Last week, we reviewed a bit of the introduction to Colossians. We also looked at Romans 1:1,7 and 1 Corinthians 1:2, to get more insight into what it means to be saints - people “loved” and “called by God to be saints” and “set apart” as “sanctified” people, counted as holy through what Jesus has done for us and our connection with Him. Paul counts as saints all believers, “all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” in faith.
Paul wishes the blessing of “gr...
Last week, we reviewed a bit of the introduction to Colossians. We also looked at Romans 1:1,7 and 1 Corinthians 1:2, to get more insight into what it means to be saints - people “loved” and “called by God to be saints” and “set apart” as “sanctified” people, counted as holy through what Jesus has done for us and our connection with Him. Paul counts as saints all believers, “all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” in faith.
Paul wishes the blessing of “grace” (the gift of God’s undeserved love and favor) and “peace” for the people of Colossae and for us all. (See how He speaks of “peace with God” in Romans 5:1-5, and the hope it brings us, even in times of suffering.) As an example of the grace and peace that God gives, we looked briefly at the Old Testament Book of Jonah. The prophet Jonah said to God, “I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jonah 4:2). Sadly, Jonah hated the evil people of Nineveh, to whom he was to go and preach, and did not want them to receive such grace and peace. He tried to run away from God, until God turned him around, partially through a great fish, and Jonah had to preach the truth, and the people of Nineveh repented and believed, by the grace of God. (See Jonah 3, and Jonah 4:11.) It is that grace and peace that God really wishes to keep giving to the people of Colossae and to us all.
As in most of his letters, Paul then offers a prayer of thanksgiving to God for all the good that is happening in Colossae and in all the world, as ”the Word of the truth, the Gospel,” is proclaimed and taught (Colossians 1:3-8). Note that Paul thanks the triune God in these verses (which in the Greek language are all one sentence). There is “God the Father” (v.3) and “our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.3,4) and “the Spirit” (v.8). This is the way the Trinity appears in the Scriptures - not with a neat definition, but with the one true God, Father, Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, simply working for us and our good.
Note also that Paul rarely thanks the Christian people directly, but thanks God for them, because it is through God’s work in them that they are believers in Jesus (v.3). As he often does, Paul also speaks of “faith," “love," and “hope." People “hear the Word of the truth, the Gospel” (v.5) and come to “understand” (to know and truly realize) “the grace of God in truth” (v.6) and come to “faith in Christ Jesus” (v.4). God’s Word has power, because the Holy Spirit is at work through it, and “in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing" (v.6), wherever it is proclaimed and taught. (See Romans 1:16 and 10:14-17, for the importance of sharing the Gospel and the whole Word of God.)
Through the Word of God, then, “love for all the saints” grows (v.4) and confidence in “the hope laid up in heaven” for all believers (v.5) - the promise of eternal life in Christ. It was a man named Epaphras, who had brought the Word of God to Colossae, as “a faithful minister of Christ” on their behalf (v.7).
Paul, on one of his missionary travels, had worked in Ephesus for two years, sharing the Gospel. Likely, Epaphras was one of the converts to faith in Jesus and then was sent to Colossae (about 100 miles southeast of Ephesus, but still in the Roman province of Asia) to start a mission church there, too. (You can read about some of the work in Ephesus and the surrounding area in Acts 19-20. Note especially Acts 19:8-11, and the reaction of people who opposed Paul, also in Acts 19:23-26.)
Paul could not do all this work himself, and so Epaphras and others worked of God’s behalf in places like Colossae (v.7), with much blessing from God. However, false teachers and teaching were now troubling the church in Colossae; and Epaphras has traveled to Rome to report to Paul, a prisoner there, and to tell him the good news (v.8) and to ask his help in dealing with the bad news and false ideas, about which we will hear as this letter goes on.
(For those listening to podcasts, these are real studies with real people. There are interruptions, as with a phone call from my family in the middle of this study; and the recording does not always get turned on and off as it should, I do not have time to edit the recordings; so try to bear with it all, as if you were right there in the study with others. if you have helpful thoughts and suggestions for all this, or questions at any time, let me know.)
