The Supremacy of Christ: J. Gresham Machen Excerpt

The following is an excerpt from J. Gresham Machen’s The New Testament: An Introduction to its Literature and History, soon available in clothbound format from the Banner of Truth. This is Chapter 23, ‘The Supremacy of Christ’, which is found on pages 159–167.

Study material: The Epistle to the Colossians and the Epistle to Philemon

Connection between Colossians and Philemon

The Epistle to the Colossians and the Epistle to Philemon were written at the same time. The same persons—Aristarchus, Mark, Epaphras, Luke and Demas—appear in both epistles in the company of Paul. Col. 4:10–14; Philem. 23, 24. Only Jesus Justus, Col. 4:11, who was probably not known personally to Philemon, Tychicus, the bearer of the Epistle to the Colossians, and Timothy, the associate with Paul in the address of Colossians, are not mentioned in the Epistle to Philemon. It is true, Aristarchus, in Col. 4:10, is designated as Paul’s ‘fellow-prisoner’, while in Philem. 23 this term is applied to Epaphras. Perhaps, however, it is only chance that both terms are not applied to both men in both of the letters. Or else the variation may mean only that the two Epistles were not written on the same day. Aristarchus and Epaphras and others may have taken turns in sharing the apostle’s imprisonment. The two letters, at any rate, even if written on different days, were evidently dispatched at the same time. Onesimus, the bearer of the Epistle to Philemon, was to accompany Tychicus, who was apparently the bearer of the Epistle to the Colossians. Col. 4:7, 8.

The Church at Colossae

The town of Colossae was not a particularly important place, being overshadowed by its two neighbours, Laodicea and Hierapolis. These three cities were situated close together in the Lycus valley, about a hundred miles east of Ephesus. The churches at Colossae and at Laodicea, and no doubt also the one at Hierapolis, had not been founded by Paul himself, Col. 2:1; 4:13. The church at Colossae, however, had been founded by Epaphras, who was one of Paul’s fellow labourers, and probably one of his converts, Col. 1:7. Probably, in preaching at Colossae, Epaphras had acted directly as an emissary of Paul. Evidently Paul reckoned the churches of Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis distinctly to his own field. The tone which he adopts toward his readers in Colossians is, for example, entirely different from that which appears in Romans. He treats the Colossians practically as his own spiritual children. See especially Col. 1:24 to 2:5.

In all probability the church had been founded during the three years which Paul spent at Ephesus on the third missionary journey. During that period ‘all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks’. Acts 19:10. Colossae was in the province of Asia, in the Phrygian part of it. Even if ‘Asia’ in the passage in The Acts should be taken in a narrower sense, still the words show at least that the effects of Paul’s preaching in Ephesus spread far beyond the limits of the city. It may well have spread to Colossae, which lay directly on the great road from Ephesus to the east. Probably Epaphras, who was a resident of Colossae, Col. 4:12, was converted during a visit to Ephesus, and then on his return became the evangelist of his native city. The church at Colossae was certainly composed predominantly, if not exclusively, of Gentiles, Col. 1:21, 27; 2:13. Indeed, even Epaphras himself, the founder of the church, was a Gentile; for in Col. 4:10–14 he is distinguished, along with Luke and Demas, from the Jews.

The Date of Colossians and Philemon

The Epistle to the Colossians and that to Philemon were written while Paul was in prison, Col. 4:2, 10, 18; Philem. 1, 9, 23. Yet the conditions of his imprisonment were such as to permit him the companionship of his friends and leisure for correspondence. These conditions were clearly present during the two years of the Roman imprisonment, Acts 28:16, 30, 31. At Caesarea also, Paul seems to have been treated rather leniently, and some scholars have preferred to date our Epistles during the two years which Paul spent there, Acts 24:27. That dating, however, is far less probable. The Epistles may be confidently assigned to the Roman imprisonment.

Condition of the Colossian Church

At the time when Colossians was written, Epaphras, the founder of the Colossian church, was with Paul. He had given a generally favourable account of the progress of the church. Perhaps other and later news had come from other quarters. Onesimus was another Colossian who was with Paul, Col. 4:9; but it is perhaps unlikely that he possessed any very intimate knowledge of the church, because, as we shall see, he did not become a Christian until after he had left Colossae. Not all the news which had been received by Paul from Colossae was satisfactory. False teaching had become prevalent. The nature of this false teaching is very difficult to determine—many different hypotheses have been proposed with regard to it. One thing is clear—the false teachers insisted upon an ascetic manner of life, Col. 2:20-23. ‘Handle not, nor taste, nor touch’, was their ordinance. Apparently they forbade the use of animal food and wine, Col. 2:16. There was also an excessive emphasis upon feast and fast days. The speculative side of their teaching, on the other hand, is obscure. It looks, however, as though they had inordinate reverence for angels, and boasted of higher mysteries to which they had attained. Whether the false teachers were Jews or Gentiles is uncertain. Colossians 2:11-15, which points out the freedom of the Christian from the law and the superiority of baptism over the rites of the Old Covenant, might seem to indicate that the Colossians had been imbued with a false notion of the continued validity of Judaism.

