Colossians 2: Reality in Christ

Jesus is the King who conquered to us a new life so that we became citizens of the kingdom of God. The Colossian church was under attack. Bad teachers were teaching how to be more "holy" through circumcision, keep the Sabbath, kosher food, etc.
We read:

16-17 So don’t put up with anyone pressuring you in details of diet, worship services, or holy days. All those things are mere shadows cast before what was to come; the substance is Christ.

18-19 Don’t tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They’re a lot of hot air, that’s all they are. They’re completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us.

Paul warned: We are holy through Jesus because he is the substance, while diet, Sabbath, etc. are only shadows of Jesus. There is a strong trend in our human hearts to find some holiness in our own effort, but this is a lie. We are made to look to Jesus.

Colossians 1: the Son

The central message of the gospel is Jesus, the Son of God, the revelation of the Father.

15-18 We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

18-20 He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so expansive, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega. I was created by Him (alpha) and for Him (omega). Through his death, I am reconciled with the Lord. Through his resurrection, I have a new life. 
Paul wasn't the missionary who planted the Colossian church, but he wants that the church looks to Jesus because He will sustain them from derailing from the gospel because they already belong to Him.

Philippians 4: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Paul is in jail, in his house at Rome. He thanked the Philippians because they sent him a financial aid. However, he wrote::

11 Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 14 Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my difficulty.

Paul has joy even in the jail because the Lord strengthens him. I remember that I decided that I had to have my own business. I remember that I was very sad because I didn't manage to create a business to me. I had many other targets that I didn't achieve. Paul knew that the Lord was in control of everything, even to his moments in prison. Paul had joy and commanded the Philippians to have joy:

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Blessed is the one who surrenders to the Lord.

Philippians 3: what are you proud about?

Paul used to be proud about his lineage, education, and specially, his devotion in following the Torah.
The citizens of Philippi had advantages such as being considered Romans to the point of not paying taxes. A good Roman would declare that "Caesar is Lord!"
A Christian is proud of not what he does, but of what he received: justification by faith, made holy by faith.
A Christian is citizen of Heaven, and a Christian declares that "Jesus is Lord!".
A Christian is one who is the process of being transformed to the image do Jesus, to the point of resurrect from the dead:

10-11 I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

Philippians 2: Power - corruption vs holiness

 Philippians 2: Power - corruption vs holiness

Lord Acton wrote in 1887: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". When man has power, he tends to use in his own favour - man is evil and do everything to keep in power; however, the Lord has power, and He uses in a very different way. Paul wrote about Jesus:

5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 therefore emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. 9 For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is our great king and our great model. He decided to abandon the power, to become weak (as a human) and serve us, sinners, instead of doing what every man does - use the power in his own benefit. We, Christians, should use the gifts of the Lord to serve others instead of serving ourselves. Imagine a world full of Christians: a very good place to live in.

Philippians 1: Prison

Paul was in jailed in Rome. Timothy was with him, in his house. Paul was missionary that loved the churches that he planted. Perhaps, I would ask to myself: "What would the Philippians would think of him? Would they be ashamed of Paul? Would they understand that the Lord was in control of everything?"; but Paul was much more focused on preaching the gospel, even in prison:

12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 13 so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the praetorian guard and to everyone else, 14 and that most of the brothers and sisters, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. 15 Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from goodwill; 16 the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; 17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking that they are causing me distress in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.

Paul was also focused on the Philippians. 

9-11 So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

Paul wanted to see Jesus more and more in the Philippians, he prayed for them to grow in love.

Romans 16: Greetings to the Jews and gentiles

Paul sends greetings to Jews (Herodion, Andronicus and Junias) and many gentiles as for instance Phoebe, from the church at Cenchrea - a port in Corinth. Probably, Paul was writing the letter from Corinth and sent it to the Romans by Phoebe; thus Phoebe had to be welcomed in a house in Rome. Paul asked the church to treat her well.
There were others with Paul, including Jews such as Jason and Sosipater.


17-18 One final word of counsel, friends. Keep a sharp eye out for those who take bits and pieces of the teaching that you learned and then use them to make trouble. Give these people a wide berth. They have no intention of living for our Master Christ. They’re only in this for what they can get out of it, and aren’t above using pious sweet talk to dupe unsuspecting innocents.

The purpose of the disciples of Jesus is to live for the Master, but there were people using pious sweet talk to be accepted as Christians while in fact they were there to take advantage of the church. Paul said to avoid them. It is difficult to imagine such council being given today in a pulpit.

25-26 All of our praise rises to the One who is strong enough to make you strong, exactly as preached in Jesus Christ, precisely as revealed in the mystery kept secret for so long but now an open book through the prophetic Scriptures. All the nations of the world can now know the truth and be brought into obedient belief, carrying out the orders of God, who got all this started, down to the final detail.

Paul knew all the Old Testament, but now, through Jesus the Old Testament was fulfilled, opening the blessings of the Lord to all nations.