Before Paul tells them what to do, he reminds them who they are.
- Thad DeBuhr
- Jun 25
- 17 min read
Study Guide: Colossians 1:1-2
Imagine starting a new job.
You walk into the building on your first day. You are nervous. You do not know where everything is yet. You are not sure who everyone is. You do not know all the systems, rules, expectations, or rhythms of the workplace.
But before anyone gives you a long list of tasks, they hand you something simple.
A badge.
That badge may not look like much. It may just have your name, your picture, and the company logo on it. But that badge says something important:
You belong here.
Before you know how to do everything, you belong.
Before you understand every detail, you belong.
Before you have proven yourself, you belong.
That changes how you walk into the room. You are not a visitor anymore. You are not just someone looking around. You have been brought in. You have been given a place.
That is a helpful way to understand how Paul opens the letter to the Colossians.
He does not begin by saying, “Here are all the things you need to fix.”
He does not begin by scolding them.
He does not begin with a long warning.
He begins by reminding them who they are.
They are God’s holy people.
They are faithful brothers and sisters.
They are in Colossae.
But even more deeply, they are in Christ.
That may sound like a basic greeting, but Paul is doing more than saying hello. In just two verses, he gives them their badge. He reminds them of their true identity before he teaches them how to live.
That matters because the rest of Colossians will call them to live differently. Paul will talk about false teaching, spiritual confusion, temptation, relationships, speech, prayer, and mission. But before he gets to any of that, he wants them to know this:
You belong to Jesus.
And because you belong to Jesus, you can now learn to live like it.
As you go through the study guide, I would suggest reading or listening to the Bible passages in two different bible translations from this list: NIV, NLT, NASB, ESV, NKJV
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Setting the Scene
Colossians is a letter written by Paul to a church in the city of Colossae. Colossae was located in the Lycus Valley in the region of Phrygia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. Nearby were two more famous cities: Laodicea and Hierapolis.
By the time Paul wrote this letter, Colossae was not the most important city in the area. It had once been more significant, especially because of its location along trade routes and its wool industry. But over time, Laodicea and Hierapolis became more influential. Colossae became more of a smaller, overlooked town.
That detail matters.
The letter to the Colossians is not written to a powerful church in a famous city. It is written to ordinary believers in an out-of-the-way place. These were not the people everyone in the Roman world was watching. They were not impressive by worldly standards.
But they mattered deeply to God.
Paul likely had not personally visited this church. The church seems to have been started through the ministry of Epaphras, a coworker of Paul. Later in the letter, Paul says the Colossians “learned it from Epaphras” and calls him a “faithful minister of Christ” on their behalf (Colossians 1:7). In Colossians 4:12–13, Paul says Epaphras is always wrestling in prayer for them.
So picture this: Epaphras hears the good news about Jesus, likely through Paul’s wider ministry in the region, and then carries that message back to his hometown area. A church forms. People begin following Jesus. But then confusion starts to enter the community.
We will see hints throughout the letter that some people were trying to add to Jesus. They were not necessarily saying, “Reject Jesus.” The problem was more subtle than that. It was more like, “Yes, Jesus is important, but you also need this special knowledge, this extra spiritual experience, this rule, this ritual, this vision, this religious practice, this angelic power, this deeper secret.”
Paul writes to make one thing clear:
Jesus is not one ingredient in the Christian life.
Jesus is supreme over everything.
Jesus is enough.
That theme begins to build right away, even in the greeting.
Paul writes:
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.”Colossians 1:1–2
These two verses are easy to rush past because they sound like the beginning of a letter. But in the ancient world, letters often began by naming the sender, naming the recipients, and giving a greeting. Paul uses that normal letter form, but he fills it with meaning.
He tells us who he is.
He tells us who they are.
He tells us where their identity is found.
And he gives them the words that will shape the whole Christian life: grace and peace.
Walking Through the Passage
Paul begins with his own name:
“Paul…”
This is the same Paul who had once opposed the early followers of Jesus. Before he became a missionary and teacher, he was known as Saul. He was deeply committed to the traditions of his people and saw the Jesus movement as dangerous. In Acts 8:3, we are told that Saul was trying to destroy the church. In Acts 9, he is traveling to Damascus to arrest followers of Jesus when the risen Jesus meets him on the road.
That moment changes everything.
