Discovering Christ In Colossians

Q: What does the Bible say about Christ being all in Colossians?

In Colossians 3:11, the phrase 'Christ is all' emphasizes that Christ is the essence and central focus of true Christianity. The phrase 'Christ is all' found in Colossians 3:11 underscores the centrality of Christ in the life of believers. He is not only the foundation of true doctrine but the motive behind genuine godliness, preaching, faith, and worship. Throughout the book, the Apostle Paul highlights that in all matters concerning eternity and God's will, Christ alone is sufficient. Believers are called to recognize that their entire spiritual life is rooted in Christ, making Him the core of their faith and practice.

Q: How do we know Christ is our complete Savior?

Christ is our complete Savior as He provides everything required for salvation, making believers complete in Him. The Apostle Paul asserts that in Christ dwell all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and believers are complete in Him (Colossians 2:9-10). This means that everything required for salvation and spiritual fulfillment is found in Christ alone. He fulfills the demands of the law on our behalf, satisfies divine justice through His sacrifice, and imparts His righteousness to us. As such, our assurance, hope, and all the necessary provisions for living a godly life are encapsulated in our relationship with Christ, affirming His role as our complete Savior.

Q: Why is the concept of grace before peace important for Christians?

The order of grace before peace in Colossians 1:2 highlights that salvation is solely by grace, leading to true peace with God. In Colossians 1:2, Paul presents grace as the precursor to peace, emphasizing that grace is the foundation of our relationship with God. Without the unmerited favor of God's grace, peace with God would be unattainable. This sequence is crucial for Christians to understand because it clarifies that peace arises as a fruit of experiencing God's grace. Believers need to recognize that their standing before God is not based on their works or experiences but solely on grace, which frees them to experience lasting peace in their lives.

Q: What does the Bible teach about the dangers of mixing works with grace?

The Bible warns that mixing works with grace can corrupt the gospel and take focus away from Christ alone. Throughout Scripture, particularly in the writings of Paul, there is a consistent warning against the mingling of works with grace. In Colossians, Paul addresses the dangers posed by false teachers promoting a gospel combined with human works and philosophies. Such mixes detract from the sufficiency of Christ's work, leading believers to rely on their accomplishments rather than on Christ's righteousness. This can create a sense of false assurance, where one's standing with God is dependent on personal merit rather than the grace exhibited in Christ's finished work. Therefore, the purity of the gospel must be preserved, emphasizing faith in Christ exclusively.

Q: Why is 'Christ in you' significant for Christians?

'Christ in you' signifies the transformative power of salvation and the hope of glory that believers possess through faith. 'Christ in you, the hope of glory' (Colossians 1:27) encapsulates the essence of the Christian faith, asserting that the presence of Christ within believers is foundational for their assurance of eternal life. This phrase indicates that the hope of glory is not merely a future promise but an active, living reality through the Holy Spirit's work. It highlights the transformative nature of salvation, where Christ becomes the believer's life and strength, enabling them to live in alignment with God's will. Consequently, this truth reassures believers of their identity and purpose as they endeavor to glorify God in their everyday lives.

