Colossians 1:3

Thanksgiving for the "faith, hope, and love" of the Colossians. So in the twin Epistle sent at the same time and by the same bearer, Tychicus (Eph 1:15-16).

We--I and Timothy.

and the Father--So some of the oldest manuscripts read. But others better omit the "and," which probably crept in from Eph 1:3.

praying always for you--with thanksgiving (Phi 4:6). See Col 1:4.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3–8. thanksgiving for the colossian saints

3. We give thanks] So Rom_1:8; 1Co_1:4; Eph_1:16; 1Th_1:2; 1Th_2:13; 2Th_1:3; 2Th_2:13; Phm_1:4.—Thanksgiving is the instinct of the life of grace.—These thanksgivings recognize God as the whole Cause of all goodness in His saints.

God and the Father] Better, with the more probable reading, God, the Father. Here, as often, the Father is called simply, and as it were distinctively, God. Not that He is more truly God than the Son, but that He is the Fountain of Godhead in the Son. Cp. Pearson, Exposition. Art. i., pp. 34, 35, 40.

praying always for you] Better perhaps, always, when at prayer for you.—The “prayer” here meant is prayer in its most inclusive sense, worship, of which thanksgiving is a part.—For St Paul’s prayers for his converts cp. Col_1:9; Eph_1:16-17; Eph_3:14; Php_1:9; 2Th_1:1; 2Ti_1:3; and see below, Col_4:12.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We give thanks to God: See Poole on "Phi 1:3". He doth here take in Timothy and others, in acknowledging of God’s grace to them, which might express his great good-will to them.

And the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; describing God, to whom they render thanks both absolutely and relatively, as the Father of Jesus Christ, according to both natures: See Poole on "2Co 1:3", and See Poole on "Eph 1:3".

Praying always for you; always when they did address themselves to God by prayer making mention of them, as he also wrote to the Philippians: See Poole on "Phi 1:3,4".

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Col_1:3-8

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The prelude

I. A thankful recognition of Christian excellence as introductory to warnings and remonstrances. Almost all Pauls Epistles begin thus. Gentle rain softens the ground, and prepares it to receive the heavier downfall which would else mostly run off the hard surface. These expressions are not compliments, or flattery used for personal ends, but uncalculated expressions of affection which delights to see white patches in the blackest character, and of wisdom which knows that the nauseous medicine of blame is most easily taken if wrapped in a capsule of honest praise. All persons in authority may be the better for taking this lesson.

2. The praise is cast in the form of thanksgiving to God, as the true fountain of all that is good in men. All that might be harmful in direct praise is thus strained out of it. Christian excellences are Gods gifts. The fountain, not the pitcher, should have the credit of the water.

3. There were two points which occasioned his thankfulness.

(1) Faith. This is sometimes spoken of as towards Jesus, which describes the act by its direction, as if it were the going out of mans nature to the true goal of all active being. On Christ, describes it as reposing on Him as the end of all seeking. But more sweet is faith considered as in Him as its home, where the seeking spirit may fold its wings, be strengthened, and tranquillized.

(a) In all, faith is the same--simple confidence. But how unlike are the objects!--broken reeds in the one case, and the firm pillar of Divine power and tenderness in the other. And how unlike, alas! the fervency and constancy of our trust in each other and in Him.

(b) Faith covers the whole ground of mans relation to God. Everything that binds us to the unseen world is included in it.

(c) From that fruitful source all good will come, and that faith lacks its best warrant which does not lead to whatsoever is of good report.

(2) As faith is the parent of all virtue, so it is the parent of love--the whole law of human conduct packed into one word. But the warmest place in a Christians heart will belong to those in sympathy with his deepest self. The sign on the surface of earthly relations of the central fire of faith to Christ is the fruitful vintage of brotherly love, as the vineyards bear the heaviest clusters on the slopes of Vesuvius.

(3) So here we have two members of the familiar triad, and their sister, Hope, is not far off. And the hope laid up in heaven is a motive for brotherly love. This hope is not the emotion, but the object, and the ideas of futurity and security are suggested by that object being laid up. This is not the main motive, but it is legitimate to draw subordinate motives for holiness from the anticipation of future blessedness, and to use that prospect to reinforce the higher motives.

II. A solemn reminder of the truth and worth of that gospel which was threatened by the budding heresies of the Colossian Church.

1. He begins by reminding them that to that gospel they owed all their knowledge and hope of heaven. Its sole certainty is built on the resurrection of Christ, and its sole hope on His death. All around us we see those who reject these surrender their faith in the life beyond.

2. The gospel is a word of which the whole subject and contents is truth. It is of value, not because it feeds sentiment or regulates conduct only, but because it reveals knowledge about the deepest things of God, of which, but for it, man would know nothing. It is not speculation, but truth; and truth because it is the record of Him who is the Truth. To whom shall we go? If elsewhere, to will-o-the-wisps and Babel.

3. This gospel had been received by them. You have accepted the Word; see that your future be consistent with your past. Blessed are they whose creed at last can be spoken in the lessons learned in childhood, to which experience has but given new meaning.

4. This gospel was filling the world. All the world must be taken with an allowance for rhetorical statement, but the rapid spread of Christianity then, and its power to influence all sorts of men, were facts that needed to be accounted for if the gospel were not true. All schisms and heresies are partial and local, suit coteries, and are the product of circumstances; but the gospel goes through the world, and draws all men. Dainties are for the few, and the delicacies of one country are the abominations of another; but everybody breaks bread and lives on it. Do not fling away the gospel, which belongs to all, for that which can never live in the popular heart, nor influence more than a handful of superior persons.

5. Another plea for adherence to the gospel is based on its continuous and universal fruitfulness. It brings about results which attest its claim to be from God. Our imperfections are our own; our good is its. A medicine is not shown to be powerless if a sick man has taken it irregularly. This rod has budded at all events; have any of its antagonists rods done the same? Dont cast it away, says Paul, till you have found a better.

6. They have heard a gospel which reveals the true grace of God--another argument for steadfastness. In opposition to it then, as now, were put various thoughts and requirements, a human wisdom and a burdensome code. They are but bony things to try and live on. The soul wants something more than bread made out of sawdust. We want a loving God to live on, whom we can love because He loves us. Will anything but the gospel give us that?

