IF
(since)
THEN
(therefore): ei oun:
If this be so, if you were raised with Christ, if you were translated
into heaven, what follows? Why, you must realize the change
(Lightfoot)
If
does not convey uncertainty but is what is referred to as a first class conditional clause which assumes
that the statement which follows is true (cf
Col 2:20). One can often substitute Since
or in view of
the fact for if. In marked
contrast to the mystical promises of achieving your "human potential"
offered under the guise of the New Age Movement, here Paul unveils in
clear language the true way to "be all that you can be", God's
plan for the "human potential movement".
Spurgeon adds
The if is used logically, not theologically: by way of argument,
and not by way of doubt. All who believe in Christ are risen with
Christ. Let us meditate on this truth.
Thus Paul is reaffirming that our co-resurrection
with Christ is a fact & is not in doubt.
True spiritual life is nurtured in the "womb" of true doctrine. If you are going to live a holy life in an unholy world,
your doctrine has got to be "pure milk" (see note
1 Peter 2:2-3).
For 2 chapters Paul has told
the Colossians about doctrine (mystery of Christ in them, circumcision
of their old flesh nature, dead, buried & raised with Him, etc).
In the last 2 chapters he moves
into the
practical application of the doctrines he has just expounded. After
all, it does little good if Christians declare and defend
the truth, but fail to demonstrate it in their lives. The
way you live is determined by what you believe and the purer the
doctrine the purer the life. Our position
(co-resurrected with Christ) needs to be put into practice in
these last 2 chapters. How you live is determined by how you
think for
as a man "thinks
within
himself,
so he is" (Pr 23:7).
While the first part of Colossians is doctrinal (Col
1:1-3:4),
the second part (Col
3:5-4:18)
is practical, emphasizing the importance of walking in the power of
the truth of the new man and our relationship to Christ as Head. In
the second part, the first passage—Colossians 3:5-17—deals with
practical holiness in relation to ourselves (see notes
Colossians 3:5;
3:6;
3:7;
3:8;
3:9;
3:10;
3:11)
and in relation to others (see note
Colossians 3:12ff).
Colossians 3:5-11 challenge the individual to “put off” the old ways; then
Col 3:12-17 present the claims of Christian fellowship. The sequence is
significant, for we must be right in our own inner lives if we want to
be right in our relationships with our brothers in Christ.
What I am when I am alone in the
presence of God, is what I really am. What I am when I am with other
people, should be the same; otherwise my public life is largely a
sham. (Hypocrite).
Recognizing our union with Christ, we are
called on to show forth His life. You can know Colossians 1-2 by
memory and everyone knows you know it but if you don't work out your
salvation in Colossians 3-4 you all talk with no walk.
Reputation
is what other people think about you.
Character is what God
knows to be true about you.
What does this supernatural but real union
with Christ result in?
We are no longer enslaved to...flesh
(see
old self = old man)
(see note
Romans 6:6,
see note
Colossians 3:9), to the World (Gal 6:14)
or to the Devil (see notes
Colossians 1:13,
Hebrews 2:14;
2:15)
(See
chart
contrasting in the flesh vs in the Spirit)
Barnes explains it this way
The argument is, that there was such an union between Christ and His
people, that in virtue of his death they become dead to sin; that in
virtue of His resurrection they rise to spiritual life, and that,
therefore, as Christ now lives in heaven, they should live for heaven,
and fix their affections there.
Eadie in his unique style explains that
If the Colossian believers should act in accordance
with their privileges—if they understood how the charge preferred
against them by the law had been met with a discharge on the cross of
Calvary— if the process of sanctification beginning in their hearts
should work outward, and hallow and adorn their lives—if they felt
that whatever blessings they enjoyed in part, or anticipated in
fulness, sprang from union with Christ, then should they be fortified
against every effort to induce them to sever themselves from the Head,
and against every attempt to substitute reveries for truth, or human
inventions for Divine enactments. Then, too, should they learn that
worship does not consist of superstitious invocations, and that
sanctification is not identical with fanatical austerities. Let them
move in a spiritual region lifted far above those earthly vanities,
and let them look down on them as the offspring of a morbid and self-
deceived imagination, or the craving and the nutriment of a
self-satisfied pride....Union with Christ enjoys a peculiar and
merited prominence—“risen with Christ.” Their new position laid them
under a special obligation, and they are thus enjoined—“seek those
things which are above” (Eadie,
John: Commentary on Paul's Epistle to the Colossians - Download 377
page Pdf - 1884)
Ray Stedman commenting on this
section notes that
being a Christian
means we have an extra dimension to life. There is a hidden
resource, an invisible reality, which the world does not have
and cannot see. This is not referring to Christ being "up in
heaven," lost in space somewhere! Rather, this refers to what
Paul has talked about earlier in this letter, "Christ in you,
the hope of glory." This extra dimension is not far removed in
the reaches of space; it is right within the heart, an
untouchable, invisible dimension within us. This is the glory of
the Christian life and the secret of its power, joy and courage.
