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Background for Colossians

The Coming One had come. The Son of God, with Eternal Life in Himself (Jn 5:26), came in the likeness
of men a body, prepared for Him, by the Father (Heb 10:5); a mortal body, whose life was in the blood.
Jesus was God in a body of flesh.
For more than thirty years, moment by moment, Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness in that body;
perfect submission to the will of His Father. He was in all points tempted as we are; yet without sin (Heb
4:15). And then Jesus laid down the life of that body; obedient to the Fathers will, unto death.
On the cross, the Father made the sinless soul of Jesus an offering for the sin of mankind (Isa 53:10, 2 Cor
5:21), as the Sin Bearer (sin offering, Lev 16:9), that sin might be forgiven.
There, Jesus poured out His soul unto death (Isa 53:12) in mans stead, taking sin into the grave that sin
might be forgotten (scapegoat, Lev 16:20-22). Sin had been put away, once for all, in the sacrifice of Jesus
(Heb 9:26-28), availing righteousness to mankind.
Through one Mans righteous act the free gift of righteousness came to all men, resulting in justification of
life Eternal Life (Rm 5:18). Through the sacrifice of Jesus, God could now have righteous sons of glory,
out of His creation of mankind. The Eternal Covenant had been ratified, in the shed blood of Jesus (Heb
9:15).
Death was not an end for Jesus, but a means the means by which His body of flesh was raised a body of
glory, enlifed with Eternity the power of an endless life (Heb 7:16). Death no longer had dominion over
Jesus (Rm 6:9); Death was overruled, with Eternal Life.
Jesus said, He who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has Eternal Life, and shall not come
into judgment, but has passed from death into Life (Jn 5:24). The One with the power of an endless Life
has the authority to give that Life to any man, who believes into Him (Jn 5:21, 26).
Thats good news but in order for it to be good news for all men, it had to be shared with them; they must
hear the word of Jesus; the gospel of Christ. And for that purpose, God began to prepare another Body; a
new creation, to serve His good purposes. This Body was formed out of the death of Christ.
Turn to John chapter 20. On the night of His resurrection, Jesus came to His disciples in the upper room
these were those who had already believed into Him.
[John 20:19-23]
v. 19-21 Jesus had represented His Father on earth, speaking His words and doing His works; the Father
had given that authority to Jesus. Now the disciples would be representing Jesus, dispatched under His
authority, speaking His words, doing His works.
v. 22-23 Notice first that Jesus breathed on His disciples. Does this remind you of anything? The creation
of the first man. The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living being (Gen 2:7).
But we certainly see differences. Does it say that Jesus breathed into each one, individually? No; and to
emphasize that point, it actually says that Jesus breathed on them; on, as a collective; one breath, upon all
of them.

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And with that breath, Jesus said, Receive the Holy Spirit. Now, the disciples had already believed into
Jesus; therefore, would they not already have been indwelt with the Holy Spirit, the moment they believed?
Yes (Mt 10:20, Lk 11:13). So what can be the significance of this? In what way are the disciples now
receiving the Holy Spirit?
They are receiving Him together, as a collective body. As the LORD God had breathed into His first man,
and His breath gave life to that creation, so now Jesus breathed into this body that was formed out of His
death; the Body of Christ, a new creation; and they received life. This was a one-time action, with the
Body of Christ.
The Body of Christ is a spiritual body. The life of that body, the Body of Christ, is the Holy Spirit. He is
what animates that Body, as a collective, as each member responds to the direction of the Head of that
Body; Christ.
The Body of Christ is the temple of the Holy Spirit, His dwelling place (1 Cor 3:16), from which shines out
to the world the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, as seen in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6).
And as men are drawn to that Light, this temple is the place that they can come and meet God, for
themselves.
Look again at what Jesus said next to His disciples, in verse 23. Can men forgive sins? No; only God can
forgive sins (Mt 9:2-8). But the disciples would be dispatched under the authority of Jesus, bearing the
words of Life the gospel. And based on the response of men to those words, their sins would be forgiven,
or retained.
Having now given His Body of believers the Holy Spirit to dwell in them collectively, Jesus spent the next
forty days opening up their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures how the things
written in the Law, and the Prophets and the Psalms were all fulfilled concerning Jesus, in His first coming
to the earth (Lk 24:44-48). Jesus was equipping His Body for their witness to Him; that the Light might
shine out.
Then Jesus ascended back to heaven, in the presence of His earthly witnesses; exalted to the right hand of
the Father, the place of power, and glory, and honor. The believers returned to Jerusalem, as instructed by
Jesus. And ten days later, from heaven, Jesus poured out upon them that which He had promised them.
And what was that? The Holy Spirit.
Turn to Acts Chapter 2. This was the fulfillment of the Feast of Pentecost; the Feast of Weeks.
[Acts 2:1-4] Now, the believers were already indwelt by the Holy Spirit, individually; and the Body of
Christ had already collectively received the Holy Spirit, when Jesus breathed on them, on the night of His
resurrection. So what is the significance here of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, on the Body of Christ?
This was the anointing for their ministry; to reconcile men to God. This was also a one-time action, with
the Body of Christ.
Jesus had called this the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5), by which His Body on earth was clothed
with power, from on High (Lk 24:49).
It was at this time that the Body of Christ received the charismata, the graces of the Spirit, sometimes
translated as spiritual gifts; these are powerful manifestations of the Spirit, distributed to each member of
the Body of Christ as the Spirit wills, for the profit of God to obtain sons for His kingdom (1 Cor 12:111).

