesians 1:22,23; 2:16; 5:23; 4:4,5; Colossians 1:24; 2:19.

                        c) The shepherd and the sheep, John 10; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 5:4.

                        d) An eschatological synonym, the vine and the branches, John 15.

                        e) The chief cornerstone and the stones of the building, Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:4-8.

                        f) The high priesthood of Christ and the royal priesthood of the believer, Hebrews 7:25; 10:10-14; 1 Peter 2:5,9; Revelation 1:6.

                        g) The bridegroom and the bride, 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25,27; Revelation 19:6-8.

            6. The uniqueness of the Church Age.

                        a) The baptism of the Spirit and positional sanctification.

                        b) The universal indwelling of Christ. (No Old Testament saint was ever indwelt by Christ)

                        c) The universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit (All Old Testament saints were not indwelt by the Holy Spirit, just a few temporarily for special jobs)

                        d) The universal priesthood of the believer.

                        e) Every believer is an ambassador for Christ, therefore every believer represent s Christ on the earth. Therefore every believer is in full time Christian service.

                        f) The intensification of the angelic conflict.

                        g) A supernatural way of life with a supernatural means of execution.

                        h) A completed canon of scripture with every bit of divine revelation in writing. No extra biblical revelation once the canon is completed.

            7. An illustration of Christ and the Church which comes from the right man, right woman doctrine. So the relationship between Christ and the Church is illustrated by the doctrine of right man, right woman, Ephesians 5:25-32.

 

            “who,” the relative pronoun o(j referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. The antecedent of o(j is Jesus Christ.

            “is,” again we have the present active indicative of e)imi, “who keeps on being.”

            “the beginning,” this is interesting because the noun here is a)rxh. The word “beginning” here is a little different from John 1:1. Here it refers to the first cause, it is used for the ultimate ruler, “who keeps on being the first cause [of the Church].” He is not only the supreme ruler of the Church, the head, but He is the first cause.

            “the firstborn from the dead,” the first cause goes to the cross where He purchased His body, the Church. The firstborn refers to His double portion and all other factors of leadership, prwtotokoj which refers to three things: rulership, priesthood, and double portion. Hence, this is the privilege of leadership. Under the privilege of leadership Christ is the ruler of the Church, He is the high priest of the Church, and He has a double portion in the body of Christ.

            “from the dead” is literally, “out from the source of the dead,” e)k, the preposition meaning out from the source of, and nekroj refers to the physical death of Christ. It is interesting to note that nekroj generally refers to the physical death of Christ; qanatoj refers to the spiritual death of Christ on the cross. There is often a distinction. Some passage do not make a distinction but some passages do. This is physical death; resurrection is out from physical death. The resurrection gives Christ the privilege of the firstborn. There is only one member of the human race who has been resurrected, Christ the firstfruits. No one else at this time. There has been enough elapse of time to establish, therefore, He is the firstborn of the Church. He is the first person of the Church to have a resurrection body and that gives Him the firstborn privileges.

            “that” introduces a purpose clause, i(na; “he might have,” aorist middle subjunctive of ginomai which means to become something you were not before. Jesus Christ before and in eternity was God. Now He has become something else to the Church. The aorist tense is a constantive aorist, it means he always will be. The middle voice: the subject is benefited by the action of the verb, the subject acts upon himself.

            “the preeminence,” present active participle of prwteuw which means to have the highest or first rank — “that he might become the holder of the highest rank.”

            Translation: “And he is the head of the body, the church; himself who is the first cause of the church, the privileged firstborn out from the dead; that he might become the holder of the highest rank [in the Church].”

            Verse 19, “For” is the Greek word o(ti which is the word for “because.” Because Christ is the focal point of the Father’s plan we have the following three verses.

            “it pleased,” aorist active indicative of e)udokew. The word actually means to be pleased, to determine or to resolve. Here it means to determine.

            “that,” used to express a purpose clause. The word is coming from he infinitive; “all,” the subject of the infinitive; “the fullness,” this gives us our technical word that summarises everything that we have had about Jesus Christ , plhrwma. The word generally means “fullness” and that is the way it is translated here. While it is a word which is technical in the vocabulary and theology of Christianity it was also technical in the field of gnosticism. In gnosticism it was used for the word for heaven. It is used here for that which fills to the point of completion, that is, the sum total of something. It should be translated here “the quintessence of blessing.”

            “Because in him [Christ] he [the Father] determined that all [the quintessence of blessing] should dwell,” aorist active infinitive of katoikew which means to have permanent residence. The aorist tense is the point of time at which the believer takes in doctrine. The active voice indicates that the subject, Jesus Christ, is the quintessence of divine blessing and happiness. The infinitive expresses God’s purpose in eternity past.

            Translation: “Because in him [Christ] he [God the Father] has determined with pleasure that all the quintessence of blessing and happiness should have permanent residence [in Christ].”

            All blessing, all happiness, everything worthwhile in Christ in time is related to the person of Jesus Christ.

            In order to orient to this principle a doctrine is used as the background: reconciliation. We orient to the plan of God through the doctrine of reconciliation.

            Verse 20, “And having made peace through the blood of his cross.” Since the quintessence of grace resides in Christ, since all the fullness of being a saviour resides permanently in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as the God-Man, therefore the importance of the doctrine of reconciliation whereby Jesus Christ removes the barrier between God and man.

            “having made peace” is an aorist active participle of a compound verb, e)irhnopoiew. Poiew means to make or to do; e)irhnw means peace. So it literally means to make peace or to establish harmony between two parties, generally two parties that are at war with each other. This is the concept of the doctrine of reconciliation. The two parties at war in this concept are God and man. Man is reconciled to God on the basis of the work of Christ on the cross. Therefore reconciliation is the removal of the barrier between God and man. Christ on the cross removed the barrier so that man is brought into eternal relationship with God. This is an aorist participle and the action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb. “Having made peace” is the main verb.

