“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Colossians 1:1-2

The book of Colossians is actually a letter, sent by the apostle Paul and Timothy to the believers in Colosse by the hand of Tychicus and Onesimus. And this letter was to be read by all the believers in Colosse and then read also in the church at Laodicea (Colossians 4:16); and the Colossians were directed to read a letter sent to the church in Laodicea (a letter which we apparently no longer have).

Because God preserved this letter and moved the churches to include it in the Bible, we still read this letter today and can learn much about Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has done for us. It lays out for us the fact that we are complete and have eternal salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. This short epistle also shows us how we should live as believers in this world while we await Christ’s return and our partaking of the eternal joys of heaven which He won for us.

Notice that Paul, formerly known as Saul, was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Acts 9 explains how the Lord Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus and called him from being a persecutor of the church to being an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul himself explains more about his calling in his letter to the church at Galatia (Galatians 1:11ff.). Timothy is our brother in the Lord too. He came to faith in Jesus through the teaching of his mother and grandmother and was adopted by the apostle Paul to help in his ministry to the churches (cf. Acts 16:1ff.; 2 Timothy 1:2-5; 3:14-17).

And this letter is addressed “to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse.” It is addressed to those who are counted righteous and holy through faith in Christ Jesus – to the believers in Colosse. And, as a part of God’s inspired Word, it is addressed to all who today are saints – counted righteous and holy not by our works but through faith in Christ Jesus – faith which is worked in our hearts by God the Holy Spirit through the hearing of God’s Word (Romans 10:17).

And Paul’s salutation or greeting was a blessing: “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” God’s grace, His undeserved love and favor toward us, is offered and given to us for the sake of Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of all.

When we trust in Jesus, we have peace with God, the peace of sins forgiven and God’s acceptance of us as His dear children. It is as the apostle wrote in another letter to the believers in Rome: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).

O gracious and merciful God, we thank You for preserving for us this letter of the apostle Paul to the believers in Colosse that we too might read it and from it be strengthened in our faith in Messiah Jesus that we might hold fast to Him and receive the eternal joys of heaven He won for us by His death upon the cross for our sins and by His glorious resurrection. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

What’s really wrong with America? What changed the nation’s course and led us down a path which makes our nation — our society — almost unrecognizable to those of us who still remember another America?

People answer these questions a number of different ways. Many point to our nation’s ills — to things like abortion, euthanasia, sexual aberrations, lack of self-esteem and respect for others and drug and alcohol abuse. But these are only the symptoms and result of a far deeper cause. And so, we need to look deeper if we are to find out and understand the reason for what’s wrong with America and what has changed the course of a whole nation and people.

If we look back on our nation and the principles upon which it was founded, we see an entirely different way of thinking — a different worldview. Our founding fathers, even though not all were Christian, held to a Christian (or Judeo-Christian) worldview. They believed that the world and all mankind were the creation of an almighty God to whom all are responsible and to whom all must one day give account. They also believed that people have certain rights given to them by their Creator — rights which men and governments have no authority to take away.

The Declaration of Independence sets forth this common belief in the well-known words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

How things have changed! Rather than believing in an almighty creator God who has given us life and all things, the view of modern society — the view taught in our public schools and espoused by our nation’s government and courts — is one of a chance existence: life and the world as we know it are the results of “natural” laws relating to mass and energy in the universe with man being the highest known form of evolving life.

Thus, instead of man being counted a creation of God — a person endowed with life, liberty and the freedom to own property and carry out godly pursuits before he stands before his Maker — man is now viewed as an insignificant speck on the face of the universe who is here today and gone tomorrow. His only significance and meaning in life are in the existential now, and his only moral guide is himself and the views of society’s influential and ruling elite.

Is it any wonder, then, that our nation’s highest court could legalize abortion and grant protections to same-sex marriages in all 50 states with sweeping rulings? Should we be surprised that euthanasia has been practiced and is now being legalized in a number of states? After all, modern laws are no longer based on the moral absolute of God’s Ten Commandments and the Bible; they are based on the opinions and desires of people and society. If society determines it is okay to murder unborn babies for the convenience of the mothers, it becomes the law of the land. If society thinks it is acceptable to terminate life when it becomes “unmeaningful” or “unuseful,” then it becomes the law of the land. If society determines that alternative lifestyles and same-sex marriages are acceptable, the law is used to protect these aberrations. If society determines that it is okay to have sex outside of marriage, to produce and view pornography, to allow no-fault divorces, that lotteries and other forms of gambling are for the common good, they become legal and lawful. And the list goes on!

