With the first Bible study in this series on Colossians
titled Background
of Paul's Letter to the Church at Colossae, we learned of the background
of the Colossians. Several cultures, belief systems, and philosophical thoughts
influenced them. The second Bible study in this series, Identification,
taught us about Paul’s greeting and introduction of himself and Timothy to the
Christians in Colossae. In this greeting, Paul identified himself with Jesus
and with the believers in Colossae, as he did Timothy. In Thanksgiving
in Colossians, Paul prayed, offering thanks to God for the growth of
the Christians in the church of Colossae as shown by their love for God and the
saints. He continued to thank God because these Christians constantly bore fruit
and matured. Paul identified Epaphras, the founding pastor of this church, as a
“beloved fellow bond-servant,” one who willingly submitted to Christ as Paul
taught him.
This fourth Bible study in the series covers Colossians 1:9-12.
These four verses told the Colossian believers how Paul prayed for them daily.
This prayer sets the standard, according to Paul, for a maturing, devoted
Christian. It incorporates four main points with it and states definitively the
Father qualifies each believer. Paul’s prayer for the Colossian believers about
how they should grow to maturity in Christ is the goal to which each believer
in Jesus should strive. Paul’s letter to them is a letter to us today. Let’s consider
every verse of Paul’s prayer for the Colossians, and what each should be
because of his or her relationship with God.
The Prayer
Pleasing God
“For this reason, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work…” (Col. 1:9-10a [NASB])
Paul’s request to God for the Colossian Christians occurred
because of their faith, hope, love, fruitfulness, and maturity. (Col. 1:3-8)
Because these Christians believed and were being sanctified, Paul said he had
not ceased to pray for them. He interacted with the Lord, seeking His will as
he prayed for the Colossians, so what he prayed was God’s good and perfect
will. Prayer occurs when you exchange your human desires for God’s desires
because of the faith He gives you, which you live out. This kind of prayer
connects you intimately with God. Because of Paul’s close relationship with the
Lord, he recognized the Colossian believers’ sincerity in wanting to be closer to
and more like Jesus. He asked God to fill each Colossian believer from His person
with what is necessary for life as a Christian. Paul’s very long sentence with
multiple dependent clauses specifically stresses how a Christian can live a
life that is “well-pleasing” to God. Paul spoke about the knowledge of God’s
will, spiritual wisdom, understanding, and walking in “a manner worthy of the
Lord” in these two verses.
Knowledge
Paul taught to live a life well-pleasing to God requires being
“filled with the knowledge of His will.” The Gnostics would have been interested
in this letter because Paul spoke of knowledge. Remember, for the Gnostics, knowledge
led to freedom. Yet, nowhere did Paul say the Gnostic idea of knowledge was what
he spoke about. Instead, he contrasted the Gnostic philosophical knowledge with
the “knowledge of His will.” Paul spoke of a specific knowledge that comes from
the fount of all being and knowledge. No other knowledge is greater or is
absolute. This knowledge is precise because it comes from God’s knowledge. The
word “will” Paul uses comes from the Greek word thelema, meaning God’s
will, His best offer to people which they can accept or reject. This “will”
speaks of God’s purpose to bless and offer grace to humanity through Jesus. A
fruitful and maturing Christian will seek the knowledge of God’s will.
Wisdom
More than that, a Christian will seek spiritual wisdom. The
word “spiritual” comes from the Greek word pneumatikos, meaning that
which comes from the Holy Spirit of God and exhibits the effects and character of
the Spirit. Paul did not pray the Colossian believers would have any
wisdom. He specifically prayed they would have wisdom coming from the Holy
Spirit of God. Since God knows all things (omniscient) and is the author of all
things (the Creator), He and the Spirit would have all spiritual wisdom. Paul
prayed the Colossians would have this spiritual wisdom as they grew in the Lord
and bore fruit.