            “through his blood,” dia plus the genitive of a(ima. The greatest problem with the use of the word “blood” in the Bible is the detrimental influence of Romanism. The Roman Catholic church has taken the concept of the blood and turned it into a form of mysticism. This mysticism has been adopted by fundamentalist Christianity without really giving much thought to the subject. As a result, today we have a whole generation of fundamentalist preachers who can give a half-dozen clichés about the blood but they cannot give any biblical concept of the blood.

 

            The doctrine of the blood

            1. The blood is the seat of animal life, Leviticus 17:10-14. The first use of blood in the scripture has to do with animals. The life of the flesh being in the blood refers to animal life. An animal dies by bleeding to death. This is not true of human life, the seat of human life is in the soul.

            2. Animal blood was used in the Old Testament sacrifices to represent the spiritual death of Christ on the cross. The spiritual death of Christ on the cross bearing our sins is the one which is related to the animal blood on the altar, not His physical death. This is taught in Leviticus 1-3 in which we find a representative analogy. Hebrews 10:19; 13:20; 1 Peter 1:2.

            3. The doctrine of redemption was communicated in Old Testament times by means of animal sacrifices, Hebrews 9:22 belongs to the Old Testament; it has nothing to do with after the cross, it has to do with prior to the cross.

            4. Christ did not die on the cross by bleeding to death, John 19:30, 33,34. The physical death of Christ on the cross occurred as an act of His own volition, not by bleeding, John 10:18. After His work of salvation was completed the mission of our Lord on the earth was completed for the first advent and therefore He dismissed His spirit, Luke 23:46; Matthew 27:50. When Christ died physically His blood was still in His body, John 19:34.

            5. Therefore the blood of Christ is a part of a representative analogy, an analogy between the physical death the animals in the Old Testament and the spiritual death of Christ on the cross bearing our sins. The spiritual death of Christ on the cross bearing our sins is portrayed in 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24. In other words, the sins of the world were poured out upon Christ and judged. That is representative of the animal being judged. The animal was judged by physical death; Christ was judged by spiritual death.

            6. The blood of Christ, then, is used to depict four doctrines of soteriology: expiation, Revelation 1:5. We are actually freed from the guilt and the penalty of sin by the fact that Christ took our place and was actually judged for our future sins as well as our past; redemption, Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18,19; justification, Romans 5:9. We are vindicated by the imputation of God’s righteousness, by the fact that we have believed in the efficacious sacrifice of Christ, His spiritual death bearing our sins; sanctification, Hebrews 13:12. 7. The blood of Christ in expiation is also the basis for the rebound technique. This is a comparison of 1 John 1:7 with 1 John 1:9. This is talking about the believer’s sins. Leviticus chapters 4,5 and a couple of verses in 6 are actually rebound offerings. The first three deal with salvation, the last two deal with rebound.

 

            “by him,” dia plus the genitive of a)utoj. That means “through him,” and it is in the emphatic position and means through him and only through him.

            “to reconcile,” the aorist active infinitive of a)pokatallassw. A)po is the preposition of ultimate source; katallassw means to change, exchange, or reconcile. Combined together, a)pokatallassw means to reconcile from the ultimate source of self, therefore to transfer from one state to another which is completely different. Eventually the etymology of this verb becomes technical in Christian vocabulary and in Christian doctrine. It is a technical verb for the work of Christ in salvation, the work of Christ whereby He removes the barrier between God and man so that man is brought into spiritual harmony and spiritual fellowship with God forever. The aorist tense is a reference to the point of the cross and is a constantive aorist. All of this occurred on the cross. The active voice: the subject is Jesus Christ, he produces the action of the verb. Jesus Christ removed the barrier between God and man. The infinitive expresses purpose. God’s purpose in this infinitive is understood by going back to verse 19.

            “all things,” ta panta, “the all things.” This refers both to elect angels and regenerate mankind. Reconciliation is the crossroads of the angelic conflict.

            “unto himself,” e)ij plus the reflexive pronoun a)utoj, “toward himself.” A)utoj is used here as an intensive pronoun. The intensive pronoun always emphasises identity in the Greek. Here is an emphasis on the identity of Jesus Christ as the God-Man, the only saviour, and the unique person of the universe.

            “by him” is dia plus the genitive of a)utoj, “by himself.”

            “things in earth” refers to mankind; “things in heaven” refers to angelic creation.

            Translation following the word order of the Greek: “And through him [God the Father] to reconcile the all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him and only through him; whether things on earth or things in the heavens.”

 

            The doctrine of reconciliation

            1. While redemption is sinward and propitiation is Godward, reconciliation is manward. Therefore by definition reconciliation is the removal of the barrier between God and man. It is often called “peace”, the removal of enmity between God and man. So peace is often a technical word in the Bible.

            2. Reconciliation is related to the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ is a synonym for the saving work of Christ on the cross. The blood of Christ is therefore the basis for reconciliation, Colossians 1:20. Therefore the work of Christ on the cross and/or the blood of Christ is associated with reconciliation, Ephesians 2:16.

            3. Reconciliation is related to man. In concept of reconciliation mankind is regarded as the enemy of God, Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21.

            4. Peace is the synonym for reconciliation. Reconciliation finds man the enemy of God, but the saving work of Christ on the cross brings peace between God and man, Cf. Ephesians 2:14 to 2:16, and Colossians 1:20. 5. Reconciliation is portrayed in the Levitical offerings — the peace offering, Leviticus chapter three depicts the doctrine of reconciliation and/or Christ removing the barrier between man and God. This is also taught in Leviticus 7:11-38; 8:15.

