Letter to the Colossian Church- 15

Subtitle: Partners in Ministry I

Colossians 4:7-11.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, November 2, 2025.

Paul has wrapped up his letter and is closing it with greetings from those who were with him in Rome.  Though Paul may seem to be singularly important, he continually testifies of the many people who helped him and encouraged him in ministering for Jesus Christ.

It is important for us to understand that people who minister for Christ, even with great scopes of influence, need partners both to help them and to encourage them.

In some respects, these people are partnering with Paul, but in other respects they are all partnering with Christ and his work. 

To partner with God in any endeavor will generally involve partnering with others.  There is a tension between the way God uses others to help us spiritually and those things that we must face and do for ourselves.  Both issues are important.

We all have a part in the people of Christ and also in the ministry of Christ.  Paul may get the press, but he is not trying to hog it for himself.  So, let’s look at some of the men who helped Paul in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tychicus (v. 7-8)

We do not have a lot of information on Tychicus.  He was with Paul in Rome while Paul was under house arrest.  He is first mentioned in Acts 20:4 during Paul’s third missionary journey. Paul picks up Tychicus as a helper somewhere in the Roman province of Asia (his hometown is never mentioned).  It seems that Paul was continually looking for fellow workers who had a call from the Lord to help in ministry.

Tychicus must have made his way to Rome in order to help Paul during his imprisonment.

Paul used Tychicus several times to communicate with individuals and churches, typically carrying letters from Paul to them.  It is clear that he is delivering this letter to the Colossians.  He is also mentioned in Ephesians 6:21 as the one who delivered that letter.  There is also a mention in Titus that Paul may use Tychicus to deliver that letter.

In all of these cases, Tychicus is not just a mailman.  He is also a brother who can encourage those to whom Paul is writing.

Paul clearly depended upon Tychicus and trusted him.  So, it is no surprise to read Paul’s description of Tychicus as a beloved brother (fellow believer in Jesus) and a faithful servant.  Calling one another “brothers” was an endearment that recognized the family of God that believers were.  His faithfulness as a servant was not just to Paul.  His servanthood was ultimately to Christ.  However, when you serve Christ, you will find yourself serving people.

Paul also calls him a fellow bondservant.  This is a different word that the previous “servant.”  A bondservant was a person who had no will or agency except that of their master.  We know that Paul is a freeman, so this is not about him being an actual slave.  Rather, he is a slave of Christ along with Paul, “a bondservant in the Lord.”

Tychicus would not only deliver the letter, but he would also inform them about Paul’s situation and condition.  Paul is doing well, and God is helping him.  Tychicus could encourage their hearts about Paul’s predicament and the advance of the Kingdom of Christ in the face of Roman imprisonment.

Sometimes we can be more concerned about people than they are for themselves, and that is okay.  The key is communication and prayer for one another.

Onesimus (v. 9)

Onesimus has travelled with Tychicus and was himself from Colossae.  Paul describes him similarly to how he described Tychicus.  He is a faithful and beloved brother.

This is the same Onesimus as that in the letter of Philemon.  It is generally thought that this personal letter to Philemon was sent at the same time.  At some point, Philemon must have made his personal letter to be public. 

Onesimus was Philemon’s bondslave.  He had run away and somehow ended up in Rome.  It is clear that though Philemon was a Christian, Onesimus was not.  Onesimus became a Christian, probably through interaction with Paul.  Paul then sent Onesimus back to Philemon, his master.  In that letter, Paul encouraged Philemon to accept Onesimus as a brother in the Lord.  He even stated that he would cover all that Philemon had cost him in running away.

This idea of not kicking against your station in life, i.e., being a slave, but using it for Christ, is puzzling to the modern age.  It is part of the call to let your relationships be transformed by Christ.  It may be that a slave was Christian and a master wasn’t.  The slave would be encouraged to serve their master as if serving the Lord.  It was also possible that a master would be Christian while a slave was not (as in the case of Philemon).  The master would be encouraged to treat the slave fairly as we saw earlier in this letter, remembering that they have a heavenly master to whom they will give account.  When both are Christians, they would both be challenged to serve to honor Christ in their commitments to one another.