III. The apostolic endorsement of Epaphras, the early teacher of the Colossians, whose authority, no doubt, was imperilled by the new direction of thought, and Paul was desirous of adding the weight of his attestation to the complete correspondence between his own teaching and that of Epaphras. We know nothing of him except from this letter end that to Philemon. He is a member of the Colossian Church (Col_4:12). He had brought the tidings which filled the apostles heart with joy and love for their Christian walk (verses 4-8), and of anxiety lest they should be swept away from their steadfastness. Epaphras shared this (Col_4:12). He was in some sense Pauls fellow-prisoner, and alone of Pauls companions receives the name of fellow-servant, which may be an instance of Pauls courteous humility. Dont make differences--we are both slaves of one Master. As He had truly represented Paul, so he had lovingly represented them. Probably those who questioned Epaphras version of Pauls teaching would suspect his report of the Church; hence the double witness borne from the apostles generous heart to both parts of his brothers work. Never was leader truer to his subordinates than Paul. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Thanksgiving

I. The duty.

1. Arises out of an express command. We are bound to be thankful for all things (Job_1:21; Isa_24:15).

2. Is a test of Christian character. All the saints have been distinguished by it, and have treasured up their mercies that they might render it. To be lacking in it is to lack the chief distinguishing grace of Christian character, and to incur the greatest sin- ingratitude.

3. Must always form a prominent feature of spiritual worship- witness the Psalms.

4. Is most reasonable in itself--when we consider that it is the best return we can make for any blessing.

II. Its special subjects. The graces of the spirit in ourselves or others.

1. Faith takes the precedence, because it is the first and root-grace. Think of what faith does--saves, is the evidence of things unseen, casts all care on God, etc.

2. Love which is fruitful in blessed effects. The loveless man is miserable.

3. A good hope through grace--which anticipates heaven. (T. Watson, B. A.)

Apostolic thanksgiving

I. Its spirit.

1. It is unselfish. We hear the prisoner praise and exult for the joys of others. Arthur Helps says: It is a noble sight. That man is very powerful who has no more hopes for himself, who looks not to be loved or admired any more, to have more honour and dignity; but whose sole thought is for others, and who only lives for them.

2. Ungrudging. He is about to deal with their errors, but is eager first to recognize what is laudable. There are two sets of men, those who first see the blemish, then the beauty; and those who first admire and then criticise. To the first of these Paul belonged.

3. Constant.

II. Its subjects.

1. The spiritual possessions of the Church. Sometimes Paul views faith and love as leading up to hope: here he depicts hope as kindling faith and love.

(1) The faith is Christ-centred.

(2) The love is practical.

(3) The hope is secure.

2. The means by which these possessions had been obtained.

(1) The gospel.

(a) In its universality.

(b) In its fertility. The gospel is not only vital, but reproductive.

(2) The preacher.

3. The source and sphere of their possession. Love in the Spirit is the life of all the saints. (U. R. Thomas.)

The custom of the apostle to begin his Epistles with thanksgiving showed the devout habit of his mind, his constant recognition of the source of good, and his interest in the spiritual condi tion of those to whom he wrote.

I. Thanksgiving an essential element in prayer. We give thanks, praying always for you.

II. The Being to Whom all thanksgiving is due. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

III. The grounds of this thanksgiving.

1. The reputation of their faith in Christ.

(1) Christ is the object and foundation of all true faith. He is so as the Divinely-consecrated Deliverer of our race. The grandeur of His work and the glory of His character are suggested by the titles here given.

(2): Faith is the root-principle of Christian life.

2. Their possession of an expansive Christian love. Love to Christ is necessarily involved, for love to the saints is our affection for Christs image in them. Love is all-embracing. Peculiarities, defects, differences of opinion, are no barriers. It is the unanswerable evidence of moral transformation (1Jn_3:14). It is the grandest triumph over the natural enmity of the human heart. It is the indissoluble bond of choicest fellowship.

3. Their enjoyment of a well-sustained hope.

(1) Its character. The prospect of heaven--of possessing a spiritual inheritance whose wealth never diminishes and whose splendours never fade--of seeing Christ, and being like Him and dwelling with Him for ever. This prospect lifts the soul above the wearinesses, disappointments, and sufferings of the present limited life.

(2) Its security laid up--safely deposited as a precious jewel in Gods coffer. There no pilfering hands can touch, no breath tarnish, no moth corrupt it. Earthly treasures vanish, and to Gods people sometimes nothing but hope remains. Where this treasure is there the heart should be.

(3) Its source--the gospel. It alone unfolds the mysteries of the future. How dismal the outlook where hope is unknown.

Lessons:

1. We should thank God for others more on account of their spiritual than temporal welfare.

2. Learn what are the essential elements of the Christian character--faith, love, hope.

3. The proclamation of the gospel should be welcomed, and its message pondered. (G. Barlow.)

The connection between thanksgiving and prayer

The participle marks the thanksgiving as part of the prayer, and the adverb makes it prominent, indicating that when they prayed for them they always gave thanks. There is no true prayer without thanksgiving. Gratitude intensifies the souls sense of dependence on God, and prompts the cry for the needed help; and, on the other hand, earnest prayer naturally glides into fervent thankfulness. As one sin is interlinked with and produced by another, so the Use of one grace begets another. The more temporal things are used, the more they wear and waste; but spiritual things are strengthened and increased with exercise. Every spiritual grace has in it the seed of an endless reproductiveness. Underlying every thanksgiving for others is a spirit of tender, disinterested love. Moved by this passion, the apostle, from the midst of imprisonment and sorrow, could soar on the wings of gratitude and prayer to heaven. Thanksgiving will be the bliss of eternity. (Passavant.)

Five Christian elements

I. Christian experience. It consists in--

1. Faith.

(1) That which leads us to accept as true the testimony of the gospel concerning Christ.

(2) To depend upon Him for all the blessings promised by Him.

(3) To constantly apply to Him for all that He has revealed and accomplished.

(4) To lay hold of His friendship, and find Him in every respect a faithful, suitable, ever-present, all-sufficient friend.

