Colossians Study
Core themes, fun facts and lessons.
Introduction
Summary of the message
Christ is supreme, and He is the source and sustainer of everything. He is sufficient, and all you need for salvation is found in Him. Christianity isn't belief salad. The resurrected life has implications on how we live and conduct ourselves. Let us interact with one another, conscious of the fact that we all have one Lord, and we are all His children. Honour for our Lord, Jesus is the number one driver of our lifestyle.
Authorship
The Apostle Paul is typically credited as the author of the letter to the Colossians. It's probable that Timothy contributed to the letter's composition or at the very least was present when Paul dictated it. Timothy is mentioned in the greetings at the end of the letter (4:18), and he is referred to as Paul's "brother and fellow worker" (1:1).
It is believed to have been written around 60-62 AD, during Paul's imprisonment in Rome. It is said to be one of the prison epistles, alongside Ephesians, Philippians and Philemon.
Audience
The letter is addressed to the church at Colossae, a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor - a church whom Paul had never met, and was founded by Epaphras, a disciple of Paul who was later imprisoned with Paul (Philemon 23).
The letter - like other letters - would have been carried by one or more disciples and read aloud to the church. In this case, the carrier(s) of the letter were Onesimus & Tychicus (4:7-9).
It was a long, weary journey from Rome to Colossæ,—across Italy, then by sea to Greece, across Greece, then by sea to the port of Ephesus, and thence by rough ways to the upland valley where lay Colossæ, with its neighboring towns of Laodicea and Hierapolis. Blue Letter Bible: TYCHICUS AND ONESIMUS, THE LETTER-BEARERS
Location
Colossae was an ancient city in Phrygia, Asia Minor, located about 160 kilometers east of Ephesus. It was founded by the Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter in the 3rd century BC and named after his father, Seleucus I Nicator. Colossae was located on the Lycus River, near the modern-day town of Honaz in Turkey.
The city was an important center of trade and commerce, and it was also home to a number of important religious shrines. Other major cities in Asia Minor at the time of the Apostle Paul included Smyrna, Pergamum, and Sardis. These cities were all located on the trade routes between Ephesus and the major cities of the Roman Empire.
Situational context
Paul’s letter to the Colossians was necessitated by the pressure on the church’s faith. This pressure popularly known as the “Colossian heresy” had three prongs:
- Jewish legalism: adherence to Jewish dietary laws and ceremonial feasts.(2:16-17)
- Oriental mysticism: an unhealthy obsession with, service to, and worship of angels (2:18)
- Greek asceticism: self-imposed humility, hard treatment of the body, and a “superior” wisdom (2:20-23)
Book Outline
- 1:1-1:23: Introduction and opening prayer
- 1:1–2: Opening greeting
- 1:3–14: Opening prayer and purpose
- 1:15–20: Christ hymn
- 1:21–23: Reconciliation in Christ
- 1:24–2:5: Paul’s hardships
- 1:24–29: Paul’s sufferings for the church
- 2:1–5: Paul’s struggle for the Colossians
- 2:6–23: Paul’s warnings against false teachers
- 2:6–7: Foundation in Christ
- 2:8–23: The Church’s salvation and confidence comes from Christ
- 3:1–4:1: Christ at the center of all of life
- 3:1–17: Christ at the center of personal behavior
- 3:1–4: Rooting the mind in Christ
- 3:5–11: Putting to death earthly desires
- 3:12–17: Putting on godly virtues
- 3:18–4:1: Christ at the center of relationships
- 3:18–21: Family relationships
- 3:22–4:1: Master/slave relationships
- 4:2–18: Concluding remarks
- 4:2–6: General exhortation
- 4:7–18: Final greetings
Jason C. Kuo, “Colossians, Letter to the,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
Notable People
Epaphras
Epaphras was the founder of the Colossian church, a Christian minister and a close friend of the Apostle Paul. He is mentioned in several New Testament letters, including Colossians, Philemon, and the letter to the Ephesians.
Epaphras was a native of Colossae, a city in Asia Minor. He was a faithful minister of the gospel, and he was well-respected by the early church.He was also a man of prayer, and he often interceded for the church.
Tychicus
Tychicus was an Ephesian who served as a trusted friend and colleague of Paul, and was often sent on missions on his behalf. He was the bearer of the letters to the Colossian and Ephesian churches, and possibly also together with Onesimus, the letter to Philemon. He is also mentioned in Titus as someone who might be sent to him at Crete.
Onesimus
Onesimus also served as a personal assistant to the Apostle Paul. Onesimus was a runaway slave who became a Christian and was sent back to his master, Philemon, with a letter from Paul. Onesimus is mentioned in several of Paul's letters, including Philemon, Colossians, and Titus.
Related Books
Philemon
Ephesians
Prison Epistles
The letters of Ephesians and Colossians are both considered to be "prison epistles" because they were written by Paul while he was in prison. They are also both addressed to churches in Asia Minor, and they share many similarities in terms of their content. However, there are also some important differences between the two letters.
Same Letter Bearer
Considering how expensive it was to get the letters from Rome to Asia Minor, it makes absolute sense that Paul wrote the Colossian and Ephesian letters, as well as the letter to Philemon at the same time, and had Tychicus and Onesimus deliver those letters since they were on the same route.
Thematic Overlaps
Colossians 1:1-2 | Ephesians 1:1-2 |
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father. | Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
Colossians 1:17-19 | Ephesians 1:22-23 |
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, | And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. |
Colossians 1:20-22 | Ephesians 2:13-18 |
and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— | But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; |
Colossians 1:25 | Ephesians 3:3 |
Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, | if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; |
Colossians 2:19 | Ephesians 4:16 |
and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. | from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. |
Colossians 3:16 | Ephesians 5:19 |
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. | speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; |
Colossians 3:18-19 | Ephesians 5:22-23 |
Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. | Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. |
Colossians 3:20-21 | Ephesians 6:1-4 |
Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart. | Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. |
Colossians 3:22 - 4:1 | Ephesians 6:5-9 |
Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven. | Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him. |
Colossians 4:7-8 | Ephesians 6:21-22 |
As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts; | But that you also may know about my circumstances, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts. |
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down){kind=logo}