The Answer to the Question.—Paul is in no doubt as to the supremacy of Christ. All his argument is to show the Deity of Christ. He holds "aloft the true object of faith namely, the supreme Divine Savior Himself, in opposition to speculation which would degrade and deny to Him the eminence which belongs to Him" (Col. 1:15-20; Eph. 1:10, 20-23; 3-9; Philippians 2:5-11).
Present Day Attention has been focused upon this matter of the supremacy of Christ. Was he human or divine? The arguments of Paul still hold good for a stout belief in the Divine Christ. The writings of the Great Apostle are all characterized by his grasp of fundamental things; they serve their purpose for the modern church in bringing it back to Jesus Christ as the only Savior, as they also in times past corrected the errors of the early church.
THE WRITING OF THE EPISTLES
The Interest in these Epistles is heightened by the fact that they were written during Paul's first Roman imprisonment of which Luke gives all too brief an account (Acts 28:30,31). They have been called from this fact, "The Epistles of the First Imprisonment." It is a marvel that Paul with his surroundings could have written in such a masterly way and handled such lofty themes in a manner which has commanded the attention of the thinking world ever since his day and age.
The Sending of the Epistles—Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians were evidently dispatched from Rome by the same messenger, Tychicus (Col. 4:7, 9; Eph. 6:21). Philippians was sent by the hand of Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25; 4:18).
THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS
The Church at Colossæ—The city of Colossæ was situated about 110 miles east of Ephesus where Paul spent so long a time during his third missionary journey (Acts 19:10). We have no record of any visit of Paul to this city or how the church was founded (Col. 2:1). It is supposed that Ephaphras might have organized this church (Col. 1:7).
The Occasion (and purpose) of this Epistle was evidently the coming of Epaphras to Rome to consult Paul about the affairs of this church (1:7, 8).
In chapter 2:8-23 we have some account of the things which were troubling this Christian community and drawing them away from faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. False teachers had appeared at Colossæ who were confusing the minds of the Christian converts. The starting point of the error of teaching was the old oriental dogma that matter is evil and the source of evil (2:8), that as God is good the world could not have come directly from God. To bridge the chasm between God and the matter of the world a long chain of intermediate beings was conceived to exist. This doctrine played havoc with the simplest moral conceptions for if matter is evil, and its source, then man's sin is not in his will, but in his body. Redemption from sin can come only through asceticism and the mortification of the flesh.
The result of all this was a lowering of the dignity of Christ, taking away His saving power and the "substitution of various ascetic abstinences and ritualistic practices (2:20) for trust in Him, the worship of angels (2:18), and a reveling in dreams and visions." "This was kindred to a type of speculation which later became rife under the name of Gnosticism."