OUR FATHER WHO CANNOT BE MOCKED

Galatians chapter 6 concludes the apostle Paulˋs letter to the Galatians. Having explained to them that they must avoid walking in the flesh and instead, walk in the spirit, Paul then explains how to deal with someone in the midst who trips up and walks in the flesh.

He prescribes that those who are in the Spirit should gently restore the one who has walked in the flesh but cautions the spirit lead people that proximity to activities of the flesh can tempt them to step down into fleshly living.

Paul then establishes a principle to be followed by those who walk in the Spirit and that is that they must be self-sufficient and self-regulating but must also keep watch over their brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul also established that even as they walked in the Spirit, if they benefitted from any of their brothers or sisters, they should should freely recompense them with good things to register appreciation and acknowledgement of the value they have received. This principle is an extention of the principle of sowing and reaping where believers who sow into the lives of others would reap their appreciation and get the credit that God issues to those who sow as they play out the life of the Spirit.

1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

As his letter ends, Paul comments on the oversize font he was using to write to them likely as a revelation of his failing eyesight and he recapitulates his opposition to the false doctrine that they had entertained from people who had gained accolades from their pursuit of the law (as well as avoided persecution) and thus these people were trying to induce the Galations to follow their example.

Paul intructs them not to capitulate to the false doctrine but to do as he did and boasted only in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ because they were new creations in Christ.

12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.

17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Paul, now weary of the struggle, requests that he not be troubled with problems having himself already absorbed a large amount of physical punishment for the gospel but he finalizes his letter by blessing the Galatians as his brothers and sisters with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHOSE SPIRIT IN US BRINGS FORTH FRUIT OF LOVE, JOY AND PEACE

In Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 - 26, the apostle Paul gives a presccription to believers walk in the Spirit as the way to bypass the lusts of the flesh. Believers have two modes; Walking in the flesh or Walking in the Spirit.  

To walk in the flesh is our default mode and even when we are born-again, we can persist in the life of the flesh where our identity remains centered around our fallen nature. This mode yields adultery, fornication, uncleaness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery. hatred, contentions, jealousies, wrath, selfish desires, ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkeness, revelries and other forms of short-sighted and selfish behaviour.

Believers, however, can practice living in the spirit where the center of their identity is their born-again spirit and in that mode, they walk according to the promptings and guidance of the Spirit of God. 

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are  evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Paul, having urged the believers in Galatia to center their identities on their new spirit, gives a warning about living in the Spirit because life in the Spirit can cause us to become conceited as we find ourselves becoming more bouyant in life due to the blessings of walking in the Spirit and Paul encourages us not to compare ourselves with one another in our spiritual growh which can lead us to showboating in order to prompt each other to envy us and we ourselves can be led into envying others.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER IN WHOM THERE IS LIBERTY

Galatians chapter 5 verses 1 - 15 carries the apostle Paulˋs urging to the believers in Galatia not to fall for the trap of trying to add to their salvation by following the strictures of the law for he said that following any part of the law in order to obtain righteousness would obligate them to follow the whole of the law and would thus be in a state where they have fallen from grace. 

1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.

11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. 12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!

13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

Paul asks the Galatians who in particular brought them them false doctrine for he certainly did not bring to them anything like what they were cultivating in their midst.

Paul prescribes for them a way to think about the new culture of love that they had been initiated into through faith in christ that had set the baseline of conduct around the principle of loving their neighbours as themselves. 

In the absence of this loving culture, the apostle warns the Galatians that they would end up turning on  one another and they would bite and devour one another until they were ultimately consumed. 

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHOSE PROMISE IS FREEDOM FROM BONDAGE

The Apostle Paul, in Galatians chapter 4 verses 21 - 31, continuing with his teaching about the insuficiency of the law to bring about righteousness,  uses for a sublime metaphor from the story of the two sons of Abraham one of whom was born to a  bondwoman (Hagar) and the other to a freewoman (Sarah).