By the way, it is interesting that Paul does not use the language of servant and slave with Onesimus like he did with Tychicus.  He could have, but in this case, he emphasizes that he is a fellow brother.

Aristarchus (v. 10)

At this point, Paul sends greetings from those who remained with him in Rome.

We first hear about Aristarchus in Acts 19 where Paul is in Ephesus during the third missionary journey.  Demetrius the silversmith had stirred up a mob.  They couldn’t find Paul, so they seized Gaius and Aristarchus.  They brought them before the magistrates.  They were eventually freed, but we see that Aristarchus has faced difficulty for the cause of Christ.

He is from Thessalonica, the capital city of Macedonia.

Paul tells us that Aristarchus is imprisoned with him.  It is unclear if he was arrested as a co-conspirator with Paul or if he simply volunteered to be arrested with him in order to help Paul in this time.  It is fairly clear that he accompanied Paul to Jerusalem where he was arrested and then put on a ship for Rome.

Aristarchus is another faithful man serving the kingdom of Christ in spite of adversity.

Mark (v. 10)

Paul sends greetings for Mark who is not mentioned as being a prisoner too.  This is the cousin of Barnabas who is no doubt also the young man they took on their first missionary journey.

In Acts 13, we are told that John called Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.  There was no reason presented at the time.  However, in Acts 15 as Paul and Barnabas prepare to leave on a second missionary journey, there is a dispute about letting Mark join them.  This dispute becomes so sharp that Paul and Barnabas decide to part ways. 

Paul clearly believes that Mark is not someone who can be trusted.  This makes it clear that Mark had abandoned them earlier.  Barnabas wants to help Mark grow in working for the Lord without fear. 

This passage becomes one of the places where we see that Mark went on to prove himself to the apostle Paul.  They made amends, and Paul depends upon Mark without reserve.  2 Timothy 4:11 is another place where Paul asks for Timothy to bring Mark with him who is “useful to me for service.”

Was Paul too hard or was Barnabas too soft?  I am not sure that we should try to solve that.  There are good reasons why both took the stand that they did.  However, God’s purpose can be found even in our disagreements.  Our conflicts and reconciliations are part of not knowing everything.  Perhaps, God was using that disagreement to create two missionary teams.  

Regardless, we see Paul sending word that Mark is to be welcomed (as a faithful brother) because they would know of his prior reserves about Mark.  They are to welcome him.

It is important for believers to leave room for reconciliation down the road when there are disagreements and conflicts.

Jesus who is called Justus (v. 11)

Paul sends greetings from a man named Jesus who is also called Justus.  Of course, this isn’t Jesus the Christ, but a man who had the same name.  Perhaps, this is why he went by Justus.

We know nothing else about Justus.  However, Paul describes him, Mark and Aristarchus as fellow workers for the Kingdom of God who are of the circumcision.  This is not a reference to the Jewish Christians who were teaching that Gentiles had to be circumcised to follow Jesus.  He does use the term that way in certain letters.  In this case, Paul is using the word to refer to the Jews as a whole.  They saw themselves as the circumcised as opposed to the Gentiles who were not circumcised.

There were no doubt other Jewish Christians in Rome, but these three were the only ones who came alongside of him and helped him in the ministry.

This brings up a side issue regarding the apostle Peter.  Roman Catholics have presented through the years that Peter went to Rome as early as the 40s and was the Bishop of Rome, setting up the Church there.  They then extrapolate that Peter passed his authority on to the next bishop of Rome and so one, creating a long line of succession of the apostolic succession.  This is the foundation of their argument for the primacy of the Bishop of Rome, or the papacy.

