Colossians and Philemon

"Colossians, one of the shortest of Paul's letters, is also one of the most exciting. Writing to a young church discovering what it was like to believe in Jesus Christ and to follow him, Paul shares their sense of wonder as he encourages them to explore the treasures of the gospel and to order their lives accordingly." So starts N. T. Wright in his enlightening commentary on Paul's letter to the Colossians.Similarly, Paul's letter to Philemon is another treatise on living life according to Christ. Of this epistle, Wright states, "The reconciliation of Philemon and Onesimus becomes an acted parable of the gospel itself, which breaks into the world of sin, suspicion and anger, of pride and fear, with the good news that Jesus Christ has revealed God's purposes of salvation, of human wholeness, of loving and forgiving fellowship."The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries have long been a trusted resource for Bible study. Written by some of the world's most distinguished evangelical scholars, these twenty volumes offer clear, reliable, and relevant explanations of every book in the New Testament.These Tyndale volumes are designed to help readers understand what the Bible actually says and what it means. The introduction to each volumegives a concise but thorough description of the authorship, date, and historical background of the biblical book under consideration. The commentary itself examines the text section by section, drawing out its main themes. It also comments on individual verses and deals with problems of interpretation. The aim throughout is to get at the true meaning of the Bible and to make its message plain to readers today.