*N.B. This is a transcript of my complete chapter on Colossians taken from "Sixty-Six Books - An Overview of the Bible Book by Book"**
Colossians is widely recognized as the most Christ centered book in the Bible, and over the years has served as a real antidote to any potential false teaching or heresy. Ephesians and Colossians are often paired together as the “twin letters”.
Author
The first verse (Col. 1:1) identifies Paul and Timothy as the authors of this letter, but it is generally thought the sole author was Paul as he often refers to himself in the first person. It is also generally believed Paul dictated it and Timothy scribed the letter. Three times Paul identifies himself as the author (Col. 1:1, 1:23, 4:18). The personal details in the letter and the close parallels with Ephesians fit the claim of Pauline authorship.
Recipients
In the discussion on Ephesians, it was pointed out that Paul wrote four epistles while imprisoned in Rome: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. In all four he mentions his chains (Eph. 3:1; Phil. 4:14; Col. 4:10; Philem. 9). Therefore, most Bible experts believe Colossians was written from Rome by Paul in 61 AD. Of the four, Colossians was probably written first. experts also believe that Colossians and Ephesians were written before Philippians. Paul addresses the letter to “the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colosse” (Col. 1:2). In other words, Paul wrote to the church at Colosse, a community that was based about 100 miles east of Ephesus, and only ten miles from Laodicea (Col. 4:13, 16).
There is no record in Acts of Paul visiting Colosse so he probably never actually met them face to face (Col. 2:1).
The city of Colossae was in the Roman province of Asia, inland from the important coastal city of Ephesus. The church there was probably established while Paul was in Ephesus during his third missionary journey, when converts from Ephesus took the message into the surrounding regions. The church had since been troubled by a very persuasive kind of false teaching and it appears the church leaders did not really know how to deal with it. Epaphras therefore decided to seek Paul's help. By this time Paul was in Rome, where he was imprisoned for two years awaiting the outcome of his appeal to the Emperor. Upon hearing from Epaphras about the problem in Colossae, Paul wrote and sent off his letter to the Colossians to help them. (Colossians 4:12; Colossians 4:16).
Message
The subject of Colossians is the sufficiency of Christ for every aspect of the spiritual life. One reason why false teaching arose in Colossae (and other churches of the region) was because certain people tried to combine Christian belief with pagan mythology. The teaching was an early form of Gnosticism, a heresy that went on to create serious trouble throughout the church during the second century. The name Gnostic comes from the Greek gnosis, meaning 'knowledge'. In Colossae the Gnostic teaching included ideas taken from Judaism, mainly in relation to their religious ceremonies. Gnostic religions usually introduced their followers to a variety of rituals and regulations (Colossians 2:16; Colossians 2:20-21). They also claimed to give their followers special knowledge of mysteries that people outside their group did not know. But the main problem centred on a wrong understanding of Jesus Christ and the salvation that Christians receive through him
Paul responds to this situation by telling then that since Christ is the supreme Lord and all sufficient Savior, believers should beware of any teaching that suggest they need of something or someone other than Jesus and they should see to it that Jesus Christ they have everything they need.
Structure
Colossians is a perfect example of the pattern of an ancient letter.
I. Salutation 1:1-2
II. Thanksgiving 1:3-8
III. Prayer 1:9-14
IV. The Body of the Letter 1:15-4:6 (Doctrine, defense, and duty)
V. Greetings and Benediction 4:7-18
Purposes
The first purpose of Colossians is to refute Jewish and Gnostic mystical teaching about self-denial. Furthermore, the false teachers taught that the gap between God and humanity was bridged by countless beings who were part-divine and parthuman. The first and highest of these sprang from God himself and was almost as great as God. The second being originated from the first, the third from the second, and so on down the scale, so that those beings that sat closer to God in the hierarchy were more Godlike, and those closer to the human race less Godlike. Together these beings controlled the universe, and people had to approach God through the various stages of supposed ‘Godliness’. People climbed a spiritual ladder, so to speak, as they moved in worship from one spiritual being up to the next, passing through Christ until finally they reached God (Colossians 2:8; Colossians 2:18). According to the false teachers, Jesus Christ was just one of these partdivine part-human links in the chain. Paul saw that if this were so, then Christ was no longer the one mediator between God and humankind, and his death was no longer the one way to cleanse sinners and reconcile them to God.
Paul asserted that Jesus Christ is God, and he is supreme over all things, whether seen or unseen. At the same time, Christ is the Saviour of sinful human beings and the conqueror of the powers of evil (Colossians 1:20-22; Colossians 2:15). Through him God entered the world of human existence and shares in a living relationship with his human creatures. As the head is united with the body, so Christ is united with his people, the church (Colossians 1:18; Colossians 2:19). This union means that believers can share Christ's victory over evil and that the character of Christ's life can be reproduced in them (Colossians 1:13; Colossians 3:10).
The false teachers also claimed that their knowledge of heavenly mysteries had raised them to a level of existence where the deeds of the body could not affect the spirit. The Christian response was that knowledge cannot be separated from behaviour. The true knowledge of heavenly mysteries is found only in Christ, and it always leads to right behaviour and love.
The second purpose of Colossians is to encourage believers to give Christ the preeminence in their lives. Paul’s purpose in Colossians was both positive and negative. The negative side was to refute the false teaching. The positive side is to encourage believers to grow, to go on to maturity, and to give Christ the preeminence in everything they do (cf. Col. 2:5-7).
Summary:
Paul wrote to the Colossians to refute Gnostic and Jewish mysticism and to encourage believers to give Christ the preeminence in everything. Believers should give Christ the pre-eminence in everything.