Malcolm Cox

Why do we sing? “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” Col 3:16 Background The church in Colossae was made up of house churches of around 30-50 people (Philemon 1:2). Many ‘gods’ were worshipped in this part of Asia Minor and the Apostle Paul is concerned about syncretism (in this context the blending together of Christian and Pagan worship).  Therefore he centres the letter on the sufficiency of Christ and his unique nature. Read the chapters that come before this one to get a feel for that. Congregation or Individual? Are the instructions about singing aimed at the individual or the congregational? The context is the “therefore” of v12 where he is addressing the Colossians as a body.  The list of positive exhortations is to the congregational community rather than the solo worshipper.  Dwell richly What is the ‘message of Christ’? It is the