To these ideas Paul opposed the true doctrine of the Headship of Christ (2:19) and that He is the only link between God and the universe (1:15-17). "By Him were all things created (1:16) that are in heaven and that are in earth." Christ is the only Mediator (1:13, 14). In this faith there is no place for ascetic mortification. Evil is in our unwillingness to live the life in Christ. In Christ we are dead to sin and risen with Him to a life of holiness (2:20-23; 3:1-4). Christ is not only our Redeemer (1:14) and the Head of the church, but the source of creation and its Lord (1:16, 17). We have a similar error (against which Paul warns) taught to-day by the speculative thinker, who fills the world with forces which leave no room for the working of a personal will. +Central Thought+--Jesus Christ the sole Savior of men and Mediator between God and men (1:13-14), the Creator (1:16; 2:9) and Head of the church (1:18). Exhortation to follow Christ (3:1-4). +Time and Place.+--This Epistle was written at Rome and sent by the messenger, Tychicus, (4:7, 8, 18) to the church at Colossae about 63 A.D. Paul also directed that it be read to the church at Laodicea (4:16). +Principal Divisions and Chief Points.+ 1. Introduction (1:1-12) Salutation. Thanksgiving for their faith and prayer for their increase and knowledge of the will of God. 2. Doctrinal. "The sole Headship of Christ" (1:13-3:4). (a) Christ the Mediator. There is redemption for us through His blood. (b) Christ, the image of the invisible God, Creator and Preserver of all things. (c) He is the Head of the church, reconciliation is only through Him. The Colossians were reconciled to God through the mediation of Christ. It is the earnest desire of Paul that the church at Colossae should remain rooted in the faith which it had been taught. (d) Warning against wrong speculation; lest any man "through philosophy or vain deceit" obscure or cause the Colossians to deny the true Godhead of Christ (2:8-15). (e) Renewed warnings against errors in worship; Jewish observances, ordinances and asceticisms, and the adoration of angels. (f) In Christ we are dead to the rudiments of the world and risen into communion with God in Christ. 3. Practical (3:5-4:6). (a) Exhortations to cast out all sins of the unregenerate nature and to put on the new man in Christ. Then Christ will be all and in all. (b) All family and social duties are to be performed as in the sight of Christ. (c) Renewed exhortations to prayer and watchfulness. 4. Conclusion (4:7-18). (a) The mission of Tychicus and Onesimus, the greetings of the companions of Paul and his expressed desire that the churches of Colossae and Laodicea exchange Epistles. (b) The Salutation. THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON