1 Thessalonians 2 - MARKS OF PAUL’S MINISTRY

1 Thessalonians 2 - MARKS OF PAUL’S MINISTRY

A. Paul proves he was sincere and not a charlatan.
1. (1 Thessalonians 2:1-2) The integrity of Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica.
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict.
a. For you yourselves know: This begins a section where Paul defended his own character and ministry before the Thessalonians. This wasn’t because Paul was insecure about his ministry, but because he had many enemies in Thessalonica (Acts 17:5-6; Act_17:13) who discredited him in his absence, especially because of his hurried departure from Thessalonica. Paul’s enemies said he left town quickly because he was a self-serving coward.
i. “This self-revelation is not being made because the Thessalonian believers themselves were suspicious or doubtful about the missionaries. Paul is answering the insidious attacks being made by scandalmongers outside the church because of their hatred for him.” (Hiebert)
ii. Paul wrote here in a personal manner, but this really wasn’t a personal issue for Paul. He knew that it mattered for the sake of the gospel. If Paul was discredited, then the gospel message itself would be discredited.
iii. “Paul’s emphatic calling of the Thessalonians to witness did two things. In the first place it showed his confidence in them. He had no fear they would succumb to the propaganda being put before them. In the second place it demonstrated that all the facts required for his vindication were facts of common knowledge.” (Morris)
iv. Barclay sees the following false charges against Paul, evident from this chapter:
· “Paul has a police record and is therefore untrustworthy” (1 Thessalonians 2:2).
· “Paul is delusional” (1 Thessalonians 2:3).
· Paul’s ministry is based on impure motives” (1 Thessalonians 2:3).
· “Paul deliberately deceives others” (1 Thessalonians 2:3).
· “Paul preaches to please others, not God” (1 Thessalonians 2:4).
· “Paul is in the ministry as a mercenary, to get what he can out of it materially” (1 Thessalonians 2:5; 1Th_2:9).
· “Paul only wants personal glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:6).
· “Paul is something of a dictator” (1 Thessalonians 2:7).
b. Our coming to you was not in vain: The word vain here can refer either to the result of the ministry, or the character of the ministry. Because it was evident to everyone that Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica was a success, it is better to see it as a reference to the character of Paul’s ministry. His coming was not empty or hollow, as if he were a mere salesman or marketer.
c. Even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi: Paul reminds the Thessalonians of his sufferings in the ministry. Through this, he made the point that he would not carry on in the face of beatings and conflict if he were in it only for himself. When Paul arrived in Thessalonica, the wounds on his back from Philippi were still fresh. If Paul was in it for himself, he wasn’t very smart about serving his own self-interest.
i. “Acts 16:23-24 records that the suffering included a public flogging and having their feet in stocks while confined in the city’s inner prison. Such a Roman flogging was no light matter; it was an experience not soon forgotten.” (Hiebert)
ii. “We know that indignity and persecution weaken and indeed completely break men’s minds. It was, therefore, a work of God that, although Paul had suffered various misfortunes and indignity, he appeared unaffected, and did not hesitate to launch an assault on a large and wealthy city for the purpose of leading its people captive to Christ.” (Calvin)
d. We were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict: Despite what some of Paul’s accusers said, he did not only preach the gospel when it was easy or convenient. He knew what it was like to speak boldly for the Lord even in much conflict.
i. We were bold in our God to speak: “It comes from two words meaning literally ‘all speech.’ It denotes the state of mind when the words flow freely, the attitude of feeling quite at home with no sense of stress or strain. This attitude includes both boldness and confidence.” (Morris)
ii. “The word rendered conflict (agon) contains a metaphor drawn from the athletic games or the arena. It means the place of contest, and then the contest itself - a race, a struggle, a battle. Such a conflict always involves intense exertion and strenuous, persistent effort to overcome the determined opposition or the dangerous antagonist.” (Hiebert)
2. (1 Thessalonians 2:3-5) The integrity of Paul’s message in Thessalonica.
For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit. But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness; God is witness.
a. For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness: The purity of Paul’s message made it apparent that there was no deceit, uncleanness, or guile in his ministry. In the first century world Paul lived in, there were many competing religions, and many ministers of those religions were motivated by greed and gain.
i. The city of Thessalonica sat on the Egnatian Way, the famous highway that went east to west through Macedonia. Thessalonica was also an important port and a melting pot city with cultures from all over the world. There were a staggering variety of religions and religious professionals in Thessalonica. In this city, you would find the worship of the gods of the Olympian pantheon, especially Apollo, Athena and Hercules. There were the native Greek mystery religions, celebrating Dionysis and the sex and drinking cult. The Greek intellectual and philosophical traditions were also represented. There were shrines to many Egyptian gods: Isis, Sarapis, Anubis. Also present were the Roman State cults that deified the political heroes of Rome. There were also the Jewish people and the God-fearing Gentiles.
ii. Most of these religions were missionary minded, and sought to spread their faith using itinerant evangelists and preachers. Most of these missionaries were opportunists, who took everything they could from their listeners, and then moved on to find someone else to support them.
iii. “There has probably never been such a variety of religious cults and philosophic systems as in Paul’s day . . . ‘Holy men’ of all creeds and countries, popular philosophers, magicians, astrologers, crack-pots, and cranks; the sincere and the spurious, the righteous and the rogue, swindlers and saints, jostled and clamoured for the attention of the believing and the skeptical.” (Neil, cited in Morris)
iv. Commentators divide as to if the uncleanness Paul defended himself against in 1 Thessalonians 2:3 was uncleanness of spirit or uncleanness of the flesh. The context seems to suggest more of a uncleanness of motive or spirit, while the word itself more indicates moral and especially sexual uncleanness (it often appears in lists with the term fornication).
b. As we have been approved by God: Paul used a word here that was associated with approving someone as being fit for public service. “Just as Athenians were tested for their fitness before they were allowed to assume public office, so the missionaries were tested before they were commissioned as God’s messengers.” (Hiebert)
c. Even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts: Paul knew his gospel wouldn’t always please men, but he knew that it was pleasing to God.
i. Paul tried to make the gospel as attractive as possible, but he never changed its central character or focus. Paul never compromised issues like man’s need, God’s savior, the cross, the resurrection, and the new life.
ii. “True grace is of a most masculine, disengaged, noble nature, and remits nothing of its diligence either for fear of a frown or hope of a reward.” (Trapp)
d. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness: Paul understood that covetousness always has a cloak. It is always concealed by a noble sounding goal. But Paul did not use the flattering words that often are a cloak for covetousness.
i. Morris on flattering words: “We can use this English term of remarks which, though insincere, are directed to the pleasure of the person being flattered. The Greek term has rather the idea of using fair words as a means of gaining one’s own ends.”
ii. Thomas on covetousness: “Pleonexia is self-seeking of all types, a quest for anything that brings self-satisfaction. It grows out of complete disinterest in the rights of others - an attitude foreign to Paul and his helpers.”
iii. “Where greed and ambition hold sway, innumerable corruptions follow, and the whole man turns to vanity. These are the two sources from which stems the corruption of the whole of the ministry.” (Calvin)
iv. “Hear this, ye that preach the Gospel! Can ye call God to witness that in preaching it ye have no end in view by your ministry but his glory in the salvation of souls? Or do ye enter into the priesthood for a morsel of bread, or for what is ominously and impiously called a living, a benefice? . . . Is God witness that, in all these things, ye have no cloak of covetousness? . . . But wo to that man who enters into the labour for the sake of the hire! he knows not Christ; and how can he preach him?” (Clarke)
3. (1 Thessalonians 2:6-7) Paul’s gentle, humble attitude among the Thessalonfians demonstrated his motives were pure.
Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.
a. Nor did we seek glory from men: When Paul ministered among the Thessalonians, he was unconcerned for his personal glory. He didn’t need fancy introductions or lavish praise. His satisfaction came from his relationship with Jesus, not from the praise of people.
i. Paul didn’t seek glory from men because his needs for security and acceptance were met primarily in Jesus. This meant that he didn’t spend his life trying to seek and earn the acceptance of man. He ministered from an understanding of his identity in Jesus.
ii. “We did not seek men’s honour, high esteem, or applause; we sought them not in the inward bent of our thoughts, or the studies of our mind, not in outward course of our ministry and conversation, to form them so as to gain glory from men. Though honour and esteem was their due from men, yet they did not seek it. Honour is to follow men, men not to follow it.” (Poole)
b. When we might have made demands as apostles of Christ: Paul was among the Thessalonians to give something to them, not to take something from them. He did not come making demands as an apostle.
c. But we were gentle among you: Paul was like a nursing mother, who only looks only to give to her child. Though some among the Thessalonians had accused Paul of ministering out of self interest, but Paul simply asks the Christians in Thessalonica to remember the gentle character of his ministry among them.
i. There is a valid debate as to if 1 Thessalonians 2:7 should read gentle or babes. Nevertheless, “Whichever version is preferred, however, there can be no doubt that Paul is describing his voluntary submission to them.” (Calvin)
ii. “Paul’s statement of defense falls into two parts, a negative and a positive. . . . It is his practice first to sweep away the false, and then with the ground cleared to set forth the positive presentation of the truth.” (Hiebert)
4. (1 Thessalonians 2:8-9) Paul’s self-support and hard work among the Thessalonians demonstrated that his motives were pure.
So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.
a. We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives: The sacrifices Paul endured for the sake of ministry to the Thessalonians were not a burden. He was well pleased to do it, because Paul was affectionately longing for the Thessalonians, because they had become dear to Paul and his associates.
i. Affectionately longing for you: “Is from an extremely rare verb of obscure origin. Wohlenberg conjectured that it was ‘a term of endearment derived from the language of the nursery.’ Whatever its origin, it denotes the warm affection and tender yearning that the missionaries felt for their spiritual babes at Thessalonica.” (Hiebert)
b. But also our own lives: Paul’s preaching was effective because he gave not only the gospel, but himself as well (also our own lives), and he gave because of love (you had become dear to us).
i. It has been said that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Paul gave both his care and his knowledge to the Thessalonians.
c. For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil: Paul recognized his right to be supported by those he ministered to (1 Corinthians 9:14), but voluntarily gave up that right to set himself apart from missionaries of false religions. Paul denied his rights and took a higher standard upon himself.
i. “Paul means by the phrase, night and day, that he started work before dawn; the usage is regular and frequent. He no doubt began so early in order to be able to devote some part of the day to preaching.” (Moffatt quoting Ramsay)
ii. “There can be no doubt that there was some worthy and particular motive which induced him to refrain from claiming his rights, for in other churches he exercised the privilege accorded to him as the others had done.” (Calvin)
5. (1 Thessalonians 2:10-12) Paul’s own behavior and message to the Thessalonians demonstrates the integrity of his character before God and man.
You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
a. You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe: It is impressive that Paul could freely appeal to his own life as an example. Paul didn’t have to say, “Please don’t look at my life. Look to Jesus.” Paul wanted people to look to Jesus, but he could also tell them to look at his life, because the power of Jesus was real in his life.
i. As seen in 1 Thessalonians 1:6, Paul was comfortable in the idea of other Christians following his example. He repeated the same idea in passages like Philippians 3:17 and 1 Corinthians 11:1.
ii. This is a worthy goal for any Christian today; to live a life that declares how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among others. This is the kind of life that draws others to follow Jesus for themselves.
b. How we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you . . . that you would walk worthy of God: Paul himself lived justly and blamelessly, but he also told the Thessalonians they should live the same way. He could tell them that they should walk worthy of God because his life and message were consistent.
B. More thanksgiving for the work God did in the Thessalonians.
1. (13) Paul is thankful that they welcomed the gospel as God’s message, not man’s.
For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
a. When you received the word of God: Paul earnestly believed and taught others that God had spoken to man and that we have recorded this word of God. Paul believed in a voice that speaks to mankind with the authority of eternity, and speaks above mere human opinion. Since we do have this word of God, we have a true voice of authority.
i. Some people like to say that there is a word of God, but that we can’t be sure of what He says. When we appeal to the Bible, they like to reply “That’s just your interpretation.” There are certainly some places where the word of God is hard to precisely interpret, but there are not many such places. If we can not know what God has spoken, then He may as well not have spoken at all.
b. You welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God: The Thessalonians received the word of God as it is in truth. Paul presented it not as the word of men, and the Thessalonians received it as the word of God.
i. Not everyone receives this message as the word of God. Yet when they do not receive it, it reflects upon them, not upon the message. “That you have not perceived spiritual things is true; but it is no proof that there are none to perceive. The whole case is like that of the Irishman who tried to upset evidence by non-evidence. Four witnesses saw him commit a murder. He pleaded that he was not guilty, and wished to establish his innocence by producing forty persons who did not see him do it. Of what use would that have been? So, if forty people declare that there is no power of the Holy Ghost going with the word, this only proves that the forty people do not know what others do know.” (Spurgeon)
c. Which also effectively works in you who believe: Paul’s confidence in the word of God wasn’t a matter of wishful thinking or blind faith. He could see that it effectively works in those who believe. God’s word works, it doesn’t only bring information or produce feelings. There is power in the word of God to change lives.
i. “The powerful working of God is usually expressed by this word, Ephesians 1:19; Philippians 2:13; and the working of Satan also, Ephesians 2:2. Men possessed with the devil are called energumeni. And where the word is believed and received as the word of God, there it hat this energy, or worketh effectually, so as to promote love, repentance, self-denial, mortification, comfort, and peace.” (Poole)
2. (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16) The Thessalonians welcomed suffering when they welcomed the word, yet they stood steadfast.
For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.
a. For you also suffered the same things: When the Thessalonians responded to the gospel, they became the targets of persecution. As they did, they were not alone, because those among the churches of God have often suffered persecution. The Thessalonian Christians became imitators of those who had suffered before them.
i. The Thessalonians willingly suffered the same things because they were convinced that Paul brought them not the word of man, but the word of God. The word of man isn’t worth suffering for, but a true message from God is worth it.
ii. Churches is the ancient Greek word ekklesia; it was not a specifically religious word. Christians passed over many Greek words that were commonly used for religious brotherhoods. “The force of this is that Christianity is not just another religion. It is not to be named with any of the words proper to religions in general [of that day].” (Morris)
b. Who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us: Paul comforted these suffering Christians with the assurance that they were not the first to suffer this way. The Lord Jesus faced persecution, and the Christians in Judea faced it first. Additionally, Paul and his associates were also persecuted.
i. Who killed . . . the Lord Jesus: Here Paul wrote that his own countrymen (the Judeans) had killed . . . the Lord Jesus. But Paul knew well that the Jews of Judea were not the only ones responsible for the murder of Jesus. The Romans had their full share of guilt, so both Jew and Gentile were guilty.
c. And they do not please God and are contrary to all men: Paul also comforted them with the awareness that they were right, that they are the ones pleasing God. This was necessary assurance because they were persecuted by religious people, and might wonder if these other religious people were in fact right before God in their persecuting.
d. Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins: Here Paul revealed what offended the religious persecutors of the Thessalonians so much. They were outraged that Gentiles could be saved without first becoming Jews. This exclusive attitude filled up the measure of their sins.
i. “The Jews’ opposition to the work of the missionaries among the Gentiles was not due to the fact that they were seeking to win Gentiles. The Jews themselves were vigorously engaged in this period of their history in actively proselyting Gentiles. Their fierce opposition was due to the fact that Christian missionaries offered salvation to Gentiles without demanding that they first become Jews.” (Hiebert)
ii. “The plural ‘sins’ points to the aggregate of their separate evil acts, and not to the general abstract concept of ‘sin.’” (Morris)
e. But wrath has come upon them to the uttermost: Paul comforted the Thessalonians by assuring them that God would indeed take care of their persecutors. When Christians forget this, they often disgrace and curse themselves by returning persecution for persecution towards others.
i. “Their crimes were great; to these their punishment is proportioned. For what end God has preserved them distinct from all the people of the earth among whom they sojourn, we cannot pretend to say; but it must unquestionably be for an object of the very highest importance. In the meantime, let the Christian world treat them with humanity and mercy.” (Clarke)
ii. “At the same time we should notice that Paul’s anger is the anger of a man with his own nation, with his own people. He is very much part of them, and he sorrows for their fate.” (Morris)
3. (1 Thessalonians 2:17-20) Paul explains his absence from the Thessalonians.
But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. Therefore we wanted to come to you; even I, Paul, time and again; but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.
a. Away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face: Paul knew that the Thessalonians appreciated the comfort he gave, but they wondered why he didn’t come and bring this comfort in person. They naturally thought that this would be much better. Yet Paul assured them that the reason was not a lack of love or desire on his part.
b. We wanted to come to you . . . but Satan hindered us: It wasn’t that Paul did not want to visit the Thessalonians. It was that Satan hindered Paul and his associates. Paul assured the Thessalonians that he desired to be with them, but he was hindered by Satan, and that this happened time and again.
i. The Thessalonians were mostly Gentile converts, yet when Paul mentioned Satan here, he gave no further explanation. This shows that in the few weeks he was there, Paul taught the Thessalonians much about Satan and spiritual warfare.
c. Satan hindered us: Paul, in all his apostolic ministry and authority, could still be blocked by Satan. But Paul did not just receive this Satanic hindrance in a fatalistic way. He did something about the hindrance.
i. First, Paul understood that this was Satanic hindrance. He knew this was not a random circumstance, but a direct attack from Satan. Paul had the discernment to know.
ii. Second, Paul had faith. For a short time means that Paul knew it would only be a short time until the roadblock was overcome.
iii. Third, Paul was committed to fight against the roadblock any way he could. If he couldn’t be there in person, his letter will go for him and teach and encourage them in his absence. Many scholars believe that 1 Thessalonians was Paul’s earliest letter written as an apostle to a church. If this is the case, then Satan’s roadblock got Paul started on writing letters to the churches. When Satan saw the great work God did through theses letters, he regretted that he ever hindered Paul at all.
iv. Finally, God brought the victory. Acts 20:1-5 describes Paul’s eventual return to Thessalonica and other churches in the area.
v. “Supposing that we have ascertained that hindrances in our way really come from Satan, WHAT THEN? I have but one piece of advice, and that is, go on, hindrance or no hindrance, in the path of duty as God the Holy Ghost enables you.” (Spurgeon)
d. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Paul assured the Thessalonians that he could never forget them because they were his glory and his joy. His inability to visit should never be taken as a lack of love towards the Thessalonians.
i. Perhaps Paul would say that he didn’t need a crown in heaven, because these precious ones were his crown of victory. Those whom we bring to Jesus and disciple are a crown of victory for us.
ii. “Every man who preaches the Gospel should carefully read this chapter and examine himself by it. Most preachers, on reading it conscientiously, will either give up their place to others, or purpose to do the work of the Lord more fervently for the future.” (Clarke)

1 Thessalonians 1 - RECEIVERS AND RESPONDERS

1 Thessalonians 1 - RECEIVERS AND RESPONDERS

“This letter is full of interest because it is certainly among the first of those which have been preserved for us from the pen of Paul. It was the first he wrote to European Christians, and in it the fundamental things of the Christian life are very clearly set forth.” (G. Campbell Morgan)
A. Greeting and thanksgiving.
1. (1 Thessalonians 1:1) Paul greets the Thessalonian Christians.
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
a. Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy: Paul was an amazing man and apostle of God, but he usually did not work all by himself. Whenever he could, Paul worked with a team. Here Paul mentioned the men he worked with.
i. Silvanus (also known as Silas) was a long and experienced companion of Paul. He traveled with Paul on his second missionary journey and was imprisoned and set free with Paul in the Philippian jail (Acts 16:19-24). When Paul first came to Thessalonica, Silas came with him (Acts 17:1-9). Therefore, the Thessalonians knew Silvanus well.
ii. Timothy was a resident of Lystra, a city in the province of Galatia (Acts 16:1-3). He was the son of a Greek father (Acts 16:2) and a Jewish mother named Eunice (2 Timothy 2:5). From his youth learned the Scriptures from his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5; 2Ti_3:15). Timothy was a trusted companion and associate of Paul, and he accompanied Paul on many of his missionary journeys. Paul sent Timothy to the Thessalonians on a previous occasion (1 Thessalonians 3:2).
b. To the church of the Thessalonians: Paul himself founded the church in Thessalonica on his second missionary journey (Acts 17:1-9). He was only in the city a short time because he was forced out by enemies of the gospel. Yet the church of the Thessalonians continued alive and active. Paul’s deep concern for this young church he was forced to suddenly leave prompted this letter.
i. On Paul’s second missionary journey he was imprisoned in Philippi and then miraculously freed from jail - only to be kicked out of the city. Then he came to Thessalonica, the prosperous capital of the province of Macedonia (northern Greece), located on the famous Egnatian Way.
ii. After only three weekends of prosperous ministry (Acts 17:2), he had to flee from an angry mob. He moved on to Berea - again enjoying several weeks of ministry, but soon driven out by the same Thessalonian mob.
iii. His next stop was Athens where he preached a good sermon but had mixed results. By the time he came to Corinth, he was in weakness, in fear and in much trembling (1 Corinthians 1:23). At this point of the second missionary journey, it seemed that Paul was a very discouraged missionary.
iv. While in Corinth, it is likely that Paul was greatly concerned about the churches he had just founded, and he wondered about their state. While at Corinth, Silas and Timothy came to him from Thessalonica with great news: the church there was strong, and Paul became so excited that he dashed off this letter to the Thessalonians, probably his first letter to any church. He wrote it just a few months after he had first established the church in Thessalonica. After writing and sending this letter, Paul enjoyed a sustained and fruitful ministry in Corinth - and eventually returned to the Thessalonians.
v. This letter presupposes a basic truth: Paul found it important, even essential, to organize these young converts into a group of mutual interest, care, and fellowship. Paul “knew better than to leave his young societies with nothing more than the vague memory of pious preaching. The local organization was, as yet, primitive, but evidently it was sufficient to maintain itself and carry on the business of the church, when the guiding hand of the missionary was removed.” (Moffatt)
c. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Paul brought this customary greeting to the Thessalonian Christians, hailing them in the grace and peace of God the Father.
i. Morris on grace to you: “The change in the Greek form though slight in sound [chairein to charis], is great in sense. It is a big step from ‘greeting’ to ‘grace.’ Grace fundamentally means ‘that which causes joy,’ a shade of meaning we may still discern when we speak of a graceful action or the social graces. It comes to mean ‘favor,’ ‘kindness,’ and then especially God’s kindness to man in providing for his spiritual needs in Christ.”
ii. Hiebert on God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: “Paul’s construction, which unites the two under the government of the one preposition in (en), places the two names side by side on a basis of equality. It is a clear witness to his conviction concerning the deity of Jesus Christ.”
iii. “It is important to notice that the first words of 1 Thessalonians are in the form usual at the beginning of a letter of this period. What follows is not a theological treatise, but a real letter arising out of the situation in which the Apostle and his friends find themselves.” (Morris)
2. (1 Thessalonians 1:2) Paul’s gratitude to God.
We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers,
a. We give thanks to God always for you all: When Paul thought of the Christians in Thessalonica, his heart filled with gratitude. Paul started the church there in less than ideal circumstances, being run out of town after only three weekends with them (Acts 17:1-10). Yet the church was strong and full of life. Paul knew that this work was beyond him and his abilities and that it was the work of God.
i. “The regularly recurring nature of the thanksgiving is also implied in the use of the present tense of the verb. It is their practice to give thanks to God ‘continually, never skipping a single day.’“ (Hiebert)
b. Making mention of you in our prayers: When Paul prayed for people and churches, it wasn’t necessarily a long time of intercession. He often simply made mention of a church or a person in prayer (Romans 1:9, Ephesians 1:16, Philemon 1:4).
i. “And not Paul alone. The plural implies that all three missionaries prayed together.” (Moffatt)
3. (1 Thessalonians 1:3-4) Why Paul gave thanks to God for the Thessalonian Christians.
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.
a. Remembering without ceasing your work of faith: There were things about the Christians in Thessalonica that Paul simply could not forget. He always remembered them. What he remembered about them made him thankful.
i. Paul’s gratitude didn’t come because all the Christians in Thessalonica thought so highly of him. Later, Paul used a whole chapter defending himself and his ministry against slander and false accusations.
ii. Paul’s gratitude didn’t come because the Thessalonian Christians were morally impeccable. Later in the letter, Paul strongly warned them against the failings in regard to sexual impurity.
iii. Paul’s gratitude didn’t come because the Thessalonian Christians were completely accurate in all their doctrine. He had to correct some of their wrong ideas in that area also.
b. Your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ: Despite the problems, Paul was so grateful to God for the Thessalonians because there was an undeniable work of the Holy Spirit and a marvelous change in their lives. The three great Christian virtues were evident among them: faith, love, and hope.
i. “Here for the first time, chronologically, in Paul’s writings we have this famous triad: faith, love, hope. But Paul’s stress is not on these virtues alone, but rather upon what they produce.” (Hiebert)
· Therefore, their faith produced work - as is the nature of true faith.
· Their love produced labor. There are two different ancient Greek words for work: ergon and kopos. Ergon “may be pleasant and stimulating,” but kopos “implies toil that is strenuous and sweat-producing.” (Hiebert)
· Their hope produced patience, which is the long-suffering endurance needed to not only survive hard times, but to triumph through them.
c. Knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God: Paul reminded them that God loved them (beloved) and that He chose them (election). The two go together. When we love someone, we naturally choose them.
i. “The phrase beloved by God was a phrase which the Jews applied only to supremely great men like Moses and Solomon, and to the nation of Israel itself. Now the greatest privilege of the greatest men of God’s chosen people has been extended to the humblest of the Gentiles.” (Barclay)
ii. The following verses will explain why Paul was so confident in knowing their election by God. There were definite signs that Paul could see that said, “These Thessalonians are God’s elect.” In a sermon on the following passage, Charles Spurgeon found four evidences of election:
· The word of God coming home with power (our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power)
· The reception of God’s word with much assurance (and in much assurance)
· The desire to be like Jesus (you became followers of us and of the Lord)
· The existence of spiritual joy in spiritual service (in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit)
B. The cause and effect of the changes in the lives of the Thessalonians.
1. (1 Thessalonians 1:5) The gospel caused the changes in the Thessalonian Christians.
For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.
a. For our gospel did not come to you in word only: The gospel is not a matter of mere words. In modern culture there is an overflow of information or entertainment that often only amounts to mere words. Yet the gospel is more that words, it also has power.
i. For our gospel did not come to you: Literally, Paul wrote “became to you - proved to be, in its approach to you.” (Alford)
b. Also in power: The message of Jesus Christ has power. It has power for miracles; power for wonderful signs from God; and best of all, it has the power to change minds, hearts, and lives.
i. Thomas on power: “Not to be confused with dynameis, the plural of dynamis, which means ‘miracles’ (1 Corinthians 12:10; Galatians 3:5), the singular does not specify supernatural manifestations but neither does it exclude them.”
ii. “Some take the word power to mean miracles. I extend the word to apply to the spiritual power of doctrine . . . It is the living voice of God, inseparable from its effect, as compared with the empty and lifeless eloquence of men.” (Calvin)
c. And in the Holy Spirit: It is a message by the Holy Spirit, a living Person, who works within the hearts of the hearers, to convict, to comfort and to instruct. If the preacher only speaks, then it is a matter of word only, but when the Holy Spirit works through the word, a great spiritual work is accomplished.
i. We sometimes think too little about the spiritual operations of the Word of God. There is a spiritual work of God’s Word goes far beyond the basic educational value of learning the Bible.
d. And in much assurance: It is a message given in much assurance. This describes the preacher who really believes what he preaches. There is no substitute for that assurance, and if a preacher doesn’t have it, he should stay out of the pulpit.
2. (1 Thessalonians 1:6) The Thessalonians responded to the gospel by becoming followers.
And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
a. And you became followers of us and of the Lord: They stopped following other things, but followed after Paul and the Lord. Paul says that it was a good thing for the Thessalonians to follow him, and he wasn’t shy about saying “follow me” because he knew where he was going.
i. This shows that Paul’s message included an element of personal discipleship. There was a sense in which Paul personally led these Thessalonian Christians in their spiritual life. They could see his life and were invited to learn from his example.
ii. Paul repeated this theme several times: Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. (Philippians 3:17) Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)
b. Having received the word in much affliction: The Thessalonian Christians distinguished themselves because they received the word, even in much affliction. The message they heard came with adversity, yet they received it and Paul thanked God because of it.
i. “The word for ‘affliction’ outside the Bible usually denotes literal pressure, and that of a severe kind. The corresponding verb, for example, was used of pressing the grapes in wine-making till they burst asunder, and so metaphorically came to mean very great trouble.” (Morris)
c. With joy of the Holy Spirit: When the Thessalonian Christians faced the affliction from receiving the word, they didn’t just face it with a resigned fatalism. They faced it with joy of the Holy Spirit.
i. Not long before coming to Thessalonica, Paul and Silas personally experienced the principle of having the joy of the Holy Spirit even in the presence of much affliction - when they sang in the Philippian jail despite their chains and sufferings. They were examples of this same spirit to the Thessalonian Christians.
3. (1 Thessalonians 1:7) The Thessalonians responded to the gospel by becoming examples.
So that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.
a. So that you became examples: First, Paul was an example to the Thessalonian Christians. Then they became examples to others. This is exactly how the work of God should happen.
b. To all in Macedonia and Achaia: The Christians in Macedonia and Achaia needed examples, and the Thessalonians supplied that need. This was true even though they had only been followers of Jesus a short time. As Christians, we always need others who will show us how to follow Jesus Christ, beyond the need of hearing about how to follow Him.
4. (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10) The Thessalonians responded by sounding forth the word of the Lord.
For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
a. From you the word of the Lord has sounded forth: This was part of the good example that the Thessalonian Christians provided. Sounded forth means “a loud ringing sound, as of a trumpet blast.” The good work the Lord did among the Thessalonians became known all over the region, and everyone talked about the changes.
i. In a cosmopolitan trading city like Thessalonica, the good news could sound forth in every place to all the earth.
b. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything: Paul said, “You Thessalonian Christians are sounding forth the word of the Lord so effectively that you are putting me out of business! We do not need to say anything!”
i. Paul pairs two ideas. The word of the Lord sounded forth, and their faith toward God has gone out. Those two aspects are essential if a church will spread the gospel. First, they need a message to spread, and that message first needs to impact their own lives. Second, they need the faith to go out, so that their faith toward God goes out to all the world.
ii. “The mere preaching of the Gospel has done much to convince and convert sinners; but the lives of the sincere followers of Christ, as illustrative of the truth of these doctrines, have done much more.” (Clarke)
iii. “Everybody asked, ‘Why, what has happened to these Thessalonians? These people have broken their idols: they worship the one God; they trust in Jesus. They are no longer drunken, dishonest, impure, contentious.’ Everybody talked of what had taken place among these converted people. Oh, for conversions, plentiful, clear, singular, and manifest; that so the word of God may sound out! Our converts are our best advertisements and arguments.” (Spurgeon)
c. How you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven: When the Thessalonians received the Word of God from Paul, they responded to it by leaving their idols, and they gave themselves to serve the living and true God. Their reception of the Word and their faith in God was shown as true because they did something with the Word of God.
i. To serve the living and true God: It seems that the verb douleuo (to serve) was apparently never used in a religious sense in pagan literature. Hiebert quotes Denney: “No Greek or Roman could take in the idea of ‘serving’ a God . . . There was no room for it in his religion; his conception of the gods did not admit of it. If life was to be a moral service rendered to God, it must be to a God quite different from any to whom he was introduced by his ancestral worship.”
ii. To wait for His Son from heaven: “Oh! This is a high mark of grace, when the Christian expects his Lord to come, and lives like one that expects him every moment. If you and I knew to-night that the Lord would come before this service was over, in what state of heart should we sit in these pews? In that state of heart we ought to be.” (Spurgeon)
d. Even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come: Paul points to the essence of salvation in saying Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come. We are saved from something, and that something is the righteous wrath of a holy God.
i. Later in this letter, Paul used the expression God did not appoint us to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9) to refer to God’s deliverance of His people in the context of the wrath to come upon the world in the last days. He may have the same idea in mind here. “Used technically, as it so frequently is in the NT, ‘wrath’ (orges) is a title for the period just before Messiah’s kingdom on earth, when God will afflict earth’s inhabitants with an unparalleled series of physical torments because of their rejection of His will.” (Thomas)
ii. Whether he means the wrath of the Great Tribulation or the ultimate wrath of eternity, either must be urgently avoided. “A timorous man can fancy vast and terrible fears; fire, sword, racks, scalding lead, boiling pitch, running bell-metal. Yet all this is but as a painted fire to the wrath to come, that eternity of extremity, which graceless persons shall never be able to avoid or to abide.” (Trapp)

Colossians 4 - PRAYER LIFE, PERSONAL WITNESS, AND FINAL GREETINGS

Colossians 4 - PRAYER LIFE, PERSONAL WITNESS, AND FINAL GREETINGS

A. The inner life of prayer and the outer life of witness.
1. (Colossians 4:2-4) The inner life of prayer.
Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
a. Continue earnestly in prayer: Paul supported the Colossian church through His prayers for them (Colossians 1:3-8). Their life and ministry would continue to prosper through continued vigilance in prayer, including prayer on their part.
i. The ancient Greek word translated continue is “Built on a root meaning ‘to be strong,’ it always connotes earnest adherence to a person or thing. In this passage it implies persistence and fervor.” (Vaughan)
ii. This sort of earnest prayer is important, but does not come easy. Earnestly in prayer speaks of great effort steadily applied. “Heaven’s gate is not to be stormed by one weapon but by many. Spare no arrows, Christian. Watch and see that none of the arms in thy armoury are rusty. Besiege the throne of God with a hundred hands, and look at the promise with a hundred eyes. You have a great work on hand for you have to move the arm that moves the world; watch, then, for every means of moving that arm. See to it that you ply every promise; that you use every argument; that you wrestle with all might.” (Spurgeon)
b. Being vigilant in it with thanksgiving: We are to be vigilant in prayer, but always praying with thanksgiving for the great things God has done.
i. Barclay on vigilant: “Literally the Greek means to be wakeful. The phrase could well mean that Paul is telling them not to go to sleep when they pray.” Sometimes, because of the tiredness of our body or mind, we struggle against sleep when we pray. Other times we pray as if we were asleep, and our prayers simply sound and feel tired and sleepy.
ii. “Prayer should be mingled with praise. I have heard that in New England after the Puritans had settled there a long while, they used to have very often a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer, till they had so many days of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, that at last a good senator proposed that they should change it for once, and have a day of thanksgiving.” (Spurgeon)
iii. “The connection here with thanksgiving may suggest the threefold rhythm: intercession, ‘watching’ for answers to prayer, and thanksgiving when answers appear.” (Wright)
c. Meanwhile praying also for us: Paul seemed to say, “As long as we are on the subject of prayer, please pray for us!” But Paul didn’t ask for prayer for his personal needs (which were many), but that God would open to us a door for the word.
i. The same word picture of an open door as an open opportunity for the gospel is seen in passages such as Acts 14:27, 1 Corinthians 16:9, and 2 Corinthians 2:12.
d. As I ought to speak: Even though Paul was in chains for his faithfulness to the gospel, he knew that he ought to speak it in a way that would make it manifest (clearly evident). Paul wanted prayer that he would continue to make the gospel clear and evident, even if it meant more chains.
i. Robertson comments on Paul’s words, as I ought to speak: “Wonderful as Paul’s preaching was to his hearers and seems to us, he was never satisfied with it. What preacher can be?”
2. (Colossians 4:5-6) The outer life of witness.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
a. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside: The Christian life isn’t only lived in the prayer closet. There also must be practical, lived-out Christianity, which lives wisely toward those who are outside. How we speak has a lot to do with this, so we must let our speech always be with grace.
i. “Distorted accounts of Christian conduct and belief were in circulation; it was important that Christians should give no color to these calumnies, but should rather give the lie to them by their regular manner of life.” (Bruce)
ii. Let your speech always be with grace: “The word ‘grace’ has, in Greek as in English, the possible double meaning of God’s grace and human graciousness.” (Wright)
iii. “In classical writers ‘salt’ expressed the wit with which conversation was flavoured.” (Peake) “Grace and salt (wit, sense) make an ideal combination.” (Robertson)
b. That you may know how you ought to answer each one: Paul believed that Christians would answer others from Biblical truth, and that they would work at knowing how to communicate those answers to those who are outside.
i. Barclay translates Colossians 4:6 this way: Let your speech always be with gracious charm, seasoned with the salt of wit, so that you will know the right answer to give in every case. He explains: “Here is an interesting injunction. It is all too true that Christianity in the minds of many is connected with a kind of sanctimonious dullness and an outlook in which laughter is almost a heresy. . . . The Christian must commend his message with the charm and the wit which were in Jesus himself.”
ii. “They must strive to cultivate the gift of pleasant and wise conversation, so that they may be able to speak appropriately to each individual (with his peculiar needs) with whom they come in contact.” (Peake)
iii. Colossians 4:2-6 shows that God is concerned both about our personal prayer life and our interaction with the world. He cares both about the prayer closet and the public street, and He wants us to care about both also.
iv. This is also an important idea to connect with the earlier passages of Colossians. Paul spent considerable time in this letter explaining the truth and refuting bad doctrine. Yet all the correct knowledge was of little good until it was applied in both the prayer closet and the public street of daily life. We could say that here, Paul genuinely completes his letter.
B. Personal notes concluding the letter.
1. (Colossians 4:7-9) Regarding Tychicus and Onesimus, messengers of the letter.
Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts, with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things which are happening here.
a. Tychicus, a beloved brother: Apparently, the Colossian Christians didn’t know who Tychicus was. He would carry this letter to them (will tell you all the news about me).
i. Apparently Epaphras, who brought the news from Colosse to Paul in Rome (Colossians 1:7), would not return to Colosse soon; so Paul sent Tychicus instead.
ii. Tychicus is mentioned in Acts 20:4 as one of the men who came with Paul from the Roman province of Asia to Jerusalem, to carry the offering of those believers to the needy Christians of Jerusalem and Judea.
iii. “The reference to Tychicus is almost word for word identical with Ephesians 6:21-22. He was evidently the bearer of the letter to the Ephesians as well as this one.” (Bruce)
b. With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother: Onesimus was a slave owned by a believer in Colosse, but he ran away and came into contact with Paul in Rome. There, Onesimus became a Christian and a dedicated helper to Paul. His story is continued in Paul’s letter to Philemon.
i. Paul could have wrote about Onesimus, “the escaped slave who I am sending back to his master.” Instead, he called him a faithful and beloved brother, and let the Colossian Christians know that Onesimus was now one of you.
2. (Colossians 4:10-11) Greetings from three of Paul’s faithful Jewish friends.
Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him), and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision; they have proved to be a comfort to me.
a. Aristarchus: He was a Macedonian from Thessalonica (Acts 20:4). He was Paul’s travel companion, and with the apostle when the Ephesian mob seized Paul (Acts 19:29). He was also with Paul when he set sail for Rome under his Roman imprisonment (Acts 27:2). Here Paul calls him my fellow prisoner. It seems that Aristarchus had an interesting habit of being with Paul in hard times. Some (such as William Ramsay) suggest that he actually made himself Paul’s slave so that he could travel with him on this journey to Rome.
b. Mark the cousin of Barnabas . . . if he comes to you, welcome him: Though Paul had much earlier had a falling out with both Barnabas and Mark (Acts 13:5; Act_13:13), clearly by the time he wrote this all was in the past. The grace of God working in Paul meant that time changed him and softened him towards others that had previously offended him.
i. “It is from this reference alone that we learn that Mark was Barnabas’ cousin - a piece of information which throws light on the special consideration which Barnabas gives to Mark in the narrative of Acts.” (Bruce)
ii. Because Paul identified Mark in terms of his relationships with Barnabas, it seems that the Colossian Christians knew who Barnabas was. Either this was through his reputation, or through further missionary journeys that were not recorded in the Book of Acts. It reminds us that the Book of Acts is an incomplete record of the history of the early church.
c. Jesus who is called Justus: Of this man, we know nothing except his name. He is numbered among these previous four men, all of them comforters to Paul in his Roman custody preceding his trial before Caesar (they have proved to be a comfort to me).
d. My only fellow workers . . . who are of the circumcision: At that time, Paul had only three fellow workers with a Jewish heritage. Yet these three did a great work, they proved to be a comfort to Paul.
i. Paul was in Roman custody because of a Jewish riot on the temple mount over the mere mention of God’s offer of grace to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21-22).
ii. Adam Clarke drew out a logical conclusion from the words, These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision: “It is evident, therefore, that Peter was not now at Rome, else he certainly would have been mentioned in this list; for we cannot suppose that he was in the list of those who preached Christ in an exceptionable way, and from impure and unholy motives: indeed, there is no evidence that Peter ever saw Rome.”
3. (Colossians 4:12-13) Greetings from Epaphras.
Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has a great zeal for you, and those who are in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis.
a. Always laboring fervently for you in prayers: Prayer is hard work, and Epaphras worked diligently at it, especially knowing the danger of the false teaching in Colosse. So, Epaphras prayed that they Colossian Christians would stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. This is a wonderful prayer to pray for anyone.
i. Paul called Epaphras a bondservant of Christ, using a phrase that he often applied to himself, but never to anyone else, except here and in Philippians 1:1 where he speaks of himself and Timothy together as bondservants of Jesus.
ii. Epaphras was a bondservant, and prayer was an important area where he worked hard. Laboring fervently “is a free translation of echei polyn ponon, a phrase the key word of which (ponom) suggest heavy toil to the extent of pain.” (Vaughan)
b. He has a great zeal for you: Epaphras prayed well because he cared well. If he lagged in zeal, he certainly would have lagged in prayer.
4. (Colossians 4:14) Greetings from Luke and Demas.
Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.
a. Luke the beloved physician: This is the one passage that informs us that Luke, the human author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, was a physician. We also see that his works are written with a more scientific, analytical mindset (Luke 1:1-4) and have much detail that a physician would be interested in (Luke 4:38; Luk_5:12-15, and Luke 8:43).
i. Perhaps Luke was in Rome to deliver a document he recently finished - the Gospel of Like and the Book of Acts, which probably were together a “friend of the court” brief, explaining to the Romans why Paul stood before Caesar’s court.
b. Demas: Here, nothing positive is said about Demas, only that he greets the Colossian Christians and therefore must have been known to them. In Philemon 1:24 he is grouped among Paul’s fellow laborers. Yet in the last mention of him (2 Timothy 4:10), Paul said that Demas had forsaken him, having loved this present world, and that he had gone on to Thessalonica.
i. “Surely here we have the faint outlines of a study in degeneration, loss of enthusiasm and failure in the faith.” (Barclay)
ii. The six people who greeted the Colossians were connected with Paul in Rome, during the time of his house arrest and custody before appearing on trial before Caesar. This shows that during this imprisonment - unlike the later one described in 2 Timothy - Paul, though chained, enjoyed at least the occasional the company of many friends and associates.
5. (Colossians 4:15) Greeting to Nymphas and the Laodiceans.
Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house.
a. Laodicea: This was the same city later mentioned in the scathing rebuke of Revelation 3:14-22, and it was a neighboring city of Colosse, along with Hierapolis (Colossians 4:13).
b. Nymphas: There has been some considerable debate as to if Paul referred to a man or a woman with this name. Some manuscripts have the masculine form and some have the femminine.
i. “Much ink has been spilt over the question whether the individual here mentioned is a woman (Nympha) or a man (Nymphas). Both forms are found in the manuscript tradition, and certainty seems impossible on this (fortunately not very significant) point.” (Wright)
c. The church that is in his house: Having no buildings of their own, the early church met as “house churches.” Because few houses were large, there were usually several “house churches” in a city, with a pastor or elder over each one.
i. “Such house-churches were apparently smaller circles of fellowship within the larger fellowship of the city ekklesia.” (Bruce)
ii. “We must remember that there was no such thing as a special Church building until the third century. Up to that time the Christian congregations met in the houses of those who where the leaders of the Church.” (Barclay)
6. (Colossians 4:16) Instructions for spreading the message in this letter.
Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.
a. Now when this epistle is read among you: When Paul and other apostles wrote letters to churches, the letters were simply publicly read in the congregations. It was a way for the apostle to teach that church even when he could not personally be there.
b. See that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans: It was the general practice to distribute all apostolic letters among the churches, especially those close to each other.
i. “Here we undoubtedly have the principle reason for the preservation of Paul’s letters in the sub-apostolic period, and their eventual adoption as part of the canonical ‘new covenant’ books: their author intended them to carry, in writing, the authority which had been invested in him as an apostle.” (Wright)
ii. This helps us to understand how and why the letters would have been copied almost immediately, and how slight mistakes in copying the manuscripts could come in at an early date.
c. And that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea: Apparently, Paul wrote a letter to the Laodiceans that we do not have. We should not assume from this that our treasure of inspiration is incomplete. The Holy Spirit has chosen to preserve those letters that are inspired for the church in a universal sense. Paul was not inspired in this way every time he set pen to paper.
i. It may be that this “missing” Laodicean letter was actually the letter to the Ephesians. “It is well-nigh certain that Ephesians was not written to the Church at Ephesus but was an encyclical letter meant to circulate among the Churches of Asia. It may be that this encyclical had reached Laodicea and was now on the way to Colosse.” (Barclay)
ii. There is a Latin letter of Paul to the Laodiceans and it was mentioned as early as the fifth century by Jerome. But Jerome himself called it a forgery and that most people in his day agreed that it was not authentic. It is mainly made up of phrases from Philippians and Galatians. Adam Clarke had a low opinion of this letter: “As to its being the work of St. Paul, little or nothing need be said; its barrenness of meaning, poverty of style, incoherency of manner, and total want of design and object, are a sufficient refutation of its pretensions.”
7. (Colossians 4:17) A special word to Archippus.
And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”
a. And say to Archippus: This special word to Archippus is of special interest. Paul wrote another short word regarding Archippus in another letter, mentioning Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house (Philemon 1:1).
i. This mention in Philemon 1:1 makes some people believe that he was the son of Philemon, since he is mentioned in the context of the wife of Philemon (Apphia) and his household (the church in your house). It also shows that Paul thought highly of Archippus and valued him as an associate in God’s work (our fellow soldier).
ii. The context of Colossians 4:17 leads some to think that though Archippus was part of the family of Philemon, he was connected with the church at Laodicea. Perhaps Archippus was the pastor of the church at Laodicea. Of course, there is no way to know this for certain.
b. Say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry”: Paul wanted Archippus to be encouraged and strengthened, but he did not make this appeal to Archippus directly. He asked that it come to Archippus through the Colossians (or the Laodiceans).
i. “Presumably he would be present when the letter was read, either in the Colossian church or, later, when it had been sent to Laodicea. This was perhaps calculated to impress him the more with the solemnity of his responsibility to carry out his service.” (Bruce)
ii. Therefore, it was more fitting for the Colossians (or Laodiceans) to say this to Archippus than for Paul himself to say it to him. He needed to hear this from the people around him: “Fulfill your ministry.” When the Colossians spoke up, then Archippus knew his ministry was wanted. “Many an Archippus is sluggish, because the Colossians are silent.” (Dyke)
iii. They need to say “fulfill your ministry” directly to Archippus, not behind him. Whispering it behind his back would do no good. They had to say it to him.
c. Take heed to the ministry: This encouragement to Archippus spoke both to him and to us regarding some enduring principles of ministry.
· God gives ministry to His people.
· True ministry is received in the Lord.
· Ministry may be left unfulfilled.
· One must take heed to their ministry in order for it to be fulfilled.
· We should encourage others to fulfill their ministry.
i. “It is more likely, therefore, that the words of the apostle convey no censure, but are rather intended to stir him up to further diligence, and to encourage him in the work, seeing he had so much false doctrine and so many false teachers to contend with.” (Clarke)
ii. Thinking Archippus to be a pastor, Trapp applied the principle of take heed to the ministry to him: “The Church is thy proper element, the pulpit thy right ubi [place]; the sanctuary should be the centre of all thy circumference.”
8. (Colossians 4:18) Conclusion.
This salutation by my own hand; Paul. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen.
a. This salutation by my own hand: As was the custom in that day, Paul generally dictated his letters, and personally signed a postscript with his own hand.
b. Remember my chains: There is much emotion, sorrow, and strength in this simple phrase. Paul not only knew the confinement and loneliness of the prisoner; he also had the uncertainty of not knowing if his case before Caesar’s court would end with his execution.
i. “The chain clanked afresh as Paul took the pen to sign the salutation. He was not likely to forget it himself.” (Robertson)
ii. “Paul’s references to his sufferings are not pleas for sympathy; they are his claims to authority, the guarantees of his right to speak.” (Barclay)
c. Grace be with you: Paul’s conclusion is the only one possible for the apostle of grace, confronting a heresy emphasizing elaborate hidden mysteries and righteousness through works. We can only go forward safely in the Christian life if grace is with us.

Colossians 3 - PUT OFF, PUT ON

Colossians 3 - PUT OFF, PUT ON

A. Put off the old man.
1. (Colossians 3:1-4) The basis for Paul’s practical instruction.
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
a. If then you were raised with Christ: Paul here begins a section where he focuses on practical Christian living, with the clear understanding that practical Christian living is built on the foundation of theological truth. Because we know that Jesus is really raised from the dead, then our identification with Him becomes real. It is only because we were raised with Christ that we can seek those things which are above.
i. The idea of being raised with Christ was introduced back in Colossians 2:12, where Paul used baptism to illustrate this spiritual reality. Now, seeing that we are raised with Christ, certain behavior is appropriate to us.
ii. “The opening verses of chapter 3 sustain the closest connection with the closing verses of chapter 2. There the apostle reminds the Colossians that ascetic regulations are of no real value in restraining indulgence of the flesh. The only remedy for sinful passions is found in the believers’ experience of union with Christ.” (Vaughan)
iii. Because we were raised with Christ, we should act just as Jesus did when He was resurrected.
· After His resurrection, Jesus left the tomb. So should we - we don’t live there any more.
· After His resurrection, Jesus spent His remaining time being with and ministering to His disciples. So should we - live our lives to be with and to serve one another.
· After His resurrection, Jesus lived in supernatural power with the ability to do impossible things. So should we - with the power and the enabling of the Holy Spirit.
· After His resurrection, Jesus looked forward to heaven, knowing He would soon enough ascend there. So should we - recognizing that our citizenship is in heaven.
iii. To emphasize it even more, Paul added the phrase, sitting at the right hand of God: “This phrase, particularly in its allusion to Psalms 110, focuses attention on the sovereign rule which Christ now exercises. The command to aspire to the things of heaven is a command to meditate and dwell upon Christ’s sort of life, and on the fact that he is now enthroned as the Lord of the world.” (Wright)
b. Set your mind on things above: The best Christian living comes from from minds that are fixed on heaven. They realize that their lives are now hidden with Christ in God, and since Jesus is enthroned in heaven, their thoughts and hearts are connected to heaven also.
i. “The believer is to ‘seek the things . . . above.’ The word ‘seek’ marks aspiration, desire, and passion. . . . In order to seek these things the mind must be set on them.” (Morgan)
ii. “Love heavenly things; study them; let your hearts be entirely engrossed by them. Now, that you are converted to God, act in reference to heavenly things as ye did formerly in reference to those of earth.” (Clarke)
iii. “ ‘Earthly things’ are not all evil, but some of them are. Even things harmless in themselves become harmful if permitted to take the place that should be reserved for the things above.” (Vaughan)
c. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory: The promise of the return of Jesus is not only that we will see His glory, but so that we also will appear with Him in glory. This is the revealing of the sons of God mentioned in Romans 8:19
i. Christ who is our life: In another place, Paul wrote for me to live is Christ (Philippians 1:21). Here he shows that this idea was not just for special apostles, but for all believers - Christ who is our life. Sometimes we say, “Music is his life” or “Sports are his life” or “He lives for his work.” Of the Christian it should be said, “Jesus Christ is his life.”
ii. On that day, all will see the saints of God for what they really are, not as they merely appear to this world. “Paul, the prisoner, an eccentric Jew to the Romans and a worse-than-Gentile traitor to the Jews, will be seen as Paul the apostle, the servant of the King. The Colossians, insignificant ex-pagans from a third-rate country town, will be seen in a glory which, if it were now to appear, one might be tempted to worship.” (Wright)
2. (Colossians 3:5-7) Put to death the things that are against God and part of this world.
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
a. Therefore put to death your members: Therefore points back to our identification with the risen and enthroned Lord Jesus mentioned in Colossians 3:1-4. It is because we understand this fact that we can put to death the things in our life that are contrary to our identity with Jesus.
i. “The verb nekrosate, meaning literally ‘to make dead,’ is very strong. It suggests that we are not simply to suppress or control evil acts and attitudes. We are to wipe them out, completely exterminate the old way of life.” (Vaughan)
ii. We put to death in the sense of denying these things and considering them dead to us and us dead to them. “To gratify any sensual appetite is to give it the very food and nourishment by which it lives, thrives, and is active.” (Clarke)
iii. There is importance in listing and naming these sins as Paul does in this section. “It is far easier to drift into a sin which one does not know by name than consciously to choose one whose very title should be repugnant to a Christian.” (Wright)
b. Fornication, uncleanness, passion and evil desire: Each of these terms refers to sexual sins. Covetousness is simple, but insidious greed, and nothing less than idolatry. There is no way that Jesus would walk in any of these sins, so if we identify with Him, we won’t walk in them either.
i. Fornication: “The word here translated sexual immorality refers to any intercourse outside marriage; in the ancient world, as in the modern, intercourse with a prostitute would be a specific, and in a pagan culture a frequent, instance of this.” (Wright)
ii. Uncleanness: “A wider range of meaning than fornication. It includes the misuse of sex, but is applicable to various forms of moral evil.” (Bruce)
iii. Morgan lists three ways that covetousness is terribly destructive:
· “First, it is idolatry, in that it only obtains when man thinks of life consisting in things possessed, rather than in righteous relationship to God.”
· “It is also a sin against others, for to satisfy the desire, others are wronged.”
· “Finally, it is self-destructive, for these wrong conceptions and activities always react upon the soul to its own undoing.”
· Morgan added: “And yet, what ecclesiastical court ever yet arraigned a church-member for covetousness?”
iv. “Every godly man seeks his happiness in God; the covetous man seeks that in his money which God alone can give; therefore his covetousness is properly idolatry.” (Clarke)
c. Because of these things: The sins mentioned previously are part of the way the world lives and not the way Jesus lives. Every Christian is faced with a question: “Who will I identify with, the world or with Jesus?”
d. The wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience: These sins invite the wrath of God. Because the world loves this kind of sinful lifestyle, they don’t come in humility to Jesus. As they continue in these sins, it adds to their condemnation. One sin is enough to send anyone to hell (Deuteronomy 3:10), but there are greater levels of condemnation (Matthew 23:14).
i. In part, the wrath of God comes as God allows men to continue in sinful - and therefore self-destructive - behavior (as in Romans 1:24-32).
e. In which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them: These sins may mark a world in rebellion against God, but they are in the past tense for the Christian.
i. Simply put, the Christian should not live like the sons of disobedience. A true Christian can not be comfortable in habitual sin.
ii. Paul says that Christians once walked in these sins. It is possible - though tragic - that these sins should occasionally mark a Christian’s life, but they must not be a Christian’s walk, their manner of living.
3. (Colossians 3:8-9) Removing other traces of worldliness.
But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,
a. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: The sins Paul next lists (anger, wrath, and so forth) are regarded by many as “little” sins that Christians may overlook with little danger. Paul challenges us to put off the old man in every area of our lives.
i. “Put off all those old habits, just as you would discard an outworn suit of clothes which no longer fitted you.” (Bruce)
b. Anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie: Each of these sins are primarily committed by what we say. When Paul calls the believer to a deeper obedience, he tells us to bridle our tongue (as did James in James 1:26 and James 3:1-9).
i. Nevertheless, it is also possible to lie to one another without words. “It is easy to distort the truth; an alteration in the tone of voice or an eloquent look will do it; and there are silences which can be as false and misleading as any words.” (Barclay)
c. Since you have put off the old man with his deeds: The more notorious sins of Colossians 3:5 are easily seen as incompatible with the nature of Jesus. But these “lesser” sins are also incompatible, so put off these sins also.
i. In this section (Colossians 3:5-9) Paul showed two high priorities in Christian living: sexual morality connected with a right attitude towards material things, and simple getting along in love with one another. It is easy for a Christian community to compromise one for the other, but Paul (by inspiration of the Holy Spirit) insisted that they both have a high place in Christian practice.
ii. You have put off the old man with his deeds means that in Jesus Christ, the saints of God are different people. Therefore, “When a tide of passion or a surge of anger is felt, it must be dealt with as the alien intruder it really is, and turned out of the house as having no right to be there at all, let alone to be giving orders.” (Wright)
B. Put on the new man.
1. (Colossians 3:10-11) As we put off the old man, we must put on the new man.
And have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
a. Put on the new man: The phrase Paul used was commonly used for changing a set of clothes. We can almost picture a person taking off the old and putting on the new man in Jesus.
b. Who is renewed in knowledge: Because the new man is renewed in knowledge, he is hungry to know what God says in His Word.
c. According to the image of Him who created him: Paul is clearly alluding to Genesis 1:27, where it is said that God created Adam in His own image. Nevertheless, now that first Adam is seen as the old man who should be put off and discarded, now that we are created after the image of the second Adam, Jesus Christ.
d. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free: The new man is part of a family, which favors no race, nationality, class, culture or ethnicity. It only favors Jesus, because in this new family, Christ is all and in all.
i. This work of the new creation not only deals with the old man and gives us the new man patterned after Jesus Christ; it also breaks down the barriers that separate people in society. Among new creation people it doesn’t matter if one is Greek or Jew or circumcised or uncircumcised or a Scythian or a slave or a free man. All those barriers are broken down.
ii. “He therefore adds to barbarian the Scythian as the extreme example.” (Peake)
iii. All of these barriers existed in the ancient Roman world; and the power of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ broke them all down. Especially powerful was the barrier between slave and free, but Christianity changed that.
· “In times of persecution slaves showed that they could face the trial and suffer for their faith as courageously as freeborn Romans. The slave-girl Blandina and her mistress both suffered in the persecution which broke out against the churches of the Rhone valley in A.D. 177, but it was the slave-girl who was the hero of the persecution, impressing friend and foe alike as a ‘noble athlete’ in the contest of martyrdom.” (Bruce)
· “In the arena of Carthage in A.D. 202 a profound impression was made on the spectators when the Roman matron Perpetua stood hand-in-hand with her slave Felicitas, as both women faced a common death for a common faith.” (Bruce)
2. (Colossians 3:12-17) Life of the new man.
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
a. Therefore, as the elect of God: The new man is elect of God. This means that God has chosen the Christian, and chosen him to be something special in His plan. “Elect” is a word that frightens some, but it should be taken both as a comfort and as a destiny to fulfill.
b. Put on tender mercies, kindness, humility: Each one of the qualities mentioned in this passage express themselves in relationships. A significant measure of our Christian life is found simply in how we treat people and the quality of our relationships with them.
i. “It is most significant to note that every one of the graces listed has to do with personal relationships between man and man. There is no mention of virtues like efficiency or cleverness, not even of diligence or industry - not that these things are unimportant. But the great basic Christian virtues are those which govern human relationships.” (Barclay)
ii. Tender mercies: If something is tender, it is sensitive to touch. “The apostle would have them to feel the slightest touch of another’s misery; and, as their clothes are put over their body, so their tenderest feeling should be always within reach of the miserable.” (Clarke)
iii. Kindness: “The ancient writers defined chrestotes as the virtue of the man whose neighbour’s good is as dear to him as his own. . . . It is used of wine which has grown mellow with age and lost its harshness. It is the word used when Jesus said, ‘My yoke is easy.’ (Matthew 11:30).” (Barclay)
iv. We can say that humility (which was not considered a virtue among the ancient Greeks) is the “parent” of both meekness and longsuffering. Meekness shows how humility will effect my actions towards others; I will not dominate, manipulate, or coerce for my own ends, even if I have the power and the ability. Longsuffering shows how humility will effect my reaction towards others; I will not become impatient, short, or filled with resentment towards the weaknesses and sins of others.
c. Forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do: We are told to live forgiving one another, after the pattern of Jesus’ forgiveness towards us. Understanding the way Jesus forgave us will always make us more generous with forgiveness, and never less generous.
i. When we consider the staggering debt Jesus forgave for us, and the comparative smallness of the debts others have toward us, it is base ingratitude for us to not forgive them (as in the parable Jesus spoke in Matthew 18:21-35). “The forgiveness they have received is used to enforce the duty of forgiving others.” (Peake)
ii. When one thinks of how Christ forgave you it should make us much more generous with forgiveness.

Colossians 2 - ANSWERING THE COLOSSIAN HERESY

Colossians 2 - ANSWERING THE COLOSSIAN HERESY

A. Paul’s conflict.
1. (Colossians 2:1) The depth of Paul’s conflict for the Colossians and others.
For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh,
a. What a great conflict I have for you: This great conflict was inside Paul (I have for you). It wasn’t that Paul fought with others about the Colossian Christians. Paul described his spiritual warfare and heartfelt care for the Colossians as a great conflict.
i. Paul used athletic imagery in Colossians 1:29 (striving), and he continues that sports metaphor with the words great conflict.
b. For as many as have not seen my face in the flesh: Apparently, Paul had never visited Colosse himself. Most of them had never seen his face in the flesh. Even as Paul’s authority extended to those he had never met - to those who had never seen his face - so it also extends to us.
2. (Colossians 2:2-3) Paul’s specific concerns and goals in the spiritual conflict.
That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
a. That their hearts may be encouraged: Paul wanted this because he was concerned about their enthusiasm. He knew that discouraged, downcast Christians are easy prey for the world, the flesh, and the devil.
i. Encouraged: “The word he uses is paraklein. Sometimes that word means to comfort, sometimes to exhort, but always at the back of it there is the idea of enabling a person to meet some difficult situation with confidence and gallantry.” (Barclay) Paul wanted them to be fit for heroic action.
b. Being knit together in love: Paul wanted this because he was concerned about their unity. The unity wouldn’t come from coercion, but love.
c. Attaining to all riches of the full assurance of the understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery: Paul wanted this because he was concerned about their understanding. He knew that their unity and steadfastness was not just a matter of love, but also of growing together in God’s truth.
i. Paul knew that they unity came from not only love, but also from the truth, from both being knit together in love and growing in the understanding and knowledge of God’s truth.
ii. The true wisdom Paul wanted them to know in Jesus would bring them together - indeed, knit them together in love - instead of dividing them the way that false wisdom did.
iii. For Paul, real riches were found in the believer’s full assurance. Many lack full assurance about the character of God and are unconvinced that He is really good and loving. Others lack full assurance of their salvation and wonder if their Christian life is for real. Great freedom and confidence comes when we come to this full assurance.
d. To the knowledge of the mystery of God: The term mystery of God is used in a few different ways in the New Testament. Here, Paul uses the term regarding the character and person of God - something we could not know unless it was revealed by Him.
i. “The word ‘Christ’ is in the same case as ‘mystery,’ placing it in apposition with it. The mystery is Christ.” (Wuest)
ii. “Others might lead them astray with specious talk of mysteries; but there was one mystery above all others - the mystery of God’s loving purpose, disclosed in Christ alone - and Paul’s concern was that they should come to know this all-surpassing mystery, and know it as an indwelling presence.” (Bruce)
iii. Three mysteries are described in Colossians 1:24 to Col_2:3 :
· The Church as the Body of Christ, for which Paul suffered and served (Colossians 1:24-26).
· The Indwelling Christ, the hope of glory in each individual believer (Colossians 1:27).
· The Revealed Jesus, the treasury of all wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:2-3).
e. Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge: This is an important idea in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. With this, Paul refuted some of the bad teaching troubling the Colossian Christians. They were influenced by teachers who told them to seek the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, but not to seek them in Jesus. Paul wrote, “You will only find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Jesus. He has them all.” It’s not wrong to seek after wisdom and knowledge; but we must seek it all in Jesus.
i. When Paul said this wisdom is hidden in Christ, he used the ancient Greek word apokruphos. “His very use of that word is a blow aimed at the Gnostics. . . . Gnostics believed that a great mass of elaborate knowledge was necessary for salvation. That knowledge they set down in their books which they called apokruphos because they were barred to the ordinary man.” (Barclay) Paul wanted all to know that real wisdom was not hidden in secret books, but deposited in Jesus Christ so that all can access it.
ii. “ ‘Hidden’ does not, however, mean that they are concealed but rather that they are laid up or stored away as a treasure.” (Vaughn)
iii. “Everything we might want to ask about God and his purposes can and must now be answered - this is the force of the verse - with reference to the crucified and risen Jesus, the Messiah.” (Wright)
iv. “He is indeed the Mystery of God, profound in the wonder of His being, and yet so real that the tiniest child talks of Him with sweet familiarity.” (Morgan)
v. When Paul describes the truth of God with words like riches and treasures, he reminds us that God’s truth is precious and worthy of sacrificial seeking.
3. (Colossians 2:4) Paul’s earnest warning.
Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.
a. Lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words: Those who taught these dangerous things among the Colossian Christians were very persuasive. The lure of “hidden” and “deep” wisdom and knowledge can be both strong and deceptive.
b. Lest anyone should deceive you: Paul did not say that they had already been deceived, but he clearly saw the danger and warned them about it.
i. It might sound simple, but deceivers are deceivers. They won’t announce their false doctrine as false doctrine, and it will often be similar enough to the truth to be dangerous.
4. (Colossians 2:5-7) Paul’s confidence in their present standing.
For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
a. I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit: Through prayer - the core of his conflict mentioned in Colossians 2:1 - Paul genuinely felt he was among the Colossian Christians in spirit, even though he was absent in the flesh.
i. “Paul’s sense of being spiritual present with his absent friends could be extraordinarily strong and vivid. Perhaps the most remarkable example is found in 1 Corinthians 5:3-5, where he speaks of himself as present in spirit at a church meeting in Corinth (at a time when he was resident in Ephesus).” (Bruce)
b. Rejoicing to see your good order: Continuing with the thought from the previous verse, Paul did not see a Colossian church that was given over to heresy. They were under serious danger, but they were still in good order and displayed the steadfastness of their faith.
i. According to Vaughn, the words order and steadfastness are both military words. “He sees the situation of the Colossians as being like that of an army under attack and affirms that their lines were unbroken, their discipline intact, and their ‘faith in Christ’ unshaken.”
c. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him: This is a wonderful rule for Christian living. We cannot perfect in the flesh what was begun in the Spirit; therefore just as you received Jesus, walk in Him in the same way. The simple things of the Christian life provide continual the reliable spiritual fuel for growth. We always have to be reminded of the things we have been taught.
i. “When he says that they have ‘received’ Christ Jesus as their Lord, he uses the verb which was specifically employed to denote the receiving of something which was delivered by tradition. In other words, the Colossians have received Christ himself as their ‘tradition,’ and this should prove a sufficient safeguard against following the ‘tradition of men’ (Colossians 2:8).” (Bruce)
ii. “That is, Paul is speaking of the doctrines regarding the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus, rather than of Him personally, for the former were involved in the Colossian heresy.” (Wuest)
iii. “He does not receive his qualities and attributes [of holiness] as things apart from the Lord Jesus; but receiving Him, he obtains them. The holy man is he who has learned the art of receiving Jesus.” (Meyer)
d. So walk in Him, rooted and built up: Paul used a curious combination of metaphors. As Christians, we walk, but we are also rooted, and we are also built up. The metaphors are somewhat mixed, but the message is clear: be established and keep growing.
i. “It is not usual with the apostle to employ this double metaphor, taken partly from the growth of a tree and the increase of a building. They are to be rooted; as the good seed had been already sown, it is to take root, and the roots are to spread far, wide, and deep. They are to be grounded; as the foundation has already been laid, they are to build thereon. In the one case, they are to bear much fruit; in the other, they are to grow up to be a habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Clarke)
B. Paul warns against and exposes the Colossian heresy.
1. (Colossians 2:8) A warning: Don’t be cheated by philosophies and traditions.
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
a. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy: The false teaching among the Colossians was marked by an emphasis on philosophy and empty deceit. Most of all, it was according to the tradition of men. It had the stamp of man on it, not God.
i. Peake says the best sense of the phrase cheat you is actually, “lead you away as prey.” It also had the ideas of robbing and plundering. “Their goods were the salvation they had received from Christ; and both the Gentile and Jewish teachers endeavoured to deprive them of these, by perverting their minds, and leading them off from the truths of Christianity.” (Clarke)
ii. This philosophy that threatened the Colossian Christians was a strange ecclectic mix of early Gnosticism, Greek philosophy, local mystery religions, and Jewish mysticism. The philosophy threatening the Colossian Christians was so dangerous because it was not obviously sinful and licentious. It was a high-sounding and seemed highly intelligent.
iii. Vincent on the word philosophy: “It had originally a good meaning, the love of wisdom, but is used by Paul in the sense of vain speculation, and with special reference to its being the name by which the false teachers at Colossae designated not only their speculative system, but also their practical system, so that it covered their ascetic practices no less than mysticism.”
iv. There is significant debate among commentators as to the exact nature of the Colossian heresy. Some see it as predominately an expression of early Gnosticism with some Jewish mystical elements added; others see it as primarily Jewish mysticism with a few aspects of early Gnosticism. Whatever the exact origin or composition of this heresy, it seems clear that it had both elements.
v. The connection to early Gnosticism is clear from the way Paul brings forth his points.
· Gnosticism taught that God (as a Perfect Spirit) could not come into direct contact with the material world. Paul took care to point out that Jesus is God and He came in the body of His flesh (Colossians 1:19-22).
· Gnosticism taught that since God could not have direct contact with the material world, that God Himself did not create the world, but He worked through lesser spirits or angels. Paul took care to show that Jesus was the creator of the world (Colossians 1:15-16).
· Gnosticism (and some forms of Jewish mysticism) taught that God did not deal directly with man and the material world, but that He dealt with the world through a series of mediators. Paul took care to show that Jesus did the work of reconciliation Himself (Colossians 1:19-20).
· Gnosticism (and some forms of Jewish mysticism) greatly esteemed these supposed mediators, and considered them angelic beings of a sort. Paul was careful to warn the Colossians that angels should not be worshipped (Colossians 2:18).
vi. The connection to Jewish mysticism is clear from the way Paul brings forth a few more points.
· Jewish influence on Christianity emphasized dietary laws. Paul took care to say that Christians were not under Jewish dietary laws (Colossians 2:16).
· Jewish influence on Christianity emphasized the observance of particular days as an obligation. Paul took care to say that Christians were not under these obligations (Colossians 2:16).
b. According to the tradition of men: The Colossian heresy promoted itself as traditional. It could trace some or many of its ideas back to traditions among the Jews or the Greek philosophers or both. Paul here warned that the tradition of men has no equal authority to the word of God.
c. According to the basic principles of the world: The ancient Greek word translated basic principles is stoicheia. It is a word that can mean several different things based on their context, and Paul may have used such a broad word to cover a variety of meanings.
i. “The noun stoicheia means primarily things placed side by side in a row; it is used of the letters of the alphabet, the ABCs, and then, since learning one’s ABCs is the first lesson in a literary education, it comes to mean ‘rudiments,’ ‘first principles’ (cf. Hebrews 5:12, as the ‘rudiments’ of the gospel).” (Bruce) Because of this association with fundamental elements, the word came to also refer to basic elements such as earth, water, air, and fire.
ii. In many ancient mystery religions, they thought of the world as a dangerous place, threatened by spirits or spiritual forces they called elements or elemental forces (such as Paul uses the word in Colossians 2:8 and Colossians 2:20). They thought one was protected from these dangerous spiritual forces by either worshipping them, or by finding protection under a greater deity or spiritual power that was superior to these elements.
iii. Yet, one might say that Paul’s meaning here certainly includes an answer to early Gnostic ideas, but the meaning also goes beyond those specific ideas. “It has been frequently taken in this sense as the ABC of religious knowledge . . . the expression must apply to something both [Jews and pagans] had in common.” (Peake)
iv. Common to both Jews and pagans was the basic idea of cause and effect. One may call it karma, or “you get what you deserve,” or whatever, it rules nature and the minds of men. We live under the idea that we get what we deserve; when we are good, we deserve to receive good; when we are bad, we deserve to receive bad. Paul warned the Colossians to not subject themselves to this grace-eliminating kind of thinking, and to consider themselves dead to it.
2. (Colossians 2:9-10) The completeness of Jesus and our connection with Him shows other philosophies and traditions are unnecessary.
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
a. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead: This is a dramatic, airtight declaration of the full Deity of Jesus. Since all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus, He cannot be a halfway God or a junior god.
i. Godhead: “Paul is declaring that in the Son there dwells all the fullness of absolute Godhead; they were no mere rays of divine glory which gilded Him, lighting up His Person for a season and with splendor not His own; but He was, and is, absolute and perfect God; and the apostle uses theotes to express this essential and personal Godhead of the Son.” (Trench, cited in Wuest)
b. All the fullness of the Godhead bodily: The false teaching among the Colossian Christians was something like an early form of the Gnostic heresies that would come later. These Gnostic heresies made a radical separation between the spiritual and the material. That is why Paul needed to make it clear that all the fullness of the Godhead was in Jesus bodily, not in some strange, mystical sense. John also dealt with this false teaching in 1 John 4:2-3 and other passages.
i. A false teaching related to this in the early church was called Docetism, which claimed that Jesus had no actual human body; He only seemed to have one. Another false teaching was called Cerinthianism, and it said that the “Jesus the man” was separate and distinct from “the Spirit of Christ.”
c. And you are complete in Him: This can only be true because Jesus is truly God. If He were not God, we couldn’t be complete in Him. Anything that says we are not complete in Him also takes away from the deity of Jesus.
i. If all the fullness of God dwells in Jesus, and as believers we are united to Him in a faith-relationship, then we are also complete in Him. Therefore there was no need to go to the false promises and attractions presented by the false teachers among the Colossians.
ii. You are complete in Him: Paul says that this is a fact to be enjoyed, not a status to be achieved.
d. Head of all principality and power: In many New Testament passages, principality and power describes ranks of angelic beings, either faithful or fallen angelic beings (Romans 8:38, Ephesians 1:21, Ephesians 3:10, Ephesians 6:12). Therefore, Paul here declares Jesus’ authority over all spirit beings. The false teaching among the Colossian Christians emphasized these lesser spirit beings, but Paul makes it clear that Jesus if far above them.
3. (Colossians 2:11-12) The work of Jesus in His people through spiritual circumcision and illustrated by baptism.
In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
a. In Him you were also circumcised: Most of the Colossian Christians were Gentiles who had never been physically circumcised. Paul assures them that they were indeed circumcised in a spiritual sense, which is even more important than physical circumcision.
i. The Colossians Christians had to deal with a whole variety of false teaching. Not only did they have wrong ideas about Jesus, but they also had wrong ideas about things like circumcision. Apparently, they were being taught that they had to be circumcised to be right with God. Paul makes it clear that they were circumcised, by putting off the sins of the flesh.
ii. “It seems probable that the false teachers set a high value on circumcision, and urged it on the Colossians, not as indispensable to salvation, in which case Paul would have definitely attacked them on this point, but as conferring higher sanctity.” (Peake)
iii. Our spiritual circumcision meant the putting off of the old man. “The Greek word for ‘putting off’, a double compound, denotes both stripping off and casting away. The imagery is that of discarding - or being divested of - a piece of filthy clothing.” (Vaughn)
iv. You were also circumcised: “A definite historical fact is referred to, as is shown by the aorist [verb tense]. This was their conversion, the inward circumcision of the heart, by which they entered on the blessings of the New Covenant.” (Peake)
b. By the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism: Paul says these Gentile Christians find their true circumcision in their baptism. Christians don’t need to be circumcised, they need to be baptized.
i. Even the Old Testament acknowledges that there are two types of circumcision: one of the body and one of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16 and Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4 and Jeremiah 9:25; Ezekiel 44:7 and Ezekiel 44:9). Sincere baptism shows that the real “circumcision of the heart” has taken place.
c. Buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God: Baptism answers circumcision, but it doesn’t illustrate it. Yet baptism does illustrate our identification with the death and resurrection life of Jesus. We were buried with Jesus, and buried under the water. We are also raise with Him, and raised up out of the water.
i. It is as if Paul wrote: “Circumcision is not important; what is important is the spiritual cutting away of the flesh that Jesus performs in the life of every believer. If you want a ceremony to mark this spiritual transformation in your life, look to your baptism and not to circumcision.”
ii. Because Paul made a connection here between circumcision and baptism, some - especially Reformed theologians - say that just as babies were circumcised, so babies should be baptized. But this presses Paul’s analogy between circumcision and baptism too far, and neglects examples of baptism in the Book of Acts. Paul doesn’t say that circumcision and baptism are the same thing, but that circumcision is unnecessary for salvation because we are identified in Jesus and baptized to show that.
iii. “The emphasis of the verse, however, is not on the analogy between circumcision and baptism; that concept, though implied, is soon dismissed, and the thought shifts to that of baptism as symbolizing the believer’s participation in the burial and resurrection of Christ.” (Vaughn)
iv. Through faith in the working of God: This demonstrates that Paul understood that the power of regeneration was not in baptism or received by the act of baptism, but received through faith in the working of God.