2. Love, the constant attendant of faith, and by which faith works.

(1) It produces universal benevolence to all the world, and compassion for perishing sinners.

(2) It especially delights itself in the saints as related to and bearing the image of Him who is the supreme object of love.

(3) It will evidence itself in love to Christs commands, ways, people.

3. Hope.

(1) Its object is heaven.

(2) As a grace it dwells in the heart, always in some measure accompanying faith and love.

(3) It is with the Christian even in his darkest moments.

II. Christian communion consists in--

1. Joy and gratitude to God on behalf of those who give evidence of being partakers of His grace in truth. This is quite distinct from ordinary friendship.

(1) It is founded on personal attractions or intimate intercourse.

(2) It is oneness of soul which subsists in the absence of every other consideration, and notwithstanding unfavourable circumstances.

2. Fervent prayer for the establishment and perfection of those graces in the beginning of which we rejoice (verses 9, 10).

3. Cheering and animating each other to perseverance, notwithstanding all the trials and difficulties we may meet (verse 11).

4. Encouraging each other constantly to keep in mind our infinite obligations and glorious prospects (verses 12, 13).

III. Christian resources.

1. The word of the truth of the gospel (verse 5). Till this came the Colossians were strangers to faith, love, and hope.

2. The instrumentality of ministers. Epaphras and Paul were dear fellow-servants and faithful ministers, one preaching to the Colossians, by which they believed, and both labouring for their establishment and edification.

3. Prayer for the supply of all those spiritual blessings which the saints have learned to appreciate and desire (verses 3-9).

4. The operations of the Holy Spirit, which gives efficiency to all love (verse 8) is especially said to be in the Spirit, who is indeed the agent of every grace.

IV. Christian practice (verse 6). Wherever the gospel is preached, and attended with Divine power and efficacy, it brings forth fruit.

1. In the conversion of sinners.

2. Where vital religion is possessed it is evidenced by exemplary deportment and diffusive benevolence. There is fruit that both the Church and the world can see. They cannot see our love to Christ or our hope of heaven, but they can see our conscientious dealings in the world, our charity, our unworldliness. These are fruits which give evidence of vitality and vigour in the root.

V. Christian expectations. Christians have a hope that is laid up for them in heaven.

1. As to themselves, it is secret and out of sight. It is only faith that can realize it. They are yet in their minority in a world of discipline and education; heirs, indeed, but not of age. Supplies are sent them here, but their hope, their portion, is laid up in heaven.

2. It is treasured up in a place of perfect security, so that no enemy or thief can reach it.

3. It is laid up where none of the changes of time can affect it. If we carried it about with us, we might lose it. When we die we should drop it; but it is safe in heaven, out of the reach of disappointment.

Conclusion:

1. If we desire spiritual prosperity, let us be much in prayer for ourselves and others. Nothing more enlarges our capacity for holy enjoyment.

2. If we possess a hope in heaven, let it be evidenced by superiority to the world and love to our fellow-heirs.

3. If these blessings are imparted to sinners through the instrumentality of the gospel, be concerned to spread the gospel. (J. Hirst.)

Christian love the chief grace

Love, amid the other graces in this world, is like a cathedral tower, which begins on the earth, and, at first, is surrounded by the other parts of the structure. But, at length, rising above buttressed walls, and arch, and parapet, and pinnacle, it shoots spirelike many a foot right into the air, so high that the huge cross on its summit glows like a spark in the morning light, and shines like a star in the evening sky, when the rest of the pile is enveloped in darkness. So love, here, is surrounded by the other graces, and divides the honours with them; but they will have felt the wrap of night, and of darkness, when it will shine, luminous, against the sky of eternity. (H. W. Beecher. )

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col 1:3-8. We give thanks, &c. — See on Rom 1:8; to God and the Father — Or, even the Father of our Lord, &c.; or, as the original expression is still more literally rendered, To the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: praying always for you — Making express mention of you in all our addresses to the throne of grace; since we heard — Ακουσαντες, having heard; of your faith, &c. — See on Eph 1:15; for the hope which is laid up for you — Namely, the hope of eternal life. The apostle’s meaning seems to be, that he gave thanks for this their hope, the fourth verse coming in as a parenthesis; whereof — Of which blessedness in heaven; ye heard before I wrote to you, in the word of the truth of the gospel — The true gospel preached to you; which — Through the singular goodness of God to the Gentiles, whom he seemed so long to have neglected; is come to you — At Colosse; as it is in all the world — In all parts of the Roman empire. So the phrase often signifies; and bringeth forth fruit — Is instrumental in turning men from idolatry, and all vicious practices, and of producing in them faith and holiness. At the time this epistle was written, probably A.D. 64, the gospel had been preached and received in most of the countries within the Roman empire, and had produced a great change in the manners of those who received it. The apostle made this observation to confirm the Colossians in the faith of the gospel, which, by its rapid progress, and happy influence in reforming mankind, was plainly declared to be from God. As also in you — Among whom it hath produced a great reformation; since the day ye heard it, and knew, or acknowledged, the grace of God in truth — Truly experienced its efficacy in your hearts. As ye learned of Epaphras — From the epistle to Philemon, (Col 1:23,) which was sent at the same time with this to the Colossians, it appears that Epaphras was in prison at Rome when the apostle wrote. But it is probable he did not choose to mention that circumstance in a letter directed to the whole church of the Colossians, lest it might have grieved them too much. Our dear fellow-servant — Of Paul and Timotheus; who is for you a faithful minister of Christ — Appointed by him to labour among you and to watch over you: the apostle bore this honourable testimony to Epaphras, that the Colossians might not suffer themselves to be drawn away from the doctrine which they had received from him; who declared your love in the Spirit — That is, the love wrought in you by the Spirit of God.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 3-8. The opening thanksgiving is full and appropriate. Its content is determined by the state of this Church, and by the apostle"s relation to it through Epaphras, and his own present position.

