Be Rich in the Word: Seven Key Disciplines

Even as the Lord created the heavens and the earth by his words, and even as he called Abraham and Israel and the church into existence by his words, so his people live, breath, and have their being by his words. So passionate was God to help his ancient people understand this truth and take it to heart, that he allowed them to endure long periods of time with little or no physical food so that they would see with their eyes and receive in their hearts the primary importance of their spiritual food, that is, the words of God. 

As Moses wrote, “And he [the Lord] humbled you [Israel] and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3, emphasis mine). Sadly, rather than learning this lesson and delighting in their God, Israel grumbled against him and received severe discipline from him. 

Happily, many centuries later Jesus came to the earth and before his public ministry began, he was driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit where he fasted for forty days and where he was tempted by the devil. During one of his temptations, he quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3 as a way of saying that he understood the primary importance of the spiritual food of God, and that he was content with his Father’s words no matter the cost or consequence. In this way, he defeated the devil’s designs and modeled for all humankind how we are designed to live. 

Since, from God’s perspective, his people literally live by his words, then it is surely his desire that we make much of his words, not only in our thinking and speaking, but in our manner of life. Indeed, if we live by the words of our Father, let us join Jesus by delighting in the words of our Father! Or to put in the words of Paul, let’s allow the Word to dwell richly in us (Colossians 3:16-17)! 

To this end, I will be posting a series of blogs in the next several weeks that will summarize seven key disciplines: hearing the Word, reading the Word, studying the Word, meditating on the Word, memorizing the Word, applying the Word, and teaching the Word. My hope is to explain each discipline but more so to encourage us to engage in all of them. Again, since the people of God live by the Word of God, let us delight in the Word of God together! Let us be rich in the Word! 

Be Rich in the Word: Drink Deep and Overflow!

In the last post in this series, we looked at Colossians 3:1-17 in order to get a sense of Paul’s flow of thought in this chapter. As we reach the end of these verses, we’re thrust back to verses 1-2 because the questions become these: how would Paul have us seek the things that are above, where Christ is? How would he have us set our minds on things that are above, and not on things that are on earth? Even if we want to do these things, how do we do them?

Letting the Word Dwell Richly in Us
I think Paul answers in verses 16-17 where he writes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

In these verses, Paul issues one primary exhortation which he sees overflowing in three particular ways, so let’s first consider the exhortation and then we’ll look at the implications. The exhortation is this: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” The phrase “the word of Christ” is the gospel. It’s the word about Christ that was and is and will be preached in the world. It’s the word of Christ in the sense that, like all the words of God, the gospel was and is will be primarily be spoken by the Son, Jesus Christ, so that the gospel we preach is the gospel he preached. And it’s the word of Christ in this sense that Christ himself is the essence of the word. In other words, Christ himself is the gospel. He is our life. He is our forgiveness. He is our cleansing. He is our healing. He is our righteousness. He is our holiness. He is our all in all. Ultimately, the word of Christ is Christ!

But that said, I think Paul is calling us to seek and set our minds on Christ by saturating our lives with the word of Christ that’s contained in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The gospel is not God’s “Plan B” but his “Plan A” which he conceived before the foundation of the world and has been revealing from the dawn of creation to the current moment, primarily by the things that are contained in his Word. So, while “the word of Christ” is more than the Bible, the content of that word is expressed in and stabilized by what’s in the Bible.

Paul knows very well that Christ himself dwells in every believer by his Spirit, but here he’s exhorting us to allow the words of the Bible, all of which express and stabilize the gospel, to dwell in us. The word here for “dwell” means “to establish a dwelling in something,” so that Paul is urging us to have more than a superficial relationship to the Word of God. Indeed, he wants us to allow the word of Christ to establish a dwelling place inside of us. He wants the word of Christ to occupy us. He wants the word of Christ to have a central place and controlling influence in our lives.

This is why he exhorts us to let the word of Christ establish itself richly in our lives. This word can also be translated “abundantly,” so that Paul’s desire for us is that we would be filled to overflowing with the word of Christ. In 2019 I rode my bike along the Mississippi River from Memphis to Minneapolis along with some friends. Since there had been a number of high-volume storms up and down the river that year, it was overflowing much of the way. Indeed, the water was so richly dwelling in it that the water couldn’t be contained by it!

In like manner, Paul wants the word of Christ to dwell richly in us because he knows that this is the way that believers have always sought the Lord and set their minds on things that are above. As King David wrote, “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways” (Psalm 119:15). For him, these were not two things but one and the same thing. To meditate on the words of God is to fix our minds on the ways of God. And to be rich in the word of Christ is to seek and set our minds on Christ. Oh, how high a place God has given to the word of Christ in the lives of those who belong to him and believe in him!

