Hearts United in Love

June 23, 2019 Background Scripture: Colossians 2:1 – 15 Lesson Passage: Colossians 2:1 – 15 There is always a danger of watering down the gospel by mixing it with something else that is not of Christ. Christ is sufficient. This is a simple concept that is often difficult to grasp—even for believers. It just seems natural to want to find something else to add to the gospel narrative. We use philosophy, religion, civil law, and a host of other things in our attempt to augment the gospel. Philosophy, legalism, and religious rituals can be the greatest threat to the growth of a believer’s faith. The more we depend on other things to support the gospel, the further we move away from depending on God. We like to feel self-sufficient. This is not a recent phenomenon or development. The Apostle Paul struggled with this same behavior in some of the first century congregations. Paul labored in prayer and teaching the scriptures to strengthen them. Paul acknowledged working hard on behalf of the congregation that was at Colossae—although he had not met some of them personally. He prayed earnestly for them that they would be joined together in the love of Christ. True knowledge of Christ gives understanding that is wealth, which consists of wisdom and knowledge found in Christ. Paul desired for all Christians, everywhere, to come into the sincere knowledge of Christ. He even prayed earnestly for those he had not met personally, such as the congregation of Colossians. The lack of scriptural knowledge concerning Christ was causing many to become unstable in their faith. This was not good during a time when Christians were enduring much persecution. Stability of faith is based on the assurance that comes from understanding who Christ is and not based on persuasive arguments. New believers need to be well grounded in their faith. Afterwards, they need to grow spiritually and become part of the ministry of making disciples for Christ. The believer’s faith in Christ establishes a root but walking in the knowledge of Christ builds the believer up. When we walk in the knowledge of Christ, we continuously acknowledge him as our Lord. Believers should seek to know more about Christ and to continuously experience his presence. All fullness for a believer is found only in Christ. Philosophy can be a powerful attractant and people are often drawn to it. Our flesh revels in philosophy. Paul warned the Colossians that being drawn to philosophy and away from the centrality and all-sufficiency of Christ was dangerous for them as believers. Those warnings still hold true today. Another threat to new believers involves moral law. Part of the Law God gave Israel through Moses was a moral law. All of the demonic forces that could come against a believer could only do so because of the Law. Sin gives strength to the Law. Christ took on the Law by meeting its righteous demands and was made sin by being nailed to the cross. Through his actions, Christ canceled the sin debt for all believers who put their faith in him and the finished work on Calvary’s cross. Today, it could be said that the greatest enemy of the believer is false teaching. False teaching causes believers to become sidetracked from true spiritual growth in Christ. Like the first century believers, we must strive to resist false teaching, philosophy, and legalism. As we do so, we will find our hearts united together in love. Robert C. Hudson May 16, 2019

Right Attitudes

June 30, 2019 Background Scripture: Matthew 5:1 – 12 Lesson Passage: Matthew 5:1 – 12 Matthew 5 is the beginning of the narrative that is often referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. The bible records that large crowds started to follow Jesus at this point in his ministry. The people came from all of the regions where Jesus had been teaching and performing miracles. One day as Jesus was looking at the crowd, he went to the side of a hill and sat down. His disciples came to him and he started teaching them about many principles of the kingdom of heaven. This is the beginning of what Jesus said to them. There is a series of nine statements that declare a blessing for various people who are described within the statements. This series of statements has come to be known as the beatitudes—or as some will say, these are the attitudes that followers of Jesus should have. This list describes situations and attitudes that individuals do not seek to become or experience. So, it is significant that Jesus said there is a blessing for those who are so. I don’t know of anyone who wants to be poor in spirit or mourning. Nor do I know of anyone who doesn’t naturally believe that to be gentle, a peacemaker, or merciful is to set one’s self up to be taken advantage of by aggressive and unmerciful people. Jesus’ words must have been like music to the ears of those who were already enduring such things. In spite of their current situation, Jesus was assuring them that there was a blessing in it for them. No one had taught such things. There is little wonder that some would dare to teach that religion is the opium of the people. Any teaching that would have people become comfortable in such situations rather than incite them to riot or struggle to rise up from such things, was certainly seen as intoxicating them to the point of becoming unaware of their present state. But Jesus was not teaching about earthly outcomes for earthly living. Jesus taught about heavenly rewards for enduring earthly conditions for the sake of God. It is unfortunate that some today teach about earthly outcomes as the only meaningful aspiration of a person’s faith. Jesus taught his followers to look at the outcome of life on an eternal level. Life should not be lived simply based on what a person can obtain or attain to. Life for a child of God should be lived with eternal rewards and consequences in mind. That is one of the things that makes this list that Jesus gave so profound. Many people who understood very little about life were being inspired to have aspirations for eternal things beyond life. The assurance that Jesus gave them was that God is the guarantor of the outcome. In other words, the outcome is in God’s hands and so too are the eternal rewards. There are consequences to be faced for the actions we take in this life. Before there are human actions, there are attitudes. And before there are human attitudes, there are human thoughts. Jesus’ approach to corrective action was to help people have the right thoughts and that would lead them to have the right attitude. Jesus’ teaching on this was made complete by teaching them God’s role in determining the rewards resulting from those outcomes. Robert C. Hudson May 15, 2019