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COMPLETE IN CHRIST - BibleOutlines.com

COMPLETE IN CHRIST . CHRIST + Nothing = The Key to Spirituality A Devotional Commentary on the Book of colossians by Paul G. Apple, November 2000. Revised June 2003. For each section: - Thesis statement to focus on the big idea - Analytical outline to guide the understanding - Devotional questions to encourage life application - Representative quotations to stimulate deeper insight colossians 2:10 in Him you have been made COMPLETE . This data file is the sole property of the author Paul Apple. However, permission is granted for others to use and distribute these materials for the edification of others under two simple conditions: 1) The contents must be faithfully represented including credit to the author where appropriate. 2) The materia l must be distributed freely without any financial remuneration. This data file may not be copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products offered for sale, without the written permission of Paul Apple.

COMPLETE IN CHRIST … Christ + Nothing = The Key to Spirituality A Devotional Commentary on the Book of Colossians by Paul G. Apple, November 2000

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Transcription of COMPLETE IN CHRIST - BibleOutlines.com

1 COMPLETE IN CHRIST . CHRIST + Nothing = The Key to Spirituality A Devotional Commentary on the Book of colossians by Paul G. Apple, November 2000. Revised June 2003. For each section: - Thesis statement to focus on the big idea - Analytical outline to guide the understanding - Devotional questions to encourage life application - Representative quotations to stimulate deeper insight colossians 2:10 in Him you have been made COMPLETE . This data file is the sole property of the author Paul Apple. However, permission is granted for others to use and distribute these materials for the edification of others under two simple conditions: 1) The contents must be faithfully represented including credit to the author where appropriate. 2) The materia l must be distributed freely without any financial remuneration. This data file may not be copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products offered for sale, without the written permission of Paul Apple.

2 Requests for permission should be made in writing and addressed to: Paul Apple, 304 N. Beechwood Ave., Baltimore MD 21228. ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Paul majored in English at Princeton University and graduated in 1979 with a Master of Divinity degree from Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, IN. He lives in the Baltimore area with his wife Karen. He has worked in management roles for several local companies while engaging in pastoring and preaching responsibilities at Solid Rock Community Church. His four children (and one daughter in law) enjoy a wide range of educational and professional pursuits while sharing in common a love for the Lord Jesus. BACKGROUND TO THE EPISTLE TO THE CHURCH AT COLOSSAE. PHYSICAL LOCATION : About 100 miles east of Ephesus; near Laodicea and Hierapolis (in modern Turkey). SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CITY: Declining commercial center; one of the least significant cities Paul addressed; Noted for 2 things: - manufacturing dye (especially purple); pasture land for the wool industry - lovely resort town located in a valley where 2 rivers meet ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHURCH: Outgrowth from Paul's evangelistic efforts at Ephesus.

3 Epaphras played a major role; Paul personally unfamiliar with most of the believers there; had never personally visited (cf. Acts 19). OCCASION OF THE WRITING: Paul in prison at Rome; cf. other prison epistles: Ephesians (very similar in content); Philippians; Philemon (church at Colossae met in his home); Ephaphras had brought a report of conditions in the church (largely favorable) and pressures upon the church (some potential dangers from false teaching within and philosophical and cultural pressures from without); 61 WHY DID PAUL WRITE THE LETTER? Wiersbe : The message of this letter is greatly needed today. I hear too many voices telling me that I. need something more than Jesus CHRIST some exciting experience, some new doctrine, some addition to my Christian experience. But Paul affirms that what I need is appropriation of what I already have in CHRIST . And ye are COMPLETE in Him.'. I also hear voices that want to judge me and rob me of the glorious liberty I have in CHRIST .

4 How encouraging to hear Paul say: Let no man beguile you, let no man spoil you, let no man judge you.' The fullness of CHRIST is all that I need, and man- made regulations and disciplines cannot replace the riches I. have in God's Son.. 7 Key Issues Paul Addresses . R. C. Lucas: (note language Paul uses to combat these errors). 1) The new teachers offered a spiritual fullness' not previously experienced. Introducing a new type of spirituality; offering to bring the believers to completeness; their original reception of the gospel left them as second class citizens apart from this experience of fullness. 2) They spoke of a new spiritual freedom' which those who followed them would enjoy. Paul called this a new form of slavery'. 3) They claimed particular insight into the invisible powers of evil ..offering privileges for just a select spiritual elite. 4) They were known for their impressive asceticism (fasting, etc.); but they had a poor track record in actually combating self- indulgence.

5 5) They offered a further initiation into a deeper knowledge' of God and a greater experience of His power. 6) They were inclined to be superior to, even critical of, ordinary' believers. 7) They were divisive in their influence on the church; Paul combats this with a plea for Christian unity. BACKGROUND NOTES. Hendriksen: The rapid progress of the gospel in the early days has ever been the amazement of the historian. Justin Martyr, about the middle of the second century, wrote, There is no people, Greek or barbarian, or of any other race, by whatever appellation or manners they may be distinguished, however ignorant of arts or agriculture, whether they dwell in tents or wander about in covered wagons, among whom prayers and thanksgivings are not offered in the name of the crucified Jesus to the Father and Creator of all things.' Half a century later Tertullian adds, We are but of yesterday, and yet we already fill your cities, islands, camps, your palace, senate, and forum.