Paul does not become a follower of Jesus because he slowly warmed up to the idea. He is stopped, confronted, forgiven, called, and sent. His whole life is redirected.
So when Paul opens this letter by saying, “Paul,” that name carries a story of grace. The man writing about Jesus being enough is a man whose own life has been completely changed by Jesus.
Then Paul says:
“an apostle of Christ Jesus…”
The word “apostle” means someone who is sent. It is not just a title. It carries the idea of being sent with a message and with the authority of the one who sent you.
Think of an ambassador. An ambassador does not speak only for himself. He represents the one who sent him. Paul is saying, “I am not writing this letter because I had a few thoughts I wanted to share. I am writing as someone sent by Christ Jesus.”
That matters because Paul is about to help this church sort through confusion. Some voices were trying to pull the Colossians away from the simplicity and fullness of Jesus. Paul wants them to know his message is not just another opinion competing in the marketplace of ideas. He is writing as someone sent by Jesus.
But notice the next phrase:
“by the will of God…”
Paul does not say, “I became an apostle because I was impressive.”
He does not say, “I earned this.”
He does not say, “People voted me into this role.”
He says it happened by the will of God.
That is important because it keeps Paul from bragging. His authority is real, but it is not self-made. It comes from God’s calling.
This also gives us a helpful reminder about our own lives. We live in a world that tells us to invent ourselves, brand ourselves, prove ourselves, and constantly explain why we matter. Paul’s life teaches a different way. God gives the calling. God gives the assignment. Our role is faithfulness.
This does not mean everyone has Paul’s role. We are not all apostles in the same sense Paul was. But every follower of Jesus has been given a place in God’s work. Ephesians 2:10 says we are created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to walk in.
Before Paul tells the Colossians what God wants from them, he reminds them that his own life is also under God’s direction.
Then Paul adds:
“and Timothy our brother…”
This could be easy to skip, but it matters.
Paul includes Timothy in the greeting. Timothy was one of Paul’s trusted coworkers. He was younger than Paul and had traveled with him in ministry. Paul invested deeply in Timothy, and Timothy became one of the next generation of leaders in the early church.
Why mention Timothy here?
Because ministry was never meant to be a one-person show.
Paul had authority, but he did not work alone. He served with others. He trained others. He named others. He honored others. He shared the work.
That is a beautiful picture of Christian leadership.
The church is not built around celebrities. It is a family. It is a body. It is a shared mission. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul describes the church as one body with many parts. Every part matters. No one part can say to another, “I don’t need you” (1 Corinthians 12:21).
Timothy’s name reminds us that following Jesus is not meant to be isolated. We need brothers and sisters. We need mentors. We need coworkers. We need people ahead of us and people coming behind us.
Then Paul turns to the recipients:
“To God’s holy people in Colossae…”
Some translations say “saints.” That word can confuse us today. Many people hear “saint” and think of a spiritual superhero. Someone with a halo. Someone who never struggles. Someone far above ordinary Christians.
But that is not how Paul is using the word.
Paul is writing to ordinary believers. They still need to grow. They still need correction. They still need to learn. That is why he is writing the letter.
Yet he calls them holy.
Why?
Because holiness begins with belonging to God.
To be holy means to be set apart for God. It does not mean they are already perfect in every thought, word, and action. It means God has claimed them as His own.
That is the order we often get wrong.
We tend to think, “If I live holy enough, maybe then God will accept me.”
But the gospel works the other way around.
God claims us in Christ, and then He begins changing us.
A helpful picture is a house renovation. When someone buys an old house, the house belongs to them the moment the purchase is complete. But that does not mean the house is fully restored yet. There may be broken windows, old carpet, bad wiring, and rooms that need a lot of work. Ownership comes first. Renovation follows.
That is the Christian life.
In Jesus, we belong to God. Then God begins the long work of restoring us.
This connects with other parts of Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 1:2, Paul writes to the church in Corinth and calls them “sanctified in Christ Jesus” and “called to be saints.” That church had serious problems. Yet Paul still begins by reminding them of who they are in Christ.
Identity comes before instruction.
Belonging comes before behavior.
Grace comes before growth.
Paul then says they are:
“the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ…”
The word “faithful” does not mean they are flawless. It means they are trusting Jesus and continuing with Him. They are loyal to Christ even while they are still learning what that means.
Paul also calls them brothers and sisters. That language matters. The church is not just an organization. It is a family.