4. (Colossians 2:13-15) The work of Jesus in His people through His work on the cross.
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
a. And you, being dead: This is the place of every person before they are raised with Him through faith in the working of God as Paul described in Colossians 2:12. Before we have new life, we are dead. Before a person comes to new life in Jesus, they are not a sick man who needs a doctor; they are dead people who need a Savior.
i. We are not only made alive, but made alive together with Him. “It is true that He gave us life from the dead? He gave us pardon of sin; He gave us imputed righteousness. These are all precious things, but you see we are not content with them; we have received Christ himself. The Son of God has been poured out into us, and we have received him, and appropriated him.” (Spurgeon)
b. Being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh: Before we have new life in Jesus, we are dead in our trespasses. A trespass is a specific kind of sin: overstepping a boundary. We are dead because we overstep God’s boundaries in our sin and rebellion.
c. He has made alive together with Him: We can’t make ourselves alive, but God can make us alive together with Jesus. We can never be made alive apart from Jesus.
i. The new birth (made alive) and cleansing (forgiven you all) go together as features of the New Covenant, as prophesied by the Old Testament (Ezekiel 36:25-27) and the New Testament (John 3:5).
ii. Having forgiven us is the ancient Greek word charizomai - a verb form of the ancient Greek word charis (grace). We are forgiven by grace.
d. Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us: The handwriting of requirements has in mind a list of our crimes or moral debt before God, a debt that no imperfect person can completely pay. But it can be taken out of the way, by payment from a perfect man, Jesus Christ.
i. The term handwriting is a general word for a handwritten document, and has been understood in various ways. Some take it in a legal sense and say it represents charges against a prisoner, or a confession to wrong that the prisoner has made. Others take it in a financial sense and see it as a debit or ledger sheet that shows we are bankrupt before God. Either way, it means that the document that once condemned us is now taken out of the way, having been nailed to the cross.
ii. “Each of the ten commandments has, as it were, united with the rest to draw up an indictment against us. The first commandment says, ‘He has broken me.’ The second cries, ‘He has broken me,’ - the third, ‘He has broken me;’ and the whole ten together have laid the same charge against each one of us; that is the handwriting of the law condemning every man of woman born while he remains in a state of nature.” (Spurgeon)
iii. “It might even be said that he took the document, ordinances and all, and nailed it to his cross as an act of triumphant defiance in the face of those blackmailing powers that were holding it over men and women in order to command their allegiance.” (Bruce)
iv. According to Vincent, the ancient Greek word translated wiped out is a compound of the word to anoint and the prefix that means completely. The idea is that something was completely wiped over, and in the ancient world the term was used of whitewashing a wall, or overlaying a wall with gold. It means that the accusations against us were completely wiped away and covered over.
e. Having nailed it to the cross: Jesus not only paid for the writing that was against us; He also took it out of the way, and then nailed it to the cross. He did everything possible to make certain that the handwriting of requirements that was against us could no longer accuse us.
i. “Paul, looking at the cross, saw there instead the titulus that expressed the charge against all Jesus’ people, the written code that stood over against them, disqualifying them from the life of the new age. And it was God, not Pilate, that put it there.” (Wright)
ii. We remember that the accusations of Jesus’ crime were nailed to the cross and hung above His head (Matthew 27:37). Since we are identified with Jesus in His death on the cross (Romans 6:3-8), it is as if the handwriting of requirements that was against us was also nailed to the cross, just like the accusation against Jesus.
f. Having disarmed principalities and powers: Another aspect of Jesus’ work on the cross is that He disarmed principalities and powers. These ranks of hostile angelic beings (Romans 8:38, Ephesians 1:21, Ephesians 3:10, Ephesians 6:12) don’t have the same weapons to use against Christians that they have against those who are not in Jesus.
i. The greatest powers of the earth at that time - Rome, the greatest governmental power and Judaism, the greatest religious power - conspired together to put the Son of God on the cross. “These powers, angry at his challenge to their sovereignty, stripped him naked, held him up to public contempt, and celebrated a triumph over him.” (Wright) Here Paul shows us again the paradox of the cross; that the victorious Jesus took the spiritual powers animating these earthly powers and stripped them, held them up to contempt, and publicly triumphed over them.
ii. We can only imagine how Satan and every dark gleeful demon attacked Jesus as He hung on the cross on our behalf, as if He were a guilty sinner. “As he was suspended there, bound hand and foot to the wood in apparent weakness, they imagined they had him at their mercy, and flung themselves on him with hostile intent. But, far from suffering their attack without resistance, he grappled with them and mastered them, stripping them of the armor in which they trusted, and held them aloft in his outstretched hands, displaying to the universe their helplessness and his own unvanquished strength.” (Bruce)
iii. Paul wrote in another place that if the rulers of this age - by which he meant both the spiritual powers of darkness and their earthly representatives - had known what would happen on the cross, they would have never crucified Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:8). They were defeating themselves and they didn’t even know it.
iv. Against the believer, what weapons do demonic spirits therefore now have? They are disarmed, except for their ability to deceive and to create fear. These are effective “weapons” that are not tangible weapons at all. Demonic spirits only have power towards us that we grant them by believing their lies. The weapons are in our hands, not theirs. We will one-day see how afraid they were of us.
g. Triumphing over them: Paul used similar phrasing in 2 Corinthians 2:14, where he had in mind the Roman victory parade where a conquering general led his defeated captives through the streets in triumph.
i. Perhaps Satan, for a moment, thought that he had won at the cross. But Hell’s imagined victory was turned into a defeat that disarmed every spiritual enemy who fights against those living under the light and power of the cross. The public spectacle of defeated demonic spirits makes their defeat all the more humiliating.
ii. “Christ, in this picture, is the conquering general; the powers and authorities are the vanquished enemy displayed as the spoils of battle before the entire universe.” (Vaughn)
iii. “The death of Christ was not only a pardon; it also manifested might. It not only canceled a debt; it was a glorious triumph.” (Erdman)
5. (Colossians 2:16-17) Applying the truth of Jesus’ victory in light of the Colossian heresy.
So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
a. So let no one judge you: The opening “so” is important. It connects this thought with the previous thought. Because Jesus won such a glorious victory on the cross, we are to let no one judge you in food or in drink or in other matters related to legalism. A life that is centered on Jesus and what He did on the cross has no place for legalism.
i. “It would be preposterous indeed for those who had reaped the benefit of Christ’s victory to put themselves voluntarily under the control of the powers which he had conquered.” (Bruce)
b. Food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come: The Old Testament law had certain provisions that are done away with in Jesus, regarding such things as food and sabbaths. It isn’t that those laws were bad, simply that they were a shadow of things to come. Once the substance - Jesus Christ - has come, we don’t need to shadow any more.
i. The point is clear: days and foods, as observed under the Mosaic Law, are not binding upon New Covenant people. The shadow has passed, the reality has come. So for the Christian, all foods are pure (1 Timothy 4:4-5) and all days belong to God.
ii. Christians are therefore free to keep a kosher diet or to observe the sabbath if they please. There is nothing wrong with those things. However, they cannot think that eating kosher or sabbath observance makes them any closer to God, and they cannot judge another brother or sister who does not observe such laws.
iii. “The regulations of Judaism were designed for the period when the people of God consisted of one racial, cultural, and geographical unit, and are simply put out of date now that this people is becoming a world-wide family. They were the ‘shadows’ that the approaching new age casts before it.” (Wright)
6. (Colossians 2:18-19) Paul rebukes the strange mysticism of the Colossian heresy.
Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
a. Taking delight in false humility and worship of angels: These aspects of false humility and the worship of angels were parts of the false teaching troubling the Colossian Christians. That is why Paul touches back on these themes throughout the letter of Colossians. The antidote for both of these false teachings is simply more of Jesus, exalting Him above angels, and realizing that because of His finished work there is nothing to take pride in.
i. “That is to say, the heretics probably insisted that their worship of angels rather than the supreme God was an expression of humility on their part.” (Vaughn)
ii. “Their humility found an expression in angel worship. It is therefore that lowliness which causes a man to think himself unworthy to come into fellowship with God, and therefore prompts to worship of the angels.” (Peake)
b. False humility and the worship of angels do not make anyone more spiritual. Instead, holding fast to the Head (Jesus) makes us truly spiritual.
c. Intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head: This describes the spiritual arrogance of these false teachers and those who believed what they taught. There are few things more dangerous among Christians than spiritual pride and arrogance.
i. Intruding into those things which he has not seen: “That is a mistranslation. The correct translation should be ‘making a parade of things which he has seen.’ The Gnostic prided himself upon the special visions of secret things which were not open to the eyes of ordinary men and women.” (Barclay)
ii. Vainly puffed up: “Vainly characterizes the emptiness of such pretension; puffed up, the swelling intellectual pride of those who make it. The humility is this characterized as affected, and the teachers as charlatans.” (Vincent)
d. From whom all the body: When these strange, mystical movements arise in the church, they don’t appeal to the whole body, but only to a few “elite” Christians. This is not the cause under the Head, Jesus - He wants all the body to grow together.
e. Grows with the increase which is from God: This is God’s plan for church growth. We remain faithful and connected to Jesus (our Head), and God gives the increase.
7. (Colossians 2:20-23) Paul rebukes the essence of legalism.
Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations; “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using; according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
a. Do not . . . do not . . . do not: This is a perfect description of legalistic religion, defined more by what we don’t do than by what we do. Christianity is a moral religion; it does have clear moral boundaries. But at its foundation, Christianity is a religion of positive action.
b. You died with Christ from the basic principles of the world: Remembering this is the key to living above legalism. Our identification with Jesus in both His death and resurrection (as mentioned before in Colossians 2:12) becomes the foundation for our Christian life, instead of our law-keeping.
i. Which perish with the using: “They are things which come to an end in the very act of being used. Handling them, eating them, or the like involves their destruction. Food, once eaten, ceases to be food. These are not the things that matter most; these are not the ultimate realities.” (Bruce)
c. According to the commandments and doctrines of men: One aspect of legalism is that the doctrines of men are promoted as the laws of God.
d. These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom . . . but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh: We might regard this as the greatest indictment against legalism in the Bible. At the bottom line, legalism’s rules have no value in restraining the indulgence of the flesh.
i. All such legalistic rules may have an appearance of wisdom, but they have no real value. Legalism doesn’t restrain the flesh; it feeds the flesh in a subtle, powerful way. “In fact, the most rigorous asceticism can coexist with insufferable spiritual pride, one of the subtlest and most intractable of the ‘works of the flesh.’“ (Bruce)
ii. Self-imposed religion is man reaching to God, trying to justify himself by keeping a list of rules. Christianity is God reaching down to man in love through Christ.