This letter appears to have been written because of some special need of the Colossians. Many of them had seemingly been caught up in a new teaching (although based on old ideas) which was distracting them from Christ. It is often called ‘The Colossian Heresy’. But the only details we know about it are what we can extract from the letter. It would seem to have been a mixture of early gnosticism and Judaism

It would appear to have been based on the relatively common idea at the time that because men were evil, flesh itself must be evil and could not therefore directly approach God or Christ. Thus there was a need for a man’s spirit to come to God through some semi-divine intermediaries, certain ‘principalities and powers’ (1.16; 2.15), which graduated downwards, becoming less and less divine, who were worshipped (2.18) through the ‘knowledge’ (gnosis) known only to the few.

It further included the practise of asceticism, of following certain ordinances in respect of abstinence from food and drink and observing of holy days as a means of battling with the flesh (2.16-17), while indulging it at the same time (2.23). This heresy will not be directly referred to in the commentary as its nature is not fully known. It is the general principles involved that are important, which have to be combated again and again, not the unverifiable details of a forgotten heresy.

Paul’s reply is briefly that while it is true that man is evil, it is essentially because of the rebellion of the will not the weakness of the flesh (1.21-22; ‘sons of disobedience’ - 3.6), and that through Christ alone all men who will can rise above it through faith in Him (1.4; 2.6-7). All worthwhile knowledge must be in Him ‘in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ (2.3), and access to God is through His blood shed on the cross and through His resurrection (1.14, 22; 2.12, 14-15). There are therefore no intermediaries either necessary or able to bring men to God. It is through Christ alone. Nor are worldly ordinances necessary. They have been annulled by the coming of Christ. Christ is now all. While acknowledging the existence of supernatural beings he declares that such as are against Christ are a defeated foe not a channel to God.

Opening Greeting (1.1-2)

1.1-2a ‘Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae.’

As usual Paul begins by stating his credentials. He is an Apostle of Christ Jesus. When Jesus was preparing for the future ministry of His followers He selected from among them twelve whom He called Apostles (Luke 6.13; see also Matthew 10.2-4; Mark 3.13-19). The word means ‘those sent forth’ and can mean simply duly appointed messengers, but here it had the technical sense of those especially selected by Christ Himself to be witnesses to His life and teaching. It was in this sense that Paul also claimed Apostleship, on the same level as the twelve, as the Apostle to the Gentiles, a status accepted by Peter and the other Apostles (Galatians 2.7-9; 1 Corinthians 9.1, 5; 2 Corinthians 12.11-12; 1 Thessalonians 2.6).

‘Through the will of God.’ Paul stresses that his Apostleship was not man made, nor even by his own choice, but directly within the will of God. It was He Who had chosen Him and set him apart from his birth to be an Apostle (Galatians 1.15) as He had with the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 49.1, 5) and Jeremiah before him (Jeremiah 1.5).

‘And Timothy our brother.’ Timothy has clearly grown to a stature whereby he can be linked with Paul in greeting (whereas other important men are not - 4.10-14). It would seem that he was well known to the Colossians for he is not mentioned in Ephesians, which was probably intended for a number of churches, and was written around the same time. ‘Our brother.’ Not an Apostle but to be accepted as ‘a brother’. The early church had a deep sense of being a family. (For Timothy see Acts 16.1 on; Philippians 2.19-22; and the letters to Timothy).

‘To the saints’ (hagioi). This describes all those who belong to Christ and are members of His church. They are ‘sanctified (hegiasmenoi) in Christ’ (1 Corinthians 1.2; 6.11; Hebrews 2.11; 10.10; 10.14) and therefore ‘saints’ (sanctified ones). They are ‘set apart’ as His for a holy purpose (the main significance of the word ‘sanctify’), indwelt by His Holy Spirit, and separated to His use. It is noteworthy that earlier letters are addressed to churches as such but that Paul later moves to the more personal address as here.

‘And faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae.’ This indicates that while entry into the blessing of Christ is by faith, evidence of it is found in faithfulness. The words that follow are spoken to those who faithfully follow Him. Note the final ‘in Christ’. It is in Him, and only in Him, that all blessing is found, and it is He alone Who can keep us faithful.

1.2b ‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father.’

‘Grace to you.’ Nothing can be more desirable than to have God looking on us and acting towards us in love and favour, and this is what is signified by grace. It is the undeserved love and consequent saving activity of God. Thus Paul wants the Colossians to know that he desires for them only that they enjoy the experience of the grace of God, something which does not need to be earned but is freely given..

‘And peace.’ Peace results from grace, but the kind of peace mentioned here is also God’s gift, flowing from Him to us. Once we know that we are right with God, and experience His graciousness towards us, we have peace with God (Romans 5.1), so that we are flooded with His peace (Galatians 5.22) and enjoy such peace, prosperity and success of spirit that our hearts can only overflow. For, however things may seem to smile on us, if God is not pleased with us, we cannot fully know peace. The very foundation then of peace in our hearts is the favour of God, by which we enjoy true and genuine prosperity of spirit through the work of His Spirit, and find the peace of God which passes all understanding guarding our thoughts and hearts (Philippians 4.7). This is what Paul wished for, and prayed for, for the Colossians.

‘From God our Father.’ His words to them come from the One Who is over all, but Who is especially their Father. In the first century this would convey the idea of a rather austere figure, a figure of authority as well as that of tenderness.

Usually Paul links ‘and the Lord Jesus Christ’ or similar in his greeting, and later manuscripts include it here. But this reading is probably the original, if only because of its uniqueness. Possibly he has in mind what he is about to write and does not want to pre-empt it.

Paul Expresses His Appreciation of Them (1.3-8)

1.3a ‘We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.’

‘We give thanks.’ An indication of his confidence in the faith of the Colossians (contrast Galatians and 2 Corinthians). Paul never forgot to express his gratitude to God for all He had done.

Having greeted them in the name of ‘God the Father’ he now reminds them that He is especially ‘the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’.

The title ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ contains three elements. Firstly He is Lord (kurios), the One Whose Name is above every name, Yahweh Himself (Philippians 2.9). To the Jew and to Paul the Name above every name was Yahweh and in the Greek Old Testament Yahweh is represented by kurios. He is also elsewhere the great ‘I am’ (John 8.58, compare Exodus 3.14), another name for Yahweh, and thus ‘the Word’, Who existed in the beginning, through Whom God created the worlds (John 1.1-3; Hebrews 1.1-3; Psalm 33.6, 9), the Lord of all.

Secondly He is ‘Jesus’. He became flesh and dwelt among us (1.14). He was truly man and yet in His manhood epitomised all that man was meant to be. He was the only true man. He hungered as a man (Matthew 4.2). He grew thirsty as a man (John 4.7; 19.28). He suffered as a man. And His death was the death of a man, and yet it was of more than a man, for He was ‘the Lord’. He was ‘the Christ (Messiah)’. And the name Jesus means ‘Yahweh is salvation’.

Thirdly He is ‘the Christ.’ By His death and resurrection He is declared to be ‘both Lord and Christ’ (Acts 2.36). He is the expected King Messiah, the One appointed to eternal Rule (2 Peter 1.11; compare Psalm 145.13; Daniel 4.3, 34; 7.14), the One Who both sits on His own throne and also uniquely shares His Father’s throne (Revelation 3.21), the One before Whom every knee shall bow (Philippians 2.10).

But because of this He is the powerful One (Romans 1.4). He is the One worthy of worship and honour. He is the Lord of glory. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

1.3b ‘Praying always for you.’ Paul wants them to know of his constant concern for them, and that he prays for their spiritual growth because he is aware of their dedicated Christian lives. It is the sign of the true minister of Christ that he prays tenderly for his flock.

1.4-5 ‘Having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have toward all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel.’

Paul has heard that they have a sound faith based on faith in Christ Jesus, they have love for all God’s people and they have hope for the eternal future. This triad of faith, love and hope appears elsewhere (Romans 5.1-2; 1 Corinthians 13.3; Galatians 5.5-6; 1 Thessalonians 1.3; 5.8; Hebrews 10.22-24; 1 Peter 1.22-23). Faith refers to their past response now consolidated in their present behaviour and attitude (see 1.23). They are grounded in the faith and continue to express it in and through their lives. Love demonstrates their continuation in the faith, and the work of the Spirit within (Ephesians 3.16-19). Hope expresses the end result of their faith, a certainty which enables them to endure, the expectancy of their final transformation and exaltation (1 Thessalonians 1.3; 1 Corinthians 15.52-54; 1 Thessalonians 4.14-18).

‘Your faith in Christ Jesus.’ He certainly has in mind ‘the faith’ in which they are grounded, their basis of sound doctrine, which is the basis of their certain hope for the future (1.23). But also included is their day by day faith in Christ revealed in their lives. For Christ is central in ‘the faith’ as he is about to declare.

‘The love which you have towards all the saints.’ This was constantly looked for in the early church and was seen as one sign of a genuine Christian. Where love is lacking, genuineness is lacking. It was the command of Jesus that His people should love one another (John 13.35; 15.12, 17) and it is the first aspect of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5.22; see 1.7 and compare Romans 12.10; 13.8 and often). The love referred to is Christian love (see 1 Corinthians 13). It is not sexual nor based on the loveableness of the person loved, but on the spiritual attitude of the one who loves and desires the best for ‘all the saints’, all God’s people, even when they are not very saintly.

‘Because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens.’ They know that Christ is in them, ‘the hope of glory’ (verse 27). Thus they look forward to a glorious hope. The New Testament is full of this hope, the hope for what will happen at the second coming of Christ, when the Lord is revealed from Heaven, raises dead believers and transforms His own and takes them to be with Himself (1 Thessalonians 4.14-17; 1 Corinthians 15.52-54). Then there will be a new heaven and a new earth, places where there is only righteousness (2 Peter 3.13).

‘Because of the hope.’ Their faith and love are kept constant by this hope. Those who lose sight of the hope soon begin to languish.

‘The word of the truth of the Gospel.’ The preaching of the truth of the Good News of their participation in the death and resurrection of Christ also includes the Christian’s glorious hope. ‘Word’ regularly means the preached word, compare 1 Corinthians 1.18. Notice the emphasis on ‘the truth’, a constant theme of Jesus (consider especially John 14-16) and a constant theme of Paul’s. It was not just belief, it was the word of truth. Ephesians 1.13 speaks similarly of ‘the word of truth, the Good News of your salvation’.

1.6 ‘Which is come to you even as it is also in all the world, bearing fruit and increasing, as it does in you also since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.’

This word of truth has borne fruit among them and resulted in their growth as Christians and the drawing of many to Christ, and indeed has done so since they first heard it. And it has not just been effective in them, but also in ‘all the world’. And what is this word? It is the true knowledge of the grace of God, of the unmerited active favour of God acting on their behalf, revealed in Christ. There may be here a reflection of the parable of the sower (Matthew 13). The sowing of the word produces growth and abundant harvest.

‘In all the world.’ That is in all the world with which he was familiar, and even beyond. He knew that the preaching of the Gospel was spreading out wider and wider.

1.7-8 ‘Even as you learned of Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.’

Paul rejoiced in the close bond between himself and his fellow-workers. To him they were all beloved. It was clearly Epaphras, sent out by Paul, who had established the church at Colossae and returned to Paul declaring how they had revealed true spiritual love implanted in them by the Holy Spirit. He also established the churches at Laodicea and Hierapolis (4.13) and upheld them all in constant prayer. Thus can Paul declare, ‘he is faithful’ in the task he is carrying out and has carried out ‘on our behalf’. They work as a team and each works on behalf of the whole.

‘A faithful fellow-servant (sun-doulos, a ‘together servant’)) and a faithful servant (diakonos) of Christ.’ What greater commendation could there be? And this from Paul who knew how to assess men. It is required in servants that they be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4.2), and Epaphras was faithful. He also apparently shared one of Paul’s imprisonments (Philemon 1.23).

‘Epaphras.’ See also 4.12; Philemon 1.23. The name is short for Epaphroditus, but Paul probably distinguished him from the other Epaphroditus (Philippians 2.25; 4.18) by this shortened name.

Paul’s Prayer that They Might Have Understanding, and Strength (1.9-14).