Understanding
Paul grouped the knowledge of His will, spiritual wisdom,
and understanding together. Without knowledge and wisdom, understanding a situation
is difficult. It would rely on what you have experienced and could surmise; a
human-based understanding. That understanding is limited. Paul did not pray for
a worldly wisdom. He prayed for wisdom that came from God’s knowledge gained
through prayer and the study of His word and the wisdom to know the
ramifications of a situation, so that a godly understanding and assessment of it
would lead to a godly resolution of it. With only worldly knowledge and
wisdom, people do not consider the power and grace of God. With godly knowledge
and wisdom, a complete understanding, including God’s power and what He did through
Jesus, guides a believer to a godly understanding and solution. Who wants a
resolution based on worldly knowledge and wisdom? Don’t all people want to know
the best way to approach things and people, so they consider everything and find
an absolutely correct solution? Growing in the knowledge of God’s will,
spiritual wisdom, and understanding leads Christians to the best solutions. God
is well-pleased when these occur
Godly Walk
To walk in a manner worthy of the Lord requires knowledge of
God’s will, spiritual wisdom, and understanding. Knowledge without application
is useless. Wisdom without all-knowledge (knowledge that comes from God,
omniscience) isn’t true wisdom. Understanding without knowing the full picture,
having God’s knowledge and wisdom, is worthless. These, applied to each other
and then to life, lead to living a life well-pleasing to the Lord. The
worthiness of which Paul wrote in his prayer, “walk in a manner worthy of the
Lord,” means getting worth from Jesus that matches the actual value. When
people see the way you walk and equate it to the way Jesus lived while on earth,
you walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. The worth of anything must be compared
to something else to show its value. For Christian, people compare us to
Christ. When Christians live like Christ in actions, words, attitudes, and
thoughts that reflect His ethics, grace, and love because of their personal
relationship with and worship of Him, they live in a manner worthy of the Lord.
They please Him.
Followers of Christ please Him wholly by seeking to be like Him,
seeking His will, His wisdom, and His understanding, and walking in His ways. When
they are this closely connected to God, that is “in all respects,” they bear
fruit. This fruit speaks of a quality of life within a person, of the Spirit’s
remolding them into Jesus’ image. Paul prayed the Corinthian Christians would know
God very well and be connected intimately to Him. This intimacy with God would show
their knowledge and faith in Jesus, which included His wisdom and understanding.
It would lead to living the fruit-born life from the super-abounding
overflowing of the Spirit in them. When you see a child of God overflowing with
the Spirit and abounding in “every good work,” nothing else can explain the
life this person lives. These works, these actions, occur because of the Spirit
living within the believer. When questioning how and why, the only answer is
because of God’s miraculous work in the person’s life. Fruits, a change in a
person’s life - character, attitudes, and being - come from the quality of a life
hidden with God in Christ Jesus. (Col. 3:3) Christians die to their old lives
and the Spirit gives them a new nature, Christ’s nature. (Ephesians 4:22-24)
Paul prayed this for the Colossian church. We continue to
pray this prayer for every Christian today as they profess Christ as their
Savior, begin and continue their walk with Him, and walk through life and its
trials. This prayer teaches how each Christian should strive to live. Believers
should seek to have an intimacy with Jesus that re-makes them and then overflows
in super-abounding fruit of good work, God’s work.
Increasing in the Knowledge of God
“…and increasing in the knowledge of God…” (Col. 1:10c [NASB])
Paul prayed the Colossian church would live a life
well-pleasing to the Lord. He asked God to increase their knowledge of Him,
too. As noted above, this knowledge that comes from God is absolute and perfect.
It lacks nothing, but the knowledge people of the world gain from philosophical
conversation and studying is incomplete.
Paul prayed these Christians would increase. This increase would
come from knowing God more, a growing in maturity in relationship with Him. Knowing
about God differs from being in a relationship with Him. Paul said in Romans 1,
people can know of God from what is visible in creation. People can know of Him
through listening to preachers and teachers, from reading the Bible, and from
praying to Him. No one has an excuse for not knowing about God. Even the demons
believed Jesus was the Son of God, but they didn’t and couldn’t believe in Him
for salvation. (Matthew 8:28-34) A Christian should want to know more of God
than just the basics. He/she should want to know Him in a deeper way, be related
intimately to Him through a daily relationship with Him, so he or she can be like
Him. When a person falls in love and marries, he/she wants to know all about his
or her spouse. That person wants to know what happens in his/her spouse’s day,
what causes him or her to act the way he or she does, what he or she believes,
and why he or she espouses certain beliefs. That creates intimacy in a
relationship. Each believer should want this depth of relationship with God,
and more, so he/she becomes more aligned with and more like Jesus. Increasing in
the knowledge of God happens because of first-hand experience of a life lived with
Him.