Ishmael was born to the bondwoman by an action of the flesh while Isaac was born to the freewoman through the promise God gave him.  The bondwoman represented the route of trying to gain righteousness via the Law of Mount Sinai while the freewoman represented the route of gaining righteousness by believing the promise of God.

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written:

“Rejoice, O barren,

You who do not bear!

Break forth and shout,

You who are not in labor!

For the desolate has many more children

Than she who has a husband.”

28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

We, who came to believe in Christ, are represented by Isaac who was born of the freewoman and was thus himself free from the bonds of the law but also an heir  to the promise. In fact, the son of the bondwoman was to be cast out so that he would not in anyway have a share of the inheritance that was coming to the son of the freewoman.

Paulˋs summation to the Galatians was that they were children of the freewoman having believed in the pomise of salvation through Christ and therefore were heirs and as such, needed to avoid the retrogression to the obligations of the bondage of the law.

1

OUR FATHER BEFORE WHOM WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH

In Galatians chapter 4 verses 1 - 20, the Apostle Paul continued expositing to the believers in Galatia the privileged position that  their faith in Christ had made availabel to them. 

He is alarmed about their vulnerability to false doctrine which was leading them to veer away from the riches to which they were heirsthrough faith in Christ and to veer towards legal frameworks to obtain righteousness.

1 Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.

12 Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. You have not injured me at all. 13 You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. 14 And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. 15 What then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?

Paul explained that as sons of God, they were no longer slaves to the law such as the fulfilling of calendar dates and seasons. Paul expresses his concern because the Galatians, of all people, had been so hospitable to him when he came to them with challenges with his eyesight and they adored him so much that they would have, if possible, donated their own eyes so that he could see.

It is in this context that Paul reprimands them for heeding contrary voices and forsaking the true gospel that they had first believed. They were watering it down with elements of the law as though the law could suppliment what Christ had given them.

17 They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them. 18 But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you. 19 My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, 20 I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER OF WHOM WE ARE SONS THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST

The Apostle Paul, in Galatians chapter 3 verses 15 -  29, writes that Godˋs promise to Abraham was to his ˋseedˋ which is singular noun and that singular seeds was not the many who descended from Abraham but to the One who descended from Him who is Christ. Because this covenant between God and Abraham was made before the advent of the Law of Moses, it superceded the law of Moses in its efficacy as a vehicle of Gods promises.

15 Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

19 What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.

Paul then asks the pregnant question; If Abrahamic faith is sufficient for the accrual of Godˋs promises, then what was the Law for? 

Paulˋs reply to his own question is eye opening: The law was introduced in order that transgressions could be  identified and diagnosed in the human race. The law was brought to man as a mirror to show him his fallen condition and his servitude to the law of sin and death. 

The law taught us what was wrong with us and taught us what we needed in order to have a remedy to our sentence of death. The law also clearly pointed to Christ but once we were redeemed by faith in Christ, the law was no longer our teacher or task master.

Paul then asked if the law was in competition with Abrahamic faith in the sense that it could provide an alternate route to achieving rightousness. 

Paul argued that was not the case either because if the law could have provided righteousness in some fashion, then the law would have been the singular route used to bring men to righteousness without the need to crucify the Son of God and subject Him to death. 

But the points of the law were the landing landing-lights on the runway of faith in Christ who fulfilled the law and who made a way for all mankind to escape death.

21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

All humans who have faith in Christ whether they are  slave or free, male or female, Jew or Gentile, are in Christ as Abrahamˋs seed and full heirs of the promises that God made to Abraham.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER BEFORE WHOM THOSE WHO LIVE BY FAITH SHALL BE JUSTIFIED

Galatians chapter 3 verses 1 - 14 says this;

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

The Apostle Paul, aghast at the Galatians for drifting towards legalism as the means by which they accounted themselves righteous, calls them foolish. He rhetorically asked them if there were any works they did that brought the Spirit of God to them.  Clearly, they had done no such thing but rather a simply believed in the message of faith that was preached to them.

