Colossians and Philemon: A Pastoral and Contextual Commentary

By Brian Wintle and Bruce J. Nicholls

Paul’s epistle to the Colossians was written to a group of Christians who still held on to their past Jewish and pagan traditions alongside their faith in Christ. To help these believers, Paul provided guidance on how to deal with their past, showing them how faith in Christ brings new meaning to their situation. Similarly, in his epistle to Philemon, Paul addresses a culture where slavery was a common practice. He demonstrates the potential when slaves responded to the gospel and turned to Christ. Both of these epistles are extremely relevant to the church in Asia today, especially as it is confronted with syncretism, false teachings and the mistreatment of the less fortunate and marginalized in society.
The Asia Bible Commentary series empowers Christian believers in Asia to read the Bible from within their respective contexts. Holistic in its approach to the text, each exposition of the biblical books combines exegesis and application. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the Body of Christ in Asia by providing pastoral and contextual exposition of every book of the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Langham Global Library
• Release date: May 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781783686063

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Here you have a balanced, insightful, reliable and innovative commentary on two of Paul’s letters. Balanced, for it avoids extreme views and unnecessary technicalities and offers a convincing exegesis of the text in straightforward English. Insightful, because it contains many insights into the text that are unlikely to occur to the Western reader but will readily resonate with readers who have an Asian background. Reliable, for while it interacts with alternative understandings of the text, it always represents informed orthodoxy. Innovative, with its splendid special studies that are particularly relevant to Asian teachers and pastors – such as Apostles and Apostolic Succession and Slavery: Then and Now.

Warmly and highly recommended.

Murray J. Harris, PhD

Professor Emeritus of New Testament Exegesis and Theology,

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, USA

Two eminent scholars with almost a century of collective teaching expertise have successfully excavated Paul’s efforts to build bridges between truth and grace, hope of the future and a victorious present as nascent Christians of the Lycus valley were constrained by faith in the preeimnence of Christ and the fear of their religious past. The sagely duo invest their first-hand knowledge of Asian philosophies and cultures to make the text speak to the context: Anatolia is bridged with Asia! This is a treasure of sagacious reflections, a must-read for pastors, theological educators and anyone who cares to hear God speak to Asians today through the gospel.

Idicheria Ninan, PhD

Professor of New Testament,

South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies, Bangalore, India

COLOSSIANS AND PHILEMON

Asia Bible Commentary Series

Brian Wintle and Bruce Nicholls

General Editor

Federico G. Villanueva

Old Testament Consulting Editors

Yohanna Katanacho, Tim Meadowcroft, Joseph Shao

New Testament Consulting Editors

Steve Chang, Andrew B. Spurgeon, Brian Wintle

© 2019 by Brian Wintle and Bruce Nicholls

Published 2019 by Langham Global Library

an imprint of Langham Publishing

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Langham Partnership

PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 9WZ, UK

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Published in partnership with Asia Theological Association

ATA

QCC PO Box 1454 – 1154, Manila, Philippines

www.ataasia.com

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To my mother, Beryl Charity Wintle, my constant inspiration —Brian Wintle

To my late wife, Kathleen, without whose partnership this work would not have been completed