If you have not discovered this yet as a Christian you have not
yet begun to live as you can and should. This is what puts a
smile on a Christian's face, even though he or she is in
trouble. "Set your hearts" on this hidden resource, is Paul's
exhortation. He means our affections. Think with affectionate
gratitude of what the Lord Jesus has already done for you and
what he is to you now. This is not a form of escapism. It is not
something you try to keep your mind on all day long, to the
exclusion of business, family or home. It is rather something
that when your mind is occupied with your family, work problems,
or whatever, you also bring into it this extra dimension. Christ
is part of that situation. That is what Paul means when he says,
"your life is hid with Christ in God." Christ is involved with
your activities. Remind yourself that whatever you are involved
in includes also the person of the Lord himself. His wisdom,
power and knowledge are all available to you. That is what Paul
means. It ought to awaken our loving gratitude. But not only our
affections, but we are to "set our minds on things above."
"Things within" would be a better translation. Paul is talking
about our wills, our choices. Decide to do what you know from
your knowledge of the word of the Lord he wants you to do. That
is the secret of a life that has discovered how to really live.
Your life, your daily activity, your thoughts are now tied to
Christ. You do wrong if you separate yourself from him. You
belong to him. The old godless, self-directed life is over, if
you have become a Christian. (Col
3:1-11 True Human Potential
)
Note that Paul begins
this section on "practical Christianity" by emphasizing the
believer's relationship with Christ. He does not begin immediately
with a list of commands & prohibitions but with a command to maintain
a heavenly Christ centered mindset. Then you will be motivated and
empowered to live a life which means
death to your passions, your desires, your way.
Paul calls us to first focus on
Christ has done for believers. Then live out this great heritage in
the power of His Spirit.
And so Colossians 3:1
first points back (cf "Therefore") to
the "sound doctrine" which is now the present possession of all
believers -- "Christ in (us) the hope of glory" (see note
Colossians 1:27)
an intimate union with the risen Christ [cf notes
Col 2:11-12,19],
dynamic truths which make it possible for believers now to live
the new life Paul describes in Colossians 3:5-4:6.
I like how
Lewis Johnson describes the juncture
between the first 2 doctrinal chapters and the last 2 "duty" chapters:
The CROSS,
the focus of history, redemption and the godly life, has two sides: it
involves a death, and it was followed by a resurrection. Both of these
aspects are related to the believer. The one serves his connection
with the past life, the other introduces him to a new life in union
with Christ. Not only are we, by God’s grace, to abandon the pre-death
life, but we are to aspire to the post-resurrection life...The
age to which believers belong by virtue of the CROSS is really
the coming age, and that age is to be the center of their life. The
Forerunner, who has accomplished the work which guarantees the coming
of the new age, now sits to dispense the blessings of it.
Wiersbe makes an excellent point
We must keep in mind that the pagan religions of Paul’s day said
little or nothing about personal morality. A worshiper could bow
before an idol, put his offering on the altar, and go back to live the
same old life of sin. What a person believed had no direct
relationship with how he behaved, and no one would condemn a person
for his behavior. But the Christian faith brought a whole new concept
into pagan society: what we believe has a very definite connection
with how we behave! After all, faith in Christ means being united to
Christ; and if we share His life, we must follow His example. He
cannot live in us by His Spirit and permit us to live in sin. Paul
connected doctrine with duty in this section by giving his readers
three instruction. (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
RAISED UP WITH
CHRIST: sunegerthete (2PAPI) to Christoi: (Col 2:12;13,20
Ro 6:4,
6:5,
6:9-11
Gal 2:19,20,
Gal 5:24,
2Cor 5:14
Eph 1:19a;19b-20
2:5,6)
IF THEN you have been raised with
Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead]
(Amp)
If then you have a new life with
Christ" (BBE) "Since you were brought back to life with Christ (GWT)
Correct belief is
foundational for right (righteous) behavior. An understanding
and appropriation of a believer's death, burial and resurrection with
Christ is crucial to living out the Christ life. And so Paul repeats
what he had explained earlier to the Colossian believers...
having been buried with Him in
baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in
the working of God, Who raised Him from the dead. And when you were
dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He
made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our
transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting
of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it
out of the way, having nailed it to the cross...you have died with
Christ to the elementary principles of the world... (see notes
Colossians 2:12;
2:13;
2:20)
Writing to the Roman saints Paul
declared...
Therefore (because you have been
"baptized into Christ Jesus [and] have been baptized into His death")
we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that
as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so
we too might walk in newness of life. (see note
Romans 6:4)
In his letter to the Ephesian
saints he explained...
even when we were dead in our
transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have
been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the
heavenly places, in Christ Jesus (see notes
Ephesians 2:5;
2:6)
Raised up with
(4891)
is a single Greek verb sunegeiro (from
sun = together, +
egeiro = to raise) which means to raise
together (used also
in
Colossians 2:12;
Ephesians 2:6).
Aorist tense indicates our co-resurrection with Christ is a past
completed action, which was reckoned as true in our life the moment we
by faith received Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord (see note
Colossians 2:12). We were raised
spiritually when Christ was raised physically and this identification
(because we are now in an everlasting, unbreakable
covenant with our Lord)
is the foundation truth for our new spiritual position and power to walk
in newness of life.
Note that sunegeiro
has the prefix sun
not meta,
a seemingly small point but actually very profound because sun (Click
for in depth discussion of this important preposition) in contrast
with meta conveys the idea of an intimate
and
irrevocable association with another, in this case with the risen and
exalted Christ.
Emphasizing our new life in Christ
Paul explained to the Galatians that...
through the Law I died to the Law,
that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is
no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and
delivered Himself up for me. (Gal 2:19,20)
(Galatians
2:20 - note)
Spurgeon compares our co-resurrection to the metaphor of a seed
"The
buried seed rises from the ground, but not as a seed, for it puts
forth green leaf, and bud, and stem, and gradually develops expanding
flower and fruit, and even so we wear a new form (2Cor 5:17),
for we are renewed after the image of him that created us in
righteousness and holiness...There
was corruption in our mind and it was working irresistibly towards
every evil and offensive thing. In many the corruption did not appear
upon the surface, but it worked within; in others it was conspicuous
and fearful to look upon. How great the change! For now the power of
corruption within us is broken, the new life has overcome it, for it
is a living and incorruptible seed which liveth and abideth for ever (see
note
1 Peter 1:23).
Corruption is upon the old nature, but it cannot touch the new, which
is our true and real self. Is it not a great thing to be purged of the
filthiness which would have ultimately brought us down to Tophet (SBD) where the fire unquenchable burns, and the worm undying feeds upon
the corrupt?...Let us think
of this (our spiritual
resurrection with Christ), for
our Lord did not have his head quickened while his feet remained in
the sepulcher; but he rose a perfect and entire man, alive throughout.
Even so have we been renewed in every part. We have received, though
it be but in its infancy, a perfect spiritual life: we are perfect in
Christ Jesus. In our inner man our eye is opened, our ear is awakened,
our hand is active, our foot is nimble: our every faculty is there,
though as yet immature, and needing development, and having the old
dead nature to contend with....On
the day of our quickening we bid farewell to spiritual death, and to
the sepulcher wherein we slept under sin’s dominion. Farewell, thou
deadly love of sin; we have done with thee! Farewell, dead world,
corrupt world; we have done with thee! Christ has raised us. Christ
has given us eternal life. We forsake for ever the dreary abodes of
death, and seek the heavenly places. Our Jesus lives, and because he
lives we shall live also, world without end." (References
added) (Excerpt from "" on Col 3:1,Following
the Risen Christ)
In his devotional entitled RISEN
WITH CHRIST from Our Daily Walk F B Meyer writes...
IF! SOME one will say, "He, there's
the rub! I'm afraid that is not true of me; my life is sinful and
sorrowful; there are no Easter chimes in my soul, no glad fellowship
with the Risen Lord; no victory over dark and hostile powers." But if
you are Christ's disciple, you may affirm that you are risen in Him!
With Christ you lay in the grave, and with Christ you have gone forth,
according to the thought and purpose of God, if not in your feelings
and experience. This is distinctly taught in Eph 2:1-10 and Rom. 6.
The whole Church (including all who believe in our Lord Jesus) has
passed into the light of the Easter dawn; and the one thing for you
and me, and all of us, is to begin from this moment to act as if it
were a conscious experience, and as we dare to do so we shall have the
experience.
Notice how the Apostle insists on this: "You died, you were raised
with Christ, your life is hid with Christ. Give yourself time to think
about it and realize it."
The Cross of Jesus stands between you and the constant appeal of the
world, as when the neighbours of Christian tried to induce him to
return to the City of Destruction. This does not mean that we are to
be indifferent to all that is fair and lovely in the life which God
has given us, but that the Cross is to separate us from all that is
selfish, sensual, and savouring of the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life (1John 2:15-17).
