Colossians 1:12-14
“..giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption 4through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
I am going to cover these three verses as if they were one because they all tie together and describe one thing: Christ’s atoning death on the cross.
The first thing to note is that it says were “qualified” to be “partakers of the inheritance.” We have already discussed the inheritance in a previous lesson but as a reminder here are the verses that explain what this inheritance is:
1 Peter 1:4 “to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you”
2 Tim 4:8 “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
So how were we qualified?
This word for “qualified” in the New King James Version replaced the phrase “hath made us meet” from the King James Version and in the Greek means make sufficient, render fit and to equip one with adequate power to perform duties of one.
Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross was the qualifying act that made us sufficient and rendered us fit to enter into the presence of God. Understand that before you come to Christ, you are at war with God whether you know it or not.
Romans 5:10-For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
The key word there is “enemies.” Romans 5:10 is a perfect compliment to our verses this week because it emphasizes what Christ did for us but moreover, what condition we were in before the cross.
Verse 13 is better translated in the NIV because the words used more accurately represent the Greek words - Col 1:13 “ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (NIV)
Since we could not deliver ourselves from the guilt and penalty that sin brings, Jesus had to come because He could and did deliver us. The penalty from sin is eternal separation from God forever. That is what we were facing!
But we were not just delivered from an eternity apart from God, we were delivered from the power of Satan! Jesus did not set us free with no where to go, He rescued us from Satan’s grasp and brought us to the bosom of God.
The phrase "His dear Son" >/b>has be translated “the Son of His love.” This should remind us that His kingdom is a kingdom of love as well as a kingdom of light.
1 John 1:5-7 “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
The problem is that even though we have been rescued from darkness, some still want to hide and live in darkness with their sin. As long as you stay in the darkness and continue a lifestyle of sin, you still not be in fellowship with God. We must walk in the light of Christ and with Christ. Only then are we cleansed from our sin.
For homework, read John 15:1-11 as it teaches about abiding in Jesus, the true vine.
Till next time…
Have a Blessed week!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Book of Colossians Study - Weeks 2 and 3
Chapter 1:3-8
We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
First thing to notice is that Paul was always giving thanks and praying for those in the church (See Cor 1:4, Eph 1:16, Phil 1:3). Paul understood the struggles that came with being a Christian and was continually praying for the saints and for their perseverance.
In verse 5, he mentions “the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.” What hope is he referring to? Look at the following verses: 1 Peter 1:4 “to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you”
2 Tim 4:8 “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
The hope that is laid up for us in heaven is Jesus Christ. He is “the blessed hope” in Titus 2:13. And this hope is not some uncertain belief that may or may not happen. The hope we have in Christ is the confidence in what God will do in the future. This confidence should lead to a greater trust in God and a deeper love for others as well as influence our lives if we are truly believers.
We also read in these verses that the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ had to come to Colosse. Understand it was not native to the area. It was brought by Epaphras who was a citizen of Colosse (Col 4:12). Had met Paul at some point and came to know the Lord Jesus Christ, probably in Ephesus. He was most likely the pastor of the church in Colosse. He was visiting Paul while he was a prisoner in Rome. We do not know if Epaphras was arrested as well or a “voluntary prisoner.” All we do know is that he took the Good News back home. Mark 5:19 tell us what Jesus said to the demon possessed man that he cast the demons out of. The man wanted to stay with Jesus but Jesus said, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”
We are to take the gospel of Christ to our homes, our families and our friends. We need to let the good news spread and touch the lives of others.
When we become Christians and are convicted of our sins, we sometimes feel the need to become the sin patrol and point out others sins. Sins that we were committing, along side of them, previously. That usually causes a division and casts us in a negative light.
We are to share God’s Word and caution against sin, but we should focus on the forgiveness of Christ and the price He paid for that sin. It is when we truly recognize the price that Jesus paid, that we truly recognize the seriousness of our sin.
The last thing we will look at in these verses is found in verse 6 where it says the Gospel is “bringing forth fruit.”
If we are truly saved, it should be evident in many ways: We will hate sin, feel horrible and repent when we do and want to do good works and help others. These are just a few things. If Christ is in our hearts, it will be reflected in our lives.
