#1 Setting the Stage

Read

Pray

The Correspondence:

Paul begins this book with his standard greeting.

I don’t know about you, but I often blow right past these introductions. How many of you do the same thing?

I have often treated it like reading the genealogies in 1 Chronicle saying, “yep there that is” and blow right past it.

As I have been studying for Wednesday nights and now some Sunday mornings, I have learned that there is a lot of truth contained in these sections of scripture and it would behoove us to pay attention to them.

It was the custom of the ancient world to place your name at the beginning of a letter, which is a marked departure from the custom of our day were we sign a letter with our name at the end of the letter.

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”

With this one statement, Paul is claiming the authority and title of his office in Christ. He is not simply a messenger writing to you, but as an Apostle of Christ Jesus, a sent one of God, an official representative of the One that sent him.

This letter then is not merely Paul’s opinion, but God’s authoritative word.

We also see in the short phrase that Paul did not become an Apostle through his own efforts, nor was he nominated by any human organization or church. Instead, Paul was an apostle by the will of God.

Please turn to Acts chapter 9:1-9, Paul was chosen by God and brought to his service through God’s sovereign choice. We see in that amazing dialogue on the Damascus road where Christ struck Paul was confronted by Christ who asked him why he was persecuting his church. The text goes on to say that Paul’s eyes were opened, but he could not see for three days.

The book of Acts in Chapter 13 also tells us of Paul being set apart for missionary service by the Holy Spirit.

This introduction is not merely a simple greeting, but a clear declaration that those who read this should take heed of its message.

Paul goes on to mention Timothy, who is his co-laborer in Christ who was with Paul.

Verse 2 “To the saints and brothers in Christ at Colossae:”

The phrase “saints and brothers’ has sometimes been taken to mean two separate groups of people one group of saints and one of the brothers because of our English translation.

This is not at all what Paul is stating here

Here you see the original greek

The first word there Hagiois is translated as saints. It literally refers to separation, or in this case being separated from sin and set apart to God.

The second word is Kai and translated as and. Common enough translation, but another way it could be translated is as even

Third, we see Pistois, which is rendered faithful.

Together it could read “Faithful even set apart to God” or to put it another way Paul is saying that our Faithfulness is the very root of our separation from sin, our saving faith.

To be a saint is to have faith and be set apart for God. Believing saints are the only true saints.

Now that we have looked at the introduction of this letter and have seen how Paul has taken a strong position from the outset, I would like to take a step back and take a broader view of Colossians.

I want to set the stage for you and look at why this particular piece of scripture was given to the Saints throughout the ages.

To do that I will try and give you some historical context.

The Author

Colossians was authored by Paul during his imprisonment in Rome

This letter is one of the prison epistles or prison letters

It was written between 60-62 AD while Paul was in Rome

In all reality, the letter was probably delivered by Onesimus, who was a runaway slave that came to Christ because of Paul.

Onesimus is the same runaway slave Paul wrote about in Philemon. In all reality, Onesimus probably delivered both letters upon his return to Colossae

The City

Roughly 100 miles inland of Ephesus

The City of Colossae is in the Phrygia region of the Asia Province of the Roman Empire

It is located in present-day Turkey.

It was part of tri-cities area of the Lycus River Valley

During its heyday, Colossae was on a major trade route between the East and West. An interplay that will become important later in the letter.

Around 60 AD there was a major earthquake in the region that devastated Colossae.

While the city was rebuilt quickly, This event really was the capstone of the decline of Colossae.

Today this is what the area looks like

Most of the city ruins still remain buried.

Today there has been very little archeology done in the region, but what has been uncovered are the ruins of the Acropolis, a Theatre, and the foundation of the church as Colossae

The Church

Interestingly enough Paul did not directly found the Church, nor do we have any evidence that he ever even visited the church at Colossae

Having said that, the Colossian church is still a direct descendant of Paul.

We know Paul spent 3 years in Ephesus and during that time Epaphras came to know Christ.

Epaphras was from Colossae and took the Gospel home with him and planted a church.

Philemon was also instrumental to the church in Colossae as he was hosting a home church.

In all reality, Philemon’s son, Archippus, was a Pastor or Elder at the church.

Interestingly enough, these men were also key figures in starting the churches at Laodicea and Hierapolis

The Crisis

I want to begin by stating categorically that the church at Colossae was a solid church and there is no evidence that there were doctrinal errors in the church.

That being said the church was under intense pressure of heresy from outside the church.

In fact, it was so dangerous for the church that Epaphras traveled to Rome to visit Paul and seek his advice. A trip that was roughly 1300 miles one way

What heresy was so threatening the peach and purity of the Colossian church?

It was a heresy that blended Judaic Legalism, similar to the Judiazers, with elements of False Eastern Philosophy that taught they had access to a Mysterious Superior Knowledge beyond the bible.

This blend of Jewish legalism and eastern philosophy that has come to be known as proto-Gnosticism.

Proto-Gnosticism

At its core, proto-Gnosticism says that God is pure good, and matter is evil.

God cannot create evil, so God did not create the earth or its inhabitants

Instead, there are many layers of creation, or emanations, between evil matter and the Good God.

There are good emanations which are called angels and bad or evil emanations called demons.

The bad emanations block us from getting to God.

In order to get to God, humans have to gain access to superior knowledge gained rituals and ceremonies, such as circumcision being necessary to breakthrough.

And humans have to gain the aid a good emanation or angel in order to break through the barrier.

Think of it this way …(give the chair analogy).

This heretical system of belief Relegates Christ to merely a Good Emanation, granted one close to God, but obviously not God.

It denies the Deity of Christ as God which is Pure good could not enter into the evil material world.

And it also denies the humanity of Christ as the material world is evil so a Good emanation could never enter it.

So Christ is neither God nor man. You can see why this was concerning to Epaphras.

Boiling all of this mess down, what we are left with is an outright denial of the sufficiency of Christ on the part of the citizens of Colossae. In this system Christ is not now nor can he ever be sufficient to save you.

Many Bible scholars have concluded that Colossians is the most profound letter Paul ever wrote. This must not keep us from reading and studying this wonderful letter. But we must be cautioned against a superficial approach to these chapters. Unless we depend on the Spirit of God to teach us, we will miss the truths God wants us to learn.

The church today desperately needs the message of Colossians. We live in a day when religious toleration is interpreted to mean “one religion is just as good as another.” Some people try to take the best from various religious systems and manufacture their own private religion. To many people, Jesus Christ is only one of several great religious teachers, with no more authority than they. He may be prominent, but He is definitely not preeminent.

This is an age of “syncretism.” People are trying to harmonize and unite many different schools of thought and come up with superior religion. Our evangelical churches are in danger of diluting the faith in their loving attempt to understand the beliefs of others. Mysticism, legalism, Eastern religions, asceticism, and man-made philosophies are secretly creeping into churches. They are not denying Christ, but they are dethroning Him and robbing Him of His rightful place of preeminence.

Tell me if you have ever heard anyone make these statements?

“I am not religious, I am spiritual.”

“We are reclaiming and redeeming the New Age for Christ.” The Physics of Heaven, Bethel.

“Evolution is absolutely compatible with the Genesis account of creation.”

My friends as believers we are also set apart for God, we need to continue to allow God to Sanctify us. As we study this exciting letter we must heed Paul’s warning: “I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments” (), “That no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit” (), or to “let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink” ()

Let’s Pray