New Testament

Colossians

Colossians presents the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ to a young church being pressed by teaching that promised spiritual fullness through rules about food and festivals, visions, and the “worship of angels” (). Paul answers that “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form” and that believers “have been made complete in Christ” (). It contains one of the highest descriptions of Christ in the New Testament () and shows how that truth reshapes everyday life in the church and the household.

Author: The letter names Paul with Timothy (1:1) and closes with a greeting in Paul’s own hand (4:18). Many modern scholars doubt that Paul wrote it, citing its style and its developed teaching on Christ and the church, while others hold that it is Paul’s, noting its close ties with Philemon, which shares names such as Onesimus, Archippus, Epaphras and Aristarchus, and the possibility that Timothy helped write it.
Audience: Believers at Colossae, a small town in the Lycus valley of Asia Minor near Laodicea and Hierapolis (4:13). Paul had not visited them in person (2:1); the church had heard the gospel from Epaphras (1:7).
When: If written by Paul, during an imprisonment (4:3, 4:10, 4:18), most often placed in Rome around AD 60–62, though some suggest Ephesus in the mid-50s. Scholars who doubt Paul’s authorship usually date it later in the first century.
Where: Colossae lay in Phrygia, in the west of modern Turkey, on a road through the Lycus valley. The Roman historian Tacitus records an earthquake that struck Laodicea, a few miles away, around AD 60.
Genre: Colossians is a letter that moves from praise and prayer to warning and then to practical instruction. Its center is a poetic passage about Christ as Creator and Reconciler (1:15–20), which many scholars think was an early hymn. Chapter 2 confronts a teaching whose exact shape is uncertain, so readers must reconstruct it carefully from Paul’s replies. The household instructions (3:18–4:1) follow a common ancient pattern but place every relationship under “the Lord.” Read the warnings of chapter 2 as applications of the portrait of Christ in chapter 1.

Shape of the book

The Supremacy of Christ · ch 1Thanks and prayer for the church, the hymn of Christ as image of God, Creator, head of the church and Reconciler, and Paul’s labor to proclaim the mystery of Christ among the Gentiles.
Complete in Christ · ch 2Warnings against empty philosophy, food and festival rules, visions and harsh treatment of the body, answered by union with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection and His triumph over the powers.
New Life Hidden With Christ · ch 3Setting minds on things above, putting off the old self and putting on the new, letting Christ’s word dwell richly, and living as households under the Lord.
Prayer, Witness and Greetings · ch 4Instructions for masters, prayer and wise speech toward outsiders, and greetings from Paul’s coworkers, with directions to exchange letters with Laodicea.

Themes

Christ Over Creation and Every Power. “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (). All things, including thrones and authorities, were created through Him and for Him, and in Him all things hold together (). He is head over every ruler and authority (), and on the cross He disarmed the powers and triumphed over them ().
Fullness in Christ. The false teaching apparently promised a fuller spiritual life through extra practices. Paul answers that God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Christ (, ), so believers lack nothing in Him (). Rules about what to eat or touch only have an appearance of wisdom ().
The Mystery Revealed. What was hidden for ages is now revealed: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (). The mystery of God is Christ Himself, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (), and it is now proclaimed among the Gentiles.
Union With Christ. Believers were buried with Christ in baptism and raised with Him through faith (). Since they have been raised with Christ, they are to seek the things above, where Christ is seated (), and their life is hidden with Christ in God until He appears ().
The New Humanity. Believers have put off the old self and put on the new, which is being renewed in the image of its Creator (). In this new humanity there is no Greek or Jew, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all (), and compassion, forgiveness and love bind the church together ().

Where Christ is

Colossians is centered on Christ’s supremacy: He is the image of the invisible God, the agent and goal of creation, the head of the church, and the firstborn from the dead, “so that in all things He may have preeminence” (). Through the blood of His cross God reconciles all things to Himself (), and in Christ believers are made complete.

