Anchored Day 4 Together: Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
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The Questions
1) Who authored this passage, to whom was it written, and what was the author’s purpose in writing?
2) What is the hope of the believer?
3) According to this passage, how does one please the Lord?
Colossians 1:3-14
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Original Intent
1) Who authored this passage, to whom was it written, and what was the author’s purpose in writing?
While Paul was in prison in Rome he was visited by Epaphras, the church planter for the house-church in Colossae. He was a convert to Christianity because of the faithful preaching of Paul the apostle likely when he was in Ephesus (Acts 19:8-10). Epaphras relayed to Paul how the Colossian church was believing heretical teachings. The believers had adopted “extra practices” such as self-made rules, discipline of the body, visions, and “special knowledge.” The Colossians believed that by doing these things, they could increase their godliness. Paul wrote to reinforce the foundation of the gospel and to correct heretical beliefs contrary to truth. He also encouraged them for their love for others and for spreading the gospel.
2) What is the hope of the believer?
The hope of every believer – their source of confidence – is in the promises of what God will do in the future because of what He did in the past by sending Jesus as fulfillment of prophecy. Christ willingly laid down His life as an atoning sacrifice for us as sinful beings incapable of attaining right standing before God on our own ability. This hope is secure for many reasons, but one way we can know God is faithful to His Word is because past promises have come to fruition, none as wonderful as the promise of a Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. Because Jesus ascended to heaven after His resurrection (Acts 1:10-11) and He intercedes for us there (Hebrews 7:25), our hope is currently “laid up in heaven” (Colossians 1:5).
3) According to this passage, how does one please the Lord?
The Lord’s pleasure delights over us first and foremost because we, as believers, are His. He sees His righteousness clothing us and has removed our sin from us if we have truly surrendered the will of our hearts to Him. He will never love us more than He already does and He cannot love us less. A life that honors this radical gift of love is a life submitted to His ways, His instruction, and His law of love. Here, Paul says “walk(ing) in a manner worthy of the Lord” and honoring Him begins by looking full into Scripture, taking in understanding and growing in our knowledge of Christ. As an overflow of God’s living and active Word working in our hearts and renewing our minds, the Spirit will grow His fruit in our lives through every good work. We cannot bear fruit without this intimate, growing understanding of Christ! Without regular, consistent intake of Scripture, we cannot be shaped to be more like our Savior! This is HIS work, not ours. Our responsibility is to submit to His path of growth.
Everyday Application
1) Who authored this passage, to whom was it written, and what was the author’s purpose in writing?
Throughout the Bible, it is evident that people, even those who profess trust in God, have been tempted to deviate from pure faith. In Israel’s history idolatry and legalism are clearly seen (Exodus 32:1-8; 1 Kings 11:6-8; Matthew 15:1-9). Today’s Christianity often becomes watered down or manipulated to be more pleasing to the average church-goer. Facets of other global religions have also been accepted. Jesus wants our whole hearts, sisters, so we need to be in the Word, applying the Word to our lives, and we need to be discerning about what we allow to influence us and our families.
2) What is the hope of the believer?
Jesus is currently in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father as He has finished the work He did on our behalf (Hebrews 12:2). We know because He has promised and His word is faithful; He cannot be unfaithful (2 Timothy 2:13) as His character demands flawless faithfulness. John 3:16 declares all who believe will have eternal life in heaven with Him and John fervently insists that we can know we have eternal life (1 John 5:13). I don’t know about you, but this is what keeps me hopeful in this fallen world. When the pain in my body tries to wear me down, or I hear news of murders and deceit and greed, I just close my eyes and whisper, “Thank you, Jesus, for sure and certain HOPE!”
3) According to this passage, how does one please the Lord?
A life that pleases and honors the vast love the Father has deposited into every believing heart is one that daily, regularly submits again and again to the Lord’s rule instead of our own, fleshly desires. As Paul urges in Galatians, “Keep in step with the Spirit!” The more we become practiced at reading His Word, being still, and listening to His leading, the easier and more natural it becomes to do exactly that. Die to our sin nature, remember it has been crucified with Christ and no longer controls us, and remember again and again that we have been made alive in Christ! It’s His rule that reigns in our once dead hearts!
Obviously, Our Father is most pleased when we live out His design for us, dancing in the freedom He purchased for us.
But it isn’t always easy to do, is it? (Tell me I’m not the only one…)
Sometimes, we forget Whose we are. We forget we have been set free from the Master of Sin and Death and have been transferred to Kingdom of Light and Love. (Colossians 1:13)
Ladies, if you can honestly say that you haven’t been pleasing the Lord by honoring His rule and reign, the wonderful thing is that you can ask Him for forgiveness and go to Him for help. He doesn’t leave us to flounder…He’s always just a prayer away.
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
Memorize It!
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