Chunks: Paul's Letter to the Colossians

As Christians, we may be used to speaking appreciatively of our “church family,” a metaphor which suggests a caring community. But families in Scripture are often marked by conflict and division, the our church families are no exception. As Paul teaches, those who have put on their new nature in Christ will remember how the cross should overcome all of our divisiveness—and to make his point, he re...

If we’re honest with ourselves, the list of behaviors and attitudes Paul associates with our “earthly nature” is intimidating; no one is innocent of such a list. But when Paul teaches that we must “put [them] to death,” it’s because he’s already taught that we have died to such things and raised to new life in Christ. That’s the background to one of the most well-known ethical teachings of the New...

Many of us may have experienced what it’s like to live with a religion of “don’ts,” with a litany of all the things that a “good Christian” doesn’t do. And Paul does seem to lean that way in chapter 3, telling the Colossians all the things they must “put to death” (Col 3:5-7). But as he will continue to argue, it’s not just about what they shouldn’t do, but about living in a way that’s consistent...

True Christian hope is much more than mere optimism; it looks forward with confidence to the future God has promised. As Paul has already said in chapter 1 the revealed mystery of the gospel itself is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). Then, in chapter 3, though he doesn’t use the word “hope,” Paul refers against to the glory that will come with the return of Christ (Col 3:1-4). That’s...

In Colossians 2, Paul dealt with the do’s and don’ts being urged on the Colossians, putting them in their proper perspective. At the beginning of chapter 3, then, he begins with his own “dos,” that is, what the Colossians should do instead. He doesn’t begin with behavior, but with the mind and heart: both should be “set…on things above” (Col 3:1-2).

Have you ever made New Year’s resolutions? Did you resolve to start doing something, or to stop ? Prohibitions based on sheer will don’t tend to work terribly well, and this may be part of the reason that Paul is skeptical about the usefulness of religious rules. In fact, he seems to portray the restrictive rules of the false teachers a bit sarcastically, setting up the positive teaching of chapte...

We may impose all kinds of rules on ourselves and others, and the rules may seem to make perfect sense. The question, though, is what such rules are meant to accomplish and whether they do, in fact, work. Paul has already suggested that the rules with which the Colossians were being confronted had their origin in pride. Now, as he ends chapter 2, he adds that the rules are also useless, because th...

Anyone who has raised kids (or tried to maintain a sense of order anywhere!) knows the importance of rules. What we want is for people to internalize the rules, not just obey them in some slavish and resentful way. Paul isn’t telling the Colossians that rules are entirely unnecessary. But to combat the kind of legalistic spirituality they’re being taught, Paul puts such rules in their proper persp...

Again, every religion has its dos and don’ts. In Colossians 2, Paul has dealt with some of the religious “dos” being pushed on the Colossians, and he will end the chapter by addressing the “don’ts.” Before we look at these verses, however, let’s locate his teaching against the background of what both Jesus and the Old Testament prophets taught about a true religion that isn’t just about following...

Over the years, I have heard story after story of people who felt alienated and excluded within their congregations. One imagines that the Colossians may have felt that way in the face of what some people were teaching about the necessity of various religious observances or the importance of certain spiritual experiences. But Paul has a withering indictment of such false teachers: they think they’...

Paul has warned the Colossians to not listen to those who are boasting of their spiritual experiences as if such experiences made them better than other people, and the apostle has more to say on the subject. In this episode, however, we pause to consider the example of Paul himself, who has had his own remarkable spiritual experiences, but refuses to let this be a reason for boasting.

What Paul has taught in chapter 2 seems to suggest that people were teaching the Gentile converts in Colossae that they needed to observe certain religious rituals. If that is indeed what was happening, such folks may have done so in a way that was sincere but mistaken. What Paul says next, however, suggests another motive: pride. Their own spiritual experiences may have inflated their egos (Col 2...

As we’ve seen, Paul gives the Colossians freedom in Christ with respect to the Jewish regulations of circumcision and Sabbath observance. In Colossians 2:17, he then adds the various customs that were probably being urged on the Colossians were just “a shadow of the things that were to come,” whereas “the reality…is found in Christ.” Paul’s wording is difficult to translate into sensible English;...