            6. The application of reconciliation to the royal family. Every member of the royal family [Church Age believer] is an ambassador, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20.

            7. The prophecy of reconciliation. The fact that Christ would literally remove the barrier by His saving work on the cross and/or His expiatory sacrifice, and/or the blood of Christ, is prophesied — Isaiah 57:19.

            8. The mechanics of reconciliation. There are six: a) Sin is removed from the barrier by unlimited atonement and redemption. The doctrine of unlimited atonement simply says Christ died for everyone’s sins. Redemption is the actual mechanic of removing sins. Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree. Unlimited atonement, 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15, 19; 1 Timothy 2:6; 4:10; Titus 2:11; Hebrews 2:9; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:2. Redemption, Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18,19. b) The penalty of sin is removed from the barrier by expiation, Colossians 2:14; amplified in Psalm 22:1-6. Expiation simply means Christ paid the penalty of sin and that is what the blood of Christ is all about. He is an expiatory sacrifice. c) The problem of physical birth is removed from the barrier by regeneration, John 3:1-18; 1 Peter 1:23; Titus 3:5. d) relative righteousness or human good is removed from the barrier by two factors connected with the cross: imputation and justification. Imputation, Romans 3:22; 9:30-10:10; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9; Hebrews 10:14. Justification, Romans 4:1-5, 25; 5:1; 8:29,30; Galatians 2:16; Titus 3:7. Imputation must come first, it is crediting to our account God’s righteousness. Once +R is credited to our account God looks over and says, “Vindicated” and/or “Justified.” e) The problem of God’s perfect character is removed from the barrier by propitiation, Romans 3:22-26; 1 John 2:1,2. f) The problem of position in Adam is removed from the barrier by positional sanctification, 1 Corinthians 15:22, “In Adam all die, in Christ shall all be made alive”; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 1:3-6.

 

            Verse 21, “And you” is a plural proleptic pronoun in the emphatic position, “And you all.” This is in the accusative case and becomes the subject of the aorist infinitive which is the word “present.” Technically the accusative with the infinitive is not properly the subject of the infinitive but is called the accusative of reference and is used to describe persons connected with an action. You are now connected with an action because you are a believer. The action is the cross.

            “that were,” the present active participle of e)imi, you kept on being something in the past.

            “alienated,” perfect passive participle a)pallotriow. Alienated here means to be in a state of enmity.

            “And you [and only you] at one time being in a state of alienation.”

            “and enemy,” e)xqroj in the plural, one of the stronger words for enemies in the Greek language. You and I as unbelievers are the enemy of God. Every unbeliever is the enemy of God — by action, but also in his mentality.

            “enemies in your mind,” “hostile in your thinking,” dianoia. Unbelievers are the enemies of God, Romans 5:10; Ephesians 2:11-15. This hostility and alienation is found in the mind and is caused by the unbeliever’s negative volition toward the gospel, as per 2 Peter 2:20-22. This passage refers specifically to the gospel in e)pignwsij form being rejected. Therefore the attitude of mind or thought pattern of the human viewpoint results in negative volition toward the gospel and eventually emotional revolt of the soul in the unbeliever, and eventually reversionism. But this is true of these people, the Colossians, only to the extent that it is a past part of their biography; it is not true.

            “by wicked works,” e)n plus the instrumental of ponhroj. The instrumental indicates means, “by means of wicked [worthless] works.” In other words, by human good. Human good is produced from human viewpoint as well as the area of strength of the old sin nature. Hostility of thinking toward God produces human good.

            “yet now,” nuni de means “but now.” Contrast between saved and unsaved. Now on the other side of the barrier.

            “hath he reconciled,” aorist active indicative of a)pokatallassw. 

 

            Summary

            1. “But now hath he reconciled.” This is the aorist active indicative of a)pokatalassw. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, so it is a permanent thing that has happened to you. You are once and for all reconciled. The active voice: God did the reconciling — grace. The indicative mood is the reality that in salvation you have crossed the line and you cannot move back.

            2. To reconcile from the ultimate source means to transfer from one state to another which is completely different. But it is not only different, it is permanent.

            3. We are transferred from a state of alienation and hostility to a state of harmony and fellowship with God through the work of Christ, specifically the work of Christ in removing the barrier.

            4. The aorist tense: Christ removed the barrier between God and man. This point of time is divorced from time and perpetuated forever, it is a completed action — 2 Corinthians 5:21.

            5. The verb as an active voice: Christ did the work on the cross, it is completed, nothing can ever be added to it, By way of crossing the barrier you do not work in crossing the barrier, the barrier is removed. There is no barrier between man and God. You simply believe in Christ and that is non-meritorious. That is grace.

            6. The indicative mood is the reality of Christ removing the barrier between man and God, and thus establishing reconciliation.

            7. The mechanics of reconciliation are further amplified in the rest of the sentence which overflows into the next verse.

 

            Verse 22, “In the body of his flesh through the death.” “In the body of his flesh” is not quite correct, it is “by means of the body of his flesh,” e)n plus the instrumental of swma. Christ had to have a human body to reconcile man to God or to remove the barrier.

            “of his flesh,” the genitive of sarc, and this is a genitive of description. Christ was true humanity. Now we come to one death only, we do not have death in the plural here.

            “through death,” dia plus the genitive of qanatoj which only refers to one death, His spiritual death. When it comes to His physical death we have nekroj.

            “to present you,” here is the objective, the aorist active infinitive of paristhmi. This word is used in Romans 12:1 for presenting your body a living sacrifice, here is means to consecrate. The aorist tense means to present or consecrate in the point of time when you believe because 36 things are accomplished at that moment which consecrates you. The active voice means that Christ does this through removing the barrier, and the infinitive denotes God’s purpose. It is God’s purpose that at the moment we believed everything that we would need for salvation would exist at that moment. So salvation is never an issue again.