Listen to what Jesus said in John 15:2-5 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
Pay extra attention to verse 5. If we truly abide in Christ and are branches attached to His vine, we will bear fruit. My pastor friend, David Reed in Delaware said that if we are not producing any fruit, maybe we are attached to the wrong vine! Because if we are, we will be separated and thrown in the fire as stated in verse 6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
I think we have covered enough for this time. Read verses 9-14 for the next time and post any thoughts or questions you may have.
Week 3
Colossians 1:9-11
“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy”
These verses start off with “For this reason…” For what reason? We have to go back and look at the previous verses to find the answer. Paul was so overjoyed that he had heard about the Colossians faith and good works that he and his companions were constantly praying for them.
[Quick Note for Reflection: Sometimes when we hear that others have come to the Lord we can be critical and think to ourselves, “What? They can’t be saved. I’ll believe it when I see it” Instead we ought to be praising God and praying for their new found walk with Christ and coming alongside to help them and encourage them and most importantly, shining our light and setting a good Christ-like example.]
Let’s begin our study ( a little longer one this week) by looking at the things Paul is praying for in these verses:
“filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding”
How many of us can say we know God’s will for our lives? A few maybe but when we think of “God’s Will” we tend to think of the specific purpose for our lives and that one thing that God wants us to do. God’s will is much more than that. Verses like 1 Thess 4:3 and 5:18 tell us that it is God’s will for us to abstain from sexual immorality and to give thanks in everything. 1 Peter 2:15 tells us that it is God’s will for us to do good so foolish people will be silenced. God’s will for our lives is more than just a specific purpose or certain area of ministry, it is a way of life that is a reflection of Christ.
“that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him”
Can we say that our lives are worthy of the price that Jesus paid? When someone does something for us really nice or gets us a gift when we didn’t expect it, we tend to desire to want to repay that person or really show appreciation for the gift that was given to us. How much more should be show appreciation to Jesus for hanging on a cross and dying for us? Our desire should be to please God in the way we live our lives because instead of condemnation he showed us grace. Paul conveyed this same desire to the people in Ephesus in Eph 4:1 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”
and to the Philippians in Phil 1:27 “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”
and to the people in Thessalonica in 1 Thess 2:11-12 “as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, 12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”
“being fruitful in every good work”
Read what Jesus said in Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
What type of treasures do we have in our heart? What types of fruit are produced by it? Good or Evil? As Christians, we are to produce good fruit. We do not do good works to get saved, We do good works because we are saved.
“and increasing in the knowledge of God”
We need to be increasing in the knowledge of God. Not just memorizing scripture but understanding what Jesus did and understanding how He wants us to live.
Eph 4:10 “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God”
This is a verse that every pastor should have highlighted, circled and underlined in his Bible because it clearly defines the key responsibility and duty. That is to equip and edify (instruct and uplift) the people of the church to do the work of ministry. The word “minister” means servant. Jesus gave us the ultimate example when He washed the feet of the disciples. Pastors should be teaching God’s Word and helping others be raised up so they can serve the Lord with the gifts given them.
This verse also says that we all need to come to the unity of the faith. It does not say “to unity OF faith” as others would teach today. It means that we should all be coming together in unity to the faith of Jesus Christ.
“strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power”
In the Greek language, the words for “strengthened”, “might” and “power” can all be translated as “power” but they are all not the same Greek word.
However, “strengthened” and “might” do come from the same Greek root word, “dunamai” which is where we get our word for “dynamite.” The word for “strengthened” means, clearly enough, to strengthen and the word for “might” means inherent power, to be able to do something, to be capable, strong and powerful.
Now the word for “power” is a synonym of “dunamai” called “kratos.”
[You will all be Greek scholars after this.. Seriously, not to make this too scholastic but sometimes the understanding of the original language is important because the Greek language has so many more words than our language to describe one thing so bare with me a little.]
“Kratos” is a word for power that means manifested power, mighty, dominion, great with power and is used only of God in the NT. There are 6 total words (at least listed in my Strong’s Lexicon) for power and 3 are used in this verse. Why these three? After studying these definitions we can translate this verse to read as follows: “Be strong with all your might being empowered by the might of God’s glory.”
