Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus, by God's will, and Timotheus the brother,
Paul opens Colossians the way he opens most of his letters: with a name and a title. So why does he press his apostleship here? And why does he set a younger man with no title beside himself in the same breath?
The phrase "by the will of God" tells you where Paul's commission came from. It was not handed to him by a committee or claimed by his own ambition.
Notice next that this apostleship is "by the will of God." That suggests Paul received his ministry straight from God. He was an apostle "not of men, nor by man" (Gal. 1:1).
Paul never argues for his standing. He states it, and everything that follows leans on it.
For himself, he was not unauthorized, nor was his title human. He was an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will — not an apostle of the Church. Timothy stands with him as "the brother," and nothing more. … He names his own apostolic place with quiet dignity, and it plainly fits everything that follows.
Paul does not always lead with "apostle." He leaves it out when he writes to the Philippians. He uses it here because of the work this letter has to do.
This letter unfolds the doctrine of Christ. So Paul speaks of himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and he speaks of Timothy as a brother. When he wrote to the Philippians, he called himself and Timothy servants, and he did not mention his apostleship at all. When he writes to the Colossians, he must refute error and reveal truth, so he uses his title as apostle.
Paul writes as Christ's apostle. So the words that follow are not his private opinion. They carry the authority of the One who sent him.
He writes to them as Christ's apostle, clothed with the authority of His name, and charged them with passing on His grace. What is more, God had set him apart for this service. … It is to bring the hearts of the saints into the settled knowledge and enjoyment of their place and portion in Christ. Then they can walk in peaceful communion with Him until He appears. He carries out this ministry in the name of Jesus Christ, and as His apostle. So the whole letter flows straight from Christ through His chosen apostle.
Paul states his own office first. Then he at once names a younger man beside himself. He did this often, and it shows what he was like.
Think of most men in his high position as the apostle to the Gentiles. They would not dream of naming smaller and younger men beside themselves in their inspired letters. Who ever heard of a Pope putting another name next to his own in an official letter? Or the Archbishop of Canterbury adding one when he gives instructions to his clergy? That Paul names others besides himself in his inspired letters shows humility, a large heart, thoughtfulness for others, and fellowship.
Timothy is not called a second apostle. One writer draws a lesson from where his name falls.
Paul writes with apostolic authority and by the will of God, so believers are rightly called to submit fully to what he writes. … Note, however, it is not "Paul and Timothy" as in Philippians, a pastoral epistle. Timothy is added after Paul's apostleship is stated. This means the absolute truths Paul gives are more important than the way they affect us — though they should have their proper effect.
Paul's care for these readers did not depend on meeting them face to face.
Paul had never seen the Colossians, but had heard of them through Epaphras. He could thank God as to what he had heard of them (chap. 1:3, etc), but he could agonize in prayer for them.
His right to write to them rests on nothing personal — only on the will of God named in the first line.
- Willed — Paul's place was settled by God's will, not conferred by men and not seized by himself.
- Sent — he writes as Christ's apostle, clothed with the authority of His name.
- Aimed — he uses the title here because he must answer error and set out the truth of Christ.
- Shared — the apostle still writes with a younger man beside him, which shows humility and fellowship, though Timothy is only "the brother."
- Received — this letter flows from Christ through His chosen apostle, so every reader should submit to it fully, even those who never met Paul.
to the holy and faithful brethren in Christ which [are] in Colosse. Grace to you and peace from God our Father [and Lord Jesus Christ].
Paul writes to a small assembly in a town he had never visited. Before anything else, he tells these people what they already are. The greeting has two parts: what God has made them, and what He keeps supplying.
Colosse was a minor town. The assembly there began without Paul's own preaching.
Colosse was not a very large town in Phrygia, a region in the south of Asia Minor (that is, today's Turkey), close to the two cities mentioned in this letter, Hierapolis and Laodicea. The apostle Paul did not go there on his missionary journeys (Col 1:4; 2:1). From Colossians 1:7, however, it seems that a Christian named Epaphras, who himself came from Colosse, was God's instrument for the conversion of the Colossians.
The address names two things. Are they two levels of Christian?
"Saints and faithful brothers" (v.2) are not two classes of people, but the same, for he does not speak of the measure of their faithfulness, but of the fact, for new birth makes one faithful in whatever measure.
Each word in the address points somewhere: to God, to their position, and to one another.
Paul views the Colossian believers as "in Christ". He addresses them as "holy", which involves separation from the world; as "faithful", and so true to God and to the position in which God has set them; and as "brothers", forming a circle of shared life among themselves on earth. So the Apostle longs for them to have the grace and peace that the saints never stop needing, and that is always available from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The word "brothers" is not filler. Compare this address with the one written to Ephesus.
The assembly at Colosse is described not only as "saints and faithful," as the Ephesians were, but as "faithful brothers." It is clear that here again, all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ. This term "brothers" brings out their relations to one another. The other two words assume God's grace and their faith, if not their faithfulness.
Holiness here means more than staying clear of evil.
As holy, they are not only separate from evil, but separate to God, the first necessity for fruit. The field that bears it must be fenced off from all that would intrude from the world around. They are faithful to the position that God has given them and to the light they have received. That is a second need, just as important, though the first already contains it… God can still give much more to those who hold on to what they have received with living power. But they need, as we all do, "grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
The greeting is not just an opening line.
They were "in Christ," the great centre of the new creation; holy and faithful brothers in Him. Then he ministers the sweet stream of grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was parted from His disciples while He was blessing them. In the same way, the apostle of Christ begins his letter to the Colossians, before anything else, by greeting them with the grace or unmixed favour of the Father and the Son. They were always the objects of that favour, being in Christ. And he greets them with the peace which is the fruit of that favour.
That standing shapes what the letter sets out to do.
This shows at once that the letter's object is not to put the people he addresses on Christian ground. He sees them as truly standing on it.
The greeting rests on something the Colossians' own state could not touch.
He addresses them as saints and faithful brothers in Christ. God has separated such people from evil and to Himself, and the precious greeting to them follows: "Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Grace and peace belonged to them, as it belongs to all who are in Christ. Their state could not affect what God has bestowed upon them in His Son.
The two gifts do different work.
Paul wishes the Colossian brothers the grace that lifts their souls above their circumstances, and the peace that is calm well-being in all circumstances.
Note: the ESV ends verse 2 with "from God our Father." Some older translations add "and the Lord Jesus Christ," as several quotes above do.
- Place — Colosse was a small town near Laodicea and Hierapolis. The assembly there most likely began through Epaphras, a local man, not through Paul.
- Standing — "Saints and faithful brothers" is one company seen from several sides. It is not a higher and a lower class of Christian.
- Words — Holy means set apart from evil and set apart to God. Faithful means true to the position God gave them. Brothers means a circle of shared life.
- Centre — They are "in Christ." The letter starts from that fact instead of trying to prove it.
- Supply — Grace and peace come from God our Father. They belong to all who are in Christ, and nothing in the believers' own state can alter God's gift in His Son.