            “holy,” a(gioj means set apart, what God did at the point of salvation; “unblameable,” the accusative plural of a)mwmoj which means without blame; “unreprovable” or literally, “irreproachable,” a)negklhtoj.

            “in the sight of him,” “in the presence of him,” katenwpion. All of us are katenwpion at the point of salvation, “in the presence of him.”

            Translation: “But now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through the death [spiritual], because in him [Christ] he [the Father] has determined with pleasure to present all of you consecrated, without blame, irreproachable, in his presence.”

            This verse must be linked with verse 19. Take the last phrase in verse 21, “but now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death,” then we have to put a parenthesis in here, which is verse 19 — “because in him [Christ] the Father has determined with pleasure” to do all the things of verse 19,20,21, 22.  

            Verses 23 to the end of the chapter deal with the communicators of the plan of God. This passage is parallel to the one found in Ephesians chapter four, verses 11-13, where we have the purpose of the ministry.

            Verse 23, the purpose of the gift of pastor-teacher. “If” indicates a first class condition here, e)i plus the indicative mood. The first class condition here means the prodasis is true or assumed to be true.

            “ye continue,” the present active indicative from the compound verb e)pimenw. Menw means to abide; epi means “upon.” Put the two together and it means to prolong your stay, to persist in something. Here is means to persist. The idea here is to persist in the daily function of GAP.

            “in the faith” is the locative of pistij, and it has with it the definite article. This means doctrine, that which is believed. “If you persist in the doctrine,” first class condition, (and you do). This is going back to the fact that they are taking in Bible doctrine every day in the first century. The purpose of the ministry is to communicate doctrine daily. ICE communication is vitally necessary for a daily intake of the Word of God. The purpose of the ministry is not to run around and do things, but to communicate the Word of God to the flock, or any portion of the flock who is positive. So the shepherd feeds the sheep. That is his responsibility. The sheep, then, must persist in doctrine.

            “grounded,” perfect passive participle of qemeliow which means to lay a foundation. Having laid a foundation refers to the communication of basic doctrine and the simpler doctrines on which the deeper doctrines are constructed. The perfect tense means that you start out with simpler things and move to complex things. This is laying the foundation, “having laid the foundation.” The passive voice indicates that Bible doctrine received is a foundation for learning more Bible doctrine. The participle indicates the principle. As you begin to learn Bible doctrine your life becomes stabilised.

            “settled,” an adjective, e)draioj which means stabilised, “both stabilised.” This is an adjective form which gives it great emphasis. Stability is important in life and it is necessary really to advance in Bible doctrine. There comes a point in your life when you as a believer have been taking in doctrine regularly and you have learned basically the simpler doctrines of Christianity. Once you have learned these you must have out of that a stability that makes you go on. You do not move on into advanced doctrine without stability, you do not remain consistent without stability. It takes stability to stick it out because in advanced doctrine there are many things which are not of personal interest to you at the moment, they have no apparent application at the moment.

            “and not moved away,” the present passive participle continues the verb line here. The word here is metakinew. Meta means with, or toward here; kinew means to move. We also have with it the negative mh, and the combination of the negative and the two words, the preposition and the verb found in the compound verb, mean “not to swerve,” “and not swerving.” Unstable people swerve away after they get basic doctrine. The real issue as to whether you are going to move on in the Christian life is determined after you learn basics or have some concept of basics. At that point you either swerve off into reversionism or its equivalent, or you persist in the daily function of GAP. It takes stability for stability becomes necessary to stay with it. Unstable people swerve; stable believers keep going with Bible doctrine.

              “from the hope,” the preposition is a)po which is ultimate source, and e)lpij which really does not mean hope, it means “confidence,” “from the ultimate source of the confidence of the gospel.”

            “the gospel,” the good news concerning the fact that when Christ was on the cross our sins were poured out upon him and they were judged, and that this was the work of Christ in salvation. Faith must have a working object and Christ is the working object of faith in salvation. This is compatible with grace, Ephesians 2:8,9. So grace means Christ did the work. Faith means man in appropriating the work of Christ cannot do any work. But this says “the confidence of the gospel.” Grace is the confidence of the gospel, and grace is a continuing factor in our realisation and in reality as we function daily under GAP. So GAP makes grace a reality.

            So literally, “If you persist in the doctrine having laid the foundation, being stabilised and not being swayed away from the ultimate source of confidence in the gospel.”

            Believers cannot do this on their own.

            “which ye have heard,” a reminder that all sheep learn through hearing. Someone teaches. “Which” is a relative pronoun referring to the gospel; “ye have heard” is an aorist active indicative of a)kouw. This means to hear and recognise the authority of, to hear and to concentrate. The aorist tense is a constantive aorist, it takes into account that you heard today, tomorrow, the next, the next, and so on , and they are all gathered into a single whole. The active voice: every believer priest must GAP it for himself. The indicative mood indicates the reality of the availability of doctrine and the reality of positive volition toward it.

            “and was preached,” aorist passive participle from khrussw which means to be publicly proclaimed. The aorist tense means that the principle of the gospel you have heard many times. The passive voice: you received this information; “to every creature,” “to all creation.” The gospel has been proclaimed to all creatures, mankind. This is e)n plus the locative and indicates that “creatures” here are of a special kind — mankind. In every generation everyone has a chance to hear the gospel.

            “under heaven” is literally, “under the heaven” referring to planet earth where man lives as an extension of the angelic conflict.    

