This week in our crucial points in God’s word truth pursuit we are enjoying the matter of, letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly. Below are some excerpts, further reading, and sharing of enjoyment from our weekly pursuit. If you have been enjoying this and would like to share something, please leave a comment below.
Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.
In 3:16 Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.” First, we have Christ as our life, then we have His living Word personified as His Person dwelling in us. The word of Christ is the word spoken by Christ. In His New Testament economy God speaks in the Son, and the Son speaks not only directly in the Gospels, but also through His members, the apostles and prophets, in Acts, in the Epistles, and in Revelation. All these may be considered as His word.
In this passage the infilling of spiritual life that overflows in praising and singing is related to the Word, whereas in its parallel passage, Ephesians 5:18-20, the infilling of spiritual life is related to the Spirit. This indicates that the Word and the Spirit are identical (John 6:63b). A normal Christian life should be one that is filled with the Word so that the Spirit may bubble from within us in lauding melodies, melodies of praise.
The word of Christ includes the entire New Testament. We need to be filled with this word. This means that we should allow the word of Christ to dwell in us, to inhabit us, to make home in us. The Greek word rendered “dwell” literally means to be in a house, to inhabit. The word of the Lord must have adequate room within us so that it may operate and minister the riches of Christ into our inner being. (Witness Lee, Elders’ Training Book 6: The Crucial Points of Truth in Paul’s Epistles, p. 92)
Footnotes: Col. 3:16 footnotes 1 to 8, cross references a to d
Let the 1aword of Christ 2bdwell in you 3richly 4in all wisdom, 5teaching and admonishing 6one another with 7cpsalms and hymns anddspiritual songs, 5singing with 8grace in your hearts to God. (Recovery Version Bible, with footnotes)
Recommended further reading
- Life-Study of Colossians, msg. 29, The Living of the Saints in Union with Christ: Ruled by the Peace of Christ and Inhabited by the Word of Christ (which goes together with the LSM radio broadcast 25);
- Life-Study of Colossians, msg. 64 – The Word of Christ Inhabiting Us (which goes together with LSM radio broadcast 47).
- The Conclusion of the New Testament, Msg 154 – The Believers — Their Present (38).
- The Living Needed for Building Up the Small Group Meetings, Ch. 7 — Practicing to Speak the Word of the Lord.
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