Colossians

The Letter to the Colossians

RAPPORT- My dad is a fireman for the city of Memphis and in 1978 the firemen went on strike until the city would grant them better health benefits.  My dad tells me that there were men who were called “scabs” who stayed on the job with the city and did not strike with their fellow fire fighters for different reasons.  Some stayed on because they expected a promotion soon, some claimed religious differences but regardless the firemen on strike hated these so called scabs and wanted them to turn to the picket lines like they were. 

My dad shared one story where the where some firemen were picketing outside a firehouse one day when a chief’s car pulled up and in the back seat were four “scabs” with paper bags over their heads so the picketing firemen could not identify them.  The crowd of picketers got wild by screaming and yelling at the scabs of their cowardice behavior and treachery. 

How would you feel if you had that bag on your head and all your co-workers were flinging those verbal threats your way?  I assume that is how many of the Christians in Colossae felt every day after they converted to Christianity.  Many of Jewish believers were badgered by non-believing Jews about returning to their Jewish traditions.  The Gentiles who had accepted Christ were also urged to return to their pagan ways.  It could have very well been situations with mobs much like the story of the firemen.  It is with this serious nature that the apostle Paul felt compelled to write the Colossians with encouragement and accountability to their new found faith. 

READING- Colossians 1:1-8

Author of the Letter- Paul

Colossians 1 tells us that the apostle Paul is the author of this letter.  There is a recent debate of the authorship based upon a non-Pauline vocabulary, style and theology but there is not sufficient evidence to conclude that Colossians was authored by someone other than the apostle Paul himself.    

Paul introduces himself as the “apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and Timothy our brother.”  He identifies himself as an “apostle” 9 of the 13 letters and as “an apostle by the will of God” in 3 of the letters.  He includes his disciple Timothy in his greeting to the Colossians which was common in 3 other letters of the New Testament.  It is hard to refute his authorship based upon the simple evidence of consistency. 

Paul had never been to Colossae during his missionary journey which means that the church at Colossae was started by someone other than Paul.  He had visited the area of Phrygia in Acts 16 and 18 but only passing through.   He later wrote to the people of Colossae after a visit from Epaphras while Paul was under house arrest in Rome. 

Audience and Aim of the Letter-

The Christians in Colossae were a “faithful” group as Paul says.  They were a mixture of Jews and Gentiles who lived in that region and each group were influenced by the cultural heresies of their old life.  The Greeks loved the power of knowledge.  So it is not surprising that a heresy would arise like Gnosticism( see side panel) that coupled salvation to knowledge.  Gnostics denied the sufficiency, humanity and deity of Christ.  So this false doctrine was a temptation to these new believers.  Imagine being a new convert of Christ with a Greek history.  Imagine being confronted with ideas that Jesus could not have been God because matter is evil, thus man is evil and incapable of being perfect, as the human Christ proclaims.  This was a cultural challenge to the Gentile Christians in Colossae to ignore this heresy and continue to follow Christ. 

The Jews in Colossae had their own struggles as well.  They were tempted to believe that different ceremonies and rituals must be observed to obtain salvation. Specifically, they believed that:

·         Circumcision was necessary for salvation

·         Jewish celebrations like the Sabbath and New Moons were necessary for salvation

Again imagine this culture pressure from an unconverted Jews who berates new Christians to be circumcised or to observe the Sabbath to avoid defaming the holy name of God.  To a new believer in Christ, it was not necessary to observe these Jewish traditions any further but it didn’t hurt as long as they were not viewed as necessary. 

So when Paul received word that the Colossian Christians were being pressured in these ways by the outside influences, he had a daunting task of teaching these believers of the sufficiency and supremacy of Christ, which is the theme of this letter.  Paul wanted these new Christians to know the completeness they obtained in Christ and nothing further was needed for salvation, which is why he said, “and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.”(2:10)

Account of the Colossian Church- Fruit of the Gospel

So as Paul opens his letter to the Colossians, he can see his customary greeting of his identity, the identity of the companions with him and his blessing of “grace and peace from God our Father.” 

It was difficult for Paul to write this letter to the Colossians because he did not evangelize these people, he did not start this church, nor had he ever even met any of the Colossian people.  This is quite unique from the other churches throughout Asia where Paul founded the church and returned to disciple many of those people spiritually.  So as impersonal as it was, he had to intervene in the heresy they were being challenged with.

 After careful study of these introductory verses, Paul explains six steps in the spiritual journey of the Church of Colossae. 

1.      The Gospel is brought by Epaphras

“since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf” vs.4-7

EPAPHRAS- There is not much in the NT about this man Epaphras.  We learn from Col. 1:5-7 that Paul is personally connected to him since he considers him a “faithful bondslave” and “minister” of Christ, which Paul only used of close companions.  We can see by the use of these words that Epaphras not only brought the gospel to the Phrygia area where Colossae was located, but he was the chief minister there.  We learn from Col. 4:12 that Epaphras was a citizen of this city, so he knew the people.  It is clear that Epaphras was a minister not only to Colossae but also to the other Phygia cities of Heiropolis and Laodicea. 

