Calvary Road Baptist Church
“THE COLOSSIAN HERESY”
Colossians 1.1-8
Many people have an extremely distorted view of God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and how He relates to their lives. Astonishing numbers of people believe that God does not relate to their lives in any way if He exists. They utterly ignore Him. This is indicated by the way some people refer to God. For some, God is “the Old Man Upstairs.” One 20th-century liberal Methodist theologian wrote, “The God of the Old Testament was a dirty bully.” This is also reflected by Hollywood movies that feature an actor who plays God.[1]
Closer to home, many Christians have distorted views of God. This is related to the nature of each member of the human race being spiritually dead and estranged from God,[2] being self-deceived, deceived by other people, and deceived by supernatural influences,[3] as well as and in some cases being the objects of divine judgment even before they have died and begun to experience their eternal punishment.[4]
In addition to these causes, unsaved people have dreadful misconceptions about God that they bring into their Christian lives at the time of their conversion and must iron out after they come to faith in Christ by reading God’s Word, sitting under Bible preaching and teaching, and involvement in discipleship to sort out matters about their understanding of God’s goodness, graciousness, and mercy, there is a domestic influence to contend with.
What kind of father did you have growing up? Did you have a father growing up? If you had a dad in or out of the house growing up, what kind of dad was he? Like it or not, a youngster’s impressions of God, His existence, His nature, His attributes are profoundly influenced by that youngster’s relationship with, or the absence of a relationship with, dad.
Thus, no unsaved individual’s understanding of God is spot-on accurate. And many Christians have a severely distorted understanding of the nature of the God with whom they have to do.[5] This is the consequence of your nature, the spiritual assaults aimed at you to deceive and misinform you, and the environment you grew up in, with your father figure being crucially important. Other factors affect your God consciousness and convictions, but these are among the most obviously relevant.
Writing to the Corinthian congregation, the Apostle Paul noted in his first letter that God’s grace is available, was available, and in the future would be available to them, First Corinthians 1.4-9. This understood, that God’s grace is available to you through various means, the issue for the believer is your will and the way to avail yourself of God’s grace. Do you desire God’s grace, and are you willing to employ the various means God provides to obtain His grace?[6]
History is full of remarkable Christians who are displayed as trophies of God’s grace despite debilitating circumstances and spiritual liabilities that were overcome for them to end up godly saints with a wholesome and Scriptural view of the Triune God they worshiped and served faithfully before their home going. Thus, depravity is a real issue that God’s grace overcomes. Ignorance is a real issue that God’s grace overcomes. And a terrible father figure is a real issue that God’s grace overcomes.
You may be aware of such problems in your life that are associated with the formation of your opinions about or perceptions of God. Of course, since God is perfect in every way, the problem cannot be God. Therefore, the problem must be with you and with me. That means our understanding and comprehension of God can always benefit from some improvement. If that is your desire, you are in for a treat.
We will look at the Colossian letter. As Paul determined to help that far-off body of believers from his Roman imprisonment, those congregants he seems to have never met in person, maybe we can benefit from God’s Word and understand a little better what our relationship with Him should be and can become.
For centuries Bible students have tried to identify the particular form of false teaching opposed by Paul in Colossians. In reality, no one knows for sure. The apostle does not name names or explain particulars, since they would have been well-known to the letter’s original recipients, and his greater concern was teaching the correcting truth. We can, however, piece together the general shape of the heresy threatening them by observing Paul’s counter-arguments. Growth in historical studies has also provided more understanding of the cultural and religious background of the first few centuries AD, which has helped us make sense of the problem in Colossae.
First, a note on the word “heresy.” Heresy has become a loaded and emotional term in our culture. It often pictures medieval torture chambers or people burning at stake. In discussions of the Bible or theological usage, it means no such thing. Heresy defined means “teaching, doctrine, or practice that is a departure from revealed truth.” Heresies are errors that arise from within or infiltrate from without the ranks of professing Christians.
