Open your bible to the New Testament, and there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself in one of the letters written by the Apostle Paul. Reading through his epistles, we feel like we know Paul because he wrote in such a personal way to his readers. We hear his exhortations, frustrations, and patient corrections to the temptations faced by his people. And we also hear the tenderness of his paternal love for his children in the faith and the ferocity of his zeal for Christ.
What we won’t specifically hear as we study this letter written to the Colossian church is the particular names of the issues plaguing them. We know Paul wrote to address concerns brought to him by their faithful minister, Epaphras, and we can discern to a certain extent what those concerns were. But by keeping the specifics veiled in the Scriptures, the Lord has preserved the relevance of his Holy Word for us today who may face issues not by the same name, but that hold for us the same perils that have threatened the faith of believers down through the ages.
What we can discern is that Paul wrote to the Colossians in response to pressures on the congregation to add to the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). Apparently they were being pressed to add to the salvation bought for them by the Lord Jesus. They were being told that Jesus was not enough. Rather than directly refuting these errors, Paul displays to them the glories of Christ Jesus, showing by comparison how empty and bankrupt the pretenders are. Paul seeks to guard the Colossians and us from false gospels by showing to us the beauty of the only true gospel and the supremacy and sufficiency of the only Lord, Jesus Christ.
Some Background
In his missionary journeys, it’s likely that Paul passed through the city of Colossae, as it was situated on the main road that passed through the Lycus Valley in Asia Minor, but there is no record of him stopping there to preach the gospel or to plant a church. He did spend quite a bit of time not only preaching, but also imprisoned in Ephesus, about 100 miles from Colossae, during which time visitors from the Lycus Valley came to hear him and were converted to Christ (Acts 19:8–10). Among these was Epaphras, “who was in all probability the actual founder of the churches of the Lycus Valley.”[1]
Epaphras was a Colossian, a servant of Christ, and a hard worker in the three congregations of the Lycus Valley (also Laodicea and Hierapolis) (Col. 4:12–13). Because of Epaphras the people of the Lycus Valley heard the good news and called upon the name of the Lord to be saved (Rom. 10:13–15). When heretical philosophies threatened his congregation, he traveled to Rome to bring Paul news of the church in Colossae and his concerns for them. Though Paul has never met this congregation (Col. 2:2), because of his zeal for Christ and his love for the church, his concern for their spiritual welfare is poured into this epistle, urging them to hold fast to the true faith in their only Savior.
But why should they listen to Paul, whom they’ve never even met?
Greeting
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother” —Colossians 1:1
Paul opens his letter with his variation on the standard greeting common in his day. We close personal letters with our names; writers then opened with their names. But more than just his name, Paul reminds them of his office: he is an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. “Apostle” wasn’t simply a title handed out to important folks in the church. The title of apostle was reserved for a select few who had not only personally witnessed the risen Lord Jesus, but was called by Christ for the twofold purpose of laying the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20) and equipping the saints (Eph. 4:11–12). Many people were eyewitnesses to the resurrected Lord, but not many were called to carry the weighty authority of an apostle (Acts 9:15–16). Paul’s apostleship came by the will of God (Col. 1:1), certainly not by his own choosing (Acts 9:1–6), therefore we can trust what he says. This letter contains the words of an eyewitness, the approved first-hand teachings of one called to the gospel-work of sharing and explaining doctrines that he received directly from God (Gal 1:12).
To whom, then, was Paul writing?
Saints and Brothers
“To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae” —Colossians 1:2a
Saints aren’t a select few super-spiritual people; every Christian is a saint. This is our identity as the people of God. This term reflects both who we are— cleansed, forgiven, and set apart from the world to belong to God— and who we are to be—holy, devoted, pure, consecrated, and apart from the world in how we use our words, spend our time and money, and where we place our affections. This is who we are and how we are to endeavor to live, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, through the lifelong process of sanctification (sanctification = the making of a saint).
Brothers (and sisters). Christians are brothers and sisters in Christ. Our relationship and union with Christ defines our relationship to every Christian. When we are saved into Christ, we are joined to the family of God: with Christ our elder brother and God our Father. We share the same Spirit, the same home (the church), the same access to God in prayer, and the same inheritance. We belong to one another in God’s family. We owe one another our affections, time, and prayers, and our individual burdens become mutual burdens as we bear them together (Gal. 6:2).
Grace and Peace
Paul closes his greeting with a blessing.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father” —Colossians 1:2b
In this blessing, Paul bestows upon them the heart of the gospel: grace and peace. Grace is the good news of God’s unmerited favor come down to us unilaterally from the Father (Eph. 2:4, 8). As David Irving describes it, “Grace is God’s goodness to the guilty.” And as Richard Phillips writes in his commentary on Colossians,
“God’s grace finds expression in the unstoppable plan of grace for our salvation. . . . Grace is God’s power working in us for newness of life. It is by grace that the Colossians will escape captivity from “philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition” (Col. 2:8), and be enabled to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (3:10).”[2]
And finally, peace. Once the Colossians (and we) received the grace of God in salvation, peace followed inevitably in its wake. Sin makes us God’s enemies; Christ gives the peace from God that enables us to be at peace with God. Christ himself is our peace (Eph. 2:14). This peace isn’t merely a cease-fire, nor a lack of hostility, but it’s a true and eternal peace. It is shalom—”the deep and abiding peace that comes when people are right with God.”[3] This is the peace that Jesus promised on the night he was arrested, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (John 14:27).
I’m so glad to begin this journey with you, digging for the treasures to be found in this magnificent book of the Bible. May the Spirit attend our study, and may his grace and peace be with you now and forevermore.
Our lesson covered Colossians 1:1–8. For a summary of verses 3–8, see my previous post, here, which I wrote a couple of months ago and re-shared on my own blog last week.
[1] William Hendriksen, Exposition of Colossians and Philemon, New Testament Commentary (Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI, 1964) p. 15
[2] Richard Phillips, Colossians & Philemon, Reformed Expository Commentary (P&R: Phillipsburg, NJ, 2024), p.11–12
[3] Ibid
Grateful 