three words found in Colossians
chapter 3 and verse 11, ought to be emblazoned in the hearts
of any man or woman, any child, anyone in this world who seeks
to understand, interpret, and proclaim the message of Holy
Scripture. These three simple, one-syllable
words Christ is all are the essence and substance of all true Christianity. Christ is all. He is the foundation of all true
doctrine. He is the motive of all true
godliness. He is the message of all true
preaching. He is the object of all true
faith and worship. Now, invariably when such statements
are made, the question is raised in the minds of men, in what
sense does the Holy Spirit intend for us to take those words? How
far do we go with this thing, Christ is all? Listen carefully. In all things concerning our
in all things relating to eternity, in all the will of God, in all
the knowledge of God, and in all the glory of God, Christ
is all. In the book of Colossians, the
Apostle Paul tells us about our Savior. It is all about our all-glorious
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephesians he told us about
our great blessing as the church of God, as the people of God.
And in that book he deals principally with God's church. Here he deals
principally with the head of the church and tells us again
about God's great blessings upon us in Christ. The books of Colossians
and Ephesians are very similar in many ways, but the emphasis
in Ephesians was on our blessing. The emphasis here is on Christ's
great glory and grace. Now, we don't know who first
preached the gospel to the Saints of Colossae, how they first came
to hear the gospel. But we do know that the Apostle
Paul, because Luke tells us in the Book of Acts, went to this
area and preached the gospel for some time, and many turned
from their idols to worship and serve the living God, being converted
by God's grace. But after the gospel had been
preached and the seed of the gospel had been sown, Satan sent
messengers into the area. He sowed tares among the wheat.
As it was then, so it is now. Wherever Paul preached the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ, workmongers came and
sought to pervert the gospel. All who preach up men's works. I know lots of folks, and I know
lots of folks will hear this, and I know the yak that goes
on when they hear it. Oh, you can't say things like
that. I intend it just exactly like I'm going to say it. Wherever
you hear men preaching works rather than Christ. Whenever
you come to a place like this and listen to a man like this,
and you walk out that door with your heart and mind fixed on
you rather than the Son of God, works has been and it is damning
to the souls of those who believe the message. The Apostle Paul
wrote this letter at Colossae because their dear pastor Epaphras
came to Paul while he was a prisoner at Rome, and he communicated
to Paul the faithfulness, the love, the blessedness of being
among those people at Colossae. But he expressed his concern.
His concern because some had come in pretending to be the
messengers of God. who preached man's righteousness
and not Christ, who focused on man's works and not Christ's
work. There were a good many in the
Church who came from different areas. And when I say this, I
mean different areas of thought. The Judaizers, the Jewish men
who claimed to be Christians, those who tried to hold to both
Judaism and Christianity, who tried to hold to both law and
grace, they were all for mingling Christ and They wanted to mix
law and grace. Others sought to corrupt the
gospel by mixing philosophy. The Gentiles learned men that
they were, felt that the gospel had to have some philosophy mixed
with it and be buttressed by philosophy. And so they taught
that the revelation of God in Holy Scripture alone is not sufficient. The revelation of God in the
gospel alone is not a sufficient basis of faith. We must have
philosophy, we must have history, we must understand the word of
God in the light of our great reason and intelligence. Still
others came who venerated, worshipped the angels. This was common among the Gentiles.
Pagans taught the worship of angels, believed in spirits and
ghosts and such as that, and the Gentile philosophy had mixed
with Judaism at the time, and they thought we ought to worship
the angels, because worshiping Christ is not really enough.
We need someone else, something else, some other experience really
to bring us near God. We must have a sign. We must
have some other way along with Christ with which to approach
God. Not out and out saying now kiss Christ goodbye. No, no,
no, no, no. False prophets are never that stupid. They're just
never that dumb. No, no, no, no. But you can't
say Christ is everything. You can't say that knowing Christ
is enough. You can't say that having Christ
is enough. You've got to have something
else. And then there were those who came in, again, with the
Gentile notion of what's called Gnosticism, and that simply means
salvation by knowledge. They taught that men and women
could arrive at salvation by their brilliance, by knowledge. And there are many to this day,
conservative, Calvinistic, Reform, call them what you want to, people
