Study Guide for Morning Worship
Colossians 1
After His presentation of irrefutable evidence of Christ’s Godhead, the Holy Spirit leads Paul to write of what Christ’s coming as a human accomplished (1:19-23). Compare Paul’s prayer requests in 1:12-14 with the results described in 1:20-22. Notice the complete effectiveness of Christ’s work in 1:22. By His effort we are made holy, blameless and unreproveable in the sight of God the great (and ultimately only) Judge. What is the difference between being “blameless” and being “unreproveable”? By the way, the Greek word translated “blameless” in the KJV carries the meaning of “without blemish”. For example, it was used to refer to sacrificial animals that were to be “perfect specimens”, without blemish.
In 1:21 Paul writes that the Colossian Christians had been God’s “enemies in mind”. What does that mean? How was their (and our) antagonism to God exhibited? How does this impact our understanding of a believer’s disobedience? Also notice the emphasis in 1:22 on Christ’s body. In the context of Christ’s Godhead, why is that statement so important? How does the first phrase in 1:23 “If you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be moved away from the hope of the Gospel…” relate to 1:22?
I’m not sure we’ll get to verse 24 this Sunday, but how is it possible to “rejoice in sufferings”? This statement cuts to heart of what it means to rejoice.
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