Colossians 1.28-The Objective of Christian Instruction is to Present the Christian as Mature in the Presence of Christ at the Bema Seat
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday August 9, 2015
Colossians: Colossians 1:28-The Objective of Christian Instruction is to Present the Christian as Mature in the Presence of Christ at the Bema Seat
Lesson # 36
Colossians 1:28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. (NASB95)
“We” refers to Paul, Timothy and Epaphras as well as all those who were faithfully communicating the gospel whether they were the other living apostles or those who were pastor-teachers and evangelists.
“Proclaim” is the verb katangellō (καταγγέλλω), which means, “to proclaim throughout, to proclaim everywhere” and emphasizes how far the proclamation of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection had extended.
The present tense of this verb katangellō is a customary present used to signal a regularly occurring action which would indicate that Paul and his fellow faithful communicators of the gospel “made it their habit of” proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere.
“Every man” appears three times in Colossians 1:28 and is composed of the following: (1) noun anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος), “man” (3) adjective pas (πᾶς), “every.”
The noun anthrōpos is used with reference to the church, the body of Christ which is indicated by two factors.
First, Paul is speaking in the context of his service on behalf of the church.
Secondly, he asserts that the purpose for which he instructed and taught every person was to as to present every person mature in Christ and only Christians can become mature in Christ.
The noun anthrōpos is modified by the adjective pas (πᾶς), which pertains to the totality of any object and is used in a distributive sense meaning “each and every” emphasizing that there are no exceptions.
This phrase emphasizes that Paul and his fellow faithful communicators made it their habit instructing each and every person in the body of Christ they came into contact with and there were no exceptions.
The reason why Paul employs this phrase three times is to refute the false teachers who were from the Essence branch of Judaism and were involved in an incipient form of Gnosticism.
Like the Gnostics, the Essenes considered themselves as having exclusive possession of religious secrets.
Both had their secret doctrines which were the possession of an exclusive few and these they refused to divulge except to initiates of their order.
The Colossian church was being exposed to this type of teaching.
Like the Gnostics, the Essenes taught that they were in possession of a superior wisdom and thus Paul confronts this intellectual exclusiveness by emphasizing the universality of the gospel message.
“Admonishing” is the verb noutheteō (νουθετέω), which means “to provide instruction as to correct behavior” and speaks of Paul and his fellow faithful communicators of the gospel “providing instruction” for the body of Christ “with regards to proper Christian conduct.”
The participle form of this verb noutheteō is a participle of means which explains or defines for the reader how Paul, Timothy, Epaphras and their fellow faithful communicators of the gospel made it their habit of proclaiming Jesus Christ everywhere throughout the Roman Empire.
They did so “by” making it their habit of instructing each and every person in the church with all wisdom who they came into contact with.
The word means that they instructed every person in the church in the sense that they counseled and warned the church regarding the avoidance of ungodly behavior or the cessation of ungodly conduct.
They instructed the church with regards to proper belief or godly behavior.
They warned them about the consequences of ungodly conduct, namely loss of rewards at the Bema Seat.
The present tense of this verb noutheteō is a customary present used to signal a regularly occurring action and this would indicate that Paul and his fellow faithful communicators of the gospel “made it their habit of” instructing each and every person in the church with all wisdom.
“Teaching” is the verb didaskō (διδάσκω), which means “to teach, instruct” and speaks of “providing authoritative instruction” in the Word of God in a formal setting, namely the public worship service.
The participle form of this verb didaskō is a participle of means which explains or defines for the reader how Paul, Timothy, Epaphras and their fellow faithful communicators of the gospel made it their habit of proclaiming Jesus Christ everywhere throughout the Roman Empire.
They did so “by” making it their habit of teaching authoritatively each and every person in the church with all wisdom who they came into contact with.
The present tense of this verb didaskō is a customary present used to signal a regularly occurring action and this would indicate that Paul and his fellow faithful communicators of the gospel “made it their habit of” providing authoritative instruction for each and every person in the church with all wisdom.
