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Address1From Pau l, appointed by God to be an apost le of Chr istJesus, and from ourbrother Timothy -to the saint s in Co lossae, our faithful brothers in Christ:Grace and peace to you from God our Father."Thanksgiving and prayer

We have never fa iled to remember you in our prayers and to give thanks foryou to God, the Father of ou r Lord Jesus Christ, 'ever since we heard about 4you r faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you show towards all the saintsbecause of the hope which iss tored up for you in heaven. It is only recently thatyou heard of this, when it was announced in the message of the truth . The GoodNews -which has reached you iss preading all over the wor ld and producing thesame results as it has amo ng you ever since the day when you heard abo ut God'sgrace and understood what this rea lly is. Epaphras, who taught you, is one ofour closest fellow workers and a faithful deputy for us as Christ 's servant, b -andit was he who told us all about you r love in the Spirit .

That wil l explain why, ever since the day he told us, we have never failed topray for you , and what we ask Go d is that through perfect wisdom and spiritualunderst anding you should reach the fullest know ledge of his will. -So you will 10be ab le to lead the kind of life which the Lord expects of you, a life acceptableto him in all its aspects; showing the results in all the good actions you do andincreasing you r knowledge of God . You will have in you the strength, based on IIhis ownglorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, -t hanking 12the Fat her who has mad e it possible for you to jo in the saints and with themto inherit the light.cBecause that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness 13and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son tha t he loves, -and in him, 14we gain our freedom," the forgiveness of our sins.

I. FORMAL INSTRUCTIONChrist is the head of all c reat ion'

He is the image of the unseen Godand the first-born of all creation,for in him were createdal l th ings in heaven and on earth:everything visible and everything invisible,Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powersall th ings were created through him and for him. III"

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f. On the Chu rch a sCh rist 's body, cf. 1 Co J2:12f ;he is ca lled the ' head' o f his own bo dy both in atempora l sen se (v. 18, i.e. he wa s th e f irst to rise fromthe de ad ) and in a sp iritual sense (v . 20 , i .e , h e i s theleader of all the saved).g. Lit . ' because (G od ) wanted the pleroma todwe ll i n him' . The exact meaning of the wor d tileroma(t.e. t he thing tha t fil ls up a ga p or hole , like -a patch ,cf Mt 9:16) is no t certain here. Some wr it ers have

24Paul 's labours in the service of the pagans

It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my ownbody to do what I c an to make up all tha t has still to be undergone by Christ for25 the sake of his body,t he Church. '".1 became the servant of the Church when God