            “whereof” is literally, “in which”; “I Paul,” e)gw Pauloj, the human author of this epistle; “am made a minister.” He wasn’t made a minister, he became one — the aorist middle indicative of ginomai which means to become a minister. Paul became a minister in a special way, but how do ministers become ministers today? First of all they are sheep in a congregation. But at the point of salvation they had a spiritual gift of pastor-teacher. This does not in any way distinguish them from the other sheep except that only males have it. Once this gift is there, for it to develop there must be the function under GAP. So this sheep, like other sheep, GAPs it to a certain point where he begins to get an ECS. Then he keeps on GAPing it and learns one day that he has this spiritual gift. He learns it in a local church. He goes from sheep to pastor through the function of doctrine. he has to persist in doctrine like everyone else. Every believer to reach the place where God wants him must take in doctrine.

            The word “minister” is different from “pastor.” The word is diakonoj and it means a pastor functioning.

            Verse 24, the attitude of the ministry. What kind of an attitude must a pastor have? Because of his intense preparation and because of something else that is required of him his attitude is described by the word xairw, “rejoice.” The word “who” is not found in the original. He says, “Now I rejoice,” there is no “who rejoice.” Instead of “who” there is nun, an adverb which means “now.” “Having become a minister I now rejoice.” The present active indicative indicates he keeps on rejoicing — xairw is to have +H.

            Notice the area in which Paul has +H, “in my sufferings.” It is inevitable that a pastor will suffer on behalf of the congregation. We have the preposition e)n plus the locative plural of paqhma, “in the sphere of my sufferings.”

            “for you,” literally, “on your behalf,” u(per u(mwn. He suffers on behalf of the congregations. This phrase also has a specialised sense. It means that Paul’s first Roman imprisonment now becomes something of personal benefit to the Colossians. Remember that Paul suffered the Roman imprisonment because he violated his pastoral responsibilities, because he went to the wrong place.

            “and fill up,” the present active indicative of a)ntanaplhrow. This is taken from the preposition a)nti, “instead of” or “against”; a)na means “again.” (Plhrow means to fill up a deficiency, to fully possess, to fully influence, to fill with a certain quality) This means to take one’s turn to fill up a deficiency, to take one’s turn to fill up with a certain quality, to take one’s turn to fully influence. it means that from the beginning of time God has provided communicator’s of doctrine to fill up the deficiency, to fill with a certain quality, to fully influence believers with Bible doctrine. In the Old Testament these people were called prophets, and priests also taught the written Word. In the New Testament we have apostles and pastors, and Paul takes his turn again to communicate the doctrine. This is what he is saying. So “fill up” here, a)ntanaplhrow, means to take his turn once again. he has recovered from reversionism.

            “that which is behind” are the things lacking. it is now Paul’s turn again, as he writes Colossians, to take up the slack. This is an accusative plural from u(sterhma and it means “the things lacking.” The deficiency in Colosse is doctrine.

            “of the afflictions,” genitive plural of qliysij and it means “pressures.” This is a genitive of reference and it means with reference to the pressures of Christ. In other words, the deficiency here refers to a doctrinal deficiency, to meet the same pressures which Christ met during the incarnation. Note that qliyij does not refer to the cross but to the pressures Christ endured prior to the cross; “of Christ,” tou qeou, and he faced them in doctrine.

            “in my flesh,” this refers to Paul’s human body in phase two. Paul was not removed by his reversion, he did not suffer the sin unto death. He is still in the flesh and therefore in the flesh he is going to continue his ministry.

            “for his body’s sake,” u(per tou swmatoj a)utou. U(per means “on behalf of” his body’s sake. The body here refers to the Church on earth. The body on earth needs doctrine; a body needs food; the body of Christ on earth needs food. The main ingredient of the body of Christ on earth is the feeding of food and this is accomplished through the pastor.

            Translation: “Now I rejoice in the sufferings on your behalf, and fill up in turn the deficiency with reference to the pressures of Christ in my flesh on behalf of his body, which is the Church.”

 

            Principle

            1. Christ faced His pressures with doctrine.

            2. Paul faced his pressures with doctrine.

            3. The entire body of Christ during the Church Age is benefited by Paul’s pressures.

            4. Colossians is an illustration of communicating doctrine under pressure.

            5. All communicator’s of doctrine face the occupational hazard of discouragement, depression, disillusion, disenchantment with people. All communicator’s of doctrine face the potentialities of cynicism.

            6. Through doctrine learned and communicated the attitude of the ministry is +H, “I now rejoice.”

            7. The expectation of the ministry is pressure, but the attitude of the ministry is +H or joy.

           

            This brings us now to the dispensational orientation to the ministry. Paul now understand s that he must become dispensational in his teaching.

            Verse 25, “Whereof” is a genitive singular form of the relative pronoun o(j and it should be “Of which.” This is in the feminine gender, so we go back and look for a feminine noun as its antecedent. it is e)kklhsia of the previous verse. “The body [His Church] of which.”

            Now he repeats, “I am made a minister,” the aorist middle participle of ginomai, “I have become.” The aorist tense means that once and for all this is his job. This is the point of time when he received his spiritual gift. he went through the training and eventually was recognised, but this whole thing is taken out of time and perpetuated forever. Paul always had the gift. The middle voice means that Paul has it himself and he is benefited. The indicative mood is the reality of the authority of the one who has the gift of pastor-teacher.

            “minister,” diakonoj, which means he has the responsibility of ministering to these people as long as he lives.  

            “according to,” the preposition kata which denotes norm and standard. Kata meant “down” originally, and still does under certain circumstances. It often means “with reference to.” When it is translated “according to” it means according to the norm or standard.

            “of the dispensation of God,” the word “dispensation” is o)ikonomia which refers to an historical period of time from the divine viewpoint. God has divided history into sections and the divine outline of history is the dispensational teaching. The genitive is of possession here and it is “the dispensation of the God,” o( qeoj. God owns the dispensations, they belong to Him.

