Introduction.
Colosse was in the region of Phrygia in the Roman Province of Asia (Asia Minor); the western part of the modern state of Turkey towards the Aegean Sea. It was close to Laodicea and about 100 miles from Ephesus in the Lycus Valley.
In the fifth century BC, Colosse was a thriving city of both manufacturing and strategic importance. But by Paul’s time it was in decline, being surpassed in importance by its neighbours Laodicea and Hierapolis. Colosse had become a small market town as the trade route from Rome to the east had been diverted through Laodicea by-passing Colosse.
The population of Colosse was largely Gentile (Phrygian and Greek) but there was a significant Jewish community which may have grown from a small group who settled there in the days of Antiochus (223 BC – 187 BC).
It was not the importance of the city which prompted Paul to write the letter. It is believed that he never visited Colosse.
It is believed that Epaphras, a citizen of Colosse, was Paul’s agent there. Epaphras became a convert in Ephesus having been instructed by Paul. During his extended ministry in Ephesus, during his third missionary journey (AD 53 – AD 57), Paul sent Epaphras to spread the gospel in the Lycus valley (Acts 19). Luke records that during this period the people throughout the region of Asia Minor heard the gospel.
Epaphras is named in Chapter 1 verse 7 as a source of information for Paul who was informed of certain heretical teachers who were spreading disinformation in the Lycus valley. Paul wrote this letter as a theological antidote.
The letter to the Colossians is one of the prison letters, written during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome in the early AD 60s. The letter was carried by a believer called Tychicus. It was also read in Laodicea.
When Tychicus took the letter to Colosse, he was accompanied by the runaway slave Onesimus who was returning to his master, Philomen.
Having brought information to Paul, Epaphras remained in Rome. However, this may not have been by choice. In Philomen 23, Paul describes Epaphras as “my fellow prisoner”.
So, Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians some eight years after they had received the gospel. As we have seen, Epaphras had brought information to Paul about the progress of the believers in Colosse. What he heard concerned him. False teachers were again threatening his work.
Some Gentile teachers were proclaiming a form on Gnosticism, claiming that the Lord Yeshua was some form of higher being but not God. This led also to a denial of his humanity.
Others were teaching a form of antinomianism i.e., the belief that under grace, a person need not exercise self-control but could give free vent to bodily appetites and passions.
Judaizers were arguing for the necessity of circumcision and that a system of ceremonial observances could allow a person to achieve righteousness before God.
Others called for the worship of angels and for mystical experiences.
In the face of these doctrinal errors, we can understand the main themes of Paul’s letter: the absolute deity of Messiah; the centrality of Messiah, His work and His teaching; and an exhortation for proper godly living.
Paul shows the supremacy of the Lord Yeshua. It is because the Lord is divine that His atoning death reconciles believers to their Creator.
This comparatively short but far-reaching letter to the Colossians covers: the unity of the body and submission to the Lord Yeshua as head; the centrality of the Messiah; His headship of the church; the completeness of the believer in the Lord; the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; and the need to confront false teaching.
Indeed, the Colossian letter provides the most marvellous exposition of the deity of Messiah and shows the fundamental importance of His work and teaching.
We can see the first two chapters as a hymn of praise to Messiah and a polemic against false teachers.
We can see chapters 3 and 4 as an exhortation to proper godly living.
We will look at four extracts from the letter which illustrate its most important themes.
Colossians Chapter 1: 15 – 18. The centrality of Messiah as head of the church and of creation.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 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 pre-eminence.”
These verses celebrate the supremacy of Messiah.
In verse 15, we have the phrase “the image of the invisible God”. Messiah has enabled us to see what God is really like. God, of course, is spirit, but in the person of the Lord, God made Himself visible to human eyes. Whoever sees Messiah sees the Father; they are identical in every aspect and have been so throughout eternity. He is the manifestation of God.
But the concept of “image” also carries the idea of a “representative”. God had originally placed Adam (made in God’s image) to represent His interests on earth. But Adam failed. Therefore, God sent Messiah as His representative to care for His interests and to reveal His heart of love to mankind.
Verse 15 also describes Messiah as “the firstborn over all creation”. “Firstborn” simply means supreme and unique, the highest in rank. It has nothing to do with birth.
All believers are children of God, but Messiah is God’s Son in a way that is not true of any other. He existed before all creation and occupies a position of superiority over it. His is the rank of pre-eminence and dominion; an eternal relationship with God.
