Additional Thoughts on Colossians

COL 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
I want to mention three truths mentioned in this one verse.

1st As a Christian you should walk worthy of the Lord. Our walk is to be pleasing to our Lord. This is almost unheard of in Christian circles today. Living in sin is not walking worthy of the Lord. Drinking booze, drugs, gossiping, cheating, gambling, and the like. Watching unmarried people having sex or even simulating sex on T.V. is not walking worthy of the Lord. To walk worthy of the Lord you must live separated from the world. Yes you must live in the world, and yet at the same time you need to be not of the world. You must have interaction with the world, but not actively involved in the sin of the world. Jesus ate with sinners, however, Jesus never condoned or partook in their sin.

2nd As a Christian you are to be fruitful in every good work. Christians are to be busy working for the Lord. Christians are to be involved in getting out the Gospel. Both personally locally and also worldwide. Christians should be giving to the Lord’s work. It does take money to print and deliver tracts and John and Romans. Christians are NOT to be just pew sitters. Christians are to be fruitful in every good work. And that would also include helping the poor and fatherless.

3rd As a Christian you are to be increasing in the knowledge of God. A Christian is not to stay a babe. You know it is a sad thing, but most Christians have never read the Bible thru from cover to cover. Not even once! That is more than sad. How do you think that is going to go over at the judgment seat of Christ? There really will be no excuse that can be given. Some might think that I don’t have time. That is not going to fly. Most Christians spend more time watching T.V. commercials or football games than reading the Bible. Time is not the problem. The problem is a heart problem. The word of God is clear. A Christian is to be increasing in the knowledge of God. We are not to increase just a little and stop. No, we are to be always increasing in the knowledge of God. You should never stop learning and growing closer to the Lord.

As Christians we are to walk worthy, be doing good works, and studying.


COL 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
COL 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

This is talking about Jesus. We have redemption through the blood of Jesus.

COL 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Still talking about Jesus. He was manifested in the flesh. Jesus said, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father”

COL 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Jesus is still the subject in verse 16, and it declares that Jesus created all things. Everything was created for Jesus and by Jesus.

COL 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
The subject is still Jesus in verse 17 and it declares that Jesus existed before all things, and not only that but by Him all things consist. Jesus is the one who holds everything together.

COL 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

The “head of the body, the church” is talking about Jesus. And Jesus is to have the preeminence in all things. Jesus was not just a man. Jesus is God. He existed before all things. He created all things. He holds all things together. We need to give all the glory to Jesus. Let Jesus have the preeminence in all things in your life.


COL 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,

This opening to this letter is jam packed full of truth. “Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ” We know exactly who it is that Paul is working for and who Paul belongs to. “by the will of God” God does call men into the ministry. God does have a will for each of our lives. In Paul’s case it was to be an apostle. “and Timotheus our brother” When we get saved we become brothers and sisters in Christ. We are now in the same family.

COL 1:2 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.

“To the saints and faithful” Christians can and should be faithful. These Christians are an example to us. “brethren in Christ which are at Colosse” Believers are still our brethren even when they live in a distant city. “Grace be unto you, and peace” This should be our desire for other believers. We should want the best for them and there is nothing better than the grace of God. “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” Grace and peace in our hearts comes from God. He gives it. It is not dependent upon circumstances. His Grace is above circumstances. When we have problems there is no one better to go to other than God.


COL 1:3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

“We give thanks” Christians should be a thankful people. “to God and the Father” We are to pray to the Father, not to the Spirit and not to some idol like Mary. “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” Here we have two members of the trinity mentioned. There is only one God but three persons. They are one and they are co equal. However they do have different positions. “our Lord Jesus” He is to be our Lord. That means He is above us. He is the master. We are to follow His instructions. “praying always for you” What a great example. Paul says they were praying for these believers who were in a far distant town. They cared enough about them to take the time out and pray for them. And not just once in a while. Praying always. That means over and over again. They did not just think about them once in a while. There was a consistency about their prayers. What a jammed packed opening to this letter. I think sometimes we read the Bible too fast, and often we do not pay as much attention as we should to the opening verses of a letter.


