The way to spot a forgery is familiarity with the real thing. I was a cashier throughout college and once discovered counterfeit $20s through touch alone. A coworker’s drawer count was off and she asked me to verify the count for her. As I counted the $20s, I encountered something that didn’t “feel” right. Thinking I’d pulled two bills instead of one, I counted the stack again and came up with yet another number. When I came up to the odd-feeling $20, I then held it up to the light and saw the telltale signs of counterfeiting. It was my familiarity with the feel of a real $20 that allowed me to spot the counterfeit, something that I did several times over the course of that summer.

Similarly, Paul gives the Colossians a picture of Jesus Christ that is very poignant and clear, so, having acquainted themselves with the original, they might be able to spot a phony when it was presented to them. This is the main purpose of the letter to Colossae.

In the midst of recounting the many blessings that the Colossians have received from God, Paul took time to announce strongly that Jesus is Himself God. This wasn’t news to the Colossians, probably. Paul called them “saints” which meant Christians, indicating they knew the gospel as well as we. So, why did Paul bother to reiterate this to the Colossians?  Because he was about to talk about counterfeits and the best way to spot of counterfeit is familiarity with the real thing.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation;^[8] The One who is preeminent over all creation  because by Him everything was created, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:15-17

It should be noted that many scholars believe this is a hymn that was sung in the early churches. If so, it is probably not of Pauline origin, but may very well predate his conversion, as do some other doxologies and hymns Paul included in his letters. This hymn may have been well-known by the Colossians and it may have been Paul’s way of saying “This is a trustworthy saying” concerning this bit of oral tradition.

Paul wrote boldly and clearly here, stating that Jesus is distinctly God. He is the physical manifestation of the invisible God. He was not made in God’s image as we were, but was the Creator of everything in the universe. He is God! Although the Colossian Gentiles may have not grown up with the Genesis story, the Jewish Christians in the church would have understood that Paul was saying Jesus was Yahweh, the Hebrew Creator-God. As I said, this wasn’t news to the Colossians. Paul is simply recording the nature of Jesus so their existing belief that Jesus is God would be strengthened by his putting the belief in writing. They could also thus refer to it later if need be. Jesus created everything – what we can see, what we can’t, heaven, earth, the thrones and kingdoms upon the earth, even the officials in charge of the nations. Beyond that, He is the binding force that keeps the universe from flying apart. There’s nothing we can see or even imagine that does not have the influence of Jesus through and through.

This passage is subject to controversy with some sects claiming to be Christian. They want to make much of the term “first born”, believing that this indicates Jesus is a created being and, if a deity in any way, somehow a lesser deity than God. My mantra will always be “You must take the Bible in context with itself. You cannot read a passage or a word here and there to build your theology.” Second to that, is my belief that you really must look at the Greek.

Paul wrote in Greek, not in 17^th Century Elizabethan English or 21^st Century modern American English. Most of us read the Bible in a translation, though I do know one or two people who can actually read it in the original Greek. My friend Alan provided me with some insight into the Greek I looked up in Strong’s Concordance.

For example, prototokos (which is translated first-born) means “coming first”; however, its root word “protos” can mean “at the first.” This is one reason Biblical translators say you can’t put too much emphasis on that one word that the KJV and others translate as “first born”. Jesus is also said to have been “at the beginning” (Greek “arche”) in this same passage, which means “the origin or first cause”.  My friend the Greek scholar claims the correct reading for prototokos (or firstborn) should be “existing before all creation”, which connotes eternity, in the same way that Proverbs 8:23-26 speaks of God the Father as eternal. According to Alan, the problem with Bible translating is that sometimes the concept is bigger than just one or two words, but editors really want a word-for-word translation, so they will go – sometimes – with a less-exact translation in order to keep the phraseology concise. Further, my scholarly friend feels that placing too much emphasis on one word in the passage negates the evidence that the early church believed Jesus was God, as in the highest and only Deity in the universe. This passage also shows clearly that Paul, and apparently many other Christians, believed that Jesus was the Creator of the Universe. His role in creation is clearly stated here. He made the upper and lower world, with all inhabitants and furnishings of both.  This is echoed in John Chapter 1, showing agreement among the apostles that Jesus was God. In Proverbs 8, Wisdom is said to have created the universe and was with the Father in the very beginning, so that the concept is found even in the Old Testament.

