| COLOSSIANS |
| Explanatory Footnotes |
| 2:16 The Search for Wholeness Legalism in Paul's day concerned such issues as diet, festival days, and religious ceremony. In these two paragraphs, Paul tells why such rules that appear "spiritual" can actually lead a person away from God. Then, in chapter 3, he details what holy living should look like. In his letter, Paul portrays the Christian life very optimistically. The Christians in Colosse were searching for "fullness" in the same way modern people work to become "holistic" or "self-actualized." After first affirming that Jesus contains all the fullness of God, Paul asserts that true fullness can be found only in Christ (2:10). 3:1 Familiar Words If Colossians strikes you as vaguely familiar, don't be surprised. Paul's letters tend to follow a pattern: a greeting, a prayer, some doctrine, and a practical applicatoin of how we should live. Colossians sounds especially familiar because many of its verses have close parallels to Ephesians. In fact, of Ephesians 155 verses, 78 apprear in some form in Colossians. 4:12 Prominent Names in Colosse Characteristically, Paul ended his letters with personal messages. Epaphras, who is mentioned twice in Colossians (1:7; 4:12), served with Paul and may have founded the church there. The short book of Philemon (verse 23) mentions him as a fellow-prisoner with Paul. The main characters in that book, Philemon and his slave Onesimus, also came from Colosse, and Paul refers to a hoped-for visit to Colosse in his letter to Philemon (verse 22). |