{"id":5523,"date":"2017-12-31T12:35:32","date_gmt":"2017-12-31T18:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=5523"},"modified":"2017-12-31T12:35:32","modified_gmt":"2017-12-31T18:35:32","slug":"colossians-fullness-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2017\/12\/31\/colossians-fullness-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Colossians – The Fullness of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jack Wilkie<\/strong>
\n\u201cI like Jesus, just not religion (or Christianity).\u201d Over the last few years, this sentiment has exploded. Books have been released, sermons have been preached, and videos have been shared on the social media sites all expressing this idea that religion and doctrine are hindrances to a relationship with Jesus. The New Testament teaches otherwise. This month\u2019s \u201cDigging Deeper\u201d epistle (Colossians) shows clearly that following Jesus is directly contrasted with obedience to false doctrines. 1:28 says, \u201cWe proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ\u201d (NASB). If doctrine is unimportant, then why was Paul putting so much emphasis on proper teaching with regards to being complete in Christ? Having a relationship with Jesus doesn\u2019t mean \u201ccoming to Him in our own way,\u201d as the recent fads teach. No, a relationship with Jesus is dependent upon being steadfast in obedience to His teachings. In this letter Paul addresses some false teachings that the Colossians had been influenced by and calls them back to Christ and the Gospel that they had been taught.
\nBackground Information<\/strong>
\nThis is the third out of the four prison epistles in the New Testament (Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon being the others). Paul brings up his imprisonment at the very end of the letter (4:18). This places the date for Colossians around 60 A.D., right around the dates for the other prison epistles. Colossae isn\u2019t mentioned in Acts as one of the stops on Paul\u2019s missionary journeys, although he knows a few of their number (chapter 4). Colossians shares some similarities with Ephesians, particularly in outline. In each of the letters, Paul makes the case for the superiority of Christ and discusses the doctrinal implications of that superiority in the first half before making practical applications in the second half. \u201cThe mystery of Christ\u201d is spoken of multiple times in each, as well.
\nKey Themes<\/strong>
\nAs mentioned in the introduction, Colossians revolves around two key points: First, that the \u201cfullness of Deity\u201d dwells in Jesus Christ, and second, that all teachings should be examined and rejected if they are false. The result of knowing Christ and His true teachings, of course, would be walking in a worthy manner. The discussion about Christ\u2019s deity is examined heavily in 1:13-22 and 2:9-15. The emphasis on false doctrine and the need for proper teaching can be seen in 1:5-8; 2:6-8; and 2:16-23. Finally, Paul starts making his point about the need for a worthy walk in 1:9-12, but he doesn\u2019t go in depth until 3:1-4:6. As you can see from the amount of verses listed, these three themes dominate the entire letter.
\nKey Verses<\/strong>
\nAs usual, the key verses are very closely tied to the key themes. 1:9-12 is an important passage because it not only serves as a call to walk worthily, but it also is a prayer of Paul\u2019s on the behalf of the Colossians. 1:21-23 is important because it establishes what Christ has done and how our response should be to continue without being moved away from the same Gospel. Another important section that summarizes the contrast between Christ\u2019s authority and false teaching is 2:6-8. Finally, 3:1 is key because it serves as the transition into the practical application section.
\nKey Words<\/strong>
\n\u201cMystery\u201d was mentioned earlier as a word that helps in understanding the connection between Ephesians and Colossians. However, Colossians has quite a few key-words within its own four chapters as well. \u201cAll\u201d occurs throughout the book, but it is especially key in the discussion of Jesus\u2019 deity, as He is the firstborn of all creation, He is before all things, in Him all things hold together, all the fullness dwells in Him, etc. \u201cWalk\u201d is important because of its relation to the practical application found in the letter. The idea of death (in the words die<\/em> and dead<\/em>) occurs a few times. Finally, there are two keys that I believe help in understanding the structure of the book. The first is the word therefore <\/em>as it signals when Paul makes his transitions between points. Second, underlining commands and participles also helps understand the flow of Paul\u2019s writing. Participles are, in most cases, the \u201c-ing\u201d words that follow commands. (See 3:16 as an example.)
\nWhen we dig deeper into epistles like Colossians, we can see that proper doctrine and a relationship with Christ simply can\u2019t be separated, regardless of what the latest movements tell us. I encourage you to read through this short letter a few times and put some time into studying it so you can get a firm grasp on what is really being taught. As our grasp on Colossians grows deeper, we will be better prepared to walk in a worthy manner and avoid the empty deception of the traditions of men.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jack Wilkie \u201cI like Jesus, just not religion (or Christianity).\u201d Over the last few years, this sentiment has exploded. Books have been released, sermons have been preached, and videos have been shared on the social media sites all expressing this idea that religion and doctrine are hindrances to a relationship with Jesus. The New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45,66],"tags":[329,1206,1207,1145,1204],"class_list":["post-5523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","category-think-excerpts","tag-bible-study-2","tag-colossians","tag-digging-deeper","tag-jack-wilkie","tag-september-2012","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nColossians - The Fullness of Christ - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2017\/12\/31\/colossians-fullness-christ\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colossians - The Fullness of Christ - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jack Wilkie \u201cI like Jesus, just not religion (or Christianity).\u201d Over the last few years, this sentiment has exploded. 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