“With all wisdom” is composed of the following: (1) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (2) adjective pas (πᾶς), “all” (3) noun sophia (σοφία), “wisdom.”
The noun sophia means “wisdom” and speaks of God’s wisdom, which refers to the person, work, life and teaching of His Son Jesus Christ and is revealed by the Holy Spirit through the gospel and thus the word speaks of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In fact, Paul teaches in First Corinthians 1:24 that Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God.
Therefore, Paul is telling these faithful Christians in Colossae that he and his fellow faithful communicators of the gospel are making it their habit of instructing each and every Christian, yes providing authoritative instruction for each and every Christian by means of a wisdom which is absolute, namely by means of the gospel.
The noun sophia is modified by the adjective pas which means “absolute” since it pertains to being free from imperfection.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is absolute in the sense that it is free from imperfection because the person, work, life and teaching of Jesus Christ were perfect because He is the sinless God-Man.
The noun sophia is the object of the preposition en, which is a marker of means indicating absolute wisdom is the means by which Paul and his fellow communicators of the gospel authoritatively instructed the Christian community.
Thus, the faithful men in the Christian community who had the communication gifts made it their habit of instructing the Christian community, yes providing them with authoritative instruction by means of the gospel which is a wisdom which is absolute or free from imperfection.
“So that we may present every man complete in Christ” presents the purpose for which Paul and his fellow communicators of the gospel provided authoritative instruction for the Christian community by means of a wisdom which is absolute, i.e. the gospel.
“Complete” is the adjective teleios (τέλειος), which means “mature” and speaks of a Christian being spiritually mature as a result of making it one’s habit of adhering to authoritative instruction by means of the gospel.
“In Christ” is indicating that the purpose of authoritative instruction by means of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to present each and every Christian as spiritually mature “in the presence of” the Christ at the Bema Seat.
Colossians 1:24 I am presently rejoicing because of my sufferings on behalf of each and every one of you. In fact, I am supplementing that which remains of the one and only Christ’s intense sufferings by means of my physical body on behalf of His body which is, as an eternal spiritual truth, the church. 25 Of which I myself became a servant because of the stewardship which is from God (the Father) which was given to me on behalf of each and every one of you in order to fulfill the task of communicating the message originating from God (the Father). 26 Specifically, the mystery which has been concealed from past ages, in other words from past generations but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 For the benefit of whom, God (the Father) wanted to make known what is of infinite value, namely the glorious revelation of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is, as an eternal spiritual truth Christ in each and every one of you, who is the confident expectation of glory, 28 whom we make it our habit of proclaiming everywhere. Specifically, by making it our habit of instructing each and every person, yes by making it our habit of providing authoritative instruction for each and every person by means of a wisdom which is absolute. The purpose of which is to present each and every person as mature in the presence of the Christ. (Author’s translation)
The apostle Paul in Colossians 1:28 is emphasizing with the faithful Christians in Colossae the importance of those who were faithfully communicating the gospel in relation to their continued spiritual growth.
Paul is asserting that the Christian grows to spiritual maturity as a result of adhering to authoritative instruction by means of the gospel.
The Christian grows up spiritually by receiving and obeying authoritative instruction by being taught the gospel from their pastor-teacher.
Paul is making the assertion that the purpose of providing authoritative instruction to the Christian community by means of the gospel, which is a wisdom that is absolute, is to present each and every Christian as spiritually mature in the presence of Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat.
In Colossians 1:22, Paul describes a spiritually mature believer as one who is “holy” and “uncensurable” as well as “unaccusable” in the presence of Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat.
Colossians 1:21 Indeed, because each and every one of you at one time existed in the state of being alienated, specifically enemies because of your attitude, because of your evil actions, 22 He has now in fact reconciled each and every one of you by means of His body composed of human flesh by means of His death. The purpose of which is to present each and every one of you as holy, uncensurable and unaccusable in His presence. (Author’s translation)