Colossians
A letter to a church being told Jesus wasn't enough, saying he is.
Who wrote it: Says it is from Paul and Timothy, from prison. Scholars are split on whether Paul wrote it or a close associate did soon after his death; if Paul, around 60 to 62 AD, alongside Philemon.
What it is
Paul had never met the Colossians. Their church was planted by a man named Epaphras in a small town in the Lycus valley, and Epaphras came to Paul in prison worried. Some kind of teaching had crept in that mixed Jewish observance, visions, angel worship and harsh self-denial into a package that treated Jesus as a good start but not the whole thing. We only know the teaching through the letter's response, and scholars argue about what exactly it was. The response, though, is clear: Christ is the image of the invisible God, everything was made through him and for him, all of it holds together in him, and all the fullness of God lives in him. Why would you add anything?
The poem about Christ in chapter 1 is one of the highest statements about who Jesus is in the New Testament, and it is written to a church nobody had heard of. Chapter 2 then argues from it: you were buried with him and raised with him, the debt against you was nailed to the cross, so do not let anyone judge you over festivals or diets or make you feel you have missed a level. 'Don't handle, don't taste, don't touch' rules, Paul says, look wise and do nothing against the flesh.
Chapter 3 is the practical half and it is dense: set your mind on things above, put to death what belongs to your old self, put on compassion, kindness, humility, patience, forgiveness, and over all of it love. Let the peace of Christ referee your heart. Whatever you do, do it as for the Lord. Then a household code very like the one in Ephesians. The letter closes with greetings that include Luke, Mark, and a slave named Onesimus, whose story continues in Philemon.
Verses worth keeping
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things are held together.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsHe is the visible image of the God nobody can see, the firstborn over everything that was made. Because everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, seen and unseen, thrones, rulers, powers, authorities. All of it was created through him and for him. He was there before anything, and in him everything holds together.
The biggest claim about Jesus in the letter, and probably an early Christian hymn.
1If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsSo if you've been raised with Christ, go after the things above, where Christ is, sitting at God's right hand. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things down here.
'Things above' is not escapism. The rest of the chapter is entirely about how you treat people down here.
12Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
Gen Zsame meaning, your wordsSo, as God's chosen people, holy and loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Put up with each other, and forgive whatever complaint you have against anyone. The Lord forgave you; do the same.
'Put on' is a clothing word. These are things you choose to wear each morning, not moods you wait for.
- Gen Zsame meaning, your words
Whatever you're doing, put your whole self into it, as if you're working for the Lord and not for people.
Originally said to slaves. It gives worth to work nobody else values.
Read Colossians
The full text, every chapter, from the World English Bible, a modern public-domain translation. Pick a chapter below. The highlighted verses are the place to start if you have never read it.
Colossians 3
1If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. 3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
5Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6For these things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. 7You also once walked in those, when you lived in them, 8but now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth. 9Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, 10and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, 11where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.
12Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
14Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. 15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
17Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
18Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them.
20Children, obey your parents in all things, for this pleases the Lord.
21Fathers, don’t provoke your children, so that they won’t be discouraged.
22Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. 23And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality.
Questions about Colossians
What was the 'Colossian heresy'?
Nobody knows exactly. The letter mentions philosophy, human tradition, elemental spirits, festivals, sabbaths, food rules, angel worship, visions and harsh treatment of the body. That could be a Jewish mystical movement, a local blend of pagan and Jewish ideas, or early forms of what later became Gnosticism. The letter's response works whatever it was: Christ is the fullness, and nothing gets added.
Why is Colossians so similar to Ephesians?
Large sections overlap, sometimes word for word. Most scholars think Ephesians was written using Colossians as a base, either by Paul for a wider audience or by a follower. Colossians is the more specific and probably the earlier of the two.
Does 'firstborn of all creation' mean Jesus was created?
The Arians argued that in the fourth century, and Jehovah's Witnesses do now. The next verse says all things were created by him, which is hard to square with him being one of them. 'Firstborn' in the Bible is a rank word, the heir with the rights, not a birth-order word; David is called firstborn in Psalm 89 and was the youngest of eight. Mainstream Christianity reads it that way.