In the Roman world, family identity mattered deeply. Your household shaped your place in society. Your family name, father, social status, and connections carried weight. Paul tells these believers that in Christ, they now belong to a new family.
That is one of the most powerful ideas in the New Testament.
Jesus said that whoever does the will of His Father is His brother and sister and mother (Matthew 12:50). Paul tells believers they have been adopted into God’s family (Romans 8:15). In Ephesians 2:19, Paul says believers are no longer strangers and outsiders, but members of God’s household.
The Colossian believers may have lived in a small, overlooked city, but they were part of the family of God.
Then comes one of the most important phrases in the whole passage:
“in Colossae…”
and
“in Christ…”
Paul gives them two addresses.
They are in Colossae. That is their physical location.
They live in a real city. They have real neighbors. Real jobs. Real family pressures. Real cultural influences. Real temptations. Real problems.
But they are also in Christ. That is their deepest identity.
They live in Colossae, but they belong to Jesus.
This is one of the main ideas of the whole letter. Paul is going to show them that Jesus is above every power, every ruler, every spiritual force, every human system, every false promise, and every competing identity.
They do not need to escape Colossae to belong to Christ.
They need to learn how to live in Colossae as people who are in Christ.
That matters for us too.
You may live in Arizona, Washington, Florida, Canada, or anywhere else. You may live in a house, an apartment, an RV, a retirement community, or a small town no one has heard of. You may be known by your job, your family role, your politics, your past, your health struggles, or your mistakes.
But if you are in Christ, none of those things is your deepest identity.
You live where you live.
But you belong to Jesus.
That truth changes how we see ourselves. It also changes how we treat others. If other believers are brothers and sisters in Christ, then the church is not a product we consume. It is a family we belong to. That is why Christian community matters so much. We were not made to follow Jesus alone.
Finally, Paul gives his greeting:
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father.”
Grace and peace were not random words.
“Grace” points to God’s undeserved kindness. It is God’s gift, not our paycheck. It is not something we earn by being impressive. It is what God gives because of who He is and what He has done in Jesus.
“Peace” is more than the absence of conflict. In the Jewish world, peace connects with the word “shalom.” It means wholeness, well-being, things being made right. Peace is life as God meant it to be.
Notice the order.
Grace comes before peace.
That is not an accident.
We do not create peace by trying harder to calm ourselves down. We receive grace, and peace begins to grow from that.
Romans 5:1 says, “Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peace with God comes through what Jesus has done, not through our ability to hold everything together.
This is a perfect opening to Colossians.
Paul is going to spend the rest of the letter showing that Jesus is enough. But before he says that directly, he already begins to show it.
Their calling comes from God.
Their identity is in Christ.
Their family is in Christ.
Their holiness is because they belong to God.
Their peace flows from grace.
Everything begins with what God has done.
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Why Context Changes Everything
If we read these two verses quickly, we may think, “This is just the hello part.” But when we slow down and read it in context, we see that Paul is already teaching.
He is writing to real people in a real city facing real pressure.
Colossae was not the center of the world.
The believers there may have felt small compared to the bigger cities nearby. They were also surrounded by a mix of religious ideas, local traditions, spiritual claims, and cultural expectations.
Into that world, Paul says: You are in Christ.
That phrase would have helped them remember that their deepest identity did not come from their city, their status, their background, or the loudest spiritual teacher in town.
It came from Jesus.
Context also helps us avoid turning Paul’s words into a generic religious greeting. Paul is setting the table for the whole letter. He is grounding them before he guides them.
That is how God often works.
Before God calls His people to live differently, He reminds them who they are.
In Exodus 20:2, before God gives Israel the Ten Commandments, He says, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” Rescue comes before response.
In Romans 12:1, before Paul teaches practical Christian living, he says it is “by the mercies of God.”
In Colossians, Paul does the same thing. Before commands, there is identity. Before correction, there is grace.
Applying It Wrong
One wrong way to read this passage is to treat it like throwaway information. We might think, “Paul is just saying hello. The real Bible teaching starts later.” But Paul is already teaching. His greeting tells us who he is, who they are, where they belong, and what God gives them.
Another wrong way is to think Paul is bragging when he calls himself an apostle. Paul is not trying to sound important. He is making clear that this message comes with the authority of Jesus. His role is not self-made. It is “by the will of God.”
