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Guest (Female): Now, here's today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: As Paul put it, I have no one like-minded who will naturally care for your state like Timothy. So he's our brother, but he's also my son in the faith. Now, why is he mentioned here? No doubt he is with Paul in Rome as an associate for a period of time. Paul would send him out to various places, but for the time being, he's with Paul.

It could be that Paul including Timothy in the introduction indicates that Timothy was the amanuensis of Paul. Amanuensis is somebody who actually writes the letter. Paul would often dictate the letter to somebody. Maybe he would sign a few sentences at the end and then his name, but he would dictate a letter. To dictate a letter, you need somebody to take dictation, called an amanuensis, a scribe. So could it be that Timothy was the scribe, the amanuensis, the guy who took down the thoughts of Paul as he dictated them in this letter?

You should also know that Paul wrote four letters at this imprisonment in Rome: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. All four letters were penned by Paul when he was in that two-year house arrest in Rome. It is believed, since Ephesus is only 80 to 100 miles away, that the letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians were carried by the same group of people at the same time. And that's probably true, around 60 to 62 AD when the letter was written and then sent.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints. If you have a Catholic background like I have, when you read that, you go, "To the saints? Is he writing to people who are dead and in heaven and who have been officially canonized by the Roman Church?" Because that is how I believed saints to be. I was taught that nobody can attain to sainthood unless they've done special miracles or they have had special blessing conferred upon them over a period of time. Their history has been examined, their life has been examined, and after that examination, the church officially canonizes them as a saint.

To me, a saint was a dead holy person. But Paul is writing to saints. He's obviously not writing to dead people. He's writing to people who are alive. Hagios is the word for holy or saint or set apart ones. A saint is simply a believer in Christ set apart by God for His purpose. You are a saint. We are His saints.

Tell your wife that. "Honey, I'd like you to just call me Saint Skip." I don't know if it'll go over well. She probably won't fall for it, but it would be true for that to happen. Y'all are saints. To the saints and faithful brethren. Notice this, he does this a lot. There are two addresses. The Colossians have two addresses: a spiritual address, in Christ, and a physical address, in Colossae.

You have two addresses. You are in Christ and you are in Albuquerque. Or if you're watching online, you are wherever you are. But you have two addresses. I would even say you have three addresses. You have a physical address, a spiritual address, and an eventual address because Paul said to the Philippians, "Our citizenship is in heaven." Your name is already there. A place is already there. It's been prepared for you already. You're going to check it out one day.

He mentions these two. You are in Colossae and you are in Christ. This is very Pauline. This is very much the personality of Paul. Paul uses the term "in Christ" like he uses here 87 times in the New Testament. It's one of his favorite descriptions of a Christian. You are in Christ.

What does he mean when he says you are in Christ? He means that you are sharing, you are united with Christ, sharing relationship, sonship, adoption, and resources. God sees you as His own special people. This is unique to Christianity. Paul refers 87 times to Christians being saints in Christ. Other religions never use this term. You never ever read a Buddhist saying, "I'm in Buddha." I have never met a Muslim who says, "I am in Muhammad or in Allah." I've never met a Mormon who would say, "I'm in Joseph Smith."

If you're a Christian, you are in Christ. You are in the world, but you are in Christ. Because we have two addresses, this is always the tension we live with. We always struggle with how to live responsibly in this kingdom, my temporary address in Albuquerque, as a citizen, and how do I live responsibly as a believer in Christ?

It seems that we are always dealing with that tension, trying to balance our responsibility of being a good representative of Jesus Christ and a citizen of heaven and maintaining relationship and devotion to Him. At the same time, we live responsibly as citizens of Earth, of this city, and of our state, getting involved in the things that matter politically, morally, and so on. It's a tension you probably feel, and if you do, good. It means you're thinking. You should feel that tension, and you should work to get that balance just so.

