Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going …
Continue reading Our View of Religion (part two) | Colossians 2:16-23
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Exodus 20:16 ESV In our study of the Ten Commandments, we come now to the penultimate mandate: you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, the Ninth Commandment. Unlike the prohibitions against murder, adultery, or theft, we might be tempted to these final two commandments …
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule …
Continue reading Our View of Religion (part one) | Colossians 2:8-15
You shall not steal. Exodus 20:15 ESV Having now studied the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Commandments, we are prepared to enter the second half of the second table of the Ten Commandments. As with the previous three commandments, we will continue to seek three things from this text: the explicit meaning of the commandment, the …
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and knowledge of God’s …
A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good. Proverbs 16:29 ESV Why does violence entice? After all, don't we tend to find violence revolting rather than exciting? We like to think that. Shirking away from violence is the socially appropriate response. But deep down, I believe, …
You shall not commit adultery. Exodus 20:14 ESV There is an interesting symmetry to be found within our recently studied commandments. The Fifth Commandment presented us with how we must relate to those who gave us life, our father and mother. The Sixth Commandment then dealt with how we actually treat life itself, specifically among …
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I am a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the …
You shall not murder. Exodus 20:13 ESV With our study of the Sixth Commandment, we now officially move into the second half of the Ten Commandments. As we noted while discussing the Fifth Commandment, the final six commands apply directly to how we treat our fellow humans, whereas the first four consider how we relate …
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things …
B. C. Newton 