Sunday morning

This was what I "taught" this morning in Sunday School (it's more discussion and hopefully people thinking for themselves). It's just notes, so hopefully it will make sense. I tried to fill in some of the holes here with our discussion and my thoughts that were not on paper.

Colossians 3:5-11

Background vs. 1-4

• You have been raised with Christ
• *** Set your mind on things above ***
• You have died and now have a new life in Christ
• v. 5 and beyond are all directed at the church (read: followers of Jesus)

v. 5-7
Paul lists several sins here. Notice that they are all (generally) sins that affect the self. These sexual nature sins all are sins against God (as are all), but they also are sins against our own bodies.

v. 5 says “Put to death” these things….

1- Why such a severity in language?

It’s as if he, Paul, is invoking capital punishment. He’s saying these are detestable (vs. 6) to God. They shouldn’t just be stopped, that part of you should DIE. These were part of the old you.

2- On a personal level, how does this differ from saying “quit doing this.”

It doesn’t leave any room for tolerance. It’s like some people who quit smoking. They just quit it, because they don’t think it is good for them. They don’t go and kill all the tobacco execs or go burn all the tobacco fields. They often even take up chewing tobacco instead – or find another addiction like food, candy, etc.

v. 8
Again notice a common thread through these sins. Where the first set, in vs. 5, was about sinning against yourself, this set is all about others. Anger, malice, slander. Paul could have put them into a mega-list, condensing it down into a more concise letter. Instead, though, he chose to break these out. These are all about how you treat others.

Unsubstantiated claim: Looking at vs. 8 and the way it’s worded, it seems to me that Paul may be saying something as follows.

“Look, that first list was really bad. You may have even realized that it was bad before you were new in Christ, but now that you are in Christ, you are called to something more. It’s no longer just about you and how you stop sinning against yourself, but now, you must stop this stuff against other people as well.”

v. 9a
Paul now singles this out, “Do not lie to one another”. Where he started with self, moved to others, he’s now talking about community life. How groups of believers relate to each other. It’s not enough to just treat your own symptoms, or to cause injury to others, but when you relate to each other, do so in truth. Don’t just say things to be nice, or tell the little white lies that are just for “their own protection.” Tell the truth.

Paul has taken us on a progression in vs. 5-9a that is a new way of thinking, and causes backdrop for the rest of the passage:

Self > Others > Community

v. 9b-10a
Paul talks about taking off (“stripping”) the old self and clothing with the new.

1- What does it mean to have a new self?
As he’s talking of stripping off the old and clothing with the new, it’s like a covering over your whole self… like a skin. You just strip that off and start over with a completely new image (coming in vs. 10)

2- Why is this an important distinction in relation to a new belief system, rules for life, religion, etc?
None of these deal with sin and cleansing, and being able to start over with a clean slate. They don’t heal, but instead just modify our behavior for some preferred outcome.

v. 10b-11
Renewal of knowledge is like reeducation. (vs. 10b) We need to be reeducated into the ways of the Kingdom of God. We are renewed into the image of the Creator, not just a new image of ourselves. We are now Christ in us (vs. 11b).

The city of Colosse sits in modern day Turkey. At the time, it was a mixture of people from the East (Arabs, Jews), West (Greeks, Romans), and North (Modern day Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia), all living in this high valley.

Barbarians: non-Greek speaking people, probably from the north.
Scythian: a barbaric, ruthless people likely from the north

vs. 11 “there is no longer Greek or Jew (heritage, race), circumcised or uncircumcised (under law/not, former religion), barbarian (social class, uneducated), Scythian (social class, past life), slave or freeman (social standing, power, class)”

The Fall of mankind shattered not only our relationships with God, but also our relationships with fellow man. What Paul is saying here, is that now, through Christ, we have are part of a new Kingdom. The Kingdom of God dwells inside us, and we now have the ability (through the Spirit) to be back into a right relationship with each other as well. Our new selves are created in a perfect image; Christ is all and in all, so we no longer have to deal with race, background, social class, former ways, or anything. We are one in Christ, and one body.