Once Paul had learned of their response to Christ he and his fellow-workers had begun to pray for them constantly. Their first prayer was that they might have spiritual wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of His will. This is the most important thing for us all, true knowledge and understanding, and it leads on to what follows. Then they prayed that they may walk in accordance with that wisdom and understanding (verse 10). For such wisdom and understanding, if genuine, will produce ‘the fear of the Lord’ and departure from evil (Job 28.28). And then they prayed that they might have the strength imparted to enable them to do it (verse 11), for without that God given strength all would be impossible. And finally they prayed that they might appreciate the power and glory through which this has become possible, our redemption in Christ (verse 12-14).

The liturgical nature of some of what follows may suggest that they result from creeds and prayers put together by Paul and the other Apostles to assist in the church’s worship, resembling similarly constructed liturgies found in synagogue worship. As Christ had taught them to pray and worship, so they would teach others.

1.9 ‘For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray and to make request for you that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.’

Their first prayer was that the Holy Spirit might bring home to them (and to us) the true knowledge of His will. ‘That you might be filled with the knowledge of His will.’ There is nothing more important for us than that we should have an understanding of the will of God filling our hearts and minds Many teachers of all kinds tried to catch their ears claiming to impart a special ‘knowledge’ (gnosis) about God. So it was vital that through it all they should have the true knowledge (epignosis) of the will of God. And that could only be by being enlightened by the Spirit.

‘In all spiritual wisdom and understanding.’ He prays that they might have spiritual wisdom and spiritual understanding. This is understanding and wisdom imparted by the Spirit of God, something that should be our constant desire and prayer. And we know that to Paul the true wisdom was found in the cross (1 Corinthians 1.17-24 compare Colossians 1.13-14), and in the crucified One Who was Himself the Wisdom from God (1 Corinthians 1.30). He also knew that this could only be brought home to the spiritual man by the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2.11-15).

As he says later, in Christ Himself ‘are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ (2.3). Thus he is praying that they might have a full understanding of Jesus Christ as the crucified Saviour (verses 13-14), Who was made unto them wisdom from God revealed in righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1.30). A wisdom that would lead them in the way and walk of humility (Philippians 2.5-11). For truly, ‘The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil, that is understanding’ (Job 28.28; Proverbs 1.7; 9.10). Wisdom signifies a true awareness of God and of all that He is, knowledge refers to an understanding of His ways.

1.10 ‘To walk worthily of the Lord, pleasing in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.’

Their continuing prayer was further that this would result in a walk that was worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in everything. As His way of humility was brought home to them, and as the purpose of God for their lives was revealed to them, they must then bear fruit in good works of every kind and must increase in the knowledge of God. In the final analysis godly understanding is revealed in godly behaviour and growth in the knowledge of God. And this pleases Him (compare 2 Timothy 2.4).

Those who have had the cross brought home to their hearts, and who have grown in the knowledge of the Crucified and risen Saviour, can have only one aim, and that is to please Him in everything they do, and to walk as He walked. They will ‘seek first the kingship of God and His righteousness’ (Matthew 6.33). Then their lives will become fruitful (compare verse 6) and good works will abound. They have the heart and mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2.16). And as they walk with the Lord and in His word, learning more about Him from that authoritative source, and as they abound in good works, learning the lessons of patient endurance and consideration for others, their knowledge of God will deepen and become wider and broader.

There is an important lesson for us here. The test of whether we are really coming to know God better is whether it produces practical results in our lives so that even those we live with begin to see the difference.

1.11 ‘Strengthened with all power according to the might of his glory (His glorious might) unto all patience and longsuffering with joy.’

The third prayer was that they might experience the mighty strength which would enable them to walk successfully in this way. That they might be strengthened with ‘all power’, that is with all the power that has its source in ‘the might of His glory’. Thus as they considered His present glory and authority, and His almighty power revealed in that glory, they should know that it revealed something of the power on which they could draw, and this would enable them to walk worthily of the Lord. How? By displaying patient endurance and longsuffering, and being joyful in their doing of it.

Note how Paul recognises that all the power of the God of glory will be needed to keep them patiently enduring and to enable them to be longsuffering and considerate for others. Man is good at being inconsiderate. He loves to display his ability and self-importance, he loves to strut the stage and have his own way, or in some cases simply to have his own way quietly but firmly. He has no difficulty in doing that. He needs no strengthening to do it. It is natural to him. But this is not the way of Christ. The way of Christ is joyful ‘patient endurance and longsuffering’, bearing with others, putting up with their weaknesses, and seeking to help them while at the same time being careful not to be caught in the same trap, and having joy in doing so. It includes joy in the face of persecution when it comes. And this kind of life requires the full power of God.

1.12-14 ‘Giving thanks to the Father who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who delivered us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his beloved Son (the Son of his love), in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.’

Here is the source of the power, and of the privilege of walking worthily of the Lord, and the motive force behind it. It is in the action of the Father. It is the Father Who has done these things. And Paul gives thanks for what He has done, and he wants the Colossians, and us, to do so as well. He points out that He has ‘made us meet’, made us into what is required. He has delivered us, and He has redeemed and forgiven us. Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, who like me His praise should sing?

‘Who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.’ When we consider the glory of that inheritance, that time when the people of God will dwell with the Father in His everlasting light (Revelation 21.22-23; 22.5), we, in our sinfulness, can only ask, ‘how can we may be made meet (hikanosanti), be made sufficient, be made suitable and satisfactory, be made worthy, for this?’ And the answer is given. ‘He has delivered us from darkness and brought us into light and under His kingly rule’, having redeemed and forgiven us so that we can face that light without fear, and has been ‘made unto us righteousness’ (1 Corinthians 1.30) so that we have been made ‘the righteousness of God in Him’ (1 Corinthians 5.21).

‘Who delivered us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.’ We were under ‘the power of darkness’, the rule of darkness (note the contrast with the rule of Christ, the rule of light). Our minds were blinded (2 Corinthians 4.4), we were manipulated by Satan, we followed His ways (see Ephesians 2.2-3). And then God stepped in. He paid the transfer price that justice demanded, and ,through the death of the Redeemer, He delivered us from darkness and from Satan’s manipulation, and transferred us into another sphere of power, the kingship, the rule of His own beloved Son. So were we brought into heavenly places with Christ, recognising Him as our Lord, submitting to Him and sharing with Him His power and His glory (Ephesians 2.4-6). This is our present state, preparing us for the heavenly kingdom yet to come when earth’s clutch will be no more.

‘The power of darkness.’ Here darkness is seen as a kingdom which has power over us. We can compare how Jesus said to the Jewish leaders who came to arrest Him, ‘this is your hour and the power of darkness’ (Luke 22.53). They were acting on behalf of the power of darkness, as do all who oppose Christ. (Compare the parallel expression ‘the power of Satan’ in Acts 26.18).

‘The Son of His love.’ His own beloved Son. He Who was great and loved beyond all measure. He Who had died and had risen again and was now seated far above all in glory and majesty (Ephesians 1.20-22), it is His kingdom that we share. And we share His kingdom even now prior to that day when God will become all in all (1 Corinthians 15.24-28).

The ‘kingdom (kingship) of Christ’ is never elsewhere referred to specifically as such in the New Testament, but the idea is regularly implied for He is the King, both on His own throne and on His Father’s throne (Revelation 3.21). He is set at God’s right hand and rules over all (Ephesians 1.20-21). It refers here to His present rule over His people. We are under His rule and called to be obedient and dedicated to Him. But this will be extended by His future rule (Matthew 25.34) when His people enter eternal life (Matthew 25.46) to receive the future kingdom. It parallels ‘the kingdom (kingship) of God’ which also has present aspects (Romans 14.17; 1 Corinthians 4.20; Colossians 4.11; 1 Thessalonians 2.12) and future aspects (1 Corinthians 6.9; 15.50; Galatians 5.21; 2 Timothy 4.1, 18), and can be called ‘the kingdom of Christ and of God’ (Ephesians 5.5 compare Revelation 11.15). The emphasis here is on the fact that He has established His rule by His redeeming love and power in accordance with the will of the Father.

‘In Whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.’ Here is the secret. A price was paid, a ransom (Mark 10.45). We were ‘redeemed’. We were bought back through His blood (Ephesians 1.7; 1 Peter 1.18-20). Our lives were forfeit but the price of sin was paid by Another dying in our place (Mark 10.45). And thus we were delivered. The price was not paid to Satan. He had no rights over us except by conquest. The price was paid at the bar of justice before the Judge of all to satisfy a broken Law.

But redemption not only includes the payment of a price, it also includes redemption by power. And through the cross He broke the power of evil and set us free from bondage to Satan and his forces (Colossians 2.15). And so we received forgiveness for all our sins. We were rid of them for they were laid on Him (Isaiah 53.6). And we being thus forgiven no longer have our sins counted against us, for they are cancelled out. They are removed from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103.12). We are made righteous in Him (2 Corinthians 5.21).

‘Redemption.’ The idea of redemption is redemption from bondage, from bondage to sin as our accuser (Romans 7.11; 3.24-25) and as our slave-master (Romans 6.12-14, 17, 23; 7.5, 23), from bondage to fear of death (Hebrews 2.15), from bondage to Satan as ruler over the power of darkness. It is deliverance by the payment of a price and the exercise of great power.

‘The forgiveness of our sins.’ A popular New Testament idea. The word for forgiveness here is ’aphesis which means ‘cancellation’ and is used to mean the cancellation of the guilt of sin. It is common in the New Testament, see Matthew 26.28; Mark 1.4; Luke 1.77; 3.3; 24.47; Acts 2.38; 5.31; 10.43; 13.38 (by Paul); 26.18 (by Paul); Hebrews 9.22; 10.18, but rarely used by Paul in his epistles (only here, in Ephesians 1.7, a parallel passage, and in a quotation in Romans 4.7) who tends to speak more in terms of ‘reckoning righteous’. Elsewhere he speaks of ‘pardon’ (charizomai) for sin (Colossian 2.13) and the ‘passing over’ of sins done aforetime in the light of Christ’s then future redemptive work (Romans 3.25). For such forgiveness see Psalm 51.1, 9; Isaiah 43.25; 44.22. See also James 5.15; 1 John 1.9; 2.12.

The deliverance from the power of darkness that we might receive forgiveness of sins, and the receive His inheritance, are found also in Paul’s words to Agrippa (echoing Christ’s words to him), ‘to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me’ (Acts 26.18).

The Glory of Christ (1.15-20).

Paul now brings to their attention the glory of their Redeemer, the One Who created all things and is over all..

1.15 ‘Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.’

‘Who is the image of the invisible God.’ The God of the Jews was invisible and could not be represented by any physical representation in earth or heaven, whether of supernatural being, man or beast (Exodus 20.4). Such representations could only be images of a visible God, and would thus misrepresent God. So ‘the image’ is not meant to suggest God’s physical likeness. Rather it means revealing Him in His essential being. As ‘the image of the invisible God’ Christ has made the invisible God known to man in a unique way, in His life, His power and His teaching. He has shown what God is really like. He has revealed His glory.

Thus John can say, ‘we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Son of His Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1.14), and adds, ‘No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son Who is in the Father’s bosom, He has made Him known’ (verse 18). He is the ‘monogenes (only begotten), the only One of like nature with the Father, as opposed to being a creation of God.

That is why Jesus Himself could say, ‘How do you say “show us the Father”? He who has seen me has seen the Father’ (John 14.9). We behold God in the things Jesus said and the things He did, in what He essentially was, for the Father was in Him and working through Him uniquely. He did not hesitate to point to Himself as revealing the Father’s full glory.

Hebrews puts it this way, ‘Who being the outshining (effulgence) of His glory and the stamped out image of His substance’ (Hebrews 1.3). The ‘outshining’ refers to light that comes from a glorious object, of the same essence and revealing its glory, like the rays of the sun. The ‘stamped out image’ refers to that which is an exact representation of what is stamped out by a seal. Neither should be taken too literally. God is not physical light, nor can invisibility be ‘stamped out’. Thus both tell us that He reveals the very nature and being of God, not some physical image.

We can compare how in Romans 1.20, Paul tells us that ‘the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even His everlasting power and Godness’. Note that it is invisible things which are ‘seen’, that is grasped and understood in the mind, just as the invisible God is ‘seen’ through Christ. But this perceiving was not, be it noted, through small parts of that creation, which were strictly forbidden as representations of Him, but through creation seen as a whole. The very heavens and earth declared His glory, and power, and uniqueness to the receptive mind, for He was their Creator. But here now was One Who even more revealed that everlasting power and ‘Godness’ in His very nature and being.

‘The firstborn (prototokos) of all creation.’ On earth the firstborn was the one who, being of the same nature as his father, most fully revealed what his father was. He would one day stand in the place of his father, and be as his father once his father had died. He was, as it were, the reproduction of the father. In Greek philosophy also the Firstborn (prototokos) was seen as the one who fully represented the divine Reason, the Logos, in its relation to the world and as being of the same nature as the divine Reason. But in this latter case both were eternal, the one merging into the other. The stress is on likeness of nature and likeness of being, not physically but essentially.

Paul may also have had in mind the Messianic connection of the term. In Psalm 89.27 God says, ‘I also will make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.’ This was interpreted Messianically by the Jews. Here the idea is of one made superior and set over all.

But He is the Firstborn ‘of all creation’ not just of the Jews. (This is part of the ‘mystery’ as we shall see shortly (verse 27)). Thus as the Firstborn of all creation, Christ is seen to have precedence to, and authority over all, creation.

But this will now be related to Him creating all things, which includes the whole supernatural sphere. So His sphere of authority comes as Creator, the One Who was in existence before all things. He is superior because He is God’s ‘firstborn’, the One Who reveals Him as He is, and indeed because He is His only begotten Son. (These are human, and therefore inadequate pictures. They are intended to convey oneness of essence, not that He was ‘born later’ than the Father. Theologians use the term ‘eternally begotten’, ‘not begotten at a point in time’, to describe this).

Thus Jesus Christ as the Firstborn fully represents His Father. He is before all things, He is the heir of all things and supreme over all things, and He is the One through Whom the Father approaches the world. We might thus paraphrase, ‘ the Firstborn, He Who was before the whole of creation, who was of the same essence as the Prime Creator, who represented the Prime Creator in His external relationships and was set over all things supernatural, brought the creation into being.’ As Jesus Himself said, ‘Before Abraham was, I am’ (John 8.58).

1.16-17 ‘For in (or ‘by’) him were all things created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or power, all things have been created through him and unto him, and he is before all things and in him all things hold together.’

Jesus as ‘the Firstborn’ created all things. Paul is careful to include those beings which existed before the world was created, and to exclude nothing. They were created through Him, and the purpose of their creation was His own benefit and satisfaction (‘unto Him’). Then, to make matters even clearer he says, ‘He is before all things’ (’autos ’estin pro panton). He existed before all things, and takes precedence before all things. He is supreme over all, permanently and unceasingly. And He sustains and holds together all things.

This proclamation of Christ as the creator of all things is found elsewhere, in Hebrews 1.2 ‘through Whom also He made the worlds’, in John 1.3, ‘all things were made through Him and without Him was not anything made that has been made’, and in 1 Corinthians 8.6, ‘one Lord Jesus Christ through Whom are all things’.

‘In (or ‘by’) Him were all things created.’ Paul does not qualify this, he expands on it. It does not only include earthly creation but the creation of all heavenly beings. Note that He is not said to be the ‘first-created (protoktisis). As the ‘firstborn’ of God He existed before creation.

If we translate ‘in Him’ (the preposition can mean either) he is the sphere in which all things were created, and thus ‘bigger’ than them all. If we translate ‘by Him’ He was the source of that creation. Usually creation is said to be ‘through Him’ (see paragraph above) which may support translating ‘in Him’ here. The verb ‘created’ is in the aorist tense signifying a once for all action. Compare later in the verse where it is in the perfect tense, signifying a creation that endures to the present.

‘In the heavens and on the earth.’ He then expands this to include all supernatural beings and everything, whether visible or invisible. ‘Thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers’ represents all authority wherever it may be, including Satan himself. Nothing is outside His creation or His control. Ancient religions invented many demi-gods and divine beings, probably in awareness of these supernatural authorities, but whatever they be, says Paul, He is over them all.

‘In Him all things hold together.’ All is sustained by Him. He has but to withdraw His hand and the universe will collapse within itself. In the words of Hebrews 1.3, ‘He upholds all things by His powerful word.’

1.18 ‘And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.’

Not only does the old creation have its being from Him, but also the new creation. He is not only Lord and Head over all things (Ephesians 1.22) but also the Head, the Overlord, of the church, that gathering of people who have been united with Him in His body. Firstly because He is ‘the beginning’, and secondly because He is ‘the firstborn from the dead’. Thus the aim is that as the Firstborn of all creation, the source and Lord of the old creation, and as the Firstborn from the dead, the source and Lord of the new creation, He should have total pre-eminence in and over all things.

‘He is the Head of the body.’ This does not mean that we are to see Him as the head in heaven and we as, as it were, a body joined to that head, and representing Him on earth. It refers to His sovereignty over the body, a body which is made up of Himself and His people united with Him. As Ephesians 1.22 tells us, as Head He is not just the head of the church but the ‘Head over all things’ to the church. His Headship stresses His supremacy, not a direct connection with the body. Consider how in 1 Corinthians 12 the body, which is Himself and His people, includes the head, all of whom are represented by it (verse 16 where ear and eye are part of the body, and verse 21 where the head is contrasted with the feet, all within the body). So He Who is Head of creation (Ephesians 1.22 and implied here in Colossians) is also Head of the church (not as its head as opposed to its body but as its sovereign Lord).

‘Of the body.’ The people of God are His body because they have been united with Him in His body. They have been crucified with Him (Galatians 2.20; 5.24; 6.14; Romans 6.5-6; 7.4; Ephesians 2.16 ), they have risen with Him (Romans 6.4-6; Ephesians 2.1-6), they are one with Him (Ephesians 5.31-32; 1 Corinthians 12.12-13) and the bread at the Lord’s Table represents both Him and them (1 Corinthians 10.16-17). To suggest that this speaks of the church as the ‘extension of His incarnation’ is to miss the point completely. It does not mean that. It emphasises spiritual union within the body. The idea of the body is never as outward in relation to the world, but always as inward in relation to God and to each other. They are one with Him, and one with each other. They have been presented blameless ‘in the body of His flesh through death’ (1.22). For further treatment of this subject see the Appendix.

‘Who is the beginning.’ He was its founder and commencer. It is ‘His church’, which He would build on Peter’s confession (Matthew 16.18). And He is its originator and the source of its life. He began it all.

‘The firstborn from the dead.’ He is pre-eminent in resurrection and indeed the prime cause in the raising from the dead (John 5.26). He had the power to lay down His life and the power to take it again (John 10.18). It was only through His resurrection that the resurrection of others became possible (consider Matthew 27.52-53). We can live because He lived. And when He speaks all the dead will rise (John 5.28-29). Thus He is Lord of the resurrection.

‘That in all things He might have the pre-eminence.’ Both old and new creation owe their being and continuing existence to Him. And the overall goal of the Godhead was His total pre-eminence.

1.19 ‘For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fullness dwell.’

Once more the good pleasure of God comes into account. All things happen according to His good pleasure. And it was His good pleasure that ‘all the fullness’ should permanently dwell in Him. The meaning of ‘fullness’ here would seem to be the entire attributes of the Godhead. In Him there was nothing lacking of the fullness of God (compare Ephesians 3.19).

‘Of the Father.’ This is not in the Greek text and is to be read in from verse 12. We could alternatively read in ‘of the Godhead’ or ‘of the invisible God’ (from verse 15). The Greek could also be translated ‘for in Him all the fullness was pleased to permanently dwell’, but the significance is the same, for ‘the fullness’ personified could only refer to God..

Many ancient religions interposed between God and man many intermediaries through whom unworthy, insignificant man, who could not approach God directly, must in one way or another seek to approach the holy, all-powerful God, but Paul sweeps all such aside. Man is ever tempted to a false humility by seeking intermediaries between himself and God (witness the cult of Mary and of the saints), but Paul stresses that ‘there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus’ (1 Timothy 2.5). None other is needed and to seek such is an insult to Him and what He has done. And He could be that because in Him God and man was combined. He was both God and man.

‘The good pleasure.’ The verb is elsewhere only used of God’s good pleasure.

‘To dwell.’ This is the aorist infinitive. To take up dwelling once for all. And the verb itself suggests permanent dwelling.

‘The fullness.’ (the pleroma). The word is used of patches ‘filling up’ a tear in clothing (Matthew 9.16; Mark 2.21), the fullness is not the patch but represents the completeness of the whole once it is patched; of baskets being ‘filled up’ (Mark 8.20), and thus the whole basketful; of the future ‘fullness’ of Israel when they have full and complete enjoyment of what they have lost (Romans 11.12); of ‘the fullness’ of the Gentiles referring to the complete number of those who respond to Christ (Romans 11.25); of love as the ‘fulfilment’ of the Law, referring to it as fulfilling it and completing it (Romans 13.10); of the earth and its ‘fullness’, the totality of things on earth (1 Corinthians 10.26-28); of the fullness of the blessing of Christ, with nothing coming short of full blessing (Romans 15.29); and of the fullness of the times, when the necessary overall time is complete (Galatians 4.4; Ephesians 1.10). It thus carries the ideas of completeness and totality.

The garment is made ‘complete’ by the patches; fullness represents the sum total of everything within a ‘container’ (the filled baskets, the earth’s fullness, the Law); it represents the completeness of a designated period (the fullness of times) and it represents that which is complete in itself (the fullness of the Jews and Gentiles and of blessing from Christ through Paul). Extra-biblically it is used of the full complement of a ship’s crew ‘completing’ the ship and then of the ship itself as complete.

Theologically it is used of ‘His fullness’, the fullness of Christ (John 1.16), signifying the totality of what He is and has; it is used of being ‘filled unto all the fullness of God’ (Ephesians 3.19) signifying the totality of the love that God would give us as a whole (or even possibly the totality of the love of God); it is used of ‘the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Ephesians 3.13) as signifying the totality of what Christ is as man (or the totality of His requirements); and in Ephesians 1.23 it is used of the church as ‘the fullness of Him Who fills all in all’, where it would seem to mean that the church will, like the patch, once the plan of redemption is completed, make up what is lacking in His overall supremacy, so making Him complete (the patch completes the fullness. It is not itself the fullness). Thus until that day He is (by His own choice) not totally complete until all the saved are gathered in and presented perfect before Him. (Although some see it as meaning that they receive of His fullness and thus are made complete in Him (compare Colossians 2.10)). In Colossians 2.9 we read, ‘in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily’ where it signifies that in Him is the totality of what God is, and this leads on to the fact that we are made complete in Him.

So pleroma represents completeness, totality, fullness. And here in 1.19 it therefore indicates that in Him dwells permanently the complete fullness of God with nothing lacking.

1.20 ‘And through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, through him, I say, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens.’

This verse concludes what verse 16 began. In verse 16 Paul began with ‘all things’ created in the heavens and on the earth, here he finishes with ‘all things’ reconciled to Him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens. The reversal of heavens and earth (verse 16) to earth and heavens (verse 20) deliberately draws attention to the unity of the whole passage. We begin with the heavens and end with the heavens.

This reconciliation of ‘all things’, a description which includes the powers in heavenly places, as verse 16 makes clear, must be seen in the light of Paul’s teaching elsewhere. Peace has been made through the blood of the cross, and all that finally is will be reconciled to Him. All will be at one with Him. But although this will include all who are, it will not include all who have been, for some will no longer be. Not all will find peace with God, because they refuse His offer of mercy. Some will therefore have been defeated and made to submit (2.15; Philippians 2.10) resulting in final punishment. And their end will be destruction not final reconciliation. And the same will be true of sinful man. He too will have to bow the knee preparatory to receiving judgment (Philippians 2.10) and will also experience final destruction.

The total reconciliation through His cross, of all things that remain, is necessary so that all things might be summed up in Him (Ephesians 1.10) and so that the whole creation might be delivered from the bondage of corruption (Romans 8.21). But note that the latter also will partly be achieved by the corrupted heaven and earth being in the end burned up with fire (2 Peter 3.10).

