The Layman’s Guide to COLOSSIANS

To the immature, rule-keeping can feel more "religious" than a spiritual devotion to Christ himself. That was the temptation the Colossian church was facing. Their pastor trekked one thousand miles to Rome from what is now Turkey to find Paul and ask him to write a letter that would lay out true Christianity for his church members, in order to protect them from false teachers intent on picking them off and persuading them to adopt another faith. Outward religion, is not the answer, says Paul. Christ is both supreme and sufficient; we need nothing beyond him to complete our faith. The letter provides us with one of the most compelling visions in all the New Testament of who Jesus Christ actually is, in all his majesty and glory, the image of the invisible God, existing before all things, Creator of everything, Sustainer, Head, Beginning, First-to-Be-Resurrected, the fullness of God in bodily form. Christ is preeminent!