In this series we offer brief introductions to the books of the Bible, including background, authorship, content, and application to the lives of today’s Christians.
The word “sapper” comes from the French noun sapeur and the verb saper, both of which refer to “digging under” or “undermining.” In military usage, the job of sappers is to undermine enemy fortifications, causing them to collapse. The devil fields his own legion of sappers, many of which exist in ignorance of the identity of their commander-in-chief. Their sole mission is to undermine the Word of God.
Sinners are both brought to faith and preserved in that faith by the Holy Spirit working through the power of God’s Word. It is not surprising therefore that the devil works tirelessly to undermine that Word of God. In connection with the Epistle to the Colossians, the undermining began with an attack on its very authorship. By denying that Paul himself wrote the epistle, despite the fact that the letter clearly states that he did, Satan seeks to undermine the entire epistle. If the letter’s claim of authorship is false, what, if anything, can be trusted? In fact, if Paul did not write the epistle, the majority of the final chapter is also nothing but a protracted lie. Even when Paul’s authorship is defended, Satan still claims victory in that he has succeeded in distracting from God’s message in the epistle. His tactic is “Not This, That.” “Forget about the content. Argue about who wrote it.” Satan’s plan is fiendishly clever in that it apes the true theme of the Holy Spirit’s message in the Epistle, which is also “Not This, That.”
Ruins of the ancient city of Colossae
Though evidence suggests that Paul himself did not establish the congregation in Colossae (and may never have visited it), he remained intensely interested in the preservation and growth of its members. The Epistle to the Colossians is one of the letters he wrote during his first Roman imprisonment, where he received reports not only from Epaphras, the man believed to have founded the congregation, but also from Onesimus, the freed slave of Philemon, who was a native of Colossae.
This epistle was more than just a letter of encouragement, though the first and fourth chapters were certainly also that. Paul’s decision to encourage the members in Colossae apparently did not originate in a vacuum. Chapters 2 and 3 tell us of the need or causation of Paul’s encouragement, which was that the congregation was under attack. Satan’s minions were already at work trying to undermine the very foundations of that Christian congregation. Chapter 2 was Paul’s “not this,” and chapter 3 his “that.”
The error that Paul addressed in chapter 2 appears to have been an early form of Gnosticism. Gnostics (from the Greek word for knowledge) not only denied the deity of Christ, they also promoted a “higher consciousness” and asceticism that bears striking similarities to Buddhism. Many Gnostics considered themselves Christians but insisted that Apostolic Christianity alone fell short of ultimate truth and was therefore inadequate. In chapter 2, Paul dismissed the Gnostic errors as “philosophy and empty deceit,” and as teachings founded “according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8 ESV) He also condemned Gnostic asceticism and the insistence on keeping parts of the Mosaic Law: “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17 ESV)
The “not this” of chapter 2 is followed by Paul’s magnificent “that” in chapter 3, where he reminded the Colossians of the sufficiency of Christ and the true Christian walk. He encouraged them to set their minds “on things that are above,” to “put to death therefore what is earthly,” to “put off the old man” and to “put on the new.” (verses 1, 4, 9-10) What a bright, shining contrast the Holy Spirit has here given us between the dark and malevolent lies of Satan and the bright crystalline joy of true Christianity. Read the letter. And thereby avail yourself of “that” treasure.
is pastor of Saint Paul Lutheran Church in Bismarck, North Dakota.