With the fall of angels and of man disharmony had been brought into creation. This disharmony will now be removed as a result of His ‘making peace through the blood of His cross’. For those who respond to Him in faith His death acts on their behalf, they are seen as dying with Him (Galatians 2.20; Romans 6.6), and thus the penalty of sin is paid (Colossians 2.14) and they have peace with God (Romans 5.1-2) and go free. They are made members of His body. They will be transformed and share His everlasting glory. But for those who do not respond His cross is a sentence of death (2 Corinthians 2.16). It is the evidence of their final guilt and of their being deserving of punishment and destruction. As a result they will have to bow the knee and submit to His judgment (Philippians 2.10; Acts 16.31), and then all rule, authority and power opposed to Him will be abolished (1 Corinthians 15.24). They will face eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 1.9), and everlasting peace will be established (Ezekiel 37.26) and God will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15.28).

‘Through Him to reconcile all things to Himself.’ The first ‘Him’ is Jesus Christ, the ‘Himself’ is either ‘the Father’ as representing the Godhead, or ‘God’ as representing the same. Peace had to be finally established and all that was antagonistic and in rebellion done away. And this is accomplished ‘through Him’. The world must be finally be back at one with Him, with all that is unfit or unworthy done away, for those who are His will be fully reconciled and those who refused to be reconciled would be subjugated and would face the final sentence of eternal death.

‘Having made peace through the blood of His cross.’ What the blood signifies is a human death died, and died voluntarily. The death of the representative Man Who sums up all redeemed mankind within Himself. Through Adam, the first man, death came into the world, the result and consequence of sin (Romans 5.12, 15, 17), through the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15.45), the ‘second man’ (1 Corinthians 15.47), came the death that was due, not to His own sins but to the sins of others (Romans 3.24-25; 2 Corinthians 5.21), the death that made salvation possible, that averted the wrath of God for those who respond to Him (Romans 3.25; 1 John 4.10; John 3.36), the sacrifice for the sins of the world (1 John 2.2). As the sinless One suffered He bore the sins of many (Isaiah 53.5,12; 1 Peter 2.24), giving His life as a ransom (Mark 10.45; 1 Timothy 2.6; Galatians 3.13), breaking the power of sin and evil and death, and triumphing over them in the cross (Colossians 2.15; Hebrews 2.14).

No words can fully cover or define the depth and significance of what He accomplished that day. Each description is but the small part of the whole, a feeble representation of what He achieved. There ‘God made man’, through His human death in the body of His flesh (verse 22) did all that was necessary to accomplish peace between God and His creation. And now peace was not only available, it was certain of achievement. God would make peace with all who would respond, and those who would not respond would be removed from the equation.

Redeemed Mankind Made Perfect Before Him (1.21-23).

Now the general statement is applied to the particular situation. Those who respond will be made complete. There can be no peace-making without final transformation.

1.21-22 ‘And you, being in time past alienated, and enemies in your mind in your evil works, yet now has He reconciled, in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him.’

The Colossians, like all men, had been alienated from God, estranged from Him, at enmity with Him. They had not known Him. And this enmity, which was in their minds, controlling their whole being, had been revealed by their evil behaviour. Constant evil behaviour reveals the set of mind. The fleshly mind is enmity against God because it is not subject to the Law of God, and indeed, by its very nature, cannot be so subject (Romans 8.7). And its result is death (Romans 8.6).

And what is meant by evil behaviour is constantly outlined (see Galatians 5.19-21; Romans 1.29-31; 3.10-18; 1 Corinthians 6.9-10; 2 Corinthians 12.20). Those who behave in this way, in one aspect or another, both by sins of the mind or by sins of the flesh, reveal their enmity against God.

But for those who have responded to Christ all this has been done away. Through His death the enmity is removed, their evil mind is dealt with by the entrance of the Spirit of God (Romans 8.1-11), and because Jesus Christ is a propitiation by His blood through faith (Romans 3.25) they are reconciled to God. God makes peace with them and they find peace with God.

Through the immediate application by Jesus Christ of what He has done for them, they can already at this present time be presented before Him, judicially without stain, holy, unblemished and unreproveable, because they are reckoned as righteous in Christ, enabling the reconciliation. And, through the continuing working of His power, they also have the certain hope that they will also be presented before Him in actual reality without stain, holy, without fault or blemish and unreproveable in the final day. Their acceptance is in the first place totally because of what Christ has done for them, but this will then be effective in the continual transformation of their lives, resulting in the final perfect transformation.

‘In the body of His flesh through death.’ The words are deliberately intended to convey the fact that this has only been achieved by the literal sacrifice of the human body of Jesus Christ given in death. This was the crucial, unavoidable factor in the act of reconciliation. The Messiah had to die as the Messiah. ‘The body of His flesh’ is a Hebraism for ‘His fleshly human body’.

1.23 ‘If so be that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which you heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven, whereof I Paul was made a minister.’

Final perseverance is the test of the genuineness of faith and the resultant salvation. If Christ is at work in them then He will enable them to the end. Thus their assurance rests on two things. It rests on their faith in the reliability of the Saviour, and on the evidence of their continuation in ‘the faith’, the truth as revealed in Jesus, firmly grounded, and faithful and steadfast. Those who move away from ‘the hope’ of the Gospel, the expectation of their final presentation in unreproachable perfection, and cease to live lives approved unto God, only prove thereby that they had never truly believed. ‘They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us they would have continued with us’ (1 John 2.19).

‘The faith.’ As revealed in ‘the word of God’ (Mark 7.13), the Old Testament, and in ‘the testimony of Jesus’, which became the Gospels, and as found in the proclamation of the word by the Spirit guided Apostles, which became the rest of the New Testament.

‘Moved away.’ There are always those who would seek to move us away from the true Gospel. And their teaching is often subtly like the Gospel, possibly just with an overemphasis on one particular aspect. But if that aspect takes our eyes off Christ, or out of fellowship with His people, we must beware, for Christ is the Gospel, and love for all His people is mandatory.

‘Grounded.’ Based and built on a firm foundation (see 1 Corinthians 3.10-11). ‘Steadfast.’ Because firmly grounded, continuing firm, and immovable. Such people are like the man who built his house on a rock, and when storm, tempest, hurricane and flood came it stood firm because it was firmly grounded (Matthew 7.24-25).

‘The hope of the Gospel.’ The ‘hope of the Gospel’ is faith looking into the future. Looking to that final day when Christ Himself will come and transform the righteous, presenting them without fault or blemish before His Father.

‘Which was preached in all creation under heaven.’ Jesus Christ had Himself promised that the Gospel would be preached to all nations (Mark 13.10). Paul saw this as well under way. But as always in Scripture such all embracing statements refer to their known world, not to the vague world far beyond of which they knew little or nothing (compare 1 Kings 10.24).

‘Whereof I Paul was made a minister (diakonos).’ A reminder to them of his special calling which was the basis of his authoritative teaching.

The Mystery of God, Christ in You The Hope of Glory (1.24-29)

1.24-25a ‘Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for his body’s sake, which is the church whereof I was made a minister.’

Paul rejoices that he can suffer for Christ and for His people, for he knows that God’s purposes are carried forward through suffering, which has a worthwhile chastening influence on the people of God and is a consequence of the battle with evil (Romans 5.1-4; Hebrews 12.3-13). A century later Tertullian, a late second century Christian leader, could speak of ‘the blood of the martyrs which is the seed of the church’ because of the converting effect it had on the world.

The church is made the body of Christ by being united with Him in His body, and as He has suffered they too must anticipate suffering. Thus Paul speaks elsewhere of ‘the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed to His death’ (Philippians 3.9), and here he rejoices that he has a part in that ‘fellowship’, that ‘sharing together’, aware that it has a part to play in the final fulfilment of the purposes of God.

‘I fill up on my part.’ The afflictions of Christ had resulted in Paul being reckoned as righteous before God (Romans 3.24-25), they had resulted in his being crucified with Christ (Galatians 2.20), they had resulted in his being redeemed by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1.7) and reconciled to God (1.20), but what they did not do, for he had not personally experienced them, was work in him the direct benefits arising from his personally suffering for Christ. So now he gladly suffers (but not voluntarily, there is no suggestion of his inflicting suffering on himself) so that the beneficial effects of suffering may be his (Romans 5.3; 2 Corinthians 1.4; Hebrews 12.10-11). And he does it for the sake of God’s people, who have benefited, and will benefit, through his suffering. Furthermore he seeks to make his full contribution to what the church as a whole must suffer in fulfilling the purpose of Christ for them, for he knows that effectiveness and suffering often go together. No one persecutes the unsuccessful.

‘That which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ.’ There was nothing lacking from the point of view of man being reckoned as righteous and having his sins forgiven, from the point of view of atonement. But God’s purposes have always gone forward through suffering, and always will (Philippians 1.29; 2 Timothy 3.12). We have only to consider how the prophets suffered (see James 5.10), and the sufferings of the early church in the book of Acts (consider 1 Corinthians 4.12), a suffering which was seen as inflicted on Jesus Himself (Acts 9.4). There is no suggestion anywhere that they contributed to atonement, for that had been accomplished by Christ Himself, but they were necessary for the spread of the Gospel and the growth of God’s people. And they would lead to greater glory and blessing ( Romans 8.18; 2 Corinthians 1.7; 2 Timothy 2.12)

And Paul, who had himself once been a cause of those sufferings, had best cause to know that to serve Christ would regularly lead to suffering of one kind or another (‘the sufferings of Christ abound to us’ - 2 Corinthians 1.4-5). He knew that this was necessary for the birth and growth of the church (again 2 Corinthians 1.4-5, ‘that we may be able to stand alongside to strengthen those who are in any affliction through the strengthening with which we are strengthened by God’; see also Acts 9.16). So he knew that as one who had been made a servant of the church he must necessarily suffer. Indeed he points out elsewhere that he suffered birth pangs for them (Galatians 4.19), that he was a prisoner on their behalf (Ephesians 3.1), and he could catalogue a long list of sufferings brought on by his adventures and persecution in the course of his ministry and as a result of it (2 Corinthians 11.23-29; Philippians 3.8).

‘For His body’s sake, which is the church.’ For the building up and preservation of the church Christ had suffered, and many would suffer with Him as He had warned (John 15.20; 16.2-3), and as His body the church suffered with them. Just as when Christ suffered in His body on our behalf (Galatians 2.20), we as the body suffered in Him, and when Paul suffered on its behalf, the body suffered, for the body suffers when any of His people suffer ( 1 Corinthians 12.26) we too must expect suffering of one kind or another, having our part in sharing in the sufferings of Christ. If we are united in the body of the suffering Servant (Isaiah 53), we must expect that suffering will be our lot. Jesus suffered, Paul suffered and so must we be ready to suffer if need be, for we are God’s servant. (See Hebrews 12.4).

Jesus is clearly identified with the suffering Servant of Isaiah (Isaiah 42.1-3; 49.1-6; 50.4-9;52.13-53.12), and His people are also shown to be part of the ministry of the Servant in his preaching aspect (Acts 13.47), thus being identified with Him in His work and in His suffering. His body is also now the Servant. (See The Suffering Servant.

(Note. Jesus specifically identifies Himself with the Servant in Luke 22.37, and He is declared to be the Servant at His baptism - ‘my beloved, in whom I am well pleased’ (Mark 1.11 compare Isaiah 42.1) and the idea is applied to Him in Matthew 12.17-21; Luke 2.32; 9.35 RV and RSV; 23.35. The Servant is also probably to be identified with the prophet in Isaiah 61.1-3 which Jesus applied to Himself in Luke 4.16-21. When John the Baptiser declares Him to be ‘the Lamb of God’ (John 1.29, 36 compare Isaiah 53.7) this identification is also made by him).

Furthermore oneness with Christ must necessarily involve suffering for He is the Son of Man (Daniel 7.13) come out from among the sufferings of His people (who are also the ‘son of man’ in comparison with the beasts) in which He will have participated (Daniel 7.25), and indeed He tells us in the Gospels that as the Son of Man He specifically came to suffer (Mark 8.31), and that meant in His body (Colossians 1.22).

So as we are united with Him in His body as the Son of Man and as the Servant, we must therefore suffer with Him, being crucified with Him (Romans 6.5-6), being baptised by the Spirit into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12.13), and sharing in His death and resurrection. And that ‘body’ is not, be it noted, primarily the church but is Christ (1 Corinthians 12.12) And yet at the same time it includes the body comprised of the church united with Him in His body, which has suffered with Him and will be glorified with Him. The church is in the body, and can be called the body, because it is united with Him. (See Appendix). That is why we must expect to share in the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3.10). And that is why when His people suffer, He suffers with them (Acts 9.4-5). For to persecute them is to persecute Christ.

