All The Riches Of Full Assurance

“…that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ…”

The phrase “full assurance” occurs four times in the New Testament. It is here in our text. We find it in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 where it is translated as either “much assurance” or “full conviction.” It is found twice in Hebrews (6:11; 10:22) as “full assurance.” It is a single word in the original. The word does not occur in the classical writers or in the LXX (Septuagint). The idea of fullness or being complete is in the word. The concept of assurance is thoroughly biblical. We can know for certain that we are the children of God. Assurance is shipwrecked by a single thing: sin. Sin remains the root behind loss of assurance. So coldness of heart or laziness, for instance, may contribute to a loss of assurance, but the root problem is sin.

The word “assurance” conveys the idea of certainty, confidence, or conviction. But why does Paul here use “full assurance?” Does he mean that you can have partial assurance or some assurance? I think what Paul is driving is an assurance can grow stronger and deeper. Assurance can be strengthened. A conviction can be deepened.

A strong assurance can spread out into other areas of our lives. It is like dough that rises due to the yeast in it. It spreads and seems to be without restraint. It keeps on. There is power to it and in it. Assurance is like that. It has a power to it. This is why Paul speaks about the “riches” of full assurance. A man with precious jewels spends time gazing at them. On one occasion he sees certain colors in the turn of the light. At other times he reflects on the depth and intensity of the fire that makes them seem to glow. There is something in the jewel that keeps on delighting the senses. The riches of full assurance is like that. You can never be satisfied with it, yet it completely satisfies. It keeps on providing us with intensity and variation.

I think this is why Paul says in verse 3 that in our Lord Jesus Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When you think about wisdom and knowledge you immediately are confronted with a never-ending depth to them. The fact that the treasures are hidden implies you must search for them and they are there to be found. Wisdom is the application of knowledge and understanding. Paul speaks of the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery (vs. 2). God’s mystery in Colossians 2 is Christ.

We are to grasp Christ. There are rich treasures in Jesus that we can never exhaust. Therefore, Jesus completely satisfies because there is an ongoing wealth to him. The wealth is not money in the bank. It is not your health or prosperity or comforts in this life. It is Christ only. Is it possible to be a poor Christian spiritually? It is certainly possible that we might not enjoy the riches at our disposal. Having untold wealth in your bank account and never using it is a kind of poverty. Having the riches of Christ at our disposal and never enjoying them is spiritual poverty.

I have the suspicion that the vast majority of Christians have not made much progress opening the bank of Jesus Christ. The entrance is not locked but they somehow never get beyond the front door. The riches lie before them in glorious splendor but there they lie, untouched and never enjoyed. Now having said this, the point that Paul is driving is that the Colossians were facing a false philosophy that paraded itself as true wisdom. Behind this philosophy is paganism. It is empty deceit (vs. 8), according to worldly principles and human tradition. It is worldliness all dressed up in human sophistication. There seems to have been a Jewish flavor mixed in with Paul’s teaching that became the false teaching. The Colossians exhibited an interest in Jewish festivals, Sabbath observance, and angels (2:16 – 18). This developed as some form of Jewish mysticism that led to asceticism.

There may have been some connection to the heresy known as Gnosticism, which occupied itself with levels of knowledge. The higher up the ladder you went the more enlightened you were. False knowledge always puffs up. There is nothing humble about it. It thinks itself always superior. This explains why Paul focuses on the supremacy of Christ. Jesus is preeminent over all things. He is the supreme one. Christ is the Lord of creation and redemption (1:15 – 20). There is nothing mystic about Jesus. He is real.

Human traditions eventually fall back on the mystical which is then claimed to be full of insight and wisdom. But it is earthly wisdom or human wisdom and the knowledge connected to it is false. Compared to the riches in Jesus bankruptcy would be a kind word to describe it. This is the philosophy of the world. There is no reality about it. It claims to be real, but it has no foundation of authority outside of itself.

We are not to be taken captive (vs. 8) by this deception. We prevent that from happening by walking in Christ, by being rooted in Christ, and by being built up in Christ (vs. 6, 7). This means that we will be established in the faith (vs. 7) and not in philosophy. The foundation for this is Christ Jesus the Lord who we have received (vs. 6). The Lordship of Jesus is my starting point. If I acknowledge and submit to the Lordship of Jesus, the bounties of the treasury are opened up to me. What are those bounties? They are true wisdom and knowledge. When we have difficulty with sin, ask yourself if Jesus is your Lord. Think then on what that Lordship means for you. You will start to think of what is true as opposed to what is false. This is the goal of spiritual maturity. We are rooted in a solid foundation and thus we become fruitful. We live out the faith, not with our wisdom or knowledge but with Christ’s.

Paul is thinking about these Colossians and about the Christians at Laodicea (4:15, 16) which was about nine miles away from Colossae. There was a close relationship between the Christians of both cities. Paul prays for them (Col.1:3, 4, 9; 2:1), that they may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. The goal of Paul’s praying is so that they might walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (1:10), pleasing the Lord and being fruitful in every work and increasing in the knowledge of God. What will spur these Christians to reach for the riches of full assurance? Paul refers to their hearts being encouraged and being knit together in love (2:2).

When we are encouraged by others and loved by others we are spurred on to greater things. This is the idea. The more we encourage each other, the stronger our hearts will be in resting in our Lord Jesus. The stronger your heart in Christ, the deeper your love will be for others. Sin, on the other hand, will root out encouragement and love. When that happens assurance is trampled on. You feel a loss. It is the loss of confidence in Christ. So to safeguard my assurance, I need the encouragement of God’s people. How are we encouraging each other in our faith? Do we love each other? It requires mutual dependence. I do not understand Christians who refuse fellowship with one another. It is not the spirit of Jesus. It is self-assurance and therefore it is false. Are you plundering the riches of Jesus? If you are, then your life will overflow into the lives of others in encouragement and love. Then we shall understand and know Christ, and that is to be truly rich in assurance.