Colossians Julian Zugg
Colossians
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority (Col. 2:8-10)
A study guide on Colossians for MINTS students
Rev. Dr. Julian Michael Zugg
Covenant PCA, Houston, Texas
Email: ,
Web: www.zugg.org
MINTS International Seminary,
14401 Old Cutler Road Miami, Florida 33158 USA
Tel. 786-573-7001, www.mints.edu
OUTLINE
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
LESSON ONE: Introduction, Opening Greetings, Thanksgiving (1:1-8)
LESSON TWO: Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians (1:9-14)
LESSON THREE: The Pre-eminence of Christ (1:15-20)
LESSON FOUR: The Application of Reconciliation (1:16-2:5)
LESSON FIVE: Christ’s Victory Over All Things (2:6-15)
LESSON SIX: Reject False Teaching ~ Seek the Things Above (2:17-3:9)
LESSON SEVEN: Put on the New Man (3:10-17)
LESSON EIGHT: Broader Christian Relationships (3:18-4:14)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this course is a line-by-line exposition of Colossians. Paul writes to the church in Colossae to remind them of the greatness, supremacy, and sufficiency of Christ over all things in creation, redemption, and in every aspect of spiritual life. He is concerned that the church might be taken captive by the false philosophies that were entering the church from the surrounding cultures. Although these philosophies offered a greater spirituality, ultimately they would take believers away from Christ. After warning them, Paul exhorts the church to put on the new man, Christ.
COURSE CONTENT
The course is divided into eight lessons, following the outline of Colossians. The course is concentrated around the opening part of the letter, with less detail toward the end. Paul employs the traditional opening of that time: greetings and prayer. Then he shows the centrality and supremacy of Christ in creation and reconciliation. He applies these truths to the church and warns them about false teaching, including legalism, angel worship, and asceticism. He reminds them to set their sights on Jesus in heaven, to put on the new man, and to apply this Gospel to every area of life. Paul ends with traditional greetings, including a listing of his co-workers.
COURSE MATERIALS
The lecture notes are a full exposition for this course. The students are required to read them thoroughly along with the Scriptures. Students are also required to read a suitable commentary on Colossians from the list supplied below. If a student cannot find a resource, the local coordinator should seek the closest equivalent.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
To study Colossians with other students;
To acquire a detailed knowledge of Paul’s letter to the Colossians;
To develop a deeper understanding of God’s work in this world;
To grow in knowledge of how God deals with His church;
To master Colossians in order to use it in preaching, teaching, and in pastoral counseling;
To master Colossians in order to gain an understanding of the historical background of Paul’s letters.
STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE
This course has been organized into eight lessons.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Participate in fifteen hours of common teaching time.
2. Complete the Bible study exercises as contained in the eight lessons.
3. Read 300 or 600 pages of:
Baker Colossians:
http://covenantpca.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=28679&PID=808370
Matthew Henry Colossians:
www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/,
Calvin Colossians
www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom42.html
4. Write a sermon or study lesson plan on a section from Colossians of five to seven pages at the Bachelor’s level and ten to twelve pages at the Master’s level.
5. Complete an exam on Colossians that is based upon the questions at the end of the lessons.
COURSE EVALUATION
1. Student Attendance (15%): One point will be given for each class hour attended.
2. Student Homework (25%): Points will be given for completing the questions at the end of each lesson.
3. Student Readings (25%): Students will be given credit for completing the required reading.
4. Student Essay (25%): Students will prepare exegetical notes for a sermon/teaching.
5. Student Exam (10%): Students will be examined by one exam drawn from the questions at the end of each lesson.
BENEFITS OF THIS COURSE
In many places, worldly cultural practices have entered the church, overthrowing the simplicity of the Gospel. In some parts of the world, Christian men and women still fear elemental spiritual forces in the world, while others seek these same forces to add power to their Christianity. Colossians teaches that the very fullness of God’s power is found in Christ alone. In Him the believer has everything he needs to live for God. Other so called sources of power (philosophy, asceticism, and spiritual forces) will not offer true spiritual power. They will take one away from Christ and the Gospel and bring man into captivity. Paul wanted the church at Colossae to see the glory and supremacy of Christ and cleave to Him alone.
