Colossians 2:9-11by Dr. Grant C. RichisonTo: Colossians Main Menu To: Grace Notes Home Page Colossians 2:9"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"Having sent out a warning about false philosophy, Paul now turns to God's true wisdom. ---------- "For in Him dwells" The word "for" continues the thought of verse eight. In the Greek, the word "for" means "because." This word is important because it introduces another reason for abandoning false teaching. Verse eight presents the negative reasons for following false philosophy. This verse gives the positive reason -- all the fullness of God dwells in Christ. That is why he is superior to any philosophy or theology. He is all in all. To worship anything else is error. The words "in Him" are emphatic in the Greek indicating a mighty contrast between philosophy and the Son. The Son is superior to any philosophy. The word "dwells" comes from two words: to dwell and down, to settle in. It means to settle down in a dwelling, to dwell in a fixed place. Because the Greek word is a combination of two words, it is an intense term. It has the force of a permanent dwelling. "All the fullness of the Godhead bodily" dwells in Christ as a settled manner. The present tense also indicates a fixed abode. Deity does not come and go in Christ. Here "dwells" refers to the indwelling of the totality of the attributes and powers of the Godhead living permanently in Christ (cf. 1:19). PRINCIPLE: Any system of thought that does not orient to the criterion of Christ (v.8) must be wrong for "all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily." APPLICATION: Any philosophy "not after Christ" (v.8) must be delusive and deceitful because it has missed the central truth of the universe -- the superiority of Christ. Philosophers have not been able to come to any certainty about the "why" of things. All they know for sure is that we do not know for sure. A panacea of tolerance is the result of lack of certainty. The only exception to tolerance is to allow no tolerance for those who are not tolerant! Today's world-view views anyone with firm conviction as obscurant. Tolerance is very intolerant of those who know what they believe. They have a great deal of certitude in uncertainty. The reason men believe that it is impossible to come to some universal truth is their own finite creatureliness. It is true that it is impossible for the finite to fully comprehend the infinite. If we are to understand the infinite, the infinite God must reveal himself deductively to us through the Word of God. God has spoken to us in propositions. He has given us enough, but not exhaustive, knowledge of himself. We cannot know with certainty God or his plans for the universe apart from the Bible. Having seen that the word "dwells" means to permanently indwell, we now see what permanently indwells Christ. ---------- "all the fullness of the Godhead" The "fullness" is defined by the word "Godhead." "Godhead" does not mean mere divine qualities but the very essence of God. The word "fullness" connotes that of which a thing is full. It refers to a total quantity, with emphasis upon completeness -- full number, full measure, totality. This means that the totality of the Godhead lives permanently in him. Jesus Christ is completely God. He is exactly what God is. Jesus Christ possesses the "fullness" of God, not certain aspects of God's essence. Jesus Christ possesses unbounded power, the totality of the attributes of God. "Fullness" describes what constitutes God. He is not merely godlike. He is God himself. ---------- "of the Godhead" Jesus Christ exists in the nature or state of being God. The word "Godhead" means -- "deity, divine nature, divine being." In the Son all the fullness of absolute Godhead dwells. He carried more than mere divinity. He is absolute God. This word "Godhead" must be distinguished from "divinity." There is another Greek for that meaning. PRINCIPLE: Jesus Christ is God almighty. Christ is God's true wisdom; whoever has Christ has God. APPLICATION: Whoever desires to have more than Christ desires to have more than God. We do not examine the world to find Christ; we study Christ to view the world. How high is your view of Jesus Christ? Do you understand him as God almighty or as a glorified man? ---------- "bodily" The word "bodily" means pertaining to being real (in the sense of material) in contrast to being symbolic. The complete content of deity exists in Jesus Christ in real form. This was the interpretation of Augustine. This means that the deity is in Christ in reality, not apparently. It is also possible to interpret "bodily" as meaning in physical form. In the latter case it would mean that God took on flesh. However, it would be difficult to explain how "all" the fullness of the Godhead can dwell in physical form. God is everywhere present. How can everywhere presence dwell in a local being? Another way we can understand "bodily" is that the resurrected and glorified Christ exists as both full deity and true humanity. The word "bodily" means corporeally. Jesus' deity is permanently manifested in the incarnation (in flesh). God manifest in the flesh makes him clear to the consciousness of man. This does not refer simply to his existence in the past; it refers to his present position in heaven, at the right hand of the Father. Jesus sits in his humanity but he exists as God almighty as well. This is the only occurrence of this term in the New Testament. PRINCIPLE: Jesus Christ exists eternally in the reality of God. He also sits at the right hand of God in his humanity. The God-man exists in undiminished deity and true humanity forever. APPLICATION: Since Jesus Christ exists eternally with the totality of God's attributes with unbounded powers, we should hold him in high regard. Jesus Christ became human in the incarnation. He was the person of God clothed with a human body. He became a compassionate High Priest. All things are from him, through him and for him (Rom. 11:36). Colossians 2:10"and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."Paul continues his emphasis upon the sufficiency of Christ for the believer. This section begins the results of the believer's association with Christ. The first result is that we are "complete in Him." ---------- "and you are complete in Him" We can translate this phrase "you have come to fullness of life." The emphasis in the Greek is upon the abiding results of our position in Christ. The believer permanently holds that position before God from the moment of his salvation. The words "are complete" come from the same root as the word "fullness" of verse 9. This is an obvious reference to Christ's fullness. Christians have been filled out of Christ's fullness -- "all the fullness of the Godhead" lives permanently in Christ. This verse says that God has given believers