1 a. Add. (Yulz.) 'a nd the Lo rd Je su s C hrist'. thought it must mean the same as in 2:9 (th e fullnessb. Lit. ' A fa ithfu l servant of Christ o n b eha lf of us ' ; of d ivinity that tille d J es us) , but since vv, 15-1 8 haveva r. (Yul g. ) 'o n b eh alf of yo u' . al ready dea lt wit h the d ivinity of Jesus. it seems likelyc . Li t. "Thanking the Fa ther (for) havi ng made you th a t t he reference here is to the biblica l conce pt of the(var. ' us') f it fo r the pa rt of the lot of the sai nts in the entire cos mos as filled wit h the creative presence oflight' : var . ' for havingcalled you (var . ' us' ) to .. . ' The God, cf. Is 6:3: Jr 23:24: P s24:1: 50:12: 72:19 : Ws 1:7 :' lot o f t he sa i n ts ' is wh at a ll h oly people ar e to inhe rit, Si 43 :27 etc. This concept was also widesprea d in t hei.e. the 'sal vat ion' tha t had bee n thought of as a bequest Graeco-Roman wo rld . Pau l teaches th a t the inca rnat ionmade exclusi vely to Israel. Now , non -Jews are ca lled and resu rrection mak e Chris t head no t o nly of theto sha r e i t, c f. E p 1: 11-13. T he word 'sa ints' (li t. ' ho ly entire human race, but of t he entire crea ted cosmos,ones ' ) her e can mea n eit her Chris tians, i.e. peop le called so tha t every thing th a twas involved in the fall is equ a llyto li ve t he ' life of lig ht' w hile st ill livi ng on ea r th, involved in the sa lvat ion, cf. Rm 8:1922: 1 Co 3:22f:Rm 1:7f, cf. Jn 8:12f, or it can mean the ange ls who live 15 :20- 28 : Eo 1:10; 4:10; Ph 2:10f : 3:21: Heb 2:5-8.with God in the eschatological ' light ', cf . Ac 9:13+ . Cf.2:9 +.d. Lit. ' In wh om we h ave the redemption' . Add . h. Le. thr ough and fo r Christ, cf. the parallel(Vu lg.) 'b y blood' , cf. En 1:7. 't hro ugh him and for him ' of v. 16. Alterna tively, ite. In t his poem Pa ul introduces two ways in which co u ld read 'Go d wanted everything .. . to be reco nciledCh rist ca n claim to be the 'he ad' of everything tha t to him self, thrbugh him who made peace . .' , cf.exists: I. he is the head of creat ion, of al l tha t exists Rm 5:10; 2 Co 5 :18f.natura lly, VV. ~ 7 2. he is head of t he new creation i , This reco nciliation of the who le universeand of ali that exists supernaturally through havi ng (incl uding angels as well as hum a n b ei ng s) means,been saved, vv, 18-20. The su bject of the po em is the not that every single ind ividual wilt be saved. but thatpre-existent Ch r is t, b ut cons ide red only in so fa r a s he all who are saved wil t be saved by their co llectivew as ma nifest in the un ique h istoric pe rs on that is the re t ur n te the rig ht order and peace of perfect sub-son of Go d made man . cf. Ph 2:5+. It is as t he incarnate mi ss io n to God . Any individ ua ls who do not joinGod that Jes us is the 'im age of Go d ', i.e . his human thi s new creat ion thr ough grace witt be forced to j oin it.nat ure was the visible manifes tation of Go d who is cf. 2:15 : 1 Co 15 : 2 4 ~ 2

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3:4Ep2 :12I T h4:131C o 2:6Ep 4:13 +Ph4:132 Th 1 :11

1:24I Th2:17

Ep 3:18-19Pc 2:4-5Is 45:3Ep 4:14 ; 5:6

I Co 5:3-4P h 1 :27I T h 2:17

made me responsible for delivering God 's message to you, -the message which 26was a mystery hidden for generati ons and centuriesand has now been revealed tohis saints. -I t was God's purpose to reveali t to them and t o show al l t he rich glory 27of this mystery to pagans. The mystery isChrist among you, your hope of glory:"this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train 28everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ. It is for 29this I struggle wearily on, helped only by his power driving me irresistibly.Paul 's concern for the Colossians' fai th

2Yes, I want you to know t hat I do have to struggle hard for you, and forthose in Laodi cea, and for so many others who have never seen me face toface. It is al l t o bind you t oget her in l ove and to sti r your minds, so t ha t yourunderstanding may come to full development, until you rea lly know God'ssecret a - in which" all the jewels of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.I say this to make sure that no one deceives you with specious arguments .c 4I may beabsent inbody, but in spirit I am there among you, delighted to find you 5all in harmony and to see how firm your faith in Christ is.

forbidden to pick up this, it is forbidden to taste that, i t is forbidden to touch22 something else'; -a ll these prohibitions are only concerned with things thatperish by their very use-an example of human doctrines and regulations!23 It may beargued that true wisdom is t o be found in these, with their self-imposeddevotions, their self-abasement, and their severe treatment of the body; but oncethe flesh starts to pro test, they are no use at all.'

Life-giving union with the glorified Christ

3Since you have been brought back to t rue life with Christ, you must look forthe things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God's r ight hand.Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth,because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God.

