Tonight we conclude our series of evening sermons on Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Before moving on to something else, we’ll spend two Lord’s Day evenings considering the related letter of Paul to Philemon, one of the members of the Colossian cong…
After an introductory summary description of Christian ethics in 3:1-17, Paul addressed six groups of Christians in regard to the specific responsibilities that belonged to their station in life: wives and husbands, children and parents, and slaves a…
We are in that section of Paul’s ethical instructions dealing with the particular callings of Christians given their various stations in life. We have read and considered his words to husbands and wives and to parents and children. Now we w…
We are descending from Paul’s grand summary of the Christian life in 3:1-17 to more specific instructions to Christians in respect to their various stations of life. We pointed out last time that it was natural for Paul to begin with the home, where …
Paul has concluded his summary of the Christian life. Now, as in a number of his other letters, he descends to details, as the Puritans used to put it, “breaking grace up small.” And he begins, where our lives begin, in our homes. And in the home t…
We have looked twice already at this paragraph, first to notice the typical way in which Paul outlines the practice of the Christian life: first as the outgrowth or emanation of God’s gracious salvation and our union with Christ in his wor…
Last time we considered the opening four verses of chapter three, the introduction to the ethical section of Paul’s letter, his application of the theology of Christ and salvation he gave us in chapters 1 and 2 to the daily life and conduct of Christ…
Our last time in Colossians was the last Lord’s Day evening of September. So let’s take a quick glance over the first two chapters and remind ourselves of the ground we have so far covered. The opening thanksgiving, typical in Paul’s letters but more…
We have just concluded a magisterial summary of salvation as the work of Christ on the cross; how at the cross he both satisfied divine justice for our sins and disarmed the spiritual powers that otherwise keep human beings in captivity. But now, s…
We read vv. 6-12 last time, but I’ll read them again to remind you of the context.
Text Comment
v.6
By the way Paul’s verb is “walk.” If you remember one of the defects of the NIV as a translation of the New Testament was that i…
Before Paul begins explicitly to interact with the false teaching that was troubling the Colossian church, he exhorts his listeners to continue in the teaching they had received from Epaphras. The verses we are about to read, especially the first…
Following the salutation and opening thanksgiving in vv. 1-14, we have read Paul’s great Christology in vv. 15-20 and a recollection of God’s work of grace in the lives of these Colossian believers. He didn’t know these people personally but he knew …
We are taking the letter paragraph by paragraph as I said we would. We have come to this short paragraph, separate and distinct from the short paragraph that comes before it . After his identification of Jesus Christ in vv. 15-20, Paul turned to…
In v. 14 Paul mentioned the Father’s “beloved Son.” That reference to the Lord prompted an extensive identification of Jesus Christ that then proves to serve as a transition to the main argument of the letter. That introduction of Jesus Christ which …
Now you will appreciate that it is possible to preach the entire Bible out of any part of the Bible. I could spend years preaching through Colossians and be able to justify every sermon as a legitimate exposition of this letter. I gave you a long ser…
Tonight we begin a new series of sermons on Paul’s letter to the Colossians. I have preached through Colossians before, but that series began in February of 1990, more than twenty two years ago. Colossians is a particularly interesting letter, as are…