COL 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.
COL 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
COL 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

As believers we are complete in Jesus. Jesus is the head of all power. Nothing else is needed. In fact in verse 8 is a warning for us to heed. God warns us to not be spoiled. That is NOT spoiled as in pampered too much. No it is spoiled as in ruined.
God warns us to not be spoiled through philosophy. Christians do not need philosophy, Christians need Christianity. We hear the world’s philosophy all the time. It is taught in our schools and colleges. We hear it on the news. The world’s philosophy is interwoven in the TV shows. We are warned about this because it can easily creep into how we think and it can ruin us. Before long we are thinking and acting like the world and our testimony is ruined and we are not living for Christ very well at all. We need to be on our guard against it.

It is not only the world’s philosophy that we have to be on guard against, but the context here is the philosophy of false teachers and their deceit.
They will use Bible verses but they will twist them and take them out of context. When they do this they are teaching their philosophy instead of simply teaching what the Bible teaches. They will add their philosophy to God’s Word.

They will also add traditions to God’s Word and thus spoil people. The largest group that I know of that does this is the Catholics. They teach that traditions of men are not only equal to but above God’s Word even though God says otherwise. They teach many things that are not in the Bible at all. In fact a lot of what they teach actually goes against the Bible. They teach traditions when God clearly says to beware and not be spoiled by traditions. God says that we do not need traditions and rituals because we are complete in Christ.

We do not need Mary because we are complete in Christ. We do not need confirmation because we are complete in Christ. We do not need their traditions that were made up by men because we are complete in Christ.
You need to Beware.


COL 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
COL 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
COL 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
COL 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Before you trust in Jesus you are dead in your sins. When you get saved, all your trespasses are forgiven. All of them. The ones that you have committed in the past as well as the ones you will commit in the future. All your sins were paid for on the cross and at that time all of your sins were in the future. God knows the beginning from the end. He took all your sins and nailed them to the cross. Verse 14 talks about the ordinances that were also nailed to the cross. They were done away with. Verse 16 mentions some of them. For example they had rules on what they could eat, they had many holy days that they had to keep, and also mentioned is the Sabbath days. Having to keep the Sabbath was done away with. It was nailed to the cross of Christ. The Bible clearly teaches that we do not have to go to church on Saturday. We go to church on Sunday as a remembrance and in honor of the fact that Christ rose from the dead on Sunday. He has freed us from the ordinances of the Old Testament. They had a purpose before Christ came and went to the cross.

COL 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Their purpose was to point to the Christ to come. They were done away with and nailed to the cross when what they pictured came to pass. Don’t be fooled by the Saturday worshippers.


COL 2:4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.

To beguile is to deceive; to impose on by artifice or craft. To delude. Make no mistake, there are people who are set on deceiving Christians. They come in all kinds, and they teach a wide range of heresies. And they can sound real good. Many of them are very good speakers. They can tell good stories and can make their false teachings sound real good. The Bible says they use enticing words.

COL 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

Paul was not with the Colossians, but he thought a lot about them and cared for them. Paul would hear how they were doing and this caused him to have joy in his heart. He had joy because he heard of the stedfastness of their faith in Christ. They would not be moved; even with enticing words.

COL 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

Paul encourages them to continue to walk in Jesus. That is what we should all do. First receive Jesus and then don’t ever walk away. Don’t be tempted into back sliding, and the context of these verses is to not be deceived to follow some false teaching.

COL 2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

After receiving Jesus we are to get rooted in Christ. We are to be built up spiritually. Grow up to not be babes in Christ. Someone who knows what The Book says and can tell when someone’s teaching does not line up. We NEED to be established in the faith. New Christians are to be taught and then they are to abound therein. After being taught, then we need to walk the walk. And we are to do it with thanksgiving. We should be thankful that someone taught us. We are to be thankful that we know enough to spot error. Falling into error dishonors our Lord. We should be thankful that we know enough to keep from that. When we fall into error it can influence others to fall into it with us. We should be thankful that we stand firm so that we don’t hurt others.
The yardstick for truth is not how well a person speaks. It is not how nice they are, or how great their personality is. The ONLY yardstick for truth is God’s written word. Know the Book, Stand for the faith, and do not be moved. Don’t fall for enticing words.


