For it pleased the
Father that in Him
All the fullness
should dwell….
Beware lest anyone
cheat you through philosophy
and empty deceit,
according to the tradition of men,
according to the
basic principles of the world,
and not according to
Christ. For in Him dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
and you are complete
in Him,
who is the head of
all principality and power.
Colossians 1:19;
28–10
Before I
address the subject that is being considered in these blogs allow me to teach
why the words; “the Father that” are in italics. Those words are not in the
original Greek manuscripts; so why place then in this Scripture? The Greek word
used here in this Scripture for “pleased” (εὐδόκησεν;
is
in the third person singular 1st aorist, indicative) and begs the
question: Who is the one being pleased? The epithets in this Scripture are
applied to Jesus Christ and are: “Image of the invisible God,” First–born of
all creation,” “through Him all things are reconciled’, to Him are all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” and, in Him dwells the fullness of the
Godhead”. The One who is pleased is the Father who sent Him to be the
propitiation for sin. Therefore, for this verse to have meaning the context
rules and the context ascribes to Jesus Christ that it was God who was pleased.
Read this book by Paul and you will find that all that I have said is true of
Jesus Christ and God the Father. Now, for the important part of this blog. The
fullness of the Godhead is ascribed to Jesus Christ and that Jesus Christ is
the head of all things. Jesus was never created, He is God, one of the Persons
of the Godhead: why say Godhead if God is only One? Paul, it seems by what he
was addressing to the Colossians was a defense of the doctrine of Jesus Christ
which was being attacked by Gnosticism. Gnosticism had as one of its main
tenets, dualism. Platoism was dualistic, so was Neoplatonism. Gnosticism which
was derived from these philosophies of the Greeks held to dualism as well as
they taught and insisted upon a clear and definite separation between the
spiritual world and the material world. Gnosticism insisted that the material
world was evil and the spiritual world good. How then could they reconcile the
fact that Jesus came to earth, lived, died, was resurrected and ascended into
heaven? First, God due to the material world being considered evil could not
have created the world. Secondly: the Gnostics formed a series of emanations
that bridged the gap between the bad world and the spiritual world. This was
done with the idea of a demiurge: is a concept from the Platonic,
Neopythagorean,
Middle
Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy for an
artisan-like figure responsible for the fashioning and maintenance of the
physical universe. The term was subsequently adopted by the Gnostics.
Although a fashioner, the demiurge is not necessarily thought of as being the
same as the creator figure in the familiar monotheistic
sense, because both the demiurge itself plus the material from which the
demiurge fashions the universe are considered either uncreated and eternal, or
the product of some other being, depending on the system.[1]
The Gnostics went even further with this demiurge as they identified the
demiurge with Jehovah of the Old Testament, Jehovah was disliked by the
Gnostics. How then could they explain Jesus Christ? They adopted a doctrine of
Docetism a belief that Jesus' physical body was an illusion, as was his
crucifixion; that is, Jesus only seemed to have a physical body and to
physically die, but in reality he was incorporeal, a pure spirit, and hence
could not physically die. The Gnostics believe that Jesus being absolute
spiritual good could not have a body so then Jesus must be a phantom that had
seeming appearance of a man. When Jesus died on the cross the spiritual Jesus
left the carnal Jesus to die on the cross. Furthermore, the Gnostics taught
that the work of the Christ was to teach a special gnosis (knowledge) that
would aid the believer to save himself by this intellectual process. This is Arianism in its beginning stages,
that man had enough good in him to be able to save himself. Many Christians
believe that today as it is taught as truth in many Churches. Maybe you believe
this! Don’t! It is an unscriptural doctrine. Only when God calls a person, and
enables a person, by giving to that person the faith needed to believe can a
man believe. Yes, man must make a choice but as a total depraved man, a nature
that is totally depraved, one must ask how can a man with such a nature come to
a belief in God? Many Churches today, Bethel Church in Redding, CA, is one such
Church that teaches a special knowledge, an intellectual approach to salvation.
From Gnosticism came many heresies that are present today, and can be seen in
Churches that ascribe to a mystical belief, a supernatural belief that has
nothing to do with Scripture but has all to do with a person’s feelings, a
special knowledge that God has spoken to them in their minds, but have no
Sriptural warrant for such a thing, and no Scriptural basis for this special
knowledge. Can God speak to us? Yes! How? I don’t know! But, when God does
speak to an individual He does not usurp His word. Salvation is at the heart of
these heresies so it is important that we understand them and how they
contradict Scripture. Salvation is at the heart of Scripture. Which should one
follow? Heresy, or truth? The Bible, or some person’s idea of salvation, or
God, of Jesus Christ, a religion that has mysticism and supernaturalism as
their base. I for one will follow God’s word; unadulterated. How about you?
Return, you backsliding children.
And I will
heal your backslidings…
Jeremiah 3:22a
Jeremiah 3:22a
Our God Is One: The Godhead, Worship Him In Truth
Richard L. Crumb
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