who have the idea that somehow you can educate people into the
kingdom of God. If you just teach them enough,
they'll be, oh, well, now I believe that. Salvation cannot be arrived
at without knowledge, but you're not going to get there by knowledge.
You got to know Christ, and knowing Christ comes by the preaching
of the gospel. But the only way you'll ever know him is to believe
him. Men and women cannot be educated
or reasoned into the kingdom of God. Now all these various
heretics came in preaching righteousness. They preached the righteousness
of God's character. They preached the righteousness
of God's law, they preached the righteousness that Christ accomplished
in a sort, and taught that you must have the righteousness of
Christ. But the emphasis was never on what Christ did. And
the basis of hope, never what Christ has accomplished, but
rather the basis of hope, wherever works is preached, the basis
of hope, of assurance, of confidence, winds up being placed on you,
so that you can look at yourself and say, now, looky here, I have
arrived. I am righteous, at least righteous
enough to say I'm saved. I have experienced enough, I
know enough, I believe enough. Now, because of me, I have peace
with God. If you have peace with God because
of something you know, or you feel, or you do, or you experience,
your peace will take you to hell and it won't last long. It's
no peace at all. Paul was therefore inspired by
God the Holy Spirit to write this epistle. to confirm God's
elect in the gospel, to warn them of the heresies which Satan's
messengers were sent to proclaim, by which they sought to pervert
the gospel and turn men away from the simplicity that's in
Christ. And so he urges us and them,
verse 23 of chapter 1, continue in the faith. Continue in the
faith. That is the faith of the gospel,
the faith revealed in this book, the faith of Christ. Continue
in the faith grounded, grounded, grounded, fixed, and settled,
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Now let's
start back up in the beginning of chapter 1, and let me show
you how Paul deals with these things in the book of Colossians.
He begins, as normal, with a very encouraging and gracious salutation.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. There again,
I remind you, Paul looked upon himself as one among many who
spoke for God. He didn't look upon himself as
in any way superior to another. He said, and Timothy, our brother. Though Timothy was not an apostle,
Paul includes him in this salutation. because God's servants are all
brethren. They are fellow laborers and
workers together in the cause of Christ for the glory of God
and the salvation of men's souls. Brother Henry Mahan in his Bible
class commentary made an excellent observation on this verse. He
said, The highest office bearer in the church recognizes even
the least as being a brother and worthy of recognition. In
Christ we are all one. and he that is greatest is but
a servant." In other words, God's servants are not rivals to one
another. They're just not. I know religious leaders and
religious hucksters and preachers are envious and jealous and protective
of themselves and scared to death of somebody getting a name they
don't have, scared to death of somebody doing something or being
taught to do something they haven't done. Not God's servants. They are not rivals. They are
no big me's and little you's, but rather they are laborers
together in the cause of Christ. Look at verse 2. To the saints
and faithful brethren in Christ. Now Paul tells us in chapter
2 that many of these folks he had never known. He had never
seen their face, but he calls them saints. He speaks of them
as faithful brethren, because Epaphras had reported their faithfulness,
and Paul speaks of them as saints because they are in Christ. In
Christ. All who are in Christ are sanctified
saints, made to be saints, called to be saints, and made faithful
by the grace of God. And they are brethren, because
we are all in Christ. Now he says, grace be unto you
and peace. First grace, then peace. It never comes the other way
around. Grace saves you, and peace makes you know you're saved.
Grace is the root of every blessing. Peace is the flower that makes
life sweet, and grace. Grace and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way grace comes,
the only way peace comes. Now look at verse 3. We give
thanks to God for this grace and this peace, for your brotherhood,
for your being saints. Not to you, but to God. We give
thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying
always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ and love
which you have to all the saints. You see, these things go together.
Where there is faith in Christ, there is love to the brethren,
for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. And where
there is faith and love wrought in us, there is hope laid up
for us in heaven, whereof you heard before in the word of truth
of the gospel, the word of the truth of the gospel. The gospel
is a proclamation of a well-founded hope for sinners in Christ Jesus
the Lord. I preach to you the hope of eternal
life. I preach to you the hope of eternal
salvation. And it's not a, how do I say
