Colossians

Complete in Him

Paul never visited Colossae. He writes to “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh” (2:1). But word had reached him that a new teaching was spreading through the church there. It sounded spiritual and impressive. It mixed philosophy, strict Jewish rules about food and holy days, the worship of angels, harsh treatment of the body, and claims to special visions. It did not deny Christ outright. It just suggested He was not quite enough.

Paul’s answer is to lift up Christ higher than the Colossians had ever seen Him. He is the image of the invisible God, the Creator of all things, the head of the church, and the One in whom all the fullness of God dwells in bodily form. Everything the false teachers promised, believers already have in Him. “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” (2:10).

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Authorship & Setting

Colossae sat in the Lycus River valley in what is now western Turkey, about a hundred miles inland from Ephesus, near the larger cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis (4:13). It had once been an important town on a trade route, but by Paul’s day it was overshadowed by its neighbors. The Roman historian Tacitus records that Laodicea was destroyed by an earthquake in AD 60, and Colossae was likely hit as well.

The church was founded not by Paul but by Epaphras, “our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ” (1:7), probably during Paul’s long ministry in Ephesus, when “all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus”(Acts 19:10). Epaphras came to Paul in prison with news of the church, both good and troubling.

Paul writes with Timothy, as a prisoner (4:3, 18). Like Ephesians and Philemon, the letter was carried by Tychicus, who traveled with Onesimus, the runaway slave who had come to faith (4:7–9). Most date it to Paul’s Roman imprisonment, around AD 60–62. Some modern scholars question whether Paul wrote it, but the early church received it as his. Paul also tells them to swap letters with the church at Laodicea (4:16).

Key Figures

• Paul — a prisoner who had never met the Colossians but labored for them in prayer (2:1).
• Epaphras — the church’s founder and pastor, “always labouring fervently for you in prayers”(4:12).
• Tychicus — the trusted messenger who carried the letter and news of Paul (4:7–8).
• Onesimus — a runaway slave from Colossae, now “a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you” (4:9).
• Aristarchus and Mark — Aristarchus, Paul’s “fellowprisoner” (4:10), and Mark, once the deserter, now commended to the churches.
• Luke and Demas — “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas” (4:14). One stayed with Paul to the end. The other later forsook him, “having loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10).
• Archippus — a minister in the church, told plainly, “Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it” (4:17).

Greek Word Study

πρωτότοκος · prōtotokos

“Firstborn” (1:15, 18). In Scripture, the firstborn held the place of honor, authority, and inheritance. God says of David’s Son, “I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth” (Psalm 89:27). When Paul calls Christ “the firstborn of every creature,” he does not mean Christ was created. The very next verse says all things were created by Him. Firstborn means He holds first place over all creation.

θεότης · theotēs

“Godhead,” deity, the very nature of God. “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (2:9). This is the only place the word appears in the New Testament. Christ is not a semi-divine being, an angel, or one rung on a spiritual ladder. All that God is lives in Him, in a human body.

χειρόγραφον · cheirographon

“Handwriting,” a handwritten record of debt, an IOU signed by the debtor. Christ took the record of our debt to God’s law, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (2:14). The debt was not ignored. It was paid and cancelled.

σκιά · skia

“Shadow.” Food laws, feast days, new moons, and sabbaths “are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ”(2:17). A shadow is real, and it shows the shape of what casts it, but nobody hugs a shadow when the person is standing in front of them. This one word sums up this whole series: the Old Testament shadows all point to the substance, Christ.

Eight-Movement Outline

MOVEMENT ONE

Thanksgiving and Prayer (1:1–14)

Paul thanks God for the Colossians’ faith in Christ, their love for all the saints, and their hope laid up in heaven. The gospel is bearing fruit among them as it is in all the world. He prays that they would be “filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (1:9), so they could “walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing” (1:10). He reminds them that the Father “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (1:13–14).

MOVEMENT TWO

The Supremacy of Christ (1:15–23)

Then comes one of the highest descriptions of Jesus in the Bible: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (1:15–17). He is the head of the body, the church, the firstborn from the dead, “that in all things he might have the preeminence” (1:18). God reconciled all things to Himself through Him, “having made peace through the blood of his cross” (1:20), to present believers holy and blameless, “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled” (1:23).

MOVEMENT THREE

Christ in You, the Hope of Glory (1:24–2:7)

Paul rejoices in his sufferings for the church, and in his calling to make known “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints”(1:26). Here is the mystery: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:27). “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (1:28). In Christ “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (2:3), so no one should be fooled by enticing words. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith” (2:6–7).