We give thanks to God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We; Timothy and I (comp. 1Th_1:2; 2Co_1:3, 2Co_1:4, etc.) The Revised Text omits "and" between" God" and "Father," following Lachmann, Westcott and Heft, and Lightfoot (who hesitates), on evidence numerically slight, but sufficient; especially as in every other instance of this combination the conjunction is present. "Father" is also without definite article in the better attested (Revised) reading. The words, "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," bear, therefore, an explanatory, quasi-predicative force. St. Paul wishes his readers to understand that he gives thanks to God on their account distinctly under this aspect, regarded as "Father of Christ." He has just spoken of "our Father," and now adds, "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, suggesting that it is in this relation that we know God as "our Father," the Author of grace and peace, the Object of Christian thanksgiving. So the sovereign and exclusive mediation of Christ, the ruling idea of the whole Epistle, is thrown into bold relief at the outset; and, in this light, the unique omissions of vers. 2 and 3 explain and justify each other. This fatherhood embraces the entire Person and offices of the Son as "our Lord Jesus Christ." Praying always for you (ver. 9; Col_2:1-3; Php_1:4; Rom_1:9) The apostle had known from the first of the existence of this Church; and had already been in communication with it (see Introduction, He had, therefore, a general prayerful interest in the Colossians, (2Co_11:28) that has been quickened to joyful thanksgiving (Col_2:5; comp. 1Th_3:6-10) by the arrival of Epaphras. "Always" and "for you" either or both of the phrases may be joined grammatically to "we give thanks" or to "praying:" the latter connection is preferable (see Alford or Ellicott); similarly in Phm_1:4; in Eph_1:16 the turn of expression is different.

HOMILIES BY T. CROSKERY. Vers. 3-8.

The apostle"s thanksgiving for the spiritual progress of the Colossians.

Notwithstanding the dangerous speculations of a Judaeo-Gnostic philosophy which had sprung up at Colossi, threatening the integrity of their faith, the apostle is yet able to express his thankfulness for the faith and love which animated the Christian brotherhood in the valley of Lycus. He is thankful for their continued allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the one satisfaction of all their yearnings, the one solution both of their speculative questionings and of their religious wants.

I THANKSGIVING IS A CONSTANT EXERCISE OF THE CHRISTIAN HEART, AS IT IS ALSO A TRUE PART OF PRAYER. "We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.

1. It ought to mingle with every prayer. We never pray but we have cause for thankfulness, and we never give thanks but we have cause to pray. And whatever may be the subject of our rejoicing ought to be matter for thanksgiving. Prayer with thanksgiving was the apostle"s constant recommendation. (Php_4:6)

2. It is to be addressed to God the Father in Christ.

(1) Because we are commanded to "enter his gates with thanksgiving," "to be thankful to him and to bless his Name". (Psa_100:4)

(2) Because it is only from him that we have all good. (Jam_1:17)

(3) Because it is only by him we are preserved from all sin. (Psa_121:7)

(4) Because he only is good in himself. (Luk_18:19)

3. Reasons for thanksgiving.

(1) It is the only requital God expects or we can make for his mercies. (Psa_50:10, 14 69:30, 31)

(2) We cannot expect a blessing unless we are thankful for it.

(3) The more thankful we are for mercies received, the more ground we have for expecting more of them.

4. We ought to be thankful as well as prayerful for others as well as ourselves. (Eph_6:18; 1Ti_2:1) What a treasury of prayers belongs to the saints!

II THE SUBJECTS OF THE APOSTLE"S THANKSGIVING THE FAITH AND LOVE OF THE COLOSSIANS. "Having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which ye have toward all the saints." It is interesting to remark that the apostle, in the two Epistles written at the same time as this to Colossae, expresses thankfulness for similar blessings (Eph_1:15; Phm_1:5)

1. Their faith in Christ Jesus.

(1) It was not merely faith resting upon him and finding its nurture and support in him.

(2) But it centred in him as the sphere in which it had its due exercise. In this sense, Christ "dwells in the heart by faith", (Eph_3:17) and believers "rejoice in him". (Php_3:3, 7) Such a faith is a merciful preservative against doctrinal errors.

2. . Their love to all the sabots.

(1) The nature of this love. It includes:

(a) "Doing good to all, especially to those of the household of faith", (Gal_6:10) and "distributing to the necessity of saints". (Rom_12:13)

(b) Loving fellowship. (Act_2:42) "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together". (Heb_10:25)

(c) Bearing with their infirmities. "Love covereth the multitude of sins". (1Pe_4:8) We are not to grieve our brother with our meat, else "we walk not charitably". (Rom_14:15)

(d) Cherishing a forgiving spirit. (Eph_4:31)

(2) The manner of this love.

(a) It is to be brotherly. We are "to love the brotherhood". (1Pe_2:22)

(b) It is to be sincere. "Without dissimulation"; (Rom_12:9) "Not in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth". (1Jn_3:18)

(c) It is to be from "a pure heart". (1Ti_1:5)

(d) It is to be fervent. "Have fervent charity among yourselves". (1Pe_4:8)

(e) It is to be full of labours. (1Th_1:3)

(f) It is above all to be catholic. "All the saints," without distinction.

(3) The reasons for this love.

(a) Christ"s example and command. (Joh_13:34)

(b) It is a sign of grace. It is a token that "we are translated from death to. (1Jn_3:14) David"s delight was "in the saints". (Psa_16:3)

(c) It is the "fulfilling of the Law". (Rom_13:10)

(d) There is comfort in it. (Php_2:1)

(e) It commends the gospel to the world. We ought, therefore, to be "sound in love", (Tit_2:2) and "to provoke one another to love and good works". (Heb_10:24)

3. The relation between faith and love. They are necessarily joined together; for:

(1) Faith "worketh by love" (Gal_5:6) and ought never to work without it.

(2) The grace of God abounds in "faith and love which is in Christ Jesus". (1Ti_1:14) Faith and love are the two members of the Christian religion.

4. The graces of the saints are easily known and heard of. The apostle heard of the faith and love of the Colossians. "Since the day we heard of them." They ought, therefore, to be bright in their heavenly lustre.

III THE MOTIVE OR IMPULSIVE CAUSE OF THESE GRACES. "Because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens.

1. The nature of this hope.

(1) The sense of the word oscillates, it has been observed, between the subjective feeling and the objective realization; yet the thing hoped for is rather more prominent in the passage. It centres in the inheritance, in "the recompense of the reward," in "the good foundation against the time to come," in "the eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began.

