What does it mean to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly (Colossians 3:16)?

The peace of Christ is followed by, "the word of Christ," in verse 16. His word gives us all the direction we need and it is to dwell in us, to have its home in our hearts. Further it is to dwell in us richly. Our hearts and minds are to be filled with it in all wisdom. We are not only to know it but also to know how to apply it to all the problems that life presents to us. And we are to be so filled with it that it overflows from us, and we communicate it the one to the other. In our every-day dealings the one with the other we are to be able to instruct each other in that which is His will, and also to warn each other against all that would divert us from His will.

Further we should be marked by praise and song. Only our hymns and songs are to be spiritual in their character, and the Lord is to be the Object before us in them — they are to be "to the Lord." Moreover we must be careful as to our own spiritual state even in our singing. Our songs are to be with grace in our hearts. Singing which springs from a mere spirit of jollification is nothing worth. When the heart is filled with a sense of grace then we can sing to the pleasure of God.

In addition the apostle adds, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." It is here called the word of Christ because it is the word by which we acquire the knowledge, and are formed in the habits, tastes, and affections of the new man. The word of Christ is thus the revelation to us of what He is, for it is after His image that the new man is created; and dwelling in us richly, it produces communion in the inner life of the soul with all that is revealed of Christ in the word. "In all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another." We may here refer to chapter 1:28 for this same expression, "in all wisdom." It is how Paul admonished and taught. We know that Christ is the wisdom of God, and He is made to us wisdom. (1 Cor. 1:24, 30.) The word of Christ, revealing Him as the centre of all the counsels and glory of God, gives us the knowledge of a wisdom hidden indeed from this world, but ordained before the world for our glory. As entering into these unseen things of wisdom, we are to teach and admonish one another, that so we may help in forming each other after the image of Christ. Another effect of the word of Christ dwelling in us will be the heart expressing itself with grace to the Lord in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs.

Verse 16. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly"; that there should be in your hearts by the effect of the word, an unfolding of the Christ you acknowledge, and that it be perfect.

But now, having spoken of its practical character, he goes on to another step in this life. He looks for the word of Christ dwelling richly in us in all wisdom; and he calls us to live in the largeness of heart and understanding that belongs to a person that has this place in Christ. He says, I want to have your heart and mind enlarged to live in these things; I want the word of Christ, this full revelation which God has given to us of His thoughts and mind as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ, to be dwelling in you richly.

156 Let us now stop and ask ourselves, What has my mind been occupied with to-day? What has it been running after? Could you say, The word of Christ has dwelt in me richly? Now, perhaps we have been occupied with politics; perhaps with the town talk, or with something of our own. Has the word of our own heart, the word of our own mind, filled up the greater part of our day? That is not Christ. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom." All knowledge is in Him, and all practical wisdom. They are distinct things; but if they are real, they go wonderfully together. Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This, then, is what is looked for; that in this condition there be the unfolding and development of the blessed knowledge of Christ. The Spirit of God takes of the things of Christ and shews them unto us. We live in that sphere in which God unfolds His own mind.

You may mark along with this, that it is not merely knowledge or wisdom of which he speaks, but he adds, "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." It enters into the affections, because that is the character of hymns and spiritual songs. It is not so much knowledge written down like a sermon, but it is where the heart answers in its affections to the revelation of Christ, perhaps something that I have heard in a meeting when Christ has been unfolded: it is the Holy Ghost raising up the affections in answer to the revelation of Christ that has come down. Then there is the expression of the heart that has received it in the affections of the new man, answering to this in the praise and adoration that it produces. It may not be the reproduction of the same ideas, but it is the adoration of the heart that is drawn out towards the Person that has been revealed.

