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Colossians 1

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Salutation 1–2

1
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, ​
2
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ​

Thanksgiving for the Colossians' Faith 3–8

3
We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4
Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, ​
5
For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
6
Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: ​
7
As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; ​
8
Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom 9–14

9
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; ​
10
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; ​
11
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
12
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: ​
13
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: ​
14
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: ​

The Supremacy of Christ 15–20

15
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: ​
16
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: ​
17
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. ​
18
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. ​
19
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; ​
20
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. ​

Reconciliation Through Christ 21–23

21
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled ​
22
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: ​
23
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; ​

Paul's Labor for the Church 24–29

24
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: ​
25
Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; ​
26
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: ​
27
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: ​
28
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: ​
29
Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Colossians 1

Verse 1

an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God — Apostolos is one sent out, and the sender's will (thelema) is the ground of the office. 2 Cor 1:1, Eph 1:1 and 2 Tim 1:1 open with the same words; 1 Cor 1:1 has 'through the will of God'. 'Timotheus our brother' joins the greeting, as in 2 Cor 1:1.

Verse 2

saints and faithful brethren — 'Saints' is hagios, set apart as holy. Colosse is named only here in the New Testament. Paul writes of a 'great conflict' he has 'for you, and for them at Laodicea' (2:1), and Epaphras has zeal for 'them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis' (4:13).

Verse 4

your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love — Faith, love and hope (v.5) are named together, as in 1 Thess 1:3: 'work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope'. The hope is 'laid up for you in heaven'. Eph 1:15 reports the same pair: 'faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints'.

Verse 6

bringeth forth fruit — Karpophoreo, to bear fruit, is said of the gospel here and of its hearers in v.10, 'being fruitful in every good work': the fruit shows in both. 'World' is kosmos; v.23 restates the reach as 'every creature which is under heaven'. 'Knew' (epiginosko) is the verb behind 'knowledge' (epignosis) in vv.9–10.

Verse 7

Epaphras our dear fellowservant — Sundoulos, fellow slave. Epaphras is named only here, in 4:12 ('always labouring fervently for you in prayers') and in Philem 1:23. He is 'a faithful minister' (diakonos, the word Paul uses of himself in vv.23, 25), and 4:13 gives him 'a great zeal' for Colosse, Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Verse 9

filled with the knowledge of his will — 'Knowledge' is epignosis, full knowledge: it recurs in v.10, 2:2 and 3:10, four times in the letter. 'Filled' is pleroo. The object is 'his will', with 'all wisdom and spiritual understanding' (sophia, sunesis); Paul asks the same for Ephesus: 'wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him' (Eph 1:17).

Verse 10

walk worthy of the Lord — Peripateo, to walk, is Scripture's word for the course of a life; Eph 4:1 gives the same call, 'walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called'. Three marks follow: pleasing, 'fruitful' (karpophoreo, as in v.6) and 'increasing in the knowledge of God', the epignosis of v.9.

Verse 12

made us meet — Hikanoo, to make sufficient, is found only here and in 2 Cor 3:6, 'made us able ministers'. 'Meet' is fit or qualified, by the Father's act. The 'inheritance of the saints in light' is the one Paul was sent to announce: 'inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith' (Acts 26:18).

Verse 13

delivered us from the power of darkness — 'Delivered' is rhuomai, to rescue; 'power' is exousia, authority. Acts 26:18 turns the same way: 'from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God'. 'Translated' is methistemi, to move to another place, used of Saul 'removed' in Acts 13:22. 'Dear Son' is literally 'Son of his love' (agape).

Verse 14

redemption through his blood — Apolutrosis, release by ransom; Eph 1:7 has the same words, 'redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins'. 'Forgiveness' is aphesis, a sending away. The ransom is named in Mark 10:45, 'to give his life a ransom for many'.

Verse 15

the image of the invisible God — Eikon, a likeness that represents; 'invisible' is aoratos. 'No man hath seen God at any time' (John 1:18), yet Christ 'is the image of God' (2 Cor 4:4). 'Firstborn' (prototokos) is a title of rank: 'I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth' (Ps 89:27). V.16 gives the ground: by him all were created.