fullness in him. Our fullness of life comes from Christ's fullness (John 1:16). We need no outside help from any other source. We need no supplementary wisdom. Every Christian at the moment of salvation receives this fullness. This is God's estimate of us. God views us as pardoned and as righteous as Christ is righteous. We are with him in his life, sonship, heirship, glory and merit. God accomplishes this at the moment of salvation and it remains true until we stand in the presence of God. We do not receive Christ on the installment plan. We receive a complete Savior and complete results of our salvation at the moment we come to know him. We may appreciate him more as we grow in him, however, we do not receive more of him. "In Him" means in union with Jesus Christ. This is the believer's position before God. As God views us, he looks at us exactly like he would look at Christ -- perfect. We are not perfect in our experience but in our position or status quo before God forever. We share his fullness. From God's viewpoint, nothing is wanting in us because of Christ. Jesus fully meets every demand of God for us. If we have all we need before God in Christ, why should the Colossians turn to Gnostic philosophy? Why should Christians today run after every wind of doctrine? This is true of every Christian no matter what their experience of living may be like. Jesus Christ is our substitute not only at the point of salvation but as an ongoing status before God. We stand judicially right before God forever. God's estimation of us is equivalent to his estiment of Christ. God identifies us with him in everything. PRINCIPLE: When we understand our position before God in Christ, we are free to glorify the Lord. Security allows the believer freedom to relate to God. APPLICATION: We are not free to glorify the Lord as long as we are under the yoke of legalism. Our capacity to love and honor the Lord does not depend upon our effort and morality. It depends on our recognition of what he has done. Positional truth gives us freedom toward God. The basis of our freedom is not what we do but what Christ did. We need to be free to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. A girl has no security if her boyfriend dates other girls. She does not have the freedom to express her love to him. We do not have freedom to love and honor the Lord Jesus Christ if we do not understand what he has done for us. Colossians 2:11"In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ"At this verse Paul turns from the error of Gnosticism to the error of legalism. The Colossians had no need for physical circumcision since they stood circumcised in Christ's death. We have all that we need in Christ (v.10). This is the second result of the work of Christ for us. ---------- "In Him " "In Him" refers to our position in the Lord Jesus Christ as of the moment of our salvation. This is not talking about literal but spiritual circumcision. Without this understanding we lose the context of Paul's argument. ---------- "you were also circumcised " Circumcision is the cutting off the foreskin of the penis. Literally, "circumcision" means a cutting around. It was the external sign of incorporation into the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 17; Acts 7:8; Rom. 4:11). The circumcision here is not a physical circumcision but a spiritual circumcision, the circumcision of the heart (Rom. 2:29; Eph. 2:11). This is a contrast to the physical circumcision of the Old Testament. The tense of "were" is past tense. God circumcised us at the point of our salvation. At that moment we entered into union with Christ. Another part of speech indicates that God placed us into union with Christ (passive voice). We did not earn or deserve that privilege. It is an act of God's unadulterated grace. ---------- "with the circumcision made without hands" "Made without hands" means circumcision in this passage was no human act. It is an action of the Holy Spirit. This circumcision is spiritual. Upon the preaching of the gospel the Gentiles, a sect of Jewish believers arose who argued that circumcision is a necessary aspect of salvation (Acts 10:45; 11:2; 15:1; Gal. 2:12; Col. 4:11; Tit. 1:10). This is legalism. PRINCIPLE: Jesus spiritually circumcised our sin capacity upon the cross. APPLICATION: God does not expect us to deal with our sin capacity by religion. No amount of legalism will attain God's standards. Jesus accomplished all that is necessary to live the Christian life for us. Our part is to apply what he did by faith. ---------- "by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh" "Putting off" means to strip off clothes. Because of our position with Christ, Jesus took off the body of our sins like a suit of clothes at Christ's death. This is a full strip of the flesh. The word "body" refers to the sin capacity. Jesus put off that factory which is the source of our sin. It is that faculty which produces lusts and personal sins. The Greek noun for "putting off" is a reference to the death of Christ. God put off our sins of the flesh at the moment we exercised faith in the death of Christ to forgive sins. "The sins of the flesh" is probably our sin capacity. Jesus destroyed all that we were in Adam. We are identified with Christ in his death. ---------- "by the circumcision of Christ" Jesus executed our spiritual circumcision positionally upon the cross. PRINCIPLE: Jesus spiritually circumcised our sin capacity upon the cross. APPLICATION: Jesus not only dealt with our sins on the cross, he also destroyed the factory that produces sin -- the sin capacity. This does not mean that God eradicates our sin capacity. It means that the principle of our sin capacity died when Christ died (Rom. 6). Because we are positionally dead to sin, we are free to deal with what Christ already judged. An understanding of this principle is a key to Christian living. Positional truth is the basis for our victory; it is not victory itself. Positional truth means that God views us as dead and risen in Christ. It constitutes a positive spiritual crisis in the Christian life when the believer himself begins to view himself this way. Do you take by faith the work of Christ for you? Do you try to live the Christian life by operation bootstraps? We cannot live the Christian way of life by legalism. Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. All rights reserved. There is no charge for Grace Notes Materials. You can help further this work by your prayer and by sending a contribution to: Grace Notes% Warren Doud wdoud@bga.com1705 Aggie Lane Austin, Texas 78757 Grace Notes Web site: http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/ Anonymous FTP site: ftp://ftp.bga.com/vendors/wdoud/ Grace Notes is a ministry of Village Missions International. |
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