Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Colossians 3:11
Paul was imprisoned in Rome when word of concern for the church in Colossae reached him. It is believed that the church in this town on the border of Asia, was the result of missionary endeavors from the church in Corinth, a town 100 miles away. Paul wrote this letter to read aloud to the people gathered to worship and learn. He sent it along with a letter to the congregation in Ephesus and another to Philemon. Each letter is similar, but his words to Colossae are concerned with Christ like behavior beyond the fellowship of believers.
One of the struggles First Church of Colossae fought was the infiltration of opinion and philosophy with Christ’s teachings. Everyone has their penny’s worth of thought and feel entitled to share. However, those deep thinkers and talkers did not create anyone or anything, nor do they possess omniscient or omnipresent abilities or the power to forgive, restore and grant eternal life. Paul calls for a pure and transparent open heart that seeks ONLY to be like Christ, for He alone did all the things above.
The words of Colossians chapter three are very clear and need no additional commentary other than encouragement to put aside the popular editorials and manmade drama and seek solely to love God and one another just as Christ loved. That was Paul’s message then and it is very applicable today.
Love,
Gretchen