buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.  (13) And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, (14) having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.  And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  

The letter to the Colossians was written by the apostle Paul to warn the faithful there against the corruption of the gospel by the Judaizers who were teaching salvation by the completed work of Christ AND the Jewish rituals and ceremonies. Paul taught that we are complete in Christ; there is no Christ AND.

The church in Colossae was mainly composed of Gentiles who had not been circumcised under the Law of Moses; they were strangers to the promise of the Old Testament. But in faith in Christ, they have spiritual circumcision – there is no advantage in real circumcision in Christ.  Paul is ascribing death (spiritual death) to the uncircumcised before Christ. But now in faith they died with Christ, and raised from the dead with Him. They are, in Christ, free from condemnation in sin and fully redeemed by Christ. In those ancient days debt obligation was put in writing and when the debt was paid, the writing was erased or blotted out. In Christ there is no more obligation, no more debt. The law of Moses was all about obligation but in Christ there is no ritual or ceremony needed and NO REMEMBRANCE of debt. Christ paid our debt for sin and nailed it to the cross.

The Colossians are warned not to pass over from faith in Christ to the Law. In Christ we are relieved of punishment due for sin and also bondage to the Law. Christ took all things to Himself that they might have no power over us. In faith, in Christ, we are saved – we cannot be MORE saved.

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ , for the sake of His body, which is the church, (25) of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God, which was given me for you, to fulfill the word of God, (26) the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. (27) To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  (28) Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.  

The letter to the Colossians was written by the apostle Paul. In Colossae, Paul was frequently under attack as to the authority of his ministry by those who tried to corrupt the gospel and  by some who claimed superior and secret knowledge of Gods plan of salvation. Our verses today offer some detail about the integrity of Paul’s ministry.

Paul was an apostle by divine appointment and he didn’t learn the gospel from man but from God. He rejoiced in persecutions because he did not suffer in vain – his afflictions he cheerfully endured in as much as they were profitable to all the pious as example and promoted the welfare of all Christ’s Church. Paul is NOT saying that the suffering of Christ Jesus was not sufficient or not redemptive but he – and we – suffer persecution to confirm the faith of the church. Paul did NOT suffer as an imitator but instead in thanksgiving and by doing so he edified  the church willingly and with rejoicing. Paul applied to his own preaching the glorious secret of God which was committed to him; making express mention of the calling of the Gentiles.  The whole world – until Christ – had been alienated from God and now in Christ is called to the hope of salvation. That salvation is of the Lord only and is Christ in us.

Faith is not an opinion to be shaken by various movements. God placed him (Paul) in Christ as an apostle to teach men that in Christ nothing is lacking.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  (16) For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.  All things were created through Him.  (17) And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  (18) And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have preeminence.  (19) For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, (20) and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things in earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross 

The apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Colossians while under house arrest in Rome.  Colossae was a church primarily of Gentiles (there are few Old Testament allusions).  There appeared to be a serious threat of false teachers working to undermine the divine person of Christ and the sufficiency of salvation in Christ – this letter is Paul’s answer which is basically an antidote to human schemes of salvation

Paul makes his point immediately that the one who redeemed us and delivered us from darkness is the exact image of the invisible God – is God. In Jesus the substance is the same as God. Jesus is the architect/creator/sustainer of the universe. In Christ Jesus there is the reconciler and savior of all.  He is the firstborn meaning positional – He is preeminent; all fullness is present in Him. Salvation is always and only of the Lord not of man

We live in a secular society where man believes in himself and his/her ability to solve problems apart from God and seem not to be aware of the futility of materialism.  There is always a movement rejecting Christ as revealed in Scripture – Christ is being presented as only one of many religious leaders; all equally valid. The letter to the Colossians is as relevant today as it was in the ancient church. Paul is countering heresy with the public and universal truth of the gospel; salvation is available to all in faith in Christ who is sufficient and the fullness of God.

But God forbid that I boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. (15) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.  (16) And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.  (17) From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.  (18) Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Amen

The letter to the Galatians was written by the apostle Paul. On his missionary journey Paul and Barnabas brought the gospel to the Galatians – the gospel of Christ Jesus – that man had sinned and the wages of sin is death, both physical and spiritual. Man cannot pay for his sin so God sent a perfect and acceptable substitute in His Son, Jesus, who was/is our savior and redeemer. In Christ alone, in the cross, we are made right with God.  Conversely, God’s love is meaningless to us if the cross is meaningless. But because of the cross we will never have to stand and answer for our sin.

At the moment of faith we are sealed with the Spirit. We are born again; transformed as new men and women in Christ. This is salvation by faith in the Lord and not by any merit of man. It is either Christianity and pure grace or salvation by human achievement, the end of which is destruction. Our verses today are Paul’s final appeal to the Galatians – the Judaizers are the culprits and corrupted the gospel Paul preached. They taught the religion of human achievement as opposed to salvation in Christ in faith alone. The Judaizers taught Jesus yes, but Jesus and good works – be circumcised and keep the law.  You cannot add to pure grace, to faith –  then it ceases to be such and becomes works.  It’s either glory in the flesh or glory in the cross.

In the miracle of faith we become right with God in Jesus. In a physical sense we are still of this world but spiritually we are no more in this world. In the cross we are at peace with God and have peace in this world here and now. The world system cannot know God nor can it lead us to God.  Man is either with Jesus or against Him and Paul closes this letter by saying the only thing he honors is the cross of Christ. Our life depends on it.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.  (13) For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  (14) For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this:  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  (15) But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!  (16) I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  (17) For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against  the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.  (18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  

The letter to the Galatians was written by the apostle Paul. Our verses today tell us that Paul was disappointed  that many new converts in Galatia were persuaded by the false teachers (Judaizers/legalizers) to combine the message of free grace and salvation in  Christ within the context of the Mosaic Law.  No one was ever saved by keeping the Law; only faith in Christ makes us right with God and believers are sealed with the Spirit.  The gospel tells us that the faithful do good works not to be saved but because they are saved.

The Law (which no one can keep perfectly) was given as a standard to reveal human sinfulness – the Law is a teacher but Christ Jesus is our savior. The Law exposed all people as guilty of sin.  Under the Law man was not known by God but in Christ the faithful are now made right with God and they are free from former bondage to ceremony and ritual and selfishness.  Freedom and spiritual life in Christ is freedom to walk in the Spirit and to choose what is right. Salvation is never Jesus AND; salvation is always and only of the Lord

Paul did not reject the Law which does not justify – only faith in Christ does that – but obedience to the Law is fruit of salvation.  Justification by works is diametrically opposed to justification by faith and NO ONE was ever saved by keeping the Law