Warren Wiersbe commented on this verse saying, “The grace of our Christian lives is but a result of God’s power at work in our lives. Spiritual growth and maturity can come only as we yield to God’s power and permit Him to work in us.”
“all patience and longsuffering with joy”
“Patience” deals with circumstances and means endurance when things get tough. It doesn’t mean sitting back and waiting for the problem to solve itself. To borrow a quote “Patience is endurance in action. It is not the Christian sitting in a rocking chair, waiting for God to do something. It is the soldier on the battlefield, keeping on when the going is tough.”
A good example can be found in Hebrews 12:1 “…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith”
“Longsuffering” deals with people. The word literally means “slowness in avenging wrongs.” When someone wrongs us we tend to want revenge. We may say to ourselves, “I am not like that, I am a Christian now and I can forgive and leave vengeance to God.” But what if someone hurt your spouse or your kids. Would you seek revenge? Would turn to Lev 24 or Exodus 21 and shout “Eye for an eye!” or would you turn to Matthew 5:38 and read “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also”
The danger is a lack of endurance often results in despondency or losing heart, whereas a lack of patience often leads to wrath or revenge. The last two parts of this verse actually go together telling us that we can have patience and longsuffering through the power that only comes from God.
I know I was going to go all the way through to verse 14 but there is just so much stuff in those verses that go with other versus in John and 1st John among others that I want to put that off to next time.
We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
First thing to notice is that Paul was always giving thanks and praying for those in the church (See Cor 1:4, Eph 1:16, Phil 1:3). Paul understood the struggles that came with being a Christian and was continually praying for the saints and for their perseverance.
In verse 5, he mentions “the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.” What hope is he referring to? Look at the following verses: 1 Peter 1:4 “to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you”
2 Tim 4:8 “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
The hope that is laid up for us in heaven is Jesus Christ. He is “the blessed hope” in Titus 2:13. And this hope is not some uncertain belief that may or may not happen. The hope we have in Christ is the confidence in what God will do in the future. This confidence should lead to a greater trust in God and a deeper love for others as well as influence our lives if we are truly believers.
We also read in these verses that the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ had to come to Colosse. Understand it was not native to the area. It was brought by Epaphras who was a citizen of Colosse (Col 4:12). Had met Paul at some point and came to know the Lord Jesus Christ, probably in Ephesus. He was most likely the pastor of the church in Colosse. He was visiting Paul while he was a prisoner in Rome. We do not know if Epaphras was arrested as well or a “voluntary prisoner.” All we do know is that he took the Good News back home. Mark 5:19 tell us what Jesus said to the demon possessed man that he cast the demons out of. The man wanted to stay with Jesus but Jesus said, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”
We are to take the gospel of Christ to our homes, our families and our friends. We need to let the good news spread and touch the lives of others.
When we become Christians and are convicted of our sins, we sometimes feel the need to become the sin patrol and point out others sins. Sins that we were committing, along side of them, previously. That usually causes a division and casts us in a negative light.
We are to share God’s Word and caution against sin, but we should focus on the forgiveness of Christ and the price He paid for that sin. It is when we truly recognize the price that Jesus paid, that we truly recognize the seriousness of our sin.
The last thing we will look at in these verses is found in verse 6 where it says the Gospel is “bringing forth fruit.”
If we are truly saved, it should be evident in many ways: We will hate sin, feel horrible and repent when we do and want to do good works and help others. These are just a few things. If Christ is in our hearts, it will be reflected in our lives.
Listen to what Jesus said in John 15:2-5 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
Pay extra attention to verse 5. If we truly abide in Christ and are branches attached to His vine, we will bear fruit. My pastor friend, David Reed in Delaware said that if we are not producing any fruit, maybe we are attached to the wrong vine! Because if we are, we will be separated and thrown in the fire as stated in verse 6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
I think we have covered enough for this time. Read verses 9-14 for the next time and post any thoughts or questions you may have.
Week 3
Colossians 1:9-11
“For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy”
These verses start off with “For this reason…” For what reason? We have to go back and look at the previous verses to find the answer. Paul was so overjoyed that he had heard about the Colossians faith and good works that he and his companions were constantly praying for them.
