Colossians
  1. Background
    1. Author: Paul
    2. Recipients
      1. The city of Colossae
        1. Several hundred years prior to this letter Colossae had been a leading city in Asia Minor
        2. Located on the Lycus River on an important east-west trade route from Ephesus to the Euphrates
        3. By the NT times it was only a second rate market town
      2. The church at Colossae (taken from Wiersbe)
        1. By comparing the prison letters, we can arrive at the following reconstruction of events.
        2. Paul was at that time a prisoner in Rome (Acts 21:17-28:31). He met a runaway slave named Onesimus who belonged to Philemon, one of the leaders of the church in Colossae. Paul led Onesimus to Christ. He then wrote his letter to Philemon, asking his friend to forgive Onesimus and receive him back as a brother in Christ.
        3. About the same time, Epaphras showed up in Rome because he needed Paul’s help. Some new doctrines were being taught in Colossae and were invading the church and creating problems. So Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians in order to refute these heretical teachings and establish the truth of the Gospel.
        4. Epaphras remained with Paul in Rome (Col. 4:12-13). Onesimus and Tychicus carried Paul’s epistles to their destinations: Ephesians 6:21; Colossians 4:7-9; and Philemon. Epaphras was called Paul’s "fellow-prisoner," a title also given to Aristarchus (Col. 4:10; Phile. 23). This suggests that Epaphras willingly remained with Paul to assist him.
        5. Neither Aristarchus nor Epaphras was a prisoner because he broke the law and was arrested. They were Paul’s willing companions, sacrificing their own comfort to help him.
        6. This was a church started by laymen, not an apostle or a missionary!
    3. Date
      1. AD 60
      2. Written during Paul’s first Roman imprisonment
    4. Purpose
      1. Deal with what commentators call the "Colossian heresy"
        1. Early form of gnosticism
        2. Tenets of gnosticism
          1. Higher spiritual knowledge (they were "in the know")
          2. Matter is evil
            1. Led some into asceticism
            2. Led some into licentiousness
          3. God could not touch evil so there must be other "spiritual" beings or emanations that flow from God that are responsible for the evil in the universe
      2. Other issues involved
        1. Astrology
        2. Angel worship
        3. Higher spirituality
        4. Adding to the sufficiency of Christ and the Scriptures
        5. Asceticism
      3. Preach the supremacy of Christ
    5. Features
      1. Similar to Ephesians in content. In fact, the two books were probably written at about the same time. They are often studied in tandem.
      2. Contains a classic passage on the preeminence of Christ
  2. Outline
    1. Introduction (11-12)
      1. Greeting
      2. Paul’s thanks and prayers for the Philippians
    2. The Supremacy of Christ (113-23)
      1. Because of His role in salvation
      2. Because He is Deity
      3. Because He is the Creator
      4. Because He is the Head of the church
      5. Because of the ministry of reconciliation
    3. Inadequacy of Man-made philosophies (124-223)
      1. Paul’s ministry
        1. Suffering
        2. Given to him by God
        3. It is of the "mystery" of God
      2. Paul’s Desire for the Colossians
        1. They would understand the mystery of God
        2. That they would not be tricked by enticing man-made philosophies
      3. Dangerous philosophies refuted
        1. Walk in Christ to prevent falling for false doctrine
        2. Dangerous philosophies
          1. Philosophy: lover of wisdom
          2. Tradition of men
          3. Rudiments of the world: elementary beliefs
            1. Belief that angels controlled heavenly bodies
            2. That certain "spiritual" forces controlled matter
        3. Christ possesses the fullness of the Godhead
        4. In Christ we have all that we need
        5. Don’t let men judge you in respect to ordinances and principalities
        6. Don’t be fooled into false humility and angel worship
        7. Don’t fall into the trap of asceticism
    4. The Necessity for Christian Living (31-46)
      1. Put your affections in the right place
        1. Set your heart on Christ
        2. Kill fleshly desires
        3. Cultivate Godly desires
      2. Practice your relationships in a biblical manner
        1. Husband/wife
        2. Parent/child
        3. Master/slave
      3. Practice basic biblical duties
        1. Pray
        2. Walk
        3. Talk
    5. Conclusion (47-18)
      1. Fellow-laborers listed
      2. Closing