MOVEMENT FOUR

Complete in Him (2:8–15)

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (2:8). The word “spoil” means to carry off as plunder, to kidnap. Why would anyone look elsewhere? “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him” (2:9–10). Believers have received a circumcision made without hands, been buried with Him in baptism, and raised with Him through faith. God forgave all our trespasses and nailed the record of our debt to the cross. And there Christ “spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it”(2:15).

MOVEMENT FIVE

Let No Man Judge You (2:16–23)

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (2:16–17). Do not let anyone cheat you of your reward with false humility and “worshipping of angels,” puffed up by visions they claim to have seen (2:18). Such people have lost hold of the Head. Why live by rules like “Touch not; taste not; handle not” (2:21)? Those rules look wise and humble and hard on the body, but Paul says they have no real power to stop the flesh (2:23). Rules can restrain behavior for a while. Only Christ can change a heart.

MOVEMENT SIX

Seek Things Above (3:1–11)

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (3:1–3). “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (3:4). So put to death what is earthly in you: fornication, uncleanness, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Put off anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy talk, and lying. Put on the new man, renewed after the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, “but Christ is all, and in all” (3:11).

MOVEMENT SEVEN

Put On Charity (3:12–4:1)

“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another… even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (3:12–13). “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness” (3:14). “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (3:15). “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (3:16). “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (3:17). Then Paul takes it home: wives and husbands (“be not bitter against them”), children and fathers (“provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged”), servants and masters. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (3:23).

MOVEMENT EIGHT

Prayer, Wisdom, and Faithful Friends (4:2–18)

“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (4:2). Pray that God would open a door for the word. “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt”(4:5–6). Paul then sends greetings from a whole team: Tychicus and Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Jesus called Justus, Epaphras, Luke, and Demas. He greets the church at Laodicea and the church that meets in the house of Nymphas. He sends a word to Archippus to fulfill his ministry. Then, taking the pen himself: “Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen” (4:18).

Christ Typology

Shadow and Substance. Colossians 2:17 may be the clearest statement in the Bible of the idea behind this whole series. The feasts, the new moons, the sabbaths, the food laws, were “a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” Hebrews says the same: “the law having a shadow of good things to come”(Hebrews 10:1). Every Passover lamb, every sabbath rest, every feast of harvest was cast by the coming Christ. Once the substance has come, nobody needs to go back to living by the shadow.

The Firstborn. God called Israel “my son, even my firstborn” (Exodus 4:22), and promised David’s Son the rank of firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth (Psalm 89:27). The firstborn received the double portion and the right to lead the family. Christ is the firstborn over creation and the firstborn from the dead. He holds every right, and He shares His inheritance with those who belong to Him.

The True Circumcision. Moses promised that one day “the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart” (Deuteronomy 30:6). The outward sign in the flesh pointed to an inward work only God could do. Paul says believers have received that circumcision “made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (2:11). What the knife only pictured, the cross accomplished.

The Image Restored. God made man in His image (Genesis 1:27), and sin marred it. Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (1:15), the perfect likeness of the Father. And those who are in Him are “renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (3:10). What was lost in Adam is being restored in Christ.

The Debt Nailed to the Tree. When a man was crucified, the charge against him was often posted above his head. Over Jesus, Pilate posted “JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS” (John 19:19). Paul sees another document nailed there: the record of every debt we owed God. The charge above His head named His crime, which was none. The record nailed with Him listed ours, and it was blotted out.

Personal Application

Christ is enough. The Colossian error was not “no Jesus” but “Jesus plus.” Plus special knowledge, plus visions, plus rules, plus spiritual experiences. Whenever someone offers you something more than Christ, ask what is missing from Him. If all the fullness of God dwells in Him, and you are complete in Him, nothing needs to be added.

Don’t let anyone judge you by shadows. Believers will disagree about some of these questions, and Paul says elsewhere not to despise each other over them (Romans 14). But no one has the right to make a shadow the test of your standing with God. Your standing rests on the substance, and the substance is Christ.

Set your mind on things above. This is not a call to be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good. Paul follows it immediately with very practical instructions: put off anger and lying, forgive, love your family. Seeking things above is what makes you useful down here, because it changes what you want.

Do it heartily, as to the Lord. Paul gave this command to slaves, people with the least glamorous work in the empire. Whatever you do, whether it is in an office, a field, a kitchen, or someone else’s yard, you can do it for Christ. He sees it, and He is the one who rewards.

Finish what you were given. Paul closes with Demas, who would later quit, and Archippus, who was told to fulfill his ministry. Starting well is good. Finishing is better. Whatever ministry the Lord has given you, take heed to it, and see it through.

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY · MARANATHA

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