Responsibility

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, 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.  - Colossians 1:9, 10

Jesus surely has died because of our sins and He rose in power to free us from them.  He has overcome the world and fulfilled the law and the prophets to the fullest.

He has given us grace and in Him we find freedom, power, and authority through the Holy Spirit.  Grace; however, does not mean that we have a license to sin.  Quite the contrary, it means that we have power over sin.

As my friend, Peter Parker (Spiderman) learned the hard way, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Accepting the grace that Jesus so richly blessed us with also means we’ve entered into a partnership agreement with God Almighty, which carries responsibilities.

Here in Paul’s prayer for the Church of Colossae, he outlines some of those responsibilities. 

Even though this is a prayer, it is obvious that the verbs Paul uses in this prayer require action on the part of both God and the Colossians.

The first part is that we might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.  I have covered a good portion about God’s will in a previous blog post, you can see that here:  http://keith-swordoftheword.blogspot.com/2012/03/gods-will-part-i.html

Note that Paul not only prays that they would be filled with the understanding of God’s will, but that they would also be filled with the wisdom of it as well.  Wisdom is applied knowledge; in other words, it is applying God’s will to our lives and living it out.

Next Paul prays that the Colossians would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him.  We are saved by grace through faith, this is a fact.  After we have accepted that grace through faith, should we return to the same sins that put Jesus on the cross in the first place?

Does one who purchases a valuable treasure keep it where it can be easily damaged?  Does a woman who purchased a dress for a special occasion use the dress to feed pigs? 

I think not!  Rather the one who buys a valuable treasure keeps it safe and protected.  The woman who buys a dress for a special occasion would be wise to keep the dress in the closet until the special occasion arrives. 

We have been bought with the highest price.  We have been entrusted with such a valuable treasure that we should want to guard and protect it.  Walking in a manner worthy of the Lord is not about “religion.”  It is about protecting our relationship with God by not grieving the Holy Spirit.  It is that we love God so much for what He has done for us, that we want to show Him that we value the gift that He has given us.  Any child naturally wants to please their parents, not because they’re trying to earn love but because they already have it.  We have already have God’s love, shouldn’t we want to things that please Him because He loves us that much?

Next Paul’s prays that the Colossians would bear fruit in every good work.  Again, we are saved by grace through faith.  Neither good work nor amount of money can get us in to heaven.  It is only through faith in Christ that we are saved. 

But Jesus said that we would be known by our fruits (Luke 6:43, 44).  An apple tree produces apples, an orange tree produces oranges, there’s only one way about it.  Grace is the greatest treasure in the world, nothing compares to it.  Jesus said that good people, out of the treasure of their hearts, produce good fruit (verse 45).  Our treasure, that is grace, should compel us to do good works that bear good fruit fit for the King.

Finally, Paul prays that they would increase in the knowledge of God.  There are only two ways that I know of to increase in the knowledge of God, study and prayer.  We should study God’s Word to know what He has said.  We pray to develop a deeper relationship with Him.

May you as well, walk in a manner worthy of God, fully pleasing to Him.  May you know His word deeper and may you be filled with His Spirit.