Encounter the Truth

Guest (Male): Do you ever wonder if there is something missing in your spiritual experience? Do you ever wonder if your Christianity is the complete package? Do you ever look at others and sense or feel that they have something that you do not have? Do you ever hear the voices of other teachers who would suggest that your spirituality is lacking and who would call you to a higher level of experience?

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Encounter the Truth with Jonathan Griffiths. I'm Steve Hiller and glad you're with us today as we continue in our series, "Walking Worthy". And Jonathan, I suspect that all of us can identify with those questions that were just asked there, that all of us have said, "Man, I wonder what am I missing and why am I not as spiritually mature as I would like to be?"

Jonathan Griffiths: I'm sure we all ask that question and have something of that feeling from time to time. And as we ask it and as we consider these things, we need to turn again to the Word of God and consider the basics of the gospel message, the essentials of apostolic truth, and be rerooted in the apostle's teaching. And of course, that is what Paul is wanting to do for us in this second chapter of Colossians and in the verses we're going to consider today in the message.

Steve Hiller: You know, when we talk about apostolic truth, I heard you then just say "the apostle's teachings". Is that just what that means? Apostolic truth is the teaching that the apostles gave in the early church?

Jonathan Griffiths: That's right. Jesus commissioned and sent out the apostles to be authoritative communicators, teachers, interpreters of his message so that we would have it laid down in the scriptures and we would know it with certainty. So when we talk about apostolic truth, we're referring to truth set down by the apostles commissioned by Jesus himself.

Steve Hiller: Well, Jesus commissioned the Apostle Paul and he wrote the book of Colossians, which is where we are going today. We're going to be in chapter two as we begin a message called "Established in the Faith". Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: I don't know if you've ever been on a long hike, perhaps over many days or many weeks. Maybe some have walked the Appalachian Trail or the Pennine Way or the Tahoe Rim. Maybe you've tackled a mountain range somewhere, a portion of the Alps or that hike to the Everest Base Camp. Perhaps you have a dream or an ambition to tackle a great trail in the months or years to come.

In any case, on a journey like that, on a long walk like that, it's essential that you set out prepared to go the distance. If you are going to make it all the way to your planned-for destination, if you are going to persevere, if you are going to endure, there are certain things you are going to need to be sure that you have in hand for the journey.

Now, space is limited in the backpack, but you need to be sure that the essentials are there with you: the food, the water, the correct clothes, the navigation aids. With them, you will be well-equipped to thrive on the journey and to arrive at your destination. Without them, your very survival is in doubt.

In our passage today, the Apostle Paul is concerned to equip you and to equip me for the long journey, the long walk of the Christian life. He wants us to be ready for endurance. He wants us not only to survive but, through the experience, to thrive and to grow. Notice with me his heart's desire there in verse six: "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving." That is his heart's desire. That is his aim in our passage.

Now, as we've seen already in our teaching series and as we will see again today, Paul is very aware that the Colossian Christians face pressures that could undermine their progress in the faith, that could disrupt their journey. False teachers are in their midst and their influence threatens the journey of these believers. And Paul, he's got to warn them, verse eight: "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ."

There are those who are peddling philosophy, lies, human traditions, worldly religion, and their influence is a threat to the Colossians as they seek to follow Christ. Their influence, it could throw them off track, it could discourage them, it could confuse them. And longing for these believers just to keep going on their journey, to keep walking in Christ, established in the faith that they were taught, Paul reminds them of all that they have in Jesus.

He reminds them of all the resources they have already been given that will see them through the Christian life and bring them safe to glory. And he wants them to see that in Christ, they have been supplied with enough. They have been given enough and more than enough to see them through. There's nothing they lack. There is nothing they need. What have they and what have we been given in Christ? What do we have in him? Well, first, we have fullness. That's the first thing that Paul highlights for us, verse nine. Notice it there: "For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority."

Do we have enough? Are we experiencing fullness as the people of God? Do we have sufficient spiritual resources to see us through the long journey? With gas prices a little bit higher these days, maybe you've noticed, the Automobile Association is reporting that it is now being called upon more frequently to help stranded motorists who have run out of gas on the highway. People are putting in twenty dollars of gas and hoping that it will get them to their destination. But you know, it just doesn't cut it anymore. They're running on an empty tank, running on fumes, and they find themselves stranded at the roadside.

