May 7 – Colossians 1:3-8
FAITHFUL SERVANTS OF CHRIST
Today, we continue our devotional on Colossians by looking at 1:3-8. The expression “we thank God” occurs frequently in the Pauline Epistles. The term implies both a statement of thanksgiving for what is received from God and an element of praise for God’s character which originated it. Paul’s thanksgiving occurred in prayer. While this may seem obvious, there are some subtleties that are interesting. The passage contains various synonyms for prayer. Together they demonstrate the importance of prayer for Paul. He could pray in times of difficulty, and he could pray in times of joy.
Since Paul often emphasized the activity of prayer, he wanted to share the fact that he actually remembered them in prayer. The joys and concerns of the Colossian congregation meant enough to Paul that he prayed about them. When this is compared with the other epistles, a sizable impression emerges regarding the extent of Paul’s prayer life. He prayed for all the churches. Several factors appear regarding Paul’s prayers. First, they were continual. The church was regularly in Paul’s mind and thoughts. Second, the prayer was directed to God. Finally, the prayers were intercessory, “when we pray for you.”
Let’s take a look at today’s verse:
3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. (NASB)
Key Takeaways:
- Paul was a man of prayer and so should we be people of prayer.
- The gospel bears fruit in believers and grows all over the world
- Saved by grace alone
Closer Look:
Verses 3–4: Paul indicates the tender concern that he has for these believers; he is “praying always” for them. Giving continual thanks to God was characteristic of Paul’s prayers (Rom. 1:8; 1 Cor. 1:14; Eph. 1:6; etc.), though he omitted this praise in Galatians and 2 Corinthians. Here God is recognized as the cause of goodness in His people. Paul said these thanks were given when he prays. Thanksgiving was given because (“since”) Paul had heard from Epaphras (Col. 1:7; cf. 4:12) about their growing faith in Christ Jesus and their love for all the saints. Paul’s faith in the working of God brought to mind genuine thankfulness for the Christian experience of believers everywhere.
Prayer here is the broader, more inclusive act of worship including thanksgiving and intercession (cf. Matt. 6:7; Acts 16:25).[1] Paul speaks of praying “always” (Phil 1:4; 1 Thess 1:2) or without “ceasing” (Eph 1:16), which combines intercessory prayer and thanksgiving. This means that each time Paul prayed, he interceded for the Colossians and offered praise for God’s work among them.
In praying to God, Paul added that God is “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In a sense, the focus of the entire epistle rests in this phrase since it contains precise details about the relationship between these two members of the Godhead.[2] Thus, Paul believed strongly in one God, the one known in connection with Christ. He also drew attention to the fact that the avenue to and from God is Christ since the Son is the way to the Father. The ultimate source of blessing and the church’s well-being was God who was revealed through Christ.
Verse 5: Paul thanked God for their faith and love that spring from hope.
These three terms of virtue—faith, hope, and love (v. 4-5)—is a favorite of Paul’s (cf. Rom 5:2-5; 1 Cor. 13:13; 1 Thes. 1:3; 5:8) and Peter’s (1 Peter 1:3, 5, 22). Faith is in Christ. It the soul looking upward to God and is the thrust of this passage. The Colossians faith was grounded in the nature and work of Jesus Christ. Love looks outward to others. It flows from faith and proves the genuineness of one’s faith (Jas 2:14-26). The Colossians sacrificial love “for all the saints” proved their true belief in Christ.[3] The love that faith in Christ produces possesses a unique quality. It’s inclusive, and it’s nonselective. We don’t pick and choose whom we love: Paul specifically says that it is love for all the saints. It’s easy to love the lovely or those who love you. Genuine Christianity is evident when we love the undeserving the same way God has loved us. Love is not a feeling; it is an attitude and an action. Love is sincerely wishing for another person’s best interest and taking whatever action is necessary to see that it is accomplished.
Hope looks forward to the future. It refers to the result of faith, the treasure “laid up…in heaven” where our faith will find its fulfillment in the presence of Christ. Faith rests on the past work of Christ; love works in the present; and hope anticipates the future.[4] Even though “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6), and “hope does not disappoint us” (Rom. 5:5), nevertheless “the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). The Colossians’ love extended to “all the saints” (Col. 1:4), or all believers, probably not only at Colosse but everywhere (cf. 1 Thes. 1:7–8 for a similar commendation).
Faith and love “spring from” (dia, literally, are “on account of”) “hope,” confidence in what God will do in the future. This confidence led to a greater trust in God and a deeper love for others. This confident expectation of Christ’s return, called “the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13), influences believers’ conduct (cf. 1 Thes. 4:13–18; 1 John 3:3).
This hope is laid (or stored) up in heaven because Christ, the essence of this hope, is there. Without Christ’s Ascension to heaven (Acts 1:10–11) and His present intercession there on behalf of believers (Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1), they would have no hope (1 Cor. 15:16–19). This message is the “word of truth” (cf. Eph. 1:13; 2 Tim. 2:15; James 1:18), the gospel as Paul defines it here and elsewhere (cf. 1 Cor. 15:1–3; Rom. 10:9–10).