4 But when Christ is revealed-and he is you r- life-you too will be revealed in allyour glory with him."

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II . A WARNING AGAI NST SO M E ERRORSLive according to the true faith in Christ, not according to false teaching

You must live your whole life according to the Christ you have receivedJesusthe Lord ; -you must be rooted in him and bui lt on him and held firm by thefaith you have been taught, and ful l of thanksgiving.Make sure that no one traps you and depr ives you ofyour freedom- by some 8secondhand, empty, ratio nal philosophy based on the principles of thi s worldinstead of on Christ.Christ alone is the true head of men and angels

In his body lives the fullness of divinity,' and in him you too find your ownfulfilment, -in the one who is the headof every Sovereignty and Power.! 10In him you have been circumcised, with a circumcision not performed by I Ihuman hand, but by the complete stripping of your body of f lesh." This i s c ircumcision according to Chris t." You have been bur ied wi th him, when you 12were baptised; and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him throughyour belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. You were dead , 13because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: he' has brought you/to life wi th him, he has forgiven us" al l our sins.He has overr idden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt tha t we 14had to pay; he has done away with i t by nailing it to the cross ;' -and so he got 15rid of the Sovereignties and the Powers, and paraded them in public, behind himin his triumphal procession. 'II

Against the false asceticism based on 'the principles of thi s world'From now onwards, never let anyoneelse decide what you should ea t or drink, 16or whether you are to observe annual festivals, New Moons or sabbaths. These 17were on ly pale reflections of what was coming: the reality IS Christ." -Do not be 18taken in by people who like grovelling- to angels and worshipping them;" peoplelike tha t a re always going on about some vision they have had, q inflating themselves to a false importance with their worldly outlook. A man of this sort 19is not united to the head, r and it is the head tha t adds s trength and holds thewhole body together. with all its joints and sinews- and this is the only way in

which it can reach its full growth in God.If you have really died with Chris t to the principles of this world, why do you 20still let rules dictate to you, as though you were stillliving i n the worl d? 'I t is 21

re ign ofGod. and anyonewho continues hisworkmustsha re t hi s suffering , Pau l i s not saying that he th inks hisown sufferings increas e the va lue of the redemption(s in ce that va lue cannotbe inc reased) but th a t he sharesby his sufferings as a missionary in those th at Jesushad undergone in his own mission. cr 2 Co 1:5:Ph 1:20+ . These a re the sufferings predicted for themessianic era. Mt 24:8+ ; Ac 14:22 + : 1 Tm 4:1 -i-, andare all part of the wa y in which God had alwaysintended the Church to develop: Paul fe el s th at . b eingthe messenger Chr is t has chosen to send to the pagans.he has been specially called on to expe rience thesesufferings.n. Previously. when it had seemed (to th e Jews)th a t pa gans could never be saved. as sa lva tion wasrest ric ted to ' Is rael " pagans had seeme d to be withouta Mess iah and co nsequently to be depr i ved of allhope , Ep 2:12. The 'mystery' or secre t of God thathad now been revealed was that the pagans too were.and had been , all called to b e s av ed t hr o ugh u nionwith Christ, and so to reach eternal eto rv, cr . Ep 2:1322 ; 3:3-6.2 a. Var. ' the myste ry of Christ' . cr 4:3 : Ep 3 :4 ;or 'God 's mystery of Ch rist'. or ' the mystery of Godthe fath er of Chris t' . or ' the mys tery o f God theFather, and of Christ', etc.b. 'in which', i.e. in th e 'mystery' tha t revealedwhat till then ha d been 'hid de n' . namely the ' infinitewi sd om' o f God, cf. Rm 16:25+: 1 T m 3:16 + . Thatit is Christ who is revealed in the myster y. 1:27. i s o fcou rse tru e, and hehimse lf is also the Wisdom of God .I Co 1:24.30, and he i s also the Mystery, t Co 2 :7. tha tis hard to understand. Ep 3:8,19.c. This will be developed in v.Sf.d. To deny Ch ri s ta fter he has liberated them fromthe tyra nn y of 'darkness' . 1:I3f , by going back toerror , wou ld be nothing but a new slavery. cf. Oa4 :8f;5:1. e. The word nleroma he re, c f. 1:19+ , is deftnedas t he 'div inity' that is ac tually 'tilling' Ch r is t now inhis body: in oth er word s, the risen Chr ist, throughhis inca rnat ion and resurrect ion, unites the divineand the created. The former is what he is by his preexistence and his p resent glory; the latter is, as human.what he has ass umed dir ectly. and, a s c osmic . whathe assume d i ndirectly through being human . In thi sway he himself is the pleroma of all possible categorieso fb eing.r. A Chri s t ian shares th is pleroma of Ch ri s t bybeing pa rt of it. i.e. par t of Christ's body, cf. (tex tand no te s) 1:19: Eo 1:23: 3:19; 4:12-13, and as aconsequence of thi s he is raised to be higher th aneventhe highestg rade of angel. The following verses developthese two ideas : disciples of Christ sh a re h is tr iumph.vv, 11-13. over even the highest grade of angel, vv, 1415.