—Bruce Nicholls

Contents

Cover

Series Preface

AUTHORS’ PREFACE

List of Abbreviations

The Letter to the Colossians

INTRODUCTION

Paul, The Prisoner

Colossae: Its Location And Its People

Christ And The Powers

The Church as the New Society

Summary

OUTLINE

Colossians 1:1–2

1:1 By the Will of God

Apostles and Apostolic Succession

1:2 God’s Holy People

1:2 In Colossae and In Christ

Colossians 1:3–14

1:3–8 Paul Thanks God for the Colossians

1:9–14 Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians

Colossians 1:15–23

The Place of Creedal Confession in Worship

1:15–23 The Supremacy of Christ

Idolatry in the Asian Context

Colossians 1:24 – 2:7

1:24–25 Paul’s Mission to the Gentiles

1:26–29 Paul’s Ministry of the Gospel

2:1–5 Paul’s Concern for the Colossian Christians

2:6–7 Christ Our Life from Beginning to End

Colossians 2:8 – 3:4

2:8–15 Paul’s Defense of the Gospel

2:16–23 Warnings against Religious Syncretism

Colossians 3:5 – 4:6

3:5–11 Dead to the Old and Alive to the New

3:12–17 Do Everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ

3:18 – 4:1 Responsible Partnerships in Christian Households

4:2–6 Paul’s Appeal for Prayerful Support of His Ministry

Colossians 4:7–18

4:7–9 Paul’s Emissaries to the Church

4:10–15 Greetings from Paul’s Companions

4:16–17 Recipients of the Greetings

4:18 A Final Greeting from Paul

Folk Religion in the Lycus Valley

THE LETTER TO PHILEMON

INTRODUCTION

The Author and the Recipients

Purpose of the Letter

Paul’s Appeal to Philemon

OUTLINE

Philemon 1–3

Philemon 4–7

Philemon 8–21

8–9 Personal Appeal to Philemon

10–11 Paul’s Defense of Onesimus

12–13 Onesimus Is Philemon’s Representative

14–16 Philemon’s Obligations to Onesimus

17–21 Paul’s Offer to Philemon Demands a Response

Philemon 22–25

22 Final Request

23–25 Final Greetings

Slavery: Then and Now

Selected Bibliography

About Asia Theological Association

About Langham Partnership

Endnotes

Series Preface

In recent years, we have witnessed one of the greatest shifts in the history of world Christianity. It used to be that the majority of Christians lived in the West, but Christians are now evenly distributed around the globe. This shift has implications for the task of interpreting the Bible from within our respective contexts, which is in line with the growing realization that every theology is contextual. Thus, the questions that we bring into our reading of the Bible will be shaped by our present realities as well as our historical and social locations. There is a need therefore to interpret the Bible for our own contexts.

The Asia Bible Commentary (ABC) series addresses this need. In line with the mission of Asia Theological Association Publications, we have gathered evangelical Bible scholars working among Asians to write commentaries on each book of the Bible. The mission is to produce resources that are biblical, pastoral, contextual, missional, and prophetic for pastors, Christian leaders, cross-cultural workers, and students in Asia. Although the Bible can be studied for different reasons, we believe that it is given primarily for the edification of the Body of Christ (2 Tim 3:16–17). The ABC series is designed to help pastors in their sermon preparation, cell group leaders, lay leaders in their Bible study groups, and those training in seminaries or Bible schools.

Each commentary begins with an introduction that provides general information about the book’s author and original context, summarizes the main message or theme of the book, and outlines its potential relevance to a particular Asian context. The introduction is followed by an exposition that combines exegesis and application. Here, we seek to speak to and empower Christians in Asia by using our own stories, parables, poems, and other cultural resources as we expound the Bible.

The Bible is actually Asian in that it comes from ancient West Asia, and there are many similarities between the world of the Bible and traditional Asian cultures. But there are also many differences that we need to explore in some depth. That is why the commentaries also include articles or topics in which we bring specific issues in Asian church, social, and religious contexts into dialogue with relevant issues in the Bible. We do not seek to resolve every tension that emerges but rather to allow the text to illumine the context and vice versa, acknowledging that we do not have all the answers to every mystery.

May the Holy Spirit, who inspired the writers of the Bible, bring light to the hearts and minds of all who use these materials, to the glory of God and to the building up of the churches!

Federico G. Villanueva

General Editor

AUTHORS’ PREFACE

The letter to the Colossians is unusual in that it is addressed to a church that the apostle Paul did not found himself. The church in Colossae was apparently founded by someone named Epaphras, who had come to faith through Paul’s ministry. He was Epaphras, most likely from Ephesus and, went to Colossae to found and then pastor a Christian community in that city. However, when certain doctrinal errors began to surface, Epaphras appealed to the apostle Paul for help. Paul was in prison at the time – probably in Rome – but he wrote this letter in response to Epaphras’s call for help.

The doctrinal error in question related to Christology, and so, after the opening section of the letter, Paul concentrates on arguing the point that faith in Christ is adequate in itself and that there is no need for other requirements like asceticism, the worship of angels, or secret experiences of the deity. Then, in the second half of the letter, he draws out the ethical and moral implications of his Christological teaching.

A comparison with the letter to the Ephesians indicates that the latter was written not very long afterwards. Although its theme is different – God’s eternal purpose for the church and its implications for the church in the here and now – several passages in the two letters are similarly worded. Moreover, the closing sections of both letters show that they were sent to their respective recipients through Tychicus, whom Paul refers to as his dear brother.