[Quick Note for Reflection: Sometimes when we hear that others have come to the Lord we can be critical and think to ourselves, “What? They can’t be saved. I’ll believe it when I see it” Instead we ought to be praising God and praying for their new found walk with Christ and coming alongside to help them and encourage them and most importantly, shining our light and setting a good Christ-like example.]
Let’s begin our study ( a little longer one this week) by looking at the things Paul is praying for in these verses:
“filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding”
How many of us can say we know God’s will for our lives? A few maybe but when we think of “God’s Will” we tend to think of the specific purpose for our lives and that one thing that God wants us to do. God’s will is much more than that. Verses like 1 Thess 4:3 and 5:18 tell us that it is God’s will for us to abstain from sexual immorality and to give thanks in everything. 1 Peter 2:15 tells us that it is God’s will for us to do good so foolish people will be silenced. God’s will for our lives is more than just a specific purpose or certain area of ministry, it is a way of life that is a reflection of Christ.
“that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him”
Can we say that our lives are worthy of the price that Jesus paid? When someone does something for us really nice or gets us a gift when we didn’t expect it, we tend to desire to want to repay that person or really show appreciation for the gift that was given to us. How much more should be show appreciation to Jesus for hanging on a cross and dying for us? Our desire should be to please God in the way we live our lives because instead of condemnation he showed us grace. Paul conveyed this same desire to the people in Ephesus in Eph 4:1 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”
and to the Philippians in Phil 1:27 “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”
and to the people in Thessalonica in 1 Thess 2:11-12 “as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, 12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”
“being fruitful in every good work”
Read what Jesus said in Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
What type of treasures do we have in our heart? What types of fruit are produced by it? Good or Evil? As Christians, we are to produce good fruit. We do not do good works to get saved, We do good works because we are saved.
“and increasing in the knowledge of God”
We need to be increasing in the knowledge of God. Not just memorizing scripture but understanding what Jesus did and understanding how He wants us to live.
Eph 4:10 “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God”
This is a verse that every pastor should have highlighted, circled and underlined in his Bible because it clearly defines the key responsibility and duty. That is to equip and edify (instruct and uplift) the people of the church to do the work of ministry. The word “minister” means servant. Jesus gave us the ultimate example when He washed the feet of the disciples. Pastors should be teaching God’s Word and helping others be raised up so they can serve the Lord with the gifts given them.
This verse also says that we all need to come to the unity of the faith. It does not say “to unity OF faith” as others would teach today. It means that we should all be coming together in unity to the faith of Jesus Christ.
“strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power”
In the Greek language, the words for “strengthened”, “might” and “power” can all be translated as “power” but they are all not the same Greek word.
However, “strengthened” and “might” do come from the same Greek root word, “dunamai” which is where we get our word for “dynamite.” The word for “strengthened” means, clearly enough, to strengthen and the word for “might” means inherent power, to be able to do something, to be capable, strong and powerful.
Now the word for “power” is a synonym of “dunamai” called “kratos.”
[You will all be Greek scholars after this.. Seriously, not to make this too scholastic but sometimes the understanding of the original language is important because the Greek language has so many more words than our language to describe one thing so bare with me a little.]
“Kratos” is a word for power that means manifested power, mighty, dominion, great with power and is used only of God in the NT. There are 6 total words (at least listed in my Strong’s Lexicon) for power and 3 are used in this verse. Why these three? After studying these definitions we can translate this verse to read as follows: “Be strong with all your might being empowered by the might of God’s glory.”
Warren Wiersbe commented on this verse saying, “The grace of our Christian lives is but a result of God’s power at work in our lives. Spiritual growth and maturity can come only as we yield to God’s power and permit Him to work in us.”
“all patience and longsuffering with joy”
“Patience” deals with circumstances and means endurance when things get tough. It doesn’t mean sitting back and waiting for the problem to solve itself. To borrow a quote “Patience is endurance in action. It is not the Christian sitting in a rocking chair, waiting for God to do something. It is the soldier on the battlefield, keeping on when the going is tough.”