            “which,” there is no “which” in the original. It is an aorist passive participle of didomi and should be translated “having been given.” The aorist tense, again, goes back to his spiritual gift. The passive voice: he received it.

            “for you,” now we have e)ij which is directional, “on behalf of you, for you, for the purpose of you.” Paul was given doctrine under his gift for the purpose of communicating. So we have the concept of “for the purpose of communicating it to you.”

            “to fulfill” is the communication word here, the aorist active infinitive of plhrow. The constantive aorist here is the time when doctrine is taught. The active voice: the pastor does the teaching. The infinitive: it is God’s purpose to teach. To fulfill the ministry is to study and teach.

            Plhrow means four things: a) to fill up a deficiency; b) to fully possess. God intends for you to fully possess doctrine in order that you might communicate it to others; c) to fully influence. God intends that the pastor-teachers influence will be in the teaching of the Word; d) it also means to fill with a certain quality and doctrine is the quality which fills the sheep when the pastor teaches.

            “the word of God,” a reference to Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine must be taught to the congregation.

            Translation: “Of which [Church Age] I have become a minister according to the standard of the dispensation of God, having been given to you [for your advantage] for the purpose of communicating it to you to fill up the deficiency of the Word of God.”

            A passage which summarises the general function of the pastor-teacher — Ephesians 4:11 “And he gave some” refers to a few people in the Church Age. This indicates a specialised gift to implement the deficiency of doctrine — “apostles” before the canon of scripture was completed and every writer of the New Testament was either an apostle or one closely associated with an apostle, like Luke; “and prophets,” the communication gift taken from the Old Testament which was temporary until the New Testament was completed; “some evangelists” — the communicators of a special type of doctrine, namely the gospel, and therefore a specialised gift without authority in the local church. Then the gift which is pertinent to our study in Colossians, “and pastors and teachers.” The word “and” here is really like a Greek hyphen, it means “pastors-teachers.” The word “pastors” is the accusative plural of poimhn to indicate there is more than one in the Church Age, and the word simply means “shepherd.” The sheep are believers on earth and the shepherd has charge or authority over them. The word “teacher” indicates the function — didaskoloj which means to teach a group. In this way the privacy of the individual believer priest is protected. So the two words go together. One is the function of the ministry and one is the authority of the ministry. The pastor-teacher is the final authority and his only job is communication.

 

            The doctrine of the pastor

            1. The word “minister,” diakonoj, is used in three ways in the scripture. it is generally translated “minister” but is used in a political sense for the leader of state in Romans 13:4. it is used in a general sense for the universal ministry of the believer. Every believer is in full time Christian service, 2 Corinthians 3:6; 4:1; 5:18; 6:3. it is also used in that sense in Ephesians 4:12. It is used in a third way in a specialised way for the pastor of the local church, 1 Corinthians 3:5; Ephesians 3:7; Colossians 1:23, 25; 4:7; 1 Thessalonians 3:2; 1 Timothy 1:12.

            2. The three identifying words for the pastor. The first of these is presbuteroj from which we get the English word “Presbyterian.” It means literally, “old man” and it has to do with rank and authority. The “old man” in our English use refers to the company commander, the captain of a ship, or the aircraft commander, indicating rank and authority, not necessarily age. A second word is e)piskopoj [e)pi = “over”; skopoj = to look]. To look over means to be the inspector general. This is also a word of rank and authority. it also gives the pastor the right and authority to stick his nose into the business of his congregation. However, this must be done with great care and delicacy. E)piskopoj means the overseer of a plantation. it is another word for rank and authority, only this time it emphasises the fact of actual rulership. The third noun is that hyphenated noun again, poimhn didaskoloj, and that is the primary function. The responsibility of the pastor is primarily to teach the Word of God, to communicate.

            3. Many times in scripture there are some indications that these words are interchangeable. One of the clearest declarations of that is Acts 20:17 cf 20:28. In verse 17 Paul calls the pastors from Ephesus for a conference. As these pastors come from Ephesus he calls them presbuteroj or elders. In verse 28 he calls them episkopoj or bishops. They are commanded to feed the flock also in that passage, and that is the verb poimainw. Also in 1 Peter 5:2 we have poimainw used in the aorist active imperative to indicate that the responsibility of the pastor is to feed the flock.

            4. The rulership and the authority of the pastor is also found outside of the etymology of Greek words. It is found in direct statements of scripture such as 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Hebrews 13:7,17.

            5. There is a right pastor for a right congregation, 1 Peter 5:2.

            6. The pastor is the total product of grace, and as such he gets double blessing when he functions under grace and he also gets double discipline when he fails to do so, 1 Timothy 1:12-16; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Ephesians 3:7.

            7. The general scripture regarding the pastor-teacher is found in Colossians 1:23-29; Ephesians 4:11-13; 1 Timothy 2:24-26; 3:1-9; Titus 1:6-9.

 

            Ephesians 4:12, we have three prepositional phrases denoting the purpose of the ministry. First of all we have proj. The next two are e)ij prepositions. The first one has to do with face to face teaching, proj plus the accusative means face to face with. The word “perfecting” is katartismoj and means to train for combat. The combat, of course, is the spiritual combat in the angelic conflict, as well as the one in the devil’s world. Face to face has to do with the training. It is the responsibility of the pastor-teacher to communicate so that believers are equipped for the combat. The next prepositional phrase is found with e)ij which denotes reference and amplifies the function of GAP, “for the work of the ministry.” E)rgon here refers to the function of divine good based on Bible doctrine. Faith must have a working object in phase two and doctrine is the working object. The ministry here refers to the function of every believer. Every believer is in full-time Christian service. He must function on doctrine, the communication of that doctrine is the responsibility of the pastor-teacher. The third phrase is also an e)ij phrase, “for the edifying of the body of Christ,” and this is a reference to the building of the ECS.

