Colossians 1:1-12 → Greeting and Prayer for the Colossians

Theme

► The main theme of Colossians, in my opinion, is the deity of Jesus Christ - His fullness as God, and His complete sufficiency as having done all that is necessary to save us from our sins.

► Colossians 2:9-10 → "⁹For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, ¹⁰and in Him you have been made complete,..."

→ Who Jesus is, is complete.

→ What Jesus has done, is complete.

• There is nothing that we can add to this to effect, improve, or add value to our salvation.

► Paul will spend the rest of this letter, both carefully elaborating on the divine character of Jesus, and also being very specific about the completeness of what Jesus did on the cross to obtain our salvation.

► Attacks, if you will, from outside the church (and perhaps some from inside the church), that suggest that more is needed, specifically within the framework of our human efforts, to fully obtain salvation, will be shot down like enemy missiles, the intent of which is to destroy our faith.

     Passage

Colossians 1:1-12 → "¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

► Paul consistently identifies himself in his writings. He also consistently calls himself "an apostle".

→ His apostleship is different from that of the other apostles in that he was called to follow Jesus AFTER the resurrection and ascension.

→ He includes Timothy in his greeting. I'm not sure if he's doing so to include him as a co-author, or simply recognizing his proximity to Paul at the time of this writing. Timothy is also co-listed in 2nd Corinthians, Philippians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, and Philemon. Timothy has two letters from Paul, written to him years later near the end of Paul's life.

→ Timothy was quite possibly the person who physically wrote down Paul's words.

² To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

► Paul is writing to "the saints and faithful brethren in Christ wo are at Colossae:...".We do know that Paul has never been there. He's been close at times, but there is no Biblical record of him even having spent any time there.

► Colossae is in what we know today as Turkey. About 100 miles from Ephesus, which Timothy would eventually become the pastor of the church in that town.

► Paul gives them his standard greeting → "Grace" and "peace". Paul does this in the greeting of all of his letters, and at the ending of most of them.

→ Some commentators will talk about this being just a standard, typical greeting for that time, but i don't agree. It may have been common, but I don't see Paul writing these words without specific intent.

→ Think of it this way - you can't receive peace, without having first received grace. Peace can only be attained when one has the assurance that our sins no longer condemn us. And that condemnation can only be removed by the grace, the free gift, that Jesus bestowed on us at the cross.

→ When we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, when we bow our knees at the foot of the cross, when we acknowledge the inability to save ourselves in and of our own efforts and then turn to Jesus, then, and only then, do we appropriate the salvation that Jesus paid for when He died on the cross.

→ It comes to this simple concept...

• KNOW Jesus → KNOW peace

• NO Jesus → NO peace

³ We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

► Paul expresses his joy at their salvation and fellowship with him in Jesus, even though he has never met them.

⁴ since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints;

► Specifically, he mentions 1st their "faith in Christ Jesus". His acknowledgment of their mutual salvation which provides for them inclusion in the body of Christ.

► Secondly, he mentions their "love which you have for all the saints:...". A natural byproduct of receiving the love of God is to extend it to others.

⁵ because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel

► Paul adds a third characteristic of the Colossians to the list of things he's thankful to God for - hope.

► Paul has now listed three critical features of the life of a believer - faith, hope, and love.

→ In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul waxes eloquent about love. Parts of this chapter are used in wedding ceremonies. But at the very end of that passage, he finishes with this statement in verse 13... "¹³ But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love."

• FAITH → believing and trusting in the work of Jesus on the cross to be sufficient to save us from our sins.

• HOPE → the confidence and conviction that Jesus will deliver on His promise that He is preparing a place for us in heaven.

• LOVE → the conscious choice to do what is best for another. This kind of love is not about liking someone because of how they look or how they make us feel. It's also not about a camaraderie that we might have with family or friends or other like minded believers. It's about doing whatever is in our power for the betterment of another person.

☺ Jesus Himself commented on the priority of love when He quoted from the Old Testament when asked "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" (Matt 22:36), to which He replied, "³⁷...“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matt 22:37-40)

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;

► Paul recognizes that the process they've experienced, to be exposed to the gospel, and then to respond positively to it, is not unique to them.

► He mentions that what they've come to know, is also the same as what has been happening "in all the world".

► By responding to Jesus, they have become members of the ever growing, world wide, body of Christ.

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.

► And here is where we find out just how the gospel came to Colossae. "Epaphras, who is one of your number,..." as it says in Col 4:12, was the one who brought the truth to them. We don't know anything else about him, as he's only mentioned 3 times in the Bible. Twice here in Colossians, and once in Philemon 23.

⁹ For this reason also, 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,

► Paul, still in a mode of prayer, which he originally introduced in verse 3, goes on to state that "we have not ceased to pray" for the Colossians, specifically that they would "be filled with the knowledge of His will", and that this knowledge would be applied in their lives and community "in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,..."

→ One must remember that knowledge is pretty much useless, at least for anything significant in life, if that knowledge is not applied, or acted upon, without "wisdom and understanding".

¹⁰ so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

► And this is the action that Paul is saying that knowledge, applied with wisdom, would lead us to.

► That we would "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,...". Our behavior in Christ must be based on knowledge applied with wisdom. You've got to be in God's Word to gain the knowledge; you've got to have God's wisdom to know how to live it out.

► 2 results, or evidences that this is working in your life...

→ 1st • you will be "bearing fruit in every good work...". As we learn we should also grow in our obedience to carry out His will.

→ 2nd • you will gain more "knowledge of God;...". It's sort of like, as you learn and act on what you've learned, God teaches you a little more, and you keep moving forward. It's like shampoo - lather, rinse, repeat. On the shampoo bottles, I've never seen where it says just to repeat one time. So in a spiritual sense, we're going to keep washing our hair until we run out of shampoo, and for us that won't be until the Lord returns, or we die.

¹¹ strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light."

► And we are not alone in the process of growing into the image of Christ. We are "strengthened with all power", and not just any power, but God's power "according to His glorious might"! I'm so glad I don't have to go on this adventure under my own steam. God will supply whatever energy we need, in the moment we need it.

► The end result being that we will be "joyously giving thanks to the Father,...", understanding that this is only possible because God has "qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light."

→ Jesus, through His work on the cross, has provided the means for us to receive an "inheritance", rather than condemnation. This He did for us, as we couldn't do it for ourselves.

→ Now, He wants us to grow in our knowledge and wisdom, so we can in effect, be His light on earth.

     So What?

• Paul prays for the Colossians, and theoretically for us today also, that as those who have ALREADY received salvation through the work of Jesus on the cross, that we will also be perfected/improved/empowered to be able to acquire a deeper knowledge of Jesus, and with that knowledge, the ability to apply it with wisdom, so that we might grow in our ability to further His work in the lives of the people with whom we come in contact.

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Photo • 11/14/2025 - Sunrise @ Cowskin Bay North Boat Ramp, Keystone Lake, OK

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