H&B-049 and 050: The Grace Apparatus for Perception God’s Provision for Putting on the Armor:...

H&B-049 and 050: The Grace Apparatus for Perception

God’s Provision for

Putting on the Armor: Introduction (Colossians 1:4-12)

Living Word Bible Class 07-06-08 2

Definition

• GRACE APPARATUS PERCEPTION

• (GAP)

• The divine provisions for spiritual growth whereby every believer can understand every doctrine, regardless of education or human IQ.

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The Belt (Baldric)

• Just as the soldier had his loin belt to put on every day to keep his armor together, we must apply the Word of God to our lives on a daily basis or we will not be able to maintain our defenses.

• The belt was the first thing that the soldier put on.

• Just as this is the first thing a Christian must put on.

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The Belt (Baldric)

• Once the Christian Warrior has buckled on his waist the baldric God intended for him to wear, he begins the process to prepare for the charge of the unseen foe.

• And how does he get ready to stand? “By means of doctrine!”

• The preposition EN plus the singular from ALETHEIA does not mean "with truth" but signifies the means by which we reach our spiritual objective in life - doctrine, or that which is believed = BY Truth.


The Breastplate

• Neither Rome nor its army was built in a day! • So it is with the Christian Warrior. • We do not become mature believers overnight! • It takes time and persistence to "GAP it" to

Spiritual Maturity, to buckle on the belt of truth. Ephesians 6: 14 takes this into consideration and states that "after having buckled on ... the baldric by means of doctrine," we must put on the piece of equipment which is an integral part of the body armor - the BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.


The Boots

• In Scripture, feet become synonymous with service; but there can be no effective service apart from constant training and preparation along the road to Spiritual Maturity.

• It was the seasoned combat veteran of the Roman army who served his country best; and it is the spiritually mature Christian Warrior who can serve the Lord to the maximum of his capability and capacity!


The Boots

• The aorist middle participle of the verb HUPODEO means "to tie," "to bind beneath," or "to put on footwear"; here, it refers to the putting on of shoes or CALIGAE: "also having put combat boots on your feet.”

• The wearing of spiritual combat boots indicates readiness to serve our supreme Commander wherever and whenever He directs.


The Boots

• Likewise, the Christian soldier's effectiveness depends upon his mastery of certain doctrines and his flexibility in their use.

• Not only does he need to have correct information about the Gospel, he also must KNOW his subject.

• The objective in witnessing is the accurate and clear communication of salvation.



Colossians 1:4-5a

• “Having heard the report of the doctrine of you all in Christ Jesus [Doctrinal Orientation], and the love which you have toward all the saints [Spiritual Orientation]; because of the confidence of what is preserved for you in heaven,”

• Knowledge of one’s secure place in heaven and the blessings that are in store for us there lays the groundwork for our unconditional love for one’s fellow believer:

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Basis

• 1. Understanding our provision from the Father for our future orients us to Grace, and from there paves the way for Agape.

• 2. Understanding that future provision gives us confidence in our daily activities, freeing us from concentrating on self, allowing us to see the opportunities for Agape.

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Colossians 1:5b• “… which you heard before in the study of the Word

of truth,”.• This knowledge is learned through the study of the

Bible: • The words “heard before” are the aorist active

indicative of the verb, proakouō. • The constantive aorist contemplates the action in

its entirety and gathers it into a single whole.• What these believers heard before they retained

and it became a motivation for action, specifically unconditional love for their fellow believers.

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Colossians 1:6 (JNT)

• “[The Word of Truth] has made its presence felt within you, just as it is also being fruitful…”

• In verse 6 we learn a number of things. First of all this confidence was “constantly bearing fruit” because they were producing divine good.

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Colossians 1:6

• “…and multiplying throughout the world in the same way as it has among you…”

• In addition this divine good was having measurable impact by “increasing,” which refers to producing dividends: others benefited by being the recipients of divine good actions and the believer benefited by both spiritual growth and advancing his prospects for rewards in time and eternity.

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Colossians 1:6

• “…since the day you heard and understood the grace of God as it really is.”

• These dividends accrued from the time they “heard of the gospel and began to fully understand the grace of God in the sphere of biblical truth.”

• Grace is the policy of God toward the human race and grace can only be truly understood from the biblical perspective of the believer.

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Colossians 1:6

• Believers have to be taught in order to grow in grace.

• Those at Colossae were taught “even as” were others throughout the world.