It cannot be stated strongly enough that Paul and all the early Christians were Jews who did not reject Judaism when they became Christians. They continued to worship in the Temple. They insisted that Jesus did not come to establish a new religion, but to complete the already existing system of Judaism. He was God in flesh to these early Jewish Christians, who rejected polytheism with vehemence. Jesus was not some other, less or higher god. He was God incarnate, the same God they had been worshipping all along.

Perhaps the strongest argument for this belief is that this hymn was likely in widespread use, meaning that churches sang about Jesus being the Creator on a regular basis. How could they have sung about it and not believed it? The thought is irreconcilable.

“He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have The bracketed text has been added for clarity. all His fullness [Eph 3:19] dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross —whether things on earth or things in heaven.” Colossians 1:18-20

Paul affirmed the hymn’s clear statement that Jesus was and is the head of the Church. Again, he used the word translated as “first born” that means “existing before all creation.” Jesus was the first ever resurrection from the dead. Whoa! What about Lazarus? Lazarus was indeed resurrected, but he did not break the chains of death as Jesus did. Lazarus was resurrected back to an earthly existence. Lazarus eventually died again and stayed in the grave. Jesus rose never to die again, which is the true resurrection that believers will experience in the end of time. Someday, we will all be resurrected in the same way Jesus was.

Explaining the Trinity is always a bit difficult, because it’s a complicated concept. God is so very vast, so very complex, that He can’t be explained simply. All through the Gospels, Jesus made statements that angered the Jewish leaders. They recognized that He was claiming to be God. They wanted to stone Him for it on a few occasions and it is ultimately why they hung Him on a cross. Though they were enemies, they recognized what He claimed. Thus, when it says that it “pleased God” to have all “His fullness dwell in Him” some people want to see two separate entities with one bestowing power on the other. In reality, God had always had a function that dealt face-to-face with mankind. They usually called it “the Lord” or occasionally “the angel of the Lord.” Abraham and Jacob both received visits from “the Lord” in this way. This aspect of God didn’t act as a prophet saying “Thus says the Lord”. No, it spoke as if from God Himself. It is this aspect of God, no different than who I am with my husband as opposed to who I am with my brother (and, yes, there is difference, but I am inarguably still the same person!), that became a human being in order to understand the human condition and show us that we can live according to God’s rules because He did. I’m not saying this is an easy concept; just that it is scripturally based. So, God chose (was pleased) to put all of Himself (Greek “pleroma” meaning fullness) in the physical form of Jesus (Greek “katoikeo” meaning to indwell). And, through this incarnation, He reconciled (Greek “apokatallasso”) a broken world to Himself by making peace through the cross. Everything in heaven and on earth was afforded the opportunity to become right with God as we have not been right since Adam and Eve sinned.

Jesus is also the pre-eminence of the Church. My husband noted that Roman Catholics (and he was raised RCC) call the pope “his eminence”. In studying this passage, he found himself having to renounce (once more) the pope as the head of Jesus’ Church. There is no other head of the Church besides Jesus. We should always be careful not to put men, any man, in Christ’ place upon His throne. Ministers for Christ can be wonderful people who deserve high praise, but we must always remember that they are not God. Jesus is perfectly capable of remaining the head of His Church. He doesn’t need a human intermediary because He has provided us with the New Testament working in concert with the Holy Spirit to communicate God truths to us.

Paul also touched on redemption, which includes the remission (removal) of sin. We are not only forgiven of our past disobedience, but it is moved into the never-owed column as if it had never existed. Because that debt of guilt has been removed from the sight of all (except perhaps Satan), we are reconciled (made right) with God. He was pardoned us and allowed us to enter into a state of favor and peace with Him that we have not earned.

Nowadays, we tend somewhat to flinch from mention of the blood of Christ, yet the blood that was spilled on the cross made an atonement, for in the Jewish system there can be no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. There is incredible value in the blood of Christ, for by its shedding, God became willing to deal with us upon new terms that allow us to enter into a covenant of grace (God’s unmerited favor directed toward those who do not merit it). We should not be afraid to talk about the blood of Christ, even though we may have to defend it from time to time.