The letter to Philemon is likewise related to the letter to the Colossians and was sent through Tychicus and Onesimus. This letter represents Paul’s attempt to get Philemon to welcome back his slave, Onesimus – who had left under uncertain and unfavorable circumstances but was then brought to faith in Jesus through the apostle Paul.

We, the authors, Drs. Brian Wintle and Bruce Nicholls, are very grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the Asia Bible Commentary series. Our hope is that this commentary will help all who read it to not merely understand this portion of Scripture but appreciate its contemporary relevance as well.

Brian Wintle and Bruce Nicholls

List of Abbreviations

The Letter to the Colossians

INTRODUCTION

The twentieth-century famed Welsh preacher, Martyn Lloyd-Jones of Westminster Chapel, London, reportedly defined a good preacher as one who comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable. In a real sense, this is what Paul did in his letter to the church in Colossae. He exhorted those who had been disturbed by doubts and false teaching to trust in Christ alone. He also disturbed the Christians – all relatively new to the faith – who were holding on to their past traditions and cultural practices, whether Jewish or pagan, along with their faith in Christ. He warned them that their religious practices and self-imposed worship would not be enough to overcome their sensual desires (2:23). Only Christ could enable them to live victorious lives.

In this relatively short letter, Paul wrote to the Christians in Colossae with compassion and deep concern for those among them who had been led astray by false teachers. These may have included those who insisted that the believers keep up strict Jewish traditions as well as those who wanted to add to faith in Christ their former pagan beliefs and practices. Most scholars believe that both elements were present in the church.

These elements are frequently evident in our Asian churches, although in different forms. Under pressure from persecution by religious fundamentalists with a jihad mentality, Christians are tempted either to renounce their faith or to remain in their ghettoes by withdrawing from all social life. Alternatively, they may continue to practice their former faith while following Christ. Some Christians universalize their faith, believing that God loves and will save everybody and that none will suffer the judgment of hell.

Paul began his letter by declaring that he was an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and added, and Timothy our brother. Timothy was Paul’s faithful fellow traveler and trusted colleague. He was now in prison with Paul, and possibly the scribe of this letter.

Paul addressed his letter to God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ (1:2). He was acknowledging that his readers lived in two worlds. They were in Christ and in Colossae. One was the realm of Christ’s kingly reign and the other was the conflicting world of human society. Paul wrote to exhort them to live triumphantly in both, with the risen Christ as supreme. He referred to the seen and unseen worlds. It was Christ who had rescued them from the dominion of the demonic forces of darkness and brought them into the kingly reign of the Son, beloved of God the Father (1:13).

It was in Christ’s victory in the cross and resurrection that Paul saw a bridge between creation and redemption, the renewal of creation and the forgiveness of sins and assurance of eternal life (1:14; 2:13–15). Paul likened this to the public triumphal procession of a conquering general through the streets of Rome (2:15). Then, having exhorted the Christians to set their hearts and minds on things above, he urged them to put to death whatever belonged to their earthly nature – immorality, lust and idolatrous greed – and to put on compassion, humility, gentleness, patience, and love (3:1–14). Paul was passionate about seeing victory in the spiritual life of the church and harmony in the household. In particular, he called for Philemon – a slave owner and active member of the church in Colossae – to welcome back his runaway slave as a brother in Christ (4:9).

Paul, The Prisoner

To understand Paul’s message to the church in Colossae, we need to appreciate the context in which he wrote. He was in a Roman prison, either in Ephesus or Rome. He called Aristarchus his fellow prisoner (4:10), but it is not clear who else was imprisoned with him. Epaphras – a native of Colossae and probably the founder of its church – was unable to return to Colossae with Tychicus and Onesimus. It is not clear whether he too had been imprisoned. He had been converted under Paul’s teaching ministry in Ephesus and had been sent by Paul to evangelize in the Lycus River valley. Paul called him our dear fellow servant who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf (1:7–8).

Several other brothers in Christ, some Jewish and some Roman, were with Paul, and sent their greetings to the church. These included Timothy, Mark (the cousin of Barnabas), Jesus (called Justus), Luke, and Demas. Paul had a special word of greeting for Nympha and the church in her house, and to Archippus who had a task to complete (4:17).

