shadmans Musings  

As we begin this study of Colossians, there are some things that we must always keep in mind about the Christian message. As Alexander MacLaren stated in the preface of his Colossians commentary, The Christ whom the world needs to have proclaimed in every deaf ear and lifted up before blind and reluctant eyes, is not merely the perfect man, nor only the meek sufferer, but the Source of creation and its Lord, Who from the beginning has been the life of all that has lived, and before the beginning was in the bosom of the Father. The shallow and starved religion which contents itself with mere humanitarian conceptions of Jesus of Nazareth needs to be deepened and filled out by these lofty truths before it can acquire solidity and steadfastness sufficient to be the unmoved foundation of sinful and mortal lives. [1] There are many phrases that Scripture uses to describe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here are a few: “the gospel of the grace of God.” – Acts 20:24 “the gospel of His Son” – Rom 1...

The historical meaning of sola Scriptura , which served as a formal principle of the Reformation, is that Scripture alone is the only certain, infallible norm by which all theology, doctrine, creeds (beliefs), practice, and morality of the Christian Church is to be regulated, in accordance with that which is ‘either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.’ This does not mean that the Scriptures constitute an exhaustive record of God’s special revelation but that they are the only special revelation that has been preserved, and as such, are sufficient to communicate clearly all truths necessary for man’s salvation and conduct of life. [1] [emphasis added] As we begin part 12 of my Sola Scriptura series dealing with Scripture as the only infallible standard, there are some additional topics we need to discuss. One of those truths that we keep coming back to in this series is: it is Scripture that gives us the clearest und...

The content of this Colossians Bible study is what I taught in a mid-week home group about 13 yrs ago. At the time, there were not enough verse by verse in depth Bible studies available which is why I wrote my own. It's something that too few Christians actually spend time doing. The Word of God is the single most powerful tool available to Christians, and all too often our Bibles sit on a shelf collecting dust or are only opened at church on Sunday mornings. I hope that you will take the time to read and come to really understand the richness of this epistle, and fall in love with this book of the New Testament. This study was written in an outline format, which was easier to teach from. It was gleaned from computer based and online resources, which were not nearly as mature as they are today: The Online Bible Program. The majority of Bible programs out there are either inadequate or very expensive for the common person. This one is nei...

We now step into one of the main fundamental differences between Protestants and Catholics as we attempt to define and discuss ‘tradition’. For the Catholic, “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God …” [1] It further defines ‘tradition’ as, “This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition ...” [2] According to the Catholic Church, many unwritten doctrines have been ‘revealed’ over the centuries. Doctrines such as: the veneration of Mary and the saints, praying to Mary and to the saints, the immaculate conception of Mary, the bodily assumption of Mary, transubstantiation, penance, and purgatory, to name a few. These are the ‘canon fodder’ of disagreements where far too much time is spent. It’s not that I accept any of these extra-biblical ‘beliefs’, or that Protestants should even consider to accept them (they should not), it’s that these are the peripheral issues – while the heart of the difference is in th...