51) The Book of Colossians

COLOSSIANS is present truth for the Laodicean Christians (Rev. 3:14). The prevalent spirit in the body of Christ prior to the Rapture is the Laodicean attitude of civil rights and personal satisfaction. The words Laodicea and Laodiceans occur seven times in the Scriptures and five occurrences are in the letter to the Colossians. The word Colossians means the punishments. The self-serving attitude of the Laodicean Christian will be punished at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Lot pictures a carnal Christian who will be punished by the complete loss of his works of life. He lost everything in the fire except his soul (1 Cor. 3:15; 2 Peter 2:6-8).

The first half of the epistle to the Colossians contains pertinent doctrinal truth for the spirit of the Laodiceans and the second half contains practical instruction. This is the usual pattern of Paul's writings because doctrine affects practical Christian living. Sound doctrine promotes sound living (Titus 2:1-8). The major doctrine of the Bible is the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Judgment Seat of Christ is the major judgment for the believer in Christ. The ideal standing for the believer at the judgment will be blameless, holy, and unreproveable (Col. 1:21-29; 1 Thess. 5:23). The letter contains 4 chapters and 95 verses.

Paul warned the Colossians of four schools of thought. The Ebionites believed in following the lowly Nazarene and the Sermon on the Mount. They had an improper and unrealistic view of the Lord Jesus Christ as a nice, non-offending, and peace-loving revolutionary. The foolish Essenes believed works of self-denial and self-mutilation warranted eternal life. The Judaizers held to a system of religious fundamentals and standards of the law as a means of spirituality. The philosophers of Alexandria dominated the schools of higher learning. All four schools of heresy still exist with variations. The doctrine of this epistle cautions against these errors.