Keep in mind that every disagreement among Christians does not constitute heresy. The term refers to departures from the truth regarding the most important foundational truths of the Bible. Some examples would include the nature of God, the person and work of Jesus Christ, the fact and meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection, the Bible as the Word of God, and how salvation is received (by faith alone in Christ alone).
Every cult is labeled as such because it denies most or all of the biblical teaching on these major issues. On the other hand, denominations are Christian groups that disagree over some issues, while conservative groups agree on what we might refer to as the cardinal doctrines of the faith. Therefore, “the Colossian heresy” refers to the particular brand of serious false teaching that was disturbing the believers in that assembly.
A leading characteristic of the false teaching in Colossae was the devaluation of Jesus Christ. This can be seen in the letter in two ways: 1. Paul’s counter-arguments about the supremacy of Christ. There is nothing taught in Colossians that can’t be found in Paul’s other letters, but in no other passage is there such a forceful and concentrated emphasis on the deity and supremacy of Christ as in Colossians 1.15-22. Then, in Colossians 2.9, Paul asserts the deity of Christ in unmistakable language:
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”
Who is Jesus Christ? “God,” says Paul. And not just “partly” God or a “semi-God.” All that is God can be found now and forever incarnate in the Person of Jesus Christ. Paul is trying to make it impossible to misunderstand that Jesus Christ is God and that He is supreme over all things. 2. Clear warnings against deception and encouragements to stay firmly grounded in Christ. Paul expressed his concern that while the Colossians had begun well in Christ, some of them seem to have moved away. In explaining the redeeming work of Christ, Paul said the result is that believers can stand
“In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight,”
Colossians 1.22, but then adds a disclaimer in the next verse:
“If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.”
In other words, Paul can confidently state how they stand in the Lord’s eyes providing they haven’t moved on to some other “gospel” than the one Paul teaches. Positively, Paul expresses his hope and prayer to the Colossians,
2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The central warning of Colossians is 2.8:
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”
Whatever the false teachers were saying, they were devaluing the person and role of Jesus Christ in their doctrines. Paul will not have it, and his letter is a straightforward defense of the position the Lord should have in believers’ minds and hearts.[7]
With that background, let us begin by reading our text for this message from God’s Word, Colossians 1.1-8. When you find that passage, please stand to read along silently while I read the passage aloud:
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,
5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;
8 Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
Paul opens his letter by providing for the Colossian congregation three aspects of the proper relationship a Christian has with God:
THE FIRST ASPECT OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP IS WITH THE FATHER.
Verses 1-3:
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.
The Colossians were influenced by a group of individuals who subscribed to the notion that matter was inherently evil. They knew there was wickedness in the world, but they had been influenced, they had been deceived, into believing that the source of this wickedness they observed and practiced was matter, physical reality, even their bodies, rather than their own sin nature. This led to a distorted perception of God, the Father. Gnostic heretics in Colosse supposed that if matter is evil, then a good God could not have made evil matter. This is because One who is good cannot be the Creator of evil. Since human beings are partly matter, obviously, then God, the Father, they then concluded, couldn’t possibly be much interested in humanity. Many people continue to believe things similar to first-century Gnostic notions to this today. God is up there and I’m down here. How could He possibly be interested in me? The Deism of Benjamin Franklin and others of his era had such imaginations. Another derivative of such thinking is that God is concerned with me doing this and not doing that. All He cares about is spoiling my fun. The way some fathers relate to their children, it is not at all difficult to explain why they imagine such a God as that.
Paul addressed those errant beliefs in the introduction of his letter.
Verse 1:
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.”
Apostle means sent one. Paul identified himself as a special envoy of Jesus Christ, an apostle. He also indicated that he was an apostle by the will of God. Of course, by implication, this puts to rest the absurd notion that God is too remote to be concerned with His creation and His creatures. He was concerned enough to call and commission the Apostle Paul. It also opens the door to the idea that God has a specific will for the lives of each of His children.
Verse 2:
“Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father.”