“And you were once alienated and hostile in mind because of your evil actions. But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him— if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith, and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel  has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a minister of it.” Colossians 1:21-23

Paul took pains to assure the Gentile Christians of Colossians that they had received the same reconciliation as their Jewish counterparts. They had once been alienated from God by their lifestyle choices and lack of understanding, but now Jesus had died for them as well. This allowed Him to present them to God (Himself) as faultless and blameless. Paul did warn them that they must keep their minds set on Jesus and not be drawn away into heresy. Paul assured them that he had the authority to speak in this matter. “This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a minister of it.”  Again, my Greek scholar friend tells me that the verb construction in this sentence indicates a future working – the gospel will be preached. It’s interesting that Paul showed no real sense that his writings were scripture, but God directed him to indicate that he would minister the gospel to the whole world. This is something still in process 2000 years after his writing.

Paul was about to turn his attention to the primary reason he had written this letter. There are some who would find it odd that he chose this place to announce the majesty and authority of Jesus Christ and to remind his readers that he, Paul, had been given the task of telling the Gentiles about Jesus, but it should be understood that Paul was showing the real Jesus. This was the Jesus Paul had met on the Damascus road, the Jesus that he and the other apostles preached. This Jesus was fully man, but also fully God. This Jesus was the head of His Church, needing no intermediary. This Jesus had no failings and no lesser qualities. This was the authentic Jesus.

Only after you know the authentic stuff with great certainty are you able to spot a fake. Spotting a counterfeit doesn’t require special training; it only requires familiarity with the real thing. In the same way, Paul puts the authentic Jesus before the Colossians and says, “Study Him carefully. Get to know Him. See what He’s really like. Now, let’s take a look at the alternative you’ve been offered.”

By studying the real thing, we will learn to spot the fake!

The phenomenon of Christian cults has been around almost as long as the Christian Church. Truth casts a big shadow and in the dusk of that shadow grows many things that are not truth, heresies among them.

Some heresies were well-meant, no doubt. The Judaizers may simply have wished the Gentiles to know the joy they felt of being Jewish. They may have mistaken the apostles’ continued adherence to Temple worship and synagogue attendance to be a sign that you must be Jewish to be Christian. When the Jerusalem Council settled this critical question, those who refused to adjust their theology chose to become heretics and stand outside the Christian Church.

Although Paul is often thought of as primarily an evangelist, his writing ministry was principally of a discipleship nature. He was, after all, writing to Christians, mostly to churches he had planted. In his letters he expounded upon doctrine, but he also gave practice advice for Christian living. In his letter to the church at Colossae, he offered both theological doctrine and discipleship instruction.

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother: To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Colossians 1:1-2

Once again, Paul was not writing in isolation. The letter he wrote to the Colossian Christians was written with Timothy. It might be asked why Paul wrote to Philemon the supposed pastor of the church and the church itself in so short a space of time, but I actually found that answer in my own personal life. I recently wrote a summary letter concerning a trip our youth group took to an official at the Alaska Baptist Convention and the next day sent a personal letter off to that official and his wife, who are long-time friends. I actually started the letter before I wrote the report and finished it when the report reminded me that I still hadn’t sent it. In the same way, Paul directed Philemon in his situation with Onesimus mostly as a personal friend (though the church was addressed to make them aware of the situation) and then wrote to the church itself dealing with situations specific to the church. Since Onesimus is the bearer of both letters, it is entirely possible that he returned to Paul after his interview with Philemon and carried to the apostle questions the church had concerning heresy or that Paul had heard of other churches struggling with heresy while Onesimus was gone and now sought to address those concerns in a more general, rather than specific way. These are questions I intend to ask Paul when I get to heaven.

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth, the gospel
that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and truly recognized God’s grace. You learned this from Epaphras, our much loved fellow slave. He is a faithful minister of the Messiah on our behalf, and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.” Colossians 1:3-8

Remembering that Paul did not found the Colossae church, he was in effect its spiritual grandfather. Scholars differ as to whether the church was founded by Philemon or Epaphras (possibly Epaproditus who is mentioned in Philippians). I don’t think there is any certainty in that debate. The church met in Philemon’s home, indicating that he was the pastor. Biblical historians suggest that Philemon and Paul met during Paul’s extended ministry in Ephesus and Paul claimed that he had led Philemon to the Lord. Philemon apparently took his newborn faith home with him and founded the church in Colossae. However, Epaphras is here identified as the preacher who brought the gospel to them. Perhaps he accompanied Philemon back to Colossae. The exact sequence of events is not known.