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One of those spiritual graces was manifest immediately the speaking in tongues which are intelligible
languages, that are naturally unknown to the speaker.
The Spirit gave each believer a new language to speak, on this occasion; why? Because there were
religious pilgrims in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost, from all around the Empire; and in their
languages, the believers began to proclaim to these pilgrims the wonderful works of God. Here was the
Body of Christ, shining the light of the gospel out beginning in Jerusalem (Acts 1:8).
Then, as Peter gave his witness that day, showing how Jesus fulfilled the OT Scriptures as both Lord and
Christ, three thousand souls were added to the Body of Christ; a harvest of souls, memorialized in the grain
offering of the Feast of Pentecost (Ex 34:22, Lev 23:15-21).
And the harvest continued, as the gospel was taken into the surrounding communities, throughout Judea.
The religious pilgrims in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost had been predominantly Hellenist Jews
Greek-speaking Jews from the lands where Israel had been scattered previously, in their exiles. Now the
Hebrew Jews the natives of Judea were responding to the gospel, as well. And so the Lord added to His
church daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47).
What were they being saved out of? They were being saved out of that creation in Adam and out of the
world system, into which they were born. This means that Satan was losing some of his building blocks
they were, instead, becoming living stones, being built up a spiritual house (1 Pet 1:5) the household of
Christ (Heb 3:6) the sons, of Gods kingdom. This would not go uncontested, by Satan. He would
attempt to disrupt Gods building plans.
First Satan attempted to introduce hypocrisy into the just-formed Body of Christ. Ananias and Sapphira
joined themselves to the Body of believers in Jerusalem, and attempted to deceive the apostles with a
disingenuous gift. But the Holy Spirit routed out the imposters. They were stricken dead in judgment; a
warning that the Body of Christ, His royal priesthood, is to be holy, as He is holy (Acts 5:1-11).
Satan also tried to use members of his religious system of Judaism the Sadducees and the Pharisees to
try to silence the apostles; first with threats, then with beatings. But this only caused them to rejoice that
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus (Acts 4:1-21, 5:17-41). Persecution has
the effect of strengthening the true church.
Finally, Satan resorted to his ancient tactic, in his determination to silence the preachers of righteousness.
Stephen had become a prominent leader among those in the Hellenist community in Jerusalem who had
believed into Christ. He was arrested and tried by the Sanhedrin, the judicial council of Israel. But
throughout his trial, Stephen made it clear that it was really Israel that was on trial, with God; and that God
had found Israel guilty guilty of rejecting her Messiah.
Stephens trial, based on false charges, was brought to a rapid and illegal conclusion; Stephen was stoned to
death, by the religious authorities. But Stephen was sustained through all it by his vision of the Lord Jesus,
who had stood up from His position of rest, at the right hand of God, to receive Stephen to Himself (Acts
7:56).
The blood of the first martyr had been shed, because of his witness to Jesus. He would not to be the last.
The devil was a murderer from the beginning (Jn 8:44, 1 Jn 3:12), with Cain and Abel, always attempting
to silence the witness of the prophets of righteousness (Lk 11:49-51).

