The book of Colossians is interesting because it is a letter that Paul wrote to a church he had neither started nor visited.
The Colossians were strangers to Paul. The only other church letter in the Bible that has this characteristic is Romans.
Paul had not visited the Roman church when he wrote his letter. Paul did eventually visit the Roman church, though he was not a free man when he arrived in Rome (Acts 28).
In fact, the book of Colossians is believed to have been written when Paul was in prison in Rome. Colossians is one of the 4 prison epistles written during the events of Acts 28.
- Ephesians
- Philippians
- Colossians
- Philemon
There is no record that Paul visited the Colossian church (As far as I know).
It is believed that the Colossian church was started by Epaphras, who was an associate of Paul (Colossians 1:7). Epaphras visited Paul while he was in prison and told him about the Colossian church and the problems they faced.
Opinion: Colossians, just like Romans, contains fundamental Christianity. We who live today never met Paul and so sometimes I think we can especially connect to these letters.
What would Paul write to people he hadn’t met?
Well, he wrote Romans and Colossians. Read them. The Colossians even happened to be gentile believers...like us (most of us).
Overall structure: Colossians is very short. It is 4 chapters long. It comes right after Philippians and before 1 Thessalonians
I do not have the qualifications or knowledge to break down the poetry or arrangement of the book. Here are the things that stand out:
Paul’s final remarks (Yes I’m starting from the back) consist of quite a few cameos.
We see Onesimus (of Philemon fame- He is a major subject in the book of Philemon).
We Mark, who I am especially happy to see. If Paul wrote this in Acts 28, then that means he reconciled with Mark, who had abandoned Paul in Acts 13 and was the reason Barnabas and Paul split in Acts 15. In Timothy 4:11, Paul mentions that Mark became useful to him in ministry.
Fun Fact: This is the same Mark who wrote “The Gospel according to Mark”, which is believed to be based on the teachings and memoirs of Peter. The gospel according to Mark is widely believed to be the earliest of the 4 gospels.
Mark, who caused a great problem early on, rose to be useful to Paul and contributed greatly to the church.
So cheer up you Christian who has fallen.
Allow Galatians 6:1 to occur in your life. Submit yourself to God and he will use you mightily. There is always hope.
Colossians chapter 4 (the last chapter) also features Luke, another gospel writer. Fun Fact: This is where we learn he was a doctor.
Demas is also mentioned. He is mentioned again in Philemon as a worker with Paul. However, by 2 Timothy, he seems unfortunately to have fallen away (2 Tim 4:10); a sad and important cautionary tale.
Like I said before, Colossians is fundamental Christianity. Paul speaks on
- The Supremacy of Christ
- Our fullness in Christ
- Freedom from the law
- Fleeing sin
- The structure of the Church Home and more
All of these are worthy of long essays by themselves.
I will pause here though, and will likely include a part 2 later on.
Just like Paul prayed for the Colossians I pray that you will be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
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