1.25-27 ‘Whereof I was made a minister (diakonos) according to the stewardship of God which was given me towards you, to fulfil the word of God, even the mystery which has been hid from all ages and generations, but now has it been openly revealed to his saints, to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory.’

Paul stresses again that he has been made a servant in accordance with the stewardship from God which was given to him to ‘fulfil the word of God’, that is to preach it openly and fully and to bring into being what the prophets promised beforehand (Romans 16.26; 1 Peter 1.10; 2 Peter 3.2).

What had been prophesied was ‘a mystery’, something hidden. But now it was revealed to all those who would receive it. None who will hear are excepted. It had been hidden ‘from ages and from generations’ but was now openly revealed to all His people (no exclusivism here). Indeed God was pleased to make known to them the full glorious riches of that mystery, and that mystery was ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’, Christ in the Gentiles who are to share in all the blessings brought by the Messiah.

That God’s word was to be a blessing to the Gentiles was declared again and again in the Old Testament, and the Jews had welcomed Gentile proselytes on this basis (e.g. Genesis 12.3; Isaiah 42.1, 6-7; 49.6). But they had to become Jews. What had not previously been revealed was that they were to be received on equal terms as fellow-heirs, fellow-members of the body, fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus revealed by the Gospel (Ephesians 3.6)

‘To fulfil the word of God.’ Here Paul may be saying that he has brought the word of God into effect by his preaching and ensured its fulfilment. But compare Romans 15.19, ‘so that from Jerusalem and round about, even to Illyricum, I have fulfilled the Gospel of Christ’, which means that he has preached it fully, completely and successfully over a wide area.

‘The riches of the glory (a Hebraism for ‘glorious riches’, Hebrew was lacking in adjectives) of the mystery.’ No richer mystery could be known for it brought home to them the ‘unsearchable riches of Christ’ (Ephesians 3.8).

‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ How are we to express fully this amazing fact and its consequences, the reception of the unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians 3.8)? Christ the Creator and Redeemer being among them and in them, possessing them, dwelling within each of them (Ephesians 3.17), working in them (Philippians 2.13), united with them so that they have become His body, and are thus becoming perfected together as He is perfect, being made complete as He is complete, and are experiencing His saving work which will bring them to their glorious inheritance and destiny (1.12; Acts 26.18; Ephesians 1.14) and give them glory (Romans 5.2; 8.18; 1 Corinthians 15.43; 2 Corinthians 3.18; 4.17; Ephesians 1.18; 2 Thessalonians 2.14; 2 Timothy 2.10; 1 Peter 5.4).

1.28 ‘Whom we proclaim, admonishing every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ.’

Christ’s work of perfecting His people is largely carried out through the ministry of the word. So here Paul refers to such work carried out by himself and his fellow-workers. Firstly they proclaim Christ (‘Whom we proclaim’). Then they admonish and teach ‘in all wisdom’, in the only wisdom, in the totality of the wisdom, that comes from the word of God, about the cross which to the Christian is true wisdom (1 Corinthians 1.18 with 24), about Christ Who is the Wisdom from God (1 Corinthians 1.30), and ‘in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ (2.3).

And their aim? To present every man perfect and complete in Christ, which parallels, of course, the aim of Christ Himself. Paul’s eyes are here on the second coming of Christ (His parousia - see 1 Thessalonians 4.15-17). Indeed he prays for the Thessalonians that ‘the God of peace’ will Himself sanctify them wholly and that their whole spirit, soul and body may be preserved complete and blameless ‘at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Thessalonians 5.23). For ‘we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is’ (1 John 3.2).

‘Admonishing every man and teaching every man.’ Two necessary sides to the same responsibility, the stick and the carrot. Admonishment (‘admonishing, warning’) without teaching is harsh and unsustainable, teaching without admonishment can produce educated potatoes. Notice the double emphasis on ‘every man’. This is to be for all, not just the chosen few.

1.29 ‘Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working which works in me mightily (in power).’

Paul plays his full part in this work of ministry. ‘Labour’ (kopio) means toiling almost to the point of exhaustion. ‘Striving’ (’agonizomai), means ‘agonising, putting in great effort’ as in an athletics contest (see 1 Corinthians 9.24-27). So the fact that he is empowered does not mean that no effort is required of him. But while the effort is his, the power is not. That is given to him by Another. It results from the working of God which works in him ‘in power’ (dunamis), dynamic power (compare Ephesians 3.20; Philippians 2.13). And without that effective power all activity would be in vain.

Paul Reiterates His Great Concern for God’s People And Reminds Them Where True Wisdom Lies (2.1-5)

2.1-3 ‘For I want you to know how greatly I strive for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be strengthened, they being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, even Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’

Paul wants them to know of his great concern for them and the efforts he makes on their behalf. He wants them to know that he is not just concerned for his own converts but for them also, and for all the people of God. And as he strives in prayer for them, his prayer is that their hearts may be strengthened, that they may love one another and that they may enjoy the full riches of assured understanding (sunesis - including the ability to discern truth from falsehood) in Christ, for all the treasures of wisdom (reasoned thought) and knowledge (apprehension of truth) are hidden in Him.

‘That their hearts may be strengthened.’ The word for strengthened is parakaleo, from which the noun Paraklete (Jesus’ description of the Holy Spirit - John 14.16, 26) comes. Paul clearly has the work of the Holy Spirit in mind here, being alongside them, helping them, guiding them, strengthening them, and where necessary consoling them and acting on their behalf (compare 1.9), probably also seeing it in terms of the indwelling of Christ Himself (Ephesians 3.17; Galatians 2.20) for He is the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8.9) without Whom no one is a Christian.

‘Knit together in love.’ The binding of Christ’s people together by cords of love is everywhere assumed. ‘By this will all men know that you are my disciples if you have love to one another’ (John 13.35). None are to be excluded (thus exclusive inner circles are forbidden), and through it we will know more deeply the love of Christ (Ephesians 3.17-19 - note the conjunction there also of the Spirit’s power and abounding love). For the meaning of ‘knit together’ see Colossians 2.19; Ephesians 4.16).

‘Unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding.’ Colossians and Ephesians are full of the riches of God (Colossians 1.27; 2.2; Ephesians 1.7, 18; 2.7; 3.8, 16). As Paul grew older he was more aware of the riches of what God provided. Here those riches consist of a full assurance of understanding. Full comprehension and certainty, resulting from the work of the Spirit and the responsiveness of God’s people to one another. And that understanding is in the mystery now revealed, even in Christ ‘in Whom are hid all the treasures (more riches) of wisdom and knowledge’.

‘The treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’ The phrase ‘the treasures of wisdom’ is found in the Apocrypha, in Ecclesiasticus 1.25, and ‘wisdom and knowledge’ are combined in Ecclesiastes 1.16-18; 2.21.26; 9.10 (LXX). ‘Wisdom’ suggests reasoned consideration with ‘knowledge’ referring to apprehension of truth. But in Ecclesiastes they are very practical wisdom and knowledge, whereas here they are more spiritually oriented and centred on Christ. Paul is probably intending more to contrast with the claims of other religions of the day to have ‘hidden wisdom’.

To Paul Christ is all. And all knowledge that matters and all wisdom that matters is found in Him and is concerning Him and His ways. He is the wisdom from God (1 Corinthians 1.30) revealed in righteousness, reckoned to them and finally worked in them, sanctification whereby they are full set apart for God, and redemption whereby their price is paid and they are delivered from the penalty and power of sin. But there is even more than that, for all true wisdom in Heaven and earth is concerning the One of Whom Paul speaks, as he has demonstrated in 1.15-19.

Hidden wisdom was a feature of the ancient world. The ‘traditions of the elders’ were passed down among an inner group of Jewish teachers, and the ancient mystery religions had their own secret knowledge only revealed to initiates. All was hidden, enjoyed by the elite. But in Christ all is revealed to whoever will. For to know Him is to know all hidden wisdom.

2.4-5 ‘I say this so that no one may (or ‘let no one’) delude you with persuasive speech, for though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, full of joy and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.’

His purpose in showing them the supremacy of Jesus Christ, and that all worthwhile wisdom and knowledge are found in Him, was in order to combat those who came among them with persuasive words. For although he cannot be with them in body, yet he is truly among them in spirit (compare the use in 1 Corinthians 5.3-5), genuinely concerned for them, full of joy at their ‘orderly behaviour’ (we could translate this as ‘closing of ranks’, another use of the Greek word, as they unite against those who would deceive them), their growth and the steadfastness of their faith in Christ. He wants them to know that although he has never himself been there, Epaphras has given him a full picture of what they are, so that his affection for them is genuine.

‘Flesh -- spirit’. A common contrast in Paul’s letters. But here ‘flesh’ is not used in its Pauline sense as signifying the part of us that drags us down. It signifies being human (as in John 1.14). And when the ‘spirit’ of a Christian is spoken of the Spirit is not far away. He may therefore mean, or include, the idea of ‘by the Spirit’ (compare Galatians 3.3 where the Spirit is contrasted with the flesh).

‘Order.’ This could mean orderly behaviour in the family (compare 1 Corinthians 14.40) or could refer to military order, closing ranks against the enemy.

‘Steadfastness.’ The word can mean a ‘barrier’. Thus he may be saying that they have closed ranks and set up a barrier against the foe, the barrier of faith (compare ‘the shield of faith’ - Ephesians 6.16). But the idea may be more generally of steadfastness of faith.

Christ Who Partakes In All The Fullness of God Has Saved, Transformed and Delivered Us (2.6 - 2.15)

2.6-7 ‘As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith (or ‘your faith’), even as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.’

Paul’s usual term for Jesus Christ in Colossians is ‘Christ’. In 1.1 he opened by calling Him ‘Christ Jesus’, followed by ‘Christ’ (verse 2), ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ (verse 3) and ‘Christ Jesus’ in verse 4. These have established identification and position. Then there are references to Him as ‘the Lord’ in 1.10 and ‘the Son’ in 1.13. But otherwise (until 3.17) He is ‘Christ’ (1.2, 7, 24, 27, 28; 2.2, 5, 8, 11, 17, 20; 3.1, 3, 4, 11). This means that the change here to ‘the Christ, Jesus the Lord’ is intended to be significant. He is saying, “consider Who it is that you have received, it is THE CHRIST, JESUS, THE LORD, the One Whose glory is above the heavens and who is pre-eminent over all things”.

‘As -- you received.’ The word for ‘received’ is regularly used for the receiving of tradition and teaching (consider the reference to tradition in verse 8). Compare 1 Corinthians 15.1, 3; Galatians 1.9; Philippians 4.9; 1 Thessalonians 2.13; 4.1-2; 2 Thessalonians 3.6. Thus he is stressing that rather than receiving a body of tradition they have received the living Lord along with all that He is (compare Ephesians 4.20 - ‘you did not so learn Christ’). He is ‘in them’ (1.27), and in Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (2.3). Thus they are to ‘go on walking in Him’ (present imperative), concentrating their attention on Him, rooted in Him and built up in Him in accordance with what they have been taught. Let them look to Him with joyful thanksgiving. They need look nowhere else. They need no one else and nothing else. ‘Christ Jesus the Lord’ is totally sufficient.

‘The Christ, Jesus the Lord.’ Here ‘Christon’ has the article. Elsewhere in Colossians, apart from in 3.1-4 where every use has the article, Christos is used without the article except when in the genitive. In 3.1-4 the reference is to Christ as risen and exalted. It would seem then that the article is being used to further draw attention to His exalted state. (See on 1.3a for the significance of the full name, but there Christos is without the article and not so prominent). With the article the title is unique in the New Testament apart from its use in Ephesians 3.11 with ‘our’, where it speaks of ‘the Christ Jesus our Lord’ when speaking of God’s eternal purpose in Him. The inclusion of the personal name Jesus (contrast 4.24) stresses the true humanity of ‘the Christ, the Lord’.

‘Walk in Him.’ In their daily walk they are to be totally taken up with Him. He is to be the sphere in which they life their lives.