Those who reject papal authority, or primacy, sometimes try to prove that Peter was never in Rome until his execution under Nero.  This passage begs the question of whether or not Peter was in Rome.  If he was, he would be a fellow Jew working for the Kingdom of God.  They believe that it is logical to infer from Paul’s statement that Peter could not have been in Rome.

It is possible that this is true, but I believe it is making Paul’s words say too much.  Paul calls them “fellow workers.”  Peter and Paul both had powerful ministries that did not intersect very often.  They are both working for Christ, but it is possible that Paul is using “fellow worker” in a narrower sense.  Paul may only mean those who are actively helping him with what he is doing.  Peter would be doing what the Lord is leading him to do separate to Paul.

I am not persuaded either way.  I think this is a weak verse to use for both ideas.  I would say this.  There are no passages that give any implication that Peter was the head Apostle of the Church and that all of the other Apostles gave him first place.  There is also no idea that Peter would pass down such an authority before his death.  In fact, this would be a line of argumentation that would have worked for Caiaphas.  Christian heritage does not guarantee that one will have the calling of their grandparents, and a Christian office does not guarantee that one will have the same spiritual authority as previous officers.

We will have some more people to introduce next week.  Yet, let’s see these as those who have proved to be an encouragement to Paul (vs. 11).  They are not just helpers in the ministry.  Paul needed encouragement.  I am sure that the Spirit of Christ encouraged him internally.  However, Jesus also used faithful brothers to be an encouragement to Paul.  Whenever you see someone who is being used greatly in ministry, never forget this simple truth.  They need people to minister to them too!

God help us to work together for the sake of the Kingdom of Christ, the Son of God’s love!

Partners I audio

Letter to the Colossian Church- 13

Subtitle: A New Home- 2

Colossians 3:22-4:1. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, October 19, 2025.

Paul continues to address relationships in the home that would have been a part of the lives of some of the Colossians.

Slavery verifiably has been part of human history for all of written history.  All ethnic groups have been slaves and have enslaved others.  There is very little data on the prevalence of slavery in Colossae during the first century A.D.  There is more data on the prevalence of slavery within the Roman Empire during this period, but it would have had variance depending on where you are looking.  It is generally stated that 20% to 40% of households would have had slaves during this period of the Roman Empire. 

No doubt, there was enslaving going on before the Flood, since it is described as extremely wicked.  Yet, it would be clear that there would have been no slavery in the very beginning, as Adam and Eve began having children.  This would have been the same dynamic with the family of Noah when they stepped off the ark.

So, how did it start?  As sin enters our relationships and our familial connections become further and further apart, it is easier to embrace such activity for various reasons, whether economic poverty, war, or pure dictatorial subjugation.  Of course, the Tower of Babel judgment would have exacerbated this dynamic.  They spread out and could not understand one another for a long period of time.  This would break down any emotional connections that did exist.

Throughout history, slaves were often the survivors of war.  Instead of killing everyone, the victors would subjugate people as spoils of war.  Of course, kidnapping was actively pursued by many groups throughout history.  This would typically be those who don’t want to wage all out war.  It was very common for people who were badly in debt to indenture themselves to others.  The debt would be paid off by the master, and the indentured slave would work for a set number of years to cover that value.

One of the problems with slavery in the 1800s is that its intersection with the ideas of evolution to dehumanize slaves further.  Those who inhumanely treat others have somehow justified seeing them as less human than themselves.

It has been common to present the Bible as written in order to strengthen the institution of slavery.  However, this is not intellectually honest.  Most early Christians were not wealthy.  It was common for church gatherings to have slaves and masters worshipping together.  In this passage, Paul is not trying to justify or protect slavery.  Instead, he is speaking to those who have this slave to master relationship and challenging them to submit this relationship to Christ.

Let’s get into our passage.

