Epistle – Colossians 1-2

Today we go on to another of Paul’s epistles. As we read Colossians 1 – 2 , we’ll spend time to think of the significance of Christ’s death. Though this epistle is fairly short, we still see that there are valuable lessons to be drawn from it.

Bible Passage:  Colossians 1-2

After reading, we may find that this book seems to adopt a certain tone that is characteristic of Paul. I’m not sure about you, but I seem to see similarities in Paul’s writings across Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and now Colossians. And it is this that catches my eye and will be the main point of sharing today.

Giving of Thanks

Paul frequently gives thanks to God for things that we may not usually care to do so. He thanks God for the faith and love of the saints in Colosse (Col 1:4) when we may think it insignificant. Yet the beauty in that is that he never fails to mention how this was entirely possible because of the wondrous excellence of Christ. To me, there is a simple yet difficult truth in that, for how often do we even think to associate with God, the good faith that we have? Sometimes, it is only all too common that we think it to be the effort of our own striving.

Dealing with matters squarely but sensibly

It is true that most of Paul’s epistles have to do with saddening facts. For example, Galatians had to deal with issues to do with the Law and heresies, while Corinthians had to do with internal people problems. In Colossians, one of the biggest bone of contention was to do with the matters of what truth was.

As it turned out, the historical background to this epistle had to do with false knowledge and empty philosophy that was raging on in popularity stakes in the contemporary society of that era. The church in Colosse happened to be embroiled in such a sham that was put up by the devil and this caused much headache for Paul.

Yet Paul was not one to let this go away unattended to for it was a necessary wound that had to be treated lest it festered. Truth had to be preserved and it was to be done by those who happened to have the good grace to have the knowledge of it.

And thus Paul stood forth, being bold to teach and preach Christ, in a labour according to Christ’s will, so as to fulfil the necessary aspects of ministry of Christ (cf. Col 1:24-29).

For us, when we know of similar issues in church, it should become contingent upon us to defend the truth of God, according to the terms of Christ as laid out in the bible.

Saying it as it is

One thing about Paul is that he is frank and honest with his words. There is no need for circumlocution when he deals with the theoretical truths of God (as he does in Col 1 and 2, before moving on to deal with the practical aspects in Col 3 and 4).

Colosse is a church that Paul had never visited but he was aware of the dangers that plagued the church. As a father chides and reminds his little one, so we see Paul issuing a reminder of the qualities of God. Col 2 has always been one of the key chapters in the Bible that I come to when it requires me to defend the faith that we have. There are a whole lot of biblical verses here that are what I term ‘power-house’ verses that solve many quandaries.

Paul deals with the Godhead of Christ (Col 2:9), the futility of worldly philosophy in the light of God’s knowledge (Col2:8), the circumcision that is baptism (Col 2:11-12), and also the answer to the necessity of the 10 commandments today and the mercy in doing away with the ordinances (Col 2:14-17).

For me Colossians is a memorable epistle because it allows me to use this ‘power-house’ verses in my defence of the truth. In talking to some of my friends and acquaintances, I’ve had the opportunity to refer them to the teachings in Col 1 and 2 and the reaction I’ve tended to see is one of sudden revelation. But this is only because of the grace of God that we have the proper understanding of His truth as revealed to us from the Bible. It is only because Paul was speaking his honest mind in dealing with the issues, that we are also able to say it as it is, when the task falls upon us to be the defenders of the pure truth.

Let’s not be cheated

Our reward comes from holding fast to the principles and truth of God. And we would do well to keep ourselves upon the foundations of truth and traditions of the apostles (cf. Eph 2:20). It can never be said enough that there can be no other reliance upon which to build our faith. The Colosse believers erroneously treaded this path as some were unceremoniously cheated by Satan’s false, worldly philosophy; let us be served with the reminder and warning that comes from the epistle to them, that we ought not to follow suit.

As Paul says, many things can have “an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion and false humility” (Col 2:23). These occur when we are cheated by the devil into thinking that we are doing OK just because we’re working hard in keeping the faith.

Only thing is, are we doing so according to the term of God? Or is it a futile attempt according to our own understanding? There is a fine distinction here, which was the mistake of the Colosse church, and we should do well to see that distinction and learn to be discerning in our love and defence of the truth.

“Hold fast to the Head, and grow with the increase that is from God!” (and not from our own understanding of God)