In the second Bible study in this series on the Letter to
the Colossians, titled Identification, we studied Paul’s introduction of
himself and Timothy and his greeting to the church at Colossae. This greeting
of Paul’s identified him as an apostle, a sent out one, of Christ by the will
of God. Paul identified himself as a Christian and one who goes out to proclaim
the Gospel. By this, the church of Colossae could recognize he was one to whom
they should listen. Paul had credentials. Next in the greeting, Paul called
Timothy “our brother.” With these two words, he identified to the Colossian believers
that Timothy, too, was a believer and one who traveled with and learned daily
from Paul. He was one they should consider highly, too. The people of Asia Minor,
which included Colossae, knew of Timothy as one of their own since he grew up
in their part of the world. The Colossians identified with Timothy as a man of
Asia Minor. Paul, being from Tarsus, of Asia Minor, identified as one of their
own, too. Between Paul and Timothy, their backgrounds covered people from Asia
Minor who had Greek and/or Jewish backgrounds, just as the Colossian church comprised
people from Greek and Jewish backgrounds. With the words of Paul’s introduction
and greeting, he led the people to identify with him and Timothy and prepared
them to listen and heed what he wrote to them in this letter.
With verses three through eight, Paul prayed about the
Colossian brethren. This prayer was a thanksgiving to God for the faith of the
Colossian Christians, love toward their brethren, and hope for their final
reward. Notice, this prayer speaks of a multidimensional Christianity-upward to
God, outward to other believers, and forward to eternity - shown by three
words, faith, love, and hope.
Thanksgiving
To God
“We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying for you…” (Colossians 1:3 [NASB])
Paul, as Jesus’ sent out one, who identified with Christ and
the Colossian Christians, offered a prayer of thanks to God. The word “thanks”
comes from the same Greek work from which eucharist comes. The Greek word is eucharisteo.
It means to give thanks acknowledging God’s grace works well for our eternal
gain and His glory. For God’s grace, Paul thanked Him. Each time a Christian partakes
of communion/eucharist/Lord’s Supper, he or she gives thanks for the grace God
gave him or her through Jesus Christ. The Lord’s Supper is a time of remembrance
of what Jesus did for believers and thanks for His grace He gave through it.
Paul said the same thing in this opening of his prayer. He remembered with and
for the Colossae Christians what Jesus did for them with His life, death, and
resurrection, and he thanked God for the grace He gave them, which they
accepted as His gift of love.
With the phrase “to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ,” Paul began reminding them of who Jesus is. He alluded to the theme of
this letter - Jesus, the Son of God, fully divine. Paul prayed to God, the
Father of Jesus Christ, the Son who died and rose from death to give grace,
mercy, and salvation. To this One, the One in whom Paul, Timothy, and the
Colossian church had faith, he interacted. In this prayer, Paul pointed anew to
the supreme deity of God. Because of God’s grace works in and for the Colossian
saints, Paul thanked Him. He acknowledged grace and faith come only from God.
Paul prayed in faith, praying in the way the Father desires, according to the
Father’s heart, that the Colossian church would be persuaded completely and be
full of faith in Him. He said he prayed always for the Colossian Christians. Paul
prayed according to God’s will continually and in the way He moved him to pray
for them. He was connected intimately with God and, through Him, intimately connected
with the Colossian believers. He identified with God as His saved and sent out
one. Paul identified with the Colossian Christians, too, as one who was a sinner
saved by God’s grace through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
Faith and Love
“…since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love, which you have for all the saints…” (Col. 1:4 [NASB])
Paul had heard of the faith and love of the Christians in Colossae.