Jesus is the Lord of our relationships: to the slave (v. 22-25)

Notice that Paul is addressing each one in a relationship and giving them an exhortation as to what they should do.  According to modern culture, what should he have said?  Modern culture is appalled that Paul does not declare that slavery is wrong and does not call for a protest in order to set all slaves free.  Of course, few give thought to how quickly the Christians would have been stamped out by Rome if Christianity made that the thrust of its focus.  Neither do we truly listen to the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What we do know is that many slaves heard the Gospel and believed in Jesus.  Also, some of those who had slaves would believe in Jesus.  It would have been common in the early church for slaves and masters to be worshipping Jesus together.  Paul is speaking about their situation, not ours.  Even if we are to say that these verses no longer apply to cultures that do not allow slavery, we can recognize similarities to the relationship of employer to employee.

All economic systems have to come up with a solution for those who are unable to take care of themselves due to being overly indebted, or they have an inability to work.  Most of those solutions will bear a resemblance to slavery in varying degrees.  This is not to equate them, but to highlight that some of the same dynamics are at play.  Employees have a varying degree of freedom to get another job that depends on their skills or lack thereof.  So, as we go through this, we can recognize some applications to those who are not slaves and masters, but rather employees and employers.
Paul tells slaves that they should obey their earthly master.  Let’s note that the word obey here is not the same as the word Paul used for women.  However, it is the same word that was given to kids.  Paul does not get into all the issues and whether or not there are any exceptions.  If a master commanded his slave to worship Zeus, is Paul telling them they must obey and worship Zeus?  This is a ludicrous approach to what Paul is saying.  He is essentially saying that the main moral issue for slaves is that of obeying their master.  This may seem insensitive, but the Gospel is more concerned with our soul and what is ruling within us.  Good things can be done with evil motives beneath them.

I would point out that Paul uses the prepositional phrase regarding their master, “according to the flesh.”  This is a not-so-subtle qualifier to what he is saying.  A master may have a claim on your body and can, therefore, give you commands.  However, there are other ways in which they are not your master.  You have a higher Master (Lord) who is over both body and soul.

Paul then adds that they are not to obey with “external service.”  The word is literally “eye service” and has the idea of only obeying when others are watching or will find out from those around you whether you are obeying or not.  It is the picture of a person who cannot be trusted to do something unless they are heavily supervised. 

He then adds, “as those who merely please men.”  This is used here in a negative sense.  Thus, some versions add the word “merely.”  The descriptions that follow help us to understand that these are people who please others in order to get what they want out of them.  God is not interested in shallow obedience.  He wants deep transformation within the hearts of those who follow Jesus, the kind of transformation that causes a slave to obey their master in order to please God, rather than themselves.  This is couched in terms of a slave to a master, but employees ought to take all this to heart regarding how they should do their job.

Paul adds more to qualify their obedience, “with sincerity of heart.”  The word for sincerity is a singleness of heart, which includes being free from pretense and hypocrisy.  Then, he adds, “as those who fear God.”  A person who fears God is a person who knows that God will hold them accountable for their treatment of others and obedience to His Word.  God holds claim not just to my body, but also to my soul.  He is my ultimate Master.  Of course, He is not a Master like the masters of this world.

A slave is not saved by their perfect obedience to their earthly masters.  Rather, they are being reminded that they have a Master who sees everything and has made promises to you.  God is the background for all of our relationships.  Husbands and wives are accountable to God.  Parents and kids are accountable to God just as masters and slaves.

God desires us to be a good thing in each other’s life, but as He defines it, not us.  It is not enough to be neutral in our impact on others.  It is definitely unacceptable to be evil to one another.  In Christ, we are called to give ourselves to Christ and serve his purposes through us to others.

Verse 23 gives a larger principle that can be applied to any relationship.  Having mentioned the fear of the Lord, he now turns to how we are actually serving the Lord God when we serve others. 

“Do what you do heartily as for the Lord.”  The Lord needs to be the director of how we relate to one another, and He needs to be the one we envision that we are serving.  This is not a mental game of pretense.  Jesus really is our Lord, and we really will come before his judgment seat to give account for our service to him.

This reminds me of Matthew 25:40. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”  The same message is being given to slaves.  Do what you do as unto the Lord, and when you stand before him, you will be blessed.

