Colossians Lesson 1

Colossians 1:1-14

Chapters 1, 2, and 3 in Lucas

Paul’s epistle to the Colossians isn’t filled with severe correction like some other epistles and it is generally a positive letter. We read the fairly mild correction and warnings given and then work back from there to figure out what caused Paul to write a letter to a group of believers he had never met (other than the Holy Spirit which is of course a necessary and sufficient cause). In part it is given away by terms that Paul uses that he doesn’t use in other epistles like elemental spirits and asceticism.

Colossae was about 100 miles west of Ephesus. Paul certainly got close to visiting but he says in the second chapter that he had never seen them face to face. The person who started this church was named Epaphras. He probably met Paul and was taught by him between AD 53 and AD 55 in Ephesus during Paul’s lunch time lectures (Acts 19:8-10). Then 5 to 7 years later Epaphras visited Paul in prison in Rome because he was apparently worried about the church in Colossae.

Many heresies came against the Church in the first few centuries of her existence. Many heresies have come against the Church in the last few centuries of her existence. The middle centuries were pretty much like both ends. I am continually amazed at type of attention attracted by various manuscripts written hundreds of years after the epistles and Gospels were completed. For example, the false gospels of Thomas or Judas are considered as if they were valid. Real things of value almost always have counterfeits and false substitutes. Remember how the old man laughed at the middle-aged man and the young man in Treasure of Sierra Madre because they were attracted by fools’ gold? The Church in every age has been attacked in overt and/or subtle ways to depart from a clear understanding and communication of the Gospel.

Fidelity to the Gospel is just as crucial today as it was in the first century. God was not asleep when the canon of Scripture was formed. Do we really need to remind ourselves that He paid attention to the process and He still pays attention? The canon of Scripture was formed by all the messy processes of real historical men … under the sovereign hand of God. You need to have Scripture in your head and heart as clearly as you are able by the enabling of the Holy Spirit. There are just as many heresies now as there ever were and there are some that are at least as subtle and attractive as those that our brother Epaphras had to stand against. A faithful pastor in a young church in Asia Minor who was concerned that seductive teaching was going to lead some of the flock astray.

Colossians 1:1-2

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. NIV

This salutation is similar to others that we have studied. Timothy is there with Paul in prison assisting him. Paul, in his old age, acknowledges that it was God’s will that made him who he is. Once again, this is not just humility, Paul is stating a fact.

If you will think back to the beginning of Philippians you’ll remember that Paul acknowledged the leadership in the church at Philippi. Here he doesn’t and that, along with the likely dating, is how we know that this was a young church that was still forming.

Paul calls the Colossians holy and faithful. This is the first breeze of correction. Do you know you are holy? It was bought on the Cross. Double imputation! I am righteous in God’s eyes. My sins are forgiven and Christ dresses me in His perfect obedience. Justification is 2 fold. Justified: Just as if I’d never sinned. Justified: Just as if I’d obeyed. That is an accomplished work to the Glory of God.

The Colossians (we’ve read the back of the book so we know) were being told that to be holy they needed to do more. They were being taught to add to the work done for them. They were being taught that the work was good on the cross but not everything needed to be holy and fully righteous. So they were being taught that they needed some rites and ceremonies to complete and perfect holiness. What do you do to complete and perfect your holiness? Practice a quiet time? It is a good and blessed thing for the Christian life; but It doesn’t add one bit to your justification before God. Do you tithe? It is a good thing to do. The 10% is a minimum for crucifying the flesh that we struggle against daily but it doesn’t add to your justification. In fact, we are all tempted by our flesh to seek some little thing that will cause God to judge us righteous. This is all my hope and plea, nothing but the Blood of Jesus. Nothing is not a little something. The Galatians were under a fairly overt attack to work their way to heaven. The Colossians were under a fairly subtle attack to move away from the sufficiency of Christ for justification and Paul starts by calling them holy because they are holy through Faith alone in Grace alone by Christ alone to the Glory of God alone.

