Established in the Gospel

About the Colossians

The Colossian Church

Colossae - neighbor to Laodicea (which we read about in Revelation) and Hierapolis - see slide

Had been a thriving city 400 years BC - but was considered a small town in the time of Christ - economic downturn, too far off the main roads

The Church is believed to have been started by Epaphras, who is mentioned several times in this letter, who served as an evangelist having been sent out by Paul when Paul was in Ephesus for 3 years.

Epaphras would have likely preached in Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colossae was his hometown (4:12) Colossae was almost completely destroyed in an earthquake in the early 60’s, less than 10 years after the church was established and this letter was written - the city was eventually abandoned -

The Purpose of the Letter

Standard Pauline Outline -

Grace,

Thank God for you,

Hold fast to the Gospel,

Stop being stupid,

Tim says hi.

Paul and Timothy wrote, giving thanks to God for how he has brought the Colossians to salvation, reminding them to hold hast to the gospel of Jesus Christ in the face of false teaching.

A big part of Colossians is about getting the gospel right, having a right view of Christ, and then holding to it

The Gospel is primarily the message about God, being holy, righteous, and just; who, when we had disobeyed, sinned, and rejected God was justified in his wrath and condemnation, but graciously gave His only begotten Son, Jesus to die in our place, taking the wrath of God’s judgment, and to rise from the dead, giving eternal life and righteousness to all who believe in Him.

Colossians 2:13–14 ESV

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Paul’s Thanksgiving

Their Reputation of Faith

Faith can mean a lot of things: a system of believes that a person holds; a blind obedience (a leap of faith); but what Paul is referring to here is a trust and reliance upon that which has been proven

Their Reputation of Love

The word used here by Paul is “agape”

The self sacrificing, covenantal, faithful, and abiding love of God. This is the kind of love that the Colossians were known for. Their faith in God was demonstrated in their love for one another.

Their Reputation of Hope

Like faith, which looks back to what God has done for assurance now, hope rests in what God has promised as it looks to the good that is promised to come.

Their “hope is laid up in the heavens,” or as Col 3:3 says, “the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God,” and the “life” of believers in that upper realm, “is hidden with Christ.” At his final coming, Christ will “be revealed,” and believers “also will be revealed in glory” (Col. 3:1, 4) in their resurrection. That was their hope, and it fueled their love and faith.

Faith, Love, and Hope = Genuine Christianity

If you strive to make your own reputation, usually you get a bad one - (We need to be known for “x”… How will I be remembered… can I make a lasting legacy?)

If you live for the glory of God, living a life rooted in the promise of the gospel, God will see to the reputation

The Working of the Gospel

Epaphras’ Ministry - Faithfully Preaching the Gospel

Preaching the Gospel to Yourself - To preach the gospel to yourself means that you continually face up to your own sinfulness and then flee to Jesus through faith in His shed blood and righteous life. It means that you appropriate, again by faith, the fact that Jesus fully satisfied the law of God, that He has atoned for your every sin, and that God’s holy wrath is no longer directed toward you. It means you believe He forgave you all your sins and now “presents you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” It means that you dwell upon the promise that God has removed your sins from you as far as the east is from the west. And it means you realize that all these promises are because of the atoning death of Jesus Christ.

As the Church holds to the Gospel, it will

Bear Fruit and Increase

In Faith, Love, and Hope