(2) It is Divine in its origin, unlike the false hopes of men. We are "begotten to a living hope". (1Pe_1:3)

(3) Its true fulcrum, or point of support, is in the merits of Christ (1Ti_1:2; Heb_6:19, Heb_6:20)

2. The security of this hope. "Which is laid up for you in the heavens." It is secure because:

(1) It is laid up in the country where our Father dwells. And who can destroy it in such keeping?

(2) It is linked to "the two immutable things the oath and the promise of God, which are fastened within the veil by our Forerunner, even Jesus. (Heb_6:19)

(3) It is where the devil cannot come.

(4) It is in heaven, not on earth, and therefore free from all the corruptions that the moth and rust of the world may inflict.

3. The quickening power of this hope. It has great influence upon our faith and love. God makes one grace cause another. "It is hope that plucks up the heart of man to a constant desire of union with God by faith, and of communion with man by love." Moses had respect to the recompense of the reward. (Heb_11:25, Heb_11:26) The saints will find that it is not in vain to serve the Almighty. They ought, therefore, to remember

(1) that their hope is not in this world;

(2) that they should walk as "pilgrims and strangers," using the world as if they used it not;

(3) that they should despise the scorn and hate of a world which "will always love his own.

4. How is this hope to be increased? Though it cannot be made more secure, it may be more fully realized. To this end, we need

(1) true grace, for we can only have "a good hope through grace"; (2Th_2:16)

(2) experience; (Rom_5:4)

(3) patience and comfort of the Scriptures (Born. 15:4);

(4) joy and peace in believing. (Rom_15:13)

IV THE SOURCE OF OUR DIVINE HOPE. "Whereof ye heard before in the Word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you.

1. It is by the hearing of the Word we learn of our hope. There is no other way of learning it. The Lord has sent us the news of salvation. Nature tells us nothing of a Divine hope. The importance of this hearing is manifest, because:

(1) It is the source of faith. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God"; (Rom_10:14) "Hear, and your soul shall live". (Isa_55:4)

(2) It opens men"s hearts. (Act_16:14)

(3) It causes the stony heart to melt, and the proud heart to tremble. (Isa_66:2)

(4) The afflicted conscience is cured by it. (Psa_51:8) Let us, therefore, thank God for it, love his gospel, receive his commands, and submit to his guidance.

2. The preciousness of the Word. It is "the Word of the truth of the gospel." As if to signify the contrast between the simple truth taught them by Epaphras and the errors of the false teachers. Its preciousness lies in its truth.

(1) It reveals to us the true mind of the Lord as to the way of salvation. "It is a true saying, and worthy of all acceptation. (1Ti_1:12)

(2) It exhibits to us Jesus Christ as the Truth, as "him that is true," as "the faithful and true Witness.

(3) It reveals to us the gospel; for "it is the Word of the truth of the gospel." This gospel is

(a) the power of God to salvation. (Rom_1:16)

(b) It brings life and immortality to light. (2Ti_1:10)

(c) It brings abundance of blessings. (Rom_15:14)

(d) It is a witness to all nations. (Mat_24:14)

(4) It works truth in us by working knowledge in us and enabling us to do the truth (Joh_3:22; Jam_3:17) Therefore believers ought to pray God to give them the Spirit of truth, that "they may come to the

knowledge of the truth", (2Ti_2:25) and never think of resting in the mere form of truth (Rom_2:20; Joh_3:22)

3. The accessibility of the Word. It is "come unto you." It came without their seeking it or sending for it. The Colossians sat in darkness and the shadow of death, estranged "from the life of God through ignorance," till God caused the light to shine into their hearts. We ought, therefore,

(1) to acknowledge the flee grace of God in sending us such good tidings;

(2) to rejoice in the gospel and walk by the light of it.

V THE FRUIT BEARING POWER AND EXPANSIVENESS OF THE GOSPEL. "Even as it is also in all the world, bearing fruit and increasing." These words set forth at once the efficacy and the rapid growth of the gospel, its inner working and its outward expansion.

1. Its fruit bearing power.

(1) This was according to promise. (Isa_55:10)

(2) It was its design gather fruit which might abide to everlasting. (Joh_15:16)

(3) It was to produce fruit "in all the world in all climates, among all races, in all ages of the world, as if to mark its universal adaptability to the wants of men. In this respect it differed from the false gospels, which were esoteric or limited in their application. It is the grand verification of the gospel that it continues to bear fruit age after age. (Eze_48:12)

2. Its expansiveness. Its rapid progress in the days of the apostles is one of the wonders of history; for "the Word of God grew and multiplied" in the face of the opposition of magistrates, the persecution of Jewish zealots, the perversions of false teachers, and the inconsistencies of Christian professors themselves. Though the Word was not yet announced to all nations, the whole world was the area of its increasing power.

VI THE EFFECTS OF THE GOSPEL, PARTICULARLY AT COLOSSAE. "As it doth in you also, since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth.

1. The hearing is necessary to the knowledge of the grace of God, yet there is a hearing that is resultless of all good. To hear with profit, we must

1. become fools that we may be wise; (1Co_3:18)

2. come with a purpose to be reformed by it; (Psa_25:14)

3. listen with a meek and humble spirit; (Jam_1:22)

4. hear with faith and assurance (Heb_4:1; 1Th_1:5)

2. The true knowledge of the grace of God is fruitful in all the growths of righteousness.

(1) The gospel as taught at Colossae was an offer of free grace, as opposed to the false gospels, which were codes of rigorous prescription. We must, therefore, be careful

(a) not to receive the grace of God in vain; (2Co_6:1)

(b) to appreciate "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, that ye through his poverty might be; (2Co_8:9)

(c) to avoid those who would "make void the grace of God"; (Gal_2:21)

(d) to find our constant standing in this grace. (1Pe_5:2)

(2) The gospel at Colossae had produced much spiritual fruit to the praise of God"s glory. Epaphras makes special mention of their "love in the Spirit." It refers to all the love which is wrought in the heart by the Spirit.