Another mistake is to think “holy people” means perfect people. That can lead some Christians to either pride or despair. Pride says, “I must be better than others.” Despair says, “I could never be holy because I still struggle.” But Paul’s point is not that the Colossians are flawless. His point is that they belong to God.
We can also misuse the phrase “in Christ” by making it sound like a vague religious slogan. For Paul, “in Christ” is not a decorative phrase. It is the believer’s deepest reality. It means our life, identity, hope, and future are now joined to Jesus.
Another wrong approach is to use this passage to avoid practical obedience. Someone might say, “If I already belong to God, then it does not matter how I live.” But Paul will not allow that. The rest of Colossians will call believers to put sin to death, forgive others, speak with grace, pray, and live wisely (Colossians 3:5, 3:13, 4:2–6). Identity does not erase obedience. It makes obedience possible.
Applying It Well
A right reading begins by noticing the order.
Paul starts with identity.
He tells them they are holy, faithful, brothers and sisters, and in Christ.
Then, later in the letter, he will tell them how to live.
That order matters for us.
We do not obey Jesus in order to earn our place in God’s family. We obey because, in Jesus, we have been brought into God’s family.
A right reading also remembers that the Colossians lived in a real place with real pressure. They were not floating above normal life. They were in Colossae. They had neighbors, jobs, families, and cultural influences. Following Jesus did not remove them from their town. It gave them a new way to live in it.
That helps us today.
Following Jesus does not mean ignoring the real world. It means learning to live in our real world as people who belong to Christ.
A right reading also helps us receive grace and peace in the right order. We do not create peace by pretending everything is fine. We receive grace from God, and that grace begins to steady us.
So when you read Colossians 1:1–2, do not rush past it.
Let it remind you:
You are not defined first by your location.
You are not defined first by your past.
You are not defined first by your performance.
You are not defined first by your problems.
If you are in Christ, you belong to God.
And that is where real life begins.
Questions to Chew on and Discuss:
These questions are designed to help you personally dig deeper into the passage and help guide your discussions in your Journey Groups and Me & 3 small groups.
Look Closely
What words or phrases does Paul use to describe himself in Colossians 1:1?
What words or phrases does Paul use to describe the believers in Colossians 1:2?
What two “locations” does Paul give for the believers, and why might both matter?
Understand It
Why does it matter that Paul says he is an apostle “by the will of God”?
What would it have meant for ordinary believers in Colossae to hear themselves called “holy people”?
Why is it important that Paul reminds them who they are before telling them how to live?
Let It Sink In
Where are you most tempted to find your identity besides Jesus?
What changes when you remember that holiness begins with belonging to God, not proving yourself to God?
Which word do you most need to receive today: grace, peace, belonging, or identity? Why?
Live It Out
This week, how can you remind yourself that you live in a real place but belong to Christ?
Who is one brother or sister in Christ you can encourage this week?
What would it look like to live from grace instead of striving for peace on your own?
Journey Group OR ME & 3 Small Group Discussion Starters:
Whether you're helping facilitate a small group, talking about this passage one-on-one with a friend, or even just need a topic to guide the conversation at the dinner table, these ideas can help start a good group conversation before you dive into the passage and questions in this study guide.
Icebreaker:
If you had to describe your current season of life with one word, what word would you choose?
Deeper discussion question:
Paul tells the Colossians they are “in Colossae” and “in Christ.” What are some of the strongest pressures from the place or culture you live in, and how does belonging to Christ help you live differently?
Looking Ahead
In the next section, Paul begins to thank God for the Colossians. That is important because he does not start with what is wrong. He starts by noticing what God is already doing among them.
As we move into Colossians 1:3–8, we will see faith, love, hope, and the fruit of the gospel spreading in ordinary people in an overlooked city.
Paul is going to show us that when the good news of Jesus takes root, it starts growing.
Sum It Up
Paul opens Colossians by reminding believers who they are before telling them how to live. They are ordinary people in a real city, but their deepest identity is in Christ. They belong to God, they are part of His family, and they receive grace and peace from Him.
Five key takeaways:
Paul writes as someone sent by Jesus, not as someone promoting himself.
Timothy’s name reminds us that ministry is meant to be shared.
“Holy people” does not mean perfect people. It means people who belong to God.
The Colossians lived in a real city, but their deepest identity was in Christ.
Grace comes before peace, and both come from God our Father.
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