Colossians 1:3-8

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. NIV

This is a very encouraging epistle. The Colossians want to be holy and they just need to be pointed back to the Gospel and assured that they are in right standing with God. They are told that their faith and love are known by Paul and the other Church leaders in Rome. They are also told that their faith and love spring from hope stored in heaven. Sometimes we have this the other way around. We think of our faith and love generating our hope in heaven. In the sense Paul is using these terms, our hope in heaven makes it possible for us to live lives of faith and to love others with God’s love as we are called too. We are not doing things in faith here on earth and loving people here on earth in order to secure a place in heaven. Our hope in the completed work of Christ provides the drive to be faithful and loving children of God. Paul is turning the Colossians away from a serious error.

Paul also lets them know that the Gospel is growing and is not in danger or in need of fixing. He reminds them they have heard and understood God’s Grace in all its truth. Paul’s point, which of course is the Holy Spirit’s point, is that Epaphras faithfully ministered the Gospel and that the Colossians understood God’s Grace in ALL its truth. These points were not wasted on the Colossians. They knew what they were going through and the struggles they were facing with people teaching them that they needed more to be fully informed and practice all sorts of various rites and rituals to be holy. It is the same old song when cults in our day teach false doctrine.

I want to review the point of attack of the enemy on the faith of the Colossians by reminding us of the three aspects of saving faith. First is the knowledge of the Gospel. At this point we are informed that we are sinners in need of God’s Grace. At that point we may not even believe what we are told but we understand it. Secondly we acknowledge the truth of what we have been told. We know we are sinners in need of God’s Grace for salvation. However, many sinners know this and won’t leave their sin. The Holy Spirit must move our stone cold dead hearts to the third point which is a saving faith in the Gospel message. We place all our eggs in the basket of the justification purchased on the Cross for us. That is the point at which the Colossians were attacked and we are often attacked at that point. They were being tempted to take eggs out of the basket of the Gospel and put them in another basket; a basket with a big hole in the bottom. They were in danger of being seduced into steps to perfection made by men. Steps that lead away from a knowledge of God but steps that make you feel like you are more holy than another.

Listen to the following prayer. I’ll remind us again that we need to pray these prayers for ourselves and others.

Colossians 1:9-14

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. NIV

I love type of Scripture because we get to find out what the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, prayed for believers. I get out my note pad here because I know that I need this too. He prayed a prayer designed to armor their minds against any attack on the perfection of Christ’s work in our lives.

He prayed that:

1) they would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will,

2) that the filling would be through all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

3) that this would produce a worthy and pleasing life for God,

4) that they would bear fruit in every good work,

5) that they would be growing in knowing God,

6) that they would be strengthened as God is strong,

7) that their strength would produce endurance and patience, and

8) that they would joyfully give thanks.

Notice also that he ends with the object of praise being our hope that drives our faith and love. He praises God our Father because He has qualified us to be part of the Church. We don’t need anything else to be part of the Kingdom of Light. He rescued us from darkness. We are not trapped anymore. We are in the kingdom of the Son He loves. In Christ we are redeemed and forgiven for our sins.

This has to be one of the most wonderful prayers in the Bible but they are all wonderful. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the frame of the sweetest person on earth when they lead me away from this. I must wholly lean on Jesus name.

Our knowledge of God’s will is to be prudent. To be prudent is to be filled with wisdom and understanding. If we are prudent we have the right application of knowledge. We don’t just know “what” and “how” but we also know “when”. Our good works are good because we do what God wants in the way He wants and when He wants it done. This increases our familiarity with God as we walk in the works that He has prepared for us before hand. Even experiencing weakness is an act of His grace as He draws us near Him so that we move in His strength and our endurance and patience are produced by the Holy Spirit and not just an act of our will.

Our hope in His complete and perfect work is like an anchor. That anchor will not move and it makes it possible for us to live in faith day by day and to display God’s Agape love to those who are unlovable just like HE does.