Very interesting this word grace. It means a free gift. It is an insult to think you should work for someone who wants to give you something for nothing. It dishonors that person to try to pay for a gift. Of course, in the minds of Paul’s readers is the suggestion, the implication, that if this God he refers to gives free gifts to His children, then He must love them. Grace has to do with the giving of the gift, and peace is the result. What is the gift that is given? Faith, according to Ephesians 2.8. Eternal life, according to Romans 6.23, “through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Verse three:
“We give thanks to God ... the Father ... praying always for you.”
This is staggering. Paul and Timothy actually thank God for things they receive. And they pray, too? That must mean that Paul and Timothy actually asked God for things and then when they received answers to their prayers, they thanked God for what they had received. That must mean they were actually in communication with the Creator of the universe on an intimate basis.
Paul revealed some things about his Father in heaven in these first three verses. First, God is concerned with the intimate details of our lives. He has a will for your life that He wants you to follow. Paul did just that. Timothy, as well. There is no mention of Paul’s or Timothy’s will at all in the first three verses. Only God’s will. Second, grace and peace come from God. God, the Father is the Giver of good and perfect gifts, James 1.17. Peace can result only from a proper relationship with Him. This is because, prior to conversion, we are God’s enemies, Romans 5.10. Third, we can communicate with our Father. Yes! We talk to Him in prayer. We ask what we will. We thank Him for His blessings. Do you have any care about God’s will for your life? Do you realize God is the source of all blessings? Do you take note of your many blessings from God? Do you talk to your heavenly Father and thank Him? The Colossian Church was at risk of letting these things slip out of their lives, if they ever had them in their brief Christian experience. Have you let these important things, realizations, gratitudes, slip out of your life with respect to the Father?
THE NEXT ASPECT OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP IS WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Again, in this regard the Colossians were experiencing difficulties. These outside forces and influences were affecting some believers. Those believers were, in turn, relating those unfounded and unscriptual notions, heresies, to other believers. An example is in regard to the person of Christ. I have already mentioned the beliefs of some, that matter was evil. Is it then possible, some reasoned, for the Christ to be a man? Absolutely not. The Bible must be wrong! The incarnation? Nonsense, some concluded. It was speculated by the Gnostics that Jesus was the natural son of Joseph and Mary who had simply come to the truth. Then, when He was baptized, the Christ descended upon Him and indwelt Him until His crucifixion. What such unscriptural nonsense does is completely destroy the blood atonement of Christ upon the cross of Calvary. It also destroys the believer’s relationship with Christ, since not all ignorant believers had attained the supposedly superior knowledge of these heretics.
In verses 2-7, Paul vindicates the truth:
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,
5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ.
In verse three, Paul connected the believers he was seeking to help to this Christ the heretics talked about. He wrote,
“To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ ....”
Then, at the end of the verse, he identified this Christ as the Lord Jesus Christ:
“Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Again, in verse three, Paul referred to the Lord Jesus Christ:
“We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In verse 4, it is Christ Jesus:
“Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.”
Then, finally, in verse 7, it is Christ again:
“Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ.”
Notice how forcefully Paul emphasized the truth that this Christ, who the Gnostics were thoroughly confused about, is none other than that man from Galilee named Jesus.
Even as he established the identity of the Lord, he straightened out some other problems they had. He emphasized the fact that God was indeed the Father of our Lord, in verse 3:
“We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
He pointed out, in verses 4 and 5, that faith is in Jesus Christ:
“Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.”
Faith in this Man produces love toward all the saints, not just the intellectuals or the super spiritual ones:
“and of the love which ye have to all the saints.”
Finally, he referred to hope laid up for them in heaven. This hope is none other than Christ at His Second Coming, verse 5:
“For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.”
In verse 7, he referred to Epaphras, a man known to them, as a minister of Christ:
“As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ.”
Thus, God’s man was not someone who spent time on the intricacies of the spirituality of just a few enlightened men. That is what the heretics did, like the Church of Scientology focusing their efforts on Hollywood movie stars. But God’s men are ministers of Christ to everyone.
