I have a friend named Chad, and he owns a snake. He's a very talented man and someone I respect a great deal, but I don't understand his snake ownership. That's not something I would ever do. I don't think he meant to get the snake. I think the snake kind of happened to him. He inherited it or something. But nonetheless, no matter how much he protests, if you see him around the snake, you can tell he just really likes that snake. He takes care of it real well. He feeds and waters it and cleans up its environment. He cares about how it's doing in there. He likes to observe its behavior and everything. And so one day I just wanted to get a sense of how much he likes the snake. And I was like, hey, Chad, you got these two kids. They seem great and like you really like them. And you also got this snake. And I was just trying to catch him flat-footed, you know. Just I'm just trying to hit him with something and just try to like get really to the heart of it before he had time to think of it. And I was like, So I got a question for you. If you could only keep two of the three, that being your two kids and the snake, which two would you pick? And he did not even miss a beat. He was like, My kids, what is the matter with you? And I felt real dumb for asking the question. I should have known he was going to pick the kids. He it seems like he really does like them, but he also really likes the snake. Likewise, I like all of Colossians very much. It is a great book, one of my favorite in the whole Bible. It is so tight, it is so well organized. The first half is full of really important big ideas, and the second half is full of really obvious implications. It's absolutely wonderful. But if somebody came up to me, like I came up to Chad and they caught me flat footed and I didn't have any time to think about it. And they were like, You have to get rid of most of Colossians, but you can only keep two passages. What two passages are you keeping? I'm like, uh I don't understand what's happening, but I'm gonna keep Colossians 1, 15 through 23, and then I'd be like, I don't know what's going on. You're putting so much pressure on me, but I guess Colossians 3, 5 through 17, I guess, for the second one. And then if this person knew what they were talking about, they'd back away real slow and nod at me and be like, All right, you're one of the real ones. That's cool. That was the correct answer. And then they'd like slink backwards into a bush or a cornfield, and I'd never see them again. What the heck is going on with this episode? Well, here's the point. Galatians really does boil down to two lengthy blocks of thought that sort of emanate out and summarize the rest of their respective halves of the book. The first half of Colossians is all about the supremacy of Christ. This was important to write to the people of Colossae because they believed in a lot of things. Like an Asian fusion restaurant mushes together a whole bunch of different, just generically Asian things and Western things. So the Colossian mind was a probably a mush together of a whole lot of values and a whole lot of religious assumptions. And Paul, in the first half of the letter, is like Christ can't just be one more of those religious assumptions. Christ is supreme over everything, and that he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by him and for him. That passage right there in the next, you know, whatever eight or ten verses that come after that, that is the central thought of the first half of Colossians, which is the big idea theology side. And then the central thought of the second half of Colossians, which is the application side of it, is right here in Colossians three, starting in verse five. And I'm gonna read it. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. Do you remember this stuff from Galatians? There's a list coming up. Remember when we went through the acts of the sinful nature, the acts of the flesh are obvious from Galatians? I zipped around and covered some other lists from the New Testament of good things and bad things. This is one that we went to. I mean, let me restart it. Colossians 3, 5. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Don't lie to each other, since you've taken off your old self with its practices. You have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of the Creator. There again is more of that language about taking off the dirty robes of the old self and being clothed in the righteousness of Christ. We did a whole deep dive into that kind of language and imagery from all over the Bible when we were in Galatians as well. That's a pretty cool theme that runs through the whole Bible. But moving forward, here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all. Obviously, I keep referencing back to the Galatian season because these letters are so closely linked. I mean, geographically, they're like one little region apart. So it makes sense that there's going to be overlap in that way. But how can you not point back to Galatians if you just did that book with me? When we're here in Colossians and you hear Paul saying stuff like here, there is no Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised. I mean, that sounds a lot like what is that, Galatians 3 toward the end. Now I'm curious. I'm gonna go look. No, I want to know Galatians three, something, something. Where is it at? Yeah, there it is. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. But in Galatians, Paul is using that idea to round out the whole thought about being descended from Abraham. He goes on, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Now look how that same motif, that same theme, hits a little different over here in Colossians when Paul is bringing it up not against the backdrop of some big rebuke of the Colossian church. Remember, this is a pretty friendly, proactive letter. No, it hits different over here in Colossians because of the ten flags that flew over Colossae. All these different ideas and assumptions have come through here and they've all swirled and fusioned and mingled together. Well, here, Paul is saying the same thing. Jesus trumps all that. Jesus is bigger than all of those other identities. But when he's talking to the Galatians, he's talking about these class divisions that are stirred up and these weird religious divisions that are stirred up by the agitators who had come to town in Galatia. But here it feels like what comes through is more of this emphasis on yeah, all these cultures have come and gone, all of these different people groups. You could latch on to any bit of these things for an identity, but your identity in Christ is the bigger identity. This transcends all of the movements of empires and kings and warriors and soldiers and cultural trends and religious eras and all of these other things. Here, there's no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all. Feels like some of that might have even been a little bit of a nod back to the Sumerian invasion when he talked about barbarians and Scythians, the horse people who at one point had ridden through. Therefore, we're moving forward now in Colossians 3 in this pivotal passage for the second half of Colossians. We're gonna about to get more of the uh the clothed language stuff, maybe some of the most pronounced language about putting on the righteousness of Christ in the whole Bible right here. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Again, echoes of Galatians here, echoes of the fruits of the spirit and the acts of the flesh, passage, echoes of the themes and Galatians of putting on the righteousness of Christ, a righteousness you don't earn, but that you are clothed in by the work of God. But also big picture here, feel the pivot. Remember, yesterday we talked about how the pivot word in Colossians is sense in Colossians 3 1. Theology, theology, theology about the supremacy of Christ in Colossians 1 and 2, but then Colossians 3 and 4 just keeps pushing us toward the more practical. In light of who Jesus is and that he's supreme over everything, don't do this stupid stuff. It's stupid, it's destructive. In light of the fact that you are now clothed in the righteousness of Christ, these other things they don't make any sense. Yeah, that might have been cool for Phrygia or Lydia or Persia or the Sumerians or whoever, but that isn't you. You're Christians. It's bigger than being a barbarian or a Scythian or even slave or free. Did you catch that little hint? It's going to pay off more later. Continuing forward, verse 14. And overall, these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. We talked about that exact verse as well last season in Galatians, and maybe some of your brains are going to 1 Corinthians 13, where Paul is talking about these great virtues that remain, but you know, most of all love. Finally, he says here, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Okay, there. We've heard the whole passage. A couple days ago we carefully went through the defining passage of the first half of Colossians. Today we've gone through the defining passage of the second half of Colossians, and in the same way that if you were hanging out with me and Chad and his kids and his snake, and I asked him which two of the three he would save from a burning building, and he just looked at me funny and said, My kids, obviously, what is the matter with you? In the same way that you can imagine how that scenario would play out. So I feel like having worked through most of Colossians very quickly together, you can also see how if I had to save only two chunks of Colossians from a burning building, I think you can see why it would be these two. The supremacy of Christ passage really is the heart of the theology chunk, which is part one. And the therefore, as God's chosen people, don't do this stuff and do do and be this stuff passage is at the heart of the application, implication half of the book of Colossians, right here. Well, there does for sure remain one more task as we consider the twin book of Philemon, which is the book of Colossians, and that is to get into the very particular material here at the end that pertains to the relationship between Philemon and Onesimus, and that has to do with the slave master relationship, the household implications of what Paul has written in these two central passages here in Colossians, and we will get after that tomorrow. I'm Matt. This is the 10 Minute Bible Hour Podcast. Let's do this again soon.