He says, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Really quickly before we jump in—I know I'm going slow—but I mentioned that you never would have heard of Colossae unless Paul wrote a letter. It's because it was sort of a nothing town. It had once been a notable town, but by the time of Paul, it had become so diminished in its importance because it was overshadowed by two neighboring towns, Laodicea and Hierapolis. Those were the big dogs. Those were the ones that commanded the attention on those trade routes. But Colossae was still there, and a church had developed. Because a group of saints were there, we know about it.

Guest (Female): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Your support helps reach people every day with biblical truth that brings hope, encouragement, and direction for real life. If you've ever wondered how to stay grounded when our culture is constantly pulling you in different directions, Pastor Skip's study through Colossians is for you. In Expound Colossians, you'll gain a deeper understanding of who Jesus is, why He is completely sufficient for every season of life, and how God's truth gives you confidence to stand firm in your faith. Your generosity helps extend the reach of Connect with Skip Heitzig, connecting more people around the world to God's word. Request Expound Colossians when you give $50 or more at connectwithskip.com/offer or by calling 800-922-1888. Now, here's more from Pastor Skip.

Skip Heitzig: I bring that up because so many people say you just gotta have faith. You just gotta keep the faith. You just gotta believe. I hear this all the time in a very generic way. People who don't believe in God say, "You just gotta keep the faith." I want to say: what faith? Faith in what? Faith in the universe? "The universe is speaking to me." Faith in fate? No, there is no intrinsic value in faith. A lot of people have faith in faith. That's useless. Faith is only as good as its object. Faith is only as good as your faith in Christ. He's the only one that can fix your mess. So it's very important to note that it's faith and the object is faith in Christ Jesus.

Verse three: "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you." Paul did this in every letter, didn't he? Just about. He mentions that he prays for them. He even mentions what he prays for them about. But Paul was a man of prayer, and he prayed for people he knew and met, and people he never met. He had never met these people. He had never been to this city before.

So he says, "We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you have heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel." Notice those three characteristics: faith, hope, and love. Remember when Paul wrote to the Corinthians and he said, "Now abide these three: faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love."

I think this is a good balance for any believer and a good balance for any church. Faith—I have faith in Jesus Christ. That's what makes me a child of God. I live with the hope of heaven, but in the meantime, I have love for all of God's people. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, by the love that you have one for another. So he mentions these three characteristics here: faith, love, and hope, which is laid up for you in heaven.

Notice something in verse four. "Since we heard of your faith"—now what is their faith in? Faith in Christ Jesus. I just want you to mark that. The reason I'm slowing down and having you mark that is because there is no value intrinsically in faith. None at all. Faith is only as good as its object.

Of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. You remember that Jesus gave a commission to His 12 apostles. He said to them before He ascended, "Go into all the world and preach this gospel." That was 30 years before this letter is written. Perhaps he's speaking hyperbolically, or perhaps he's speaking very literally. Maybe he's just seeing what is happening in terms of the movement. But don't you find it interesting that he says, "which has come to you as it has also in all the world and is bringing forth fruit"?

We have in the New Testament the record of the missionary journeys Paul took. But while Paul was bringing the gospel to Asia Minor, Galatia, Phrygia, and all the way to Rome, Thomas was taking it all the way to India. I've been to the place where Thomas's ship landed in India, and there's a church that still exists where he started a church called Mar Thoma, the Church of Thomas. That is a whole denomination in India that hails back to Thomas the apostle bringing the gospel to their shore.

Andrew, it is believed, went to the steppes of Russia. You can look at so many of the apostles while Paul was doing this—and we have the record in the New Testament—the other apostles were going to different places, some say to Spain and England and Egypt and down in Africa. This movement is after 30 years gaining great ground. It's in all the world, and it's bringing forth fruit as it is also among you since the day you heard about it and knew the grace of God in truth.

Verse seven: "As you also learned from Pastor Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the spirit." Here is what you need to understand about this church. Paul didn't start this church. Paul had never been to Colossae, and there's no evidence that he ever went to Colossae.

How did a church get started in Colossae if Paul didn't start it? It's an easy answer. Somebody else started it. His name was Epaphras. While Paul was in Ephesus, he spent three years teaching and preaching every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. It was a very fruitful ministry. It says in the Book of Acts, chapter 19, "so all those who were in Asia, both Jew and Greek, heard the word of the gospel."