LESSON ONE: Introduction, Opening Greeting, and Thanksgiving (Col. 1:1-8)
1. Introduction
1.1. Location
The city of Colossae was located in ancient Phrygia. It was incorporated through conquest into the Roman province of Asia, near what is today modern Turkey. The town was in the Lycus river valley where the valley narrowed to a width of about two miles, close to the junction the Maeander River.
Colossae and the Lycos Valley were important trading locations, because they were located on a well-used east/west trading route, which linked the major western seaports of Ephesus to Galatia and on the northern trade route to Pergamos. Colossae was a center of the wool industry, producing high-quality dark red ‘Colossian wool.’ Not only did Colossae possess sheep, but the dyes used were made from nearby chalk deposits. Located ten miles downstream, towards Ephesus, were the neighboring towns of Laodicea and Hierapolis (cp. 4:13).
In Paul’s day Colossae was in decline. It was a small city, overshadowed by its more prosperous neighbors. The Roman road to Pergamos had been rerouted through Laodicea, bypassing Colossae, causing the nearby cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis to grow. In the AD 60’s an earthquake devastated the area. Laodicea was quickly rebuilt (per Tacitus; cp. Rev. 3:14-22), but Colossae was only rebuilt later. It was abandoned by the eighth century and was destroyed by the twelfth.
[1]
Although a gentile area (cp. 2:13), it did have a sizeable Jewish community.[2] Due to being on a major trade route, Colossae had a complex mixture of religion and philosophy. In his letter, Paul seems to address a syncretic mix of Jewish and pagan ideas.
1.2. The Church
The church in Colossae flowed out of Paul’s successful ministry in Ephesus. In Ephesus Paul’s ministry continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks (Acts 19:10). At this time Epaphras and Philemon were converted. Epaphras evangelized along Lycos valley, in Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. He founded a church in his hometown, Colossae, and became its minster (4:12). The church met at Philemon’s house (Philem.1, 2).[3] Paul had never seen them in person (Col. 2:1), and Colossae is not mentioned in Acts. Even so, Paul loved them as brothers and was deeply concerned for them.
Colossae was mainly a gentile area, but because there were many Jews in Asia (Acts 19:10, Josephus), it cannot be categorically stated that the congregation was comprised only of gentiles.
1.3. Paul ~ The Author
The apostle Paul wrote the letter. He clearly identifies himself in both the opening and closing sections (1:1; 4:18). This assertion is supported by personal references and circumstantial detail within the letter. Paul says that he was called as a minister (1:23), that he suffered for the Gospel (1:24), that he was a steward of the mystery, and he asks them for prayer that he might continue to preach the Gospel in prison (4:3,4).[4]
1.4. Prison Epistles
Colossians, along with Ephesians, Philemon, and Philippians are generally called the Prison Epistles written during the time Paul was in prison (4:3, 18). The three letters clearly overlap. Colossians and Ephesians are linked by geography, they share a similar theme, the centrality of Christ over all, and are delivered by the same messengers Tychicus (4:7; Eph. 6:21) and Archippus (4:17; Philem. 2). Colossians is linked to Philemon through the person of Onesimus (4:9) and the fact that Paul mentions the same colleagues in both letters (Col. 4:7-18; Philem. 22-24).[5]
Where and when the Prison Epistles were written is debated. There are three popular ideas. Some believe that Paul wrote these letters while in prison in Ephesus during the time of his ministry in 52-55 AD. Others claim that the letters were written during the two years he was imprisoned in Caesarea (23:23–26:32; cf. 24:27) [6] in 57-59 AD. The traditional view is Paul wrote them during the two years he was imprisoned in Rome (Acts 28:11–31; cf. v. 30) (AD 60-62).[7] If so this latter is true, Epaphras traveled 1000 miles Rome to see Paul during his house arrest, and he many have even joined him in his imprisonment (cp. Philem. 23). Because Paul was not able to travel back to Colossae, Paul commissioned Tychicus to take the letter (4:7-8) back to the church for him.
