Full Assurance of Understanding
I love to teach on passages that people ask about. A while back someone asked me to work on Colossians 2:1-5. I read the passage several times, but nothing was standing out to me—until today. That’s because I was not ready yet to hear what Holy Spirit was really saying.
Let’s look at it together.
Colossians 2:1–5 (NASB 2020) 1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have in your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and that they would attain to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. 5 For even though I am absent in body, I am nevertheless with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your orderly manner and the stability of your faith in Christ.
I am prone to run-on sentences. Paul loves them too. The first three verses of this chapter are a single sentence. Consequently, I sometimes find that reorganizing the structure, and even a little rewording, helps me better grasp what’s being communicated. Let me do that for you.
Colossians 2:1-5 (Larry Eiss Paraphrase)
I struggle for you all because I want your hearts to be encouraged. You have been knit together in love, so I want to be sure that you have full assurance of understanding. That’s important because then you are truly able to take advantage of the incredible wealth you’ve been given. The wealth you get from really being sure about what you know always results in a true knowledge of God’s mystery. You know; Jesus Himself. He is the One in whom all wisdom and understanding are hidden.
It’s important for me to tell you this so that no one who comes along with persuasive arguments will deceive you. Even though I am not there to talk with you face-to-face I’m with you in spirit. The stability of your faith and your orderly manner cause me great rejoicing.
This wonderful paragraph sets the stage for us to see the primacy of Jesus Christ. Living our lives in complete dependence on Him is the answer to our struggle here in the valley of the shadow of death. Paul goes on to make that point in Colossians 2:6–7 (NASB 2020) “Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.”
The lesson we can take from this passage is that the secret to attaining the wealth that is ours in Christ is knowledge of Him. Peter echoes this idea in 2 Peter 3:17–18 (NASB 2020) “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unscrupulous people and lose your own firm commitment, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” He also says, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:2–3 (NASB 2020)
As ambassadors here we live in a foreign country that is set up to pressure us to have an earthly mindset. We face continual pressure to deal with life here using our senses. We’re expected to figure everything out, make judgements about everything and everyone, and to think that only when we are morally exemplary in thought and deed can we aspire to the ideal of compatibility with God.
But God says that we should have a spiritual mindset. Later in this very chapter, we find that laid out for us. Colossians 3:1–3 (NASB 2020) tells us, “Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Do you see that? Set your mind on things in the Kingdom of which you are a citizen rather than on things pertaining to the foreign country to which you are only an envoy, a diplomat. The reason is that your life is not from here and nothing here can add anything to your life. This is a spiritual mindset.
It’s all about getting to know Jesus better—relationally, as a person.