COL 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
COL 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Once you are saved you are a new creature in Christ. Your attitude towards this world is to change. Once you are saved, you are a son. You have changed families. You are no longer a son of Satan. Instead you have become a son of God. You are now a citizen of another country. You are only a pilgrim here just passing thru.
Therefore you are to set your affection on things above. Your affection is not to be on things on the earth.
Our affection should not be on TV, football, new cars, a job with more power, hording money or things. Our affection is to be on things above.

If your affection is truly set on things above, then you are going to become concerned with the souls of men. You are going to become concerned with doing more and more for the cause of Christ and you will become less and less concerned about the things of this world and what you can get.


COL 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
COL 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
COL 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

A saved person is to be different. They are to put off anger, wrath, and malice. Don’t get angry and don’t get even. That was the normal way to act before you got saved, not after. You are also to talk different. No more taking God’s name in vain, no more cussing. No more filthy communication coming out of your mouth. No more dirty jokes, no more telling lies, no more gossiping. You are to put off the old man, and that means that you are not to do the same rotten things that the old man did.

There is to be a change in you. You are to replace the old man with the new man. Before you got saved all you had was the fleshly sin nature (referred to here as the old man). When you get saved you receive a new Spiritual nature. You now have both natures. You have to decide to deny the old man and the lusts thereof and instead walk in the Spirit. This is what God wants you to do. Putting off the old man honors the Lord. The testimony of Christians would be greater if they would put off the old man and put on the new man.


COL 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Many people have the mistaken idea that idolatry is only worshipping statues. While that is certainly idolatry, that is not the only kind of idolatry. Here we find out that covetousness is also idolatry. Yes Idolatry is very much alive and well in America. Covetousness is defined as, a strong desire of obtaining and possessing something. The thing desired might not even be a bad thing in itself. The sin comes from wanting what is not yours. The thing desired could be anything. It could be another man’s wife or it could be a piece of property that is not yours. It could be a car or a bigger house or a new suit. It can be big things and it can be small things. This kind of covetousness which is idolatry is a sin for many reasons. One it takes your desires that should be on God and places them on something else.

The something else is getting the attention and the desires of your heart that should be going to God. The idol in a way becomes a replacement. It takes a piece of your heart that God should have. Another reason that it is a sin is that when you are coveting you have quit trusting in God. You are wanting something that God in His wisdom has chosen not to give you. We need to have the attitude that if God wants me to have that thing, then He will give it to me, and if not, then we need to be content with what we have. We are not to covet what is not ours for it is the sin of idolatry.


COL 4:3 Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:
COL 4:4 That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

Again we see a connection in the Word of God between prayer and God’s work. Paul writes and asks this group of believers to pray for them. He asks them to pray that a door would be opened that he could preach Christ.
God can open all kinds of doors of opportunity to preach Christ. Doors that we can’t even imagine. And we are instructed to pray that He will open doors. And in this verse we see specifically that we are to pray for those who are preaching the Word of God.

Paul also asks that they pray for him to have the right words to speak. We are to pray and ask God that He will give preachers the right words to speak. Paul also writes, “as I ought to speak.” When you are preaching it is not only the words that you say, but how you say them. The Word of God is to be proclaimed with power, but not out of meanness. The truth is to be given in love.

As Christians we pray for a lot of things, as we should. But please do not forget to pray for those who are giving out the Word of God.


COL 4:1 Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

Saved employers are to act accordingly to their employees. You are to give to them what is just and equal. If a position is worth 36k a year, then you are to pay them 36k a year. If the job is worth 22k a year, then pay them 22k a year. Don’t trick them into working for less. Don’t delay the raises and promotions that they have earned. Give them the breaks that are appropriate. You are to treat your employees justly. I am NOT advocating giving them a free ride in any way shape or form. We are talking about doing what is right and just.

A saved employer should always remember that he has a boss in Heaven that is watching his every move. He should treat his employees like Jesus is watching because Jesus is watching.


COL 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
COL 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Always speak with grace. And this speech is to be seasoned with salt. That means you tell the truth. But tell the truth with the grace of Jesus in your heart. And yes salt does sting a wound. The loving gospel of Jesus will be like throwing salt into the wound of the lost. We need to know how to answer every man verse 6 says. Do it with wisdom, do it with grace, tell the truth, be prepared ahead of time on how you would give an answer.

More Lessons on Colossians