Sonship in Colossians: A Study of Christ and Believers’ Filial Relation to God

Amidst the steady increase of studies on believers as sons of God in Paul’s letters, Colossians’ important development of this concept has been unexplored.

Redressing the neglect of Colossians, this study investigates the character and function of believers’ sonship in the letter, particularly as that is related to Christ’s own filial identity and shaped by the Old Testament hope for Israel’s redemption and creation’s renewal.

Following a survey of sonship to God in the Old Testament and Judaism, Peter Christian Moore examines Christ’s sonship in the opening thanksgiving of Colossians, the poetic praise of 1:15-20, and the reference to circumcision in 2:11. Building on this filial Christology, Moore traces the letter’s development of believers’ sonship to God, showing how Colossians routinely ties their sonship to Christ, the Son, conditions it by a similar complex of Old Testament promises, and employs it for believers’ protection and perseverance.

Peter Christian Moore is adjunct professor at Westminster Theological Seminary.