Daily Bible Reading 22nd May 2025 // Colossians 1:1-2

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Now, nowhere in his letter does Paul specify exactly what the error at Colossae is. We can, however, by carefully piecing together and interpreting his counter arguments, catch something of its chief tendencies. What we find is right up to date. The false teachers at Colossae are part of the church and are advocating a new improved theology in the name of Jesus Christ. Alongside this, they advocate a rigorous accompanying lifestyle: they seem to adopt a dual approach; offering a deeper faith with its resultant effect in 'christian' living. Belief and action go together. What we believe ultimately affects how we live. So erring in the realm of Christian/biblical teaching (theology/ doctrine) has a resultant effect in practical everyday living. These false teachers, it seems, claim a better, deeper understanding of spiritual realities and of who Jesus really is, which ultimately denies the centrality and supremacy of Christ. And, at the same time they urge a particular way of worship and an extreme asceticism, 'Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!' (2:21). As I say, we cannot be dogmatic about the exact nature of the Colossian heresy, since Paul nowhere spells it out, but we deduce this as the substance of the error because of Paul's response to it.

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