Lesson #01

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Colossians

September 21, 2015

Lesson #02

January 20, 2010

Lesson #03

January 20, 2010

RETURN TO LIST OF LESSONS

COLOSSIANS
Lesson #01
INTRODUCTION

• The book of Colossians is a unique book because of its author and its unique position in the plan of God.

 

• THE AUTHOR
• This book was written by the Apostle Paul. It is not that fact that makes this book unique because Paul wrote much of the New Testament.
  • The fact that Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote this book makes it different.
  • The fact that Paul wrote this book to a church he never visited makes it different.
  • The fact that Paul wrote this book to a church he did not establish makes it different.

 

• THE CHURCH AT COLOSSE:
• The city of Colosse was located in what is now called Turkey. This city is 100 miles east of Ephesus. Paul spent some time in Ephesus because it was a bustling center of trade and business.
  • Paul’s plan:
    • Paul had a plan for reaching the maximum number of people possible with the gospel. If he could establish a vibrant church in a place where thousands of people passed through on their way to some other place, those people were potential missionaries that would take the gospel even farther than Paul could travel. This was what made Ephesus so important in the dispersion of the gospel.
  • The church in Colosse was a direct result of this plan.
    • Paul did not go to Colosse to establish this church. That church was founded by one of Paul’s converts from Ephesus a man named Epaphras.
      • Epaphras was probably converted during Paul’s three years in Ephesus. (Act 19)
        • While Paul never visited Epaphras in Colosse, Epaphras visited Paul in prison in Rome and told him the news of the church in Colosse.
      • Epaphras was probably the pastor of the church in Colosse and Philemon was a prominent church leader. (The book of Philemon.)
    • Even though Paul did not personally establish this church, he felt responsible for it. Because of that, he wrote them this letter (the book of Colossians).
      • Along with the letter to the church in Colosse, Paul wrote the letter to Philemon and sent these two letters together to Colosse.
• The condition of the church in Colosse:
  • This church contained a blend of Greeks, Jews, and Phrygians (native Turks). However, it was primarily a Gentile church.

 

• THE DATE:
• The general timing of Paul’s letter to the Colossians is obviously near the end of Paul’s ministry. He had made three missionary journeys through the areas of Turkey and Greece. At the end of his third missionary journey he had returned to Jerusalem where he was arrested. He was taken as a prisoner to Rome to stand trial for preaching the gospel. While he waited for that trial is when he wrote to this church and to the church in Ephesus (the book of Ephesians). (Act 28:30)
• The specific date for the writing of this book was probably around 60-62 AD.

 

• HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
• The early stage of persecution was beginning to scatter the Christians.
  • The initial persecution of Christians began with persecution from the Jews, and specifically the religious leaders of Judaism.
  • Gradually as Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, persecution came from the Roman government in an effort to keep the peace between Christians and Jews in many local areas of the empire.

 

• THE THEME: The supremacy and complete sufficiency of Jesus Christ
• In the book of Colossians we find that the focus is the spiritual man.
  • The New Testament directs its focus to three types of people:
    • =1= The natural man
      • This is the non-believer that does not know Christ.
        • The book of Romans is the example.
    • =2= The carnal man
      • This is the believer that has accepted Christ as his savior but is living his life in the same way as a non-believer.
        • The books of 1 and 2 Corinthians are the example.
    • =3= The spiritual man
      • This is the believer that is experiencing change in his life by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is maturing in the faith.
        • The book of Ephesians is the example.
  • In the book of Colossians, with the focus on the spiritual man, Paul desired to correct a failure of Christians to live by the doctrine he established in the book of Ephesians.
    • False doctrine had entered the church and Paul wanted to correct it.
• The problem in the Colossian Church:
  • The problem in this church that Paul desired to correct is that of syncretism.
    • What is syncretism?
      • Syncretism is the process of introducing other ideas, philosophies, and doctrines into the Christian doctrine that was established by the apostles. In other words, it is mixing truth with error.
        • To accomplish this process of mixing doctrines, two things are necessary:
          • =1= To lower the standard of the truth of the apostles making it equal with other literature and other ideas.
          • =2= To raise the standard of other documents and ideas making them equal to the inspired Word of God.
        • What aspects of syncretism do we find in the Colossian church?
          • Ritualism
            • It is possible to make any practice a ritual. For example, a Christian can make a ritual out of Holy Communion. You can eat the bread and drink the cup without thinking about the meaning of what you are doing. You can perform the ritual and never even think about Christ and His sacrifice. If a Christian does this, taking Holy Communion becomes meaningless, an empty ritual.
          • Tradition
            • It is possible to participate in certain Christian practices over and over again for many years so that it becomes a tradition. Traditions are built over time when certain practices become ritualistic. This occurs especially when we do not teach our children the spiritual significance of what we do. Then the next generation continues the practice without knowing why we do this and without knowing the spiritual significance.
          • Legalism
            • Christian legalism is to make a formal list of rules to guide (control) the lives of Christians. While the rules on the list may seem to be essentially good, they accomplish just the opposite in the Christian life. For example rules that dictate a specific dress code for Christians, only raises man’s rebellious nature to want to do what he would not have thought to do before the law was imposed upon him.
              • This was the problem that the Israelites discovered when God gave them the Law of Moses. They could not keep it, but it made them want to rebel more.
              • This is the subject of the book of Galatians so we will not spend much time on this aspect in the book of Colossians.
          • Mysticism or Asceticism
            • Some Christians were so fascinated by spiritual things that they began to open themselves to demonic spirits and mystical practices not found in scripture.
          • Gnosticism
            • The primary false doctrine that arose in the first century was a Greek philosophy that elevated “knowledge” to be god. The way to God was through knowledge.
              • The Greek word “gnosis” means = knowledge. From this word comes the name of this false doctrine is “Gnosticism” that is still present today.
              • Because this philosophy was in its infancy when Paul wrote this book, we do not find the word “Gnosticism” in the Bible. We only find the arguments that counter the false doctrine.
            • First century Gnosticism contained the following concepts:
              • The Jewish concept of keeping the Old Testament laws and ceremonies (legalism).
              • The Greek concept of obtaining special or deeper knowledge.
              • The worship of angels as mediators of God (mysticism;/asceticism) (2:18)
              • Special privileges of a special group that had become “perfect” through knowledge.
              • The denial of the deity of Jesus Christ (1:15-16; 2:9).
• How is Gnosticism present with us today?