We’ve already seen how Paul speaks of the cross in a way that teaches the Gentile converts in Colossae that they have no need to be circumcised; they’ve already been circumcised spiritually in Christ. But what about other Jewish customs? Sabbath observance was the other mark of a true Jew; were the Colossians being pressured here too? As he did with respect to circumcision, Paul gives the Colossia...

In Colossians 2, Paul uses different metaphors to speak of what God has done through the cross of Christ. The Colossians have been spiritually circumcised; they have had the charge against them taken away and nailed to the cross. In verse 15, he introduces yet another metaphor, reminiscent of conquering Roman generals—and to me, of C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia .  

When the Jewish leaders accused Jesus of falsely claiming to be the King of the Jews, Pontius Pilate knew they were forcing his hand. To have last word in the debate, he prepared a sign to be nailed to the cross along with Jesus: “Jesus the Nazarene, The King of the Jews.” Some scholars, then, believe that when Paul refers to a canceled “charge” in Colossians 2:13-14, he’s envisioning the sign tha...

One of the themes of Jesus’ teaching was forgiveness; he himself embodied the compassion of God and expected his followers to be people of love and forgiveness themselves. Similarly, the forgiveness of sin is at the center of Paul’s understanding of the gospel, as we see clearly in Colossians 2:13-14. But some of Paul’s language is difficult to translate. What does he mean when he refers to the “c...

When we read the book of Acts as well as Paul’s letter to the Galatians, it’s abundantly clear that the apostle was vehemently opposed to requiring Gentile converts to be circumcised. In Colossians 2:11-12, he backs this up with a theological argument. But what Paul means precisely is an ongoing subject of scholarly debate; we’ll begin exploring the possibilities here.

Throughout the Old Testament and continuing into the days of Jesus and Paul, circumcision was a distinguishing mark of God’s people. Through the ministry of Paul and others, Gentiles were evangelized throughout the Roman Empire. But the question of whether Gentiles should be circumcised lingered. Paul seems to address this issue in Colossians 2:11-12, telling the Colossians that they’ve already be...

As we might expect in a letter such as this, filled with pastoral counsel, Paul gives the Colossians a number of dos and don’ts. On the one hand, they should walk in Jesus, be rooted in him, and be grounded in the apostolic gospel. On the other hand, they shouldn’t be carried away by fine-sounding but deceptive alternatives. More importantly, he’s given them the why in his portrait of the absolute...

The apostle Paul could not possibly have imagined the online, virtual world we live in now. Some have called it an “attention economy,” in which marketing experts design “clickbait” to capture your attention and get you to click their link. But Paul did know about how new converts, having been raised in a pagan world, could have their attention captured by “hollow and deceptive philosophy” (Col 2:...

In a highly individualistic culture, “tradition” can be a dirty word, suggesting the pressure to do things a certain way “just because.” But Paul thinks of the apostolic tradition as something in which believers should be rooted, for the sake of their growth in Christ. He wants the Colossians to be grateful for what the tradition passed on to them, and to get themselves firmly established in it so...

In some traditions, it’s common to speak of “receiving Jesus” by inviting him to take up residence in our hearts. Paul, too, speaks of the Colossians as have “received Christ Jesus as Lord” (Col 2:6). But does Paul mean that they received him into their hearts? Probably not: his way of using the word suggests not only receiving Jesus, but receiving a tradition about Jesus that’s been passed on thr...

Paul has never met the Colossians, and is writing to them from a distance. Yet he tells them that he is with them in spirit (Col 2:5). He’s not scolding them, as if to say, “I’m watching you”; quite the contrary, he continues to commend them for their faith. Yet he’s also concerned that they not be misled by other who are trying to deceive them. So, think: who has been with you in spirit, in a way...

As a professor helping to train people for various ministries, I value knowledge. But I am also keenly aware of the ways in which knowledge can be pursued for its own sake, as a way of bolstering our pride. Paul wants the Colossians to have the knowledge they need and receive it as a gift, or indeed, as a valuable treasure (Col 2:1-3). But he teaches this against the background of what was probabl...