SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/2/2017
8:07 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Partnership of the New Man”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Colossians
3:11
Message of the
verses: “a renewal in which there is
no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.”
The following is found in my Online
Greek/English dictionary that defines the word “barbarian”: “1) one whose speech is rude, rough and harsh
2) one who speaks
a foreign or strange language which is not understood by another
3) used by the
Greeks of any foreigner ignorant of the Greek language, whether mental or
moral, with the added notion after the Persian war, of rudeness and brutality.
The word is used in the N.T. without the idea of reproachfulness.
Next we look at
the “Scythians” and this quotes comes from William Hendriksen which is found in
the MacArthur commentary for Colossians:
“The invaded Asia, after they had driven the
Cimmerians out of Europe…and made themselves masters of all Asia. From there they marched against Egypt; and
when they were in that part of Syria which is called Palestine, Psammethichus,
king of Egypt, met them and with gifts and prayer persuaded them to come no
farther…They ruled Asia for twenty-eight years; and all the land was wasted by
reason of their violence and their arrogance…The greater number of them were
entertained and made drunk and were slain by Cyaxares and the Medes. They drank the blood of the first enemy
killed in battle, and made napkins of the scalps, and drinking bowls of the
skulls of the slain. They had the most
filthy habits and never washed with water.”
MacArthur adds “The Jewish
historian Josephus added, ‘The Scythians delight in murdering people and are
little better than wild beasts.’ The
early church Father Tertullian could think of no greater insult to the heretic
Marcion than to describe him as ‘more filthy than any Scythian.’”
Think about having a fellowship with Greeks, Jews, and
Scythians as we described some of them.
This is precisely what happened in the Church. This kind of reminds me of a couple of the
disciples that Jesus had, and yet you don’t hear of any fighting between Simon
the Zealot, and Matthew the tax collector, and that was about as opposite as
you can get.
As we look next at the slave and the freeman we know that
the slave had masters over them, and yet there were times when the slave may
have had the position as a deacon and the master might not have any position in
the church at all. I just finished
reading a book that John MacArthur wrote entitle “Slave” and in that book he
shows that all believers in Jesus Christ are slaves, and that in the book of
Philippians we see Jesus as a slave.
When Israel came out of Egypt where they were slaves to the Egyptians,
they then became slaves to the Lord, which is far better.
MacArthur concludes this section by writing “There is no
place for man-made barriers in the church since ‘Christ is all, and in all.’ Because Christ indwells all believers, all
are equal. He breaks down all racial,
religious, cultural, and social barriers, and makes believers into one man
(Eph. 2:15).”
5/2/2017 8:34 PM
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