Do you desire freedom, victory, focus, and practice of the indwelling Life of Christ?
This study on the book of Colossians will rock your world, renew your mind, and transform your view of the supremacy of Jesus Christ.
Is Christ enough for your daily living? Is His indwelling Life satisfying enough? Do you tend to listen to false teachers unknowingly? This series will address these questions and many more.
Stay with us as we explore Biblical Paul's letter to a church that was slipping into modern heretical teachings, tempting the Colossians to question the supremacy, deity, and sufficiency of Jesus Christ.
AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT’S TO COME
Imagine a group of born-again indwelt believers who were solid in their faith in Jesus Christ. Then, they began listening to outsiders who dispersed seeds of doubt regarding the all-sufficiency of the very Savior that saved their mortal souls.
The mission and purpose of the biblical Colossians church was to worship and serve Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all creation and the head of the church. The Colossians church was also called to grow in spiritual maturity and resist false teachings that would undermine their indwelling faith in Christ and their identity in Him.
The Colossians church was founded by Epaphras, a convert of Paul, who shared the gospel with the people of Colossae, a small city in Asia Minor. Paul wrote a letter to the Colossians from prison, probably in Rome, around A.D. 62, to encourage them, correct them, and instruct them on how to live as Christians in the world. Some of the main themes of Paul’s letter are:
The supremacy and sufficiency of Christ. Paul affirms that Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the creator and sustainer of all things, the head of the church, the reconciler of all things, and the fullness of God (Col. 1:15-20; 2:9-10). He also declares that Christ has defeated the powers of darkness on the cross and has given believers a new life and identity in Christ (Col. 2:11-15; 3:1-4).
The dangers of false teachings. Paul warns the Colossians against being deceived by human philosophy, Jewish legalism, pagan mysticism, and asceticism, which would rob them of the riches and freedom they have in Christ (Col. 2:4-23). He urges them to hold fast to Christ, the head, and to follow His WORD, not the traditions of men (Col. 2:6-8, 19; 3:16).
The implications of the Gospel for daily Christian living. Paul exhorts the Colossians to put to death their earthly passions and to put on the new self, which is being renewed in the image of Christ (Col. 3:5-10). He also instructs them to cultivate virtues of the indwelling Life of Christ, such as compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, and gratitude (Col. 3:12-17). He also gives specific guidelines for the authentic believer’s households, such as wives, husbands, children, parents, slaves, and masters (Col. 3:18-4:1). He also encourages them to pray, to be wise, and to share the Gospel with others (Col. 4:2-6).
THE COMPLIMENT
Paul, known for his love and compassion, begins his letter by complimenting the Colossians of their faith, love, and fruitfulness as a local Church body (1:4-6).
“Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth…” (Colossians 1:4-6)
Revealing Paul’s leadership responsibilities, he declares how often he prays they will be filled with knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual understanding, honoring and pleasing the Lord and increasing in their indwelling knowledge OF Him (1:9-12).
THEN COMES THE CORRECTION
Since the Colossian Church was one of the youngest at the time, Paul understood they were ripe targets for Satan’s liberal teachers – to lead them astray from the absolutes of the Gospel and full dependence on the Life of Christ that lived within all believers in Christ. Paul reminds them that it was the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus that brought them salvation (1:15-23). However, some local teachers were deceiving this young fellowship with ideations that Christ was not enough. Paul believed that this false teaching struck at the heart of the Gospel.
One of the majors of Paul’s teachings was refuting the need for religious rules and regulations (2:16-19). In this, when Paul received intel that false teachers were attempting to impose a religious system on his new converts, he was compelled to remind the fellowship that their salvation came via the Grace of Jesus.
Paul, being a well-groomed teacher of the Law and Grace of Jesus, could have dismantled the false teachers one by one. He did not. He went to the reciprocator of such teachings – the Colossians Church – laboring them with the challenge of such attacks from false teachers strike at the very heart of the Gospel.
Since Paul avoided dismantling the false tenets item by item, he went on the offensive, representing Jesus in all His glory and majesty, declaring that the indwelling Life of Jesus “is the image of the invisible God” and that in Christ ALL the fulness of the Living God was represented in the believer within their mortal souls in and through Him, He reconciles Himself unto all things, every struggle, temptation, and doubt. He reminds them that all this is accomplished through the blood of the Cross, which activates a sound mind and peace that rises above all circumstances (1:15, 19, 20). In other words, he wanted his converts to experientially understand that Christ alone is enough. Leaving them with the reality that no other person, being, or knowledge is needed in order to know the One true indwelling God and Savior.
We find in the first half of this letter Paul resets their minds on the understanding of Jesus, and the spiritual freedom He provides is found inwardly, if authentically saved, within their souls. He goes on to remind them in chapters three to four of how to properly live out the Truth in their daily lives. He admonishes them with the Truth that practical living of the indwelling Life is a result of proper doctrines, and living out the Truth advances exhortations by being an example to observers.
An immovable doctrine noted in the book of Colossians is authentic spirituality is not based on humans but on the rules of God, not those established by humans, or their religious institutions. These eternal rules are rooted in the sufficiency of Jesus alone, who fulfilled the rules without the assistance of humanity. The Laws of the Spirit of Life are the pathway to freedom, not a road to returning to bondage. These eternal rules, if acted upon, produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit through selfless obedience, not the selfishness of legalism found in humanity’s institutions.
THE COLOSSIANS SEREIS