He would have heard it from the man he discipled who was from their region,
Epaphras. Because Paul spent lengthy periods of time in Asia Minor on his
second and third missionary journeys, he could have learned about the believers
in Colossae at those times or from the people who wrote to him. What Paul heard
is for what Paul thanked God. He noted their faith, pistis, in Jesus
Christ. Notice, this belief is not in one’s self to do things, such as
good works, or be things. This belief is in Jesus, the One who saves people from
their sins and makes them righteous. Pistis means belief and true faith in
Jesus as a gift from God. This faith gift from God is what persuaded them of
the truth of Jesus Christ. As they acted on this faith, it produced more faith,
so they grew in their relationship with God and in their service to Him. As any
believer applies what they know, hear, and receive from God, more faith grows
in them. They mature and bear fruit.
This faith and its growth in a believer leads to agape
love. Agape love can only come from being identified with Jesus Christ. People
cannot manufacture it. This love that is true and devoted; it is pure. Nothing
changes it. This love is not hot one day and cold another. Agape love is
the pure love from Jesus Christ. Each characteristic of God - Father, Son, and
Spirit - comes from this pure love. The agape love Paul said the
Colossians showed was love “for all the saints.” These saints of which Paul
wrote were other people whom Jesus made holy through the redemption He gives.
The Colossian believers enacted their faith in Jesus with pure love for other
believers in Jesus Christ. They showed the love of God to other Christians.
This shows the Colossian believers’ identification with God. Their faith in
Christ led to love of Christ pouring out from them towards the saints. They identified
with Jesus and with other believers. These Colossian Christians grew in their
faith and showed Christ’s love to others. They had a vertical relationship with
God and a horizontal relationship with people that was Christlike, from agape
love. For their faith acted upon as agape love lived out among other
saints, Paul thanked God.
Hope
“…because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel…” (Col. 1:5 [NASB])
Paul began this next section talking of the third aspect of
believers, hope. The first two were faith and love. Paul said in verse five, “...because
of the hope…” Hope motivated the believers in Colossae. Hope without substance
isn’t hope. Without substance, this describes just possibility. Hope that has a
basis, a foundation, such as the Christian hope in Jesus that leads to an
eternal reward, is something onto which they could be sure. The Colossian
believers could trust and put their confidence in this reward, not because
people told them about heaven, but because they believed unto faith in Jesus
Christ and received salvation by His grace given because of His shed blood.
That truth is the basis for Christian hope. Jesus never fails or lies. He is
victorious over sin and death as the fully divine Son of God. The believers in
Colossae held onto this hope laid up for them in heaven, which they gained when
they heard and trusted in the truth, the Gospel. They lived out their faith with
God’s agape love toward other believers because of the hope they had in
Christ. The Colossian Christians’ faith, as God gave to them, was genuine as
acknowledged by their actions of faith and because they looked toward the
future of their completed salvation and acted in the present.
Word of Truth’s Sufficiency
“…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 since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth…” (Col. 1:6 [NASB])
Paul is famous for his unending and complicated sentence structure.
This phrase begins with the last words in verse five. It speaks of the Gospel.
The word “Gospel” comes from the Greek word euaggelion, meaning the
truth of the good news of the Messiah. Paul stated the Colossians faith, love,
and hope came from the Gospel, the good news of the Messiah. This Gospel that
came to them and which they heeded was the word of truth. Remember, God is the
definition of truth, the source of truth. His character is truth. So, if
something comes from Him, it is the absolute truth. Understanding this was
important for the Colossian believers because they lived in a city and region
bombarded by Greco-Roman gods, Babylonian gods, Greek philosophical thought, and
Jewish legalism. This combination of influences with bits and pieces of ideas
taken from Christianity led to the beginnings of Gnosticism. The truth from God
of the good news, the Gospel, is absolute. Paul inferred no other philosophical
thought or faith system is truth if it differs from God’s truth.