‘Rooted and being built up in Him.’ Compare Ephesians 3.17 ‘rooted and grounded in love’. There the emphasis is on the love of Christ which is the sphere in which the church flourishes. Here the emphasis is more on the person of Christ. The metaphors are mixed, ‘rooted’ referring to being firmly planted and growing strongly, ‘built up’ referring to the building of a firm structure. ‘Rooted’ is in the perfect tense, something done in the past the benefit of which continues, ‘built up’ is in the present, a continuing process.

‘Being established in your faith.’ Again in the present, a continuing process. The idea of the Greek word used is being ‘established, strengthened, confirmed’ in the faith that they have been taught. We could translate ‘in (or by) your faith’ referring to the strengthening of their personal faith (compare the use of the dative in Hebrews 13.9), but ‘even as you were taught suggests an emphasis on the taught faith.

‘Abounding in thanksgiving.’ Thanksgiving (eucharistia) is a theme of Colossians. See 1.12 ‘giving thanks’, 3.15 ‘be thankful’, 3.17 ‘giving thanks’, 4.2 ‘with thanksgiving’. Continual gratitude of heart towards God should be expressed in words, and should abound, for so we reveal our true attitude of heart and are built up and strengthened. Doctrine when rightly taught should be personalised and should produce worship.

2.8 ‘Watch carefully lest there shall be anyone who carries you off captive through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power.’

Positively they must ensure their roots in Christ are firm, and that they are built up in Him and established in the faith taught by Apostolic men. But they are also to watch carefully against being deceived by human wisdom, which is not really wisdom at all (compare 1 Corinthians 1.17-2.2). Their concentration must be on Christ alone, not on inferior beings, however seemingly exalted, for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form and our fullness is in Him, the One Who is over all.

This warning applies to any who would come between us and Christ, whether Mary, the saints, the angels, or any spirit beings. Christ is superior to all and we are in direct contact with Him. We need no other as intermediaries, and to allow them to be seen as intermediaries is to come between us and Christ and to destroy what is most holy.

(Mary must be given due honour as the God-bearer’, the one chosen by God for that purpose, the one through whom, with all her failings, God brought His Son into the world. But as an intermediary between God and us, or Jesus Christ and us, she has no place, and she would have been horrified at even the thought of it. There is not a word in Scripture to support the idea. The words at the cross were personal, for Mary’s benefit, not theological (John 19.26-27).

‘Watch carefully.’ The Christian is not just to accept anything that seems ‘helpful’. He is to be constantly on his guard. Anything that takes his eyes off Christ is to be shunned, for in Him they have everything. The use of the indicative rather than the subjunctive stresses the very real danger. The need is not just a possibility but a certainty. It is an alert.

‘Lest any man carry you off captive through his philosophy or vain deceit.’ The picture is vivid. Later he will stress that it is the enemies of Christ who have been carried off captive (2.15). Thus the Colossians must beware of the same fate from a different source. Those who seek to do it are their enemies, however wise they may seem. ‘Philosophy’ (love of wisdom) means any view of God or the world or human life generally. ‘Vain deceit’ puts it in context. Anything contrary to, or that purports to add to, the Gospel is vain deceit.

‘After the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.’ The world of that day was faced with a vast array of teachings and philosophies with respect to divine things. Paul turns them away from all of them to Christ. Full truth is found in Him alone. All else must be discarded. The warning is just as necessary today. Primitive religions are taking new forms in naturism and new world philosophies. But the only answer, the only truth about such things, is found in Christ, and what He is, and what He is revealed to be in the Scriptures.

‘Tradition’ (paradosin). Compare 1 Corinthians 11.2; 2 Thessalonians 2.15; 3.6 for its use in a Christian sense. They are to beware of any traditions not firmly based in the Apostolic tradition presented to the early church in the first century. The latter are traditions received from God, all others (including later Christian traditions) are the traditions of men.

‘The elements (or elementary teaching) of the world’. Many sought to teach what they regarded as basic and foundation truths relating to intermediary supernatural beings. But they were opposed to the true world view which spoke of God in Christ as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe without intermediaries. Any reaching out to other supernatural beings or intermediaries, whether through mediums or religious means is wrong.

‘In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.’ The word for ‘dwells’ represents permanent dwelling, as opposed to temporary residence, demonstrating the permanence of the divine fullness in Christ. This is no passing thing but permanent enjoyment of the fullness of deity. The word for fullness (pleroma) refers to completeness and totality (see on 1.19). He partakes completely in the totality of the fullness of what God is.

‘The Godhead’ (theotes). Used by Paul only here. It refers to Godhead in the most exclusive sense of truly and fully divine. We can compare ‘theiotes’ used in Romans 1.20 which refers to a more general sense of divine power revealed. Creation reveals the footprint of God, the hand of God in creating, but Christ reveals Him in all the fullness of His being. In creation we perceive His hand, in Christ we see His face in all its glory (2 Corinthians 4.4 with 3.18).

‘Bodily’ may mean in one complete ‘body’, not divided up among intermediaries. Alternately it may mean in human bodily form, stressing the fullness of the Godhead as involved in the incarnation. ‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1.14).’ Both are true.

‘And you are made complete (full) in Him.’ He is all that we need to be made complete. Christ is everything. To think of going to lesser powers when we can personally know the all-powerful would be foolish in the extreme, for it is God’s purpose that we know Him and be made complete in Him, that is, be endued with all that it is possible for redeemed mankind to enjoy. ‘For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace’ (John 1.16).

‘Who is the head of all principality and power.’ He is the One Who is ‘far above all’ (Ephesians 1.21), to Whom all are subject. There is no power or rule in heaven or earth over which He is not the Head, and over which He does not have the full mastery and complete authority. Having Him what want we more?

2.11-12 ‘In whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead.’

In Christ all who are His are circumcised with a spiritual circumcision. They do not need to be circumcised physically, for they have experienced something far greater. Physical circumcision, and the shedding of blood it entailed, was but a picture, pointing ahead to that great ‘circumcision of Christ’ when His blood was shed and He was cast off, not just a small part of Him, but His whole body on the cross, a sacrifice for sin. We too, once we have come to Him in confident trust that He will work within us, have died with Him, have put off the body of flesh, have been buried with Him, and have also been raised through faith in the working of God Who raised Him from the dead (Romans 6.4-11; Galatians 2.20; Ephesians 2.1-10).

‘A circumcision not made with hands.’ This spiritual circumcision was already referred to in the Old Testament. It is found in Exodus 6.12; 6.30 where reference is made to uncircumcised lips which are thus unclean and unworthy; in Deuteronomy 10.16 where it refers to the heart being ‘circumcised’ resulting in humility and obedience (compare Jeremiah 4.4; Ezekiel 44.7, 9); in Deuteronomy 30.6 where it refers again to the circumcision of the heart which results in men loving God with their whole being; and in Jeremiah 6.10 where the uncircumcised heart is the one that does not listen to God (compare Jeremiah 31.33, where God will make His people hearers of His word by spiritual work within them). Thus this spiritual circumcision produces pure lips, responsive hearing, humility and obedience and a heart filled with love for God.

‘In the stripping right off of the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ.’ This spiritual circumcision results from being united with Christ in His death. This results in our ‘stripping right off’ the body of flesh, that is, our fleshly attitude and behaviour with its consequent rebellion against God, even as Christ through His sacrificial death put off His body which was bearing our sins (1 Peter 2.24). This ‘body of flesh’ is elsewhere described as ‘the body of sin’ which is done away in Christ’s death (Romans 6.6); ‘this body of death’ because its behaviour results in death (Romans 7.24), and ‘the body of our humiliation’, referring to our sinful and unworthy condition (Philippians 3.21).

‘Through the circumcision of Christ.’ Not a participation in His earthly circumcision but in His greater, more extreme, circumcision through the cross, which ratified the new covenant as circumcision had the old. By participation with Him in His cross we become members of the new covenant. Alternately, but less likely, it may mean ‘through the spiritual circumcision that Christ wrought in us’.

‘Having been buried with Him in baptism, wherein also you were raised with Him.’ The primary baptism in mind here is the ‘spiritual baptism’ described in 1 Corinthians 12.13, where he says ‘by One Spirit we were all baptised into one body --- and were all made to drink of one Spirit’. This is describing the result of the work of the Spirit on the heart, which then results, for the convert, in physical baptism in water which symbolises it. As the circumcision described is spiritual and not physical so is the primary idea of ‘baptism’. The ‘baptism (drenching) in Holy Spirit’ refers to the coming work of the Spirit constantly described in the prophets in terms of drenching rain (see especially Isaiah 44.3-5), and that was what John the Baptiser’s baptism symbolised. He spoke always in terms of such fruitfulness of nature and never in terms of washing.

(It is quite remarkable how many in the church have sidelined the clear background to early baptism in fruitful cornfields and fruitful trees resulting from the rain, the basis of John the Baptiser’s teaching, and the drinking of water from springs fed by those rains which Jesus emphasised (John 4). See also John 7.37-38), where the fruitful rain and the drinking are in mind in context (it was at a rain ceremony). While His ‘born from above’ (John 3.6) clearly has the rains in mind. Both ideas were based on the prophetic references to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in terms of such rain (Isaiah 32.15; 44.3-5). This failure was because much of the later church was so taken up with religious ceremony that it looked for pure religious ceremony in it. So they seized on Old Testament washings for its background, in spite of the fact that such washings were never directly connected with cleansing from sin (except when sprinkled with sacrificial ashes). They did not in themselves cleanse - ‘shall not be clean until the evening’ is a constant refrain - and the New Testament never connects baptism with such ideas except to deny it - 1 Peter 3.21).

Paul may well have in mind here the idea of the water of baptism being like a grave into which a man goes to rise again, but it is not his own grave but the grave of Christ in which he is buried and it is His resurrection in which he partakes. And this too is agriculturally connected, for the corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies (John 12.24). So this follows the idea of a dead nature springing into new life with the re-commencement of the rains, and depicts what has already taken place in the convert’s life, sealed by his baptism outwardly because he has already received the seal of the Spirit inwardly.

(It should be noted that baptism is never specifically described as washing, it is a symbol of new life in the Spirit. It is ‘the word’ which is said to wash (Ephesians 5.26), and ritual washings were never said to ‘cleanse’ directly. They were regularly accompanied by the phrase ‘and shall not be clean until the evening’. They were a mere preparation, a removing of physical defilement, for the waiting on a holy God for Him to cleanse).

The primary stress here therefore is on dying with Christ, being buried with Him and rising with Him in newness of life (Romans 6.4-9), having been watered (baptizo - ‘drenched’) by the Spirit, being born anew, just as in hot countries the barren land springs into new life when the rains commence..

‘Through faith in the working of God Who raised Him from the dead.’ This all comes about through the responsive faith of the one who is so transformed, a faith which trusts in the powerful working of God in resurrection power (compare Ephesians 2.1-10). It is faith that saves (Ephesians 2.8-9) and results in the receiving of the Spirit (Galatians 3.2). Baptism bears witness to that faith and thereby seals the blessing for those who truly believe.

‘The working of God.’ The power of God revealed in the resurrection of Christ is made available to the believer through faith. This power is revealed to its fullest extent in Ephesians 1.19-23, where Christ is raised and enthroned ‘far above all’, and through this resurrection Jesus is declared to the powerful Son of God (Romans 1.4) by the Holy Spirit, Who communicates that power to believers. Thus the believer is aware that the greatest power in the universe is exercised on his behalf to ensure his final salvation.

2.13 ‘And you being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, I say, did he make alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.’

Paul now makes the significance of it all crystal clear. We were dead through our trespasses (compare Ephesians 2.1-3), dead to the Spirit and under sentence of final death. We were dead because our fleshly hearts were not spiritually circumcised with the resultant willingness to hear and obey and to love God with all our being. We were not alive to God. But God in His mercy has forgiven the trespasses of all who believe in Christ and has made them alive in Him.

‘Dead through your trespasses.’ This is amplified in Ephesians 2.1-3 where it is associated with being controlled by the world’s ideas and ways, and by Satan himself.. Thus are they dead to God and under sentence of final death.

