1/18/18
Tom Lowe
Lesson 1 Salutation (Colossians 1:1-2)
Scripture: Colossians 1:1-2 (NIV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters{1] in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father{2].
Footnotes:
[1} The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 4:15.
[2} Some manuscripts read “Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Introduction:
Paul had never actually been to Colossae, but he had heard of their faith (1:4, 9){IA.1] and so he has to begin by making clear what right he has to send a letter to the Colossians. He does that in one word; he is an apostle. The word apostle literally means “one who is sent out.” Paul’s right to speak is that he has been sent out by God to be His ambassador to the Gentiles. Moreover, he is an apostle by the “will of God.” That office is not something which he has earned or achieved; it is something which has been given him by God. “You did not choose me,” said Jesus, “but I chose you” (John 15:16). Here, right at the outset of the letter is the whole doctrine of grace. “A MAN IS NOT WHAT HE HAS MADE HIMSELF, BUT WHAT GOD HAS MADE HIM.”
The four Prison Epistles of Paul which include the Epistle to the Colossians have been called the anatomy of the Church because their subjects cover all aspects of the Christian faith. In Colossians our attention is directed to the head of the body who is Christ. The body, the church, is secondary. Instead, Christ is the theme, and Christian living is centered in Him.
[IA.1} “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, . . . For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Colossians 1:4, 9).
Lesson 1
1 PAUL, AN APOSTLE OF CHRIST JESUS BY THE WILL OF GOD, AND TIMOTHY OUR BROTHER,
“PAUL, AN APOSTLE OF CHRIST JESUS BY THE WILL OF GOD”
He begins the letter by giving a description of the office and character of the person from whom the salutation emanates. He says that he is first and foremost an apostle of Christ Jesus; an exalted and important office. An apostle is one sent. It involved incredible thought, overburdening care, incessant toil, unparalleled suffering. Paul was commissioned to declare the grandest truths?truths destined to enlighten and lift up mankind.
“BY THE WILL OF GOD”
Paul traces his apostleship to the “will of God.” The “will of God” is the great originating and dynamic force in the universe. That Will raised Paul to the apostleship, and endowed him with all essential qualifications.
“AND TIMOTHY OUR BROTHER”
Timothy was undoubtedly Paul’s convert, because Paul referred to him lovingly as “son,” “my own son,” “my beloved son,” “my dearly beloved son” (1 Timothy 1:18; 1:2; 1 Corinthians 4:17; 2 Timothy 1:2).
Young Timothy was appreciated by all the brethren{A1.]. He enjoyed an early religious education which was fundamental and sound. He learned the truth from his mother and his grandmother, as well as at the feet of the Apostle Paul. Paul selected him to be his fellow traveler and co-laborer, and gave this testimony concerning him: “He worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do” (1 Corinthians 16:10). And here he recognizes him but on the more equal footing of a “brother,” thus he clearly distinguishes between himself and Timothy, who is a brother and fellow labor, but not an apostle. Christianity is a brotherhood. The equality of Christian brotherhood is based on their common faith and spiritual foundations.
There was a very definite reason why Paul associates Timothy with the Epistle to the Colossians. Timothy was a native of the area where the Colossian church was located (Acts 16:1-30). He had been with Paul when the Apostle preached the Gospel there, and no doubt was well-known to the Colossian people (Acts 16:6). It is true, however, from the manner in which Paul mentions him, that he did not regard him as a fellow apostle, but rather as a co-worker and his son in the ministry. On another occasion, Paul declared that both Timothy and himself preached the same identical Gospel of the Son of God—pure grace?“ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.””(2 Corinthians 1:19).
“PAUL . . . AND TIMOTHY.”
The greatest closeness existed between the two, notwithstanding the disparity in rank and abilities. There were qualities in Timothy that elicited the admiration and love of the great apostle. They were constant companions in travel; and Timothy was often a source of comfort to Paul during those times he was in custody.
If Philemon, who was a Colossian Christian, had met Paul at Ephesus, he probably had seen Timothy too, and would no doubt tell the Church how the apostle valued him? “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you” (Ephesian 2:19).
[A1.1} “Brethren” (“God’s holy people”) which means “fellow Christians,” emphasizes the fact that they all belong together as members in God’s great family, the Church.
2 TO GOD’S HOLY PEOPLE IN COLOSSAE, THE FAITHFUL BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST: GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU FROM GOD OUR FATHER.
The literal translation reads, “To those in Colossae who are saints and believing brethren in Christ: . . .” By “saints” we usually mean people who have, so to speak, achieved the ultimate in the spiritual life; but in the New Testament the primary stress is on their dedication to God rather than on any shining excellence of character. All born again, blood-washed believers are saints. When we become partakers of salvation in Christ Jesus, we are that split second transformed from sinner to saint. There is no gradual attaining of sainthood. Good works do not make saints of us, and no man (or group of men) has any right to promote a person to sainthood after that person is dead!
“TO GOD’S HOLY PEOPLE IN COLOSSAE, THE FAITHFUL BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST:”
He is not talking about two groups of people. “God’s holy people and the “faithful brothers and sisters in Christ” are the same. Faithful brethren are believing brethren, and they are saints. We are not saints because of what we do. We are saints by our position.
God’s “Holy People” here refers to His “saints”; “saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are in Colossae.” This word, “saints” implies union with God and a personal participation in His righteousness. Righteousness is the root of the saintly life. Faith in Christ is the point and means of connection.
“THE FAITHFUL BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST.”