Verse 16

thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers — The Greek is thronos, kuriotes, arche, exousia; Eph 1:21 lists 'principality, and power, and might, and dominion'. 'All things were created by him, and for him' joins John 1:3, 'All things were made by him', and Rom 11:36, 'of him, and through him, and to him, are all things'.

Verse 17

by him all things consist — Sunistemi, to stand together or hold together; 2 Pet 3:5 uses it of the earth 'standing' by the word of God. Heb 1:3 says the Son upholds 'all things by the word of his power'. 'Before all things' sets him ahead of the creation made 'by him' in v.16.

Verse 18

the beginning, the firstborn from the dead — 'Beginning' is arche, the word translated 'principalities' in v.16: he who is the beginning is over every rule. 'Preeminence' (proteuo) occurs only here. Rev 1:5 says 'first begotten of the dead', with the word of 'firstborn' in v.15. The 'church' as his 'body' is in Eph 1:22–23.

Verse 19

in him should all fulness dwell — Pleroma, fulness, and katoikeo, to settle in as a home; 2:9 repeats the verb, 'in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily'. It 'pleased the Father' (eudokeo), his own good pleasure. 2:10 follows: 'ye are complete in him'.

Verse 20

peace through the blood of his cross — Eirenopoieo, to make peace, occurs only here. 'Reconcile' is apokatallasso, found only in Eph 2:16 ('by the cross') and Col 1:20–21. 'All things… in earth… in heaven' recalls Eph 1:10, 'gather together in one all things in Christ'; Christians read the reach of 'all things' differently.

Verse 21

alienated and enemies — Apallotrioo, to estrange, occurs only here and in Eph 2:12 and 4:18 ('alienated from the life of God'). 'Sometime' marks the former state; the enmity was 'in your mind by wicked works'. Rom 5:10 states the same turn: 'when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son'.

Verse 22

holy and unblameable and unreproveable — Three words for the presented state: hagios, amomos (without blemish, as in Eph 1:4; 5:27) and anegkletos (nothing to be charged, 1 Cor 1:8). 'The body of his flesh' says whose body, since v.18 speaks of the church as his body. 'Present' is the verb of Eph 5:27.

Verse 23

If ye continue in the faith — Epimeno, to remain. 'Grounded' is themelioo, built on a foundation (Eph 3:17, 'rooted and grounded in love'), and 'settled' is hedraios, firm; 'moved away' (metakineo) is found only here. 'Every creature' is ktisis, as in v.15. Heb 3:14 sets the same condition: 'if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end'.

Verse 24

fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ — Antanapleroo, to fill up in turn, occurs only here; 'behind' is husterema, a lack. Christ's own offering is complete: 'by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified' (Heb 10:14). Paul suffers 'for his body's sake, which is the church' (cf. v.18); Christ asked Saul, 'why persecutest thou me?' (Acts 9:4).

Verse 25

the dispensation of God — Oikonomia, the management of a household, a stewardship. Paul uses it of his own charge in 1 Cor 9:17 and Eph 3:2, 'the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward'. 'To fulfil' is pleroo, to bring to full measure, the verb of 'I have fully preached the gospel of Christ' (Rom 15:19).

Verse 26

the mystery which hath been hid — Musterion, a secret that God makes known. 'Hid' is apokrupto, the verb of Eph 3:9, 'from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God'; 'made manifest' is phaneroo, as in Rom 16:26, 'But now is made manifest'. The hiding lasted 'from ages and from generations'.

Verse 27

Christ in you, the hope of glory — 'God would make known': the disclosure is by his will. What was hidden is 'the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles'; Eph 3:6 states it as 'the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body'. 'Mystery' appears four times in the letter (1:26, 27; 2:2; 4:3), 'hope' returns from v.5.

Verse 28

warning every man, and teaching every man — 'Preach' is katangello, to proclaim; 'warning' is noutheteo, to admonish, with 'teaching' (didasko); 'every man' stands three times in the verse. Paul 'ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears' (Acts 20:31). 'Perfect' is teleios, the goal of Eph 4:13, 'unto a perfect man'.

Verse 29

striving according to his working — 'Striving' is the verb of a contest, to contend. 'Working' (energeia) and 'worketh' (energeo) are one family: the power at work in Paul is God's, as in 'it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do' (Phil 2:13) and 'yet not I, but the grace of God' (1 Cor 15:10).