“For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption through His blood for the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:9-14

Paul prayed for all the churches he wrote to, as I would suppose he prayed for all the churches he founded. The ones he founded were his own projects, but some of the churches he wrote to were the projects of his disciples. Paul didn’t seem to care if he were their direct authority or not. He sought to establish and deepen Christianity wherever there was fertile soil for it to grow.

What did he pray concerning Colossae? He prayed that they would have an overwhelming knowledge of Jesus, such as can only be acquired by communion with the Holy Spirit. This knowledge would help them to live exemplary Christian lives that would please God because of the resultant good works and deepening knowledge of the Divine. Paul understood that the Christian life was not always easy and that God might require difficult things from the followers of Christ, but Paul also understood that God would give strength in all situations, so that the Colossians (like all Christians) might endure whatever life brought their way with patience and joy, giving thanks to God for their salvation through the complete forgiveness of their former disobedience to God.

The fruits listed here are such as should be found in the lives of all Christians. We should seek to know Jesus best through Bible study and fellowship with Bible-believing Christians. We should allow the Holy Spirit to work in us to live praise-worthy Christian lives of service to others with forbearance for the weaknesses and foibles of our fellow human beings and joy in whatever circumstance God places us in. The salvation that Christ has granted us should so fill us with awe and happiness that we are willing to accept hardship for the sake of the gospel.

Paul hadn’t brought the gospel to Colossae, but when he and Timothy wrote this letter, they were writing as authorities in Christian doctrine. Heresy grows most effectively in dimness, where believers are not exactly sure what to believe. Such situations exist when Scripture is not readily available or is not read and when church leaders do not encourage their people to read the Scriptures. Obviously, the Colossian Christians didn’t have a Holman Christian Standard Bible online to refer to. They had men like Philemon and Archippus who had probably studied under Paul, but 1^st Century Christians were at a disadvantage that we cannot claim. They had to remember what they had been taught. They couldn’t go back and refer to it as easily as can we. It was much easier for heretical teachers to come to their church and say “Well, this is what the apostles teach” or “The apostles have it wrong, folks!” This letter to the church at Colossae was meant to bolster the teaching that the church had already received from men vetted by the apostles as a counter to what the heretics were teaching.

*Note: this should not be viewed as apostolic procession. There is no evidence that Peter ever “ordained” Paul for ministry. They met after Paul had already been ministering, they agreed with one another on most doctrines; Paul confronted Peter for flirting with the Judaizing heresy while in Antioch. Clearly Peter was not Paul’s progenitor in ministry. When I say the apostles had vetted these men, I mean that Paul (in this case) or one of his fellow ministers who had intensive Bible knowledge and discipleship either from Jesus or from one of the apostles had trained them and agreed they had the Holy Spirit.

For Christians in the 21^st Century, there is no excuse for Biblical ignorance. I saw a Bible at Sam’s Club the other day for $15.95, so it is within the reach of most people to own a Bible. If you can read this blog, you can log onto Lifeway.com and read the Bible online. The problem in our century is not a lack of access to the Scriptures, but a lack of willingness to read them and to apply them. We are in many ways more ignorant of Scripture than peasants in the Middle Ages, who at least heard Bible stories in mystery plays and homilies. Americans in the 21^st Century have an appalling dearth of Bible knowledge and sadly they don’t recognize that. They assume they know the Bible if they’ve read one or two quotes taken out of context on an atheist website. That’s like saying you know Alaska if you spent an hour in the Anchorage airport.

The Bible is not as simple as that. It is a lengthy and ancient document penned by many writers addressing specific concerns at the time that are applicable to our own circumstances. A rifling of pages will not bring you to the meat of it. Biblical ignorance is not an excuse for embracing Christian heresy. We have the authoritative writings of the apostles and the corroborating writings of the early Church fathers; we can know what early Christians believed and what they rejected as not being Christian. It is simply a matter of bothering to study and recognizing who constitutes an authority on Christianity. Paul and Timothy constituted such authority in the 1^st Century. They continue to speak as authorities down into our own century.

We have none better!