This phrase implies agreement with each other. They embraced a common faith, and held steadfastly together amid the agitations of false teachers and the defections of the wavering. Christianity blends the strangest elements. It is a foe to all national hostility and prejudices. Paul, a Jew, Timothy, a Grecian, and the Colossians, a mixture of several races, are here united in a holy and faithful brotherhood.
“IN CHRIST.”
The saints are “in Christ Jesus.” When you put your trust in the Lord Jesus, the Spirit of God comes to dwell in you. The Holy Spirit baptizes you into the body of Christ. You are put in Christ by the Spirit of God. That’s what makes you holy; being in Christ makes a man internally and spiritually holy; it is necessary that he be in Christ by faith, so to make him externally holy requires a visible and external union with Christ in professing truths relating to Him.
Now these saints were “IN CHRIST,” but they were at Colossae. You see, it doesn’t make any difference where you are at—that may not be grammatically correct, but it is a true statement. You may be at Los Angeles or Duluth or Moscow or Colossae. It won’t make any difference where you are at; the important matter is being “in Christ Jesus.” Saints are such by divine calling, and they are also ones who on their part have called upon the Lord Jesus Christ?“To the church of God in Colossae, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be His holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Divine initiative in calling and human response in faith, both belong to one’s becoming a saint. Saints in the New Testament are the eschatological{A2.1] people or “the saints of the Most High” of Daniel 7:18, 27.
I believe the little phrase “in Christ” comprises the most important words that we have in the New Testament. What does it mean to be saved? The Spirit of God chose just one little word, the preposition “in,” to explain what salvation is. It is to be “in Christ.” How do you get in Christ? You get in Christ when you accept Him as your Savior. When Paul spoke of the Christian being in Christ, he meant that the Christian lives in Christ as a bird in the air, a fish in the water, the roots of a tree in the soil. What makes the Christian different is that he is always and everywhere conscious of the encircling presence of Jesus Christ; and whatever he does, he does it as if he were doing it for Christ. But the Christian has a double commitment—he is committed to Jesus Christ and he is committed to his fellow-men. Faith in Christ and love for Christian men are the twin pillars of the Christian life. To be “in Christ” is not only to be bound to Him individually by faith, trust, and commitment; but it is to be bound together with His people. To be “in Christ” is the opposite of being “in sin” or “in Adam”?“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
“GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU FROM GOD OUR FATHER.”
It is not “grace” from the Father and “peace” from the Lord Jesus Christ as the usual benediction shows; but “Grace and peace to you from God our Father” to which we can add, “and our Lord Jesus Christ,” for “Whatsoever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son” (John 5:19). “Grace,” is that favorite word Paul uses to describe the wonderful kindness of God to sinners in Christ.
“GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU.”
You will find this form of address in all of Paul’s epistles, and “grace and peace” will always be in that sequence. “Grace and peace” were both commonplace words in Paul’s day. When Paul put together these two great words, he was doing something very wonderful. He was taking the normal greeting phrases of two great nations and molding them into one.
“GRACE” was the word of greeting in the Greek world. In the Greek language it is charis. They say it as we would say, “Have a good day.” And God is saying to you, “Have a good eternity.” When folks say to me, “Have a good day,” they don’t contribute anything to make it a good day other than just saying that. But God has made the arrangements whereby you can have a good eternity, and it is by the grace of God.
“PEACE” always follows grace; it never precedes it. While charis comes out of the Greek world, “peace” (shalom) comes out of the religious world; it is the Hebrew form of greeting. Actually, the name Jerusalem means “the city of peace”; Jeru-shalom—city of peace. It has never been that; it has been a city of war. Right now it is a thorn in the flesh of the world. No one knows what to do with it. There will never be peace in Jerusalem or in the world until the Prince of Peace comes to rule.
There is, however, the “PEACE” that comes to the believer through the “GRACE” of God. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). This is the peace that a sinner can have with a holy God because Christ died for us, paid our penalty, and now God in His grace can save us. However, the “PEACE” Paul commends the Colossians for is a blessing of reconciliation that has resulted from God’s gracious work on their behalf?“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Romans 5:1). So, when Paul prays for grace and peace on his people he is praying that they should have the joy of knowing God as Father and the peace of being reconciled to God, to men, and to themselves—and that grace and peace can come only through Jesus Christ.
“GOD OUR FATHER [and the Lord Jesus Christ.]”
The Father’s love and the Son’s work are the sole sources and cause of every blessing to humanity, while the Holy Spirit is the agent of their communications. The Trinity is forever harmonious in acts of kindness; the divine fountains are inexhaustible.
[A2.1} “Eschatological.” A belief concerning death, the end of the world, or the ultimate destiny of humankind; specifically: any of various Christian doctrines concerning the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, or the Last Judgment.
[A2.2} By the “Will of God,” Paul is alluding no doubt to the day when he met the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, and He changed the whole course of his life.
Application:
There is a good lesson for us here: God does not always need an apostle, or a “fulltime Christian worker” to get a ministry established. Nor does He need elaborate buildings and large organizations. Here were two laymen who were used by God to start ministries in at least three cities. It is God’s plan that the Christians in the large urban areas like Ephesus reach out into the smaller towns and share the Gospel. Is your church helping to energize “small-town” mission fields?
The Colossian assembly was predominantly Gentile in its membership. The sins that Paul named (Colossians 3:5-9) were commonly associated with the Gentiles, and his statement about the mystery applied more to the Gentiles than to the Jews (Colossians 1:25-29). The church was probably about five years old when Paul wrote this letter.