            Translation: “Face to face with the training and equipping of the saints for combat, for the production of the ministry for the edification of the body of Christ.”

            All of these things are totally dependent upon communication. It is the responsibility of the pastor-teacher to do this communicating. There is one classroom, the local church. There is one communicator, the pastor-teacher.

            Verse 13, the objective of these communication gifts continue. “Till” is an adverb, mexri. It means there are certain goals that can be reached in time and the adverb tells is this story; “we all” refers to all believers. The word “come” is not correctly translated, it is katantaw and it means to cross the goal line, to arrive at the objective.

            “in the unity” is “with reference to the unity.” The word “unity” here means consistency, consistency in the intake of doctrine and the use of doctrine; “the faith” is the whole system of doctrine.

            “and of the knowledge,” e)pignwsij. This is occupation with the person of Christ; “of the Son of God.”

            “unto a perfect man,” literally, “a mature nobleman,” e)ij a)nhr. Then again we have e)ij, “unto the measure,” the standard, the extent, the stature. This connotes full age, prime of life, it refers to the ECS of Christ; “of the fullness of Christ,” again refers to the ECS.

            Translation: “Until we all arrive at the objective with reference to the unity of the doctrine, and [occupation with Christ] the full knowledge of the Son of God, unto [the objective] a mature nobleman, unto the standard of the maturity of the full development of Christ.”

             Colossians 1:26-27, in two verses, the reason why all of your life you are going to be under a pastor-teacher.

            Verse 26, the reason is found in the first word “mystery,” musthrion. “The word of God” in the previous verse is the mystery. The noun musthrion was originally used to depict the doctrines and the secrets of one of the Greek fraternities of the ancient world. Here it refers to the classification of doctrine pertaining to the Church Age. The whole system of doctrine pertaining to the Church Age was totally unknown by any Old Testament prophet. No one in Old Testament times knew anything about the Church Age or could communicate it verbally or in written form. Therefore during the entire course of the Church Age there is an entire new realm of doctrine to be learned, and here is the responsibility of the pastor-teacher. The doctrine of the mystery is basically found in three passages: Colossians 1:26,26; Romans 16:25,26; Ephesians 3:1-5.

 

            The doctrine of the mystery

            1. The Greek word musthrion is derived from an Attic Greek noun musthj which refers to a person who was initiated into a Greek fraternity of the ancient world. It is also derived from a verb, muew which means to initiate, to instruct in the doctrines of a fraternity. The doctrines of a fraternity were secret, known only to those initiated. Jesus uses this Attic Greek word which, is based on even more ancient words, in Matthew 13:11 and Mark 4:10,11.

            2. As this noun is used in the Greek New Testament epistles, translated always “mystery,” it refers to Church Age doctrine, Ephesians 3:2-6. Church Age doctrine begins with the baptism of the Holy Spirit whereby in a point of time on the day of Pentecost all believers in Jerusalem were entered into union with Christ. Then from then on any person who was saved, and continuing throughout the Church Age, they are entered immediately into union with Christ. So the first doctrine of the Church Age has to do with the baptism of the Spirit or union with Christ, positional sanctification. It goes all the way to the Rapture of the Church.

            3. Mystery doctrine of the Church Age was not revealed in the Old Testament, Romans 16:25,26.

            4. Part of the mystery doctrine includes the blindness or hardness of Israel during the Church Age. This is a part of their fifth cycle of discipline, Romans 11:25.

            5. The mystery as Church Age doctrine is a part of the divine decrees in eternity past, 1 Corinthians 2:7. The whole content of mystery doctrine is a part of the divine decrees, 1 Corinthians 4:1.

            7. The Rapture of the Church is a part of the mystery doctrine, 1 Corinthians 15:51.

            8. Mystery doctrine is always related to the dispensation of the Church, Ephesians 1:9; 3:2.

            9. Mystery doctrine is understood through the daily function of GAP, Colossians 2:2; 1 Timothy 3:9. That function of GAP depends upon the communicating content of the pastor-teacher.

 

            “mystery,” is an apposition to the Word of God in the previous verse 25.

            “which hath been hid” is a perfect passive participle of the verb a)pokruptw. This is a compound verb, a)po is the preposition of ultimate source; kruptw means to hide. It means to conceal or hide from the ultimate source, therefore it means to conceal. It is in the perfect tense and the passive voice, it should be translated “having been concealed.”

            “from ages,” a)po twn a)iwnwn, “from the ages.” This means from the ultimate source of the ages and that means all previous dispensations. A)iwnwn means ages prior to the Church Age. Not only was it hidden from the two previous dispensations but it was also hidden “from generations,” a)po plus the genitive plural of genea which means generations, sometimes a race. No generation prior to the Church Age understood the mystery doctrines of the Church.

            “but now,” a very dramatic conjunction, nun de. De is set up here as a particle. While it is generally a suffix type particle it is used here to set up a great contrast, especially when you have with it the adverb nun. We have a contrast between the Church Age and all previous dispensations.

            “is made manifest,” aorist passive indicative of fanerow which means to reveal. The aorist tense is constantive. One of the first responsibilities of every pastor-teacher is to deal with his congregation in the field of Church Age doctrine. The passive voice: these things have received revelation in the New Testament epistles. The indicative mood is the reality of the revelation of this kind of information. Matthew, Mark and Luke are not dealing with the Church Age, they are dealing with the interruption of the Jewish Age. It is the epistles of the New testament that deal with the Church Age. Acts is primarily historical.

            “to his saints,” the word “saint” again indicating full time Christian service.

            Translation: “The mystery having been concealed from the ages [dispensations] and from the generations, but now has been revealed to his saints.”