Knowing God in this way is seeking God and living in faith according
to His will. This intimacy leads Christians to act because of their love of
God, not just because of obedience. Paul meant this when he prayed the
Colossian Christians would increase in the knowledge of God. A relationship with
God is not static; it should always increase/grow. Christians should have this desire
in their hearts, to be intimately close to God so that every action, word, or
thought occurs because of their love for God, not just because of disciplined
obedience. When a person knows his/her spouse well, he/she knows when the
spouse wants a drink or needs to talk. That person is in tune with him/her. Christians
should be that in tune with God, too. That is the level of intimacy with God
Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians.
Strengthened with all Power
“…strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for attaining of all steadfastness and patience…” (Col. 1:11 [NASB])
Paul continued with his prayer for the Colossian believers.
He asked God to strengthen them with His might.
Just as Paul prayed for the Colossians to have the knowledge, wisdom,
understanding, walk, and good works that come from knowing God intimately, he
prayed the believers would have the strength “with all power” that comes from His
might. Paul asked for the ultimate in verses nine and ten. He continued asking
for the ultimate by asking for the power of God to strengthen them.
Like God’s knowledge is complete and the knowledge of people
never can be, so His strength is almighty because it comes from the source of all
strength, Himself. God’s power is ultimate. What is this “power” Paul prayed?
It comes from the Greek word dunamis. This word is from where the
English word dynamite originates. God’s power gives the power and strength in each
sphere of believers’ lives to grow in sanctification daily. It prepares them for
the time when they will receive their future reward and He makes them holy, the
time of their glorification in heaven. Christ saves each Christian at a point
in time, but believers should not stay the same as from that moment. They should
grow in intimacy with God by being reshaped by His Spirit, seeking His knowledge,
wisdom, and understanding. This will cause believers to live in the world
bearing fruit and increasing in maturity in Him. Living in the world being led
by our love for Jesus is sanctification. Jesus’ salvation of people who seek Him
as part of their close relationship with Him causes them to grow toward
perfection. Without God’s dunamis power, Christians stagnate. They
strive in their own power to do what they think God wants them to do and be
what they think He wants them to be, but they don’t recognize what that is for
sure because they have mixed their limited human knowledge into what they
understand of God. That isn’t dunamis power. Dunamis power comes down
from a higher plane, from God, to a lower plane, humanity. God gives it to His
people who intimately relate to Him, seek Him, and walk in His ways to help
them live, be, and grow to be more like Jesus.
This “glorious might” shows God’s excellence, not the
person’s excellence, aptitude, or abilities. It brings glory to God, not the
person. People cannot explain the source of this power in any way other than from
God, so it has intrinsic worth. No person could create it or cause it to be
used for God’s glory. God gives this power from His glorious might to those who
seek Him, to know Him, and to live a life well-pleasing to Him. Knowledge and
wisdom are not enough, as the Gnostics put espoused. Knowing what is right and
doing right not enough. (Doing the right thing does not pay for admittance into
heaven. By accepting the grace of God offered through Jesus Christ, a person can
receive salvation from his or her sins and have the hope of eternal life in heaven.)
Each person will face trials and the way a person journeys through them will determine
how he or she comes out of them. If a person goes through them in his or her
own strength, he/she will finish the journey battered, torn, worn out, and possibly
angry and discouraged. For a Christian in a close relationship with God who
seeks His knowledge and wisdom, seeks to grow in His relationship with Him, and
who God strengthens with all power from His glorious might, that believer will
end his/her journey possibly battered and torn, but with a glow because he/she
recognized God went through the trial with him/her, learned something from it,
and gave God glory because His hand was with him/her. God’s power came down to that
Christian and how he/she lived through and finished that journey caused him/her
to glorify God. That believer sees and saw where God’s hand was with and on us him/her
through that hard period. It makes him/her fall to his/her knees and thank Him
for sustaining and never leaving him/her.
Having God’s might causes each Christian to have all steadfastness
and patience. Without God’s might, their strength would fail. Believers would grow
tired and give up or collapse under the weight of the trial. With God’s might, they
can endure the challenges God allows and grow from it. The “steadfastness” Paul
wrote of here is patience upon which a person acted. This person lived out the
characteristic that did not deviate from the path set before him/her to act like
the unbelieving person he/she was before the Spirit changed him/her. This
steadfast/enduring person puts patience into action and remains loyal to his/her
faith in God and grows in faith because of it. Opposition and sacrifice does
not make him/her fall away from his/her faith in God.
The “patience” Paul wrote of is an inner stability or not
reacting rashly. It allows time to pass before saying or doing something when
reacting to an occurrence. This patience comes from God’s might, just as does
the steadfastness about which Paul wrote. This patience is an internal
constancy. When Christians apply this patience to actions, it becomes
endurance/steadfastness.