this, sort of a wish, you know, where I hope that it doesn't
freeze tonight and kill your strawberries. That's not what
it is. No, no, no. It is a well-grounded, confident
hope. I am here to tell you that sinners
have hope, confident hope, a hope that makes not a shame because
of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. Whereof you heard
before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come
to you as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit as it
doth also in you, since the day you heard of it and knew the
grace of God in truth. Now, look at verses 7 and 8. Here the Holy Spirit inspires
Paul to commend to this church their beloved pastor, Epaphras. And thereby he encourages these
believers to highly esteem him and hear him. As you also learned
of Epaphras, our dear fellow this man Epaphras. Anybody know
where he came from? We don't know anything about
him. He's called Epaphroditus in the book of Philippians. Apparently
he was pastor of a couple of churches in that general area
there, a messenger of God among them, but don't know anything
he ever wrote, don't know anything he ever did other than just be
pastor there. And here's the Apostle Paul,
that man whom God used to write more than any other man the greater
portion of the New Testament. That man God used to carry the
gospel to all the Gentile world. That man who is known and has
been known for 2,000 years throughout the world. Our dear fellow servant. That's the attitude. That's the
attitude of a man who is serving God and not himself. Who is for
you a faithful minister, a faithful servant of Christ. for you, a faithful servant of
Christ, who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit."
This man of Patras loved and spoke well of those people whose
souls he served. I get a little ticked, and usually
show it. I have a hard time covering my
feelings. I get a little ticked when I hear a man speaking evil
of his wife. Don't do it to me. She puts up
with you, she's a good woman. Or a woman speaking evil of her
husband. And I get even more ticked when I hear a pastor speak
evil of God's people. Not those who serve them. Not
those who serve them. When I read these verses, they
do my heart good. How I rejoice to read of Epaphras
speaking well of God's people, and of Paul speaking well of
Epaphras." Most people these days think the way to serve God
is to point out kinks in another man's armor, point out flaws
in his character or flaws in his work, and catch on every
possible mistake he might make and raise that for me. I had
a fellow who wrote to me today. It was obvious he was a kid.
I had something to say about Brother Jack Shanks. A man nearly
80 years old, been serving God longer than most of us have been
walking. Been faithful. And I wrote back to him, I said,
what are you doing for Christ in the souls of men? This man's
faithful. He's faithful. Serving the cause
of our God. Gave his life to it. Paul teaches us here. May God
teach us to honor our brethren, not just preachers, our brethren,
to cover their faults. Cover them. Cover them. If I'm not gossiping, I'd say
it to his face. It's still gossip. Cover their faults. You cover
them. That's what love does, isn't
it? It covers evil. It covers it. Extol their virtues. Forgive their offenses. and helped
them along the way. Look at chapter 4. Paul made
it his business to remind the saints at Colossae what a great
blessing of God they had in their faithful pastor. And Paul promotes
him in their eyes. That's the way to deal with folks.
Promote them. Promote God's people, promote
God's servants. Look at verse 12, chapter 4.
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluted
you. always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you
may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. I bear
him record that he hath a great zeal for you." And then they're
in Laodicea, and then they're in Areopolis. Now, look at chapter
1 again, verses 9 through 14. Here Paul teaches us that the
Lord our God, by a work of Almighty by irresistible, effectual mercy,
has made every believing sinner fit for heaven right now. But not one thing that God will
do for you to make you fit to enter glory that he hasn't already
done for you. Did you hear me, my brother?
Not one thing. You don't need to have anything
else other than what you have right now in Christ. The only
thing lacking is that you're going to have to drop this body
of flesh. That's all. What a relief that will be. Now,
lest you think I'm overstretching things, read verse 12 for yourself.
giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us, which hath
made us, all of us at one time, neat, worthy, fit to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light." What grace! What does it take for Don Fortner,
a sinner, vile, base, corrupt, in every fiber of my being, a
natural born, hell-bent rebel against God. What does it take
for me to dwell forever in the presence of God Almighty? I've
got to die. I've got to live in perfect obedience
to God, a life worthy of God's approval. I've got to satisfy
all the justice of God, and I've got to have a nature fit for
