Bible Commentary / New Testament
Colossians
Colossians presents the absolute supremacy and sufficiency of Christ. Paul writes to remind the believers at Colossae that they have already been rescued, reconciled, and made complete in Christ, and therefore must not be drawn away by any teaching that diminishes Him or supplements Him with human philosophy, ascetic…
Literary units
Colossians 1:1 - Colossians 1:14
Greeting and thanksgiving
After the greeting, Paul thanks God for the Colossians' faith in Christ and love for all the saints, both springing from the hope stored up for them in heaven through the gospel they heard from Epaphras. That gospel is not a local novelty;…
Colossians 1:15 - Colossians 1:23
The supremacy of Christ
Paul unfolds the Son’s supremacy in widening circles: he is the visible disclosure of the invisible God, the one through whom and for whom all things were created, the one in whom all things hold together, and the risen head of the church.…
Colossians 1:24 - Colossians 2:5
Paul's ministry and suffering for the church
Paul explains that his sufferings, commission, proclamation, and ongoing struggle all serve the church. His God-given task is to bring God's word to full expression by announcing the once-hidden mystery now revealed: Christ among and in Ge…
Colossians 2:6 - Colossians 2:23
Freedom from human regulations through Christ
Paul answers the pressure of Christ-deficient teaching by telling the Colossians to keep walking in the Lord they already received. The warning in 2:8 targets a program of deceptive philosophy, human tradition, elemental powers, ritual obs…
Colossians 3:1 - Colossians 3:17
New life in Christ; put off the old, put on the new
After rejecting the self-made piety of 2:20-23, Paul turns to the life that actually fits those raised with Christ. The opening call to seek what is above is anchored in the enthroned Messiah, not in escape from ordinary life. Because thei…
Colossians 3:18 - Colossians 4:1
Christian households and work relationships
Paul carries the "do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus" command of 3:17 into marriage, parenting, and slave-master relations. Each role receives a concrete charge, and the repeated appeal to the Lord keeps any human authority from b…
Colossians 4:2 - Colossians 4:6
Prayer, conduct, and witness toward outsiders
This closing exhortation ties persistent prayer to the church's outward life. The Colossians are to remain watchful and thankful in prayer, to intercede for Paul's imprisoned proclamation of the mystery of Christ, and to deal wisely with o…
Colossians 4:7 - Colossians 4:18
Final greetings and closing exhortations
Paul closes by commending Tychicus and Onesimus as reliable representatives, passing on greetings from his coworkers, highlighting Epaphras’s strenuous prayer, and directing several concrete acts: welcome, greeting, letter exchange, and a…