Colossians: Outline
Posted by Brance on April 6th, 2008 filed in Colossians
This morning was a great time of worship! I thoroughly enjoyed the reading aloud of God’s Word together. To have all of us crammed in that little room, taking turns reading the Scripture aloud, really uplifted my spirit. Here are my notes from this morning, on our opening study of the book of Colossians. If you missed this morning, this will catch you up on what we did. If you were there, this will still be good review prior to next week’s study. Here we go…
NOTE: Photo used courtesy of HolyLandPhotos.com
As we begin our study through the book of Colossians, we start by doing a little background check on the recipients of the letter. We learn that Colossae was situated on the banks of the Lycus river, only 10 or so miles from Laodicea. It was located about 100 miles from Ephesus. This area, often referred to as Phrygia or Asia Minor, is located in modern day Turkey.
It had once been an important trade city in the region, but it’s importance had diminished by the time Paul was on the scene.
Looking back on our study in the book of Acts, we see that Paul never visited Colossae. He did spend considerable time there and due to his ministry in Ephesus, the Gospel spread throughout the entire region.
This [Paul's teaching] continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. ~ Acts 19.10
A couple of important questions regarding the text that must be asked at the outset of the study of a book in the Bible are these.
- Who wrote the book?
- Who was it written to?
- Why was it written?
We now know the book was written by the Apostle Paul, to the church in Colossae. To discover the reason he wrote the book, we’re going to have to read it. Most of the time Paul’s letters were written to correct some doctrinal error, correct false teaching, discipline poor behavior, or answer questions from the Church. Often the letter was written after a report was given to Paul detailing the situation that existed and needed his attention. The difficulty for us lies in the fact that we have Paul’s response to the situation, or answers to the questions, but we don’t have the questions, or the report concerning the situation.
As we read the letter we should be looking for the cause of his writing. In this case we determined that Paul wrote in response to a report given him by Epaphras. The report must have detailed some doctrinal errors in the church as Paul’s primary concern seems to be correcting three main errors.
- Jewish legalism
- Pagan philosophy (proto-Gnosticism)
- Incorrect understanding of Christ
In answering these concerns, Paul stresses the absolute supremacy, and sufficiency, of Christ. In fact, the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ is the main theme of the book.
After reading, and discussing the occasion for the writing of the book, we outlined it on the whiteboard. Here’s the outline.
Colossians
- Introduction (1:1-14)
- Greeting (1:1-2)
- Prayer of thanksgiving (1:3-8)
- Prayer of petition (1:9-14)
- Supremacy of Christ (1:15-23)
- The scope of Christ’s supremacy (1:15-18)
- The basis of Christ’s supremacy (1:19-23)
- Paul’s Labors (1:24-2:7)
- Suffering (1:24)
- Preaching (1:25-29)
- Intercession (2:1-5)
- Encouragement (2:6-7)
- Warnings against errors (2:8-23)
- False philosophies (2:8-15)
- Legalism (2:16-17)
- Worship of angels (2:18-19)
- Asceticism (2:20-23)
- Christian Living (3:1 - 4.6)
- General philosophy (3:1-4)
- Guidelines for Christian living (3:5 - 4:6)
- Death of the old man (3:5-11)
- The new man (3:12-17)
- Relationships (3:18 - 4:1)
- Prayer (4:2-4)
- Witnessing (4:5-6)
- Conclusion (4:7-18)
- Letter of Reference (4:7-9)
- Greetings from the team (4:10-15)
- Final instructions (4:16-17)
- Closing (4:18)
Beginning next Sunday, we’ll start drilling down and taking a closer look at each of these sections. We’ll learn some great Scriptural truths we can apply in our own lives in 2008, and we’ll learn a little bit about how to study the Bible in the process.
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