In verse 16 we have the phrase, “By Him all things were created”. It is impossible for the Lord Yeshua to be a created being. He is the creator of all things, material and immaterial, seen and unseen – the whole universe including angels whom some heretics wanted to worship.
The power to create was in His body. He was the person of the Godhead through whom the act of creation was performed. And it was “for Him”; He is the One for whom all things were created; the goal of creation. He existed before creation and is exalted above it. Yet He is not only the transcendent Deity who created us, but also the One who died on our behalf. He was the first to die, to be resurrected and not to die again.
In verse 17 His unique role in creation is reinforced. The Lord Yeshua is the One who controls the moment-by-moment existence of the physical and moral universe, directly by His continuing oversight and providence. He is the sustainer of the universe and the source of its perpetual motion and balance for life’s existence and continuation.
In verse 18, we have the phrase, “He is the head of the body, the church”. He gives the church life and direction. The church has its source in Him and He gave His life for the church. He is pre-eminent in the church as He is in the universe. He was the “firstborn from the dead”, that is the first to be raised from the dead and delivered into heaven. His own resurrection guarantees that the church one day will be resurrected.
Thus, Paul deals with the deity of Messiah and His headship over the church.
Our second extract deals with false teaching.
Colossians 2: 6 – 10.
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk with Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”
In verse 6, Paul encourages the Colossian believers who had begun with Messiah to continue in the same way; a way of life centred on the Lord. They should progress on the same path – by faith. They had acknowledged that in Him there was complete sufficiency. He is enough not only for salvation but for every aspect of their lives.
In verse 7, “the faith” refers to the truth of the doctrine they had been taught. It is “rooted in Him”. In this horticultural metaphor, the Lord Yeshua is represented by the soil and the roots can only grow in Him, drawing all nourishment from Him. Roots must go deep, so when dangerous winds blow, they will not be disturbed.
Here we also have a construction metaphor using the concepts to “build up” and “establish”. Spiritual maturity develops upwards from the foundations and our foundations are sound doctrine. To be “established” is to be confirmed. The Colossians had been taught the fundamentals by Epaphras. As they go on these truths would be continually confirmed in their hearts and lives.
They should be “abounding in” the faith “with thanksgiving”. Paul does not want them to be coldly doctrinal; he wants their hearts to be captivated by the marvellous truths of the gospel, so that they in turn will overflow in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.
In verse 8, we see that Paul is now ready to deal with the specific errors that were threatening the believers in the Lycus Valley. It starts with the phrase, “Beware let anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit”. “Philosophy” here means any attempt to find truth through one’s own intellect and to research the things which can only be known by divine revelation. It is to put human reason above God’s and to worship the creation rather than the Creator.
Thus, false teachers seek to rob believers of what is worthwhile but offer nothing substantial in its place.
The concept of “empty deceit”, refers to the false and valueless teaching of those who profess to offer special truths to an inner circle of people; they appeal to people’s curiosity and vanity but offer nothing.
We also have the phrase, “the traditions of men”. This refers to religious teachings that have been invented by men but have no foundation in scripture – usually with pagan origins.
This “philosophy and empty deceit” can also come “according to the basic principles of the world”. This may refer to Jewish rituals, ceremonies and ordinances by which men hope to obtain God’s favour and salvation.
Paul is warning the Colossians not to stray away from the gospel because of empty teaching of men, no matter how convincing they may sound. False teachers, by getting people to believe lies, rob them of trust, blessing and salvation. Far from being advanced in profound knowledge, the false teachers’ beliefs were simplistic and immature; like all the rest of the speculative ideologies, philosophies and psychologies that the fallen satanic and humanistic systems invent. Paul would have the Colossians test all teaching by whether or not it agrees with the doctrine of the Lord.
In verse 9, by the use of the specific term “bodily”, Paul emphasises that the Lord’s body was an actual human body, not a mere imitation of one as some Gnostics taught. And “in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead”. For in Him is all that is God; all the divine nature in an actual human body. This verse presents Messiah as divine; fully identified with God.
In Greek philosophical thought, matter was considered evil, and spirit was considered good. For them it would be unthinkable that God would ever take on a human body. Paul refutes such teaching by emphasising the reality of the Lord’s incarnation. He was not only fully God, but fully human also; not merely a spirit in a pretend human body; nor merely one of a number of angels each with some part of the divine nature.