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But the Lord sees to it that He is never left without a witness. And in this circumstance, the Lord actually
used the tactic of Satan to broadcast His witness.
There was a young Pharisee, a Hellenist Jew, who had been making a name for himself, in Jerusalem.
Raised there at the feet of the prominent rabbi, Gamaliel (Acts 22:13), he had advanced in Judaism beyond
many of his contemporaries in Israel, as he was more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of the fathers
(Gal 1:14) those would be the traditions by which Israel perverted the truth, which the Lord had given
them to preserve.
This young Pharisee had a zeal for God, but it was not according to true knowledge (Rm 10:2). His was an
imagined God, who would accept him, through his keeping of the Law; and whose honor must be
defended, to the death. Who was this young Pharisee? Saul. We begin to read his story, in Acts chapter 8.
As a young man in Jerusalem, Saul certainly had heard of Jesus. What would have been Sauls take, on
Jesus? An upstart teacher, from Galilee challenging the Pharisees! Jesus was a lawbreaker healing on
the Sabbath! And He was an apostate Jew violating the temple, with that so-called cleansing! But above
all, He was a blasphemer He claimed to be God!
Saul would have viewed the crucifixion of Jesus as the judgment of God upon Him a criminals death,
viewed through the lens of the Law as one who is accursed of God; cursed is every man who is hanged
upon a tree (Deut 21:23).
How disturbing it would have been for the young Pharisee to hear the rumor of Jesus, being resurrected
from the dead because it had to be a rumor, right? Lies, perpetuated by the followers of Jesus and
instead of His following dying out, it was taking on a life of its own, in Jerusalem even spreading to
surrounding communities! Something had to be done.
[Acts 8:1-4]
v. 1-3 So we see that Saul headed up the persecution against the believers in Jerusalem. By his own
admission, he later indicated that he persecuted the believers beyond measure (Gal 1:13); even to the death
(Acts 22:4-5). Saul, in his zeal for God, was being used by the adversary of God in his attempts to destroy
the true church.
What was the result of this persecution (v. 1)? The believers were scattered throughout the regions of
Judea and Samaria and eventually, beyond that, into Gentile territory (Acts 11:19). At this time, the
apostles remained in Jerusalem. It was principally the Hellenist Jews those who could fit into the
outlying Greek-speaking lands who migrated out of Jerusalem.
Now notice what it says in verse 4.
v. 4 So these Hellenist Jews preached the gospel, wherever they went. How successful was the adversary,
then? Not at all! God turned Satans attempts into His own advantage, to further His purposes. The Sower
was broadcasting His seed the word of God from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria. And that seed
would soon be cast to the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8).
Now, when Saul realized that the believers were escaping his clutches, he obtained the authority from the
High Priest to track them down and extradite them to Jerusalem. His first destination was Damascus a
Jewish enclave, where many of the refugees would have gone.

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But as Saul, breathing threats and murder, made his plans to obtain his captives, there was One who was
coming to intercept him, on the way; One who planned to take Saul captive, to His love.
Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus in a blinding vision of glory the risen, glorified Lord.
Saul would later say that he could not see, for the glory of that light (Acts 22:11).
Saul could not see anything else but he did see Jesus and he recognized that Jesus is indeed, Lord that
Jesus is God Jesus whom Saul was persecuting, through His Body of believers.
That pierced Sauls heart. And in that very moment, Saul had a change of heart. Saul, who had been the
foremost persecutor of Jesus, became His most ardent follower.
Saul was now the bondservant of the Lord; one who serves the Master, out of love; for Saul saw just how
much he was loved. And the Lord had a special commission for Saul; to be His apostle to the Gentiles.
So the Lord began to prepare Saul, for his lifes work. Saul spent the next three years in Nabatean Arabia,
no doubt supporting himself with his occupation tentmaking.
During this time, God revealed His Son in Saul (Gal 1:16); that is, the Holy Spirit enlightened Sauls
understanding as to how Jesus fulfilled all of the OT Scriptures concerning Messiah, in His first coming, as
the Savior. The Spirit taught Saul the deep things of God (1 Cor 2:10), to equip Saul for His particular
ministry, as a missionary.
After this, Saul went up to Jerusalem to try to join the believers, there; but needless to say, they were all
afraid of him; last time they saw him, Saul was trying to kill them. A prominent Hellenist believer named
Barnabas befriended Saul at this time, and then brought him to the apostles.
Once the apostles heard Sauls testimony, and what the Lord had been revealing to Saul, they could see for
themselves that he was truly the Lords. The confirmation of this was most clearly seen in Saul testifying
to the unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem, and their attempt to kill him!
For a time, Saul ministered in the region of Cilicia, where he was born. It was during this time that the Lord
revealed to the apostle Peter through the conversion of Cornelius that the Gentiles were to be coheirs of the
redemption, in Christ Jesus (Acts 10-11:18) a rather foreign thought, to a Jew.
This was preparation of heart for all the Jewish brethren, who had just gotten used to the idea that the Lord
intended to save the Samaritans, as well those formerly despised, half-breed Jews! The salvation of Christ
was for all for whomever will.
And that preparation of heart was just in time, for the Lord was about to send out laborers, to reap His
harvest, among the Gentiles (Mt 9:38). Saul had been ministering in Syrian Antioch with Barnabas, in an
assembly that was becoming mostly Gentile. Then the two were sent out by the Holy Spirit on their first
missionary journey.
A pattern of ministry began to emerge the way that the Lord was accomplishing His work, through
Barnabas and Paul (Sauls Roman name is used, at this time). Foremost, the two understood that their
ministry was reconciliation thats the Spirits work and that they must therefore follow the Spirits
leading, in the work.

