Paul’s letter to Philemon is packed with the many implications of the Gospel on our relationships. Even the introduction paints a picture of what “Church” is supposed to be.

Colossians began with a massive honor of Christ in Chapter 1, and ends with a massive honor of Paul’s fellow laborers in Chapter 4. The Gospel flourished and changed lives in the early church as a result of sacrificial laborers who gave their lives to this work.

When Christ comes to bear on a life, he tends to move from one’s heart, into one’s home, and ultimately into one’s neighborhood.

If the Bible teaches that the blood of Jesus makes peace possible in every area of life, then nothing is left unaffected by this reconciliation. God gets in our business — he’s not just concerned with how we live publicly, but with our personal and private lives, namely, our households.

Instead of the ways we have learned to “Forgive & Forget,” Jesus calls us to a radical form of “Forgive & Remember.”

Scripture commands us to always be putting our sin to death. We start by asking a simple question: are we fixed on things above, or things on earth?

Jesus died without your participation to offer you an invitation into his gift of grace. So, why live as if you're still in bondage to earning?

In the middle of Colossians 2, Paul’s attention is shifts from building the case for the supremacy and centrality of Christ, toward guiding the church at Colossae into true connection to Christ as the unrivaled head of their lives. Who’s head? And whose head should you be connected to?

Through baptism, we die with Christ and are raised to new life with Him — the One who triumphed over sin and death.

Paul labored and suffered in his ministry to the Christians in Colossae because he longed for their spiritual maturity. We are invited to do the same.