"This is," you may say, "the very thing we desire." Many express the same thought. It should then be understood, that to have the word of God abiding in us involves labour. For example, if I but seldom read the Scriptures, and even then cursorily or hurriedly, it is impossible that I can have the word of God abiding in me. No, this blessing can only be reached by reading, prayer, meditation, and the ministry of the Spirit. In this way the word that is written in the Bible is transferred to our hearts, is stored up there as a priceless treasure, and becomes the spring of all our thoughts, activities, and conflicts. We read that Israel in a later day will have God's law put into their minds, and written in their hearts, and that then all will know the Lord from the least to the greatest. (Heb. 8:10-11) They had always possessed the law in the tables of stone, but this gave them no power for obedience or conflict; but when it is engraven on their hearts everything is changed; they become faithful and strong in the ways of the Lord. In like manner, when we only possess the word of God in the Bible, it does not help us in our daily warfare; but the moment we have any part of it treasured up in the heart it becomes, as we have seen, the spring of life and power through the Spirit of God.

We all know that since the fall the ground produces thorns and briars, and many are the expedients that have been resorted to to get rid of them. Experience has taught the farmer that there is but one way to do this. He may plow and harrow, but for every root he breaks two plants will grow up, and his field will become a briar patch. Let him instead sow the field with grass seed, and as the grass grows up it will drive out the briars. This is overcoming evil with good. It is also equivalent to the walk in the Spirit. Let the positive things of Christ fill the heart; let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, and we will have little room and less inclination for the lusts of the flesh. May our gracious God lead us into the liberty and joy of these things.

Let the word of the Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another,

The word of the Christ is to be in our hearts, occupying our thoughts and directing all our words and actions. As it has this proper place in our lives our spiritual understanding will increase and be manifested in wisdom towards other believers, bringing suitable teaching and, where appropriate, admonition. The teaching unfolds the truth of scripture, while admonition necessarily addresses what is wrong and needs correction. Evidently, where the spiritual state is good there is no resentment or working of pride when this is done.

In psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.

The word of the Christ dwelling in us richly is also to manifests itself in singing to God. There is communion through the word and the liberty of grace. We can sing intelligently to God about our Christian experience (which is based on an accomplished redemption), of the One in whom we are blessed and of all that is ours in Him.

Let the word of the Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another,

The word of the Christ is to be in our hearts, occupying our thoughts and directing all our words and actions. As it has this proper place in our lives our spiritual understanding will increase and be manifested in wisdom towards other believers, bringing suitable teaching and, where appropriate, admonition. The teaching unfolds the truth of Scripture, while admonition necessarily addresses what is wrong and needs correction. Evidently, where the spiritual state is good there is no resentment or working of pride when this is done.

Verse 16. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." Here I have the positive enjoyment of all the divine things which are revealed. Do not think that we cannot know and enjoy all the things that belong to us as God's heirs. Live like Christ, and you will certainly find something of the Master's reproach. If the spirit of the world is active in me, of course I do not see clearly; but the Spirit of God is given to us, that we may know these things. I have the word of Christ dwelling in my heart, and the Holy Ghost lakes the things of Christ and shows them to me. When I know that every saint will be perfectly like Christ in glory, I say, What a blessed thing that will be. Whilst we have universal joy, there is a special link a person has with Christ's joy, which no one knows but himself.

"Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Ver. 16.) Spiritual songs to enjoy the Lord in. I have the word which brings all these precious things - the love of the Father - into my soul, and my song goes up in praise to the Lord.

The apostle therefore exhorts that the word of Christ may dwell in them richly. This is the development, according to the perfection of God, of the new man, and the wisdom of God to form and direct him. Paul desires that Christians may fully realise this. It is by communion with the Lord, holding intercourse with Him, that it is done. The word being that in which the wisdom is found; also according to this development the saints can teach and admonish each other. But in this case it is not only wisdom that we learn, and that is displayed in us, but affections in connection with Him in whom we have found this wisdom, so that these expressions of the life of Christ as true wisdom in the world, find their voice in our hearts in praise, in thanksgiving, in singing His excellency. All the intimate affections in which spiritual life develops itself express themselves, according to what we have learned: they flow from the Spirit of Christ, and are the expression of the soul's connection with Him, and of the feelings this produces in the heart. Christ in His Person, in the consciousness of His presence, as the object of our thoughts, and in the moral fruits proceeding thence, sustains the intercourse and the communications of the soul that is occupied with His praises.