Rhythms of a Christ-Centered Church
Colossians 3:15-17
The human body is a marvelous creation. With it, we can run a race, sing a song, comfort a child, write a letter, watch a sporting contest, smell flowers, and millions of other things both good and bad. When our physical body has all its parts functioning properly, there is an internal rhythm that supports and sustains the whole body. Our heart beats, our lungs supply necessary oxygen, our nervous system sends impulses, our digestive system provides nourishment. When the rhythm is off because of illness or injury, the body suffers.
The church is the body of Christ. We saw that back in Colossians 1:18 where Paul wrote about Christ that “He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” What is the spiritual heartbeat of the body of Christ? What are the rhythms or priorities of a healthy, Christ-centered church?
In Colossians 3-4, Paul gives the implications or applications of the doctrine of the preeminence of Christ that he taught so clearly in Colossians 1-2. These chapters are filled with imperatives or commands that we are to follow as individual Christians and as the church. We saw that because we have died with Christ and been raised with Christ, we are to seek things above, where Christ is (Col. 3:1). We are to set our minds on things above, not things on earth (Col. 3:2). We must put sinful practices and attitudes to death, casting them off like a filthy, infested garment (Col. 3:5-11). And we are to put on the virtues of Christ: “tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering” (Col. 3:12), forbearance, and forgiveness (Col. 3:13). And above all, we must put on love, which binds it all together perfectly.
Now in Colossians 3:15-17, the Apostle Paul instructs us further how to live Christ-Centered lives in the context of the church. He gives us three rhythms of the body of Christ, or three priorities of a healthy, Christ-centered church.
In the Christ-centered church:
1. The Peace of Christ Rules Our Relationships (Col. 3:15)
Paul has just told us in Colossians 3:14 “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” The love of Christ is what ties together the body of Christ. Putting on Christ is not for my private benefit alone but for the perfecting of one another in the body of Christ. The expressions of that love Christ and for one another are what we saw in Colossians 3:12-13 when we bear with one another and forgive one another as God has forgiven us in Christ. Now, Paul continues that thought in Colossians 3:15 saying,
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. (Col 3:15).
We practice church unity in love when the peace of Christ officiates in our relationships with one another. What is “the peace of God” or as some translations have it, “the peace of Christ” (NASB, ESV, etc.)? It is a divine peace. In Colossians 1:2, Paul greets the church, writing, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” It is a peace that only God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ can give. The way that peace came from God to us is through the reconciling work of Christ on the cross. Before we were saved, we were alienated from God and were His enemies by our wicked works (Col. 1:21). But now, God has reconciled us to Himself in Christ “having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20).
This peace of Christ not only describes our reconciliation to God, but it also expresses our reconciliation with fellow believers. Paul writes about this peace of God in Ephesians 2. Writing about reconciling the long standing hostility between Jew and Gentile, the apostle says,
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. (Eph. 2:14-18).
Christ’s work on the cross not only gave us peace with God, but also made for peace among all believers “that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross” (Eph. 2:16). That’s why Paul could say in Colossians 3:11, “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free,” because Christ has broken down the barriers that once divided us. We are inextricably bound to one another because “Christ is all and in all.”
That’s why in Colossians 3:15 Paul emphasizes that this is the peace of God “to which also you were called in one body.” That word “called” relates back to the word “elect” in Colossians 3:12. God has not only chosen you to be His own, but He has called you be one with His people, one body, the church. Paul says something similar in Ephesians 4. There, he writes,
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, (Eph. 4:1).
Those are the same virtues Paul commanded us to clothe ourselves with in Colossians 3:12-14. Continuing, Paul writes,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Eph. 4:1-6).
Because we all are called together in Christ to one body by one Spirit, because we have the same hope, the same Lord, faith, and baptism, because we all belong to the one true God and Father of all—we must make every effort to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” A body cannot live in conflict with itself, and so as members of one body we are called to peace.
What does it mean to have the peace of Christ rule in our hearts? The word for “rule” (brabeuō) relates to an athletic contest. It means to judge or make a ruling as an umpire or referee. So, what Paul is saying here is let the peace of Christ be the ultimate referee or decision maker in your relationships with other believers. Let the peace of Christ be the deciding factor.