• Those believers were “constantly bearing fruit and advancing” in the plan of God “even as” these in Colossae had been doing “since the day they heard of it and began to fully understand the grace of God in the sphere of biblical truth.”

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• 7 “[even as] You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow-slave and a faithful worker for the Messiah on your behalf;”

• Verse 7 emphasizes the one who taught them this doctrine, “even as you were taught from the source of Epaphras,” their pastor-teacher.

• These “even as” clauses emphasize the fact that whoever makes an advance in the plan of God does so by means of Bible study.

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• “…and he has told us about the love which the Spirit has given you.”

• Verse 8 tells us that Epaphras is the one who informed Paul and those with him about the reciprocal love possessed by the members of the Colossian church.

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Colossians 1:9-12 (JNT)• Therefore, from the day we heard of it, we

have not stopped praying for you, asking God to:

• [1.] fill you with the knowledge of his will – [a.] in all the wisdom and understanding

which the Spirit gives; • [1]so that you may live lives worthy of the

Lord and entirely pleasing to him, • [2]being fruitful in every good work and• [3]multiplying in the full knowledge of

God.

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Colossians 1:9-12 (JNT)

• We pray that you will be continually strengthened with all the power that comes from his glorious might; so that you will be able to persevere and be patient in any situation, joyfully giving thanks to the Father for having made you fit to share in the inheritance of his people in the light.

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Colossians 1:9-12 Intro

• In verses 9-12 we learn it was because these believers possessed reciprocal love with God the Father, that Paul and his associates were motivated to pray for them.

• This prayer gives us insight into what is God’s expectation of a congregation that is positive to the study of the Bible.

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Colossians 1:9-12 Intro

• The underpinning of Paul’s Intercessory Prayer in Col 1:3-12 is that Spiritual Growth Is Made Possible by a Grace System of Perception:

• GAP

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Paul’s Intercessory Prayer

• “… asking God to fill you with the knowledge…

• 1. That the Colossians might be filled with epignōsis knowledge: cognizance of divine thought in their streams of consciousness.

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• “… of his will…

• 2. That this knowledge would instruct them about God’s sovereign purpose: His directive will for each person’s life.

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• “…in all the wisdom and understanding (behavior producing) which the Spirit gives…

• 3. That this knowledge would be the means for developing wisdom: the combination of epignōsis knowledge plus sunesis; insight for its application to life and circumstances.

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• “…so that you may live lives worthy of the Lord…”

• 4. That this wisdom would reproduce the life of the Lord in us as we fill up the Reservoir of Righteousness, and let it flow from us (“Rivers of Living Water”).

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• “…and entirely pleasing to him,…”

• 6- That with this dual harmony the believer’s manner of life might reflect thought and behavior patterns pleasing to the Lord.

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• “…being fruitful in every divine work and growing spiritually by means of the full knowledge of God.”

• 7. That this production and growth would be by means of epignōsis knowledge from the ultimate source of God which is biblical revelation.

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• “We pray that you will be continually strengthened with all the power that comes from his glorious might;…”

• 8. That the Filling of the Spirit would habitually produce divine good and would habitually contribute to continued spiritual growth.

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• “so that you will be able to persevere and be patient in any situation,…”

• 9. So that your life will be stabilized, a beacon to others who cannot handle the stress.

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• “…joyfully giving thanks to the Father for having made you fit to share in the inheritance of his people in the light.”

• Now Paul is back to the basis, again – tying the prayer back to the reason for their commendation of verse 2, that God made them fit to share in the inheritance, BY Grace, of course.

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Conclusion

• All of the concepts in Colossians 1:3-12 are made possible by a grace system of perception described in I Corinthians 2:4-14

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1 Corinthians 2:4-6 (GNT)

• 4 and my teaching and message were not delivered with skilful words of human wisdom, but with convincing proof of the power of God’s Spirit.5 Your faith, then, does not rest on human wisdom but on God’s power. 6 Yet I do proclaim a message of wisdom to those who are spiritually mature. But it is not the wisdom that belongs to this world or to the powers that rule this world—powers that are losing their power.


Spiritual Growth Is Made Possible by a Grace System of

Perception, 1 Cor 2:4-14

• Verse 4: My [ Paul’s ] message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words [ not taken from Gnosticism ], but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power.


1 Cor 2: 5-6

• Your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the sphere of the power of God.