Of course, what has happened is not new. It has just taken another form. In the Garden of Eden, the devil’s temptation was to doubt God’s Word and to become like gods, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3). Instead of listening to God and His Word, Adam and Eve made their own moral judgment and did what seemed good for them at the moment: “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (v. 6).

Adam and Eve erred in the Garden and we err today when we seek to be our own gods and put in place of God’s Word our own views of what is good and evil, right and wrong. When we determine our own moral values, our values are neither moral nor absolute. They change from situation to situation and become further and further removed from the foundation of God’s truth.

Sad to say, we likely have not yet seen the worst in America. If a ruling party determines it to be good to exterminate people of a certain race or religious or political view, it could become law — it did in Nazi Germany. If a ruling party determines that churches should be closed, presses should be shut down or censored, and those who dissent should be sent to mental wards or labor camps, it could become law — it did in the old Soviet Union. If a ruling party determines what our children are to be taught in schools, who will receive health care and how, what is socially and morally acceptable and what is not, which religious speech and displays are permissible and which are not, it will become the law of the land — it’s already happening in America.

This is the direction America is taking today: God and His Word are becoming outlawed; man’s opinions and views are becoming the law of the land. Our nation is becoming another fulfillment of Psalm 2: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.”

So, what is my point? It is just this: It will do little good to complain about the symptoms if we don’t address the root problem. We must do more than opposing abortion, euthanasia, sexual immorality and other symptoms of a humanistic, man-centered nation and society. We need to focus on restoring a worldview based on the God of the Bible and His absolute and unerring Word.

That cannot be done through war or bloodshed. It cannot be accomplished through political might or gaining the upper hand at election time. It won’t be accomplished through marches on the nation’s Capitol. Church programs and membership drives will prove futile. And though I often write columns political in nature, they will be of little effect.

There is only one way to change America’s worldview, and that is by preaching and teaching the Word of God — the Bible — with a goal of reaching one person at a time. Only when people again read and hear God’s absolute truth will they be reminded that they are not gods. There is only one true God and He sits in the heavens and laughs at our foolishness in thinking that we can cast off all ties with Him and with His Anointed — the Lord Jesus Christ.

Only when we, by the working of God’s Holy Spirit through His Word, individually acknowledge that God is God and humble ourselves before Him, trusting the promises of His Word which assure us that God desires to be merciful to us, forgive us and accept us for the sake of the eternal Son of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, will our way of thinking change. And if, by the grace of God, enough people hear the Word of God and believe its message, America, as a nation, may also change its worldview and let God be God again, before it is too late.

With the recent church shootings, the question has often arisen as to whether Christians have the right and duty to defend themselves and others and even to take lives to save lives when such becomes necessary. Numerous editorial pieces have been written on the subject, many of which would make it appear that being a Christian and carrying a gun for self-defense is totally incompatible. And carrying a weapon inside a church has been viewed as totally incongruous with the Gospel. But what is God’s answer?

Perhaps, first and foremost in arguments against Christians bearing arms, the commandment against murder is cited: “Thou shalt not kill” – often translated “You shall not murder” – (Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17). While it is clear that this commandment of God forbids murder, does it forbid all taking of human life, including doing so in an effort to defend life and property? A deeper look into the Scriptures provides the answer.

• Genesis 9:6 commands taking the life of murderers: “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” This passage makes clear that murder is wrong but makes provision for the punishment of murderers with death to prevent further murders.

• Abraham and his servants were trained to bear arms and fought to deliver his nephew Lot and Lot’s family when they were taken captive by invading kings from the north (cf. Genesis 14).

• God said no blood should be shed (no penalty for murder) if a man catches a thief in the act of breaking into his house and kills him. Exodus 22:2 says: “If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.” If, however, he later hunts down the thief and kills him, he is subject to being put to death for killing a person rather than turning him over to the judges to pay restitution (cf. Exodus 22:3).

• David and his armed men defended the people and cities of Judah from invading marauders and even pursued them to rescue those taken captive (cf. 1 Samuel 25 and 30).

• When Haman’s plot would have allowed the Jews to be killed and plundered, “the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey…” (Esther 8:11).

• Nehemiah commanded the people of Israel who were building the walls of Jerusalem to be armed and defend themselves and their brethren that the work might go forward (Nehemiah 4:16-18): “And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.”

• Jesus told His disciples to carry a sword for self-defense as they traveled to spread the Gospel of the kingdom: “He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one” (Luke 22:36).

Thus, we see from the Word of God that murder is prohibited but bearing arms and even using arms to protect human life and property is enjoined.

Making it clear that Christians have a duty to defend the lives of others, Proverbs 24:10-12 states: “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?”

