I realized the last blog post I did, I forgot to actually finish that segment of scripture. I meant to go over verse 23 as well, but I was sick with a sinus infection/allergies/strep/typhoid fever so I wasn’t mentally all there. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong, so I’m just going to say it was a sinus infection.
In the beginning of the last post I talked about how God has had me in Colossians for a while. I know that the reason for this was so that I could get a more clear understanding of the beauty of the gospel. What I failed to tell you during my last blog was that this summer, during our doctrinal courses, I was so confused about a lot of stuff. I know certain things are true because scripture says so, I just hadn’t ever really had to unpack things like the trinity. I know Jesus was sent by Father and we have the Spirit and they are all the same God, but really thinking about it and trying to understand it was such a stumbling block for me.
Jesus was/is God, but while He was on this earth He talked to the Father who is in fact the same God that Jesus is. I know. Confusing. That’s what I’m saying! But, these are things that I’ve had to work through in faith knowing that I cannot fear these questions. God is truth. God is who He says He is even when my very limited mind cannot comprehend. There isn’t any question that can be asked that would turn me away from the Truth I’ve found if I’m looking to God to answer it. I can’t stump Him. I’ve been fearful of a lot of my questions, but instead I should be rejoicing that I am getting the opportunity to dig deeper into my faith and understanding of Christ!
One really great resource that’s available online is The Resurgence. They do a lot of training, blogs, books, and conferences that help to raise up Christian leaders. I love this source of wisdom!
I was reading one of the blogs today written by Justin Holcomb (director of the Resurgence, author of Rid of My Disgrace). The blog was called Nestorius:Know Your Heretics. And if you click on that link and think “The only thing I really understand is the joke about double rainbows,” trust me, I’m in the same boat! A lot of that was way over my head too. The part about Nestorius though really made me think about the struggles I’d had this summer with the trinity. I was having a hard time comprehending Christ’s diety (not so much with my heart and faith, but more so with my mind, does that make sense? It’s like you see a person living and breathing, but you don’t understand all of the biological components that make it possible). And I just got to thinking about Nestorius’ theology on the two separate entities of Christ.
How does this effect our salvation?
Okay, well my first question was, “if Christ was here on this earth in two separate persons which one died on the cross as a penalty for my sin?” Cause if it was just the man Jesus and not God, then he has the imputed sin from Adam and as a result would have been sinful and in need of someone to pay the price for His sin. It couldn’t have just been a man on the cross.
Another question that I had was, “If He was just fully God then would he have been able to die at all?” There is so much there to unpack, so I’ll spare you all of that, but basically we could get into a whole other area of crazy theology that.. nevermind. I’ll spare you that too. There had to be a sacrifice and blood atonement for our sin.So, it couldn’t have possibly just been God to die on the cross. Chapter 2 of Vintage Jesus has a great part on this that I’ll just point you to Driscoll to read. Or read here from John Piper. Or look here from CARM.
Anyways, it was good to read that blog and to wrestle once again with this idea, but God had been preparing my heart and mind this past month to look to Him for answers to the tough questions. So, I conclude with verse 23,
if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Super sweet that this is a reminder to not be easily carried away by the “plausible arguments,” rather continue in the faith by being rooted in Christ and standing firm in Truth. One of the things I really like about Colossians chapter one and the beginning of chapter two is that Paul lays out the gospel and Christ’s diety in Chapter one and rebukes people for believing a false gospel in the beginning of chapter 2. He’s like, “dude. I just let you know that truth is. Just in case you were confused before, compare what you are hearing to the last 6 paragraphs.”
I am confident that when we seek the truth we will find it. And it will be in Jesus alone because He is the truth. He is the way to God, and in Him is life and life in abundance!
So, sorry this post was so long! I am again thankful for your grace and that I can say, “I have struggled with understanding this,” and you guys don’t condemn me or think I can’t offer anything because of it. I appreciate your grace and encouragement!
**Disclaimer: I, obviously, have not studied Nestorius enough to know exactly what his 40-page creed was about. So, if my questions really don’t have anything to do with his theories, that’s okay. I thought they were good questions to ask anyways. 