• However, when among mature believers, we keep on teaching wisdom but a wisdom that does not belong to this age nor to the leaders of this world who are becoming ineffective;


1 Cor 2:6

• “We speak wisdom, however.” • In the Greek sentence, the first word is

“wisdom,” which because of its position is emphatic.

• A literal translation reads, “Wisdom we speak.” • He understandably continues to build on these

earlier remarks on wisdom; in subsequent verses, he unites the concepts wisdom and Spirit.


1 Cor 2:6

• Paul contrasts divine wisdom with the wisdom of the world which has entranced some Corinthian Christians.

• They think that Paul’s message of Christ’s cross is simplistic and fails to measure up to the standards of worldly wisdom.


1 Cor 2:6

• By sharply differentiating two concepts of wisdom, Paul emphatically and confidently states that he and his fellow ministers have God’s wisdom which, as he already has explained (1:18–30), is eminently superior to the wisdom of the world.


1 Cor 2:6

• With the aid of the adversative however, Paul switches from the singular to the plural.

• In this epistle Paul frequently shifts from the singular to the plural and back again (e.g., 3:1, 2, 6, 9, 10).

• Here he resumes the plural of 1:23, “We preach Christ crucified.”


1 Cor 2:6

• Paul has in mind all those who belong to the apostolic circle, among whom are his fellow workers Timothy and Silas.

• He wants to say that his preaching, and that of his associates, is certainly marked by wisdom.

• With the Greek verb lalein (to speak) he denotes not the content of speech but the act of speaking.

• But among whom do Paul and his fellow ministers speak wisdom?


1 Cor 2:6

• Paul addresses the Corinthians as “babes in Christ” (3:1) and tells them that they think like children (14:20).

• He regards all believers in whom the Holy Spirit effectively works as mature Christians.

• In other words, with the word mature Paul includes all the Corinthians who responded to Christ’s gospel and walk by means of the Spirit.


1 Cor 2:6

• Next, in context Paul contrasts not the mature Christians and the immature Christians.

• Rather, he distinguishes between mature Christians who accept the message of the cross and unbelievers, who consider God’s wisdom foolishness.

• He delineates faith and unbelief, divine wisdom and worldly wisdom, the believer and the unbeliever.


1 Cor 2:6

• Last, the Greek word that is translated “mature” or “perfect” occurs elsewhere in Paul’s epistles and usually is equivalent to “adult.”

• Adults are those people who accept the gospel of Christ’s cross, attend to the teaching of the WORD, and experience God’s power in their lives.

• They are the recipients of divine wisdom and rejoice in it with fellow believers.


1 Cor 2:6

• “The wisdom not of this age or of the rulers of this age.”

• Paul continues to describe the meaning of wisdom in negative terms.

• The wisdom of this age is identical with worldly wisdom (1:20) that is characterized by a fleeting and changeable nature.


1 Cor 2:6

• “Who are doomed to perish.” • In the Greek, Paul uses the verb doomed

to perish, which is the same as the translation nullified in 1:28 (see also 15:24, 26).

• He shows that God, who controls world history, causes the sudden demise of leaders, officials, teachers and their philosophies.


1 Cor 2:6

• Paul uses the present tense of the verb doomed to perish to emphasize the continuous control that God exercises in this world.

• Throughout the centuries, God causes his Word to triumph and worldly wisdom and its proponents to fail.


1 Cor 2: 7

• but we communicate wisdom from God in a mystery which mystery doctrine has been concealed and which God predesigned before the ages resulting in our glory.



1 Corinthians 2:4-6 (ISV)

• My message and my preaching were not accompanied by clever words of wisdom, but by a display of the Spirit’s power,5 so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power. 6 However, when we are among mature people, we do speak a message of wisdom, but not the wisdom of this world or of the rulers of this world, who are passing off the scene.

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1 Corinthians 2:7-11 (ISV)• 7 Instead, we speak about God’s secret wisdom

that has been hidden, which God destined for our glory before the world began.8 None of the rulers of this world understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.9 But as it is written, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him.” 10 But God has revealed those things to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God.

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Key Points• 11 Is there anyone who can understand

his own thoughts except by his own inner spirit? In the same way, no one can know the thoughts of God except God’s Spirit.

• Wisdom

• Mystery

• Ignorance

• Predestined

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Introduction to Verses 7-9

• Verses 6-9 introduce the mystery of the hidden sophia of God.

