Colossians is another Prison Epistle written by Paul while imprisoned in Rome around 62-64 A.D. (The rest of the Prison Epistles are Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon.) The Theme is The Preeminence of Christ. Paul did not formally plant the church in Colosse, as he had never personally been there. More than likely it was planted by someone who became Christian in Ephesus while Paul was ministering there. Colosse was about 100 miles from Ephesus. At one time it was a great city, but began to decay during the time Paul wrote the letter and soon was destroyed by an earthquake after the letter.

This book was closely related to the book of Philemon. It probably was delivered at the same time as Philemon by Onesimus. It was also similar to Ephesians, but whereas Ephesians was written to teach about the Church, Colossians was written to teach about Jesus. During this time in Colosse there were numerous heresies sprouting up concerning the nature of Jesus. Gnosticism was on the rise, combined with Jewish legalism(Judizers).

The Gnostics had a mystical understanding of Jesus, believing Him to be less that God. They saw Him as a Phantom. They saw him as a step in the progression from God to man, rejecting His deity as well as His Humanity. This heretical philosophy was combined with legalism which held to the teaching of someone could somehow earn status with God by keeping the outward rules and regulations of the Law. Paul responded to this heresy by boldly and simply presenting Jesus Christ as The Creator God, “By Him all things were created…” (Col 1:16). Paul declared Jesus to be completely God and completely man, as he said, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily…” (Col 2:9)

Jesus was not a Ghost or a spirit, nor was He was any less than completely God. Jesus was and is God in a human body. And because He died to fulfill the requirements of the Law, and He is the reality of which the Law was a mere shadow, we must never allow others to judge us according to the outward rituals of the Law (Col 2:16-17).

Colossians continues to instruct on practical application of the truth of who Jesus is and creates a beautiful outline of the Christian life centered around the Person of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.