Giving Thanks
“…joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” (Col. 1:11b-12 [NASB])
For these things - God’s knowledge, all His spiritual wisdom
and understanding, a daily relationship and walk with Him, His strength with all
power, all His endurance and patience - Paul wrote he gave joyous thanks for
the Colossian believers. As we each understand, these attributes come from God
and often work themselves in us as lessons when we go through trials. Paul gave
thanks for trials. He gave thanks for the grace God gave the Colossian Christians,
though they did not deserve it. James wrote in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy,
my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your
faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you
may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (NASB) Like James, Paul
thanked God for His grace that led the Colossian Christians through trials of
the past, in the present, and in the future because it led them to grow
stronger with God’s attributes helping to mold them.
Like in verse three, this thanks in verse twelve comes from
the Greek word eucharisteo and means remembering and giving thanks to
God for the grace He gave you, which you did not deserve. God’s grace gave and would
give the Colossian Christians power and strength, endurance and patience,
knowledge and wisdom, and fruit and good works if they chose to seek Him daily
in prayer, Bible reading and studying, listening to godly preaching and
teaching, and fellowshipping with other believers. When Christians seek to
follow God, to be in a close, personal relationship with Him, He gives grace. Paul
joyously gave thanks for that grace He would give the Colossian Christians,
even if they learned it from trials.
Paul joyously thanked the Father because He qualified the
believers in Colossae to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. God
makes each believer sufficient by the sufficiency of the death and resurrection
of His Son, Jesus. He gives each person enough power to live on earth in a way
pleasing to Him because of His grace. The sufficiency and power come from God
alone. Nothing anyone could ever do or think would make him or her sufficient to
be called saints or to be able to live as His child. People are inadequate, but
God offers us the adequate grace to save and enable us to live in this world as
His child whose actions and words give glory to Him. God’s grace through Jesus’
death and resurrection makes believers righteous so we can share in the
inheritance in Light, the hope of eternal life. This light is the true Light of
God. He completes the sanctification of each believer, making them free from
every imperfection so they can enter heaven. Jesus will glorify true followers of
Jesus into the kingdom of light. That hope is to what each believer looks
forward and for what Paul gives joyous thanks. God makes each believer fit to
share in His kingdom. Jesus’ resurrection gives Christians the hope of eternal
life - defeat over death - and eternity with God in His kingdom.
Thoughts to Consider
Paul’s joyous thanks occurred because of what God had done
in the lives of the Colossian Christians and what He would do in their lives
because of His grace. Because of His grace, God enables His children to have
the knowledge of His will, have all spiritual wisdom and understanding, walk in
a manner worthy of Him, please Him in all respects, bear fruit in every good
work, increase in the knowledge of Him, receive strength with all power from
His glorious might, and gain steadfastness and patience. Each of these
characteristics have their source in God. Four times Paul used the word “all.”
God gives from His whole being to grow believers in sanctification toward glorification,
to be more like Him.
Full and true strength, power, might, knowledge, wisdom,
understanding, fruit, good works, steadfastness, and patience originate in God
and come from Him to those who seek Him. God gives these to people who believe
in and have a close, personal relationship with Him. No person can create these
attributes from within him/herself. What we Christians create from within themselves
is not enough to combat the trials God allows and the tribulations Satan throws
against us. Instead of seeking for something that seems good or good enough,
Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all
these things will be added to you.” (NASB) Seek God and His attributes and you
will have the best at hand for what you face.
Questions to Consider:
- Are you developing a close relationship with God?
- Do you seek God’s will each day through prayer, Bible reading and study, sermons, and teachings?
- Do you know you are a Christian but realize you have done nothing with God since that point you asked Jesus to save you?
- Do you find that whenever you face a particular trial, you can never seem to win?
- Do you get angry, frustrated, and fed-up with people and situations then want to do something drastic?
- Now that you have considered your own relationship with God, what do you need to tell God and for what do you need to ask Him to forgive you?
Each person who has a close personal relationship with God,
should grow continually, bear fruit, and mature in their Christian walk with Him
daily. If a day comes when you say you
have finished growing, then you will know you still have more growing to do.
Our goal is for God to be well-pleased with us. Paul outlined in his prayer in Colossians
1:9-12 how that would be well-pleased with us.
“He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved son, in who we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14 [NASB])