The errorists in Colossae, however, were not Judaizers, as were those of Galatia, for the tone of Paul’s refutation is far milder than in that former case. The Colossian Christians were not being led away from the fundamental principles of the gospel; they were merely being troubled with useless speculations, which would distract their attention from what is essential, and with an alleged higher morality, which would destroy the simplicity of the Christian life. The error was indeed serious enough. That is demonstrated by the history of the Church. Excessive reverence for beings lower than God is always dangerous. Probably the Colossian errorists did not directly attack the supremacy of Christ. Neither did those who afterwards introduced saint-worship into the Catholic Church. But in both cases the effect was to rob Christ of his rightful place in Christian devotion.

Excessive reverence for beings lower than God is always dangerous.

Paul’s Refutation of the Errorists

In refutation, Paul proceeds positively rather than negatively. Instead of filling his letter with invective, he points out the all-sufficiency of what the Colossians have already received, in order to prevent them from seeking anything new. They have already been delivered from the power of darkness, Col. 1:13. They are already in full possession of the mystery, vs. 25-27; ch. 2:2, 3. They are already free from the world, and have a new life in Christ, ch. 2:11–15, 20; 3:1–4. There is therefore no need for a supposed higher, ascetic manner of life, and no need for abstruse speculations. No manner of life can be higher than that which is described in Col. 3:1 to 4:2; no mystery can be profounder than the mystery of Christ. The speculations about angels, in particular, are refuted not so much by direct attack, as by an emphasis upon the supremacy of Christ. If Christ is what he is declared to be in Col. 1:13-23; 2.8-15, then there is no need for a worship of angels. Here lies what is really distinctive of the Epistle to the Colossians. In the previous letters, a lofty view of the person of Christ was always presupposed, but there was no occasion to set it forth in detail. At last the occasion had arrived.

The Christology of Colossians

The Epistle to the Colossians is peculiarly ‘Christological’. More fully and more expressly than in any other of his letters Paul here develops his view about the person of Christ. Even here, however, this teaching is incidental; it was simply Paul’s way of refuting certain errors that had crept into the Colossian church. Except for those errors Paul would perhaps never have written at length, as he does in Col. 1:14–23, about the relation of Christ to God and to the world. Yet in that case his own views would have been the same, and they would have been just as fundamental to his whole religious life. In the epistles, which are written to Christians, Paul takes many things for granted. Some of the things which are most fundamental appear only incidentally. Just because they were fundamental, just because they were accepted by everyone, they did not need to be discussed at length.

So it is especially with the person of Christ. From the first epistle to the last, Paul presupposes essentially the same view of that great subject. Practically everything that he says in Colossians could have been inferred from scattered hints in the earlier epistles. From the beginning Paul regarded Jesus Christ as a man, who had a real human life and died a real death on the cross. From the beginning, on the other hand, he separated Christ sharply from men and placed him clearly on the side of God.

From the beginning, in other words, he attributed to him a double nature—Jesus Christ was always in Paul’s thinking both God and man. Finally, the pre-existence of Christ, which is so strongly emphasized in Colossians, is clearly implied in such passages as Gal. 4:4; and his activity in creation appears, according to the best-attested text, in I Cor. 8:6.

Nevertheless, the more systematic exposition in Colossians is of the utmost value. It serves to summarize and explain the scattered implications of the earlier epistles. Christ according to Paul is, in the first place, ‘the image of the invisible God’. Col. 1:15. He is the supreme Revealer of God, a Revealer, however, not merely by words but by his own nature. If you want to know what God is, look upon Christ! In the second place, he is ‘the firstborn of all creation’. Of itself that phrase might be misconstrued. It might be thought to mean that Christ was the first being that God created. Any such interpretation, however, is clearly excluded by the three following verses. There Paul has himself provided an explanation of his puzzling phrase. ‘The firstborn of all creation’ means that Christ, himself uncreated, existed before all created things; he was prior to all things, and, as befits an only son, he possesses all things. Indeed he himself was active in the creation of all things, not only the world, and men, but also those angelic powers—’thrones or dominions or principalities or powers’—upon whom the errorists in Colossae were inclined to lay too much emphasis. He was the instrument of God the Father in creation. And he was also the end of creation. The world exists not for its own sake, but for the sake of Christ. Especially is he the Head of the Church. His headship is declared by his being the first to rise from the dead into that glorious life into which he will finally bring all his disciples. In a word, the entire ‘fulness’ of the divine nature dwells in Christ. That word ‘fulness’ was much misused in the ‘Gnostic’ speculations of the second century. It is barely possible that the word had already been employed in the incipient Gnosticism of the Colossian errorists. If so, Paul by his repeated use of the word in Colossians and Ephesians, is bringing his readers back to a healthier and simpler and grander conception.

