Christ Preeminence is Detailed to the Colossians Volume 35

Paul Urges these Colossian Believers to Fill Up on the Bible

Colossians 3:16-17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. KJV

We learned from the Apostle John this concerning our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ when he wrote, "IN THE beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself." (John 1:1) (Amplified Bible) and down a little further in this same epistle John writes this concerning our Lord Jesus, "And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth." (John 1:14) (Amplified Bible). I document these words from the epistle of John in order that we might understand the desire of the Apostle Paul when he writes these words to the Colossian believers alive then on the earth, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Colossians 3:16) (KJV). Paul understanding that our Lord Jesus is the entire Word of God, even before He came to earth and put Himself in a human body, He was always God and God's Word before time was and will always be God and God's word throughout all eternity, therefore, he wants these Colossian believers and we believers today to fill ourselves up with the Word of God.

Just like the most beautiful and well-built car cannot even get off the show room floor except it be filled up with fuel/gasoline, so is it for every one of us believers in Jesus Christ required to be filled up full of His Word in order that we would function and walk in our pre-ordained paths that our Heavenly Father has already prepared for us as Paul wrote to the Ephesian believers with these words, "For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]." (Ephesians 2:10) (Amplified Bible). The English word 'dwell' Paul uses here is translated by the Greek word enoikeo meaning to occupy a house that is, reside (figuratively inhabit, remain, inhere); by implication to cohabit: - dwell. The English word 'richly' Paul uses here is translated by the Greek word plousios meaning in an abundant manner, that is, growing in your inner man or inner woman in extreme abundance. In other words, Paul wants these Colossian believers and we believers today to fill up on the Word of God every single day through prayer, reading the Word, and deep studying of the Word of God, then we are to bring up words from the Word and meditate on them, rolling them over and over in our minds just as a cow brings up food again from one of his stomachs to chew on it again for a while and then swallow once more, doing this over and over with the food in each of its stomachs.

When Paul declares to them and us that we should be 'teaching and admonishing one another', he means we should not rely solely on one man or woman (the Pastor) to instruct us on the truths of the Word of God putting it in our minds through teaching and preaching it week after week, but instead we the individual body parts of Christ Jesus our Lord should as Paul declared to Brother Timothy, "Study {and} be eager {and} do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing {and} accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth." (2 Timothy 2:15) (Amplified Bible). The English word 'admonishing' is translated by the Greek word noutheteo meaning (by implication) to caution or reprove gently: - admonish, warn. When Paul says this teaching and admonishing should be done 'in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs', he means that spiritual songs are not only to arouse our emotions and make us feel good, but the lyrics are to be drawn from the Word of God (as King David so often did in the writing of his psalms), so that they would edify and build up believers in the knowledge of the truth as the Apostle Paul declared to the Corinthian Church with these words, "For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays, but my mind is unproductive [it bears no fruit and helps nobody]. Then what am I to do? I will pray with my spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me], but I will also pray [intelligently] with my mind {and} understanding; I will sing with my spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me], but I will sing [intelligently] with my mind {and} understanding also." (1 Corinthians 14:14-15) (Amplified Bible) and as this same Apostle said to the Ephesian believers in his letter to them with these words, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled {and} stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit. Speak out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise with voices [and instruments] and making melody with all your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:18-19) (Amplified Bible).

When Paul declares to them and to us that we are to be 'singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord', he means our hearts or inner man and inner woman should well up full of gratitude when we are singing songs of praise and worship to our Lord Jesus Christ being always mindful of His enduring love, care, concern, protection, and praying for us His sons and daughters sojourning in this foreign land of the earth, also being so grateful for His sacrificial and substitutionary death for each one of us taking our place on the Cross so that we would live eternally with Him in Heaven, Amen! Paul now says to these Colossian believers and to we believers today that we should be ever thankful for our sins being forgiven, "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." (Colossians 3:17) (KJV). There is but one response to so great a salvation as we have in Christ Jesus our Lord and that is thanksgiving, that is, giving Him alone thanks for everything He has made us steward over, for we own nothing that we have in our possession, but instead we are mere managers or stewards managing His property here on this His earth as we breathe in His oxygen through the lungs contained in the body our spirit/soul resides or lives in that He created. We have nothing to boast in or about except the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14) knowing that our mansion or home in Heaven is not ours because of our own merits or goodness or works of righteousness of our own (Ephesians 2:9), but solely by the grace of God through the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ shed for each one of us on Calvary, therefore, we "At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father." (Ephesians 5:20) (Amplified Bible).

"The popular Christianity of the day is strong in philanthropic service, and some phases of it are full of 'evangelistic' activity, but it is woefully lacking in intelligent grasp of the great principles involved and revealed in the Gospel. Some Christians have yielded to the popular prejudice against 'dogma,' and have come to dislike and neglect the doctrinal side of religion, and others are so busy in good works of various kinds that they have no time nor inclination to reflect nor to learn, and for others 'the cares of this world and the lusts of other things, entering in, choke the word.' A merely intellectual Christianity is a very poor thing, no doubt; but that has been dinned into our ears so long and loudly for a generation now, that there is much need for a clear preaching of the other side-namely, that a merely emotional Christianity is a still poorer, and that if feeling on the one hand and conduct on the other are to be worthy of men with heads on their shoulders and brains in their heads, both feeling and conduct must be built on a foundation of truth believed and pondered." Expositor's Bible Commentary

"But I cannot but believe that the present practice of confining the public teaching of the Church to an official class has done harm. Why should one man be forever speaking, and hundreds of people who are able to teach sitting dumb to listen or pretend to listen to him? Surely there is a wasteful expenditure there. I hate forcible revolution, and do not believe that any institutions, either political or ecclesiastical, which need violence to sweep them away, are ready to be removed; but I believe that if the level of spiritual life were raised among us, new forms would naturally be evolved, in which there should be a more adequate recognition of the great principle on which the democracy of Christianity is founded, namely, 'I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh-and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in these days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy.' There are not wanting signs that many different classes of Christian worshippers have ceased to find edification in the present manner of teaching. The more cultured write books on 'the decay of preaching'; the more earnest take to mission halls and a 'freer service,' and 'lay preaching'; the more indifferent stay at home. When the tide rises, all the idle craft stranded on the mud are set in motion; such a time is surely coming for the Church, when the aspiration that has waited millenniums for its fulfilment, and received but a partial accomplishment at Pentecost, shall at last be a fact: 'would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!'" Expositor's Bible Commentary

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…