(a) This love is a chief gift of the Spirit (Gal_5:22; Rom_15:30)

(b) It is of necessity sincere, (Rom_12:13) the outcome of a pure, (1Ti_1:5) and practical in its scope. (1Jn_3:18)

(c) It is inconsistent with the idea of working evil to a neighbour (Rom_13:10) or of offending a brother in a thing indifferent. (Rom_14:15)

3. The early and continuous experience of this grace is a good sign of spiritual growth. "Since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth." This language implies that the work of God wrought speedily upon the Colossians, and that it continued to work. Their goodness was not as the morning dew.

VII THE FOUNDER OF COLOSSIAN CHRISTIANITY EPAPHRAS. "As ye learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

1. His character and position as a minister.

(1) The apostle gives him the right hand of fellowship, and mentions him with loving regard, that he may strengthen his influence among the people of Colossae. He would thus be better beloved and more useful.

(2) The commendation presents Epaphras in a twofold relation.

(a) To the apostle himself,

(a) as "our beloved fellow servant," working in the service of the same Master and in loving relationship to all his servants;

(b) as the representative particularly of the apostle himself, being "a minister of Christ on our behalf," preaching at Colossae instead of the apostle, and, therefore, not to be displaced by the new school of Judaeo-Gnostic sectaries;

(c) perhaps, also, as "a fellow prisoner," for Epaphras appears in this light in the contemporary Epistle (Phm_1:23).

(b) To the Colossian Church. "Who is a faithful minister of Christ.

(a) He was called a minister of the Colossians; for Christ is our true Master, and Epaphras is his minister. It is by his authority ministers act in the people"s service.

(b) His faithfulness is to be specially noted, he was faithful to Christ, to the truth, to the souls of men. It is "faithful men" who will be "able to teach others also". (2Ti_2:2) It is necessary for "a steward of the mysteries" to be "found faithful.

2. His continued interest in their welfare.

(1) Epaphras tells the apostle something that would tend to bind the flock at Colossae more closely together. "He declared unto us your love in the Spirit." A faithful minister is always glad to give a good report of his people, and especially of what good things God has wrought by him. He has, no doubt, to make report of corruptions in opinion and worship at Colossae, but he is careful to make first mention of their spiritual graces.

(2) He labours for them in prayer, (Col_4:12) that "they may stand fast, perfect and complete in the whole will of God. T. C.

Vers. 3-8. .

Pauline Sorites.

I THANKSGIVING. This forms a suitable introduction (in Ephesians the apostle starts with a sublime but less personal doxology).

1. The facts of thanksgiving. There may be said to be two facts, but the other is subordinated to this (which accordingly is assigned the first place), "We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." In this exercise Timothy was conjoined with Paul. Being a thing about which they were agreed, they could thank God, not only separately, but unitedly. This is a holy partnership on which God looks down with special pleasure. Where did they go to with their thanksgivings? It was to the First Source, through the Second Source. Our Lord as the Saviour anointed (Jesus Christ) dispenses blessings; but he has got them from the Father ("He has received gifts for men"), and therefore we trace them up, in others as well as in ourselves, through Christ to his Father. "Praying always for you." This is stated to show the abundance of his opportunity for thanksgiving. He was always praying for the Colossian Church as for other Churches. This was one form which his care for all the Churches (a daily care) took. And Timothy, it seems, was not behindhand, but was copying the comprehehsiveness of his instructor. And as, in their like mindedness, they

2. had daily prayers together, when they came to thanksgiving Colossae was never forgotten.

3. On what their thanksgiving was founded. "Having heard." He (Paul) was not (never had been) an eyewitness of the Church at Colossae, but his ear was open to all information from that quarter, by Colossian visitors, or by special deputy (from himself), or through less direct channels. Timothy (with his many movements and, we may suppose, missions of inquiry) had probably been at Colossae, but his knowledge, too, had been added to by hearing. And, as the two talked over matters, they found subject for thanksgiving It is one reason for our extending our knowledge of missionary operations (not confining them to one society or field) that, by doing so, we get a multiplicity of subjects for thanksgiving.

1. For what specially they thanked God.

(1) Faith. "Of your faith in Christ Jesus." It was faith (subjectively) that made them a Church. When Paul and Timothy thanked God for the faith of the Colossians, they had in view the activity of their faith. It was not only there (that is supposed in their being addressed as "faithful brethren"), but it was strongly operating. The element in which it operated, and in which it admitted of endless expansion, was Christ Jesus (a saving element being in him that was inexhaustible).

(2) Love. "And of the love which ye have toward all the saints." Their love to be thus signalized must have been more than ordinarily active. There is a vague kind of love which does not amount to much. If it is really the Christian principle of love (of the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians) and if it is sufficiently active, it will show itself, not only in the absence of jealousy, but in the presence of positive interest. These Colossians did not confine their affections within their own circle, but let them go out toward all the saints. They acquainted themselves with the condition of other Churches, and in many ways were helpful to them. Faith and love are here referred to generally, but when Paul and Timothy gave thanks, they would be able to fix upon this and upon that as evidencing the reality and vitality of their faith and love.

II THE LOVE (WHICH FORMED MATTER OF THANKSGIVING) WAS CAUSED BY HOPE. "Because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens." This hope had a certain objective character. It was something outside of them which was safely laid past for their future enjoyment. At the same time, it had a certain subjective character. It was something operating within their own breasts. They were kind to the saints of their day (without exception). Why? Because they looked beyond the present. The time would come when (removed from under earthly conditions) they would meet them in the heavens. They might get no reward here (their catholicity might bring them persecution), but it would be reward enough to see there those whom they had done their duty by, and to receive from Christ words of approval It was because of this hope, then (so sure), that their love flourished.

III THE HOPE WAS COMMUNICATED IN THE GOSPEL. "Whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel." We owe it to God that he has given us "the truth" (and the gifts of God are without repentance). We may well prize this gift of God when we think of the erroneous ideas which men (unaided by revelation) have entertained. This is the Promethean fire, not stolen, but, in infinite love, sent down from heaven. God has placed us under additional obligation by giving us the truth in the form of "the Word." Considering the conditions of language and our earthly necessities, this form is perfect. "The Law of the Lord is perfect." It is an abiding form. There may be movements of thought away from "the Law and the testimony," but here always is the truth in the form in which God wishes us to have it, if only we can bring our minds up to it. The whole Word of truth is precious; but there is that which is to be regarded as singularly precious (being singled out here), viz. the gospel, or the good message, God"s special message (of a glad nature), to sinners in need of salvation. It was this gospel that the Colossians at a former period had heard. By this the burden of their sin had been removed, and the hope of immortality enkindled within them.

