Set Your Mind On Perfection (Colossians)
Thankful (1:1-14)
I always think about you and pray for you with thankfulness in my heart. I haven't met you, but I have heard about your faith in Christ. You believe in the hope of the gospel, and you bear fruit for God's glory as you always have since the day you first heard the gospel.
So, since I have heard of your faith, hope, and work in the kingdom, I have not stopped praying for you to be filled with the knowledge of God's will for you. I want you to have spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you can walk worthy of the Lord and please him fully. I want God to strengthen you so that you can endure whatever lies ahead with patience, joy, and thanksgiving in your heart toward God, remembering that you are sharing in the inheritance with everyone else. We should be thankful because God has taken us out of the darkness and brought us into the light of the kingdom of Jesus. We have been redeemed and forgiven of all our sins!
Jesus Is Everything To Us (1:9-20)
We might think that having full knowledge of God and a complete spiritual understanding of his will is beyond us, but Jesus was given so that we would know God. He is the image of God. He was there when God created all things, and he is holding everything together. He is the head of the church and the firstborn from the dead. He shows us who God is and makes it possible for us to be reconciled to God through his blood.
Jesus Makes Us Perfect (1:21-23)
Jesus is the key to this growth. So don't forget what he has done for you. Jesus came down to earth to make the vilest sinner holy and blameless in him. As long as we continue in faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the gospel we heard at first, we will be presented holy and blameless before Jesus.
But We Strive To Learn Perfection (1:24-2:7)
We don't feel perfect, but that is what God promises us when we are presented before him in Christ. But the pursuit of perfection is why I am suffering for you and everyone like you. I want to see the word of God fully known among the worst of sinners. I want them all to know the riches of glory that are available in Christ. All of us have the opportunity to be made perfect through learning about Christ. We seek to understand all of the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge that can be found in Christ so that we can become what Christ will make us. (1:24-2:3)
Don't Let Them Delude The Truth (2:8-23)
Many will come to you claiming that they can find perfection in philosophies, empty deceit, human traditions, and elemental spirits of the world instead of Christ. Please don't believe them! Jesus is the fullness of God. In him, we see perfection, and he has, consequently, been given all rule and authority.
You also have been circumcised by God. You had had your earthly, worldly self put to death and cut away when you were baptized. In your baptism, you put your faith in the powerful working of God and not man. He raised you from the dead and made you alive by forgiving your sins. Every debt and legal demand for perfection has been nailed to the cross. That means that all spiritual rulers who claim that you aren't perfect have no accusation that holds water.
So, if people decide to judge you as imperfect based on some earthly standard, based on the Old Testament, or based on what seems good to them, don't listen to them. Don't let them judge you or disqualify you based on these random things. These people are puffed up and glorying in their self-made religion. In Christ, we died to this form of self-glorification. Now we glory in Christ for salvation. These man-made rules do not accomplish anything. They don't help us win the battle against the flesh and the passions at war within us.
A New Mindset, A New You (3:1-4:6)
We need to understand that our standard is Christ. If we have been raised with Christ, that means we are hidden with Christ at the right hand of God. Christ is our life, so we must set our minds on Christ, what he would do, and what he desires.
We don't live for this earth or the things in it. We don't engage in the evil of this world. This world is corrupted. The anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lies everyone else does are not for us. We are renewed in the knowledge of our Creator through Christ. Every one of us is striving to be like Christ. It doesn't matter where we came from or what we were before coming to Christ. Now we are in Christ, and we are here to be like Christ.
We are God's chosen ones. We are holy and beloved by God. That means that we strive to live with compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. We need to love each other and forgive each other as Christ forgives us. Our goal is to be harmonious and peacemakers like Christ.
This all sounds insanely difficult, but we were called into this body even though we don't deserve it. So let's be thankful, sing praises to God, and teach one another with wisdom. We must never forget Christ in everything we do.
If you are a wife, submit to your husband because Jesus submitted to serving you. If you are a husband, love your wives without being harsh because that's what Jesus does for you. Children obey their parents like Jesus obeys God the Father. Fathers, don't provoke your children to wrath. Our goal is not to discourage them. Servants need to serve with sincerity as though their masters are Jesus himself. Masters need to remember their masters and deal justly with their servants.
Those who are in Christ must be steadfast in prayer. Remember that you need God's help to become what you are called to be. I need God's help too, so pray for me.
Also, remember to walk in wisdom toward those who are outside of Christ. Make the best use of your time, and speak in a way that is gracious and helpful. Draw them into the blessings of Christ with love.
The rest of this letter is about all of Paul's activities and plans. It also has a lot of greetings.
Transforming A Christian
I hope that by going through that, you were able to see the point. Paul wants the Christians in Colossae to understand that Christ has made them perfect, but they are pursuing perfection. He wants them to be transformed by the truth of the gospel so that they grow closer to the image of God, which they were created and recreated to be.
This letter is Paul's attempt to solidify their course. He wants these Christians to believe the gospel and refuse to let men delude it. The gospel has the power to transform us from filthy sinners to being like Christ. Men can't create something better. All of our philosophies, rules, and self-made religion is empty, judgmental, and worthless.
Notice that Paul tells us how to grow into the image of Christ.
Identity
First, he tells us who we are. We are God's chosen people in Christ. That's our identity. If we start listening to men, we might doubt that, but all who are baptized into Christ have been saved from spiritual death and made pure and holy in Christ. If this truth is not tightened around your waist, tie it on! Be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, let God cut off the body of flesh that can't save you, and let him renew you. Jesus will take the sins and requirements for perfection away. The blood of Christ makes and maintains peace with all who have faith. Those who are in Christ are raised with Christ and hidden in him until the final day.
Habits
Second, we see that Paul tells us to change our mindset. We are saved to live like everyone else. We are saved to live like Jesus. So, we need to stop thinking like everyone else and start thinking like Christ. We can't be angry and wrathful people because that's not who Christ is. We are in Christ now. We belong to his group, so we act like his people act. We love people and sacrifice for others' benefit with thankfulness in our hearts.
Outcome
Third, we see that the outcome of this way of thinking is a transformation in our relationships. All of us seek to serve the Lord as we serve one another and the lost. We are also consistently praying to God because we know that living like Christ is beyond our capability.
Application
Are you reconciled to God through the blood of Christ? Have you been buried with him in baptism, and are you forgiven of your sins? If you are in Christ's body, are you living every day with that identity? When you sin, do you think, "That's not who I am. I don't act like that. I don't live that way." We need to see ourselves differently now that we are perfected, holy, and blameless in Christ. We don't think, "I'm a horrible sinner who always makes mistakes." That's no longer our identity. That's who we were. Now, we are renewed. Our eyes are fixed on Jesus, and we live to be like him. Our minds are constantly evaluating whether what we do resembles what Christ would do. We seek to be filled with the knowledge of God's will through the knowledge of Christ.
Many times, we focus on the goal. We think, "I need to be a better husband or a better wife. I need to be a better child or parent. I need to be a better employee or better employer." Don't fall into that trap. Just focus on Jesus and the things above. All of the relationships will work themselves out. We will have transformed relationships if our minds are focused on the things above.
Conclusion
Those of us who are in Christ have perfection through his blood. But we aren't perfect. Instead of doubting that what Christ tells us is true, we should strive to live like Jesus and trust him to make up for what we lack. We strive for perfection by constantly thinking about Jesus in heaven and us being hidden in him. He is our identity, so we think and have a heart like him. We love as he loves us, and we are thankful even though we suffer.