Colossians— Complete in Christ
03.29.23
And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead: that in all things He might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18)
Colossians is one of the Prison Epistles. Along with Ephesians, Philippians and Philemon, it was written during Paul’s first Roman imprisonment.
We may never have heard of this little city had not Paul written this epistle. It was located in Asia Minor about 100 miles east of Ephesus near Laodicea. Though an ancient city, it was not very important.
Paul never visited Colosse, and so was unacquainted with the believers there (2:1). However, his three-year ministry in Ephesus was very effective all over Asia Minor [Acts 19]. Epaphras, one of Paul’s converts in Ephesus, brought the Gospel to Colossae (1:6-8). He was a fellow-prisoner with Paul in Rome where he shared with Paul the conditions of the church.
The church was fundamentally sound (1:3-8), but had some errors on the horizon that needed attention. Once the church had read the epistle, they were to exchange it with the one Paul wrote to Laodicea [which may refer to the book of Ephesians]. The church met in the house of Philemon, and its pastor was his son Archippus (4:17; Philemon 1, 2).
As noted, the theme of the book is ‘Complete in Christ.’ Paul was combating a unique heresy in Colossae. It was a mixture of various ideas: Jewish legalism, Oriental mysticism and Greek philosophy. These do not mix well, and a monstrosity was created. It would be like trying to be a fan of the Vikings, Bears, and Lions all at once, oh my!
From this mixture flowed many errors. The Judaizers taught that one had to become a Jew before becoming a Christian. Thus circumcision was necessary even for Gentiles. Paul combats this by stressing that the Jewish rites were only symbols of the true, and all are answered by the Cross.
The mystics were encouraging people to worship angels. This was based on their belief that Christ was only one of many steps to God, the angels being some of the other steps. Paul clearly stated that Christ alone is preeminent!
The Gnostics taught that matter is evil. This would include the body. This led to the ideas that either Christ did not have a real body, or that He left His body before He died. All of this was a denial of the actual death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. If Christ did not die, and if He is not risen, we have no hope.
All of these, and other things, were cobbled together as a ‘mystery religion’ that only the initiated could understand. Paul wrote an inspired ‘Nonsense’ over the whole mess.
Unfortunately, we have many of these same teachings today. The idea that the baptism of infants is necessary for salvation flows out of the same false reasoning about circumcision. You find an emphasis on angels in the cults and in Islam. Many churches prioritize their traditions and rituals thus cancelling out the simplicity of faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Paul countered it all by proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the Lord of Creation and the Head of the Church. The true mystery is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (1:26, 27) We can be “complete in Him.” (2:10)—He is all that we need!
There is so much more to be said. Why not take the time to read the book of Colossians for yourself.