I . Sur gical circumci sion removes only a piece ofsk in.b. The 'c ircumcision' instituted by Christ, i.e,baptism.i. God the Fa ther.I , ' yOU ; var . ' us'.k. ' us ' ; var. 'you' .I. The La w was able to do nothing about a sinnerexcept condemn him to death, Rm 7:7 -i-: thi s deathsente nc e i s wha t Oo d h ad ca r ri ed out on his own Sonin o rder to suppress it for t he rest of.t h e wor ld . and itwas for this very reason that God ' s Son was 'm adesin', 2 Co 5:21. 's ubject to the Law', Ga 4:4, and'cur sed ' by th eLaw. Ga 3:13 In the per so n of his Son .whom he allowed to be e xe cuted. God nailed up anddestroyed our death war ran t ,a s w el l a s al l th echargesit made agai n st us.m .The t ra dit ion is that the Law was brought downto Mose sby angels, Oa 3: t9+. and by honouring themas the lawgivers, cr. v. 18. people have b ee n distr actedfrom the tr ue crea tor . Now that God has brough t t heregime of th at L aw to an end, by means of the cru elOxion, the se angelic powe rs ha ve lost the one th ingthat had given them power. and so they too mus t acknowledge that Christ has triumphed over them.n, Lit . ' but the bo dy is Ch rist' - a pun on theword soma (' bodY) as being bo th tha t which i s morerea l th an any shadow or ref le ct io n. a nd t he b odyof th e risen Christ which Is what gives reality to oureschatological hope. and which is th e f ir st evidenceth at th e new creation has already begun .e . Or 'Do not let people ta ke the liberty of lookingdown on yo u Just because they grovel. . . 'p. D ietary and cultic practices, v. 16, a re onlysupersti ti ou s wo r r ie s about material thi ngs and the' s tllrits ' that are supposed to control them. cf. Ga 4:sr, q. vee. (Vu lg, ) t hey have not (in fact) had ' .Pau l is explainingwhere the teachersa t Colossae havegone wrong. which is either b ecau se they attach a falseimp ortance to thei r 'vlsions ' o r, a t a mor e general level,because they th ink their own completely unspiritualideas are what religion is about.r. C hrist, Ep 4:15.

s. Lit . the se things ' a re not in any honour forsat isf ac t ion of t he f te sh' : thi s may mean either thatthey are o f no real value in subduing ' the ftesh'. o r e lse' they a re of no va lue and only help to satisfy theftosh'.3 a. var . 'our ' .b. Throug h union with Christ in bap tism. 2:12,his followe rs already live the ident ical life he lives inheaven. cf. Ep 2:6+ , but this spiritual life is notmanifest and glorious as it will b ea t the parous/a.

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sam e word ea ch time , l.e . Chr ist is the ma st e r equallyof bo th sla ve and slave -ow ner.k . Tha t a ma ster sho uld name a slave as his heir,c r, M t2 1:35R: Lk 15:19 : Ga 4: l -2 , is on e of t h e mostimpressive proo fs o f how d iffere nt the new creauon' in Chri st' is, cf ' ,Rm 8:J5-1', ; G a 4:3.7 : Phm 16.4 a , Va r. 'of God', cf 2:2,b. Lit . 'se aso ned with sa il ', a c taasical G reek cliche .cr. M k 9:50.c , Vur,