Image and Firstborn. Fulfillment and echo. Humanity was made in God’s image (), and Paul calls Christ the image of the invisible God (). “Firstborn” recalls the king God promised to make His firstborn, highest of the kings of the earth (), a title of rank and inheritance. (; ; )
Wisdom at Creation. Echo. Proverbs pictures wisdom present with God at creation (), and the Lord founded the earth by wisdom (). Paul says all things were created in, through and for Christ (), and that all the treasures of wisdom are hidden in Him (), language many readers link to that tradition. (; ; ; ; )
Shadow and Substance. Type. Paul says food laws, festivals, new moons and Sabbaths “are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ” (). Israel’s calendar and rituals pointed ahead to the reality found in Him, a theme Hebrews develops at length. (; ; ; )
Circumcision Not Made by Hands. Fulfillment. Moses called Israel to circumcise their hearts and promised that the Lord would do it (, ). Paul says believers were circumcised in Christ with a circumcision not performed by human hands, in putting off the sinful nature (). (; ; )
Seated at God’s Right Hand. Fulfillment. pictures the Lord’s king seated at His right hand until his enemies are made a footstool. Paul says Christ is seated there now (), having triumphed over the powers by the cross (). (; ; )

Reading well, key terms and common misreadings

Read it well

Begin with 1:15–20, then read chapter 2 as Paul applying that portrait of Christ to the teaching that threatened the church.
Read Colossians with Philemon. The same people appear in both, and Onesimus, the runaway slave of Philemon, travels with Tychicus to Colossae (4:7–9).
Read it beside Ephesians as well; the two letters share many phrases and a similar household section.
Reconstruct the false teaching carefully. Suggestions include Jewish mysticism with visions and food laws, early Gnostic ideas, local folk religion, or a blend; Paul’s answer works whichever view is right.
Notice that Paul asks for this letter to be read in Laodicea and for the letter from Laodicea to be read in Colossae (4:16). That letter is not known to us, though some suggest it is Ephesians.

Key terms

Image εἰκών (eikōn) — A likeness that represents and reveals. Christ is the image of the invisible God (1:15), and the new self is renewed in the image of its Creator (3:10).
Firstborn πρωτότοκος (prōtotokos) — In Scripture often a title of rank and inheritance rather than simply birth order. Christ is firstborn over all creation and firstborn from the dead (1:15, 1:18).
Fullness πλήρωμα (plērōma) — The complete measure of something. All God’s fullness dwells in Christ bodily (1:19, 2:9), so believers are made complete in Him (2:10).
Mystery μυστήριον (mystērion) — God’s purpose once hidden and now revealed, which Paul identifies as Christ, and Christ among and in the Gentiles (1:26–27, 2:2).
Spiritual forces of the world στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου (stoicheia tou kosmou) — Literally elements of the world. Interpreters debate whether Paul means basic principles, physical elements, or spiritual powers linked with them; BSB reads spiritual forces (2:8, 2:20).
Worship of angels θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων (thrēskeia tōn angelōn) — Debated: either worship directed to angels, or claims to have joined in the worship angels offer, seen in visions (2:18).

Easy to misread

Taking “firstborn over all creation” (1:15) to mean Christ was the first being God created. The next verse says all things were created in Him and through Him (1:16), and “firstborn” in Scripture often marks rank and inheritance (Psalm 89:27).
Reading “I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions” (1:24) as if Christ’s atoning work were incomplete. Paul has just said that God forgave all trespasses and canceled the debt at the cross (2:13–14). Most readers take the verse to mean that Paul shares in the sufferings that come to Christ’s body, the church, as the gospel advances.
Treating “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (2:21) as Paul’s command. These are the rules of the false teaching, which Paul says have no value against the indulgence of the flesh (2:23).
Using the household code (3:18–4:1) to endorse slavery or harsh rule. Paul adds duties to the powerful: husbands must love and not be harsh (3:19), fathers must not provoke their children (3:21), and masters must be just and fair, knowing they too have a Master in heaven (4:1).

Further reading: David Guzik, Enduring Word · Matthew Henry on CCEL · BibleProject overview video