In Christ are Hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge

Why would Paul say this?

Paul was a scholar. He was trained in the Pharisaic School of Gamaliel. He resisted the Gospel until he could do so no longer.

The very nature of Paul’s conversion (Acts (9 1-19) was such that he was bereft of the power of his mind to refute the truth of the Resurrection of Jesus and the power of his Crucifixon to bring eternal salvation.

Saul of Tarsus came abruptly to the conclusion that not only was his mind omnipotent to guarantee him an eternal relationship with God, but that his knowledge was powerless to prevent his spiritual rebirth.

No wonder he was able convincingly to preach and teach that we were saved by grace through faith alone, not of works lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2: 5-10).

From the time of his surrender to Christ (“Who are you, Lord?”) he gave his mind over to the service of Christ. He did not abandon his intellect. Instead, he used it to serve his new Lord. From the start, Saul “increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts: 9: 27). In 2 Corinthians 10: 5, he wrote, “We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ”.

When he wrote to the church at Colossae (in Turkey), he wrestled with a “new age” type of philosophy, which sought after secret knowledge that was also not down-to-earth. He did not want people’s minds corrupted by false philosophy or their bodies stained by immorality born of a split between body and spirit.

In that letter he taught that a right understanding of how central is Jesus to everything would lead to a life-style that was being totally and continually transformed by Jesus. Set your minds where Christ is! Put to death the “earthly”, such as malice and immorality! Be clothed in compassion, forgiveness, thankfulness… (Colossians 3)

Lindsay Johnstone

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