When we interact with other believers in Christ, we must let peace make the call—not our anger, not our preferences, not our hurt feelings, not our traditions, not avoidance, not platitudes, not personal attacks, not gossiping, not complaining—one thing must override all that and make the call: God’s peace.
And what is to accompany this peace? Notice the end of Colossians 3:15, “and be thankful.” An attitude of gratitude works both ways. Peace in your hearts will lead to praise and thanksgiving from your lips, and an attitude of continual thankfulness to God promotes peace in the body of Christ. To let peace rule in our hearts is more than simply a willingness to “give in” so that the fighting would stop. It’s not something to be done bitterly and begrudgingly. We do it with thanksgiving to God for one another. Our gratitude toward God for one another is one of the greatest ways to prevent bitterness and resentment from spoiling our fellowship with one another. How can you be thankful for your brother, and grouchy toward him at the same time?
A healthy church actively guards its unity and practices a rhythm of peace through mutual forgiveness and gratitude. That’s the first rhythm of a Christ-centered church. The second is,
2. The Word of Christ Fills Our Meetings (Col. 3:16)
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Col. 3:16).
The command in this verse is “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” This is the only time we find this exact phrase “the word of Christ” used in the Bible. The more common phrase is “the word of God” (42 times in the NT). Paul calls it the “word of Christ” because in Colossians he emphasizes the supremacy of Jesus Christ to a church plagued with false teachers who denied Christ His rightful place.[1] This word of Christ certainly includes “the word of the truth of the gospel” (Col. 1:5) which they heard and believed. This is the word of that Christ whom Paul has described in Colossians 1 “in the infinite supremacy of His nature, His power, and His saving work.”[2] The phrase “the word of Christ” embraces the whole Bible—Old Testament as well as New. It’s all about Him, from its beginning in Genesis 1 to its very end in Revelation 22. When Jesus argued with the Jewish religious leaders, He told them, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” (John 5:39). After He rose from the dead, He met two of His disciples, and “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). And before He ascended to the Father, He opened the understanding of His disciples, so that they could comprehend the Old Testament Scriptures; telling them, “all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44). All scripture—Old and New Testament—is from God and about Christ. We need to be a “whole Bible” church, because the whole Bible constitutes “the word of Christ”.
What are we to do with the word? Let it dwell in us richly. The word “dwell” means “settle down and be at home.” It’s more than just reading the Word; it’s letting the Word have access to every part of your life. “Richly” implies the fullness and completeness of God’s Word for all of life. Don’t make God’s Word a temporary visitor. Don’t treat it like a house guest. We are to let it take up permanent residence day in and day out. Let it dwell in you not just a little bit, but richly, abundantly. Eugene Peterson paraphrases it: “Let the Word of Christ have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives.”
This command applies to us not only individually, but also together as a church. It is essential that a church be saturated with the word of God. A Christ-centered church is shaped, corrected, and fueled by the Word of God. Hendriksen comments,
This will happen if believers heed the word (Matt. 13:9), handle it rightly (2 Tim. 2:15), hide it in their hearts (Ps. 119:11), and hold it forth to others as being in truth “the word of life” (Phil. 2:16). [3]
Paul gives three participles that tell how the word of Christ should dwell richly in the church: teaching, admonishing, and singing. Teaching refers to positive instruction, whereas admonishing refers to warning and correction. “Teaching” informs the mind, and “admonishing” implores the will.[4] This is exactly what Paul and his coworkers sought to do in their ministry to the churches. Back in Colossians 1:28 Paul wrote, “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” This is what we are to do for each other. Notice that this command is not just given to the pastor; it is given to all the church. We are all to be “teaching and admonishing one another” (Col. 3:16).
Notice that we are to do this two-fold ministry of the word for one another “in all wisdom” (Col. 3:16). Remember Colossians 2:3 says that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” All our preaching and teaching must be Christ-centered.
So let the word of God dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one other with all wisdom – and then also “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16). The rhythm of a healthy church includes both teaching the word and singing the word. Singing in our worship service is not just something we do to fill the time before the preaching. And singing in corporate worship is not for entertainment; it is for discipleship. When we speak truth and sing the truth, we are actively teaching and admonishing one another.
Notice three things that should characterize our singing. First, our songs should be biblical. Wiersbe says, “A singer has no more right to sing a lie than a preacher has to preach a lie.”[5] Our songs should be saturated with the word of God. They should teach sound doctrine.
