The Doctrine Of The Church

Introduction

Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians and Philemon are prison epistle books that Paul wrote during his time when he was imprisoned in Rome. Lord brought Paul in a city called Rome to go and do the mission strategy which was given to the disciples by Jesus just before he ascended into heaven. Paul task was to complete the mission of making the gospel to come to an end. Lord told him to take courage since he had testified many things about him in Jerusalem therefore he was in a good position of doing it once more in Rome.

There could be evidences that, these books were written at the same time. Paul wrote these four books with intention of warning the members of the church to be prepared for the spiritual conflicts that will result in putting into practice the principle of Christianities. He also wrote the book to act as in exposition of the nature of universal church, and the body of Christ. For this case, various names were given to the church by Paul in relation to the prison epistles. The church was defined as the body of Christ, meaning that all those who believed in Christ were to be the part of the church. The church was also the temple of God, which signifies the believers who wished to be in the house of God to pray making the congregation. The church is also said to be the family of God, this indicates that, believers who pray together becomes a family therefore they were family of Christ. The church was also the bride of Christ and the fullness of him who fills all in all (Farley, 2003).

Paul wrote the book of Ephesians to encourage the faith of believers who were living in Ephesus. Paul explained to the believers the purpose of church and the body of Christ and their nature. Ephesians letter showed Gentiles as being in equal direction with the Jews in terms of receiving salvation. For this case, the church should encourage people to be united to avoid inequality in the church. When churches are divided believers faith becomes weak.

In his letter to the Philippians, he emphasized on a true joy which comes only from Christ alone. He also wrote on themes of self-sacrifice and humility to Christian living. On the other hand, churches should try to emphasize of love of one another in the church. They should emphasize on the love commandment that says one should love one another as they love themselves to avoid conflicts of hatred among believers in churches (Miller, 2008).

However in Colossians, Paul presented Christ as one in flesh, Lord of creation and head of church where he managed to address problems of false teachings where teachers were promoting legalism. From this letter, the church should also present Christ as one flesh since he is the head of everything that he created.

Lastly, in his letter to Philemon, he encouraged the forgiveness upon the Philemon’s slave by the name Onesimus who stole from his masters and run a way. Paul therefore encouraged everyone by writing this letter so as to treat them with fellowship and the love of Christ. In this case, we can say that, Paul viewed life from perspective of sovereignty of God. He was Christ prisoner not prisoner of the Nero. Though he was not disadvantaged from being a prisoner, this gave him the opportunity of reflecting deeply on the nature of church and the relationship. The four prison epistles make it clear that he had greatest insights of being a person who committed himself in Christ. The church also should encourage forgiveness to one another and be committed to the Christ (Rossier, 2007).

References

Farley, L. (2003). The prison epistles: Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon. London: Conciliar Press.

Miller, K. C. (2008). Paul and the prison epistles. London: Thomas Nelson.

Rossier, B. L. (2007). Prison epistles; praise from prison: studies in Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon,. New Yolk: House of Bon Giovanni.