Name: Colossians and Philemon for the Practical Messianic
SKU: B126P
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Description

The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon, are two of the most overlooked letters in the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) by today’s Messianic community. Too frequently, our engagement level with Colossians is limited to words which Paul issued about Torah practices like Sabbath-keeping or kosher eating, or about something being nailed to the cross. Because Christian friends and family often use partial quotes from Colossians to refute Messianic Believers who are Torah observant, we often try to avoid Paul’s letter. And like many of today’s evangelical Protestants, Paul’s letter to Philemon is totally avoided, simply because we do not know what to do with the issue of slavery. Ignoring these two letters cannot be allowed to continue any longer.

Colossians and Philemon, two letters of Paul written together, are actually not too difficult to understand when read as a whole—and when one consciously makes a point to interpret them for their original, First Century audiences first. What was the false teaching circulating among the Believers in Ancient Colossae? Was it first Jewish, and then pagan—or first pagan, and then Jewish? When the Apostle Paul uplifted Messiah Yeshua, was he simply claiming that He was like the impersonal force Wisdom—or something much more than Wisdom? Did Paul really affirm Yeshua as being the Deity—God Himself incarnated as a human? How were things like the Sabbath and appointed times improperly used by the false teachers—in an ascetic philosophy designed to appeal to the cosmic powers, over which the Messiah had prevailed? What can readers learn about the mystery of the ages, and how the power of the good news can change anyone? What role does a letter like Philemon play in our reading of the Bible?

In the commentary Colossians and Philemon for the Practical Messianic, Messianic Apologetics editor J.K. McKee shows us why today’s Messianic Believers need not be afraid of these two letters any more. An array of scholastic opinion is considered in regard to these two texts, especially the various proposals made about the false teaching which disrupted the Believers in Colossae. Contemporary applications for some negative trends being witnessed in today’s Messianic movement are also proposed, especially in terms of the false philosophy and worship of angels refuted by Paul. Colossians and Philemon are both important letters for us to understand, as today’s Messianic community strives to move forward in its reading of the Pauline Epistles.

278 pages paperback

15-page excerpt PDF