No doubt Epaphras heard there are rumblings going on in Ephesus. So he took the 80 to 100-mile journey to the coast where Ephesus was, where Paul was, heard Paul preaching, received Christ, and Paul discipled him. Paul said, "Go back home. Go back and start something." He went back and started a fellowship, started a Bible study that became this church at Colossae. Paul didn't start it; Epaphras started it. Paul only heard what was going on there.

As he says in verse four, "since the day we heard of your faith in Christ." Notice in verse nine, "for this reason we also, since the day we heard it." Go to chapter two for just a moment, verse one: "I want you to know what great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh. I've never met you guys. I've never been to your town. I didn't start that church. Epaphras did. I've never seen your face, but I have something for you in my heart."

He's writing a letter to a church that he didn't start, but he has heard about from Epaphras, which takes us to verse nine. For this reason, we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power for all patience and long-suffering with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Typical Paul in many of his letters. "I'm praying for you guys." And then he says, "This is what I'm praying for you guys." He says in verse three, "we pray always for you." When somebody tells me they're praying for me, I always want to know what they're praying for me for. To inform them specifically what he's praying for, verse nine all the way to 14 are Paul's prayer.

I want you to notice these terms because they're intentional. Look at the word "knowledge" in verse nine, the word "wisdom" also in verse nine, and then also the two words "spiritual understanding." Remember I told you about the Colossian heresy and that kind of mixture of Jewish legalism and asceticism and mysticism which would become known as Gnosticism? These were keywords in their vocabulary. These were buzzwords. "If you want real knowledge and true wisdom and real spiritual understanding, you have to follow this stuff."

That was the Colossian heresy. It became formalized by about the second century AD called Gnosticism. Now Gnostic or gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge. You've heard of the word "agnostic." My brother claimed to be an agnostic. He was raised in faith, but then he declared to the family one day, "I am an agnostic."

An agnostic simply means "I don't know." There may be a God, there may not be a God. I'm not sure. I'm uncertain. An atheist says there is no God. An agnostic says, "Maybe, may not be. I'm going to live my life doing my deal. I'm agnostic. I don't know. I don't have the knowledge for sure." A Gnostic is the exact opposite of an agnostic. A Gnostic says, "I know." And if you want to really know God, you have to practice this Jewish legalism and Greek mysticism and radical asceticism. They used these terms a lot. "True spiritual knowledge. We'll give you the true path to God. Jesus is a good start, but He's not all you need. You need more."

That is why Paul wrote the letter, because they were saying you need more. Gnosticism began with a legitimate philosophical question. Listen to the question and you'll say it's legitimate because that's what people ask today. Here is the question: how can a world so filled with evil have been created by a good God? How can a world that is evil be created by a good God?

This belief system came into view which said: the material world is evil, and because the material world is evil, it could not have been created by God. So what happened is an emanation, a spiritual entity or being went out from the true good God and then another emanation and another emanation, thousands of them, and eventually it was so far from that original good, powerful God that it was evil. And that entity created the evil universe. That's all part of this Gnosticism.

Moreover, they said Jesus was one of those emanations. He is not God, He is just an emanation. He's a good start, a stepping stone to get to have true knowledge and spiritual understanding and true wisdom. That is what Epaphras is bothered about. So Paul uses their terminology. "I'm praying for you that you'll be filled with the knowledge of His will. You'll know what God's will is for your life." It's amazing how many people have gone to church their whole life and they have no idea what God's will is for their life. Paul says, "I want you to discover that." Now the way you discover it is you seek it and you pursue it. Make that your pursuit: "I want to find out what God has me here on Earth to do."

Guest (Female): We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, remember that when you give $50 or more this month, we'll send you Expound Colossians as our thanks. This encouraging verse-by-verse study will help you discover why Christ is enough, how to stand firm in God's truth, and how to live each day with confidence in Him. Your support helps keep this Bible teaching ministry reaching people around the world with the life-changing truth of God's word. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time.

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