One of the messages evidently coming from the false teachers who were doing the rounds at Colossae was the message that these Colossian Christians did not have all the spiritual resources needed for a full, for a complete, for a flourishing spiritual life. In some way, they said you're lacking. You know, you need a top-up. You need a little bit more. In order to know a satisfactory spiritual experience, perhaps even to know salvation in the end, they needed more than Paul's gospel had given them.

Within their blend, verse eight, of philosophy, empty deceit, human tradition, worldly religion—within that heady mix, they insisted that they had for these believers the extra element, the missing piece that would bring now true fullness. We don't know all the details of what it was they were saying, but we are probably familiar enough with its modern-day equivalents. Perhaps you've encountered something along these lines, something that resembles this. Encountered it in religious or self-help books, in podcasts, in media, in conversation with others.

Your Christianity, it's okay, you're told. It's fine to focus on the Bible, on the Word of God, to trust the promises of God and so on. It's a very nice thing to do. But you need to understand you are missing that extra piece of spiritual experience. And let me tell you, I'll share this with you, you know, if you will take up a particular kind of religious practice or enter into a particular type of worship experience or discipline yourself in a particular kind of way or deny yourself this or give this much money or go to this particular retreat, then you are going to have that added element that you currently lack and you are going to have fullness, spiritual fullness. Your Christianity, it's okay, but it's not complete, and I have for you the missing piece.

And Paul says to them, as he would say to us, nonsense. Utter nonsense. See to it, he says, that no one takes you captive by that kind of deceit. If you have believed the apostolic gospel and trusted in Jesus, you have all that you need. You have spiritual fullness. And here's why: you have Jesus Christ. And if you have Jesus Christ, in him is found the fullness of God. In him, says Paul, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

We need to be clear, says Paul, crystal clear. There is nothing lacking in Jesus Christ. He is not part God. He is not a mere representative of God. He is not a mere pointer to God or in some way one who resembles God or speaks of God. No. In him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Now, that is of course a very, very remarkable thing, a truly miraculous thing. You see, many people even in the world today would accept that Jesus Christ speaks some truth about God. Other faiths might recognize him to be a prophet of God.

But the idea that in the person of Jesus Christ the fullness of God dwells even within his human body, that is a breathtaking truth. Our understanding of what it means to have spiritual fullness and completeness, it centers on who we understand Jesus to be. It centers on the truth that he himself is the fullness of deity. There's nothing more to be found in terms of power or spirituality or completeness. Nothing more in all the universe than that which is found in Jesus Christ.

Now, having said that much, Paul continues: "And you have been filled in him," verse ten, "who is the head of all rule and authority." If it isn't breathtaking enough to consider the fact that the deity dwells bodily in Jesus Christ, it is even more breathtaking to consider that this same God now fills us, his people, who truly belong to him by faith. If we belong to Jesus Christ, if we have repented and believed the gospel and know him ourselves, the truth of the matter is this: the God who is the head of all rule and authority in all the universe, the supremely exalted one who became man in Jesus Christ, has now come to indwell and fill us by his Spirit.

Those false teachers, they came along to the Colossians and told them that they still lacked something, they still needed something to make their spirituality complete. They needed an added extra to find true fullness. And you know, Paul, he doesn't get down into the mud with them to quibble over the details of their false arguments. He doesn't descend to their level. He rather brushes them aside and calls these believers to turn their eyes toward Christ and to consider the fact that the Christ of deity and of glory and of supreme authority now lives within them.

Fullness. They have all the fullness of God in Christ. There is no greater fullness to be found in all the universe than the fullness that belongs to the children of God in Jesus Christ.

Steve Hiller: Jonathan Griffiths with part of our message, "Established in the Faith". We'll continue next time, so I hope you'll make it a point to join us. If you ever miss a program, come and listen online at EncounterTheTruth.org. Encounter the Truth is a listener-supported program. We're able to be on this station because of your generosity. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we'd love to send you a book called "Can We Trust the Gospels?"

This book is written by Peter Williams and it presents a case for the historical reliability of the gospels. Peter Williams takes a look at some of the non-Christian sources, also looking at how accurately the four biblical accounts reflect the cultural context of the day, comparing any of the differences between these gospels and looking at how they were handed down for centuries. So whether you're a skeptic or a scholar, you're going to find some powerful arguments for trusting the gospels. Again, we'd love to send you a copy of this book as our way of saying thank you for your financial support. Find out more or give online at EncounterTheTruth.org. That's EncounterTheTruth.org. Back to the message. Here is Jonathan.