• There are Gnostic religions like Theosophy, Science of the Mind, Unitarian, Christian Science, etc. that are still with us today.
• There are hundreds of New Age cult groups that base their teaching on Gnosticism.
• Gnosticism and the New Versions of the Bible:
  • All versions of the Bible with the exception of the King James Bible

  are based on the 45 Gnostic manuscripts found in Alexandria Egypt.

  • The Greek scholars, Westcott and Hort, that wrote the Greek text (called the Minority Text) on which all the new versions of the Bible are based, were not born-again Christians. They did not believe in the pre-existence of Christ, in the Deity of Christ, in the sinlessness of Christ, in the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, or in the divine inspiration of the Word of God. Instead they were involved in black magic, occult wisdom, Theosophy, spiritism, mysticism, communication with the dead, etc.

 

• OUTLINE for the book of Colossians:
• I. A deeper life in Christ (1:1-2:7)
  • A. Salutation and Greeting (1:1-2)
  • B. Thanksgiving (1:3-8)
  • C. Petition (1:9-14)
  • D. Exaltation of Christ (1:15-20)
  • E. Reconciliation by Christ (1:21-23)
  • F. Revelation of the mystery of Christ (1:24-27)
  • G. Perfection of Christ (1:28-29)
  • H. Wisdom in Christ (2:1-5)
  • I. Exhortation to live in Christ (2:6-7)
• II. A higher life in Christ (2:8-23)
  • A. Gnosticism is wrong about the deity of Christ (2:8-10)
  • B. Legalism (2:11-17)
  • C. Mysticism (2:18-19)
  • D. Asceticism (2:20-23)
• III. The Inner Life in Christ (3:1-17)
  • A. Seeking spiritual values (3:1-4)
  • B. Putting off the old sins of the old life (3:5-11)
  • C. Putting on the virtues of the new life (3:12-17)
• IV. The Outer Life in Christ (3:18-4:18)
  • A. Perfecting your private life (3:18-4:1)
  • B. Perfecting your prayer life (4:2-4)
  • C. Perfecting your public life (4:5-6)

 

• SOURCES for our study:
• Colossians

by Willard C. Peirce

• Understanding the Basic Themes of Colossians, Philemon

by Peter T. O’Brien

• Colossians, a Portrait of Christ

by James T. Draper Jr.

• Halley’s Bible Handbook
• Eerdman’s Handbook of the Bible
• The Layman’s Bible Study Notebook by Irving Jensen
• The Bible Guide

by Andrew Knowles

• The Bible Knowledge Commentary

by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck

• General Introduction to the Bible

, Revised and Expanded by Norman Geisler and William E. Nix

HOMEWORK
Colossians 1:1-13
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Preparation for Col 1
  • Read Col 1:1-13
    • For what does Paul commend this church? (1:4-8)

 

• What do you learn about intercessory prayer?
  • For what does Paul pray on behalf of the Colossian Christians? (9-12)

• Memory Verse: Col 1:13