Colossians and Philemon: A 12-Week Study (Knowing the Bible)

"A tremendous resource for those wanting to study and teach the Bible with an understanding of how the gospel is woven throughout Scripture." ―Bryan Chapell, Pastor, Grace Presbyterian Church

The Knowing the Bible series is a resource designed to help Bible readers better understand and apply God’s Word.

These 12-week studies lead participants through books of the Bible and are made up of four basic components: (1) reflection questions help readers engage the text at a deeper level; (2) “Gospel Glimpses” highlight the gospel of grace throughout the book; (3) “Whole-Bible Connections” show how any given passage connects to the Bible’s overarching story of redemption, culminating in Christ; and (4) “Theological Soundings” identify how historic orthodox doctrines are taught or reinforced throughout Scripture.

With contributions from an array of influential pastors and church leaders, these gospel-centered studies will help Christians see and cherish the message of God’s grace on every page of the Bible.

The books of Colossians and Philemon complement each other as two New Testament texts that gloriously display the gospel and its implications for how God’s people should live today.

This short guide will help readers see how both letters resonate with the apostle Paul’s overriding passion: magnifying Jesus Christ as the supreme manifestation of God’s redemptive purposes.

Christopher A. Beetham (PhD, Wheaton College) is senior editor of biblical languages, textbooks, and reference tools at Zondervan Academic. Previously he taught for a decade at the Evangelical Theological College and the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, both in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is the author of Echoes of Scripture in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians and Colossians and Philemon, and editor of The Concise New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis.

J. I. Packer (1926–2020) served as the Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology at Regent College. He authored numerous books, including the classic bestseller Knowing God. Packer also served as general editor for the English Standard Version Bible and as theological editor for the ESV Study Bible.

Dane C. Ortlund (PhD, Wheaton College) serves as senior pastor of Naperville Presbyterian Church in Naperville, Illinois. He is the author of Gentle and Lowly and Deeper. Dane and his wife, Stacey, have five children.

Lane T. Dennis (PhD, Northwestern University) is the former president and CEO of Crossway. Before joining Crossway in 1974, he served as a pastor in campus ministry at the University of Michigan (Sault Ste. Marie) and as the managing director of Verlag Grosse Freude in Switzerland. He is the author and/or editor of three books, including the Gold Medallion-award-winning book Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer, and he is the former chairman of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Dennis serves as the chairman of the ESV (English Standard Version) Bible Translation Oversight Committee and as the executive editor of the ESV Study Bible. Lane and his wife, Ebeth, live in Wheaton, Illinois.