Articles
Theme 2020: Christ in You, the Hope of Glory
A more formal presentation of our 2020 theme is coming next Sunday, but this brief peek is being offered beforehand to focus our minds in a new direction. This year we want to explore in more depth our personal relationship with Christ and what He means to us and the roles He plays in our lives.
Our sermons through the year will amplify the phrase, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” as found in Col 1:27. Much has been written by theologians through the centuries about the heresy Paul was addressing in Colossians. Attention has focused on words and phrases such as “the fullness” (1:19); “knowledge” (2:3); “the philosophy” (2:8); “rudiments of the world” (2:8, 20); “principalities and powers” (1:16; 2:10); “false humility and worship of angels”; intruding into those things which he has not seen” (2:18; cf. Weaver, Truth Commentary on Philippians and Colossians 287). No consensus has formed on the origin of the heresy, whether Hellenistic, Judaistic or other mixtures of pre-Gnostic or pagan ideologies.
Weaver notes: “Colossians 2:23 gets directly to the heart of the practice of the false teachers. The rules which they sought to impose had a reputation for wisdom. The false teachers had a voluntary delight in religiousness and self-mortification and severity to the body, but as Paul shows, all such practices have no value in combating sensual indulgence” (ibid 295-296).
The bottom line: Beware of the philosophies and speculations of men who seek to devalue Christ or declare Him insufficient. Christ is all we need to realize the hope of glory God promises us. Salvation is not “Christ plus …” anything, but Christ alone.