heaven. When Christ lived for me, I lived
in him and fulfilled all God's holy will. When he died for me,
I died in him. so the law has nothing more to
say to me. And when I died in him, I satisfied all the justice
of God Almighty, all his holy wrath, so that God has no reason
to be angry with me anymore." And he's come by his almighty
grace and given me a new nature. It's called being made a partaker
of the divine nature. We'll see it in a minute. It's
called Christ in you. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Oh,
my brother, my sister, give thanks, rejoice, and sing. God has made
us fit for heaven. Now look at verses 13 and 14,
and I'll show you how he did it. who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins." Now, let's back up just a little bit. Verse 9, since the day we heard of it,
we do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you may be
filled with all the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding." Oh, what a prayer! What an ambition! Filled with all the knowledge
of his will, with all wisdom, not carnal earthly wisdom, spiritual
wisdom and understanding, walking worthy of the Lord to all pleasing,
being fruitful in every good work, increasing, always increasing
in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, his might, according
to his glorious power, unto all patience, and longsuffering with
joyfulness. Now, look at verses 15 through
29. I don't think I'll ever forget
I've forgotten enough that I quit saying I'll never forget. I don't
think I'll ever forget. An incident that occurred here
several years ago. As you know, we meet in office
before every service in the evenings. Brother Bob Pontius returned
to Colossians 1, 15 through 29, and read these 15 verses, and
just read them. That's the way I like scripture
read, just read it. Sometimes it's best just to read the book.
Don't make any comment on it, just like you did just a little
bit ago. He read it and said nothing at all about it. He got
done reading, closed his Bible right before he started to pray.
Brother Merle's heart exclaimed in Merle's quiet voice, what
a great Savior. That's just about the best commentary
I've ever read on these 15 verses. Oh, what a great Savior. Let me call your attention to
the highlights. Christ is exactly what God is. because he is God. He is that one, the only one,
in whom God is seen and known. He is called the image of the
invisible God, in verse 15. Paul says in Hebrews 1, verse
3, that he is the express image of his person. That is to say,
he is himself God. For in him dwelleth all the fulness
of the Godhead bodily. How can a man be totally God
and totally man. As much God as though he were
not man, as much man as though he were not God. He can't, except
he's God and man. How are you going to explain
that? There's no explaining that. God
Almighty, our Savior, never ceased in any way to be God. He veiled his Godhead, he covered
his Godhead, he laid aside his glory, as it were, when he came
into this world, but he never ceased to be God, sitting on
the throne of everlasting dominion. And that man is himself God Almighty. All that God is, Jesus Christ
is, for he is God. And in him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Look again at verse 15. He's
the firstborn of every creature. Now if you have some of those
fellow little black satchels coming around your house tomorrow, and they
want to tell you that there, you see, Jesus is not really
God, he's a creature of God. He's like God, but he's a creature
of God. This is what Paul's saying. He's the beginning of the creation
of God. You have it in Revelation 3,
14. Well, how do you know that's what he means here? Because he
says it in verse 16. Look at it. For by him were all things
created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers, all things were created by him and for him." Because
he's God, the creator of all things, eternal, the eternal
God. He's before all things, and by
him all things consist. He's the head of his church,
the beginning of all things, the firstborn from the dead,
the upholder of all things. And why has the Father done all
this work? Why is it that the triune God
does everything through Christ the mediator? that in him, that
he might have preeminence in all things. Look at verse 18.
He's the head of the body of the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have
the preeminence. Now look at verse 19. Christ
has all fullness. Let me rephrase that. He is all
fullness. For it pleased the Father that
in him should all fullness dwell. Well, how far do you carry that?
Just as far as you can carry it. All the fullness of God,
all the fullness of grace, all the fullness of saving power,
all the fullness of eternity, all the fullness of the eternal
covenant, all fullness dwells in him. And he is our reconciliation. In verses 20 through 22, And
he reconciled us to God, judicially, when he died for us at Calvary.
In time he comes and breaks the enmity in the hearts of chosen
sinners in converting grace, and causes sinners to quit fighting
God. Causes you to lay down your weapons and quit fighting God.
Reconciled to him. Causes you to kiss the Son. And