The epistle to the church at Colossae, written by Paul from imprisonment around AD 61 is perhaps one of the most important books of the New Testament for our generation. Some would disagree. It was written to a small church on the outskirts of Christianity, a church that would be abandoned only a year or two after the writing of this letter. Yet, it is in Colossians that we find Paul’s fully-formed theology against heresy. It is in Colossians where Paul presented a full view of Jesus Christ as God in opposition to the false view being presented by heretics.  The letter to the Colossians is as important a letter of theology as Romans and deserves fully the credit it receives.

Colossae was located in the southwest corner of Asia Minor in what was then the Roman province of Asia. Hierapolis and Laodicea were situated only a few miles away. All three were in the Lycus River valley. An important trade route from Ephesus to the east ran through the region, making it a virtual meeting point for east and west.

A prominent city during the Greek period, by Paul’s day Colossae had lost much of its importance, perhaps due to the growth of neighboring cities. Earthquakes that occasionally shook the area and caused severe damage were extremely detrimental to all of the cities of the region. Shortly after Paul wrote Colossians, the entire Lycus Valley was devastated by an earthquake (about A.D. 61-62) which probably ended occupation of the city.

Hierapolis and Laodicea also seem to have contained congregations of believers. Though small, Colossae was still a cosmopolitan city with a mingling of different cultures and religious beliefs. Since God doesn’t judge churches by human distinctions like size, the Colossian church was still dear to the heart of God and He obviously thought it important enough to inspire Paul to write. Early churches recognized the spiritual authority of this letter, so that by use and acceptance, this letter to a small church in a small town was included in the New Testament canon as one of the most important epistles because of what it teaches concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The region included a mixture of people native to the area, Greeks, Romans, and transplanted Jews. The church probably reflected the same diversity. The Jewish population of the region may have been as high as 50,000. The wool business was particularly attractive to Jews and this was an important trade in the area. As far as we know, Paul never visited Colossae. His influence was felt, however, during his ministry in Ephesus. (Acts 19:10 records that all Asia heard the gospel.) The letters to Philemon and to the Colossians indicate that many of Paul’s fellow workers (if not Paul himself) had worked among the churches of the Lycus Valley. As a result, the relationship between the apostle to the Gentiles and the Colossian church was close enough that when trouble arose some of the church turned to Paul for instruction.

The letter to the Colossian church is one of the Prison Epistles (along with Ephesians, Philemon, and Philippians). The traditional date and place of writing is A.D. 61 or 62 from Rome. The letter itself does not name the place where Paul was imprisoned, and Caesarea and Ephesus have been suggested as alternatives to Rome. If written from Ephesus, the time of writing would be in the mid-50’s; if from Caesarea the late 50’s. The primary purpose of the letter to the Colossian church was to correct false teachings which were troubling the church. Although south from Galatia, it was in a near-region and may have been troubled by the same Judaizers.

The authenticity of the letter to the Colossians has been debated, as has the exact nature of the relationship between Ephesians and Colossians. Some scholars insist it was written by a disciple of Paul since they find significant differences in vocabulary, style and enough difference in theology to indicate, to them, that it was not written by Paul, though perhaps by a close associate. The wide acceptance among the early churches that this letter was of Pauline authorship speaks loudly for its genuineness, but it is true that the style and vocabulary differ somewhat from Paul’s other letters, primarily in the section which attacks the Colossian heresy (1:3–2:23). The unusual terminology in this section may be partially the result of addressing an unusual problem. It seems unreasonable to insist that a writer must be restricted to his usual vocabulary in all situations. Paul may have chosen his vocabulary for this letter on the basis of what he considered to be the most effective means of showing how the heretics were misrepresenting Christ. It is also possible that he was using the vocabulary of the heretics themselves, as he did in a similar fashion when discussing certain doctrinal errors in the letters to the Corinthian church.

