Peril and Protection

Ter the preceding verses, with their strong

emphasis on Christ, it might seem as though any-

thing further on this subject was unnecessary, but the Apostle feels that this great theme must be mentioned again, so intense is his concern to see these Christians steadfast in the true faith.

I. The Appeal (vs. 6, 7)

He thereupon speaks to them of the necessity of continuing as they had begun. They had received Christ Jesus the Lord by faith (John 1:12), and they were to keep on walking in Him. Each part of this title is note¬ worthy. He is “the Christ,” the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Divinely commissioned Person. He is “Jesus,” the human, and historical personage. He is “the Lord,” with all that this means of supreme control. This was the sum and substance of their Christian life. They had accepted our Saviour in this threefold way. He was the Divine Messiah, the human Jesus, and the supreme Lord. They were to continue as they had started, express¬ ing their life in consistent conduct in union with Him. This thought of “walking” is familiar in these Epistles, and the idea is that of complete and continuous manifestation in character and conduct of everything involved in the reception of Christ Jesus the Lord.

Then follow three significant participles, all referring to the further progress of the Christian life. “Having been rooted.” This is the first metaphor, implying that they had been permanently fixed in the right soil. Then the metaphor changes, and also the tense as well, and the Apostle speaks of their being “continually built up.” The thought is that of Christ as the foundation of a building on which the Colossian Christians were continually being built. Then comes the third thought of being “continually made steadfast.” This is another present tense, implying continuous experience. Lightfoot thinks that “faith” here is like the cement of the building which helps to strengthen and solidify the structure. The Apostle very beautifully bears witness to the reality of the instruction they had received from Epaphras, for he mentions all this as “according as ye were taught.” It is not enough for evangelists to win men for Christ; they must instruct them in those principles of Christian living which alone can safeguard the soul, and prevent it from backsliding.

With another change of metaphor the Apostle speaks of these Christians “abounding in thanksgiving,” and the thought of thankfulness in this connection is singularly suggestive and impressive. Bengel makes one of his characteristic comments in saying that “thanksgiving makes lawful and makes glad, and shows the use of things which others load with prohibitions.” And, similarly, Bishop Moule says that “there is a great and profoundly reason¬ able power in holy thanksgiving to bring home to the soul the reality of the treasure for which the thanks are given” {Colossian Studies, p. 130). And again, after referring to the classical legend of the Sirens and Ulysses, he remarks: “No heart is more vulnerable to doubt and to spiritual delusion than the unthankful heart which will not walk in the sunshine of the Lord” (p. 131). No fewer than six times in this brief Epistle is this thought of thanksgiving to be found (1:3, 12; 3:15, 17; 4:2, and here).

Peril and Protection. 2:6-10a
II. The Warning (v. 8)

Now, the caution already given (v. 4) is developed into a reference to a special peril, and he appeals to them not to allow themselves to be deceived, because it would involve their being ensnared and secured as a prey. The exact expression of the original shows that the danger was not imaginary, but present and pressing. The word rendered “maketh spoil” is only found here in the New Testament, and is rendered by Lightfoot, “carries you off body and soul.” They had been rescued from the power of darkness (1:12, 13), and they were to watch lest they were taken back into a far worse condition. The danger was that of a pretended knowledge, “a philosophy which is a specious make-believe.” The phrase is, perhaps, to be rendered “vain, deceitful philosophy.” The word “philosophy” is found only here in the New Testament, and the accent of scorn associated with it is particularly noteworthy. Christianity is not primarily a philosophy, even though Christ is “the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 2:6-16). He is wisdom because He is life, and the various problems associated with philosophy, such as those of existence, nature, life, man and God, are all to be considered in the light of Christ as the special life of the soul. It is a great mistake to think that every form of philosophy is capable of being harmonised with Christianity. The two rocks on which most philosophies split are those of sin and redemption, and no system of thought can be regarded as worthy of the name which does not reckon with and find a place for human depravity and divine salvation. As Bishop Moule points out, the trouble at Colosse and the trouble in modern days as well is that philosophy so often contradicts Christ, and is not “according to Him.” Men often want “a Christ according to the system of thought, not a system of i thought according to the blessed Christ” (p. 142). And yet this does not mean any disparagement of the intellect, for the word of Christ is as clear as ever, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy .... mind,” and everyone knows the marvellous effects on the thinking powers when a man receives Christ as his life. “Let a man of elevated and penetrated understanding get a true view of the Christ of God, as the Word shows Him, and the Spirit glorifies Him, and he will have a subject matter for his whole mental power such as he never had before” (Moule, p. 143).