‘And the uncircumcision of your flesh.’ This can hardly refer only to physical circumcision. Paul would not have seen that as a cause for being dead to God. He did not believe that circumcision made a man alive to God and he knew of far too many circumcised people who were dead to God as well. Indeed he regarded them as ‘uncircumcised’ (Romans 2.25). But he did see untransformed flesh as resulting in death (Romans 8.6). The point is that they had not experienced spiritual circumcision to their ‘flesh’, their fleshly hearts and minds, through the working of God, and were thus dead in sin and doomed (see on verse 11).

‘He made you alive together with Him.’ It is Paul’s constant theme that by union with Him in His death and resurrection, that is in union with His own body and ‘in Him’, we are made alive with His life (verse 12; 3.1; Romans 6.4-11; 8.9-11; Galatians 2.20; Ephesians 2.5-6; Philippians 3.10 compare John 5.25; 14.19; James 1.18; 2 Peter 1.3-4).

‘Having forgiven us all our trespasses.’ Note the change from ‘you’ to ‘our’. It is added on almost as a note because Paul is so aware of the unmerited love of God and the wonderful forgiveness that is his and ours through that love. So Paul identifies himself and his fellow-workers, and the whole Christian church, as in need of, and as enjoying, the assurance of, forgiveness. ‘Having forgiven’ (charizomai). The word means to give freely as a favour and then comes to refer to forgiveness given freely by grace. Compare its use in 3.13; Ephesians 4.32 see also 2 Corinthians 2.7, 10. Its use stresses the graciousness in forgiving. ‘Trespasses’, the taking of false steps and therefore the positive doing of wrong.

2.14-15 ‘Having blotted out the written bond in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross, having put off from himself the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.’

The debts we owed to God are many, for we have broken His Laws and ignored His requirements. He provided us with a creation, and as His tenants (so Jesus often - Matthew 21.34-36; 25.14-19; Luke 19.13 see also Matthew 18.28-31; ) we have failed to fulfil our legal responsibilities and meet His demands. Thus there is a heavy certificate of indebtedness standing against us. But God/Jesus Christ has taken this, blotted it out and nailed it His cross, thus cancelling it fully, for there the debt was paid in full.

It would seem we are to see here the principalities and powers as crowding Him like a lynch mob and pointing an accusing finger at those debts and being defeated and humiliated for their efforts. For Jesus was there representing mankind, open to attack as He bore our sin in His own body on the tree (2 Corinthians 5.21; 1 Peter 2.24; Isaiah 53.4, 11; Hebrews 9.28).

‘Blotting out.’ When a debt was paid the bond was first blotted out and then cancelled.

‘The written bond in (or ‘by’ or even ‘with’) ordinances.’ The word for ‘written bond’ refers to a signed legal bond or certificate of indebtedness. The idea would seem to be that God’s ordinances as revealed in the Torah (God’s ‘instruction’ - the first five books of the Bible) so bind us and condemn us that they are seen as a certificate of debt. Indeed men were put under obligation to the Law when they were accepted (see Exodus 24.3), and therefore put under the curse of the Law (see Deuteronomy 27.14-26), for we were then liable to meet its demands in full. We are thus, in our unconverted state, failed debtors to God (Romans 8.12; Luke 16.5; Matthew 6.12). We could translate the words ‘the written binding legal demands which we had failed to meet’. Gentiles are included for they have the Law written in their hearts and consciences (Romans 2.14-15). Thus they consent to them in their consciences and are equally liable to obey them.

‘In ordinances.’ (Dogmasin). This means ‘decrees, ordinances’. Compare Luke 2.1; Acts 17.7 where it means the emperor’s decrees; Acts 16.4 where it means the decrees of the Church Meeting in Jerusalem. In Ephesians 2.15 it clearly means the Mosaic Law, and it is used in this way by Josephus and Philo. Thus it could mean the Law’s demands or the Creator’s demands or indeed all divine demands. It may therefore be that the ordinances are to be seen as including all moral demands.

An alternative rendering is to take ‘in ordinances’ with ‘against us’ - ‘the written bond which was against us with its ordinances’. But the position of ‘against us’ in the Greek is against this, and the meaning is the same in the end.

‘That was against us, which was contrary to us.’ The written bond was ‘against us’. The first phrase ‘that was against us’ is closely connected with the written bond showing that it was a condemning bond. It is literally ‘the against us written bond’. ‘Which was contrary to us’ stresses its effect. It reveals it as directly hostile in its intent.

‘He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.’ He (God/Jesus Christ) has removed it from any position where it could be effective in attacking us. Once it is on the cross it is in the place where its demands have been met on full. No one can cavil at its being rendered powerless to attack us, for it has been fulfilled. But that is only when we have been crucified with Christ on His cross by faith.

2.15 ‘Having put off from himself the principalities and the powers, he made a show of the openly, triumphing over them in it.’

This action clearly refers to Jesus directly. Whether we take the ‘He’ of the previous verses as God or Jesus Christ matters little. It was God’s action in Christ. In Him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

‘Having put off from Himself the principalities and powers.’ He had been fighting them all His life, from the time when Herod sought to destroy Him as a young child (Matthew 2.16), through His temptations in the wilderness (Matthew 4.1-11), then in His ‘battle’ with evil spirits when as the Stronger than Satan He constantly bound him and took his goods (Luke 11.22 and parallels), then when Peter tempted Him to avoid the way of suffering (Mark 8.33 and parallels), followed by Satan’s plans through Judas (John 13.2, 27). So He knew His opponents well.

Jesus had no doubts about what He would face. ‘The prince of this world comes and has nothing on me’ (John 14.30), He said in the Upper Room, and then shortly afterwards, in the Garden, ‘this is your hour and the power of darkness’ (Luke 22.53 - compare ‘the power of darkness in opposition to Him and His kingdom in Colossians 1.13). And now we learn that in His final hours on the cross He ‘put off’ from Himself (an alternative translation is ‘He completely disarmed’) the principalities and powers, and then led them in chains in His march of victory in the resurrection. This suggests close confrontation and vicious assault as they pressed in upon Him, then the stripping of them off followed by His triumph. Redemption for mankind was obtained both by the payment of a ransom and by the ignominious defeat of the powers of evil.

‘Triumphing over them in it (or in Him).’ The pronoun can be translated either ‘it’ or ‘Him’, referring either to the cross or to Jesus Himself. If we take the latter the subject of the sentence would be God. But the context strongly favours that the triumph was directly through the cross where sin was annulled.

We Must Therefore Concentrate on Christ and Not Be Taken Up With Rites and Ceremonies (2.16-3.4).

2.16 ‘Therefore let no man judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day, which are a shadow of the things to come. But the body is of Christ.’

Paul now stresses that because of the victory of Jesus Christ on the cross all ritual requirement has been done away. They were but shadows, pointing the way forward. Now that reality (the body) has come in Christ the shadows are no longer necessary. This might suggest that some teachers were trying to get the Colossians to observe Pharisaic washings, abstention from certain ‘unclean’ foods, and observance of feast days and the Sabbath. But it seems to extend wider than this for the Pharisees did not forbid any types of drink. Abstention from such was, however, looked on by the Jews as making men somehow more exclusively holy (compare the Nazarites - Numbers 6.2, also John the Baptiser - Luke 1.15). But many ancient religions encouraged asceticism, so that Paul is looking wider to all ascetic teaching. Paul’s point is not to condemn abstention but to condemn it as being seen as a ‘requirement’ or as making men somehow super-holy. If men wish to do it to honour the Lord, and find it helpful, it is up to them, as long as they do not pass judgment on others or deceive themselves by thinking that somehow it makes them superior.

This was a constant problem because there was, and is, always a tendency for the spiritually lazy to prefer to have to ‘do’ certain things rather than be tied down to spiritual requirements. If they can just ‘observe’ certain things and then be free to do what they like, they are content. Others too, fearful for their souls (especially as they get older), try to achieve forgiveness by ritual activity. They think that, if they but do enough of it, it will somehow merit salvation for them. Both overlook the fact that the new message was spiritual and free, that we can do nothing to merit God’s gracious activity or even to spur it on. It is given freely in response to faith, and to faith alone.

‘Let no man judge you.’ Either ‘take you to task’ or ‘pass judgment on you’. With regard to ceremonial regulations each must decide for himself what is right and no one has the right to judge another.

‘Let no man judge you in meat or in drink.’ Here the command is unequivocal. It has become a matter of principle. He could have added, ‘every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it be received with thanksgiving’ (1 Timothy 4.4). The eating or not eating of certain foods is not to be accepted as incumbent on anyone and the Colossians should not therefore allow themselves to be told what they must, or must not, eat or drink. Such eating or drinking is a matter of personal choice (although drunkenness is always condemned, and ‘strong drink’ is discouraged because it clouds the judgment (Proverbs 20.1; 31.4; Isaiah 5.11, 22; 28.7 see also Luke 1.15). ‘He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. And he who does not eat, does not eat to the Lord, and gives God thanks’ (Romans 14.6). It is clear that Paul himself puts no restrictions on what we may or may not eat, and does not consider that it affects our spirituality one way or another as long as it is not made an ‘essential’.

But compare Romans 14.13 where the question is raised of concern for others who may be caused to stumble. He stresses that for the spiritual Christian , ‘the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 14.17). In other words the concern of the Christian should be for spiritual response and behaviour, not for physical or ritual requirements. Indeed he stresses that nothing is unclean of itself (verse 14 compare Mark 7.19), but then he does stress that the Christian must take into account the weakness of others (see 1 Corinthians 8.1-13; 10.23-33). If the eating and drinking of certain things will cause another to stumble then we should avoid them for their sake (verse 21; 1 Corinthians 10.28, 32). And if we ourselves are in doubt about such things then we should not partake (verse 23). While such abstentions must not be made a ‘necessary requirement’ or seen as increasing a man’s spirituality, they must also not be allowed to become a stumbingblock or a hindrance to ourselves or others. Compare the condemnation of those who gave wine to Nazarites with the intent to ease their own consciences (Amos 2.12).

‘Or in respect of a feast day --- or of a sabbath day.’ As he says elsewhere, ‘one man esteems one day above another, another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. He who regards the day regards it to the Lord’ (Romans 14.5-6). ‘He who does not regard the day does not regard it to the Lord’ is not said but can be read in because of the parallel with regard to eating. For each is living to the Lord. His responsibility is directly to Him. Thus Paul does not specifically at these points support the keeping of a special day to the Lord. Indeed he says that to judge another person for not keeping the Sabbath, or any other day, is contrary to Scripture.

However having said that many would see the observance of one day in seven especially for the Lord as, while not obligatory, good in principle. Compare Isaiah 58.13-14. Thus they may encourage such as being wise and good in the upbuilding of the spiritual life, because it is ensuring provision for time with God. But as Paul stresses, every day belongs to God and should be observed to Him, and the spiritual Christian will treat every day as the Sabbath, a day separated to God for the doing of His work.

So some find making such rules for themselves helpful, others find them unnecessary. But we must beware if we take the first view that we do not belittle those who take the second. And if we take the second view we must be sure that it is for the genuinely positive reason that we wish to be even more dedicated to God, and not as a get out for being spiritually lazy. Each will have to account to God (Romans 14.8-12). But the point of these passages is that, while a thing may be good in itself, it should not be made a ‘necessary requirement’. For Christians should not be looking to ‘necessary requirements’ but to the Lord, and nothing apart from faith in Christ must be made a condition of salvation.

‘Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body (or ‘the substance’) is of Christ.’ Requirements such as these had their purpose but they have now been done away (see Hebrews 8.5; 10.1). They are no longer binding. Now Christ is come shadows fade into the background. Concentration must be on the reality, on Him and on Him alone.

2.18 ‘Let no man rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility or worshipping of the supernatural messengers, dwelling in the things which he has seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increases with the increase of God.’

The Christian life is here thought of as an athletic contest (compare 1 Corinthians 9.24-27; 2 Timothy 2.5; Hebrews 12.1). In order to win the prize everything that could hinder, anything that could ‘slow us down’, must be laid aside. By fixing our eyes on anyone or anything other than Christ we will hinder our growth, for He is our Head, the Great Direct Supplier, and He alone can provide that which makes us ‘increase with the increase of God’. To look to intermediaries is to choke the line of contact and thus prevent maximum benefit. And this is true whether of priests, angels, saints or Mary.