Paul says in Col. 4:12 “Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis.”  Epaphras’ concern for these churches leads him to travel hundreds of miles to Rome to visit Paul in his house imprisonment. There Epaphras told Paul of the heresy currently in Colossae which lead Paul to write. 

So we see here that Epaphras was the faithful servant to the Colossians and the gospel was brought there by him.  Christ compels us to take the gospel to the nations and we must obey this command so that the nations can here of the love and sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  What is interesting is that Paul did not minister in this area, but a local Colossian ministered here.  God chose Epaphras to minister in an area he was familiar; among a people he knew intimately.

I am reminded of an evangelistic effort now with the NAMB called G.P.S.  What does that device called GPS do?  (it shows you your location.  The NAMB effort stands for God’s Plan for Sharing and its purpose is for Christians to focus on where God has places us.  He puts in homes where he wants us to live.  We are to share the love of Christ with those right next door to us before we should even focus on anywhere else.  God put Epaphras in Colossae so that one day he would accept Christ and eventually minister there.  Where has God placed you?  Are you willing to take the Gospel to where God has placed you?

2.      The Colossians Received Christ by faith vs. 4a

“We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints” vs. 3-5

Pastor John Macarthur says faith means “means to be persuaded that something is true and to trust in it. Far more than mere intellectual assent, it involves obedience.” The Greek word for faith comes from the root word which means “to obey.” The concept of obedience is equated with belief throughout the New Testament [1] Biblical faith is not a “leap in the dark.” It is based on fact and grounded in evidence. It is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith gives assurance and certainty about unseen realities.[2]

In the movie, X-men 2, Storm is losing faith in the purpose of the X-men on earth to truly make a difference in the world.  She is starting to be convinced that she is just a mutant, doomed to retreat from society because of her uniqueness instead of making the world a better place with the gifts she has been given.  It will take faith in her abilities and her mutant companions to win this battle and save the day.  WATCH THIS!!

Faith is an action based on what we believe.  So you say you believe in Christ for salvation, then your faith will be demonstrated in your life.  How is faith demonstrated in your actions?  What actions of faith show you are a follower of Christ?

It was the faith of the Colossians in Christ Jesus that compelled them toward the next step…

3.      Their faith compelled them to demonstrate love vs. vs. 4b

“We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints” vs. 3-5

Since faith is an action based upon our beliefs, then we are compelled to obey God.  God tells us to Love God and Love People and our faith in God leads us to obey that.  It lead the Colossians to obey and love the saints of Colossae.  I John 4:20 says, “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” Love is a natural fruit of salvation and we are to love all people in the world. 

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.

“Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I’ve a favor to ask. I have a friend I’d like to bring home with me.”

“Sure,” they replied. “We’d love to meet him.”

“There’s something you should know,” the son continued. “He was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live.”

“No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us.”

“Son,” said the father, “you don’t know what you’re asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden to us. We have our own lives to live, and we can’t let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come on home and forget about this guy. He’ll find a way to live on his own.”

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide.

The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn’t know—their son had only one arm and one leg.

4.      Their faith and love is built upon their hope vs. 5

“since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth”, the gospel vs.4-5

As we think about the idea of hope, I want you to see the difference between earthly hope and heavenly hope.  Earthly hope can be summarized as expectation without proof of fulfillment.  Earthly hope is a desire we have for something to happen.  I hoped I would get married one day, but I was not guaranteed that.  I could have died before marriage or I could have gotten on the nerves of every woman I dated.  But heavenly hope is a promise.  Paul says that this hope “is reserved” or another way is “is being reserved.”  It is a guarantee to those who trust in Christ.  Paul says in Gal. 5:5, “For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.”

WATCH CLIP!!!  Sam knew his dad would come.  We know that one day Christ will come back to take us to our home.  Jesus said, ““In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

This is exactly Paul was saying when he said the hope is “laid up for you in the heavens.”  This phrase literally means “laid aside” or “reserved” awaiting our journey to heaven to receive our eternal rewards.  It is like at most weddings, when the groom and bride arrive last at the reception, there is a special reserved just for them that one else could sit down. 

5.      Their growth leads them to spread the gospel to the world vs.6a

“because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth”; v.5-6

Lastly, Paul concludes this spiritual journey in their lives by ending where their journey began-with the gospel.  The Colossian Christians have come full circle and because of their faith, love and hope, they are now sharing the gospel with the world.  For Paul says the gospel is growing and bearing fruit in the world and it is growing and bearing fruit in you as well.  Just as the Colossian Christians grew from first hearing the gospel, that power of God was working in the world as well.  Paul could see that work taking place and he gave that glory to God for doing it.   

We are to take the same journey that the Colossians took.  We are to hear the gospel, receive Christ in faith, love the world, rest on our hope and take the gospel to the world.  Where are you in this journey?  Are you in a rut or are you moving forward? 

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[1]MacArthur, John: Colossians. Chicago : Moody Press, 1996, c1992, S. 14

[2]IBID