Some promote the idea that the theology of Colossians is outside Paul’s usual scope. They claim the representation of Jesus as the Creator and as the fullness of God is too advanced for Paul. It is their contention that the ideas presented were not developed until 30-40 years later by John. This reads too much 19^th Century speculation into the New Testament and assumes that John reinvented Christ rather than building upon what was already believed about Him. In Colossae, a new situation confronted Paul who framed new arguments to meet it. Yes, the Christology in Colossians is an advance from earlier Pauline letters, but that doesn’t mean that Paul could not have written it, unless we want to argue that Paul’s thoughts remained static and never developed to meet new situations. In the face of a new set of circumstances, Paul thought out new implications of Christ. The germ of Paul’s theology about Christ as presented in Colossians does in fact exist in one of his earlier letters. In 1 Corinthians 8:6, he wrote “One Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things and we by Him.” This is the same essence as Paul wrote in Colossians, where this simple acknowledgement of the omnipresence of Jesus is given fuller treatment.

In Colossians Paul extended the saving truths of Jesus’ salvation found in his earlier letters to a wider sphere. His thoughts developed upon existing foundations. He advanced while still abiding in the doctrine of Christ. Paul was indeed a theological genius, so that it is hard to credit scholars who want to relegate him to restricted thought.

Among the arguments against Pauline authorship are those scholars who identify the Colossian heresy as second century gnosticism. Such arguments are not convincing, however, because Gnostic thought, though not an established system as yet, had already begun encroaching upon the church by the middle of the first century. Paul might have seen the seeds of trouble and sought to nip it in the bud. Of course, the heresy the letter deals with cannot be identified with certainty.

There is also the relationship between the letters to Philemon and to the church at Colossae. Philemon lived and was apparently the pastor in Colossae. The letters mention many of the same people and were apparently carried by the same messenger, Onesimus (Col. 4:7-18; Philem. 1,2,10,23,24). The undoubted authenticity of the letter to Philemon argues in favor of the Pauline authorship of Colossians. To me, the argument against Pauline authorship is mainly advanced by scholars who reject the Christology of the letter. I believe they attack the authorship simply as a means of reducing the power of the theology. I would note that there was no such problem of acceptance among the early churches. While there were books that became canonized into the New Testament that early churches were uncertain of, Colossians was never one of them. The early Christians accepted both Pauline authorship and the Christology of the letter without any noted controversy, indicating that this was familiar theology.

Colossians may be divided into two main parts. The first (1:3–2:23) is a polemic against false teachings. The second (3:1–4:17) is made up of exhortations to proper Christian living. The introduction is in the form of a Hellenistic, personal letter, which is very typical of Paul. The senders (Paul and Timothy) and the recipients (the Colossian church) are identified, and a greeting expressed (the usual Pauline “grace and peace” replaced the more secular “greeting”).

Typical of Paul, a lengthy thanksgiving and prayer lead into the body of the letter. Paul thanked God for the faith, hope, and love which the Colossians possessed by virtue of their positive response to the gospel. He prayed that they might have a full knowledge and understanding of God’s will and lead a life worthy of redeemed saints, citizens of the kingdom of Christ.

The doctrinal section which follows begins with a description of the grandeur of the exalted Christ. Precise meaning of some words and phrases is uncertain, but there is no doubt as to Paul’s intent to present Jesus as fully God incarnate, as supreme Lord over all creation, as supreme Lord of the church, and as the only Source of reconciliation.

Scholars debate the origin of this grand statement on the nature and work of Christ. The structure, tone, and vocabulary of the passage have led many to speculate that Colossians 1:15-20 is a doctrinal statement or hymn that was in use in the churches of Paul’s day. This passage and Philippians 2:6-11 are thought by the majority of scholars to be the most obvious examples of pre-Pauline tradition in the letters of Paul. However, difficulty in recreating a balanced hymnic structure has convinced most that Paul rewrote portions of the hymn, if indeed he was not the author of the entire confession. Author or not, the apostolic stamp of approval is on these words which Paul used to state unambiguously that Christ is Lord and Savior of all.

The purpose of the first two chapters was to correct the false teaching which had infiltrated the church. The heresy is not identified, but several characteristics of the heresy (or heresies) are discernible through Paul’s defense. He combated an inferior view of Christ through the Christological passage of 1:15-20, indicating that the heretics did not consider Jesus to be fully divine or perhaps did not accept Him as the sole Source of redemption. Paul warned the Colossians to beware of plausible sounding “philosophies”, which were anti-Christ. The heresy also apparently involved the legalistic observance of “traditions,” such as circumcision and various dietary and festival laws. The false teachers encouraged the worship of angels and lesser spirits. They also promoted asceticism, the deprivation or harsh treatment of one’s “evil” fleshly body. Finally, the false teachers claimed to possess special insight (perhaps special revelations) which made them (rather than the apostles or the Scriptures) the ultimate source of truth.

