The Book of Colossians

Our Bible reading has moved into the Book of Colossians. The church at Colosse was started by Epaphras who received Christ through Paul (Ac 19:10; Col 1:7-8).  We see the work of Paul being multiplied through this faithful servant of God.  Also as a result of Epaphras and other converts of Paul, Christian churches were also established in nearby places like Laodicea and Hierapolis (Col 4:15; Phm 21).  Pastor Tay in his message two Sundays ago also mentioned the faithfulness of our late Bro Seet Poon Soo in bringing him and his siblings to church when they were younger.  The labour of love shown and seeds sown have definitely yielded fruit; a thriving church in Chai Chee ministering to the community around.  We should therefore not underestimate the impact that we can make to the life of one soul when fully given unto the Lord. 

The Colossian church was plagued with heresies.  Paul attempted to address the four-fold heresy through proclaiming the supremacy and suffering of Christ (Col 1:15-22).  The four-fold heresy are:
1) Humanistic Philosophy (2:1-10): false worldly, religious teachings.
2) Ritualism (2:11-17): strict rules abt kinds of permissible food and drink, religious festivals & circumcision.
3) Mysticism (2:18-19): secret knowledge of spiritual things - gnostics.
4) Asceticism (2:20-23): self-imposed harsh treatment of body.

Paul began his letter by detailing the sufficiency of Christ:
a) In creation (1:15-18)
b) In redemption (1:19-23)
c) In the church (1:24-29)

Christians are to submit to Christ (Ch 3-4)
a) Set our hearts and minds on things above (3:1-4)
b) Put off the old self and put on the new self (3:5-17)
c) Complete and submissive relationships (3:18-4:6)
d) Final greetings (4:7-18)

In our day and age, there're so many humanistic philosophies propagating through the printed and online media.  If we are not careful, we can get caught and be ensared by lies and deceits. Hence, it is vital for us to read the Word and pray in the spirit to build up our most holy faith.  We have to put on the whole armour of God inorder for us to counteract the schemes of the devil, enabling us to stand in the evil days (Eph 6:10-18).