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The Epistle to the Colossians

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Colossae is a small city in Phrygia, about 100 miles southeast of Ephesus, which is situated in the southwest of the modern Republic of Türkiye. The Epistle was written by Paul, and co-authored by Timothy, Paul’s companion and confidant (Colossians 1:1). Nevertheless, some modern critics believe the epistle was written by one of Paul’s disciples. However, any real objections to Paul’s authorship can usually be answered, by saying he used a secretary or scribe, who assembled the letter after Paul’s dictation. In fact, two possible scribes are mentioned in the epistle, Tychicus (Colossians 4:7) and Onesimus (Colossians 4:9).

Interestingly, Paul didn’t raise up the church at Colossae (Colossians 2:1), but, instead, it probably arose through the preaching of Epaphras or through interaction with his friends and family, for he was from the city of Colossae, and also a helper of Paul (Colossians 1:7; 4:12). Scholars who don’t recognize the epistle as one of Paul’s would date it late in the first century AD, possibly AD 90, but all they offer for support of their statements are guesses. There is no actual proof of the critics’ conclusions. The fact remains that the epistle, itself, claims to be authored by Paul’s, and I find no good reason to doubt its authenticity. Scholarship, which recognizes it as one of Paul’s, date it to from AD 62 to 64 and number it with Paul’s “prison” epistles, together with his epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians and Philemon, all of which name Tychicus and/or Onesimus as possible scribes or the ones who would deliver the epistles to their recipients. Moreover, Philemon seems to have some ties to the Epistle to the Colossians, in that many of the names mentioned in Paul’s epistle to Philemon: Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas and Epaphras (Philemon 1:23-24) also appear in his epistle to the church in Colossae (Colossians 1:7; 4:10, 12, 14).

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  1. Introduction: Epistle to the Colossians
  2. Paul’s Greeting
  3. Paul’s Joy and Thanksgiving
  4. Who Was Epaphras
  5. Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians
  6. The Image of the Invisible God
  7. The Preeminence of Christ
  8. Making Peace with God
  9. Paul’s Ministry to the Church
  10. Paul’s Great Struggle
  11. Alive in Christ Jesus
  12. Beware, Lest Any Man Spoil You!
  13. Beware of the Philosopher
  14. We Are Complete in Christ
  15. Spiritual Circumcision
  16. Buried with Christ in Baptism
  17. Let No Man Judge You!
  18. Don’t Become Disqualified
  19. Seek Those Things Which Are Above
  20. Put Off the Old Creature’s Ways
  21. Put On the New Man!
  22. Be in Submission to On Another
  23. Continue in Prayer
  24. We Are Dependent Upon God
  25. Concerning Paul’s Affairs