Paul was not asking for prayer for his release, but rather that he would be given liberty to proclaim the mystery of Christ while in prison. This has powerful implications. Often we ask for release or relief from some constraint or problem for our own benefit. But Paul was willing to remain in prison if that resulted in advancement of the gospel. However, he was confident of his release so that he could visit Colossae (Phlm 22) and also fulfil his mission to preach the gospel in Spain (Rom 15:28).

Paul, the prisoner, wrote of his deep love for Christ, and also for the churches in the Lycus Valley whom he had not visited. He saw his ministry as proclaiming the truth of the gospel, teaching the mystery of Christ, warning and rebuking where necessary, and working and praying for the unity of the churches. Along with this letter he sent a letter to Philemon, asking him to accept Onesimus as a brother in Christ, and also letters to the churches in Ephesus and Philippi. His letter continues to be an encouragement to Christians who are suffering unjust imprisonment.

Colossae: Its Location And Its People

Colossae was one of the many towns and villages in the Lycus Valley, in the Roman province of Phrygia, now in west Turkey. Originally Colossae was on the main route traveling from Ephesus to the eastern parts of the Roman Empire. This road had been traversed by many rulers in the past, including Xerxes and Cyrus. Fertilized by the Lycus River, a tributary of the Meander River, the Valley was rich agricultural land. It would have had a dense population, both urban and rural. The chalk hills of the valley were ideal for sheep farming. It was one of the centers of the wool and associated dyeing industry, producing garments of the finest quality. The valley suffered from frequent earthquakes and thermal activity. Hieropolis, ten kilometers to the north of Colossae, was famous for its hot springs and mineral baths, and its chalk-encrusted cliffs could be seen from Colossae. In addition to being a tourist and healing center, Hieropolis had many temples, and its pagan religions influenced the whole of the valley, including Colossae.

Laodicea, fifteen kilometers north east of Colossae, was founded in the third century BC by Antiochus II. Under Roman rule, Laodicea, rather than Colossae, was now on the main eastern route. In the letter to the seven churches, Laodicea was accused of being lukewarm, neither hot nor cold (Rev 3:14–20). This suggests the church in Laodicea had lost its spiritual vitality and become nominal, no doubt due to its affluence. Was this also happening in Colossae? As both Laodicea and Hieropolis were only a day’s walk from Colossae, the inhabitants of these towns would have known one another, engaged in trade, and entered into marriage arrangements. Such interactions would have been a daily experience. Frequent earthquakes may also have brought the people together. For instance, although a devastating earthquake in 60–61 CE destroyed Laodicea, historians record that the people worked together to quickly rebuild the city.

Epaphras’s disturbing news of false teaching in the church prompted this letter from Paul. He dealt with crucial issues in the church but did not name the individuals who were responsible for the false teaching (2:8–23). This suggests the complex and pluralistic nature of the problem.

The population of Colossae would have been mixed: Greek and Roman merchants frequented the city, while administrative and army personnel from Laodicea also lived in the area. The pagan worship of Diana of the Ephesians would have spread through the Lycus Valley. Paul warned the church against being captive to hollow and deceptive philosophy (2:8). This may have been a reference to Greek philosophy. Clinton Arnold argued that this philosophy was a combination of Phrygian folk belief, local folk Judaism and Christianity.[1] Paul saw the deception as being a syncretistic compromise, undermining the authority and supremacy of Christ.

There had long been a Jewish colony in the region. In the second century BC Antiochus III transferred two thousand Jewish families from Babylon and Mesopotamia, and settled them in Phrygia. In 62–61 BC the Roman governor Flaccus prevented the Jews in the Valley from sending a temple tax to Jerusalem. From the size of the tax, it has been estimated that the Jewish male population of the district of Laodicea would have been about eleven thousand.[2] This suggests that some of the Jews followed their traditional orthodox faith, strictly observing the Mosaic law. But for many who had been in the Valley for generations, folk Judaism would have characterized their religious and ethical lifestyle.

Jewish folk religion, as well as observing Mosaic law, believed in male and female deities, angels, devils, demons and spirits. It also venerated saints and holy men. It believed in the evil eye and in rites and practices such as magic, witchcraft, divination, and the use of amulets and talismans. Its syncretistic faith would have merged traditional Judaism with pagan cultic practices. Although converts from the folk religionists would have been a minority in the Colossian church and other churches of the Valley, they may have exerted some influence on its religious practices.