1.5. The Purpose
Paul writes in response to Epaphras’s mainly encouraging news that the Gospel of faith, love, and hope was spreading and bearing fruit (Col.1-6; 2:5). Paul was also concerned that some were backsliding (Col. 1:23) and that various strands of false teaching were threatening the church (2:10-23). Paul warns them against these dangers and encourages them to maintain their focus on Christ, the only true source of the fullness of God’s blessing (1:13–18; 2:8, 9).
The threat was a spiritually dangerous philosophy drawn from the surrounding culture, one that undermined the simplicity and centrality of Christ. The threats are listed in Colossians 2:8-23: they sought to take men captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ (8). This threat was to the Colossian church and all the Christian churches in the region (cp.4:16).
2. The Colossian Heresy and Paul’s Response
2.1. The Colossian Heresy
Every Christian faces the danger from additions to and distortions of Scripture caused by the influence of the surrounding cultures. In Colossae, the threats were from false Greek philosophies, the worship of angels, Judaistic legalism, and asceticism, each of which promised a deeper spirituality than a mere simple trust in Christ.
a) False Philosophy: The Greek culture loved knowledge (1 Cor. 1:22), and they developed many sophisticated philosophical systems. An enlightened few were given ‘mysterious’ supernatural revelation, through which they gained deeper spiritual realities. In the second century, this developed into a system known as Gnosticism (from the Greek word for knowledge, gnōsis). “Although the Colossian heresy was not Gnosticism, it included similar concepts.”[8] In Gnosticism, God is good, and matter, the physical or created world, is lesser or evil. As the good God could not have created matter, He created a series of lesser gods, or emanations, from the divine being. One of these lesser emanations created matter. In this scheme, Jesus was seen as simply one of the higher emanations, an angel. Jesus Christ could not be the Son of God because He had taken upon Himself an evil human body. Many taught that Jesus was merely a ghost-like spirit. “In this way of thinking, Christ was not the Creator, the Incarnation was not real, and Christ was not enough!”[9] True spiritual fulfillment was still needed and was to be found in the spiritual realm.
b) Hostile Spiritual Forces: The Greeks believed in powerful spiritual forces or powers that controlled the world. This spiritual realm had power over men in the mere physical realm. By magic, one could manipulate these spiritual forces in order to gain power or even defeat them (2:12-15, 18). Through dreams and visions these spiritual forces could bring special knowledge to men. This is what is called a power religion, one in which the main focus is to gain power in order to succeed. This type of religion was common at the time the church was established. In the second and third centuries, these teachings became codified into the powerful system which has already been briefly discussed, Gnosticism. Although this philosophy evolved after Paul wrote the letter, Gnosticism grew from the type of teaching at this time. Gnosticism taught that there was a powerful spiritual realm. In Gnosticism the lesser “demons formed a barrier between man and God. Only through superior knowledge and the help from the good emanations could one break through.”[10] True spirituality involved gaining mastery over the forces of evil. This was obtained through the help of the angels (2:18). Christ was merely one of the emanations; one began with Christ and then continued to work up the series of emanations until God Himself was reached. In this system, the sufficiency of Christ was overthrown, the full deity of Christ (cp. 2:9) as coequal with the Father was denied, the humanity of Christ was rejected (cp. 1:22) because matter was inferior to spirit, and the sufficiency of Christ alone for salvation was also rejected (cp. 1:28; 2:3, 9-10). Each of these aspects is touched on in Colossians.
The Old Testament also teaches about a power spiritual realm. In the fall of Adam, evil spiritual forces entered the creation under Satan and hold men in bondage (Eph. 2:1-3). Although angels are sent by God to assist His people (Heb. 2:4), they are never to seek them for blessings. Colossians teaches that the only source of blessings is Christ, the God-man. On the cross He defeated and broke the hold of all the spiritual forces in the world. In Him, the fullness of God is manifest to the world.
c) Judaistic Legalism: “The Colossian heretics also embraced elements of Jewish ceremonialism.”[11] They advocated circumcision, as a necessary addition to the Gospel, and asceticism, with its rigid denial and harsh treatment of the body (cp. 2:20-22). They were proponents of the strict Jewish dietary laws and holy days, such as the Sabbath, festivals, and new moons (cp. 2:16-17), and they believed that these additional works were needed for salvation and the attainment of full spiritual enlightenment.