6 We have left you only your temples.' R. H. Glover (The Progress of World- Wide Missions, p. 39) states, On the basis of all the data available it has been estimated that by the close of the Apostolic Period the total number of Christian disciples had reached half a million.' . Kent: Re Background: To those who were impressed by ritual, it offered the rites and ceremonies of Moses. To the mystically inclined it advocated angel worship. And to the philosophically minded, there was the religious appeal of asceticism, which suggests spirituality to many.. one of the 4 prison (captivity) epistles: Ephesians, Philippians, Philemon delivered by Tychicus companion epistle to Philemon; The church at Colosse apparently met in the house of Philemon, the owner of Onesimus church apparently founded by Epaphras bears a close relationship in content to Ephesians Wiersbe: The message of this letter is greatly needed today. I hear too many voices telling me that I need something more than Jesus CHRIST some exciting experience, some new doctrine, some addition to my Christian experience.

7 But Paul affirms that what I need is appropriation of what I already have in CHRIST . And ye are COMPLETE in Him.'. I also hear voices that want to judge me and rob me of the glorious liberty I have in CHRIST . How encouraging to hear Paul say: Let no man beguile you, let no man spoil you, let no man judge you.' The fullness of CHRIST is all that I need, and all man- made regulations and disciplines cannot replace the riches I have in God's Son.. Wiersbe: Re background: Paul was at that time a prisoner in Rome (Acts 21:17 . 28:31). He met a runaway slave named Onesimus, who belonged to Philemon, one of the leaders of the church in Colossae. Paul led Onesimus to CHRIST . He then wrote his letter to Philemon, asking his friend to forgive Onesimus and receive him back as a brother in CHRIST . About the same time, Epaphras showed up in Rome because he needed Paul's help. Some new doctrines were being taught in Colossae and were invading the church and creating problems.

8 So Paul wrote this letter to the colossians in order to refute these heretical teachings and establish the truth of the Gospel.. Wiersbe: Do we have any of this heresy today? Yes, we do; and it is just as deceptive and dangerous! When we make Jesus CHRIST and the Christian revelation only part of a total religious system or philosophy, we cease to give Him the preeminence. When we strive for spiritual perfection' or spiritual fullness' by means of formulas, disciplines, or rituals, we go backward instead of forward. Christian believers must beware of mixing their Christian faith with such alluring things as yoga, transcendental meditation, Oriental mysticism, and the like. We must also beware of deeper life'. teachers who offer a system for victory and fullness that bypasses devotion to Jesus CHRIST . In all things, He must have the preeminence.! . Wiersbe: Outline Theme: Jesus CHRIST is Preeminent (1:18). I. DOCTRINE: CHRIST 'S PREEMINENCE DECLARED CHAPTER 1.

9 1. In the Gospel message 1:1-12. 2. In redemption 1:13-14. 3. In Creation 1:15-17. 4. In the church 1:18-23. 5. In Paul's ministry 1:24-29. II. DANGER: CHRIST 'S PREEMINENCE DEFENDED CHAPTER 2. 1. Beware of empty philosophies 2:1-10. 2. Beware of religious legalism 2:11-17. 3. Beware of man- made disciplines 2:18-23. III. DUTY: CHRIST 'S PREEMINENCE DEMONSTRATED CHAPTERS 3-4. 1. In personal purity 3:1-11. 2. In Christian fellowship 3:12-17. 3. In the home 3:18-21. 4. In daily work 3:22-4:1. 5. In Christian witness 4:2-6. 6. In Christian service 4:7-18. Vaughan: Colosse was a small town situated on the south bank of the Lycus River in the interior of the Roman province of Asian (an area included in modern Turkey). Located about a hundred miles east of Ephesus, its nearest neighbors were Laodicea (ten miles away) and Hierapolis (thirteen miles away). In Paul's day it was only an insignificant market town. Lightfoot therefore speaks of the Colossian church as the least important to which any epistle of Paul is addressed.

10 ' . Vaughan: Regarding Occasion: (1) It professed to be a philosophy,' but Paul, refusing to recognize it as genuine, called it a hollow and deceptive philosophy' (2:8). Moulton characterizes it as a dabbling in the occult.'. (2) It placed much emphasis on ritual circumcision, dietary laws, and the observance of holy days (2:11, 14, 16, 17). (3) Affirming the mediation of various supernatural powers in the creation of the world and the whole process of salvation, the false teaching insisted that these mysterious powers be placated and worshiped (2:15, 18, 19). (4) Some of the errorists were ascetic (2:20-23), teaching that the body is evil and must be treated as an enemy. (5) The advocates of this system claimed to be Christian teachers (cf. 2:3-10). From these considerations we may conclude that the Colossian heresy was a syncretistic movement combining at least three separate elements. First, the insistence on legalism, ritualism, and the observance of holy days points to a Jewish element.


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