when he gets done, you read the 5th chapter of Revelation? he
will reconcile everything in creation to the glory of God. I'm looking forward to that.
I'm looking forward to that. I see as a matter of revelation,
and I believe confidently that everything that is, has been,
or shall be, shall redound to God's glory. But I can't for
the life of me see how. I can't for the life of me see
heaven. Ah, but what he's done, he will
have reconciled everything to God Almighty, and even all of
hell will see it. This was for the glory of God.
All right, look at verse 27. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. Paul said, this is he whom we
preach. I sure like to hear fellows preach
a whom rather than a what, don't you? Whom we preach. Whom we preach. Warning every
man. This one whom we preach, he is
the mystery that was hid in ages past under the types and symbols
and ceremonies and pictures and prophecies of the law. He is
that one hidden by the God of this world to them that are lost.
But now this mystery is revealed. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. I have hope of everlasting life,
because Christ is in me. How do you know Christ is in
you? I believe him. And that faith I have in him
is God's gift. It's his work. It's the fruit
of his Spirit. Now, look in chapter 2. In chapter
1 he shows us that Christ is our complete Savior. He shows us that every believer
is complete in Christ. Many crept into the Church of
Colossae and denied the gospel of Christ with great subtlety,
as I showed you. I want to turn folks away from the simplicity
of Christ. You've got to have more. You've got to have something
else. Paul tells us in verse 3, in him are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. In him. all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge. Everything there is to be had
of the knowledge of God and the wisdom of God is in this God-man,
our Redeemer, who died in our room instead at Calvary. And
this I say, verse 4, lest any man beguile you with enticing Oh, how men use enticing words
of man's wisdom to beguile. One who beguiles is a salesman
who can figure out a way to convince you that you're getting a Cadillac
when you're getting a Chevette. That's the fellow who beguiles
you. Somehow he's real slick and he pulled the wool over your
eyes and caught you off guard. This is what Paul says, "'You
be careful that no man come and give you a false Christ in whom
there is no hope, and cause you to turn from him who is all hope. Lest any man beguile you with
his enticing words.'" In verse 5, Paul urges us and urges these
Colossians, as he was made aware of their steadfastness in the
faith, These men who had not yet been moved away from the
gospel. He says, I urge you now to stand fast. And then in verse
6 he tells us what it means. This is what I mean when I urge
you. This is what Paul means when he urges you. This is what
the Spirit of God means when he urges you. Not to forsake
Christ. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, how did you receive him? What did you
bring to him? We had no experiences, we had
no knowledge, we had no righteousness, we had no works. All you brought
to him was your sin. Trusting him alone as your righteousness,
him alone as your redemption, him alone as your savior. Is that how you received him?
Is that how you received him? So walk ye in him. If you ever
grow above a sinner trusting Christ for everything, you have
grown right out of the kingdom of God. You miss Christ altogether. If ever you are persuaded to
start looking to your experience, to your faith, to your goodness,
to your knowledge, to your works, as some measure of confidence
before God, you have missed Christ altogether. And so Paul warns
us in verse 8, Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy
and vain deceit after the traditions of men, how hard it is to shake
them, and the rudiments of the world, that is, the law of Moses,
the carnal ordinances of the law, and not after Christ. Verse 9, For in him dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in
him, which is the head of all principality and power." Now,
Paul tells us that all the fulness of the triune God resides in
Christ as our mediator. And in exactly the same way,
all the fulness of Christ the mediator is ours by faith in
and we're complete in him. What does it mean to be in Christ?
Look at the next verses. In verse 11, to be in Christ
is to be born again by God's almighty grace. In verse 12,
to be in Christ is to have faith in him, faith that's expressed
and confessed in believer's baptism. It is to trust him, this faith,
which is the gift and operation of God. In verses 13, 14, and
15, to be in Christ is to be the object and recipient
of God's immutable saving grace in him. Look at that. Let's read
those three verses. Verse 13. And you being dead in your sins,
and uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with
him, having forgiven you," isn't this a great word, How did he do that? He did it
in a way of justice, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to his cross. Not only did he blot out
the transgressions, nailing our accusation to his cross, he spoiled
principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in his cross. Now is the prince of this world
cast out, and now the Son of God arises, having power and
dominion even over hell itself, as the God-man, our mediator.
He quickened us, gave us life and faith, and completely forgave
us all our sins by his blessed, sin-atoning sacrifice upon the
cursed tree. And we're complete in him. Now,
I can't begin to tell you what all that means, but I can tell
you a few things. And I hope it will cause your
heart to rejoice and to believe him. If I am complete in Christ,
I have in Christ everything God Almighty requires of a man. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification
and redemption. If I'm complete in Christ, I
possess everything that God in heaven, everything that God in heaven
can or will give to any man. What does Paul tell us in Ephesians
1 verse 3? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. All of them. Nothing good, nothing
of real spiritual value, nothing we require is omitted. all the
fullness of grace, all the blessings of the covenant, all the sure
mercies of God, all things pertaining to life and godliness in this
world and in the world to come, have been bestowed upon us in
Jesus Christ our Lord. Ye are complete in him. That means I have all I need
to carry me through this world and bring me safe to glory. His
grace is sufficient. Whatever you need, my brother,
my sister, God has given it you. Whatever you shall need tomorrow,
God has given it you. Whatever temptations you meet,
God will give you grace to escape them. No, he has given you grace
to escape them. Whatever trial you face, God
will sustain you. and keep you, he'll do it. That means that no matter how
you fail him and fail him you will. No matter how you sin against
him and sin against him, you do. No matter how you dishonor
him and dishonor him, you do. He's still your faithful Savior. His faithfulness does not in
any way depend on our faithfulness. His goodness does not in any
way depend on our goodness. Complete in him, whatever it
is that's necessary to satisfy our forever is ours in Christ. Hold your hands here and come
back to Proverbs 10. Proverbs 10, verse 24. The fear of the wicked shall
come upon him, but the desire of the righteous shall be granted. Now let me see if I can speak
for your heart. You desire to be free from all
sin? It shall be granted. You desire
to be perfectly obedient to Christ? It shall be granted. You desire
to know love and worship Christ perfectly, it shall be granted. You desire to be like Christ
entirely, it shall be granted. You desire to be totally free
of unbelief and fear, it shall be granted. You want to be free
of pain and trouble and heartache and toil? It shall be granted. You want to see the glory of
God in Christ your Savior? It shall be granted. You desire
to glorify him all the time, inside and out,
forever? It shall be granted. Now, folks
say, well, you can't preach things like that. That would lead to
licentiousness. That would lead to horrible,
evil things. The practical result of all this is just this. We
are entirely free in Christ, free from the law, free from
the commandments and traditions that men impose upon us. Paul
urges us to be steadfast in him, urging us ever to cling to him,
to trust him, assuring us of our everlasting everlasting salvation
in him. And then in chapter 3, as is
his normal custom, he concludes this epistle by drawing a very
practical application to our lives. If ye then be risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above. Oh, I wonder what
he's talking about. Read chapter 2. Seek those things
that are his. For Christ saith on the right
hand of God, set your affection on things above, not on things
on the earth, for you're dead and your life is hid with Christ
in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory."
And now Paul calls on us to glorify and honor him in everything,
in our lives, in our homes, in the world, and the basis of it
all. It's because Christ is all, and
in you all. Christ is all. He's in you. Live for him. Live for him. Oh, what he's done for you, what
he's done for me, What he promises, he will do
for you. What he promises, he will do
for me. The most reasonable thing on
this earth is to set your affection on him and live for him wherever
you are, glorifying God in all things for his great, great grace.

Discovering Christ In Colossians

What does the Bible say about Christ being all in Colossians?

How do we know Christ is our complete Savior?

Why is the concept of grace before peace important for Christians?

What does the Bible teach about the dangers of mixing works with grace?

Why is 'Christ in you' significant for Christians?

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Discovering Christ In Colossians

What does the Bible say about Christ being all in Colossians?

How do we know Christ is our complete Savior?

Why is the concept of grace before peace important for Christians?

What does the Bible teach about the dangers of mixing works with grace?

Why is 'Christ in you' significant for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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