This hollow and pretended knowledge is further described as “according to the tradition of men, according to the rudiments of the world.” It was evidently a matter of silly trifling, of empty sham, of idle fancy. In another passage (Gal. 4:3, 9) the word rendered “rudiments” is applied to Jewish ceremonialism, while here the same idea seems to be applied to paganism. It is natural for modern applications to be made in regard to the bearing of this on ceremonialism in worship, and, as Maclaren points out, “enlisting the senses as the allies of the spirit in worship is risky work” ( Colossians, p. 192), especially because, while they are thought to be helpful to the soul in approaching God, they are just as likely to prove harmful, and even disastrous. “The gratification of taste and the excitation of aesthetic sensibility, which are the results of such aids to worship, are not worship, however they may be mistaken as such. All ceremonial is in danger of becoming opaque instead of transparent, as it was meant to be” (p. 193).

It is not surprising, therefore, that a great preacher should dare to say that “of the two extremes, a Quaker meeting is nearer the ideal of Christian worship than High Mass,” and that “a Christianity making much of forms and ceremonies is a definite retrogression and descent.”

Peril and Protection, 2:6-10a It has truly been urged that we must be particularly careful lest we mistake the worship of music for music in worship. Worship is something that goes far deeper than the senses, though often when our senses are stirred we think our worship is acceptable. But no worship is worthy of the name that does not penetrate to the spirit, and does not express itself in genuineness and reality (John 4:23, 24).

III. The Safeguard (vs. 9, 10a)

Once again the Apostle refers to Christ as the protection against this specious and deadly danger. In Him dwells permanently the entire fulness of Deity in a bodily form, and in Him believers are permanently filled full. In the Incarnation of Christ (John 1: 14) is found the complete revelation and possession of God, and there is no need for believers to seek for anything else, because in Him they reach their full life (John 1:16). The word “Godhead” is found only here, and is usually under¬ stood to mean Deity, or God’s essential nature as distinct from Divinity or the qualities of the Godhead (Rom. 1 :20). It is a clear indication of what the Apostle thought of Christ.

The theme of the entire section is Christ, and even the prepositions are noteworthy. From verses 6-11 “in” occurs six times, while in verse 8 there is “according to,” and in verse 13, as we shall see, “with.” The various elements and aspects of Christ, as here indicated, should be thoroughly and constantly kept in mind.

1. Christ the Foundation (5:7). This is the basis of all true life (Eph. 2:20; 1 Cor. 3:9-15).

2. Christ the Sphere. The various references to our being “in Him” show that union and communion with Christ is the protection and satisfaction of the soul.

3. Christ the Life. All through this passage the believer i is regarded as united to a living Saviour, who is both God and man.

4. Christ the Soil (v. 7). The believer as permanently rooted in Christ has struck his roots into a soil that remains fruitful because he is “planted by the rivers of water.”

5. Christ the Pathway (v. 6). We are to walk in Him who is at once the way and the goal. Thus Christ is to be received, and then the Christian is rooted in Him, built up in Him, made steadfast in Him, walking in Him, and all the while abounding in thanksgiving. So for doctrine and duty, character and conduct, life and labour, thought and deed, word and work, “Christ is all, and in all.”