            Verse 27, “To whom” is a dative plural relative pronoun going back to the word “saints.” All of these verses are linked. The relative pronoun o(j refers to the saints. Every believer is a saint, the word “saint” means union with Christ.

            “God,” o( qeoj, “the God,” a reference to God the Father; “would,” the aorist active indicative of qelw, “desired.” Here it actually means decreed. The aorist tense refers to eternity past. he decreed that this doctrine would be made known in the Church Age, and He decreed that it would be made known by pastor-teachers. “make known,” aorist active infinitive of gnwrizw, a principle-type verb. He decreed in eternity past to make this information available, it what it means. Here is the principle of revelation. it is God’s decree to reveal the mystery doctrine to the saints in the Church Age. This is fulfilled through the function of GAP in a local church under the teaching ministry of a pastor-teacher.

            “what is the riches,” ti to ploutoj, “what the riches.”

            “of the glory,” thj dochj. “The riches” refers to doctrine. Remember that once you are saved you have to change your scale of values. Wealth lies in doctrine. The wealth you accumulate is Bible doctrine in your soul; “of the glory,” the genitive of doca means the doctrine in your ECS.

            “of this mystery,” genitive of possession. The mystery doctrine possesses the glory of the ECS when there is the daily function of GAP.

            Notice that the Jews no longer have a monopoly on doctrine as they did in Old Testament times, “among the Gentiles,” e)n plus the locative of e)qnh indicates the Gentiles are now in.

            “which is,” present active indicative of e)imi, “which keeps on being.”

            “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” It is true that the moment you are saved Christ, along with the Holy Spirit, comes to indwell you. The indwelling of Christ is taught, first in John 14:20 where Jesus anticipated it; Galatians 2:20; Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 13:5. This is a true doctrine, but here in verse 27 “Christ in you” does not refer to the indwelling of Christ, it refers to the ECS. “Christ in you, the confidence [rather than the hope] of the glory [ECS].”

            Translation: “To whom the God decreed to make known what the wealth of the glory of the mystery in the Gentiles [believers] which keeps on being Christ in you [ECS] the confidence of the glory [ECS].”

            So the whole mystery doctrine is designed to erect an ECS, to give you a confidence in the devil’s world and in the unseen conflict, the angelic conflict.

            Verse 28, the function of the ministry.

            “Whom,” a relative pronoun referring to Jesus Christ; “we preach,” the present active indicative of kataggellw, another communication verb. Kata means norm or standard; a)ggellw means to announce or communicate. Here it means to solemnly proclaim. “Jesus Christ whom we announce according to a norm or standard, and therefore solemnly proclaim.”

            “warning,” the present active participle nouqetew. Warning comes from two words here: nouj, the mind; tiqhmi, to place. So to put in the mind means to warn. it means also to warn with a view toward correcting something.

            “every man,” all mankind. There is a phase of the message for all mankind, which is the gospel.

            “in all wisdom teaching,” the present active participle of didaskw, constantly teaching in public assembly. The word for wisdom here means doctrine in the right lobe, swfia. It is a part of a prepositional phrase and is in the locative case, e)n plus the locative of swfia.

            “that” introduces a purpose clause; “we may present,” aorist active subjunctive of paristhmi. This is a compound word: para means beside or immediate source; isthmi means to stand. it comes to mean to consecrate. Sometimes it is translated “yield.” The aorist tense: the point in which the believer receives an ECS and then continues to function in GAP. The active voice: it is the responsibility of the pastor-teacher to communicate so that there will be the growth, the ECS, the storage of doctrine in the right lobe. The subjunctive mood means that no pastor will ever be completely successful with his congregation. There are always some who will fall off at some point, they will reject something, they will be offended, etc.

            “every man,” all mankind. Three times we have this phrase, “all mankind.”

            We have up to this point now some new verbs which indicate the ministry, the responsibility of the ministry.

            a) kataggellw, which has to do with evangelisation primarily. But it also indicates that whether you evangelise, whatever you teach, it must line up with the Word of God, no matter how it is presented. It must be divine viewpoint.

            b) nouqetew, it means to warn, admonish. Here is where you occasionally get your kick in the pants.

            c) didaskw, which means to teach a group, never one on one. This is the principle of the privacy of the priesthood. You take in the doctrine as in a group and then you do it as unto the Lord.

            d) paristhmi, whereby the teaching ministry results in believers becoming consecrated to the Lord, which means the erection of an ECS, a maximum amount of doctrine in the right lobe whereby you run your own “power plant,” your own power plant being doctrine in your right lobe.

            “perfect,” teleioj does not mean perfect, it means mature. It refers to the ECS, to a maximum amount of doctrine in the right lobe.

            “in Christ Jesus,” recognising positional sanctification. However, the word “Jesus” is not found in the original, it is simply “in Christ.”

            Translation: “Whom we solemnly proclaim, instructing with warning all [saved] mankind, and publicly teaching all [saved] mankind in the sphere of every wisdom; that we may consecrate all [saved] mankind mature in Christ.”

            Verse 29, now Paul states for himself and for all who have the gift of pastor-teacher the responsibility.

            “Whereunto,” toward which. We have e)ij plus the relative pronoun o(j and it should be translated “Toward which.”

            “I also labour,” kopiaw. This means to labour until weary, to labour to the point of exhaustion, to labour with maximum daily effort.

            “striving,” present middle participle of a)gwnizomai. It means an athlete straining to reach the finish line, intense competition.

            “according to his working,” kata means according to the norm or standard; “of the working” is e)nergeia, operational power.

            “which worketh in me,” literally, “which constantly operates in the sphere of me.”  

            “mightily” is e)n plus the locative of dunamij which means inherent power, “in the sphere of his omnipotent power.”

            Translation: “Toward which I labour to the point of exhaustion, straining according to the standard of his operational power, which constantly functions in me in omnipotent power.”