NOTES for Col 1:24-2:7

Paul (certainly not accidentally) speaks a lot and very often about faithfulness. And it is not only about faithfulness to God, to Christ and the Kingdom, although first of all, indeed it is about it. But in addition to these, it is about the faithfulness to the choice once made, which is sometimes, as it may seem paradoxical, more important than faithfulness to God, Christ or the Kingdom. Indeed what means faithfulness to God? Or faithfulness to Christ? If Christianity was a new religion, or a new theology, or a new moral doctrine, everything would be simple and clear: in that case it would be enough for us to declare our commitment to the appropriate doctrine and its Founder, well, maybe even participate regularly in some ritual activities and carry on certain distinctive marks. But indeed, it is not about a new doctrine and either about a new religion, but about a new life, about a life in the Kingdom, that the Savior brought to the world.

And constancy is necessary in life, and above all constancy in relationships, defining our life priorities, which in their turn, are defined by the value system, that we follow. Of these elements, is formed faithfulness - to friends, the family, to the coreligionists, to the vocation of life and to the chosen path. And mainly such faithfulness distinguishes itself in no way from the faithfulness to God and Christ, without which is impossible the life in the Kingdom. Faithfulness is one, and it means constancy of the relationships, and also the constancy of the system of the values and life priorities. Without such faithfulness, any life is impossible not only in the Kingdom, but also in our non transformed world. However in the world non transformed without this internal spiritual core, which at the level of life relationships of life, manifests itself through faithfulness, one can in a way still live, although it is of course only with a big reserve that we can call life this existence, that man has to lead.

And here is, in the Kingdom, without it, it is impossible to hold on even one moment. Because, the spiritual space of the Kingdom is formed in particular by relations - the relationship of its inhabitants between themselves, their relationship with Christ, the relationship of Christ Himself with the Father. Without them, there is no Kingdom. And thus, it is also not without faithfulness, without which relationships in the kingdom are impossible.

Paul (certainly not accidentally) speaks a lot and very often about faithfulness. And it is not only about faithfulness to God, to Christ and the Kingdom, although first of all, indeed it is about it. But in addition to these, it is about the faithfulness to the choice once made, which is sometimes, as it may seem paradoxical, more important than faithfulness to God, Christ or the Kingdom. Indeed what means faithfulness to God? Or faithfulness to Christ? If Christianity was a new religion, or a new theology, or a new moral doctrine, everything would be simple and clear: in that case it would be enough for us to declare our commitment to the appropriate doctrine and its Founder, well, maybe even participate regularly in some ritual activities and carry on certain distinctive marks. But indeed, it is not about a new doctrine and either about a new religion, but about a new life, about a life in the Kingdom, that the Savior brought to the world.

And constancy is necessary in life, and above all constancy in relationships, defining our life priorities, which in their turn, are defined by the value system, that we follow. Of these elements, is formed faithfulness - to friends, the family, to the coreligionists, to the vocation of life and to the chosen path. And mainly such faithfulness distinguishes itself in no way from the faithfulness to God and Christ, without which is impossible the life in the Kingdom. Faithfulness is one, and it means constancy of the relationships, and also the constancy of the system of the values and life priorities. Without such faithfulness, any life is impossible not only in the Kingdom, but also in our non transformed world. However in the world non transformed without this internal spiritual core, which at the level of life relationships of life, manifests itself through faithfulness, one can in a way still live, although it is of course only with a big reserve that we can call life this existence, that man has to lead.

And here is, in the Kingdom, without it, it is impossible to hold on even one moment. Because, the spiritual space of the Kingdom is formed in particular by relations - the relationship of its inhabitants between themselves, their relationship with Christ, the relationship of Christ Himself with the Father. Without them, there is no Kingdom. And thus, it is also not without faithfulness, without which relationships in the kingdom are impossible.

Paul speaks of the Christian life as "abiding" and as "walking" in Christ. In the language of Jewish tradition, such words usually described a faithful Jew's following the Torah and keeping the Torah, observing the commandments. The apostle, as we can see, uses the same words to speak about following Christ and about relationship with Him. And this, of course, is no accident: the first, and perhaps also the second and even the third, generation of Christians saw in Christ the image of the living Torah, the fulfillment of an ideal that before Christ's coming had remained unattainable.

