'Confident In Christ' - Studies In Colossians Archive

As Paul encourages the Colossians he is encouraging us, don't get distracted, don't get knocked off course by the false teachers around you- stand firm in the wonderful truth of the Gospel. No matter where he goes, Paul doesn't change his message, because the Gospel doesn't change.

We were once distant from God because of our sin, but instead of discarding us and punishing us, God sent His son Jesus to the earth, to live the perfect life, and then to die and rise again so we might be free from our sin. We're not cut off from God any more as we once were, but presented without blemish - holy and blameless. So that one day when this life has passed, if we stand firm in Him, we can be presented to God as Holy, as clean and without blemish, as blameless- free from accusation…as His.

Paul’s letter to Philemon cannot really be separated from his letter to the Colossians. Philemon was one of the Colossian believers and the church met in his home. Paul’s personal letter to Philemon deals with the delicate issue of the broken relationship between Philemon and his run away slave - Onesimus.
Here we see how the believer’s understanding of our identity in Christ must be applied to the often complicated issues of life in a fallen world. This specific issue between Philemon and Onesimus will serve as a test as to whether the type of Christian community that Paul has called the Colossian believers to is realistic and workable in practice.

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Today we conclude our studies in Colossians. This letter was written to encourage the members of the church in Colossae to remain confident in Christ. In the face of false teaching suggesting they needed something more Paul is insistent that they, and we, are complete in Jesus Christ.
In this concluding section of the letter we find a number of personal greetings and final instructions which communicate more important truths about what it means to be in Christ and part of His church.

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The members of the church at Colossae were keen to grow in both understanding the theology of their faith and also how to live out their faith every day in the place where God had called them to be.
In this passage the Apostle Paul provides them with practical instructions on how to do this in their relationships.

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The supremacy of Christ has been clearly demonstrated - fulness is found in Him. The false teaching has been confronted and shown to be ultimately empty. The way to true spiritual maturity is not along by following the path of legalism or mysticism. Rather it consists in an understanding and living on the basis of who we are in Christ. The final two chapters focus on the reality that because Christ is in us this has a profound impact on how we live. It is a case of out with the old and in with the new.

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Paul’s teaching within chapter 2 is an argument directed against the false teaching that has infected the church at Colossae. In response to this false teaching, Paul develops the overarching argument of his letter - that the Colossians can be confident in Christ alone. In this passage, Paul challenges two dangerous teachings that the Colossians Church were falling into; dangers that are still hazardous for christians today.

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Verses 6-7 sum up the message of the entire letter. In them Paul draws together the profound theology about Christ unfolded in chapter 1 and the practical theology that follows from it by calling the Colossian believers to continue forward in Christ. Then, in the verses that follow Paul directly challenges the false teaching in their midst and sets out why the Colossians can remain fully confident in Christ.

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Last time Paul set out the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ in both creation and in His new creation. In our passage today Paul shares with the Colossian believers the practical outworking of this message in his own ministry. We learn what it means to be servant of Christ and what it means to be a servant of His church. We will see that gospel ministry can a hard slog but well worth it when we keep before us the ‘hope of glory.’

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We live in a society where there are many different answers to the question of who is Jesus Christ? Among so many competing answers it is essential that Christians allow scripture to answer this question for us. Colossians 1:15-23 is regarded as one of the most important passages in the New Testament when it comes to our understanding of who Jesus Christ is. But it is also a passage that is as scandalous and offensive today as it was in Paul’s own day because it proclaims Jesus not simply as one lord among many competing lords and ways. Paul insists that Jesus is the pre-eminent Lord of all.

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Last time we looked at Paul’s thanksgiving for the faith, love and hope that the Christians in Colossae were showing which was evidence of how they had received the true Gospel. Now Paul now turns to pray for them. It is because of what God has already done among them that Paul can pray with confidence for what God will do. His prayer is carefully shaped by his thanksgiving and it focuses around the three issues of knowledge, power and joy.

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The message of Paul’s letter to the Colossians is as explosively counter-cultural in our day as it was when Paul first wrote it. In a world of fiercely competing loyalties and identities Paul affirms that Jesus Christ reigns supreme. And if Jesus really is the cosmic Lord, then how can we not dedicate every fibre of our being to him and his service? As we read and study Colossians we will see that King Jesus is Lord of everything—and that should influence every aspect of our life on this earth.

Today we begin by looking at the marks of the true Christian and the true gospel.

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