Smoodock's Blog

Presently, we are involved in a study of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Paul confesses that all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Christ Jesus bodily (Colossians 2:9; John 1:1, 14), and this is essentially what he claimed earlier in this epistle (Colossians 1:19). The fact that Paul wrote to the Colossians about the preeminence of Christ (Colossians 1:15-20) suggests that they had no idea that Jesus, the Christ, was so important to their faith and understanding. Remember, prior to their embracing Christ as their Savior, through the Gospel, which was made known to them by Epaphras (Colossians 1:7), the gentiles among them had believed in a supreme god, who had created a pantheon of lower-class gods. The reason for their creation, according to the Colossians’ dualistic worldview, was so they, vis-à-vis the lower-class gods, not the supreme God, could create the imperfect and corrupt physical world.

The question is, did Paul write his epistle to the Colossians, because they were being invaded by false teachers, or did they embrace the Gospel as part of their then current pagan and erroneous worldview, concerning which Paul would have written them to correct their ignorance? We could ask ourselves a similar question: “do we believe the Gospel, as it is presented in the New Covenant text, or do we believe the Gospel as colored by our denominational worldview? If it is the latter, we don’t believe the Biblical witness on its own terms! Instead, we believe, according to the interpretation of our denominational worldview. This is the dilemma, which the Colossians faced after embracing the Gospel, preached by Epaphras. Should they fully embrace the unadulterated Gospel, which would demand a complete change of their, then present, worldview, or should they believe the Gospel, as interpreted by their pagan worldview? If the latter is true, then Paul’s warning in Colossians 2:8 was meant to confront their present pagan worldview, not to directly challenge an assumed group of false teachers. I believe the former is true, namely the Colossians embraced the Gospel, but interpreted it according to their pagan worldview. Thus, they had a false image of Christ, and Paul’s mention of Christ’s preeminence (Colossians 1:15-20) was meant to correct that error.[1]

Paul tells the Colossian believers that “all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in (Christ) bodily” (Colossians 2:9). This is a contradiction of their worldview, which viewed Christ as a lesser god than the supreme god. If this is true, their entire worldview is wrong and must be changed, if they are to understand the complete truth of the Gospel. In other words, one can be a Christian and still be ignorant of many things about Christ, including the understanding that he was God in the flesh (John 1:1, 14). This understanding also speaks volumes about the differences of belief between the denominations of Christianity, including those who believe Christ is **a** god, but not God. Remember, these Colossian believers were ignorant of the preeminence of Christ, yet Paul received them as brethren (Colossians 1:2) and thanked God for their faith, since the time that he understood that they had received Christ as their Savior (Colossians 1:3-4). In other words, ignorance is not a factor that prevents one from being a Christian. None of us know the Gospel perfectly, and in such a context, how could we communicate its truth perfectly to others.

We are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10). That is, “if the root is holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11:16). In Christ dwells all the spiritual blessings we could ever desire or need (Ephesians 1:3), and they are ours for the asking (Matthew 21:22; John 16:24; 1John 3:22; cp. James 4:3). In other words, we are complete in Christ, just as we are, and gentiles don’t need to become Jews, or vise-versa; we don’t need to practice a set of rules or refrain from others; we don’t need to become more educated or practice certain customs; we don’t even need to be free of bonds (slaves to men or habits). We are in Christ, and a new creation, which means we are righteous in the eyes of God, just as we are, precisely because of our being in Christ by faith and no longer in Adam (Colossians 3:11; 2Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 4:24).

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[1] This means that Epaphras either had a wrong worldview of Christ, too, when he told his family and friends about Christ, or he wasn’t able to communicate the preeminence of Christ properly, and he was unable to correct the errors of the Colossian believers, once they embraced the Gospel, and subjugated it according to their pagan worldview. While most Christians are apt to share Christ with others, everyone who does so isn’t able to do it properly or to confront an erroneous understanding others have, once the Gospel is received but interpreted according to a wrong worldview.