Bible Study - Sabbath School Podcast

Living the New Life Paul's concern for peace and harmony in the church appears clearly in the last verses of  Colossians 3 . We've already looked at God's peace in some detail (see  Lesson 7 ). Unlike the  pax Romana , the  pax Christi  is not a peace imposed from the outside but is to "rule" us from within. That can happen only if Christ is in control. Read  Colossians 3:16-...

Character of the New Life Having described the bad habits and negative qualities that are removed and put away when we come to Christ, Paul proceeds to the positive--like moving from darkness to light. Read  Colossians 3:12-14 . How are believers described, and how do you think it relates to the qualities they are to "put on"? Like Israel, called by God to be His special people and refle...

Renewed in Knowledge Read  Colossians 3:6-11 . How does Paul continue with this train of thought? The initial words of  Colossians 3:8  signal the dramatic and decisive change from death to life: "But now." The word "now" in Greek is emphatic. Now, that is,  because  you are risen with Christ and seek those things that are above, your present life is to show a marked contrast w...

End Earthliness We hear many slogans today: "End war!" "End deforestation!" "End nuclear weapons!" But one we have probably never heard is "End earthliness!" That just doesn't fit with the sensibilities of our world. Not that any of the other slogans are wrong or what they advocate is wrong. They're just very shortsighted, considering the nearness of eternity. Our focus needs to be higher, eternal...

Heavenly-Mindedness Read  Colossians 3:1-4 . What condition does Paul indicate is necessary for us to be heavenly-minded? What do you think that means? From a mountaintop, it is possible to survey a vast landscape that is all around you. From time immemorial, mountains have been frequented by those seeking a closer experience with God (see  Ps. 121:1-2 ). Even human-made mountains, called ziggurat...

Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week's Study:   Col. 3:1-17, Rom. 1:18, Rom. 6:1-7, Eph. 4:22-24, Deut. 7:6-8, 1 Sam. 16:23 Memory Text:  "But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection" ( Colossians 3:14 , NKJV). It's commonly urged not to be so heavenly-minded; otherwise, we'll be of no earthly good. While true in some sense, there's an equally...

Further Thought:  "As in the days of the apostles men tried by tradition and philosophy to destroy faith in the Scriptures, so today, by the pleasing sentiments of higher criticism, evolution, spiritualism, theosophy, and pantheism, the enemy of righteousness is seeking to lead souls into forbidden paths. To many the Bible is as a lamp without oil, because they have turned their minds into ch...

Commandments of Men Read  Colossians 2:20-23 . How do you understand Paul's admonitions in light of the other elements discussed in this chapter? As in his epistle to the Galatians, Paul characterizes the concern over keeping Jewish ceremonies as "the basic principles of the world" ( Col. 2:8 ,  20 , NKJV; compare  Gal. 4:3 ,  9 ). In other words, like the earthly temple, these thing...

Shadow or Substance? Read Colossians 2:16-19. What Jewish-Christian practices are highlighted here by Paul? To this day, scholars do not agree on exactly what the issues were that Paul was addressing here. What we can be sure of is that Paul's epistle itself provides quite a bit of information on what seems to have been a Jewish-Christian divisive influence on this predominantly Gentile church...

Nailed to the Cross Read  Colossians 2:11-15 . What issues does Paul seem to be combating here? How often have we seen these texts, especially  Colossians 2:14 , misused as an argument against the law and keeping the Sabbath? To help understand these texts, two main interpretations have been proposed by Seventh-day Adventists: First, the "handwriting" nailed to the cross is the list of c...

Rooted and Growing in Christ The theme of Colossians is one of the clearest maxims for living the Christian life: "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him" ( Col. 2:6 , NKJV). We receive salvation by receiving a Person, not just a body of teachings. But receiving Jesus also includes accepting all His teachings, as given through the apostles and prophets of th...

The Wisdom and Knowledge of God Job asked, "Where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?" ( Job 28:12 , NKJV). Paul answers: in Christ, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" ( Col. 2:3 , NKJV; compare  1 Cor. 1:30 ). If we have Christ, we have everything, even the "full assurance of understanding" the purpose of life ( C...