However, the biggest ethnic group among the urban industrial workers and the farming community would have been the ethnic Phrygians, who were pagan in their religious faith and cultic practices. Their chief concern was fear and the need to placate the evil underground spirits, especially in times of family or community disaster. It was important to be initiated into a cult for protection, in order to overcome the influence of the evil spirits. In addition to being baptized into the church, they felt that retaining their cultic connection gave them greater security. Dr. Arnold’s exhaustive study of the pagan origin of the worship of angels (2:18) and folk religious practices convinced him that cultic paganism was the dominant challenge to the orthodox Christian faith. N. T. Wright and a large number of scholars, on the other hand, have regarded Jewish folk culture as being the major factor in promoting false teaching in the church. Wright found it difficult to conceive of the possibility of a synthesis between Jewish folk culture and paganism because of their basic differences. He argued that Paul was warning the church not to be taken in by the claims of folk Judaism because that was just another pagan religion. To follow its philosophy was to return to the same type of religion the new converts had recently abandoned.[3]

Wright argued that the church was already living in what the Apostle Paul has described as the age to come (Eph 2:2). In summary, Wright believed that all the elements of Paul’s polemic in Colossians made sense as a warning against folk Judaism. These differences in approach will be considered in the exposition of the text itself.

Christ And The Powers

The hymns of Colossians 1:15–20 and Philippians 2:5–11 were Paul’s great Christological statements. Both hymns were written while Paul was in prison and they complemented each other. Our concern is to recognize the importance of Paul’s message in 1:15–20 to the church in Colossae. Scholars debate the origin of that hymn, and this will be discussed in the text. Paul made it his own. In it he expounded the supremacy of Christ over all creation and over the whole church. He affirmed that Christ reconciled to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, and made peace for humanity through his atoning death on the cross. From this Paul argued that union with the risen Christ was the only way to live a holy, just and loving life in a culture enslaved by demonic powers of darkness. Christ replaced fear and insecurity with trust and confidence in the life eternal. Christ was the image of the invisible God (1:15), and so his humanity was a window into the nature and fullness of God. The church looked back to its origin in God’s creation and forward to the cross, which was God’s message of reconciliation and peace. The cross, then, was the bridge from death to life. No other bridges were needed.

For Luther, the cross was the way to be justified by the grace of God through faith in Christ. For Asian Christians today, Paul’s message of reconciliation and the forgiveness of sins is the gospel that speaks to their heart. The cross and the resurrection are the bridge from the old nature of unbelief and self-indulgence to the new way of loving God with all your being and loving your neighbor as yourself, to paraphrase Jesus’s words to the lawyer (Matt 22:37–39). The mysteries of God are now fully revealed in Jesus Christ. Neither angels nor priests are needed as bridges to experience God’s peace. Christ is the cosmic creator, sustainer and redeemer of all of life. Paul was warning the Christians not to be captive to stoicheia, however it is translated in 2:8 and 2:20. The NIV translates this the basic principles of this world and the ESV the elemental spirits of the world. The stoichea, then, are either the basic elements of knowledge or, alternatively, the spirit powers of the underworld. In folk religion, they may be both.

Against the background of initiation into Jewish covenantal membership by circumcision and into pagan cultic membership by ritual, Paul assured the Christians in Colossae that baptism was the sign and seal of their membership of the church and of Christ. True circumcision was God’s act. The Jewish act of circumcision was no guarantee that they were the children of Abraham. For pagans, initiation was the moment of a trance experience, of seeing visions and experiencing non-conscious bliss. This is the dream of every Hindu and Buddhist. In baptism, the Christian is buried with Christ and also raised with him, through faith, in the power of God who raised Jesus from the dead.

The Church as the New Society

Paul defined the church as the body of Christ. He identified his own suffering with the suffering of Christ on behalf of his body, the church (1:24). Christ is the head of the body whose many members are working together for its growth (2:19). Paul then challenged his readers to walk in peace as members of one body (3:15). The stress on unity is a constant challenge to our churches today.

Paul called the many house churches God’s household, a holy temple, and a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (Eph 2:19–22). Each worshiping group was the church. Until the third century, the Roman emperors did not permit Christians to build places of worship. Yet the church spread rapidly across the world, meeting together in small groups. Paul urged the believers to continue to live in Christ, rooted and built up in him (2:6–7). His strategy was to plant churches in the main administrative