I said earlier that our salvation is not dependent on how well we did this.  Our salvation can be secure while any reward from Christ is in jeopardy. 

When we mistreat one another, God takes that personal.  Mistreatment often occurs within a power imbalance.  However, the modern world wants to treat power imbalance itself as a problem, even the only problem.  The existence of imbalance of power is not what is evil.  It is what is done within the context of that imbalance.

This is an attack against God as Creator, whether they know it or not.  God has created everything with a diversity of power, both in nature around us and within humanity.  It is impossible to really create a society where there are no power imbalances. Thus, we tyrannize the whole in pursuit of something that can never be.

God doesn’t rail against these imbalances.  Rather, He warns us to be careful how we operate within them.  We will give account to the Power above all powers, and He takes it personally.

Are you strong?  Fine, but you might ask why God has given you strength.  It is not for crushing the weak while using your strength for yourself.  It is not for crushing a slave or an employee for your own ends.  Instead, it is to be a blessing to the weak and the lowly.

All people have a variation of things in which they are strong or weak.  We need each other.  We can be a blessing to one another by working together in order to please God.  If everyone is doing what they do as unto God, then our relationships with one another will be vastly different than what is typical within our society.

Verse 24 tells the slave that they will receive a reward of inheritance from the Lord.  Of course, in this life, slaves do not inherit anything.  However, Christians will inherit eternal life in a glorified body with Jesus.  We will even inherit a new heaven and a new earth in which there will be no wickedness.

You may be a slave to a man on this earth, but in Jesus, you are a son of a Heavenly Father.  You have a great inheritance coming from Him.  Does it look like it?  When we are being mistreated, used and abused, we can forget about the Lord Jesus.  How was he treated?  Did he submit himself to the mockers and the shame?  Yes, it may not be fair (or it may be).  God knows.  He has made us to be His sons and daughters.  He will make everything right in the end.  Do you trust Him?

The heavenly master will judge the earthly masters of this world.  Our difficulties seem long, but they are short in light of an eternity of perfect righteousness with God Himself.  The rewards and attainments of this world will diminish and fade.  They are here today and gone tomorrow.  But the eternal rewards of God never end and never diminish.  Many who are first in this world will be last in the life to come, if they even make it.  However, many who are last in this world will be first in the life to come.

If you only hope is in this life, you will decry the Bible as a book made by masters to keep the slaves in check.  There were some masters who became Christians like Philemon of Colossae.  There were even some people from the household of Caesar who believed.  But most were low class, and many were slaves.  Jesus and his disciples were not from the echelons of society.  They may not have been slaves, but the boot of the Roman empire and the religious leaders of Israel probably made it feel like it at times.

They made themselves slaves of Christ, who had made himself a slave of God the Father, in order to bring salvation and hope to a lost world.  This life is short and temporary compared to the inheritance and reward that God has for us.  I can be used of God for His purposes in this unfair, often godless, world.  But, after it, I will have glory with Him.  Those who have glory in this world have it much harder to obtain glory in the next.  Those who have no glory in this world need only to trust Jesus in order to obtain great glory in the next!

There are many masters who will not make it.  The real question for a slave is not about their master, but about their own destiny.  Will I make it?  Even when a slave gets his freedom, which is good, it doesn’t fix the problem that all men deal with and that is spiritual bondage in our hearts and minds. 

Thus, Paul ends verse 25 with the reminder that the Lord will judge those who do wrong and give them their consequences without partiality.  This is a double-edged sword.  The Lord will judge both slave and master.  He will not show the master partiality because he is a “greater man” in this life.  However, neither will He show the slave partiality because he had nothing.  He will judge both alike for what is in their hearts and the deeds they have done.  There are consequences to be had for how we live this life.  The courts of men may favor the rich in this generation and then change to favor the poor in that generation.  However, God shows partiality to no one.  Quit looking at the other person and excusing your sin.  Look to God and ask Him to help you cleanse your heart.

