Colossians 2:1

COL. 2

This division of the Colossian letter is, of course, quite arbitrary; as someone said, Paul did not write four chapters, but wrote one letter! Nevertheless, the game plan in this series calls for going with the traditional divisions. After all, those divisions are already known to millions, and any new division would probably be just as inadequate and arbitrary as the old ones.

This chapter deals with Paul's refutation of false doctrine, in which the emphasis by the apostle lies squarely upon the eternal power and Godhead of the Lord Jesus Christ. Morgan said, "The central declaration of the epistle is found in this chapter (Colossians 2:9-10)."[1] This chapter also exposes to some degree the nature of the false teachings Paul was refuting. True, he does not explain the error, but the refutation may be taken, at least partially, as the opposite of the error; and from this, a fairly accurate idea of it is derived. It is perfectly clear that a strong Judaistic character marked the Colossian errors; but they were colored by pagan misconceptions also. That there may have been traces of incipient gnosticism at Colossae is likely; but the notion that Colossians is principally a response to gnosticism should be rejected. The peculiar characteristics of the Colossians' error most visible in the epistle are Jewish, not Gnostic.