The Letters
- When
- c. AD 60–62, from prison
- Written by
- Paul
- Chapters
- 4
The big idea
Christ is the image of the invisible God and head over all. Nothing needs to be added to him, so set your mind on the things above and let his word dwell in you.
Themes
- The supremacy of Christ
- The new life
- The Christian household
- Fullness in Christ
Memory verse
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Key passages
- 1:15–20The image of the invisible God
- 2:8–10Complete in him
- 3:1–4Seek the things above
- 3:12–17Put on love
Links to other Scripture
- John 1:1–3All things made by him
- Hebrews 1:1–4The brightness of his glory
- Ephesians 4–6A sister letter
- PhilemonOnesimus, sent with this letter
Read the text
Choose a chapter to read it here in the King James Version. Verses with a dotted underline have notes from Bible scholars. Tap one to open them.
Notes from
Chapters
King James text and the commentaries of Henry, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Gill, Clarke, Calvin, and Keil and Delitzsch are in the public domain. Tyndale Open Study Notes are used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license, from tyndaleopenresources.com. Texts were reformatted for this site.
Journal prompts
Keep a journal or notebook for your study. Write your answers there, in your own words.
- Where do you see Christ in this book?
- Paul says Christ is before all things and in him all things hold together. What in your life feels like it is coming apart?
- “Set your affection on things above.” What is occupying your mind most, and how does it compare?
- Whatever you do, do it as to the Lord. What is one ordinary task today you could do that way?
- In one sentence, this book is about…