Letting the Word Overflow from Us 

As the word of Christ dwells richly in us, Paul instructs us to teach and admonish one another out of the overflow of the word in our lives. The leaders of the church have their place in teaching the Word, but God’s vision for his people as that we would all be made competent by his Word and able to instruct and even correct one another in love according to his Word. The leaders have been given authority to instruct and every member has been given authority to minister, but it’s the word of Christ itself that works with such power in our midst.

Further, as the word of Christ dwells richly in us, Paul instructs us to sing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thanksgiving in our hearts to God, in other words, he encourages us to let the word of Christ crescendo in the worship of Christ. Indeed, as we grow in our understanding of the grace of God in Christ, we cannot help but sing out the praise of Christ because we all sing about what we love. Perhaps we ourselves don’t always do the singing, but at the very least, we love to hear singing about the things we love. When I was in the world, I loved to hear rebellious people sing about rebellious things because I loved the world. Now that I’m in Christ, I love to sing about the glory of Christ and hear other people sing about the glory of Christ because I love Christ. Friend, a heart that sings is a heart that loves, and when the word of Christ dwells in us richly we’ll sing about him as an overflow of our love.

Finally, as the word of Christ dwells richly in us, Paul instructs us to do everything we do, in word or deed, in the name of Christ, always giving thanks to God the Father through him. In other words, he wants us to live for the glory of Christ as we live by the word of Christ, and he wants us to give thanks and give thanks and give thanks all along the way. This way of life brings honor to God, joy to our souls, and blessing to others.

Conclusion 

God’s desire for our way of life is so simple but it’s also serious. It’s the key to growing up into Christ. It’s the key to bearing fruit in this life. It’s the key to increasing in joy, even in the midst of trials and tribulations. It’s the key to gaining perspective and perseverance. It’s the key to gaining the power we need to overcome the world and battle against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. It’s the key to coming into the fullness of what God the Father desires for his people. Oh, what inexhaustible treasures are contained in this simple exhortation: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”

Be Rich in the Word: A Vision of Life in Christ

In Colossians 3:16-17, Paul writes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” The reason Paul urges the church to be rich in the Word is because he knows that without the Word we cannot be the church. So, in this post I want to consider the context of these verses, and in the next posts I’ll return to them and press into their meaning a bit more. 

Seeking the things Above (3:1-4) 

In the first four verses of this chapter, Paul lays the foundation on which he builds everything else in this chapter, so we really need to understand the foundation. He begins with the words, “If then you have been raised with Christ,” that is, if you have put your faith in Christ by the grace of Christ, then you have been made alive with him, you have been raised up with him, and you have been seated with him in the heavenly places (see Ephesians 2:5-7). This is your new reality, and if this is true of you, then Paul wants you to know that some other things are also true of you. 

Specifically, we see in verse 3 that by putting our faith in Christ, we have literally died to our lives on this earth so that our true lives are hidden with Christ in God. For a number of reasons, our God and Savior has thought it best to leave us here on earth for a brief season but the truth of the matter is that our lives are no longer defined by our lives in this world. 

Further, we see in verse 4 that when Jesus Christ who is our life comes again and his glory explodes upon the sky so that every eye sees him and every ear hears him, we will not tremble in the way the nations will tremble because the truth of who we are will also become apparent at that moment. I don’t know how this is going to work, I don’t know what it’s going to look like, but what I plainly see in Scripture is that when Christ appears in stunning glory, we who belong to him will be there with him. 

Friends, if you believe in Jesus Christ, this is a picture of your reality and your destiny which is why Paul exhorts us in verses 1-2, “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” By faith, you have died to this earth and by faith your life is in Christ, so seek and set your mind on Christ with all the passion and energy you can muster. Keep your eyes on the prize. 

Put to Death What is Earthly (3:5-11) 

With this exhortation in mind, Paul instructs us in verses 5-11, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you [because of your identity and your destiny]: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” 

Paul’s point is this: since we who believe in Jesus are not who we once were, let’s put to death our former way of life. Since our destiny is to be revealed with Christ, let’s rid ourselves of everything that’s not like Christ. Since our highest pleasure will be found when we see him face to face, let’s remove every obstacle to that pleasure day by day. 

Put on What is Heavenly (3:12-17) 

Now, on the positive side, Paul instructs us in verses 12-17, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” 

Again, Paul is saying, since our identity and destiny are found in Christ, let our way of life imitate Christ. Since we have been loved with an everlasting love by God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, let’s love one another with this same love especially by bearing with one another and forgiving one another and protecting the unity we have with one another in Christ. Since the peace of God in Christ is the essence and aroma of our lives, let’s live as thankful people of peace toward God and one another. 

Conclusion 

Friends, both Paul’s negative and positive instructions are implications of what God has done for us in Christ (see 3:1-4). He’s calling us to live in a certain way as an overflow of who we are. He’s calling us to value certain things and to devalue other things as a display of the fact that our hope is in Christ and not in this world. So, by the grace of God, let’s hear this call and take action. Let’s put to death what is earthly, and put on what is heavenly for the glory of Jesus’ name and the increasing joy of our souls.