Scholars do not agree on who these false teachers were. Some of the characteristics cited above seem to be Jewish; others sound like gnostic teachings. Some see the teachings of a mystery religion. Very capable scholars have proposed dozens of theories, some have even argued that Paul was not combating one specific heresy (or if he was, he did not have a clear understanding of it himself), but rather was warning the Colossians about a variety of false teachings which had troubled the Colossian church, or which might trouble it in the future, perhaps already troubling other churches. While the passage does not clearly identify the heretics, it does clearly state that Christ (not angels, philosophies, rituals, traditions, asceticism, nor anything else) is the Source of redemption.

Chapters 1 and 2 are theological in nature while Chapters 3 and 4 focus on discipleship. The command to “put to death” and to “rid yourselves of all such things” which will reap the wrath of God is balanced by the command to “clothe yourselves with” those things characteristic of God’s chosen people. The changes are far from superficial, however, but stem from the Christian’s new nature and submission to the rule of Christ in every area of one’s life.

Rules for the household are addressed. The typical first century household is assumed, thus the passage addresses wives and husbands, fathers and children, masters and slaves. Paul made no comment about the rightness or wrongness of the social structures; he accepted them as givens. Paul’s concern was that the structures as they existed be governed by Christian principles such as submission to Jesus, Christian love, and the prospect of divine judgment, determining the way people treat one another regardless of their social station. It is this Christian motivation which distinguishes these house rules from those that can be found in Jewish and pagan sources.

The letter closes with a final set of exhortations and an exchange of greetings. Readers should note the mention of Onesimus, which links this letter with the letter to Philemon. There is also a mention of a letter at Laodicea, which some scholars believe was really the letter to the Ephesians. Paul’s concluding signature indicates that the letter was prepared by a scribe or secretary, which is not unusual for most of the apostolic letters. Previous problems of epigraphy alluded to in Galatians now required that Paul sign the letters to assure that they were from him and him alone.

A study of slavery requires a look at its converse – freedom. Freedom is the ability of a person or group to be and do what they want instead of being controlled by another. It is popular today to believe that the individual is or should be in full control of him or her self. Such an understanding is alien to the Bible, which never depicts the individual as having total command or freedom over self.

Reviewing Scripture, we find that the Bible calls Christians to take control of our lifestyle choices. According to Scripture, we are able to choose our actions and attitudes, our responses to others and to God. Conversely, we cannot be and do what we want because we are not independent of others or God. We do not have the power to do what we want to, whether our desire is to fulfill the law, love others, or save ourselves. The Bible continually affirms that the kind of freedom all people have is the sort of freedom that slaves have. We control only some aspects of our lives, within a larger context which we do not control.

In the Old Testament, “freedom” is used to describe what God desires and grants to Hebrew slaves. According to the law, no person is to have complete mastery of another. Consequently, the Law stipulated that a person can only be used as a slave for six years. Even so, if they are mistreated during that time, they are to be released. Also, every 50 years, all slaves are to be freed, regardless of how many years of their slavery they have served (Ex. 21:2-11,26,27; Lev. 25:10; Deut. 15:12-18). In the example of the Exodus and the preaching of the prophets, whoever is oppressed is viewed as a slave, and God desires that the oppression stop. He not only makes it the task of His people to stop oppression, but even says that if they don’t, He will do it Himself (Isa. 58:6; 61:1, Jer. 34)

Throughout the Old Testament, freedom is predominantly used to express control over the physical circumstances of life. By the New Testament era, it was widely recognized that no one is free to such an extent that they have control of their physical circumstances. Even the rich are subject to war, drought, and other calamities. Nevertheless, an influential group called Stoics believed that anyone could still attain true freedom, because no person or force of nature can control the inner life. Thus, the individual is ultimately in control of self, though not of the environment.

Contrasted to Stoic philosophy, the New Testament recognizes that no one has such absolute control even of their inner life. Everyone is considered to be a slave in some sense. But being a slave in the 1st century world did not mean being without freedom.

