Colossians 1:1
Introduction

Theme - The Exaltation of Christ

Author - Paul.  This is pretty well accepted although some have attempted to claim
    that the heresy Paul alluded to, Gnosticism, did not occur until after Paul’s
    day.  They also like to point out that the epistle contains a lot of words
    that Paul never used in any other epistle.

    1. To answer the first argument, I would say…
        a. Paul had the gift of prophecy and could no doubt see problems that were
            in the future.
            (1) End time.

1Tim 4:1  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

            (2) Rapture (1Cor 15, 1Thess 4:13-18)
            (3) He even spoke of his own future at Miletus \\#Acts 20:25\\.
        b. Even without the gift of prophecy, wise Christians can see the seeds of
            heresy BEFORE they take root and bring forth their corrupt fruit.
    2. As for Paul’s words…
        a. Paul was very well educated and probably knew more words than he ever
            wrote.
        b. The Holy Spirit helped Paul select the words that best met the need of
            the situation.

Colosse
       The city was located in Turkey, north and east of Israel.  The city was
    located along the Lycus River.  At one time, it and the other cites in
    that region were well-fortified cities.  By the time Paul was writing this
    epistle, Rome was firmly in control of most of the world and the need for
    fortification had diminished.  Colosse itself had been a large city in
    the past, but now most of the traffic traveled to the north, going to
    Laodicea instead.  Some believe that Paul traveled to Laodicea but never
    went to Colosse.

The Epistle
       Colossians is a prison epistle, an epistle written by Paul while he was
    imprisoned in Rome (the first time).  There are four prison epistles,
    Philippians, Ephesians, Philemon, and Colossians.  All were probably written
    the same year, around 62 AD.

    Some believe they were even written at the same time because…
        a. Some are mentioned in more than one epistle, like Epaphras
            \\#Col 1:7, Phm 1:23\\.
        b. The themes of the all four have commonality.
            (1) Ephesians discusses Christ’s Church.
            (2) Colossians discusses the Church’s Head.
            (3) Philippians discusses the Church’s walk.
            (4) Philemon gives an example of the Church’s Christian walk.

Heresy
    Paul seemed to deal with what will become one of the first major heresies of
    the church, Gnosticism. The cult is named after the Greek word, GNO-SIS,
    meaning knowledge.  This belief has several basic tenets.
    1. In order to know of spiritual things, you must have an enlightened spirit.
        The Gnostic believe they have it and others do not.
    2. They believe the material world was indirectly created by God.  They believe
        God created a being, who created a being, who created… and that one in
        that series of created being created the material world.
    3. They believe that Jesus is one of those in the series of created beings.
        They do not believe the created beings are perfect.
    4. They usually hold to either one of two extremes:
        a. Asceticism - The belief that the enlightened must deny themselves of
            material pleasure.
        b. Licentiousness - The belief that the enlightened should indulge
            themselves in material pleasure.

    Whether the church at Colosse had those within it who adhered to these kinds
    of beliefs is not certain, but Paul does answer some of these errors in this
    epistle.

Outline
I.  \\#1:1-2:23\\ The Person of God Displayed through Christ
     A. \\#1:1-12\\ Introduction
     B. \\#1:12-2:3\\ The Person of Christ
     C. \\#2:4-23\\ Warnings to the Church
     D. \\#2:10-23\\ The Solution is to Remember

II. \\#3:1-4:18\\ The Person of God Displayed through the Believers
     A. \\#3:1\\ A Condition
     B. \\#3:2-4\\ A Correlation
     C. \\#3:5-4:6\\ Commands
     D. \\#4:7-18\\ Friends in the Ministry

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