Colossians

Have you ever listened to someone in a phone conversation and try to figure out what is going on when you can only hear one end of the conversation? This book is like that, we know what Paul is saying, but we don’t know exactly what the issues were that he was dealing with. Unlike Paul’s letter to the Philippians, here he is dealing with, what we think, are doctrinal issues.

Apparently, the church was getting hung up on ceremonies, religious festivals, dietary rules, and circumcision. And, it appears they were preoccupied with angels at the expense of Jesus. Finally, there is the hint of Gnosticism, the idea that there is some “hidden knowledge” that only the elite have access to. When a group comes out of paganism, they don’t eliminate from their view all aspects of their previous belief system all at once. In Tanzania, Africa, where I teach pastors, they practice a mix of Christianity with “indigenous beliefs,” which means a bit witch doctoring, voodoo, and who knows what else. So, here in this letter we have a clear defense of the full deity of Jesus and a lesson on these other issues.

1:2-5 “To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse.” We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints-the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven.”

The word “holy” means “set aside or dedicated.” He describes these Christians as set aside and faithful. He doesn’t say that they were perfect in their knowledge of doctrine or Christian living.  Notice that they have shown love for others and that this love comes from the hope that they have in heaven. What type of atmosphere exists in your church?

1:10 “. . . bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”

Growing in what? KNOWLEDGE of God. How do we do that? Studying the Word.  It always bothers me when I see so many people leaving the church after the worship service rather than walking down the hall a few feet and getting involved in a Bible study.

1:14 “. . . in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

We “have” redemption; it is not something that we have to earn. In the cult that I was involved with they taught that being born again was something we received when we died, if we have earned it. We are only “begotten” now, and we have to keep the laws in the hope of being “born again.” Here Paul says we’ve got it, now!

1:15 ‘He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible (like angels), whether thrones or powers or rules or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together.”

If these folks were exalting angels, you can see that Jesus is pictured above angels. In fact, he created the angels (Ps 148:2-5). In recent years there was a great deal of interest in angels. There were television programs about them, numerous books, pictures, etc. People are comfortable with angels because they are pictured as always helpful, caring, non-judgmental, beings and not demanding of anyone. God, on the other hands, places demands on us and will judge our works. Angels appear to be very “warm and fuzzy.” But we have to be careful to view God, Jesus Christ, angels, etc. as the Bible portrays them.

1:21 “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation- if you continue in our faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope help out in the gospel.”

Do you know what it means to be “reconciled?” Have you heard of a married couple who separated, but after some time, they reconciled? To be reconciled means that God is not mad at us anymore. Isn’t it great to know that we have peace with God, that we have been reconciled with him? And how was this accomplished? Not by our perfect behavior and law keeping, but by the sacrifice of Christ. The term “if you continue in faith” refers to the fact that if you have really been “born again” you will endure to the end. If you do not endure in faith, it doesn’t mean that you “lost your salvation” but that you were never saved in the first place.

2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

Here Paul is referring, in part, to a world view called Gnosticism. This has to do with the ideas that the physical world is inherently evil. This leads to the denial of the deity of Jesus, since he would not want to “contaminate” himself by becoming a physical human being. So, although he “appeared to be real,” he was really an illusion. Can you see how they can take a pagan belief and incorporate it into Christianity and end up with such a distortion? Now, if the physical world, including your body, is inherently evil, these people took one of two approaches to it. Some, hating their evil bodies, became ascetics and inflicted all sorts of punishment on it, as if to restrain its wicked ways. You may have heard of monks who slept on the cold floor, ate very little, fasted twice a week, etc. The other response is to say, “since only the soul matters, I can do what I want with my body,” so they live a life of libertinism, or outwardly sin.

Another aspect of Gnosticism is the idea that salvation comes not by faith, but through knowledge acquired though some mystical experience.

Just because you became a Christian on day, does not mean that you don’t still have many ideas in your head that are non-Christian. But, in time, as you study the Word of God, your ideas become transformed (Rom 12:1) so that as you mature you think more like Jesus and less like you used to.

2:13 “. . . God made you alive in Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

2:15 “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

There is a great comment made in one of my commentaries on this verse: “The meaning of nearly every word of this verse is disputed.” I find this type of comment reassuring, knowing that even the most brilliant experts are puzzled by some passages in the Bible.

It was the custom for victorious armies to lead through the city the prisoners of war captured. Here Christ is the hero leading the parade. To some the cross is viewed as an instrument of death, here it is viewed as a symbol of victory.

2:16-17 “Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality however is found in Christ.”

This is a clear statement that gentile believers are free to observe or not to observe rules about eating and holy days, as is clear from Romans 14 and I Cor 8. Again, Paul continued to observe these rules (Acts 20:16; I Cor 16:8) but he didn’t impose them on others.

2:18 “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize.”

Some may have thought that their worship of angels was an act of humility. Perhaps they were saying, “Oh, I’m so humble and unworthy to worship God directly, I am only good enough to worship angels.”

2:20-22 “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world . . . do you submit to its rules: Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.”

Here we see the influence of the ascetics, those who have all sorts of rule to prohibit this or that.

3:1-4 "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above . . . For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."



Paul offers an antidote to asceticism by urging them to focus on things above and the future that he has in store for us, rather than all of these rule and regulations here on earth.

3:5 “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”

Again, Paul shifts his focus from theology to holy living. 

Paul is saying, instead of focusing on dietary restriction, etc. try to focus on giving up immoral and unethical behavior, that is much preferred. This might be a good time go to the Frequently Asked Questions tab and read the article entitled, What Are you Giving up for Lent?” 

3:12 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.”

If someone says to you “You should pray thirty minutes a day,” or make some other legalistic demands, have you noticed that it is always their standard that they think we should meet?  When they say things like that I up the ante and say, “Why not 60 minutes a day?” Throw their demands back at them, plus add some and see what they say.

3:15 ". . . psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."

Some claim that psalms refer to Old Testament verses put to music, hymns and spiritual songs are distinctly Christian compositions.

3:18-4:1" Wives, submit to your husbands . . . husbands, love your wives . . . children, obey your parents."

Notice if you will that Paul speaks of our duties, not our rights. Also, our duties are reciprocal. Love, submission and obedience goes both ways. This passage is similar to Eph 5:22-23.

The subject of slaves and slavery are addressed in the Frequently Asked Questions section. But let me just say this: the apostles were not social reformers; they preached the Gospel. The church was small and had no political influence. Their goal was to change the hearts of the people, not the society as a whole.

4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” 

Paul says that we should devote ourselves to prayer. Does he say how long we must pray? Does he say in what position we must pray? What we are oftentimes told is WHAT to do, but not HOW. 

5:5 "Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders."

Do you think preachers should be pointing their fingers at the world concerning its sins? If you recall I Cor 5:12 where Paul said, "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?" Wouldn't we be more effective if we focused on cleaning up our own messes in the church, rather than trying to get the world to clean up their messes?

5:16 "After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea."

What happened to the letter to Laodicea? Was it lost? Have we lost a book in the Bible? No. Not everything that Paul wrote was Scripture. I Cor 5:9 also refers to a "lost book."