Every book of the Bible is important, and we can see God’s wisdom in preserving each of them for us, although there are similarities among them. Ephesians and Colossians are particularly similar. Both letters were written by the apostle Paul to churches he loved. Both letters were written about the same time, while Paul was in Roman imprisonment (early 60s AD). Consider the following thematic similarities:
- Both epistles emphasize the need for Christian homes (Ephesians 5:22-25; 6:1-9; Colossians 3:18-4:1).
- Both epistles emphasize the supremacy of Christ (e.g., Ephesians 1:5-10; Colossians 9-18).
- Both epistles emphasize that reconciliation with God is accomplished through Christ (Ephesians 1:10; Colossians 1:19).
- Both epistles emphasize that Christians must live holy lives (Ephesians 4-6; Colossians 3:1-4:6).
And yet there are differences between these two epistles, as Thomas B. Warren explained:
“The chief difference is one of emphasis, for the two epistles deal with much of the same material. Ephesians is devotional and expository; Colossians is polemical; it is a refutation of error. The truth of Christ, His Person and His work, are placed in a very vivid way along side of heresy (taught by some at Colosse) which greatly degraded Christ. In Ephesians, Paul is primarily concerned with the exaltation of a sublime truth. In Colossians, he is primarily concerned with the refutation of error” (The Book of Colossians, 17).
Colossians is concerned not only with exalting Christ, but with directly refuting attacks against Christ. When Paul wrote, the church at Colosse apparently was being threatened by two main false teachings, and each of them reflected negatively on Christ. First, there was the teaching that the Colossians needed to keep part of the Law of Moses in order to be right with God (Colossians 2:11-23). Paul says that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross enough, apart from keeping Moses’ law.
The second heretical tendency that threatened the church at Colosse was the view that the human body is inherently evil, and so Jesus did not really have a body (see Colossians 2:1-9). This view is part of a broader philosophy called Gnosticism, meaning “knowledge-ism.” Gnostics claimed to have greater knowledge than others, and one thing they claimed that bodies are inherently immoral. There are other errors of Gnosticism, with which Paul deals in Colossians and John deals in the book of 1 John.
Why not begin a study of Ephesians and Colossians today?