1: If you then be
risen with Christ This is a continuation of Colossians 2:20-23 seek
those things which are above [1]
where the Christ is sitting at the right hand of God [2] 2:
Mind things above not things on the earth[3] 3:
You died for, and your life has been hid with, the Christ in the God[head] 4:
When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall you also appear with him in
glory 1 Peter 1:7, 1 John 3:2 5: Put to death therefore your
members which are upon the earth porneia
uncleanness pathos evil desires and
covetousness which is idolatry [4] 6:
For which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience 7:
In the which you also walked some time when you lived in them 8: But now
you also put off all these anger wrath[5]
malice blasphemy filthy communication out of your mouth 9: Lie not one
to another seeing that you have put off the old person with its deeds 10:
And have put on the new which is renewed in knowledge after the image [of him
that] created the same 11: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew
circumcision nor uncircumcision Barbarian Scythian bond [6] free
but Christ is all and in all 12: Put on therefore as the elect of God
holy and beloved[7]
bowels of mercies kindness humbleness of mind meekness longsuffering 13:
Forbearing one another and forgiving one another If any have a quarrel against
any even as Christ forgave you so also do you 14: And above all these
things put on agapē which is the bond
of perfection 15: And let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the
which also you are called in one body and be thankful 16: Let the word
of the 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 Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and
Father through him 18: Wives hypotasso
[support][8]
your own husbands as it is becoming in the Lord 19: Husbands love wives
and be not bitter against them 20: Children hypakouo [obey] parents in all things for this is well pleasing
unto the Lord 21: Fathers provoke not your children to anger lest they be
discouraged[9]
22: Slaves hypakouo [obey] in
all things masters according to the flesh not with eye-service as men-pleasers
but in singleness of heart fearing God 23: And whatsoever you do do it
heartily as to the Lord and not to men 24: Knowing that of the Lord you
shall receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ [10] 25:
But they that do wrong shall receive for the wrong which they have done and
there is no respect of persons
[1] The context of Colossians 3:1 is
Colossians 2:20-23, where believers are reminded that they are [or should be]
dead to the principles of the kosmos
(the systems and spirituality of the world) which identify with [and honor]
things that have no eternal [or relationship] value when it comes to walking
with Christ and growing as Christians. Believer’s should set their hearts on
higher things as they symbolically bury the old and die with Christ through
baptism and rise to new life in an awe-inspiring, entirely supernatural,
eternal adventure.
[2] In this passage, Paul portrays as Jesus
sitting at the Right Hand of God, because his work of Redemption is finished.
In the Book of Acts, we see Jesus Standing
at the Right Hand of his Father as Stephen is being stoned to death. This is
because Jesus’ work of interceding for the saints, continues.
[3] There seems to be a lethargy in the
Church today, concerning the Resurrection, Rapture, and the Second Coming of
Christ. Much of this is due to the almost total neglect of teaching on the
subjects. May I suggest that the underlying factor in this, on the part of
leaders who neglect to teach the whole counsel of God (Whole Bible), is that
they love this present world too much, and their minds are not “set on things
above.”
[4] To be covetous is to have or show a great desire to possess something, typically
something belonging to someone else, this is synonymous with idolatry.
[5] Anger and wrath are similar but not
synonymous. Both the Hebrew and Greek scriptures use different words for the
two. Wrath appears to be an intensified form of anger, often with worse
consequences for the object[s] of the wrath. With humans, wrath could likely be
understood as vengeful fury.
[6] Verses 10-11 refer to the image of God
in Christ where there are no distinctions of gender, race, or social status.
In
his letter to the Galatians, Paul included women but not barbarians (largely
unconquered or uncivilized peoples) in his list of equal persons (ex., the
Germanic peoples were considered barbarians, along with some primitive tribes
within the Roman Empire). In his letter to the Colossians, he included
barbarians but not women. But his message is clear and inclusive in both
passages, that, in Christ, all humans are functionally equal, not simply equal in
essence or value.
