Colossians 3.1a-The Christian is Raised with Christ Because He Has Died with Christ
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday April 3, 2016
Colossians: Colossians 3:1a-The Christian is Raised with Christ Because He Has Died with Christ
Lesson # 66
Colossians 3:1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (NASB95)
“Therefore” is the inferential conjunction oun (οὖν), which is introducing a statement that is an inference from the protasis of a first class conditional in Colossians 2:20, which was designed to persuade the faithful Christians in Colossae to appropriate by faith their identification with Christ in His death.
The inferential conjunction oun in Colossians 3:1 is resuming Paul’s thought from Colossians 2:20 where he uses a first class conditional statement to persuade them to appropriate by faith their identification with Christ in His death.
“If you have been raised up with Christ” is composed of the following: (1) conditional particle ei (εἰ), “if” (2) verb sunegeirō (συνεγείρω), “you were raised up with” (3) proper name Christos (Χριστός), “Christ.”
The conditional particle ei introduces a protasis of a first class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
The idea behind the first class condition is not “since” but rather, “if-and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that, then...”
As was the case in Colossians 2:12, the verb sunegeirō in Colossians 3:1 means “to raise to life together with” and refers to the Colossians’ identification with Jesus Christ in His resurrection.
The plural form of this verb sunegeirō means “all of you” but should be translated in a distributive sense since Paul taught in Colossians 2:10-13 that each and every one of the Colossians is identified with Christ in His resurrection.
The proper name Christos signifies that Jesus of Nazareth served God the Father exclusively and this was manifested by His execution of the Father’s salvation plan which was accomplished by His voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the Cross.
The word signifies that Jesus of Nazareth has been given authority by God the Father to forgive sins, give eternal life, and to rule over all creation and every creature as a result of His execution of His salvation plan.
It denotes that Jesus of Nazareth was perpetually guided and empowered by God the Holy Spirit during His First Advent.
Lastly, Christos signifies that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised deliverer of the human race from the bondage of Satan, his cosmic system and the old Adamic sin nature.
Colossians 3:1 Therefore, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument that each and every one of you have been raised up with Christ and we agree that this is true. Then, continue to make it your habit of diligently seeking after the things above, where Christ is, as an eternal spiritual truth existing in a state of being seated at God’s right hand. (My translation)
The first class conditional statement in Colossians 3:1 is an inference from the protasis of a first class conditional statement in Colossians 2:20, which was designed to persuade the faithful Christians in Colossae to appropriate by faith their identification with Christ in His death.
Now, in Colossians 3:1, we have another first class conditional statement which is designed to persuade these faithful Christians in Colossae to appropriate by faith their identification with Christ in His resurrection in order to live the Christian way of life.
This first class condition is tied to the one in Colossians 2:20 with the latter speaking of the Colossians’ identification with Christ in His death and the former with His resurrection.
Both form the basis of the Christian way of life.
Christ died and was raised in order for the Christian to live a life of holiness, to grow to spiritual maturity and to produce good works which are pleasing to the Father.
Thus, the protasis of a first class condition in Colossians 3:1 is resuming Paul’s thought from Colossians 2:20 where he uses a first class conditional statement to persuade them to appropriate by faith their identification with Christ in His death.
This identification freed them from the power of the sin nature, Satan, and his cosmic system and the Law.
This is why Paul used this identification to address the problem of the Judaizers teaching regarding the purity regulations of the Law.
Now, in Colossians 3:1, Paul is linking this identification with Christ in His death with the Colossians’ identification with Christ in His resurrection.
The latter linked them with the new creation and the life of God.
Therefore, Paul is persuading the Colossians that they must appropriate by faith their identification with Christ in His resurrection to live the Christian way of life while simultaneously appropriating by faith their identification with Christ in His death to deal with the false teaching of the Judaizers.
So the inference in Colossians 3:1 indicates that the Colossians have died with Christ, “therefore,” they have been raised with Christ and he says this same exact thing in Romans 6:5 and 8.
Just as Jesus Christ’s death is meaningless without His resurrection so the Christian’s identification with Christ in His death is meaningless without their being identified with Him in His resurrection.
The reason for this is that His resurrection vindicated Him in the sense that it demonstrated the Father had accepted His work on the cross to deal with the problem of personal sins, the sin nature, spiritual and physical death, enslavement to Satan and his kingdom, and condemnation from the Law.
Therefore, for this reason, the reference to the Colossians’ identification with Christ in His resurrection in Colossians 3:1 is an inference from the protasis in Colossians 2:20 which affirmed their identification with Christ in His death.
There is no victory over sin and Satan without the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Some have argued that the inference in Colossians 3:1 is from Paul’s teaching recorded in Colossians 2:12-13 since both identifications are mentioned in these verses.
This has merit.
Others are convinced it is an inference from Paul’s teaching in Colossians 2:20-23.
This would mean that the Colossians were to appropriate by faith their identification with Christ based upon the fact that the Judaizers’ insistence on adherence to the dietary regulations of the Law are impotent to deliver them from sin since they have died with Christ with reference to the Law.
This too has merit.
Others are of the conviction this is an inference from Colossians 2:8-23.
This would mean that since the Judaizers’ teaching is powerless to deliver from sin and Satan the Colossians are to seek the things above.
This too has merit.
However, Paul draws an inference in Colossians 2:16 from his teaching in Colossians 2:8-15.
Also the command in Colossians 2:18 is inferred implicitly from Colossians 2:16-17.
So it is more likely that Colossians 3:1 is an inference from his teaching in Colossians 2:20 and specifically his reference to the Colossians’ identification with Christ in His death.
When Paul refers to dying with Christ, he never does so without also mentioning being raised with Christ.
This is illustrated in Colossians 2:12-13 and in Romans 6:3-5.
Identification with Christ in His death is powerless to deliver from sin and Satan by itself without identification with Christ in His resurrection since the latter demonstrated the Father had accepted His death to solve the problem with sin and Satan.
The first class conditional statement in Colossians 3:1 indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
The protasis asserts “if and let assume that it is true for the sake argument that each and every one of you Colossians have been raised up with Christ.”
This is a responsive first class condition.
This would mean that the Colossians would agree with Paul’s premise since they were familiar with his teaching regarding their identification with Christ in His resurrection since Epaphras communicated this teaching to them.
Also, he referred to this identification in Colossians 2:12-13 as well as their identification with Christ in His death.
The apodosis is “then continue to make it your habit of diligently seeking after the things above, where Christ is, as an eternal spiritual exists in a state of being seated at the right hand of God.”
The relationship between the protasis and the apodosis is evidence and inference.
The evidence is that the Colossians have been identified with Christ in His resurrection through the baptism of the Spirit.
The inference is that the Colossians must keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.