Every believing Jew who took spiritual life seriously strove to become a living Torah. But for this one had to live in such a way that nothing except the spiritual and moral imperative that came from God and was called the inner Torah would determine the life of the seeker. It was practically impossible for a fallen human being to attain such a state: the nature damaged by sin stood in the way. Jesus can show the world the example of the living Torah precisely because His nature is free from the power of sin. But the same task stands before each of His followers: Christ's followers also must become a living Torah.

Otherwise it is impossible to live the life of the Kingdom, for here one must be in a special spiritual state that requires a certain quality of inner life, and this quality requires that a person's life be determined only by the inner Torah, only by God's will acting in that person and by the corresponding intentions. Such a person becomes like Christ not outwardly, but in essence, for in Christ too God's will acts directly, and in all its fullness. Yet a person can become a living Torah only in direct communion with Christ, in the spiritual space of the relationships that bind him to Him.

Otherwise nothing will come of it: without living relationships with Christ and outside them, a person will remain alone with his sin, as happened in pre-Christian times, and then failure is inevitable. This abiding in the dynamic of living relationships with Christ, as though within them, in the spiritual space they form, is what Paul calls "abiding" in Christ and "walking" in Christ, pointing to both as an indispensable condition of normal Christian life.

Paul (certainly not accidentally) speaks a lot and very often about faithfulness. And it is not only about faithfulness to God, to Christ and the Kingdom, although first of all, indeed it is about it. But in addition to these, it is about the faithfulness to the choice once made, which is sometimes, as it may seem paradoxical, more important than faithfulness to God, Christ or the Kingdom. Indeed what means faithfulness to God? Or faithfulness to Christ? If Christianity was a new religion, or a new theology, or a new moral doctrine, everything would be simple and clear: in that case it would be enough for us to declare our commitment to the appropriate doctrine and its Founder, well, maybe even participate regularly in some ritual activities and carry on certain distinctive marks. But indeed, it is not about a new doctrine and either about a new religion, but about a new life, about a life in the Kingdom, that the Savior brought to the world.

And constancy is necessary in life, and above all constancy in relationships, defining our life priorities, which in their turn, are defined by the value system, that we follow. Of these elements, is formed faithfulness - to friends, the family, to the coreligionists, to the vocation of life and to the chosen path. And mainly such faithfulness distinguishes itself in no way from the faithfulness to God and Christ, without which is impossible the life in the Kingdom. Faithfulness is one, and it means constancy of the relationships, and also the constancy of the system of the values and life priorities. Without such faithfulness, any life is impossible not only in the Kingdom, but also in our non transformed world. However in the world non transformed without this internal spiritual core, which at the level of life relationships of life, manifests itself through faithfulness, one can in a way still live, although it is of course only with a big reserve that we can call life this existence, that man has to lead.

And here is, in the Kingdom, without it, it is impossible to hold on even one moment. Because, the spiritual space of the Kingdom is formed in particular by relations - the relationship of its inhabitants between themselves, their relationship with Christ, the relationship of Christ Himself with the Father. Without them, there is no Kingdom. And thus, it is also not without faithfulness, without which relationships in the kingdom are impossible.

The apostle writes that the Lord commanded him to reveal a mystery hidden for ages. Paul is ready to endure any suffering and deprivation because bringing this truth to people matters more to him than anything else in life. The essence of his preaching can be summed up in a single phrase: “Christ lives in you.” To understand this and to live according to such wisdom is the goal of Christian life. On the way to comprehending the divine mystery, it is necessary that “hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love.” The achievement of Christ’s disciples, their faith and sufferings, can become the greatest source of hope along this path. As we read the apostles’ letters and deeds, we become ever more convinced that if Christ had not lived in them, their lives would have been entirely different—perhaps with less suffering, but also with fewer divine miracles.

This is effectively the apostle Paul's “creed.” This passage makes it clear that, for Paul, the essence of Christianity is not some doctrine or “philosophy,” not empty promises or “deceptions,” not special “knowledge,” but Jesus Christ Himself. In Him is everything, the whole fullness of deity bodily. Yet, for those to whom this epistle was addressed, writing this one name alone was not enough, and Paul theologizes, listing what the entrance of Christ's person into human life means: the whole order of life changes, as does the entire structure of a person's relationship with the world and with God. Before this, he reminds them that a person's life with Christ begins with faith and develops through thanksgiving.