Originally published in the June 1973 issue of The Christadelphian magazine
The Letter to the Colossians
READERS familiar with Brother T. J. Barling’s Letter to the Philippians, will welcome his new book, Letter to the Colossians, as a work both lucid and scholarly, and of value to both reader and student alike.
The work consists of five short studies followed by a commentary on the text. The studies form a background upon which the exposition that follows is well established in a Biblical setting, eschewing the philosophical approach. The problems affecting the Church are seen and their solution prescribed within the broad scope of the Apostle’s missionary work in Asia Minor.
There is a careful examination of Paul’s interest in the Colossian church, to determine why the letter was written, and an analysis of Paul’s reply in response to the appeal from Epaphras, who was himself concerned with the perplexing problems affecting the church he had founded. Epaphras had travelled to Rome to seek advice and judgement from the Apostle’s wide experience, wisdom and authority. Paul’s response was the composition and despatch of the letter which dealt with the practical problems affecting the brethren and sisters at Colossae. The ecclesia there had been exposed to hollow and delusive speculations, what the Apostle called “the rudiments of the world and the ordinances of men”. Whether ritualistic teaching be Judaistic or pagan, it was contrary to the freedom which both Jews and Gentiles had inherited in Christ Jesus.
The relationship between Colossians and its companion letter Ephesians is next considered and remarkable similarities revealed. Whatever the dependence of the letters upon each other, the teaching is clear in both, that of the divine ordering in the universe, that is to say, the glory of Christ in the Church.
The verse by verse commentary is clear and well documented as to its relationship to other Pauline epistles, and of practical value are the author’s introductory notes, which form both a précis and introduction to the text to be studied. Brother Barling makes very clear that there is a constant direction of the Colossian Church to the person of the Lord, to the total and unchallengeable supremacy of the Lord Jesus; a point of value both to the first century believers and to those of all ages. He examines the tremendous claims that Paul makes for Christ: “. . . the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation”. In this connection the Virgin Birth is seen as the event that is unique for all time; also that the Lord Jesus occupies in creation the position held by Israel among the nations in that he is “the first born”. Nevertheless stress is rightly laid on the fact, that the Lord bore a nature capable of portraying the divine image.
The author is aware that in this as in other Christological passages in Hebrews and John, current theological interpretation sees evidence for the pre-existence of Christ, that Jesus was in fact God incarnate and therefore behind all acts of creation. This heresy Brother Barling refutes with a wealth of Scriptural evidence, at the same time being careful to allow all the honour due to the Lord, yet respecting his humanity. His conclusion, based on Scripture, is that the pre-existence of the Lord was ideal and not real.
The main intent of the letter is to draw attention to false teaching and unawareness of the reality of Christ; to this Paul’s response is crystal clear: “As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him.” The Colossians, by the grace of God, were no longer under the dominion of Law or in bondage to the beggarly elements of the world, for had not the Lord on the cross discarded all cosmic powers making a spectacle of them openly? The Lord’s triumph was complete and Brother Barling examines this fact in detail and to good purpose, exposing the error and weakness of the Colossian heresy. In Paul’s mind the false beliefs among the brethren did not get to the root of the problem of human conduct, because of the inflated sense of their own importance governed by the fleshly mind.
Divine election, then, brings a moral obligation, and the call to a new life and its responsibilities is made clear. Paul does more than formulate a principle; he demonstrates its outworking in terms of personal relationship in a social structure. In the new life that is from above, husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves, all have obligations in the Lord. The touchstone of Christian behaviour for Paul as for his Lord, was simply, “Inasmuch, as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
The call to the believers at Colossae, elsewhere and at any time, is far more than an idealistic conception of the new life. It requires real effort of will to make sure that the living of the believer is Christward and manward.
With this in mind Brother Barling sees prayer as fundamental; for him “prayer is the generating station of the spiritual life”. So he rightly advocates vigilance and constancy in its use, at the same time deploring the use of prayer as a perfunctory and mechanical habit.
The author sees that the Lord in every circumstance fulfills the Apostle’s ideal, and if we, the modern readers, wish to approximate to it, we too must have the Lord constantly in mind. To this end the letter that Paul wrote to the Colossians is a powerful aid in both precept and practice. A consideration of Colossians is therefore of both value and help. The detailed study that Brother Barling presents reflects his thoughtful assessment of its value in the setting of the Pauline literature as an integral part of the word of God. The work is therefore commended as a valuable addition to the Truth’s literature, as a means of edifying and building us up in the knowledge of the grace of God.