Complete  in  Christ Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week's Study:   Colossians 2; Heb. 7:11; Isa. 61:3; 1 Cor. 3:6; Deut. 31:24-26; Rom. 2:28-29; Rom. 7:7 Memory Text:  "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ" ( Colossians 2:16-17 , NKJV). Have you ever been asked why you...

Further Thought:  "We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God. But Christ has made a way of escape for us. . . . If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as...

Power of the Gospel Read  Colossians 1:28-29 . What is Paul's focus? Why do you think "everyone" (ESV) is repeated three times? The focus of Paul's preaching was Christ and Him crucified ( 1 Cor. 1:23 ). According to  Ephesians 5:27 , the purpose of Christ's sacrifice is "that He might present her [the church] to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or a...

Mystery of God Revealed Read  Colossians 1:26-27 . Paul twice talks about "the mystery." What mystery? In another place, Paul refers to "the mystery of God," which is God's eternal purpose "ordained before the ages for our glory" ( 1 Cor. 2:7 , NKJV) and revealed through the plan of salvation. Peter speaks of this truth as something that the prophets anticipated a...

God's Eternal Plan Read  Colossians 1:24-25 . What does Paul say about his suffering for Christ's sake? Though Paul wrote Colossians while under house arrest in Rome, perhaps his greatest suffering came from not being able to labor intensively from place to place and house to house, as he had done previously ( Acts 20:20 ). These afflictions (or tribulations), which Christ forewarned of (...

If  You Continue in the Faith Read  Colossians 1:23  (NKJV). What do you think Paul means by remaining "grounded and steadfast" in the faith? (See also  Col. 2:5  and  Eph. 3:17 .) There are four different types of "if" statements in Greek, each with different nuances. The one with which  Colossians 1:23  begins assumes that the condition is true. That is, Paul encourages the C...

Reconciled From Wicked Works Read Colossians 1:21-22. What is Paul alluding to with his reference to alienation and being enemies? And what is the expected end result of Christ's death (see also Eph. 5:27)? Paul has always painted a dark picture of humanity, at least humanity apart from the righteousness of Christ. And who today, almost two thousand years later, could argue with that sentiment...

Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week's Study:   Col. 1:20-29, Eph. 5:27, Eph. 3:17, Rom. 8:18, Eph. 1:7-10, Eph. 3:3-6, Prov. 14:12 Memory Text:  "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" ( 2 Corinthians 5:21 ). Paul continues the theme of reconciliation, which was so vividly highlighted in  Colossians 1:20  (see ...

Further Thought:  "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can sp...

To Reconcile All Things Read  Colossians 1:19-20 . What is this reconciliation that comes through the cross, and how comprehensive is it? Paul uses a very interesting expression in Greek to culminate his description of Jesus, obliquely pointing back to the Father, who was mentioned in  Colossians 1:12 . It is  His  fullness that the Father was pleased to have dwell in Jesus (compare  Col. 2:9 ). W...

The "Beginning" (and Initiator) Read  Colossians 1:18 . What is the connection between the idea of Christ as the head and Him as the "beginning"? In Hebrew the words for head ( ro's ) and beginning ( rēʾšit ) are related. The first instance of the latter word in Scripture is in  Genesis 1:1 , "In the beginning [ rēʾšit ] God created the heaven and the earth." Jesu...

Head of the Body (the Church) Read  Ephesians 1:22  and  Colossians 2:10 . What does "head" mean in these passages? What does Paul mean when he calls Jesus the "head of the church" ( Eph. 5:23 )? It is natural to speak of the head in a metaphorical sense in reference to a leadership position, as reflected in countless languages across the globe. We find similar use throughout t...

Firstborn Over All Creation In the New Testament, the terms "firstborn" and "first begotten" almost always refer to Jesus (see  Luke 2:7 ,  Rom. 8:29 ,  Heb. 1:6 ,  Rev. 1:5 ), including both occurrences in Colossians. But even when it refers to others, it does not necessarily mean the one born chronologically first. The biblical concept of the "firstborn" emphasizes...