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The Spirit led Paul and Barnabas down established Roman roads and routinely-used sea lanes, providing
safe and efficient travel. He had them minister in cities and larger towns to reach as many souls as
possible, with the gospel. And finally, the Spirit had them began in the place where the gospel had the
greatest opportunity to be heard. Do you know where that was? In the synagogues.
Why the synagogues? Because Paul and Barnabas were Jews; and as visiting Jews, they were welcomed
into the synagogues, and would have been given the opportunity to exhort the assembly, based on the
Scripture read a standard practice.
Of course, Paul could take whatever Scripture had been read, and preach the gospel from it; the entire OT is
a prophetic pictorial of the Coming Christ.
And who would have been there, to hear Paul? Jews, of course; but not only Jews. Some Gentiles attended
the synagogue, also. These Gentiles had been drawn to the God of Israel drawn by the Light that they
had seen, through their Scriptures.
Some of these Gentiles were proselytes; they had fully converted to Judaism, which included being
circumcised. Another group was known as God-fearers; Gentiles who followed Israels God, prayed to
Him, attended synagogue, but did not go so far as to be circumcised. They subscribed to the God of Israel,
more than the religion of Judaism.
It was through the proselytes and the God-fearers that the Holy Spirit provided a bridge for His
missionaries to carry the gospel message into the pagan Gentile community, as well an area where they
otherwise would have received a rather disinterested reception. You can just see the wisdom of God, in the
way that this was done.
There was a pattern to be seen in the reception of the gospel, as well. Generally, some of the Jews believed
what they were hearing; but most did not. The proselytes and the God-fearers tended to be very receptive,
and many believed, as did the pagan Gentiles, when the truth finally reached them.
This provoked the unbelieving Jews to jealousy after all, the Gentiles were supposed to be their mission
field, even though they despised the Gentiles! In most cases, the end result was that the missionaries were
often mistreated, and usually expelled from the community. The believers who remained behind were
frequently persecuted by both unbelieving Jews and pagan Gentiles but this strengthens true faith, as we
have seen.
On his first missionary journey, over the course of a year, Paul and Barnabas carried the gospel to the island
of Cyprus and into the Roman province of Asia (Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey).
Paul went on a second journey with Silas, at which time he met Timothy, a young believer who was halfJew, half-Gentile, and ready for the mission field. Paul had Timothy circumcised so as not to be a
stumbling-block among the Jews, and he joined with them.
The Lord then added another member to the team a Gentile physician by the name of Luke. The four
men brought the good news onto the continent of Europe, for the first time into Macedonia and Achaia.
For the next year and a half, Paul remained in Corinth, establishing the new believers there in the faith.
Then, following a time with the believers in Antioch, he was sent out once again.

