The letter to the Colossian church was written by the apostle Paul around AD 60-62 while Paul was a prisoner in Rome. The Colossian church was made up of both Jews and Gentiles who were facing false teachings that taught that God was good, matter was evil, and Jesus was only one of a series of abstract beings who had descended from God but was less than God in flesh. These teachers also taught that a secret higher knowledge above Scripture was needed for both enlightenment as well as salvation. This false teaching also proposed ideas of Jewish legalism which included the necessity of circumcision, ceremonial observances, asceticism (self-denial of worldly pleasures), worship of angels, and mystical experiences. Paul wrote this letter to challenge the false teachings the Colossians had begun to accept.
Paul starts his letter – “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and multiplying, just as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow slave, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, who also informed us of your love in the Spirit.” (Colossians 1: 1-8)
When Paul referred to the Colossians as ‘saints’ he meant those people who had been ‘separated from sin and set apart to God’ through faith in Jesus. Paul gives thanks to ‘God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ which elaborated that Jesus was one in nature with God, and was Himself God. Paul had heard of their ‘faith’ in Jesus. Paul taught in his letter to the Romans – “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we boast in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5: 1-2) John McArthur writes in his study bible – “God has declared Himself to be at war with every human being because of man’s sinful rebellion against Him and His laws. But the first great result of justification is that the sinner’s war with God is ended forever.” (McArthur 1482-1483) We are reconciled to God eternally when we turn from our sin and put our faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross. The ‘grace’ in which a believer stands is their secure and permanent position in Christ for all eternity.
A believer’s hope cannot be separated from his faith. Peter wrote – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, having been kept in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1: 3-5) When any sinner comes to Christ in faith, he or she is spiritually born anew into God’s spiritual family and receives a new nature. A living hope is our eternal life with God.
The ‘gospel’ had come to the Colossians. The Greek word for ‘gospel’ is the good news of victory in a battle. The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ brought victory over Satan, sin, and death. The gospel is good news for every person on earth. This good news is not man-made religion full of rules and superstition, but a real event that has taken place in history. Paul did not want the Colossians to be brought under the lying influences of the false teachers but wanted them to focus on the truth that had already been revealed to them.
REFERENCES:
The McArthur Study Bible, 2nd Edition. 2020. Thomas Nelson.
