Colossians

Preliminary Thoughts on Colossians 2007 May 30^th for June 27^th

Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. These are four short letters of Paul to various churches that are included in the middle of the New Testament. I suspect the themes will be the same in Colossians as in the others, tailored to the recipients: Adherence to the word as originally delivered, eschewing of pagan practices, unity of the body, and so forth.

It leaves me wondering what the word originally delivered is. Perhaps it is what we have seen in Romans and Corinthians. Perhaps it will be spelled out here.

Colossians 1 2007 June 1^st for 28^th

Paul and Timothy write this letter to the church at Colosse.

They are thankful to God for the faith and love there of which they have heard. The Gospel was first brought there through the faithful minister Epaphras and then Epaphras came and told Paul of them and their good response.

Paul and Timothy have prayed for them since they heard this. They have prayed that they live in a way worthy of God, bringing him pleasure and that they develop the fruits of the Spirit and overcome evil.

Christ is the “firstborn of creation,” the image of God. Everything was created “by and for him.” That includes the physical creation, spiritual creation, and powers such as rulerships. But Christ precedes and is above all of this. “For God was pleased to have all fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

There was a time when “you were alienated from God,” his enemies. Through Christ’s physical sacrifice, all are reconciled if they continue in this faith and don’t waver. This is the gospel (that we were complaining yesterday had not been detailed). Paul is a slave to the proclamation of this message.

Paul rejoices that this message, hidden for ages, is now in the open and being proclaimed everywhere.

“We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”

The energy of Christ works powerfully in Paul.

Colossians 2 2007 June 2^nd for 29^th

Paul was struggling on behalf of the church in Colosse and Laodicea (to whom there is no extant letter but which is mentioned in the book of Revelations). He wants them to grow to perfect understanding of God through Christ and to share in all the joys of that. Since he has never met them and is absent from them, he also wants them not to be led astray by other teachers who are present or who come around from time to time.

Such teachers expound “hollow philosophy” which “depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than Christ.” There are all sorts of traditions of angel worship and other false religions based on their experience. The church must not be deceived into these. Such leaders have lost sight of Christ the head and only look rather at other parts of the body.

Christ is the Deity, so he provides the real induction into faith, not men following old laws (i.e. circumcision). In this you have, “been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God.” We use these words in our own baptism services.

God raises from the dead.

People are dead in their sins before they meet God, then he raises them to life and all their sins go with Christ to be nailed to the cross.

So don’t get involved in all the judgments about religious festivals and new moons and such. They only foreshadow things to come. The reality is in Christ. Get involved with Christ.

Having died with Christ to the “do not” rules of this world, why still follow them? All such things, being part of this world are “destined to perish.” The traditions do appear to have some wisdom but the worship is in false humility and their ability to restrain “sinful indulgence” is weak.

So, it appears that, for his flock, present or absent, Paul is concerned about false teaching and restraint from indulgence. He repeatedly returns to the notion of Christ being the center and the focus of everything, all else being shadows or, at best, temporary.

Colossians 3 2007 June 5^th for July 2^nd

Being freed in Christ to do whatever is good and profitable, we are now given the rules for Christian living. From these are selected most of what our “being nice” Christian culture is about. Unfortunately, even here, some ideas are ignored.

Keep your mind on spiritual things. Put to death all the things of the flesh, immorality, lust, greed, and so forth. Don’t indulge in anger, malice, foul language, or lying. All these things are from the former nature, not the new one. You are free of them; don’t slide back.

Further, there are no races or nationalities under God. Jews and Greeks, slave or free, or even barbarian, Christ redeems and inhabits all. Muslims (not yet invented) are not mentioned but might well be.

Be gentle, patient, kind, and humble. Handle grievances with forbearance and forgiveness. The greatest virtue is love. Be unified.

Do everything in the name of Jesus. Live at peace. Admonish each other with wisdom. Sing hymns and songs.

Wives and husbands be submissive and not harsh. Children be obedient. Parents do not be harsh and discouraging. Slaves (employees), obey in everything as if in obedience to Christ. “Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.”

But also, “Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.”

The responsibility is not only from the subservient but also from the served.

Colossians 4 2007 June 6^th for July 3^rd

Paul’s final instructions begin with: “Devote yourselves to prayer.”

Paul is in chains proclaiming the gospel. He asks for prayer that he will be able to do so clearly.

The remainder of the chapter is greetings from those with Paul. Notable are fellow prisoners and fellow Jewish workers for the Gospel. Also there is Mark, cousin of Barnabas. Is this the Mark of he Gospel? Also Epaphras, the first preacher at Colosse who we met at the beginning of the letter. Epaphras prays hard and works hard for the cause of Christ there and at Laodicea. There is also Luke the doctor. He is the Luke of the Gospel of Luke.

Paul sends greetings to the church at Laodicea and instructs that after this letter is read in Colosse that it also be read to them. He then instructs that the letter to Laodicea be brought to Colosse similarly. The letter to Laodicea does not survive.

“Tell Archippus: ‘See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.’” Is this an exhortation or a prod?

Paul then writes the end in his own hand, as is his custom, a form of signature.

Concluding Thoughts on Colossians 2007 June 7^th for July 5^th

Apparently Paul had not visited and never visited Colosse, but he admired the founder of the church there, a preacher called Epaphras, and cared about the church at Colosse as much as his others. As with his other churches, there were particular departures from true doctrine that he challenged and corrected, in this case things such as angel worship and various sorts of festivals and other not-exactly-Christian celebrations. Most of the letter is exhortation to behave in ways in which Christians should behave, a feat that is possible in the power of God through Christ.

Paul writes from prison in Rome. It is possible that we would not have most of what was written by Paul, in the form of letters to the formative churches, without this imprisonment. He would just have traveled among them dealing with matters in person. The companion letter to Laodicea, another city near Colosse, is apparently lost. If it is found some day I wonder if it will be canonized.

In the signature, we see some familiar names, particularly Mark and Luke, one or both of whom wrote histories of Christ themselves, that is, the Gospels.

Much of what we consider as proper Christian behavior is contained not in the Gospels, the words and story of Christ, but in these letters, the amplification by Paul. Paul tells us to believe the right things and get along with each other, not sinking into destructive physical or spiritual practices such as those promoted by nearby competing religions. It seems to me that much of our social behavior as Christians today is based upon the writings of Paul as opposed to the teachings of Jesus that, then and now, are quite rebellious against the status quo.