5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

Paul explains that all the supernatural blessings they had received were through faith and not by any attempt to fulfil the strictures of the law of Moses. In fact, faith, being the vehicle of righteousness unto salvation, was encoded into the story of salvation right from the very beginning during the life of Abraham who  believed the word of God upon hearing it and as such was the one through whom all those who came after in faith were blessed. 

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”

13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The attempt to gain justification by the law is futile because the law is a curse upon those who are under the law and who are unable to fulfil it.

But in our state, Christ, who was hanged on a tree, became a curse for us so that we were not longer cursed to be under the law that we could not fulfil but rather, by believing in the message of Christˋs victory on the cross, we could recieve the promise of the Spirit.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHOSE SON LOVED US AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR US 

Galatians chapter 2 verse 11 - 21;

11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? 15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

17 “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

Amen.

1

 OUR FATHER WHO DOES NOT SHOW FAVOURISTISM TO ANY MAN

Galatians chapter 2 verses  1 - 10

1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. 2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4  And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), 5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

6 But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter 8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), 9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.

Amen.

1

 OUR FATHER WHO SINGLES US OUT FROM OUR MOTHERˋS WOMB

Continuing in Galatians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul explains that the gospel he brought to the Galations was not from a human source but rather it came to him as a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and he went to the wilderness of Arabia where he had a protracted re-learning of his lifeˋs purpose having previously been zealous for God but by ignorance, wound up striking at the very work God.

11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)

21 Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. 23 But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God in me.

Amen

4

OUR FATHER WHO RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD

In Galatians chapter 1 verses 1 - 10, the Apostle Paul begins his address to the churches in Galatia by identifying himself and his office in Christ and conveys a warm blessing  of grace and peace to them.

He summarizes their common understanding of the gospel where the Lord Jesus died for our sins so that we could be eternally set free from the bondage of the age into which we were born.

Paul expressed surprise that the Galatians, having accepted the good news of the availability of redemption, had now accepted a different gospel that was distorted and perverted from its intent and message.

Paul strongly denounces the gospels that are circulating among the Galatians that were different from what they had first believed. He declares to them that if angels or even he himself came with a variation of the original gospel they believed, they should reject it. Paul even curses any person who comes among them to proclaim a false gospel.

1 Paul, an apostle (ne ot from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

Amen.

3

OUR FATHER WHO OPENS DOORS FOR US TO CARRY HIS WORD

Colossians chapter 4 verses 1 - 18 concludes the Apostle Paulˋs letter to the believers in Colossae with the first verse seeming to have been erroneously separated from the last portion of chapter 3.  

In that portion, Paul is giving a prescription for the relationships that the believers had with one another for example the relationship between husbands and wives, children and parents, bondservants and masters and finally, believers and Christ.

In this case, the first verse in Chapter 4 concludes a theme on the requirement of the relationship between a master and his bondservant to be just and fair because the master must remember that he too has a master in heaven.

The final passages of the letter contains a request for prayer that he and his companions would have doors opened to speak the mystery of Christ. Paul also offers guidance to walk in wisdom towards unbelievers and to be ready to give answers to questions posed to them. 

He then commends fellow servants to the Colossians and passes messages to them from other saints like Luke the beloved physician. He also passes an important massage to  a believer called Archipus that urges him to take the ministry he received from the Lord seriously so that he could fulfil it.

Paul then signs off with a blessing of grace.

1 Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

2 Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; 3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, 4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

7 Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. 8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts, 9 with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things which are happening here.

10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision; they have proved to be a comfort to me.

12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 13 For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you, and those who are in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis. 14 Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you. 15 Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house.

16 Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. 17 And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”

18 This salutation by my own hand—Paul. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO ELECTS THOSE WHO BELIEVE

After instructing the Colossians to eschew the works of the old man, the Apostle Paul, in Colossians chapter 3 verses 12 - 25, prescribes the conduct that is in keeping with the new man.

