Colossians 3:12-17

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others. And to all these virtues add love, which is the perfect bond. Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

— ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬-‭17‬‬

 Definitely a self-contained paragraph, but I need to see how this paragraph fits in outline of Colossians. Perhaps that opening phrase, elect of God, is building from an argument in the previous 3 chapters. I know Colossians has a lot about Jesus’ deity/“preeminence”, and Paul is attacking some heresies. This paragraph must fit into that somehow. Sounds similar to Paul’s exhortations elsewhere and even to the Acts 2 church. 

Mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness. Hard characteristics to implement in one’s life. “Clothe yourself”—I’m sure that’s a terrific word study and has parallels in other Pauline works.

This “just as God forgave you” resurfaces throughout NT, and it’s a hard idea to comprehend sometimes. Sounds easy. We like to add caveats and asterisks—and I’m not that dense. Of course, there are seriously traumatic situations where forgiveness would seem impossible. I certainly am not demanding those who hurt others at the deepest level are never given a second thought, but I have seen forgiveness in these circumstances, and it’s stunning. It makes all of our pettiness seem, well, very forgivable.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a church “clothed” with everything in this paragraph fully, but I guess that’s why Paul is instructing even the Colossians to show mercy/kindness/love/forgiveness to each other.

Add love. The perfect bond. We can wrap our minds around love. Sacrificial service, like Christ, even to those we don’t like. Sometimes those other things seem more difficult (at least to me). But perfect harmony with one another comes from these things: others above myself, helping however I can, forgiving, being kind.

V. 16: Once the word of Christ, i.e., the gospel, lives in us, the rest of the verse is all results: teaching, singing, encouraging. These are participles which give the natural consequences of understanding the gospel.

Whatever you do—needs to be understood in this context. In the name of Jesus is not a secret mantra or ritual. It’s the motivation behind our kindness to one another. We carry His name. We do it like we’re doing it to Jesus. If we understood that we have His name on us, much of the disunity, pride, and resentment may slowly fade.

So much gratitude in these verses among ourselves and back to God. 

Philippians 4:4-9

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

— ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬-‭9‬‬

 One of the most well known passages in the book and maybe the NT.

Paul is bringing the book to a close, illustrating how the themes of sacrifice, humility, and joy can be lived out. He opens the chapter by encouraging the two women to settle their differences. I don’t think their situation is “the” reason for the writing of the book, but it’s an example of why chapter 2 was so important. 

Rather than thinking more highly of ourselves and bickering, we can rejoice in the Lord. He even says it twice to get it into the Philippians’ heads (and ours). Joy is such a difficult concept to understand and apply. I’ve had the discussion a million times, and I suppose the next section on contentment would be the key to that (as well as some of what Paul says here about being gentle and putting anxiety on the Lord). 

Reasonableness/gentleness to all people. This verse always seemed out of place in this paragraph. Need to see how it fits into Paul’s flow of thought.

Lord is near is usually a thought of judgment. God is coming. But that doesn’t fit the context of the passage of the book. God’s coming has to bring peace (v. 7) or relief from anxiety or joy. 

Don’t be anxious—I think there’s certainly a different term for the anxiety we hear today and many battle and this more general language. We need to be very cautious when discussing these things and willing to listen to those around us. There is no “one solution” for all. 

But Paul’s words should be heeded. Prayer and dependence on God will relieve so much worry and stress from our minds/hearts. “About anything”—adds a level of impossibility to the command, but that’s what he says. That’s the goal. No fears. No worries. Rejoicing in all things. I have recently met some elderly folks who look back over their lives and say there are no complaints. No worries. Just peace. That’s a tremendous statement and a worthy goal.

With thanksgiving. Yes, I’ve made the gratitude journals. Many times. They do help, focusing on blessings and not what I “lack.” But again, this cannot be the only solution. Paul is speaking generally, not solving mental illnesses for all time. 

But it’s always a good idea to be grateful. Cultivating this mindset will certainly put us on a path of joy and peace and contentment with life rather than stress/worry/frustration.

Peace of God guards hearts and minds. I don’t know if this can be put into words, and I hesitate to even try, because then it becomes “tangible” or able to be discerned whether I “have it or not.” The point is it’s not explicable. 

Finally—doesn’t have to mean this is the last sentence. Obviously, it’s not. It could mean “above all.” Need to research more exactly what it is. But Paul does want the Philippians to focus on wholesome thoughts. Pure. True. Valuable. Worthy. When God is guarding our minds, it’s so much easier to filter valuable things through them. When peace reigns in our heart, it’s easier to focus on what truly matters and what brings joy.

Paul gives one final plea for his friends to imitate him. By living a life of excellence, not just maintaining a pure heart/mind, they will show themselves to be a people of God.

Peace of God is turned to God of peace in this last verse. Of course, God is always with us. So this conditional imperative must be something more than just His presence.  

Romans 5:1-5

 “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

— ‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭5‬‬

NPP again is going to debate this meaning of righteousness, whether the traditional/reformed imputation of Christ’s righteousness or the more familial approach that God has accepted us as one of His own. I haven’t studied this facet of NPP to know why they have to disagree so much. My assumption is that traditionalists accuse NPP of not going far enough and remove the basis for being accepted into God’s family.

The result is the same per the next phrase, we have peace with God. See textual criticism post on whether that word is indicative or subjunctive. The relationship has been restored. Reconciliation is made, and I don’t know how you reach a place of reconciliation without acknowledging a broken state prior to this. So those who deny wrath or holiness, I need to read more on their understanding of these first few chapters of Romans. I do know wrath is never mindless, spontaneous, emotional reaction. It is a character trait of holiness that must respond to sun appropriately.

Faith brings a state of righteousness and access to grace. And therefore, we rejoice because we have hope of God’s glory. Sounds awesome. Can anything go wrong at this point? 

We also rejoice in suffering, because we don’t jump straight to experiencing God’s glory. We mature in this life. Paul lists the stages in that journey and I don’t think it’s one cycle or even a straight progression. Probably multiple times and many steps forward and backward. 

But in every stage we have hope, which comes from the love of God. NET says there’s a good chance this is both our love for God and His for us. Perhaps. In light of preceding topics and 5:7-11 (particularly v8), I lean towards His love for us.

And the Holy Spirit is essential in reminding us of all these things, see ch 8. So much in these 5 verses. This is the whole book of Romans in a few sentences. 

So much truth to feed our mind. So much emotion to fill our heart. 

That one phrase is haunting…rejoice in suffering. Cause I know those early Christians had true suffering. May I continue to mature on the path to experiencing God’s glory.