Jonathan Griffiths: Now friends, do you ever wonder if there is something missing in your spiritual experience? Do you ever wonder if your Christianity is the complete package? Do you ever look at others and sense or feel that they have something that you do not have? Do you ever hear the voices of other groups and other teachers who would suggest that your spirituality is lacking and who would call you to a higher level of experience?

Here is the truth you need to know if those questions ever pass through your mind. Here is the truth you need to cling to and rejoice in today. If you have Christ by faith, you have all things. If you have the Spirit of the living God within you, you have the very fullness of deity within you. If you have been filled in him through trusting the Savior, you have been filled indeed.

And what does that mean for us? It tells us don't go chasing after the next great spiritual experience or the next great spiritual tool or the next great spiritual method. Don't go running discontentedly for that impressive-sounding thing over there. No, no. Turn once again to the Lord Jesus. Meet him in his word. Come to him in prayer. Submit your heart to him that he might work in you and through you. Go deeper into the fullness that you already have in Christ.

I remember as a younger person serving in summer camp ministry, one of the choruses we often sang with the kids was a simple thing, but it taught a truth that we really wanted the children to grasp. It went like this, maybe you know it: "All that I need is in Jesus, he satisfies, joy he supplies, life would be worthless without him, all things in Jesus I find." Now friends, do you and I really believe that that is true? That we find all things in Jesus Christ? That he alone satisfies? That life would be worthless without him? Do we believe that we have fullness in Christ?

What do we have in Christ? What have we been given for the journey? Well, first, fullness. Next, life. Verse eleven: "In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him."

Now, I think those verses can look just a little bit complicated and daunting, but what Paul is saying here in essence, I think, is relatively straightforward. No doubt the false teachers were pressing upon these believers all kinds of different ritual and rule-keeping as being necessary for spiritual fullness and all the rest. Perhaps that they were demanding that the men be circumcised, seems pretty likely here. And Paul has no time for ritualism and for regulation. He doesn't want the Colossians to be taken captive by tradition and so he says, look, verse eleven: if you believe in Christ, you have a spiritual circumcision where the old you, the flesh, has been removed.

In Christ, you've made a totally fresh start. Think about the image of baptism, verse twelve. You go down into the water and it's like you're being lowered into the grave, you're being buried. And with Christ having been buried, you are raised then to new life. That's what God has done in your life if you belong to Jesus by faith. Now, you don't need rite and you don't need ritual. You don't need circumcision or anything else to make a new start. You have been made new in Christ by faith. Through Jesus, God has given you a brand-new life.

Now, just consider what's being said there, consider the implications of it. The gift of Jesus is a fresh start, a new life, a life that endures beyond this world and even to the world to come. Just let that sink in, the enormity of it. For so many in our world, no doubt for a number listening even now, the weight of your history, the weight of your regrets and your failures and your guilt, it's almost too much to bear, too much to carry around each day.

Perhaps you've tried a fresh start. You've tried that in countless ways. You've tried self-help methods. You've tried a move maybe to a new place. Tried to cut off some old relationships and establish new ones. But it's never been the clean break. It's never been the fresh start that you've longed for. And the idea of a truly new life and a real fresh start, you'd do anything for that. Well, the gift of a fresh start, the gift of a new life, that's a gift that Jesus gives to those who know him and those who trust him, to those who come to him. He makes us entirely new.

And friends, let me say, if that's not something you've ever done before and you sense that that is the need of your heart, don't delay. The offer is an open one in the gospel for a fresh start, for new life in Christ if you will but come to him. He will receive you. He will give you that fresh start.

And for us who have been given new life in Christ, we need to remember the wonder of it and we need to remember the joy of it today. If we find ourselves hankering for more in the Christian life, hankering for some other kind of spiritual experience, we need a reminder and we need a reality check. In Christ, we have been given a new life, a fresh start. The old has been buried. The new me has true life in Christ, eternal life. And as we're joined to Jesus in this newness of life, as we are united to him in his resurrection from the grave, we are given the promise of a life that will not end, even eternal life.

What more are you looking for? In Christ we have fullness. We have life. And then, very, very closely tied to that, we have forgiveness. This is linked to life. Notice it there with me, verse thirteen: "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands."

The reason that death is part of our experience in this world is because of sin. Death was the penalty that God set for disobedience and for rebellion. And death entered the world because the first human beings chose to live their way rather than God's way. And of course, we have followed in the footsteps of our first parents in this matter. But in giving us life, the Lord Jesus, he had to deal with our guilt, our sin. God made us alive together with Christ, having forgiven us all our trespasses.