While it speaks about much more than just risking one’s life to defend another, Jesus also said: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

And, though we have been blessed for generations to be safe in our houses of worship, it was not always so in America and bringing guns to church was not an uncommon practice.

In 1623, a Virginia statute forbade anyone to travel unless he was well armed and required all men working in fields likewise to be armed. And 1631 laws repeated the same requirements and added to them the requirement that all able men should bear arms and engage in practice with their arms on holy days. The law specifically required that all men fit to bear arms bring their guns to the church. And, there were fines and penalties for those who failed to do so.

Following the Civil War, Rev. Andrew Jackson Potter, a former cowboy and Confederate soldier turned Methodist minister and circuit rider, preached in numerous towns and villages of the old West. He was known to lay his colt revolvers across the pulpit and preach, or to preach with a Bible in one hand and a pistol in the other. He maintained order and security at his services and encouraged an atmosphere of respect.

So, in light of God’s Word, do Christians sin if they are armed and use those arms in defense of life and property? No. Do they sin if they use arms to commit murder or other criminal acts? Yes. Do they sin if they are able and do nothing to defend themselves, their families, fellow Christians or others when evil men would inflict great bodily harm or death? The answer of God’s Word most certainly appears to be “Yes!”

“Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” John 1:45

Do you remember the billboard and bumper sticker campaign launched back in 1976 by Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU)? The billboards and bumper stickers simply said, “I Found It!” and the intent was that when people inquired as to what it was which had been found, the response would be Jesus and the salvation He won for all by His holy life and innocent sufferings and death on the cross, giving opportunity to share the Bible’s message with those who had never heard.

Some rightly argued that it would be better to say, “He found me,” since it is only by the gracious working of God’s Holy Spirit that anyone can come to know and trust in Jesus as Savior. But semantic arguments aside, Christians are called to tell others the Bible’s message and to introduce lost souls to Jesus that they too might come to know and trust in Him as their crucified and risen Savior.

After Jesus called Phillip to follow him, Phillip was not content to keep his faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Savior to himself. He found Nathanael and told him that he, along with Peter and Andrew, had found the one of whom Moses wrote in the Torah (the law) and of whom the prophets also did write. Moses spoke of a special prophet to come who, like Moses, would mediate a new covenant (Deuteronomy 18:15ff.), and the prophets spoke repeatedly of the person and work of the coming Messiah and Savior. He would be the Seed of the Woman, the Son of God, Jehovah God in the flesh and He would make atonement for and redeem His people from their sins (Genesis 3:15; Psalm 2; Psalm 110; 130:7-8; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; 53:5-6; Jeremiah 23:5-6; etc.).

When Phillip identified the one they had found as “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph,” Nathanael rightly questioned Phillip: “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (v. 46). Nathanael, no doubt, knew that the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem of Judea, as Micah had prophesied (Micah 5:2). What he didn’t yet know was that Jesus’ ancestors came from Bethlehem and Jesus was born there. Nor did he yet understand Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the Messiah: “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground …” (Isaiah 53:2).

How did Phillip overcome Nathanael’s objections? “Philip saith unto him, Come and see” (v. 46). And, oftentimes, that is the best answer. Even if we cannot answer every objection to the truth of who Jesus is and what He has done for us, we can still invite people to come and see.

And Jesus proved to Nathanael that He was and is indeed the Son of God and the Messiah and King of God’s people by His intimate knowledge of Nathanael before Nathanael even met Jesus face to face. Jesus knew Nathanael as an Israelite in whom was no guile or deceit (v. 47), meaning Nathanael was not self-deceived but acknowledged the truth of his own sinfulness and looked for the coming Savior. Jesus knows everything about you and me, too!

And, when Nathanael questioned Jesus as to how He knew him, Jesus responded, “Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee” (v. 48). Nathanael then confessed: “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel” (v. 49). After meeting and talking with Jesus, Nathanael, who doubted Phillip’s word at first, now believed.

And, of course, those who come to know and trust in Jesus because He reveals our sinfulness and Himself as God’s Son and our Savior, will continue to see more and more proofs concerning Jesus, who He is and what He has done for us lost sinners. As Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man” (v. 51). We will see our crucified, risen and ascended Savior coming again in glory and with His heavenly hosts to establish His everlasting kingdom.

Indeed, by the grace of God, I have found Him and have come to know and believe that Jesus is the eternal Son of God and my Savior from sin and eternal punishment. I pray that you will find Him too! Come and see!

Dearest Lord Jesus, thank you for revealing Yourself to me as my Lord and Savior and grant that I might call upon others, too, to come to You and see. Amen.

[Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.]