During the days of slavery and Jim Crow, black people were
considered functionally inferior. Today, truly God-fearing people understand
how abhorrent such ideas are.
Paul understood the concept of human equality as
soon as he was converted, but he also understood that the idea would be foreign
and likely offensive to the early Church. He well knew that voicing the concept
would potentially cause dissension within the churches, and could cause many
new converts to stumble and walk away from Christianity altogether.
He
obviously did not feel the threat of disunity or reduction of church membership
good enough reasons for compromising on what was right. Yet those are the very
reasons cited by some egalitarian writers as reasons to bar women from certain
leadership positions in churches.
For Paul to elevate barbarians, slaves, and
women to equal status with Jews, citizens, and men, was radical. In Paul’s culture,
barbarians had no standing. Their legal status was barely above that of slaves.
They had no real rights, and were accorded little to no respect.
Women in
Athens Greece (the Greek culture of Rome) were compared to barbarians as good
reasons for their inferior legal and social status. Both Jesus’ revolutionary
example and Paul’s radical teaching exposed racism and sexism as illegitimate
paradigms.
[7] Romans 9:24-26 (Romans 2:25 is a direct
quote from Hosea 2:23 in the Septuagint), Eph 1:6
[8] “In the context of biblical
relationships between men and women, the best meaning of hypotasso is “to identify
with or support” It has nothing to do with being subordinate to, secondary to,
or subject to.” –Dr. Sue Hyatt.
Hypotasso, does not always denote “under” in
hierarchy. In 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, the word is translated as “over,” proving
misogyny and even deliberate deception in commentaries and lexicons that define
hypotasso as always portraying a hierarchal chain of command, where the husband
is commanding officer and wife is subjected to (arranged “under”).
[9] Because of the curse, the desire to dominate
is greater in men than in women (men especially seek to rule over their women
–Genesis 3:16). As soon as sin entered the world through the last sinless
human, God predicted the general oppression of women [by men] would follow. And
history reveals this prophecy has consistently [and with devastating effects on
family and society] been fulfilled.
Its fulfillment continues up to the present
day, with history confirmed by modern statistics.
The consequence of the Fall
on woman, is the extreme opposite. Sin inclines her to follow the path of least
resistance, especially when it comes to turning after her man. History and
statistics confirm this as well.
There are individual exceptions of course, both dominating and passive following, are sinful behaviors that can
manifest in both women and men, but should be repented of and resisted by all Christians.
Role assignments in the family, culture, and religion are direct results of the
curse, and therefore should be rejected by all Christians.
Through scriptures,
such as this passage in Colossians chapter three, women are admonished to be
supportive—not of all males—but of their own
husbands, and only “in a becoming
manner.” Blind, passive, subjection, is neither fitting nor becoming, but is
rather, the sinful, cursed, behavior described on Genesis 3:16.
Fathers are instructed
to give up harsh treatment of their families through the despotic behavior God
predicted, and also to refrain from bitterness against what they perceive as
“unsubmissive” behavior in their wives.
The complementarian “servant leader” model
for husbands, is fanciful, false, and dangerous. Teachers who encourage men to
walk in what Elohiym Himself
describes as cursed behavior are in grave error, as the servant leader model
teaches men that they can rule over their wives, as long as they go about it in a polite and gentle manner.
Teaching husbands, who
the Bible warns will likely battle a life-long
urge to dominate wives, that there is an acceptable way to”manage” this sin, is
like giving methadone to a heroin addict. It may temporarily mitigate the worst
part of the problem, but does not cure the addiction. Sinning against wives
“nicely,” is still sin. God’s way is better. Turn from sin. Repent of sin.
Follow Christ. Love the Brethren.
