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