Well, how did he do that? How did he provide forgiveness? He canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. In the courtroom of God, there will be for each one of us a list of crimes available to the divine judge. None of us could claim that the list was exaggerated or is untrue. We know our guilt and it doesn't take even a moment to call things to mind: covetousness, selfishness, idolatry, greed, dishonesty, and on and on the unpleasant list reads.

I had the joy of catching up with one of our missionaries the other day who serves in a country where corruption is pretty rife. To get anything done at any level of government, it's just expected, you know, you're going to pay a bribe, there's going to be money under the table. The whole system, it's pretty rotten. And the corruption can even extend to the courts. Records of guilt might disappear for the right price. A judge might forget or overlook a misdemeanor with the right connections, the right incentives.

Our record of debt, it can be canceled in the courtroom of God, but not through a bribe, not through connections, not through favoritism. It can be canceled, but only through full payment, proper payment. God is a just judge and all things will be done properly and addressed with integrity in his courtroom. And the wonder of the gospel is that Jesus, the guiltless one, came and paid the price of our sin in full when he died at the cross. He dealt with it fully and justice was satisfied.

We all know the experience of carrying a burden of guilt. We know what it is to be fully convinced that we are in the wrong, that we have done wrong, that we deserve to face consequences for our wrongdoing. We know what it is, don't we, to regret that which we have done. To wish for all the world that we had done things differently, that we could have a do-over, but to know with sadness that there's no going back, there's no undoing it.

We know what it is to be aware of our guilt before God. Even those who don't openly acknowledge God, I would suggest, have this inner sense of awareness and accountability before him. You know what it is to fear what the future would hold were we held to account for our crimes. We know what it is to bear guilt, to labor under the weight of our sin, and many will be here today feeling something of a weight of that. For a number, for some among us, the weight of that guilt will be a crushing thing. You may not speak of it to others, you may try and bury it, but the guilt and the weight of sin, it's always there. You feel it pressing down upon you.

Now, whether we feel that weight today acutely or whether we remember it from days gone by, as we consider that reality of being weighed down by sin, I think we can all agree there is no greater gift that any of us could receive. There's no greater experience that any of us could know than this experience and this gift: to have the burden of our sin lifted off our shoulders and taken away, never to be placed back upon us.

Steve Hiller: Jonathan Griffiths with part of our message, "Established in the Faith". We'll continue next time, so I hope you'll make it a point to join us. If you ever miss a program, come and listen online at EncounterTheTruth.org. We depend here at Encounter the Truth on your generosity to keep the program and the podcast going. So thank you for giving to this ministry. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a book called "Can We Trust the Gospels?" It's written by Peter Williams. And Jonathan, I've got a friend who always says, you know, what you read is not necessarily as important as who you read. So, who is Peter Williams?

Jonathan Griffiths: Peter Williams is a really outstanding New Testament scholar based at the University of Cambridge. He's principal of an institution called Tyndale House, Cambridge, which I think has a claim to be the leading biblical studies library in the world. I had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time at Tyndale House myself when I was doing my PhD research. And so I know Peter and his work and he's a really outstanding scholar.

Steve Hiller: And so when I hear that, I hear super intellectual, really heady. Am I going to be able to relate to a book like "Can We Trust the Gospels?"

Jonathan Griffiths: Well, Peter's a fine scholar and an intellectual to be sure, but he's written this book to serve the church, to serve the people of God. And he's worked hard to make it really accessible. And that's one of the great hallmarks of this book and it's one of the reasons why we want to get it into the hands of our listeners. Peter's tackling really fundamental issues: the trustworthiness of the gospels, the reliability of the gospels. And he's seeking to make the arguments in favor of the trustworthiness of the gospels clear and simple and accessible. And I think his arguments are compelling, and I'd love to get this book into the hands of our listeners.

Steve Hiller: Well, it's called "Can We Trust the Gospels?" and it is our thank-you gift to you as you financially support Encounter the Truth this month. You can give online at EncounterTheTruth.org or call us at 1-833-998-7884. It might be easier to remember as 833-99-TRUTH. Or again, the website is EncounterTheTruth.org. You can also write to us at Encounter the Truth, PO Box 5513, Ottawa, Ontario, K2C 3M1. Or in the US, at Encounter the Truth, 215 North Arlington Heights Road, Suite 102, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004. For Jonathan Griffiths and our producer Mark Brutta, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time.