Paul continued explaining how they could know for sure this
word of truth they received is the truth. He said a faith in the word of truth constantly
bears fruit and increases. He said this word of truth is the same as what had
been and was being presented in the entire world. The increase is the number of
people from different tribes, nations, and tongues who believed in the truth of
God. Know by its increase, its fruit. Just as it bore fruit in the Lycus River
valley with actions of godly character and conduct, it was effective beyond
there and bore fruit elsewhere, too. This fruit of the Gospel in believers’
lives didn’t just bud then die away, but word came of its growth and
maturity. It increased and spread. So, too, did the faith of the Colossians
grow richer and deeper. It matured in them. God’s truth didn’t need
supplementation by other thoughts or religions. People need nothing else for
the Gospel to save them when they believed in Jesus Christ. This word of truth,
the Gospel, as the believers in Colossae listened to and understood it from
Epaphras, is the grace of God. The Gospel preached to them, which they believed
with the faith God gave them and the faith that grew and matured, is God’s
truth and is sufficient for salvation from sins and receipt of eternal life
with Him. Paul said no person needs to add anything to what they received from
God’s sent ones to give them salvation and eternal life. Writing this in his
thanksgiving to God foreshadowed what Paul's purpose was for this letter.
Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient.
Faithful to Christ
“…just as you learned it from Epaphras, our bellowed fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf…” (Col. 1:7 [NASB])
Paul identified he knew from whom the believers in Colossae heard
the Gospel. The verb Paul used is a prolonged verb. What they learned began at
a point in time and they kept learning, so it became a part of their lifestyle,
continuing to learn from experience as they walked with Christ each day. Paul
acknowledged the believers in Colossae not only believed, but they kept on believing
and grew in their faith. They matured and increased, as he said in verse six.
They learned and kept on learning by living with Jesus every day. Paul
mentioned Epaphras because he trusted what he taught and preached to them since
he personally discipled him. He knew Epaphras taught the truth of God. Additionally,
by mentioning Epaphras, Paul reminded the believers of Colossae to remember and
hold on to the truth Epaphras told them. Don’t let anyone water it down with
other philosophical thoughts or faith systems.
Paul called Epaphras a “beloved fellow bond-servant.” This
phrasing meant Epaphras was one of them; they followed Christ together. Both
Paul and Epaphras identified with Christ. He called him a bond-servant. A
bond-servant is someone who voluntarily submits to another person. It doesn’t
occur by force, authority, or monetary debt. Epaphras, like Paul and Timothy,
accepted the truth of the word, the Gospel, and voluntarily submitted to Christ
as His Lord and Savior. Wherever God told Him to go and to whoever God told him
to speak, Epaphras would obey. God controlled his life because he gave it to
Him. By this, Epaphras was a bond-servant of Christ. Besides being a beloved, fellow
bond-servant, Paul said Epaphras was faithful. This word comes from the same
root word as the word “faith” in verse four, pistos. Epaphras did not begrudgingly
obey God. He did not say, “I’ll do anything, except not that, God.” He was a
faithful servant. Epaphras, fully persuaded of the truth of the Gospel about
Jesus Christ, lived a life of growing and maturing faith upon which he obeyed
God. Inspired by Jesus, he carried out His plans for each person to hear the
Gospel. Epaphras lived and breathed to tell the Gospel. He became a teacher of
the Christian faith as a beloved and faithful bond-servant of Christ. Epaphras’
cause, his purpose for telling others about Jesus, was three-fold. He acted
because of the call Christ had on his life. Epaphras identified with Christ. He,
too, acted with other men and women to make sure each person heard the Gospel. Epaphras
identified with other sent out ones. Finally, he acted out of agape love
for other people. He did not want any person to die without knowing the grace,
salvation, and eternal life that faith in Jesus gives. He identified with
unsaved people because he had been an unbeliever. Because of Epaphras’
faithfulness to Christ, the Colossian Christians could trust completely in the
truth Epaphras taught them. They didn’t need new teachers or to add other
things to what Epaphras taught them. Epaphras’ faithfulness to God and to the
people of Colossae shows pure love, agape love. Epaphras’ and Paul’s
faith, hope, and love, resulted in proclaiming the word of truth and being
faithful to Christ.