IV HOW THE GOSPEL (THROUGH WHICH THE HOPE WAS COMMUNICATED) WAS PRESENTED.

1. There was a general gospel movement. "Which is come unto you; even as it is also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing." The parting command of the Master was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation every creature." And the command had been carried out (as time allowed) in its wideness. The gospel-trumpet had been heard, not merely in Palestine, but had sounded out to all lands. And everywhere an efficacy had attended the preaching of the gospel. False forms of religion are limited by certain climatic conditions, by certain temperaments. What would do in Phrygia might not do in Rome. But the gospel (unmodified) had been proved to be worldwide in its adaptation,

2. adapted for Jew and Gentile, for Eastern and Western alike. As the apostle represents it here, in all the world the gospel tree had been bearing fruit and increasing, in a healthy fruit tree there is a double effort going on. There is an effort after fruit producing, which is crowned when in autumn there are seen the ripe apples or rich clusters of grapes. But at the same time, there is an effort after the producing of more wood, which has a view to future fruit producing. And so with regard to the gospel in the Church; if it is vital, then there will be produced the fruits of righteousness, the fruit of the Spirit (a rich cluster) which is described in Galatians. And not only so, but there will at the same time be produced an increased sphere of fruit producing. And the two processes can go on without their interfering with each other. The gospel in the Church may be producing its rich clusters, and at the same time enlarging the sphere where such clusters may grow.

3. The movement in Colossae partook of the characteristics of the general movement. "As it doth in you also." The gospel was as a tree (on a small scale) in Colossae. And there, as in all the world, it was bearing fruit and increasing. Three fruits have already been mentioned, these the three Christian graces faith, hope, and charity. And we may gather from the second word that the numbers of Christian converts were increasing at Colossae. And also Christians may have gone forth from Colossae to spread the gospel in other places.

4. This was to be accounted for by two circumstances.

(1) The gospel had been rightly presented to them. "Since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth." The movement is traced back to its very commencement. He (the writer, Timothy assenting) calls to mind the very day when the gospel was first preached to them. It was a red-letter day in the history of Colossae (though viewed differently by some there), more famous than the day when Xerxes halted there on his march against Greece, or the day when Cyrus with his Greeks passed through it on his march against his brother at Babylon. It was really Christ entering the town, to take possession of those for whom he had died. And no spurious gospel had been preached to them. There were spurious gospels, which consisted in cold moralities and rigorous prohibitions. But the gospel (the true gospel) which had been preached to them was the grace of God. It told of salvation wrought out, not in answer to man"s call, but to satisfy the yearnings of Divine love. It was salvation offered, not to human merit, but freely, on the ground of the infinite merits of the Saviour. And this gospel (as evidence that it had been rightly presented) they knew, from their own consciousness of salvation, to be the truth of God.

(2) The gospel had been rightly presented to them by Epaphras. "Even as ye learned of Epaphras." His character more generally. "Our beloved fellow servant." He was a servant of Christ (ready to go anywhere at the Master"s bidding). That was his general fitness for service. That was what Paul and Timothy were as well as he. For he is called their "fellow servant." And he was a fellow servant whom they had learned to regard with the warmest affection. His character with special reference to the Church at Colossae. "Who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf." He represented Christ in minis-teeing the gospel at Colossae; and testimony is borne to his having faithfully represented him. He had not shrunk from declaring unto them the whole counsel of God. He had preached unto them grace which, while free, bore good fruit. We may, therefore, regard him (and not Paul directly) as the founder of the Colossian Church. At the same time, he represented Paul (and his coadjutors). He was acting on their behalf. There were friendly relations between Colossae and Ephesus. In connection with the sojourn of the apostle for three years at that Asian centre, it is said that "all they which dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks." Among those who had occasion to visit Ephesus during that period, and were led to hear the Word, was probably Epaphras. Converted by the apostle, we can understand him charged by him to preach the gospel at his native Colossae. And thus, though Paul had never visited Colossae, yet he claimed an interest in the Church as having led to its formation, in having given them Epaphras.

V EPAPHRAS CONVEYED TO ROME THE TIDINGS OF THEIR LOVE (FOR WHICH GOD WAS THANKED). "Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit." He not only had conveyed the gospel from them to the Colossians, but had also conveyed to them now at Rome the tidings of their love. It was the love for which God was thanked, and it is here characterized as "in the Spirit" (one of the two references to the Spirit in an Epistle which is largely taken up with the Person of Christ). It was a love within that sphere in which the Spirit works (and wide as it), and sustained by the Spirit. Epaphras had acted a kindly part toward them. In giving an account of matters relating to the Colossian Church, he had not concealed what was to their credit. The whole of the allusion to Epaphras (so honourable to him) was fitted and intended to establish his influence at Colossae, which may have been shaken by false teachers. This paragraph, so remarkable, bears a resemblance in form to the Sorites in logic. It is a series of propositions, in which the predicate of one becomes the subject of the next, and in which in the last there is a reference back to the first. The propositions are these:

1. We thank God especially for your love.

2. Your love, for which we thank God, was caused by hope.

3. The hope, which caused your love, was communicated in the gospel.

4. The gospel, which communicated the hope, was rightly presented by Epaphras.

5. Epaphras, who rightly presented the gospel, gave us tidings of your love (for which we thank God). These propositions (if with some loss of clearness, yet with gain of force) are (with considerable detail) all compacted by the apostle into one unbroken paragraph. R. F.

Vers. 3-8.

The apostolic thanksgiving.

We notice here

I THE SPIRIT OF THIS THANKSGIVING. Whatever is in it is so beautiful that we may well imitate it. Observe:

1. It is unselfish. We hear the prisoner praise, the chained captive exult, for the joys of others. Arthur Helps says, "That man is very strong and

2. powerful, who has no more hopes for himself, who looks not to be loved any more, to be admired any more, to have any more honour and dignity, but whose sole thought is for others, and who only lives for them." That is what you have before you here.