• “Paul’s use of the expression “wisdom” shifts here from eloquence and the content of teaching to that of personified Sophia or Wisdom.

• In Jewish-Hellenistic wisdom literature the wise and perfect, in contrast to the foolish and babes, enjoyed the intimate relationship with divine Sophia who was the agent of creation and salvation.”

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Introduction to Verses 7-9

• “Paul identifies the divine figure of Sophia with Christ crucified. If the rulers of this world had recognized the Sophia-Christ they would not have crucified this Lord of Glory.

• These rulers can be understood either as the human religious or political powers responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion, as supernatural demonic powers dominating the present world order, or as a combination of both. To underline this great mystery of Sophia,”

• Mays, J. L., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. 1996, c1988. Harper's Bible commentary . Harper & Row: San Francisco

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1 Cor 2: 7

• “but we communicate wisdom from God in a mystery which mystery doctrine has been concealed and which God predesigned before the ages resulting in our glory.”

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Divine wisdom

• The dissimilarity between the world’s wisdom and God’s wisdom is clear.

• In the preceding verse (v. 6), Paul mentions wisdom in negative terms; human wisdom is time-bound and leads people to frustration and eventual destruction.

• Here he gives a positive description: God’s wisdom is eternal and limitless.

• It leads people from darkness to light, salvation, and glory.

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Mystery

• Paul informs the Corinthians that he and fellow preachers declare God’s wisdom in a mystery.

• This is the first time the word mystery occurs in connection with wisdom.

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Mystery

• What does Paul mean by the clause, “We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery”?

• The Greek verb lalein (to speak) denotes not the substance of Paul’s speech but the manner of speaking (see v. 6).

• The genitive case of “wisdom” points to possession, origin, and character;

• Paul refers to God’s wisdom.

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Mystery

• And “wisdom” is qualified by the expression in a mystery.

• That is, Paul does not speak a mystery; God’s wisdom is mysterious.

• The rationale, the ideas of Wisdom are a mystery and unintelligible to the unbeliever.

• To the believer wisdom becomes plain, for God communicates it through the gospel which the apostles preach.

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Mystery

• Paul has stated earlier that Christ is wisdom from God and thus Christ has become our wisdom (1:30).

• Wisdom and salvation through Christ are intimately related, for the word wisdom signifies “the wise acts of God in the salvation of man.”

• The process of salvation is a miracle to believers but a mystery to people who lack the Spirit of God (compare vv. 11–15).

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Mystery

• Wherever the term mystery appears in the New Testament, it usually is preceded by verbs meaning either “to reveal” or “to proclaim.”

• This mystery was predestined by God before the creation of this world, but he now reveals it to his people through the preaching of the gospel (see Eph. 3:3; Col. 1:26).

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Predestined

• Paul next refers to “hidden wisdom, which God predestined before all time for our glory.”

• Wisdom that has been hidden until the present time is now revealed through the person and work of Christ.

• Peter discloses that the prophets were intently searching for the time and circumstances of Christ’s coming.

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Predestined

• He says that those things eventually were revealed to the believers through the preaching of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit (I Peter 1:10–12).

• Even though this mystery of salvation is no longer hidden, it nevertheless remains something that the human mind cannot fully grasp.

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Predestined

• This mystery relates to the love of God, which is so profound that man is unable to comprehend it completely (compare Eph. 3:17–19).

• God in his wisdom predestined this salvation for our glory before the human race was even created.

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Predestined

• He foreordained to save the Corinthians for their own glory, a truth Paul states in a related discourse:

• “What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory?” (Rom. 9:23).

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Predestined• God is sovereign and demonstrates his grace and

mercy to his people, whom he predestined to glory. • Paul could not have put the difference between

worldly wisdom and divine wisdom in clearer terms. • The contrast between the glory of believers and the

glory of earthly rulers is telling. Writes J. B. Lightfoot, “Our glory increases, while their glory wanes.”

• We are to reflect God’s virtues and glory already in this life, but in the life to come we shall shine like jewels in his crown (see, e.g., Phil 3:21; Zech. 9:16, for the metaphor).

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References

• Tom Constable. (2003; 2003). Tom Constable's Expository Notes on the Bible (1 Co 2:9-14). Galaxie Software.

• W. F. Arndt & F. W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon, 2d ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979),

• Griffin, Joe, GAP• Wiersbe's expository outlines on the New

Testament. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

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