Paul gives three examples of songs we are to sing: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. “Psalms” was the name given to the sacred songs of the Old Testament. Isaac Watts, the great English hymnist, set many psalms to music and gave them a gospel focus in his 1719 work, The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament. An example of one of these in our hymnal is Joy to the World, the Lord Is Come based on Psalm 98. “Hymns” are songs of praise to God. A great example of this kind of song is How Great Thou Art. “Spiritual Songs” would include all other biblical and testimony songs like Since Jesus Came into My Heart and many others. They are songs that lift our thoughts to spiritual realities in our life with Christ. There is plenty of overlap in these categories, and some songs would fit all three. We can sing a variety of good biblical songs both old and new.
Second, notice that our singing is a “one another” ministry. When we sing, we are encouraging and teaching one another. Your voice joins with mine and we proclaim the truth of God’s word to each other. Biblical congregational singing is a healthy rhythm of a Christ-centered church. Few activities have such ability to teach, prompt recall, and encourage, as singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with one another.
Third, our singing is ultimately directed to God. It is “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” We sing because God has poured His grace into our hearts. We don’t sing only when we feel good, we sing at all times because of the grace of God that enables us. It certainly took grace for Paul and Silas to sing in that Philippian prison (Acts 16:22–25).[6] Our singing is not a display of our musical talent; it is a God enabled, God directed, God glorifying ministry. It is from our heart to the heart of God. All our praise is to the Lord who loved us and saved us. Thankful worship engages the mind with the word of Christ and the emotions in joyful song to Christ. This is how the word of Christ dwells in us richly.
Finally, in a Christ-centered church,
3. The Name of Christ Controls Our Actions (Col. 3:17)
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Col. 3:17).
To do something “in the name of” someone means to act as their official representative or ambassador. The name of the Lord Jesus implies all of His nature and character as the Son of God. It refers to His authority. As Paul wrote earlier in Colossians 1,
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Col. 1:15-20)
Every action of the local church represents the character and authority of Jesus. Paul when says, “whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,” it means we do all things in submission to Jesus as Lord. To do something in the name of the Lord Jesus is to do it under His sovereign authority. It is to do all things as His representatives on earth. It is to do all things in dependence on His power. It is to do all things for the advance of His kingdom purposes.
So if you are ever wondering, “Can I do this or that?” or “Should I say something or not?” Colossians 3:17 is your answer. Ask yourself, “Can I do or say this in submission to the Lord Jesus?” Will it honor His name? Will it show my gratitude to Him for saving me? Can I do it “giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
And this applies to everything, “whatever you do in word or deed.” That means there is no sacred or secular distinction. You don’t do Christ-centered things at church and then me-centered things at work or home. The command is all-encompassing and covers all of life. It covers all things because Jesus is Lord of all things. The ultimate rhythm of the Christ-centered church is a lifestyle of total allegiance to Christ.
And the attitude that fuels all that we say and do is gratitude to God. Colossians 3:17 concludes we are to do all this, “giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” All of life is to be a sacred experience of living gratefully under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
A Christ-centered congregation doesn’t happen by accident. It is built on these rhythms: letting His peace rule in our relationships, letting His Word saturate our congregation, and letting His name control our words and actions. If your church engagement is something other than the elevation of Christ and Christ-centeredness then you need to adjust your priorities.
How is our church doing in practicing these rhythms? Do we have Christ-centered relationships because we let the peace of Christ rule them? Do we have Christ-centered gatherings because the word of Christ dwells in us richly? Are our words and actions Christ-centered because we are in submission to Jesus?
How about you? Do you have peace with God through Jesus Christ, and does that peace of God pervade all your relationships with others? Are you saturating your life with the word of Christ, so that you are constantly reading, studying, teaching, and singing it? Are you doing all things to the glory of God in Christ? Is that the rhythm of your life?
[1] Steven Cole, https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-23-life-thankful-worship-colossians-316-17.
[2] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistles to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians, to Timothy, to Titus and to Philemon (Columbus, OH: Lutheran Book Concern, 1937), 177.
[3] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of Colossians and Philemon, vol. 6, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 160.
[4] Greg Allen, https://bethanybible.net/index.php/2013/05/01/a-church-in-the-word-colossians-316/.
[5] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 140.
[6] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 140.