How about your relationship to this Christ? He was all God and all Man and at the same time both. He still is. He is the Son of God. Do you have faith in Christ? Is He the Object of your faith? Do you love the brethren, as a result of that faith? Do you have hope? That is, do you look for His soon return? Are you a minister of Christ? Do you serve Him? Are the motions of your religion really done to serve Him? Or are you just religiously busy?
THERE WAS A THIRD ASPECT OF THE RELATIONSHIP MENTIONED BY PAUL.
It was how the Colossian Church members showed their love:
“Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit,”
verse 8.
The heretics among them said little about the Holy Spirit except that they believed Him to be nothing more than a kind of energy wave proceeding from the Father. This is very similar to the position the Jehovah’s Witnesses take today. I’ll never understand how a wave of energy can be grieved, or blasphemed, or give gifts to men.[8] No, the Holy Spirit is a Person.[9] The Spirit of God is a member of the Trinity.
Then, there is “Love in the Spirit.” “Love” is one part of the fruit of the Spirit.[10] Love contributes to the cumulative evidence that concludes with the assurance of your salvation. Little other proof is needed if love is there. “In the Spirit” means to be in the realm and sphere of influence of the Spirit of God and under the control of the Spirit of God. That understood, Paul says comparatively little about the Holy Spirit. Why so? Because Paul was Spirit-filled. Most of what Paul writes is concerned with the Savior because the Spirit seeks to exalt the Savior, not Himself, the Lord said back in John 16.13.
Do you have the fruit of the Spirit? It includes love. Do you love others? Do you love those you don’t like? That is what the fruit of the Spirit, including love, does. Do you walk in the Spirit? Does the Spirit lead you and direct you? He wants to.
Paul brought the Colossians back to the solid foundation of the Trinity. He, in his introduction, communicated to them that they must have an appreciation of their vital relationship to God, the three Divine Persons of the Triune Godhead.
God created the heavens and the earth, but He is not your Father until you are born again. If you don’t know what it means to be born again, I suggest we sit down and resort to the Word of God concerning the subject, because the Lord Jesus did say to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.”
Jesus is both God and Man. To be saved from your sins results from your faith in Him. Maybe your faith is waning. Maybe you don’t love the brethren. This challenge is for you.
The Holy Spirit produces love in the life of a Christian. If you are hardheaded and stubborn the Holy Spirit doesn’t have free course in your life. If you anger people and refuse to ask for their forgiveness, then the Spirit is perhaps in you, but you aren’t walking in the Spirit with any real consistency.
Folks, if anything stands between you and your Maker, I urge you to settle it ... now. If your understanding of the good and gracious God does not reflect what we have seen from Paul, let me urge you to subject your opinions about God to the correction of the Bible. It contains, after all, God’s description of Himself.
Of course, what must learned of God, about God, and regarding God, cannot be learned passively. You must get after it. In John 7.17, Jesus said,
“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”
Meaning? The key to knowing, then, is doing His will. If you do nothing. If you are spiritually inactive, you will never come to appreciate God as He is and your relationship to Him, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
__________
[1] “Bruce Almighty,” released in 2003, and “Oh, God!” released in 1977, are but two examples.
[2] Ephesians 2.1, 11-12
[3] James 1.22; 1 Timothy 4.1; 2 Timothy 4.3-4; 1 John 3.7;
[4] Romans 1.19-32
[5] Hebrews 4.13
[6] The means for obtaining God’s grace includes but it not limited to prayer, Bible reading and study, exhortation from other believers, instruction from Gospel ministers’ preaching and teaching, and the gathering of the Church congregation, etc.
[7] https://christianrep.com/blog/2013/02/15/what-was-the-colossian-heresy/
[8] Ephesians 4.30; 1 Thessalonians 5.19; 1 Corinthians 12.8-11
[9] He possesses intellect (Acts 5.3, 9), sensibility (Ephesians 4.30; 1 Thessalonians 5.19), and will (Acts 13.2; 1 Corinthians 12.11)
[10] Galatians 5.22
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