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It was on this third missionary journey that Paul established the assembly in Ephesus, which was the heart
of the Roman province of Asia in more ways than one. Beside being a leading commercial city, Ephesus
was a seat of pagan worship and cultic practices.
Paul was in Ephesus for three years. Were going to take a look at part of the record in Acts, concerning
this time.
[Acts 19:8-10]
v. 8-9 So we see the usual pattern emerging here. Paul began sharing in the synagogue in Ephesus, but
when the unbelieving Jews there became belligerent, he found a new location where he could continue to
preach the good news, and teach the fundamental doctrines to those who had placed their faith in Christ.
v. 10 For two years, Paul continued to do this. The record says that all who dwelt in Asia meaning the
Roman province of Asia, Asia Minor all of them heard the word of the Lord Jesus.
How could Paul have preached to all of them? He didnt. But the Spirit saw to it that the word of the Lord
Jesus was carried to everyone in the province by others by those who heard Paul, and believed, and were
taught of him, who could then share what they have taught.
We will discover one of these believers in Pauls letter to the Colossians, who recognized the gospel to be
such good news that he shared it throughout the entire region from which he came! His name is Epaphras.
Lets stop for a moment, and think back to what had happened in Jerusalem, which precipitated this entire
chain of events. It began with the martyrdom of Stephen by the religious rulers of Satans world system.
That incited the persecution against the believers there.
But what did that do? It drove them out of Jerusalem, to the surrounding communities, and even further,
where they spread the gospel. Satan used Saul to try to crush the movement; but what happened? Saul
wound up being converted, himself.
Satan used his religious establishment everywhere whether that of the Jews or Gentiles to persecute
those spreading the word, and their converts, and what happened? The preachers simply went somewhere
else, spreading the word, and the converts were strengthened. In no way is God thwarted, in His purposes;
what He has purposed, He will do.
But Satan is a tenacious foe; he does not give up readily. In this case, he once again switched tactics. He
was unable to prevent the messengers from sharing the message. And he was unsuccessful at strongarming those who had believed the message to disbelieve it.
So what else could he do? He could change the message. How could Satan do that? By introducing lies,
into the message; by perverting the gospel of Christ. This would render the gospel of Christ powerless
powerless to deliver from sin and death.
And that is exactly what Satan did. We see this pattern, also, in the book of Acts. As Paul sowed the good
seed of the gospel on his missionary journeys, we find evidence in his letters of false teachers coming in
after he had departed, and sowing lies amidst the truth Paul had planted there.
Turn to Acts chapter 15. In this case, the false teachers brazenly came to Antioch, while Paul and Barnabas
were present in the city.

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[Acts 15:1-2] In this and many other cases, the false teachers were unbelieving Jews. Sometimes they
posed as believers in Christ, as with the Galatian assemblies (Gal 2:4-5).
The lies were always a perversion of the gospel of Christ. What is the perversion, in this case? Look in
verse 1. They are suggesting that the Antioch believers, who are predominantly Gentiles, must be
circumcised, in order to be saved.
Thats salvation based on works. Salvation is by faith in Christ and His work, alone. Believing that there is
anything you must do to earn your salvation is not to believe in Christ and His work, alone.
Now, this was an established assembly. Yet these false teachers were persuasive; they caused confusion;
there was dissension. When it says in verse 2, They determined that Paul and Barnabas should go up to
Jerusalem to settle this, the they has to be taken to mean, the assembly; the false teachers would never
have suggested this!
And it was settled; the Jewish brethren in Jerusalem affirmed what Paul and Barnabas had taught at
Antioch, and a letter was drafted to be sent to the assemblies in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia (Acts 15:23); for
these lies had spread there, as well. In fact, there is evidence in every one of Pauls letters of these attempts
to pervert the gospel of Christ.
Do you think this tactic was any surprise, to God? Of course not. In fact, Jesus foretold that this is exactly
what would happen, in a series of parables that he told, during His ministry.
Turn to Matthew chapter 13. These are sometimes called the parables of the kingdom of heaven; they tell
of how the Lord will establish His kingdom.
The parables begin with the Son of Man; Jesus. He is the sower, who went out to sow; spreading the good
seed of the word of God. And when the seed falls on good ground a receptive heart the word of God
bears the fruit of Eternal Life.
The second parable begins a series of three prophecies concerning the church age, after Jesus returned to
heaven.
[Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43]
v. 24-25 Tares are the poisonous darnels, which look exactly like wheat, until harvest. At that time, the
heads of wheat are filled with heavy, good fruit, which causes the head to bow. But the heads of the tares,
with their poisonous small seed, remain upright. A powerful metaphor of submission and rebellion to the
Creator, isnt it?
v. 26-30 The disciples asked for Jesus to explain this parable, and so He did. Look down in verse 36.
v. 36-37 The sower is the same; the Lord sows His own seed, the word concerning Him, into hearts,
through the Holy Spirit; were just the tool; the broadcasters.
v. 38 The sons of the kingdom are believers, who are born of the Incorruptible Seed, Christ, and carry that
Seed within them, to share with others. The tares are of their father the devil, spreading his lies, corrupting
the gospel of Christ.