In verse 10, Paul demonstrates to the believers that they are “complete in Him”. The fullness of all that is God, which is in the Messiah bodily, will be in believers as well because they are part of the body.
Believers are complete in the Lord both positionally by the imputed righteousness of the Lord and with the complete sufficiency of all the heavenly resources for spiritual maturity. There is nothing of a spiritual nature that the believer needs that was not provided at the point of conversion; no special knowledge or particular works are required. We do not need the ceremonies of Judaism, the help of philosophy or inventions of superstitions or works of human merit.
Messiah is the “head of all principality and power”. The Lord Yeshua is the Creator and Ruler of the universe and all its spiritual beings, not a lesser being emanating from God as the Colossians who were in error maintained. He is the Creator of angels.
Essentially, Paul is saying to the Colossian believers, ignore these false teachers. You are complete in the Lord. You have put off the power of sin and the flesh. You have been forgiven. You have been freed from the requirements of human traditions. You have been freed from the power of evil spirit beings.
Colossians 3: 5 – 7. Paul, as always, is interested in promoting godly living. Not carnality but Messiah is the theme of our third extract.
“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire and covetousness which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.”
Paul has moved from the theoretical to the practical.
In verse 5, we have the phrase “put to death”. This indicates a conscious effort to eliminate the remaining sins of the flesh. The term, “members”, signifies the forms of lust and hatred that are enumerated. The list beings with actions and moves on to motives.
“fornication” means sexual immorality.
“uncleanness” means impurity of thought, word or action.
“passion” means strong desire and uncontrolled lust.
“evil desire” means intense and often violent craving.
“covetousness” means greed or unholy desire to satisfy sexual appetite.
The Gnostics may have believed that there was no point in trying to control the physical body, but Paul argues that those who have been saved should live worthy of the salvation that a gracious God had provided. They should make every conscious effort to remove sin from the flesh as a sign of gratitude.
Believers should concentrate on the eternal realities of heaven. While obedience to rules cannot bring salvation, those who are saved ought to live worthy of that salvation.
In verse 6, Paul discusses “the wrath of God”, that is His consistent, invariable reaction to sin. This wrath is for the “sons of disobedience” i.e., unbelievers who bear the very nature of the disobedient, rebellious sinfulness they live. Men think that they can commit these outrageous sins and escape punishment. The heavens seem to be silent, and men increase in boldness. But God will not be mocked! These sins have consequences in this life, and they will reap a terrible harvest in a day yet future.
In verse 7, Paul reminds the Colossians that they once indulged in these sins before their conversion. But the grace of God had come in and delivered them from impurity. That evil chapter in their lives has been covered by the blood of Messiah. They now have a new life which empowers them to live for God.
Our final extract addresses legalism.
Colossians 2: 16 and 17.
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is Christ”,
In verse 16, Paul reminds the Colossians that they had died to all efforts to please God by the flesh. With Messiah’s victories over His enemies, believers should not be controlled by these powers and practices over which He has triumphed. Paul is warning the Colossians against trading freedom in the Lord for man-made legalistic rules which could not save nor restrain sin.
They had not only died but had been buried with the Lord and had risen with Him to new life. They should not allow themselves to be dragged back into things of which they had divested themselves. All human religions place people under bondage to ordinances, rules, regulations and a religious calendar.
Paul urges them, “Let no one judge you”. This means that a believer cannot be justly condemned if he/she does not keep a particular festival or eats certain foods.
In verse 17, Paul argues that the observances of Judaism were “a shadow of things to come but the substance is Christ”. These observances were instituted in the Old Testament as a preview of the teaching of Messiah.
False teachers in Colosse were tempting the believers to bind themselves to the outward observances of Judaism. As they were under the New Covenant, the believers were not obliged to observe Moshe’s dietary laws or the festivals or the sabbaths.
The ceremonial aspects of the Old Testament laws were a mere “shadow” pointing to Messiah.
Conclusion.
So, I hope that we see that looking at the background to this, and Paul’s other letters to the churches, aids us greatly in getting to the theological riches which lie therein.
In the letter to the Colossians, we have concentrated on the deity of Messiah, His headship of the church, the need for sound doctrine, the necessity of godly living and the dead-end that is legalism.
The letter to the Colossians has much more to offer and I comment to you further study of it.
AMEN.