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Struggle for the Sake of Jesus Christ

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you… (2:1)” Paul is repeatedly telling the Church in Colossae that he is suffering. So what was his purpose of letting them know about his struggle? And what was he struggling for?

The Purpose of Sending Letters in Paul’s Days

As Paul wrote in the very end of this letter, he sent this letter from the prison. So you can tell that one of the cause of his struggle was an imprisonment. While he was in prison, he received the news about the love between the church. This led Paul to the thankfulness and prayer about them. So Paul wanted let them know about his struggle but the church was also letting him know about what is happening to them by writing him letters. We can say that one of the main purpose of sending letters in Paul’s days was letting each other know about what is happening.

Struggle for the Sake of Jesus Christ

In Colossians 1:24, Paul is telling the church that he is suffering for their sake. And he also said that even the struggle is his joy. Because suffering for Christ’s church also means that they are suffering for Christ’s sake. For the church is the body of Christ and Christ is it’s head. Than what is the struggle for Christ’s sake? It is the struggle for spreading the Gospel but they were also promised that the Glory of Christ will be shown at the end of their suffering.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, – Colossians 1:24

True Hope in the Days of Struggle

Glory of Christ was Paul’s hope in the days of his struggle(1:23). So he encouraged the church to have hope in Christ and to stand firm in the faith by sending this letter. So I think that one of the purposes of sending this letter was to let the church know about his labor for the gospel so that they can follow his example. Because Paul also became the servant of Christ’s church(1:25) by following the perfect example of Jesus Christ(1:13-14, 1:18, 2:13-14).

if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. – Colossians 1:23

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. – Colossians 1:13-14

To Be Aware of the False Teaching

In this letter, Paul is encouraging the church to have hope in Christ, but also to beware of the false teaching. Because the deceptive teaching that was threatening the Colossian church was completely different and opposite from the word of the truth, gospel(1:5). Not only that it doesn’t get them closer to God but it separate them from Jesus Christ. As Paul said, the Colossian church used to follow the worldly teaching but by the forgiveness of their sins through the redemption that came by Christ, they were given the true knowledge of God. So Paul is teaching them repeatedly in this letter not to return to the rules of the world but to live as the new man(3:10).

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. – Colossians 3:9-10

What is the Worldly Teaching?

Than what is the worldly teaching? “self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body (2:23)” are what Paul described about it. As you can tell from this passage, these are completely different from the true knowledge of God. We once followed the worldly teaching but we have put off the old self and have put on the new self. So we no longer walk like we used to walk but we have to live as the new man pleasing God in every way, “filled with the full knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding (1:9-12).” And we have to spend a lot of time in prayer to make that happen like Paul always prayed for the Colossian church.

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. – Colossians 2:23

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. – Colossians 1:9-12

What is the True knowledge of God?

What is the true knowledge of God? Jesus Christ himself is the answer for that question. And we can embody that answer by living like Jesus lived. As Paul gave the specific order to wives, husbands, children, fathers, masters and servants in chapter 3 to 4 (3:18-4:6), to live like Jesus is to be thankful and to love each other for the sake of Jesus Christ (1:28, 2:7, 3:12-17).

Spreading the gospel is to preach the true knowledge of God to the people, and Paul was struggling for that (1:24, 29, 2:1). So by understanding his struggle and work for Christ, it will lead you to the wisdom of Christ himself (2:2).

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, – Colossians 2:1-2

Beware of the “Stoicheia”

Paul sent this letter to the Colossian church when he heard about their faith in Christ and the love that they had among them. And he is encouraging them to be filled with the knowledge of God (1:9). Not only that he i encouraging the church, but also warning them about the deceptive teaching which Paul called “deceptive philosophy (2:8)” and “worldly teachings (Gk. stoicheia) (2:20)”. Than what was the dangerous teaching that was rampant among the church? And how did it affect them (2:4)?

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. – Colossians 2:8

Dominion of Darkness and the Glory of Christ

As you can tell from what Paul said that they died to the “stoicheia” with Christ (3:3), which means they once walked under the dominion of darkness (1:13) with the “stoicheia” and not under the glory of Christ with the knowledge of God (1:9-12). You can see the absolute distinction between those two. And the walk under the dominion of darkness is described specifically in chapter 3 with the list of acts that belongs to the earthly fresh.

… giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son… – Colossians 1:13

The Body that Belongs to the World

So one of the things that Paul is warning the church in this letter is that we should not keep following the “stoicheia” as if we still belong to the early flesh (2:20). Because we died with Christ to take off our old self and was renewed to put on the new self (3:7-10). By the redemption in Jesus Christ, we became the part of His body and not of the world’s (3:1-3).

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. – Colossians 3:5

One of the problems in the Colossian church is that there were some people who still walk as if they were under the dominion of Darkness (2:20). Even though their sins were forgiven by the redemption (1:13-14, 2:11-13). So Paul is teaching them not to walk in the ways that they used to live with the earthly flesh. And to let go the “stoicheia” and live their lives according to the true knowledge of God (2:6-7). So you can tell that there is a direct relation between the knowledge and teachings and the way people walk their lives. And this is why paul is not just warning the church about the dangerous teaching but praying for them that they will be filled with knowledge of God and to live a life worthy of the Lord in 1:9-12.

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations–

The Life Worthy of the Lord

Than how should we live our lives worthy of the Lord (1:10)? As Paul wrote in 3:12-17, we have to love each other in Christ and have ourselves filled with thanks giving to the Lord all the time. Because these are what Jesus Christ did for the Church the body of His (2:19, 3:13). For He is the head of his body, the church. He is the model of our lives. It is very clear that the life that belongs to the earthly nature, like evil desires and greed (2:5-9).

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. – Colossians 3:12-14

Love and Thanksgiving

As Paul taught the Colossian church, the churches always have to be filled with love and thanksgiving (2:6-7, 3:12-17). So when Paul talks about “the life worthy of God”, he is not just talking about the lives of individuals but the life as the entire church. What Paul taught the church is to bear with each other, admonish each other, and to love one another (3:12-14). And Paul himself became the example for them of the love and thanksgiving, by loving them and praying for them. Because this is what Christ did for Paul and the reason that he became the servant for the church that proclaim Christ (2:24-29). And Christ himself is the true knowledge and wisdom. So by understating the wisdom of God, we will live our life worthy of God (1:10).

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. – Colossians 2:6-7