Colossians 4:16–18 ¹⁶ After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea. ¹⁷ Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.” ¹⁸ I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

While the letters of St. Paul were addressed to a certain city or individual, they were meant to be shared with others. He makes that clear at the end of this epistle.

“After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.”

 The letters Paul wrote, while addressing issues in a given situation, were beneficial for others to read, including those of us removed by 2000 years. They speak to problems we still encounter today. And they point us to the timeless solution to sin: Jesus. His life was lived in conformity to God’s will. That perfect life was then sacrificed for the sin of the world. And He rose to conquer death for everyone. That is the message all need to hear, and what Paul was trying to do through his life and ministry. Writing letters was part of that.

When he mentions the letter from Laodicea, that could have been another letter he wrote that is lost to us, or it could have been the one he sent to Ephesus, which then made its way to Laodicea, and now was coming to Colosse.

Paul mentions Archippus, a coworker he call a “fellow soldier” in his letter to Philemon. His encouragement to him was to stay the course, remain faithful and do you work. He then tells the people that they should recognize that he had personally written the end of this letter. Most of the letters were written dictated and written down by his helpers.

As he concludes, he again requests prayers. He is under house arrest as he writes this letter, and hopes to be set free to continue spreading the Good News about Jesus.

I think the concluding phrase is terribly important: “Grace be with you.”   Paul was all about sharing the grace of God. Grace is the undeserved love of God that gives us what we did not earn and does not give us what our sins deserve. It is an underlying theme in all of his writings and messages. Sure, he speaks the Law as necessary because it is also God’s Word. But the predominant message that comes through Paul is God’s grace. It is what we all need to hear.

I leave you with these passages for your pondering today.

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Galatians 2:21  “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Ephesians 2:8–9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.