Set your mind on things above (Colossians
3:2).
"As a man thinks in his
heart, so is he."
How many of us even try to guard our
thoughts. The door of our heart stands wide open to the world, the
flesh and the devil, with no control of what comes into our mind. Have
we ever considered asking God by His Holy Spirit to help us control our thoughts,
so that we might think upon holy things, the things that are true and
honorable and of good
report, a wonderful change would pass over our life (see notes
Philippians 4:7;
4:8).
Realize that Christ is your life--He is in you! See to it that nothing
hinders the output of His glorious indwelling. Never mind if the world
of men misunderstand you. Some day your motives and reasons Hill be
manifested (see note
Colossians 3:4).
PRAYER - Grant, most gracious God, that we may love and seek Thee
always and everywhere, and may at length find Thee and for ever hold
Thee fast in the life to come. AMEN.
As W. H. Griffith Thomas nicely summarizes
"The resurrection is
variously presented in the New Testament as at once a proof, a
pattern, a power, a promise, and a pledge. It is the proof of
our acceptance of Christ's death and of our acceptance with Him (see
notes
Romans 4:24;
25): it is to be
the
pattern of our holy life (see notes
Romans 6:4); it is also the
power for Christian character and service (see
notes
Ephesians 1:18;
19;
20); it contains
the
promise of our own physical resurrection (see
note
1Thessalonians 4:14); and it is the
pledge of our life hereafter (Jn
14:19). In the present
passage our resurrection is associated with Christ's because we are
united with Him in such a way that, whatever He did, we are regarded
by God the Father as having done also (see notes
Colossians 2:12;
Romans 6:8)."
Death to self occurred in Romans 6 (see note
Romans 6:6) yet the call is to daily death to self
as a lifestyle. Death to self is emphasized by the Lord Jesus often
(Mt 16:25;
Mk 8:35;
Lu 9:24;17:33;
Jn 12:25
See Torrey's Topic on "Self
Denial"). The same truth is also
stressed by Paul (see notes
Ro 12:1,
12:2;
Galatians 2:20;
2 Timothy 2:11;
12;
Philippians 2:5;
2:6;
2:7;
2:8;
2:9;
2:10;
2:11;
2Co 5:14).
Dying to self and living unto God is the very essence of
a truly blessed and fulfilling life in this world and that to come. Paul
is teaching that death with Christ involves also participation in His
resurrection life which releases into the believer’s life a power that
is more than adequate as a check against the appetites and attitudes
of the lower nature
(contrast notes
Colossians 2:23).
C. H. Spurgeon in a sermon on Colossians 3:1 entitled "Following
the Risen Christ" emphasizes the critical importance of the
resurrection of Christ
"THE
resurrection of our divine Lord from the dead is the corner-stone of
Christian doctrine. Perhaps I might more accurately call it the
key-stone of the arch of Christianity, for if that fact could be
disproved the whole fabric of the gospel would fall to the ground. If
Jesus Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain, and your faith
is also vain; ye are yet in your sins. If Christ be not risen, then
they which have fallen asleep in Christ have perished, and we
ourselves, in missing so glorious a hope as that of resurrection, are
of all men the most miserable...Never
let us forget that all who are in him rose from the dead in his
rising. Next in importance to the fact of the resurrection is the
doctrine of the federal headship of Christ, and the unity of all his
people with him. It is because we are in Christ that we become
partakers of everything that Christ did,-we are circumcised with him,
dead with him, buried with him, risen with him, because we cannot be
separated from him. We are members of his body, and not a bone of him
can be broken. Because that union is most intimate, continuous, and
indissoluble, therefore all that concerns him concerns us, and as he
rose so all his people have arisen in him...our
spiritual resurrection (Col 2:12-13,
Ro 6:4-5)...is
ours as soon as we are led by faith to believe in Jesus Christ...The
resurrection blessing is to be perfected by-and-by at the appearing of
our Lord and Savior (1Jn3:2-3),
for then our bodies shall rise again (1Co 15:50ff
Torrey's topic "Resurrection"),
if we fall asleep before his coming. He redeemed our manhood in its
entirety, spirit, soul, and body, and he will not be content until the
resurrection which has passed upon our spirit shall pass upon our body
too. These dry bones shall live; together with his dead body they
shall rise...The buried seed
rises from the ground, but not as a seed, for it puts forth green
leaf, and bud, and stem, and gradually develops expanding flower and
fruit, and even so we wear a new form, for we are renewed after the
image of him that created us in righteousness and holiness." (References
added) (Reference