The Person of Christ and the Work of Christ

In Col. 1:20–23, Paul bases upon the preceding exposition of the nature of Christ, a noble description of Christ’s work. The work which has been entrusted to Christ is nothing less than that of reconciling the creation unto God. Through sin, an enmity had been set up between God and the work of his hands. That enmity applies primarily of course to the sinful persons themselves. They are under God’s wrath and curse. Sin is not a trifle. It cannot simply be treated as though it had never been. If God be righteous, then there is such a thing as a moral order. The wrath of God rests upon the sinner. But by the sacrifice of Christ, that enmity has been wiped out. Christ has paid the awful penalty of sin. Christ has brought the sinner again near to God. The enmity and the following reconciliation concern primarily the men who have sinned. But they also apply to the whole world. The ground has been cursed for man’s sake. The end of the reconciliation will be a new heaven and a new earth. The groaning and travailing of the creation will one day have an end. Compare Rom. 8:18–25. This brief description of the work of Christ in Col. 1:20–22; 2:10–15, can be richly paralleled in the earlier epistles. What now needs to be emphasized is that the Pauline view of Christ’s work depends absolutely upon the Pauline view of Christ’s person. All through the epistles of Paul the life and death and resurrection are represented as events of a cosmic significance. But they can have such significance only if Christ is the kind of being that is described in the Epistle to the Colossians. The glorious account of salvation, which runs all through the epistles and forms the especial subject of the second group, is unintelligible if Christ were merely an inspired prophet or merely the greatest of created beings. It becomes intelligible only if Christ is ‘the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation’. The mysterious Christology of Colossians lies at the very heart of the Christian faith.

All through the epistles of Paul the life and death and resurrection are represented as events of a cosmic significance. But they can have such significance only if Christ is the kind of being that is described in the Epistle to the Colossians.

The Epistle to Philemon

The Epistle to the Colossians, though addressed to a church that Paul had never visited, is full of warm-hearted affection. Paul could hardly have been cold and formal if he had tried. He was a man of great breadth of sympathy. Hence he was able to enter with the deepest interest into the problems of the Colossian Christians to rejoice at their faith and love, to lament their faults, and to labour with whole-souled devotion for their spiritual profit. The simple, unconstrained affection of Paul’s nature, however, had freer scope in the delightful little letter to Philemon. Philemon apparently was a convert of Paul himself, Philem. 19. He was not a man with whom Paul had to be on his guard. Paul is perfectly confident that Philemon will fully understand the motives of his action and of his letter.

The letter is addressed to Philemon primarily, but also to Apphia and to Archippus and to the church in Philemon’s house. We are here introduced into a Christian household of the apostolic age. Apphia was probably Philemon’s wife and Archippus perhaps his son. Evidently Archippus held some sort of office in the Colossian church. ‘Say to Archippus,’ says Paul in a strangely emphatic way, at the very end of the Epistle to the Colossians, ‘Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.’ We should like to know what the ministry was which Archippus had received. At any rate, we hope that he fulfilled it. It was a solemn warning which he received–a warning which might well have made him tremble. We also may well take the warning to heart. Our task of imparting Bible truth is no light responsibility. To us also the warning comes, ‘Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.’ The letter is addressed not only to Philemon and his family, but also to the ‘church’ which met in his house. This ‘church’ was a part of the Colossian congregation. In the early days, when it was difficult to secure meeting places, well-to-do Christians frequently offered the hospitality of their own homes. A certain Nympha or Nymphas—the name varies in the manuscripts—performed this service in Laodicea, Col. 4:15, Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth, I Cor. 16:19, and also Gaius in the same city, Rom. 16:23. The occasion of the Epistle to Philemon is very simple. Onesimus, a slave of Philemon, had run away from his master, possibly appropriating some of his master’s money, Philem. 18. In some way he had come to Rome and had been converted by Paul. Paul would have liked to keep him as a helper. But that was not Paul’s way. Instead, he sent the slave back at once to his master. Christianity was to be no excuse for shirking the duties of the various relationships of society as it was then constituted. The freedom of the Christian was an inward freedom. It was fully consistent with the faithful performance of common duty. The letter which Paul gave to Onesimus, asking forgiveness and bespeaking an affectionate welcome for one who was now a brother as well as a servant, is a delightful little letter, simple and affectionate as the occasion required, but by no means belying the great apostle. In the simplest affairs of life, Paul was always both the true gentleman and the unswerving minister of a transcendent gospel.

Topics for Study

I. Summarize Colossians and Philemon in your own words.

2. What does Colossians teach about the nature of Christ? Show how this teaching is presupposed in the earlier epistles (two topics).

3. Summarize the false teaching combatted in Colossians.

4. Give some account of Colossae, Hierapolis, Laodicea, Aristarchus, Mark, Luke, Demas, Archippus, Philemon (about three topics).

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