A good example can be found in Hebrews 12:1 “…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith”
“Longsuffering” deals with people. The word literally means “slowness in avenging wrongs.” When someone wrongs us we tend to want revenge. We may say to ourselves, “I am not like that, I am a Christian now and I can forgive and leave vengeance to God.” But what if someone hurt your spouse or your kids. Would you seek revenge? Would turn to Lev 24 or Exodus 21 and shout “Eye for an eye!” or would you turn to Matthew 5:38 and read “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also”
The danger is a lack of endurance often results in despondency or losing heart, whereas a lack of patience often leads to wrath or revenge. The last two parts of this verse actually go together telling us that we can have patience and longsuffering through the power that only comes from God.
I know I was going to go all the way through to verse 14 but there is just so much stuff in those verses that go with other versus in John and 1st John among others that I want to put that off to next time.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Book of Colossians Study - Part 1 "Greetings and Background"
Let's begin our study of the Pauline Epistle to the church in Colossae with a little background study of the city and the church.
Colossians – Background (Excerpts from Warren Wiersbe’s Bible Exposition Commentary)
Colossae was one of three cities located about 100 miles inland from Ephesus. The other two cities were Laodicea and Hierapolis (Col 4:13, 16) his area was a meeting point of East and West because an important trade route passed through there. At one time, all three cities were growing and prosperous, but gradually Colossae slipped into a second-rate position. It became what we would call a small town. Yet the church there was important enough to merit the attention of the Apostle Paul.
All kinds of philosophies mingled in this cosmopolitan area, and religious hucksters abounded. There was a large Jewish colony in Colossae, and there was also a constant influx of new ideas and doctrines from the East. It was fertile ground for religious speculations and heresies!
The interesting this is that Colosse may have never been mentioned in the Bible without this letter. Paul did not start this church nor did he ever visit it. But he had heard of their faith (Col 1:4,9) and send them a letter to encourage him. I am sure glad he did because there is so much in this letter that we need to learn from.
When we examine the persons involved in the prison correspondence of Paul (see Eph., Phil., Col., Phile., and 2 Tim.), we can just about put the story together of how the Colossian church was founded. During Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, at least two men from Colossae were brought to faith in Jesus Christ—Epaphras and Philemon (see Phile. 19). Epaphras apparently was one of the key founders of the church in Colossae, for he shared the Gospel with his friends there (Col. 1:7). He also had a ministry in the cities of Hierapolis and Laodicea (Col. 4:12–13).
Philemon had a church meeting in his home (Phile. 2). It is likely that Apphia and Archippus, mentioned in this verse, were respectively the wife and son of Philemon, and that Archippus was the pastor of the church (Col. 4:17).
There is a good lesson for us here: God does not always need an apostle, or a “full-time Christian worker” to get a ministry established. Nor does He need elaborate buildings and extensive organizations. Here were two laymen who were used of God to start ministries in at least three cities. It is God’s plan that the Christians in the large urban areas like Ephesus reach out into the smaller towns and share the Gospel. Is your church helping to evangelize “small-town” mission fields?
The Colossian assembly was predominantly Gentile in its membership. The sins that Paul named (Col. 3:5–9) were commonly associated with the Gentiles, and his statement about the mystery applied more to the Gentiles than to the Jews (Col. 1:25–29). The church was probably about five years old when Paul wrote this letter.
Chapter 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 in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (NKJV)
To fully understand Paul’s letters, we need to understand the character of Paul. He was a Pharisee (Jewish religious leader) that new the Hebrew scriptures thoroughly (or so he thought) and was present at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58) and would persecute Christians (Acts 8:3). His name was Saul during this time. But on that fateful day when he was on the way to Damascus to arrest Christians, Saul was met by the Lord Jesus and chosen to be His servant (Acts 9).
The word “apostle” means ‘messenger, one who was sent’ and the word for “will” means ‘desire or pleasure.’ So we can reword this to say, “A messenger who was sent by Jesus Christ for His pleasure…” This is the same greeting that Paul used in Gal 1:3. In other letters, he uses words like slave or bondservant (depending on your translation) but the Greek word “duolos” (bondservant) means ‘willful slave.’
One interesting note is that Paul always used the same greeting in verse 2 in all his letters. “Grace and peace to you” and always in that order signifying that we can never have peace without God’s grace. In his letters to Timothy and Titus, he added the word “mercy.”
Next week we will get into verses 3 through 8 and discuss their faith in Christ.
Till next time…
God Bless,
Mike
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