Smoodock's Blog

In Colossians 1:3 Paul begins to tell the believers at Colossae how he had received knowledge of them and their walk with Christ, and he has ceaselessly prayed for them thanking God our Father and the Lord Jesus for their faith. Keeping in mind that Paul’s epistle is corrective in nature, how should we understand his prayer for them? Praying for the churches around the Empire, and giving thanks for them is something Paul did on a regular basis (Romans 1:8-9; 1Corinthians 1:4; Ephesians 1:15-16; Philippians 1:3-5; 1Thessalonians 1:2). Giving thanks to God was something Paul did in each of his epistles to the churches, except for Galatians. The churches in Galatia were in the state of apostasy at the time of Paul’s writing. Therefore, understanding this, what makes the Colossian error different from that of Galatia?

In my opinion, the churches of Galatia knew the truth, because it was Paul who preached to them and taught them the way of Christ for about three years. However, Paul never visited Colossae (Colossians 2:1). It is difficult to understand the depth of their knowledge in Christ, as it was taught by Epaphras. Moreover, Paul never mentions the coming of false teachers or false brethren. All he does is warn the believers about being corrupted through the philosophies and traditions of men (Colossians 2:8) and allowing others to judge their walk in Christ by replacing Jesus with a system of laws and traditions (Colossians 2:16-23).

It seems that, although Christ was introduced to the Colossians, his importance in the believer’s life was never explained properly. Yet, even this inadequate understanding of Christ still changed the lives of the believers, in that they began trusting him. Paul mentions that, when he heard about the faith of the Colossians, he was also made aware of their love for the saints, which refers to the Jewish believers in Judea and Galilee. This seems to mean that the Colossian church participated in some way with Paul’s sabbatical relief drive, wherein every seven years the gentile churches sent relief for the poor Jewish believers, when the lands in Judea and Galilee observed a sabbath rest. Every seventh year nothing was planted or harvested in Jewish lands, except for eating what grew on its own. The poor in Judea and Galilee were particularly vulnerable at this time, and Paul had organized relief for them through the generosity of the gentile churches of Christ throughout the Empire. It appears that the Colossians participated in this relief of the saints, but Paul wasn’t aware of it, until just prior to his letter to them (Colossians 1:4).

The generosity of the Colossian church stemmed from their trust in the Gospel, which taught them to rely upon God to be generous toward the Colossian church, in response to their love for the poor Jews struggling in their homeland (Colossians 1:5). In other words, the Gospel that was preached to them at Colossae was bearing fruit in them, just as it had been doing in churches throughout the world. Thus, we see that, even with regard to such an inadequate understanding of Christ, the Gospel bears fruit, and believers grow in their faith. Such growth is a testimony, not so much of human leadership[1] as it is of God who works in the believers to respond to the needs of others. Thus, in such a context, we are able to understand Paul thanks to God for what the Colossians were doing (Colossians 1:3), and his rebuke of the churches of Galatia for what they had done (Galatians 1:6-8).

God blessed the Colossian community of believers, contrary to what we, today, might expect, because we often judge one another according to perceived errors in one’s particular denomination. In fact, we even question whether some denominations are truly Christian. Yet, Paul’s letter to the Colossians tells us that God is not limited by our errors. He is still able to work with us and bless us, wherever we are, and however we worship. Think about it; Paul thanked God for the Colossian believers, inadequate as they may have been in their understanding of Christ. What should this tell us, and how should we change our own behavior toward believers today, whom we’ve rejected due to their doctrines?

My takeaway is that doctrines don’t save us; Jesus does! While doctrines my limit our appreciation of God and what he’s done for us, they don’t limit him from blessing us and using us as his helper in this world. What the Galatian churches effectively did was reject Christ and began serving God through the Old Covenant, which God rejected and replaced with the New Covenant. The errors of the Colossian church didn’t do this. They didn’t fully understand the supremacy of Christ, but they didn’t go as far as rejecting him. Therefore, they weren’t in a state of apostasy.

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[1] I don’t mean to demean faithful human leadership in my remark here. What I wish to point out is that even in poor preaching, which is obvious, due to the lowly state in which the Colossian believers held Christ, God still granted spiritual growth and rewarded his people without rebuke, a testimony to his grace and peace (Colossians 1:2).