Imagine being given the password to a smart, keyless door, yet every single day,  you stubbornly use a physical key trying to unlock it.  

Or being given a free ride to work, yet choosing to stand in the long queues and extended commutes every single day.  

Or maybe being provided an escalator for a safer, more stable, and more convenient access to the higher floors, yet opting for an old, brittle ladder.  

It's easy to conclude how foolish the choices of this person are when, clearly, there is an easier path to take. 

    This is the struggle of the believers in Colossae when Paul wrote the letter to them while he was in prison.  Living in a society already hostile to their faith,  they are also being conflicted from within, as there were people inside the church that were swaying them with different teachings -- not entirely dismissing Christ but adding certain teachings that promise a higher form of spirituality, access to secret knowledge, or having mystical visions; others were promoting self-denial to the point of harming the body to achieve spiritual maturity. These particular teachings are corrupting the church and are needed to be exposed.

    Colossians has been the book I am reading with this small circle from church to whom I meet twice a month. Our discussion of Colossians 1:15-23 has greatly encouraged and fueled my heart to put it in writing, not only because it showed the situation of the believers before but also because their issues reached the modern though in different shape.

This midweek gathering start by reading the entire book of Colossians and then focus on a section, discuss, and throw questions. 



    The text led us to Paul's explicit description of Christ's supremacy --  him being above all the existing rulers or authorities, seen or unseen. It was a highly important statement of Paul, as this establishes Christ's preeminence over the existing deities or spiritual beliefs that the false teachers promoted in that time. The next chapters will reveal that these false teachers aim to present doctrines to become "more spiritual,"  as if Jesus' blood lacked in substance in securing our holiness. 

 Paul reminded the Colossians of the sufficiency of Jesus:
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Colossians 1:15-20

    This alone assures the Colossians that nothing can be added to their salvation to make them more holy or advanced in state, because Christ, being above ALL THINGS in heaven and on earth, has already secured it for them. The salvation bought by His blood is enough. This might be particularly hard for the Colossians because they were living in persecution, and when you are suffering, it is most tempting to cling to the promises of "being better" or "having more" as what the false teachers were promoting.

 However, one cannot claim to believe in Christ and have an additional minigod or keep old or new practices that are not aligned with His teachings. It is not like an SPF protection where the more ++++++ , the more secure your salvation will be. It doesn't work that way.  Neglecting the sufficiency of Christ is dangerous because it promises supremacy but actually delivers an added burden and more laws to perform. The FULLNESS of God was pleased to dwell in Christ, and through him to reconcile to himself ALL things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross - this debunks the many claims from the false teachers. 
   
"And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister." Colossians 1:21-23

    Paul's reminder for the Colossians is the gospel.  He realigned their misguided hearts through the message of Christ's death and resurrection. It was both a warning and encouragement: if indeed they would continue in the faith and not shift towards a different gospel, they are reconciled with God and are presented holy and blameless and above reproach before him in Christ.

    The false teachings have misled a lot of people during their time yet sadly, a lot of which still continue to mislead people today, even professing Christians are swayed. With claims of a prosperous, suffering-free life if you do this and that, and no more health crisis if you give this and that -- they completely distorted the purpose of Christ's death: it was reconciling us to Himself and therefore providing peace between God and us and setting us free from His wrath, not by our own performance but through His Son's.

    False teachings have evolved in different forms and channels and have a way to attract our distracted gazes. Subscribing to these is like the foolish man who chooses to struggle his way inside when he has access to the key that opens the door, or exhausting himself walking when a transport was provided, or risking himself with a brittle ladder when there is a sturdy staircase that assures safety. Admittedly, most of the time, we often are this fool trying to earn our standing before God.

But the same gospel is what gives us a clearer lens -- and we ought to keep reminding each other of this truth, especially because, like the ancient believers, we are also prone to wander and forget.  Paul's compassion for the Colossians led him to preach to them the truths that were so easily buried under the consistent persecution and suffering, and we ought to have the same zeal for the lost around us. 

  Because the God who saved Paul, who preserved the people of Colossae, is the same God who rules the heaven and earth, visible and invisible, there is an assurance that He will keep His own in our generation.