Colossians 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

'AN APOSTLE OF CHRIST JESUS' -

Points to Note:

1. 'It is not necessary to refer to Paul as "Saint Paul", for such. title actually downgrades him. All Christians are "saints", but not all are apostles..it emphasizes the truth that Paul was Christ's representative, not the representative of the church. He was not an apostle appointed by ecclesiastical authority....Thus the medieval conceit that the Holy Scriptures belonged to the church and were in some sense the property of it and therefore subject to their exclusive interpretation is defeated and destroyed by the apostolical title itself.' [Note:. James Burton Coffman Commentaries. Volume 8. p. 323.]

2. The Church isn't over the Scriptures, rather, First Century congregations were reminded that they were to place themselves "under" the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 3:6).

3. Even though Paul had never personally seen many of these Christians in Colossae (Colossians 2:1), he was still their apostle. 'The designation "apostle" is reserved for Paul; it is not shared with Timothy--nor yet with Epaphras, who (as appears from v. 7) first brought the gospel to Colossae. Paul alone was the Colossians's apostle, even if he had never visited them in person.' (F.F. Bruce p. 38)

4. Thus, if Paul's apostolic authority extended to congregations he hadn't personally established, then the authority of what he and the other apostles wrote extends to all congregations until the end of time.

'OF CHRIST JESUS' -'To Christ Jesus he owes his appointment and his authority. Through Paul no one less that Christ Jesus himself is addressing the church.' (Hendriksen p. 43) Thus when Paul spoke, Jesus was speaking (Acts 9:15; Acts 22:15; Acts 26:15; Galatians 1:11). Hence to reject the words of an Apostle is. rejection of the will of God (Matthew 10:40; John 13:20)

'THROUGH THE WILL OF GOD' -(Galatians 1:11). 'He had attained his high office neither through aspiration..nor through usurpation--not yet through nomination by other men.' (Hendriksen p. 43) (1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; 2 Timothy 1:1)

At the outset of this letter Paul makes clear what "right" he has to address this congregation. He is an apostle of Jesus Christ, and that settles it. 'That office is not something which he has earned or achieved; it is something which has been given him by God.' (Barclay p. 103) (1 Corinthians 15:9)

Point to Note:

The advocates of the New Hermeneutic contend that the letters written by the Apostles are simply "love letters" to the churches. But such. theory must admit: (1) Jesus didn't speak through these men. For if the doctrines in the epistle to the Colossians are not binding upon Christians today, then this letter was simply Paul's feeble, unaided and human attempt to apply certain truths to his own generation. (2) Even the Gospels are irrelevant, for apostles and other professed inspired men also wrote those letters. How can you consistently deny the authority of 1,2,3 John and Revelation and yet except the authority of the gospel of John? How can you reject Paul's 13 letters and yet accept the gospel of Mark and Luke, which were written by Paul's co-workers? And how can you accept the gospel of Luke but reject the book of Acts? For they were both written by the same author. (3) And if the book of Colossians was simply. "love letter" to the Church, then could the Church ignore the teachings found in it? Could they fellowship those who disagreed with Paul's statements concerning the Deity of Christ (Colossians 2:9)? Or what he wrote about the Sabbath Day? (Colossians 2:16) Or man-made religion? (Colossians 2:20-23). Or the worship of angels? (Colossians 2:18) Or various moral issues? (Colossians 3:1-13)

'AND TIMOTHY OUR BROTHER' -Timothy was with Paul in Rome during. portion of his imprisonment (1 Peter 1:1; Philemon 1:1). Carefully note that Timothy isn't an apostle. The Biblical writers didn't carelessly use terms. They didn't call every male Christian by the title "elder", etc..

'OUR BROTHER' -'It recognizes that fellowship of believers which constitutes the most perfect brotherhood the world has ever known.' (Erdman p. 36)

Points to Note:

1. God gives credit where credit is due. Timothy isn't an apostle, but 'during the long years of travel and of toil...Timothy had been Paul's most trusted comrade..He was Paul's most loyal follower and imitator, his fellow worker, his "true child in faith"' (Erdman p. 35) (1 Peter 2:19; 2 Timothy 3:10).

2. The Christian doesn't have to worry about "recognition" or being "remembered". God takes care of His own, God rewards faithful service. (Revelation 14:13) God will exalt those who humble themselves (Luke 18:14).

3. It is sad when Christians must look outside the Lord's church to find "brotherly" closeness. We are failing to restore the New Testament Church, we are failing to practice true Christianity if we can't find any close friends among fellow Christians. (Colossians 4:9)