In women, courage is praised and prized—In
the Bible—though not generally by men. The Proverbs Thirty-One woman, was a
woman of valor (“virtuous” sounds nice, but is a deliberately inaccurate
translation). Teaching women to be submissive to male leadership, is nothing
less than a reinforcement of behavior that God has defined as a destructive
consequence of sin.
But women are not merely taught this. Historically, for
thousands upon thousands of years, through oppressive laws, they were given no choice in the matter. Modern women,
who live in democratic societies, are currently pressured into accepting what
would otherwise be an unacceptable paradigm, by extravagant promises of bliss
and happiness, and if that does not work, by dire predictions of familial, or
even eternal, doom.
Both women and men are subject to sin in every possible way
it can manifest through human behavior, but the Bible declares that there are also
different sins that more easily beset one sex than the other. In men it is
dominance towards women. In women, it is passivity towards men. In any case, all Christians are commanded to be
strong and unafraid, full of faith, and to prefer one another before
themselves.
[10] When the apostle admonished slaves to
obey earthly masters, from their hearts, serving them as to the Lord, he was not supporting slavery. He was simply being
practical and giving the best advice possible, in light of the fact that slaves
who disobeyed masters, did so at their own peril. It was also the best counsel
possible for peace of mind and spiritual health, given that slaves had no legal
recourse in changing their situations or in obtaining legal protection or
justice should they have cruel masters.
Lives spent with hearts full of
resentment and bitterness of heart, would interfere with relationship with God,
be detrimental to spiritual growth, and only add to a slave’s misery. Paul’s concern
and advice was for the safety and well-being of the slave. His words gave them hope
that they too, had a glorious future in eternity and would receive rewards for
their willing service in the only capacity they might ever have to serve God on
earth.
Though institutionalized slavery
was later preached from many pulpits to be a divinely ordained institution, the
Bible never declares it to be so, and Paul certainly never did. It is wrong to
interpret verses such as Colossians 3:23 as such.
It is interesting to note
that the same argument [used in Colossians 3:23], to protect and comfort
slaves, was wrongly used to shore up pre-civil-war-slavery-theology. It is,
currently, still being used to under-gird
male-headship-theology, which amounts to nothing less than wife-slavery.
Complementarian
leaders and writers give wives the same advice about serving husbands, as Paul
advised slaves about serving masters. They teach that, for wives, serving God, finds
expression, primarily, in serving husbands.
For authority to make such
statements, they cite scriptures written to slaves. Author Elizabeth
George, did this when she wrote in an article published on crosswalk.com: “Your
relationship with your husband, your submission to his desires for your
marriage and his leadership of the two of you as a couple, and your service to
him is to be "as to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:22) and to be done
"heartily, as to the Lord and not to men" (Colossians 3:23).”
Colossians 3:23 was written to slaves—not wives. With God, there is neither male
nor female slave nor free...we are all one in Christ Jesus and commanded to
support and yield to one another, preferring one another before
ourselves. May God deliver us from slave-holding Christianity.
... ...examines Bible commentary and translation
practices which have historically been androcentric (male centered) and even
misogynistic (anti-woman). These have adversely effected understanding of the
scriptures, relations between women and men, the happiness of men and women,
and, in general, has hindered the work of the gospel. The book chronicles the
early history of the women's rights movements, as well as the role of church
leadership in aggressively suppressing both women's rights and the historical
record of Christian initiatives within the movements. Through the
complementarian movement, many of the same arguments used to support the
institution of slavery, are still used today in suppressing the rights of
Christian women. This book documents identical arguments used by Christian
leaders against both movements, and is an unparalleled resource for all who
desire an in-depth study of gender equality from a Christian perspective. The
history of women’s rights is traced back [much further than usual] to the very
first feminists…who were Christians—godly women, who brought the issue
of women's rights to the forefront as they struggled to alleviate the suffering
of others, and found they were hindered in doing so for no other reason than
the fact of their sex. This work, provides valuable historical insight into
Christian initiatives in the movements for women’s rights, that are rarely
included in Christian literature.
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