12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

The list of marks of the life of the new man

• Tender mercies (Compassionate)
• Kindness
• Humility
• Meekness (Gentleness)
• Longsuffering (Patience with others)
• Forgiving others
• Loving one another
• Internal peace of God
• Grateful
• Indwelled by the word of Christ
• Wise
• Sharing  Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace
• Doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus 
• Grateful to God (Through Jesus Christ)

18 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for[a] you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHOSE SON JESUS SITS ENTHRONED AT HIS RIGHT HAND

Continuing with the explanation of what Christ has gained for us, the Apostle Paul, in Colossians chapter 3 verse 1 - 11, encourages believers to mentally inhabit the realm above to which we were raised when we were born again. The apostle names the types or attitudes and behaviours that keep us glued to the earth and divert us from the things above where we are hidden in Christ and from where we shall appear with Him in glory.

1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Paul lists the things identified with the works of the old man that we are no longer part of:

• Fornication (Sexual immorality)
• Uncleaness (Impurity)
• Passion (Lust)
• Evil desires
• Covetousness (Greed) which is idolatry

As well, Paul separately lists dispositional stances to be avoided  that are part of what the old man exhibits:

• Anger
• Wrath (Rage)
• Malice
• Blasphemy (Slander)
• Filthy language
• Lies

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER BRINGS INCREASE WHEN WE CLING TO CHRIST

In Colossians chapter 2 verses 11 - 23, the apostle Paul summarises the absolute reversal that Christ achieved for us believers through His death on the cross and his burial and ressurection.

Whereas we were once dead in our tresspasses with an inssurmountable list of charges against us, Christ, in His victory over death, cleared off the charges against us and revivified us when our trespasses were taken away and nailed to the cross and, in a cosmological triumph over the heirarchy of the kingdom of darkness that enforced the legal claims against us, defanged and humiliated them such that they were rendered impotent regarding their rule over us. 

11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Paul, having established that believers have been extricated from under the dominion of the kingdom of darkness and freed from the regulations of the law and traditions of men, adjures us not to be subjected to rules related to food, drink, festivals and sabbaths which were merely shadows that pointed to the ultimate ministry of Christ. 

Paul cautions us against heeding those who claim to have seen visions and then, in their inflated sense of themselves,  teach others to practice false humility and to worship of angels. In doing so, they lead people away from cleaving to the head of the body who is Christ and from whom only can a healthy life of the body of believers be gained.

16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

Believers who have died with Christ and are thus free from the governing principles of the world, should therefore not be ruled by the regulations and doctrines of men for even though some of these artificial strictures appear rooted in wisdom , they have no ability to free us from the proclivities of the fallen nature.

20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER IN WHOM IS HIDDEN ALL THE TREASURES OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE

The Apostle Paul, continuing with his letter to the Colossians in chapter 2 verses 1 - 10, lets them know that he had been struggling mightily for them and those in Laodicea and for the many whom he had not physically met so that they would be strongly united and embedded together in love for one another so that they would be encouraged and gain the incredible benefits that come from understanding and having access to the wisdom and knowledge concealed in God.

Paul also revealed to the Colossians (so that they are not ignorant of this reality) that even though he is not physically with them, his spirit is able to travel into the midst of them and he told them that he was gratified to see that they conducted themselves in orderly ways and that they were staunch in their faith.

1 For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4 Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. 5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

The apostle cautions the Colossians to gratefully walk out their faith in the Lord Christ Jesus as was presented to them and that they willingly accepted and that they should be aware of contrary philosophies that were not sourced in the Lord Jesus but rather were deceptions sourced from menˋs traditions or from wordly ideas and methods.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO WILLED TO MAKE MAKE KNOWN THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST TO THE GENTILES

Colossians chapter 1 verses 19 - 29;

19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO QUALIFIED US TO BE PARTAKERS IN THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS 

Colossians chapter 1 verses 1 - 18;

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 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; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

9 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; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO IS ABLE TO DO E EXEEDINGLY ABUNDANDANTLY BEYOND WE CAN ASK OR THINK

Ephesians chapter 3 verses 14 - 21;

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO MADE GENTILES  AND JEWS INTO FELLOW HEIRS

Ephesians 3 verses 1 - 13:

1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.