‘Let no man rob you of your prize (or ‘give an unfavourable ruling against you’).’ Paul may have intended us to see Christ as ‘the prize’, God’s response to our faith. Or it may refer to our failing to achieve our future reward because false humility renders us useless. The verb (there is no separate word for ‘prize’) may, however simply mean, ‘give an unfavourable ruling against you’, but the consequence is the same.

‘A voluntary humility and worshipping of supernatural messengers.’ The word for supernatural messengers is ‘angelos’, usually translated ‘angels’. But we must not here think in terms of angels as we see them with our Christian interpretation. It refers to a whole host of supernatural beings, gods, demi-gods, principalities, powers and so on as believed on in the ancient world. The voluntary humility is an attitude of humility that makes a great show of being ‘nothing’ in comparison with these supernatural messengers. It ignores what God has said and debases itself to look to lesser things. They choose what they see as the ‘humble’ position not realising that this is to insult God.

The argument for intermediaries always seems right to the person who is aware of his sinfulness and yet has not come to an understanding of the wisdom of God revealed in Christ. ‘I am not worthy’, he says. But it is a sign of a darkened mind that has not ‘learned Christ’. It demonstrates that he does not understand the free grace of the Gospel. The Gospel is Christ in all His fullness, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (1.27), offered to men. To accept anything less robs us of Christ and robs us of our prize. The intermediary will not bring us to Christ but will hide Christ from us.

‘Worshipping.’ The particular word denotes the external practise of religion, and is used regularly of false worship.

‘Dwelling in (taking delight in, devoting himself to) the things which he has seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.’ The verb ‘dwelling’ is difficult to translate. It has been found in inscriptions as a technical term for certain types of ritual response in the mystery religions. It means ‘to set foot on, enter, visit, go into detail, come into possession of ’, thus leading on in context to the translations ‘taking delight in, devoting oneself to, dwelling in’. The idea is partly sarcastic. He takes delight in and is puffed up by what produces his voluntary ‘humility’, demonstrating that it is not genuine.

This probably in context refers to visions which so often result in giving prominence to intermediaries (‘angels’). But if those intermediaries seek honour and veneration for themselves then they are false and must be rejected (Revelation 19.10; 22.8-9). Any true vision from the other world would magnify Christ and turn attention from itself to Him. Those who dwell in visions inevitably go wrong, and lead others astray, for in their pride (often seen by themselves as humility) they magnify the subject of the vision rather than Christ Himself.

Visions are always a problem for the godly person. They do not like to denigrate them and recognise that, rarely, there have been genuine visions. Yet if they are wise they will recognise that visions regularly arise from wrong sources, and are often drug induced or arise from a chemical imbalance in the brain. They are the ‘easy way’ to ‘certainty’. There are some whose mental make up is such that they are susceptible to ‘visions’. They ‘see things’ that others do not see, especially when they indulge in asceticism (see verse 23), and are thus inevitably very sincere, but they are experiencing mental aberrations rather than contacting spiritual sources (it comes from their ‘fleshly mind’ - compare Romans 8.5-6 - it is the mind controlled by the flesh and pandering to the flesh as opposed to the spiritual mind). So we are right to be wary of them. The general principle must be, if at all in doubt reject them, although treating the visionary gently. In themselves they prove nothing for they can never be substantiated. Personal visions should be retained for personal use. They should never be the foundation for doctrine. That is why Jesus stressed that He referred to what He had actually seen (John 3.11, 32; 8.38).

2.19 ‘And not holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increases with the increase of God.’

Because these people concentrate on intermediaries and visions they fail to hold fast to the One Who is Head over all. They fail to hold fast to Christ. Thus they do not receive that which is needed for an increase in their spiritual lives. Only He Who is the Head over all things can satisfactorily supply them with what is required for this purpose.

‘From Whom all the body.’ The remainder of the verse parallels 1 Corinthians 12 where the body is Christ (verse 12) as conjoined with His people. Thus the head/body contrast is not to be stressed for in 1 Corinthians 12 the head is specifically stated to be part of the whole body. They receive what they need from Him Who is Head over all things and Who is also Himself the body with which they are united, He is the foundation member and controlling influence within the Body (see Appendix). The ancients did not see the head as the controlling influence over the body as we do, they considered that lay more in the ‘heart’ and the ‘bowels’ and other similar parts of the body (Mark 2.6, 8; 3.5; Luke 24.32; Philippians 2.1; Colossians 3.12; 1 John 3.17). The idea of Headship is of authority.

The ‘knitting together of the body’ probably has mainly in mind the importance of loving one another, the love that unites, and the love supplied through Christ’s indwelling and the Spirit’s power (Ephesians 3.16-19). But may also include the fact that as each member contributes with their specific gifts they cement the unity of the body.

It is because they are members of His body, of which He is the foundation and controlling member, that they are supplied and united in Him through His indwelling (1.27), with the ties that bind and the gifts ministered to them (1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12), and thus increase continually as God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3.7). Thus the ‘increase’ results from looking directly to the Head.

2.20-23 ‘If you died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourself to ordinances, “handle not, nor taste, nor touch”, (all which things are to perish with the using) after the precepts and doctrines of men?’. Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship and humility and severity to the body, but are not of any value against the excessive indulgence of the flesh.’

Paul here points out that asceticism, abstaining from certain food and drinks and such like, has no value in the fight against sin. These are earthly ideas, not heavenly ideas. But Christians no longer live in the world. They live with Christ in the spiritual realm, in what in Ephesians he calls ‘the heavenlies’. They are seated with Christ above (Colossians 3.1). Thus their minds should be fixed on heavenly things. That is how to defeat the flesh, not by fighting it with earthly weapons.

‘If you died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why as though living in the world do you subject yourself to ordinances?’ In His death Christ was freed from all the basic things of the world and all its basic principles. He was no longer bound by them because he was in Heaven. He now partakes of the things of Heaven, and is subject to the conditions of Heaven. So we too, having died with Christ, are dead to those basic things, those basic principles of earth, those ordinances of men. We too are bound by the requirements of Heaven. But to indulge in asceticism is precisely to be bound by the principles of the world. There is no asceticism in Heaven. Thus having died with Christ, and having risen with Him (3.1) we are freed from such things. We can have no part in them.

It hardly needs to be stressed that this is not a licence for over-indulgence. Precisely because we live with Christ in the heavenlies we will live accordingly, touching earthly things lightly and concerned with heavenly things. We will seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6.33). We are still to deny the flesh. But this is to be by being caught up in heavenly things, not by making use of weapons invented by men, such as asceticism (‘touch not, taste not, handle not’), which are themselves fleshly, and are thus actually not able to do anything about the flesh. Indeed they deal with earthly things, which, once used, perish (see 1 Corinthians 6.13). They have no permanent value. Nothing is really achieved by them.

‘Which things have indeed a show (literally ‘word’) of wisdom in will worship and humility and severity to the body, but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.’ Asceticism is a show of earthly wisdom. It makes proclamation of wisdom and gives a great show of defeating the flesh. It demonstrates a powerful will and a great humility. But it is concentrating on the very thing it seeks to escape from. It is totally negative and worldly. It does not achieve anything spiritually. It is simply another way of indulging the flesh.

‘Will worship.’ The word is found nowhere else. It can mean ‘self-made religion’, ‘self imposed religious service’, a demonstration of the power of the will in achieving a religious position of denial and humility which is purely earthly. It is accompanied by an equally false humility. It wins the admiration of the world which sees it as achieving some kind of purity of soul. It seems to overcome the flesh by denying it. But it in fact indulges another aspect of the flesh, by making its adherent an object of admiration and stimulating a sense of self-achievement, resulting in false pride and self-satisfaction. And it is regularly accompanied by mistreatment of the body, which accomplishes nothing except the same.

‘Are not of any value against the excessive indulgence of the flesh.’ The problem is that these great efforts are useless in what they seek to achieve. Instead of releasing people from the grip of the flesh they tie them more closely into it, for they are simply indulging the ‘desires of the flesh’ in another way. There is only one way to break the grip of the flesh on the mind and that is by setting the mind on things above (3.2), not by direct attack on the flesh. In the set of the mind on things above alone lies hope.

It should be noted that Paul’s words are not an attack on sensible self-discipline and self-control and self-denial. They are not arguing for indulging oneself. For that too indulges the flesh. Rather Paul is stressing the development of the mind of the Spirit, set on things above and refusing all fleshly indulgence, and thus concentrating totally on living a heavenly life. The Christian does abstain from fleshly indulgence. He may thus appear somewhat of an ascetic. He does hold this world’s goods lightly and not indulge himself. But this is because he is involved in Heaven’s affairs, and uses all earthly things solely for that purpose, not wanting to be gripped by them but wanting to use them with the greatest efficiency and usefulness in God’s service. He uses them to make friends for himself among those who will be in eternal habitations (Luke 16.9).

3.1 ‘If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated on the right hand of God.’

The Christian’s concentration is to be on heavenly things (‘go on seeking continually’ - present tense) because he was raised there when he first believed and received life from the Spirit. For by receiving the Spirit he was partaking in the resurrection life of Christ, and being made one with Christ. Christ was raised there, and he was raised there ‘together with Christ’.

Thus the Christian dwells in the heavenlies (Ephesians 2.1-6), the spiritual realm. And he has direct access to the throne of Christ. This is not just a pious fiction but a reality. It is partial, for he does not yet see the full glory of God (1 Corinthians 13.12), but it is nevertheless genuine. His spirit has been made alive by the Spirit of God and in his spirit he has access into the spiritual realm where Christ is. It is in a sense a parallel universe with this one. It is not ‘up there’. It is here, and yet not accessible to the unbelieving world unless they too repent and believe.

Compare how when his eyes were opened Jacob saw a flight of stairs between earth and heaven, with spiritual beings ascending and descending (Genesis 28.12), and going their way in their activity on the earth, as expanded in Zechariah 1.8-11. He became aware of the spiritual realm. And how Elisha knows that he is surrounded by spiritual forces of great power, something his servant also becomes aware of once his eyes are opened (2 Kings 6.17). He too is aware of the spiritual realm. While these were revealed in terms that the observers could appreciate, what they revealed was genuine spiritual reality. So there are things around us that we can discern with the eye of faith. We are not to interfere with them or seek to contact them, but they are there acting on God’s behalf, and on ours. For they are ‘ministering spirits sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation’ (Hebrews 1.14). Each child who believes has his angel who is aware of what happens to him (Matthew 18.10).

The Christian lives in both the physical and the spiritual universes. He knows that he has his part in Christ’s throne in the heavenlies at the right hand of God, the position of supreme authority and divine action, where his spirit has access through the Spirit (Ephesians 2.18; Hebrews 10.19), and there he walks and talks with Christ (1.10; 2.6), and walks in the light (1 John 1.7; Ephesians 5.8), and he knows that he lives in this world as an ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5.20), as a citizen of Heaven (Philippians 3.20). He has constant contact with that other world through prayer, and direct contact with the Father and the Son. And while he is in this world, he is not of it (John 15.19; 17.14-16; Galatians 1.4). He has spiritual affairs to engage in which this world knows nothing about.

So having been raised together with Christ, that is having received heavenly life through believing and receiving the Spirit, the Christian is to seek those things which are above, those things which are the concern of the throne. His concern is to be with the affairs of the court of Heaven and the extension of Christ’s kingship in the earth (Matthew 28.19). His concern is to be with the maturing of all believers (Galatians 6.1-2), especially the babes, and those still partly gripped by the flesh. His concern is to show Heaven’s love to the world by his Christlike actions (Matthew 5.16).

‘If then you were raised together with Christ.’ This idea of participating with Christ in His resurrection in the past tense, as having happened to us, was taught by Jesus Himself in John 5.24-25. It was also clearly in Paul’s mind in his earlier teaching (Romans 6.3, 11; 8.10; Galatians 2.20; Philippians 3.10). But here and in 2.12 and Ephesians 2.6 he makes it totally explicit.

‘Where Christ is seated on the right hand of God.’ This was the glorious Christian message. Christ has been highly exalted, and given the name above every name, the name of Yahweh (Philippians 2.9) because it is His by right. He has been exalted far above all (Ephesians 1.21). He has been given God’s supreme authority (Matthew 28.18). He has been made both Lord and Christ (Acts 2.36). But the throne of God is not a passive throne. He rides on the wings of the wind (Psalm 18.10). He is active in His control over the universe. And we are to share in that a