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v. 39-43 You can see that this is a prophecy that would pertain to the entire church age, until the Lord
returns to the earth to set up His kingdom. We have many false teachers today, some of whom operate right
within the church, promoting salvation based on human works self-improvement, self-realization, selfdenial, sacramental grace, charitable acts. And the false teachers were present in Pauls day and the
assembly in Colosse was considering their lies.
But the enemy was not content with perverting the work of Christ; his lies have touched upon the very
person of Christ. We see this in the fourth parable that Jesus told, in this series. Look back at verse 33.
v. 33 Now, leaven in Scripture is always a symbol of evil, or sin. Leaven is yeast. Yeast puffs up with air,
giving a false illusion of reality; it corrupts the dough, spreading throughout the whole lump; and yeast also
produces acid, which sours the dough. You can see why leaven would be used to represent evil, or sin!
In this parable, there is a woman who is taking leaven and hiding it in three measures of meal. The idea of
hiding it implies a subtle introduction, like a deception; and before you know it, it has spread throughout
the whole lump.
What are the three measures of meal? From the OT Levitical offerings, the meal offering represented
Christ in His humanity (Lev 2); God, dwelling in a body.
The meal offering never, ever contained leaven, the type of evil, for it was to reflect Christ in His sinless
perfection; His holiness as God, manifested as His righteousness, when He dwelt in a body, on earth.
In Scripture, the number three is symbolic of the Godhead, but it is also symbolic of the resurrection; Jesus
rose on the third day. In this context, which is specific to Christ as the meal offering, it is pointing to the
resurrection.
Taken together, the three measures of meal represent Christ as the Incorruptible Seed the source of
Eternal Life. And here an attempt is being made, to corrupt that which is incorruptible. That would take
lies deception hiding the corrupting influence, in that which is incorruptible, until it is all mixed up.
And who is introducing these lies? A woman. In Scripture, we have several prominent women, who are
symbolic. There is the bride of Christ; the church; but the church is not the source of error; she has been
taken in by the error.
There is also the woman, who is the nation, Israel. But the nation of Israel in general simply rejected Jesus
for themselves, as their Messiah; the nation of Israel did not actively try to pervert the truth concerning
Christ; not the whole nation.
So who is the woman? There is one prominent woman in Scripture, who fits perfectly here. She is the
great harlot, of Revelation 17; Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the
earth.
This harlot is the world system, with which men prostitute themselves, and sell their souls. In this parable,
the religious system is particularly in view. It is religion that has corrupted the truth of who Jesus really is,
as the Incorruptible Seed, the source of Eternal Life, for man.
The lies of the harlot say, Jesus was merely a man; not God. He was an emanation from God; not God
Himself. Well find that in Colossians. Jesus was a very wise teacher. Hes a good role model lets see,
What would Jesus do?

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10

Jesus was not THE Son of God, but a son of God; after all, theres only one God. Jesus was a prophet; not
the greatest prophet, but . a prophet. Jesus was one of many, many, many gods; include Him with others,
for maximum effect. Jesus was very enlightened, and we can be exactly the same as Him.
The lies of the harlot are subtle, because they contain partial truths. But once you have taken them in, you
have a whole lie.
This is what was happening in the assembly in Colosse. They were not only questioning the completeness
of the work of Christ, for men; they were questioning Christ Himself; His very Deity.
We see from the parable of Jesus that this effort of the enemy was successful; with time, the three measures
of meal were filled with leaven.
Religion has certainly corrupted the message of Christ, particularly in Christendom, as seen here. But does
that actually change the truth? No. Christ is still and always the Incorruptible Seed; and where the truth of
Him is made known, and understood, and believed, that truth still has the power to save men.
Reading: Colossians 1 + 2. Philemon.