8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER DWELLS IN HIS PEOPLE AS HIS TEMPLE

Ephesians chapter 2 verses 11 -  22

11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Amen

1

OUR FATHER WHOSE GREAT MERCY AND LOVE FOR US FOR BROUGHT US FROM DEATH TO LIFE

Continuing with his exposition of how great a salvation we have been given, the Apostle Paul, in  Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 - 10, discusses the mercy and love that God had for us by which He took us from being innate sinners to being indemnified saints sitting in  heavenly places with Christ.

 1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The undertaking of our salvation,  as costly as it was, will showcase the extremely incredible depth and magnificence of God's grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

In this context, Paul made clear that our salvation is provided by the grace of God only and in no way is it attained by any work or effort done by us. The credit for our salvation will only ever be attributable to God and no human being will ever be able to claim any part of the credit for their salvation.

The apostle then explained that we were individually crafted by God for His  purposes which, far in advance, He designed for us to do and designed us to do and the salvation provided makes a way for us to step up to our purpose and calling in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO SEATED CHRIST AT HIS RIGHT HAND ABOVE ALL THINGS

In Ephesians chapter 1 verses 14 - 23, the Apostle Paul reports that he had heard of the Ephesian's faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all the saints and this inspired him to continually give thanks for them and to mention them in his personal prayers so that God would give them wisdom and revelation of Himself so that they would be able to realise how consequential their eternal calling was and how rich in glory of the inheritance that was allotted to them actually was.

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

The Apostle Paul continued to tell the Ephesians that he prayed that they would grasp how exceedingly great His power was towards those who believed and in fact, this power was the same power that God used to raise the Lord Jesus from the dead and enthrone Him in heavenly places far above the entire hierarchy of spiritual entities and this order of Christ's supremacy not only applied to our current dispensation but also to the dispensation to come.

22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

The Lord Jesus was put over all things and the church, which is His body, is completely filled by Him and has been imbued with His authority.

Amen.

1

OUR FATHER WHO BLESSED US WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING

Ephesians chapter 1 verses 1 - 14 begins our look at Apostle Paulˋs letter to the believers in the town of Ephesus. 

Paul introduces himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ as appointed by God and decribes the ones he is writing to as ˋsaintsˋand ˋfaithfulˋ in Christ Jesus. Paul also blesses them with a pronouncement of grace and peace upon them as an expression of his love for them.

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace to you and peace fromen God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul then declares that the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is blessed and that we, through Christ,  have been blessed by God with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places.  

Paul then reveals that in the same way that we have been blessed by God, from before the foundation of the world, He has also chosen us to be in Him as ones who should be holy and blameless in love. 

This attainment of holiness and blamelessness, Paul explains, is made possible when we are adopted as sons unto God through the Lord Jesus Christ according to Godˋs own pleasure. This provision that God made for us showcases the glory of His grace which brings Him praise and this same grace made us accepted into the family of God.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

Paul, in this densely-packed passage, summarized the composite gift of Christ that escalates us up from the depths of enslavement in sin ( through His shed blood and His grace), to being among those being gathered together in Christ and then we find that above all that, we have obtained an inheritance as part of what was predestined for each of us by Godˋs personal intention. 

Those who first trusted in Christ and expended themselves for the dispensation of His gospel are then able to be for the praise of Godˋs glory because of how lavish and valuable the gift of salvation actually is and anyone receiving it would praise the Lord forever.

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

The Apostle Paul goes on to explain a mysterious principle where he tells the Ephesians that they who trusted the word of truth and believed in the gospel of salvation that was given to them, they were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. Here, the word 'seal', carries the meaning of 'protected from tampering or contamination like preserving food in a sealer jar'. This keeps our new born-again spirits from being contaminated by living in the world and it is also a deposit or downpayment made on each of us until the day that we are redeemed by God as a precious possession and all this to the praise and honor of His glory.

Amen.

1