We often justify our sin in the name of injustices and wrongs done against us.  It doesn’t feel fair for God to do the right thing over the top of injustice and wrong.  However, it wasn’t fair for Jesus to take our sins upon himself and extinguish the wrath of God against sin.  Can I trust the judgment of God and the consequences that come from that, whether rewards or punishments, and whether those are temporal or eternal?

God did create slavery.  We did.  God did allow us to enslave one another.  He did let us sin against one another.  This was not because He condoned it.  Jesus himself once said about divorce that “Moses permitted divorce because of your hard hearts.”  Our hard hearts have brought many things into the world that God does not condone.  He can focus on divorce, or He can let the pain of it drive us back to the central issue, our hard hearts.  When you wrestle with the problem of softening a hard heart, then you will have scratched the surface of the wisdom of God on these matters.

To the master (v. 4:1)

It is clear from the structure of chapter three that this verse belongs with the previous chapter.  It is an improper chapter division.  Paul speaks to slaves and then turns and speaks to the masters.

It may appear that Paul was harder on the slaves because he spent four verses speaking to them, and now only one verse to masters.  However, we should not read this as him being hard on slaves and easy on masters.  Instead, he spends more time trying to help the slave see God’s wisdom because of their typical hardship.  Yet, with the master, there is a short command that is much like what they would give to their slaves.

So, what did the Holy Spirit move Paul to tell slave owners?  He tells them to give their slaves justice and fairness.  “Give” here has the sense of granting something.  This might hide the fact that this is a command to masters.  The Master of masters gives them a command to grant justice and fairness to their slaves. 

Justice refers to what is upright, virtuous and right.  It isn’t twisted and perverted for selfish reasons in any way.  A society may define this word poorly, but a Christian who had slaves should not be looking to society to define for them what justice is.  Jesus is the definition of justice and righteousness for the Christian.

Fairness has a sense of equality in it.  Paul doesn’t define what this equality would be, but it would definitely include the equality of being human, i.e., made in God’s image and loved by Him.

Equality, or fairness, is not about being equal in abilities and status.  Rather, it is about giving them what any human should receive in the light of their equal position before God.

Evolution completely undermined this issue.  Suddenly there was an intellectual reason why someone could treat a person of another race, not with equality of humanity, but something far less.  News flash: when you treat another human as less than human, it is you who is the subhuman and not them.

Paul then ends the command with a clear shot across their bow.  Do this “knowing that you have a Master in heaven.”  Their granting of justice and fairness is to be done simultaneously with the knowledge in mind that your Heavenly Master (Lord) is watching.

This short command and the accompanying warning are proper.  This is exactly how their position would be executed toward their own slaves.

Let me end with a few more things about the Bible and slavery.  Does the Bible (God) condone or even promote slavery?  No. In fact, it was Christian men and women who fought for the abolition of slavery.

When you analyze the Bible, you find that the Old Testament prohibited kidnapping, particularly for the purposes of pressing them into slavery.  Did every Scripture-quoting master in the South make sure that none of their slaves had been kidnapped?  Quoting Scripture improperly does not reflect God and His Word.  It reflects the heart of the person.

The Bible did allow economic slavery, i.e., indentured slavery, but it called for better treatment than was common among the nations.  This is connected to the permitting of divorce.

The abolitionists saw the fact that all humans are made in the image of God, the message of the Exodus and God’s heart for those under hard bondage, God’s moral laws and condemnation of oppression.  They saw that the message of Jesus and His Apostles called for a different treatment of one another.  They worked to change the system.

Praise God that we do not have open slavery anymore.  However, there is still oppression and black-market slavery.  Yet, even if we could free every single person within our boundaries, or on the planet, it still begs the question of what is going on in your heart and mind.  Are you truly free?  My body may be free while my heart, mind and soul are in bondage to sin and selfishness.

May God help us to hear His heart in these passages.

A New Home II audio