by Jen Shih

One marked characteristic of our Bible studies at Lighthouse is that our pastor does not skimp on giving us the details; at any given time of the year, we are digging into a book of the Bible verse by verse. The Single Life ministry started studying through the book of Colossians on Friday nights back in July 2010 and now we’re approaching the end of chapter 2! By way of introduction to the book, one reason why Paul wrote to the church at Colossae was in response to false teachings that were arising. Paul warns the church to be wary of false teaching based on human traditions and elementary principles created by man and instead to trust and depend on the sufficiency of Christ. Understanding what “hollow and deceptive philosophy” looks like is helpful especially because we live in a world where lies are commonly the mainstream belief.

While studying Colossians 2:8, Pastor Patrick highlighted some characteristics of false teachings for us. False teaching often contains error mixed in with truth. It appeals to the desires and intellect of men (1 John 2:16), and causes us to question the true word of God. A picture of this false teaching is clearly illustrated in Genesis 3 – Eve saw that the tree which God commanded not to eat from was a “delight to the eyes and she saw that the tree was desired to make one wise.” Satan twists the word of God and tempts Eve with a reasoning that sounds appealing and good. I encounter a modern day example of this at my workplace. It’s often times much easier to complain and gossip with co-workers in a frustrating situation because there might be seemingly legitimate reasons to do so – the situation is unfair or there is not enough recognition by management or one person is not contributing to a team effort. Grumbling, complaining, and gossip is inexcusable because these are things that God commands against in his Word (Philippians 2:14, Psalm 34:13). Or when things don’t go the way I’ve planned – it’s simple to blame circumstances and a situation for a hardened heart and the world reinforces this.

The Christian does not need to rely on these types of reasoning but instead the Christian has a solid foundation on Christ. It is sure, unwavering, never misleading or wrong. In Colossians 2:9-10, Paul emphasizes three powerful statements about Christ: in Jesus the fullness of the deity dwells in bodily form, we have complete sufficiency in Christ, and this is assured by His full authority. Christ is God incarnated – the very being of God. His perfect life satisfies what we can never make up to be reconciled with God. It is an amazing truth that our wisdom, reconciliation, and righteousness are complete in Christ. Studying through Colossians 2:11-14 specifically has been tremendously encouraging and eye opening. Pastor Patrick pointed out that the same Greek word “energeia” for the “powerful working” of God to raise us from the dead is the same powerful working that God uses to raise Christ from the dead. That’s a pretty mind-blowing thought. Our entire old self is gone. Our old flesh is removed or “circumcised” and replaced entirely with new life in Christ. This has helped me to put into better perspective the fact that salvation is truly a miracle by a gracious, merciful and loving God. We were dead in our sin and trespasses – completely dead – which means that there is absolutely nothing we could to earn salvation or please God or earn God’s favor in any way. Yet, God chose to save us.

Recently, my more specific prayer is that I would not get caught up in the busyness of work and life and live each day in perspective of the awesome salvation I have in Christ. Understanding that my old self was buried with Christ and that I am raised again ignites an inner joy and excitement that I know is rooted in amazing gospel truth. Practically, for me, this means that I need to prioritize and not put all my time and energy into working to please men, but put my best effort forward, understanding that I cannot be perfect and my aim is not to please man and build myself up. It means that I cannot find my security in my career or income or success, but I need constantly to depend, rest, and draw strength on truth that Christ is sufficient for me.

My encouragement to those in the Singles Ministry is simply this reminder: God has specifically and purposely carved out this stage of life, this study through the book of Colossians, and the relationships we have with one another to learn and grow and live out his Word. Let’s continue to strive to do this with full dependency on God and increasing love for God and one another!