By the Spirit
“…and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.” (Col. 1:8 [NASB])
In verse three, Paul said he and Timothy had heard of the
faith in Christ of the Colossian believers. He did not state from whom he gained
that information. In verse eight, Paul wrote that Epaphras told them of Colossians’
faith. A young pastor reported to his mentor/discipler what was happening in
the church he planted in Colossae. He wanted Paul to know what was happening in
the Lycus River valley. Epaphras excitedly told what was happening in Colossae
and the growth he saw in the believers. The first sign of belief in Jesus in a
Christian’s life is the love that flows in and through him or her, outward to people
and upward to God. Epaphras told Paul of their love. He didn’t tell them of philia
love, deep friendship, but of agape love, a love for everyone that has
its source in God. The Colossian believers, according to Epaphras, identified
with Christ and identified with other believers. He said they did it in the
Spirit. Identification with Christ and other believers is not recognizing them,
but more than that. Identification is recognizing and loving them without
considering their worth. Just as God loves each person. The Colossian
Christians’ identification with Jesus and other believers came from love. The
Colossian Christians did not love from their own capacity, but with the
capacity and unselfish love of God. Epaphras told Paul of the Colossian
believers’ maturing faith, Paul wrote.
Thoughts to Consider
Have you understood everything Paul said in this six-verse
passage of Scripture? Paul was very precise in what he said. He packed much
into his sentences with many dependent clauses. Paul, like any good teachers
and mentors, began this letter and his thanksgiving to God for the Colossae church
with the good news of the growth of these children of God in love, faith, and
hope, the three aspects, or as R.E. O. White says, “the dimensions,” of
Christian experience. He thanked God for the people of Colossae who had become
Christians because of their faith, which manifested itself through the love and
hope that comes from God. Paul recognized these co-heirs in Christ identified
with God and with other believers. Paul briefly reminded these believers that Jesus
is fully divine, and His sacrifice is sufficient for salvation. They did not
need to add another philosophical thought or faith system to Jesus’ crucifixion
and resurrection to receive salvation and an eternal inheritance in heaven. Paul
encouraged the Colossian believers further by telling them what they had heard
from Epaphras came from a fellow beloved bond-servant of Christ, just as he
himself is an apostle of Jesus Christ by God’s will.
Consider these questions as you process today’s Bible study.
- Has your faith in Jesus shown in love for other believers?
- Have you lived out your faith by telling someone the word of truth?
- Do you look with expectation to receive the hope God laid up for you in heaven?
- Does your faith keep you strong and steadfast in your faith in Christ?
- Have you mixed anything else into your belief in Christ because it seemed like the right thing to do, things like ancestor worship, idol worship, sacrificing animals when you sin?
- When people look at you, do they see a faith in Christ that bears fruit and mature constantly by your heart, words, and actions?
- Are you continuing to learn and grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus?
- If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, what keeps you from believing in Him as your Savior?
Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians to do more than boost
their morale with his thanksgiving to God. He foreshadowed of the theme for
this letter in his prayer we studied today. Jesus is fully divine, and His
sacrifice is sufficient for the salvation of every person who repents and believes
in Him as the Son of God. As always, Paul’s love for other people caused him to
teach and correct them so Satan’s deceptions would not lead them astray.
Paul would later pray for these believers to have the
knowledge of God’s will with spiritual wisdom and understanding, to live a life
worthy of God, bearing fruit, increasing in the knowledge of God, being
strengthened with God’s might and power, ensuring and being patient with joy, and
giving thanks to God, the One who qualified them to share in the inheritance of
the saints. (Colossians 1:9-12)
For us today, we must ask ourselves if we are persuaded fully
of the truth of the Gospel about Jesus Christ. Does it impel us to live a life
of growing and maturing faith shown by obeying God? We should ask ourselves if
we live a life worthy of God. Paul, Epaphras, and Timothy did. Where do you
stand with Jesus now?
For next week, re-read Colossians 1:9-12.
If you want to talk about this Bible study or want to know about
Jesus so you can receive the salvation from sins He offers, contact me through
the contact form on my website. I will write back to you.
“[I] am giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” (Colossians 1:12 [NASB])