Slaves during the New Testament era had much freedom of choice in daily affairs, and their decisions were not just trivial. They served in every position in society, including being the emperor’s advisors and filling other government positions. They were allowed to conduct their own personal affairs, earn and save money for themselves, own property, and even own their own slaves. Just as Roman slaves usually had much control over their daily affairs, every time the New Testament commands Christians to do something, it implicitly affirms that we have control over our daily decisions.

Most slaves of the 1st century were slaves from birth. They were children of slaves who served their parents’ owners. Few remained slaves for life, usually being freed when their owners died, or after 10 to 20 years of adult service. They also had the opportunity to buy their freedom if they could save or borrow the money their owner required. In fact, before the New Testament era was finished, a large percentage of the free population of the Roman Empire had either been slaves at one time or had parents who were slaves. The New Testament depicts all persons as being in slavery to sin (John 8:34; Rom. 3:9-12; 2 Pet. 2:19). Just as Roman slaves usually had the opportunity to gain their freedom, so all people have the opportunity to obtain release from bondage to sin by choosing to follow Christ (Rom. 6:12-14; 10:9-12). Though slaves, our free will is intact, and our decisions are real and meaningful.

The New Testament also affirms that we are not our own rulers. We do not have ultimate control of our lives. Just as we are not in control of our physical circumstances because nature or some other person is more powerful than ourselves, so we are not in full control of even our inner selves because the powers of sin and grace are stronger than ourselves (Rom. 7:15-25). Just as the slave’s master determined the service that the slave was to perform, since the master was more powerful than the slave, so our master, not ourselves, determines the general direction of our lives (Rom. 6:16).

When we yield to sin as our master, sin uses the law to deceive us into thinking that we are in control of ourselves and by our own works we can save ourselves by obeying the law. In reality, on our own we do not have the power, the freedom, to live righteously. Indeed, “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.” (Rom. 7:18). So our attempts to fulfill the law by ourselves simply increase our pride, thus strengthening the control of sin over us. As we continue to live under the rule of sin, the daily choices we make become more and more consistently obedient to sinful purposes which eventually lead to death.

If, however, we yield to grace, given through Jesus Christ, the Spirit has the power to lead us into life and truth (Rom. 6:19; Eph. 1:11-14). As we continue to live in Christ, He uses His power to mold us more and more into His image (2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 1:6).

Since Jesus established His church, some people have always thought that we are no longer bound by the law but are “free” in Christ to act however we like. The Nicolaitan heresy alluded to in Revelation was the result of this belief. The Scriptures constantly remind us that following our every desire does not constitute freedom. We are free from our former master, sin; but we are still servants. As servants of Christ, though we have the freedom to disobey our Master, it is our responsibility to direct our actions to fulfill the purposes of Christ (Rom. 6:1,2,15,18,22; 1 Pet. 2:16).

Do we have freedom? Yes. Are we free? No!

The Bible affirms that our choices are not determined for us; we make them ourselves. But it also demonstrates that we are not in total control of ourselves. We live under the ultimate control and direction of a power greater than ourselves. The comforting thing about this conundrum is that “in everything, He (God) cooperates for good with those who love God” (Rom. 8:28).

What this meant for Christians, free or slave, in the 1^st Century, was that they were placed in circumstances in their lives that might not be to their liking – persecution, poverty, an unethical business, etc. – but they were responsible to God to be the best possible Christian they could be in the circumstances in which they found themselves. If they came to Jesus as a freeman, they must recognize that they had given up some of their autonomy to follow Jesus and their choices were not wholly their own. They must submit to God and do as He required. For slaves who had become Christians, this might have been an easier lesson, because they had practice in not having autonomy in their lives. However, they had freedom in their attitudes and daily actions and Paul called for them to be the best slaves they could possibly by in the situation where they were. Certainly, they could seek freedom of the opportunity presented itself, but they didn’t need to do so, because Jesus was their true master now, not that guy who held their bill of sale.

We don’t have slavery in 21^st Century United States, but we do have some similar structures. Most of us have employers, or are employers. We live in a world where the market economy often dictates how we will live our lives. As employees, we should do our jobs as if we were doing them for Jesus Christ rather than for our employer. Trust me; those I know who do so are considered exemplary employees by their bosses. For employers, there is always the reminder that the business you own doesn’t really belong to you. Everything you own belongs to Jesus. Therefore, it is