Verse 6: Paul thanked God because the gospel was spreading all over the world. In fact, in an obvious hyperbole, Paul wrote in verse 23 that the gospel was being “proclaimed to every creature under heaven” (cf. Rom. 1:8). But Paul stressed not only the universality of the gospel but also its practicality, for it was producing “fruit” and “increasing” (or growing). As a tree bears fruit and grows in size, so the gospel produces spiritual “fruit” in believers’ lives (cf. “the fruit of the Spirit,” Gal. 5:22–23; “the fruit of righteousness,” Phil. 1:11) and spreads to and influences others (cf. the same words “bearing fruit” and “growing” in Col. 1:10).
Heresies (such as the one at Colosse) are local and harmful; but truth is universal and helpful. One of the unmistakable characteristics of the true gospel is “the grace of God in truth.” Remember what Paul said in Galatians, some preach a “different gospel—which is really no gospel at all” (Gal. 1:6–7). This is because this different gospel is a gospel of grace plus works, or faith plus works. But the true gospel is one of grace alone (Rom. 11:6; Eph. 2:8–9; Titus 3:5–7).
The gospel message is not just true and good; it’s also a message of grace. Grace means “unmerited favor or undeserved kindness.” Mercy is when God doesn’t give us what we do deserve. Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve. He gives us heaven when we deserve hell; he grants us forgiveness when we deserve to be forgotten; he offers us life when we deserve death. It’s all grace. None of the good things we receive from God are earned. Salvation didn’t come to the Colossians because of their attachment to a complicated series of intermediate spirit emanations, or their adherence to a set of demanding rituals, or their adventures into the realm of ascetic experience. Those were the experiences the false teachers said were necessary to be truly saved and spiritual. Paul says, “No, it’s just grace.” Jesus died for us, and he offers us life. That truth, when adequately understood, takes root in our heart and bears fruit.
Verse 7: The Colossians “learned” the gospel “from Epaphras” who apparently founded the church at Colosse (cf. 4:12). Paul called Epaphras a dear fellow servant, a humble description from a great apostle, and a faithful servant (also translated as “minister”) of Christ, as opposed to those unfaithful ministers who here and elsewhere were disturbing the faith of God’s flock (cf. 2 Cor. 11:15; 2 Peter 2:1–3, 12–19). Paul also called Tychicus “a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord” (Col. 4:7). Epaphras, who was probably a convert of Paul,[5] was in Rome with Paul, for Paul called him “my fellow prisoner” (Phile. 23). “’Epaphras’ is a shortening of ‘Epaphroditus,’ referred to in Philippians 2:25 and 4:18. These could be the same person or different persons since both names were common.”[6]
Epaphras, said Paul, ministered on our behalf, probably as Paul’s representative (cf. Phil. 2:25; 4:18 for a similar situation). This implies, of course, that Paul had not visited Colosse himself (cf. Col. 2:1). But even though Epaphras was sent by Paul, he was primarily a “minister of Christ.”
Verse 8: Epaphras carried the good news of Christ to Colosse, but also brought back the good news about their “love in the Spirit” for Christ. Believers are in the Spirit and the Spirit is in them (Rom. 8:9). Thus their love for all the saints (Col. 1:4; cf. v. 5) stemmed from the indwelling Holy Spirit. Elsewhere Paul urged that by “the love of the Spirit” (Rom. 15:30) believers manifest the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22).[7]
Aside:
In this first section of Colossians, we see several references to Jesus in similar formats (Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Christ).[8] “Jesus Christ” is not the first and last names of Jesus, as people are commonly named today. Jesus is His human name, whose meaning related to His mission to “save” us (Matt 1:18). Christ is a description of His office: He is “the Anointed One,” anointed by God to be our King, Prophet, and High Priest. Once Jesus was recognized as the Christ by His followers, the combination of His name and title was used prolifically throughout the Book of Acts and the Epistles to express the belief that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah.[9] Paul uses the combined form at the start of Colossians to indicate the theme of his letter, the supremacy of Jesus Christ.[10]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Norman L. Geisler, “Colossians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 669.
[2] “There is a major textual variant here regarding whether the phrase should be read “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” or “the God who is Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This latter construction emphasizes the unique relationship between God and Christ and also demonstrates which concept of God Paul holds. As it stands, the construction is both ambiguous and rare. However, it seems best to understand the statement “the God who is Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” as the better reading.” See Melick, Richard R. “Colossians,” in The New American Commentary. N.p.. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman Press, 1991.
[3] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Nelson, 1999), 1561.
[4] Norman L. Geisler, “Colossians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 669.
[5] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Nelson, 1999), 1561.
[6] Norman L. Geisler, “Colossians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 669.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous) Χριστός (Christos), Strong’s #2424; 5547.
[9] Some scholars have done a study on the combination of His name and title and found the combination of the two used in the gospels is rare (occurring only five times; Matt: 1, 18; Mark 1:1; John 1:17; 17:3) because Jesus was still in the process of revealing Himself as Christ. See Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Nelson, 1999), 1561.
[10] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Nelson, 1999), 1561.
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