3. It is ungrudging. Paul is about to deal with their errors, but nevertheless how willing and, indeed, eager he is first to recognize what is good and laudable in this Colossian Church! There are two sets of men with regard to art, scenery, and society: those who first see the blemish, then the beauty; and those who flint of all rejoice in the admirable, if afterwards they have to criticise any drawback. To the second of these Paul belonged.

4. It is constant. Like a perennial fountain, his praise and prayer for them shall be poured forth.

II THE SUBJECT OF THIS THANKSGIVING. He thanks God:

1. For the spiritual possessions of the Church. Here is the familiar triad of his thought and description faith, love, hope. Sometimes he views faith and love as leading up to hope; here he depicts hope as kindling faith and love.

(1) The faith is Christ centred. "In Christ Jesus.

(2) The love is practical. It distributes "to the necessities of saints.

(3) The hope is secure. It is stored up up in heaven." So it is above fire and flood and all destructive forces.

2. For the means by which these possessions had been obtained. For:

(1) The gospel;" Word of truth," etc. He rejoices in its reality of truth;" universality world;" and in its fertility. He shows not only its vitality, but its inherent reproductiveness. It "multiplies itself again.

(2) The preacher. He thanks God, not only for their possessions, and the means by which they had been acquired; but:

3. For the source and.sphere of their possession. "Love is its spirit." Love is the life of the saints. U. R.T.

Vers. 3-8.

The thanksgiving.

Good news from Colossae had been brought to Paul at Rome by Epaphras. This devoted servant of Christ (Col_4:12) had probably been the first evangelist sent by Paul to Colossal, and the founder of the Church there (ver. 7, Revised Version). He brought also news which caused the apostle much anxiety. (Col_2:1, Col_2:2, Col_2:8, etc.) But before he utters cautions he pours forth thanksgivings. We are thus reminded of two things.

1. Paul"s largeness of heart. Love "rejoiceth in the truth" and "envieth not" those who have either more spiritual gifts or more temporal blessings. (Rom_12:15) The fruit of Epaphras" ministry was a source of joy to him. He felt grateful for the gifts in money from the Philippians brought by Epaphroditus, (Php_4:17, 18) but more for "the love in the Spirit" of the Colossians reported by Epaphras.

2. Paul"s sympathy with the mind of his Master. Christ also dictated Epistles. Wherever there is anything to commend in the Churches of Asia, the Lord mentions this before he utters a word of censure. The apostle, writing earlier, but taught by the same Spirit of Christ, pursues a similar course in nearly all his Epistles (Rom_1:8; 1Co_1:4; Eph_1:16; Php_1:3; 1Th_1:2; 2Th_1:3) "The meekness and gentleness of Christ" enable him to praise and congratulate even the disorderly Church at Corinth. The apostle blends thanksgivings with his prayers, especially on account of that triad of graces, faith, love, hope, which elsewhere he rejoices in. (1Th_1:3) Their faith worked by love and was sustained by hope. Their permanent fruitfulness proved the reality of their spiritual life. We must, however, observe that the term "hope" is used here in a sense somewhat different to that in the other passages quoted above. It is the object of hope (as in Gal_5:5; Tit_2:13; Heb_6:18) implying subjective hope. That "hope set before us" "we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and entering into that which is within the veil." Following the suggestions of this figure, we may notice some of the links of the chain of spiritual blessings by which the souls of converts are connected with that anchor, and on account of which ministers may give thanks on behalf of Christians who in these respects resemble the Colossians.

I WE HAVE HEARD "THE WORD OF THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL." No gospel, no hope. (Eph_2:12) We did not come to the gospel; it "is come unto" us. The Physician sought the patient, the Saviour the sinner (Isa_65:1; Luk_19:10) The gospel in its triumphant progress throughout all the world reached Great Britain, an Ultima Thule, brought by unknown missionaries who "for his Name"s sake went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles." We ourselves have heard "the joyful sound," the genuine gospel, "the grace of God in truth", (Gal_2:5 1Pe_5:12) the gospel of Christ which alone is "the power of God unto salvation.

II WE. HAVE TRUSTED OURSELVES TO CHRIST. "Your faith in Christ Jesus;" We have not only heard, but we know,the grace of God in truth." We know it because we have had a Divine Teacher. "In coelo cathedram habet qui corda docet" (Augustine). Our faith is the gift of God; it rests not "in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God." Thus we "know whom we have believed," etc. (2Ti_1:12; 1Jn_5:13, 1Jn_5:19, 1Jn_5:20) Belief conducts to knowledge. (Joh_6:69)

III WE ARE BRINGING FORTH FRUIT. Wherever the gospel comes, i.e. comes home to men"s consciences and hearts, it must be a fructifying power. "Even as it is also in all the world bearing fruit," etc. Ours is not a faith which "is dead in itself because it has not works." "Can that faith save" us? (Jam_2:17, Jam_2:14) Ours is a "faith working through love." The quickening Spirit within us will bring forth "fruit after his kind". (Gal_5:22, Gal_5:23) One of the most characteristic fruits is love. "The love which ye have toward all the saints." We cherish love toward them because, in spite of all their failings, they are beloved children of our Father. (1Jn_4:7 1Jn_5:1)

IV OUR FRUITS ARE VISIBLE AND PERMANENT. They are such as an Epaphras could discern and report. Our lights shine; our good works are seen (cf. 1Th_1:7-9; 3Jn_1:6) This fruit bearing is prompt. "Since the day," etc. The fruit itself multiplies; the gospel is "bearing fruit and increasing." Side by side with the outward growth of the gospel (which may be illustrated by the notices of the increase of the Church in Judaea from the "about a hundred and twenty" to the "many myriads" of, (Act_21:20; and from progress in our own days) there is the ripening of Christian character (2Th_1:3; Heb_6:10) and the leavening influence of the gospel on modern society. For all these things we thank God, but especially if our fruit is permanent. The gospel still is bearing fruit in us. (Psa_1:3) Our hearts are not the stony or thorny ground. Christ"s object is being fulfilled. (Joh_15:16) We have not forgotten our first love; our last works are more than our first. "The past things perish if those things which were begun cease to go on to perfection" (Cyprian). Growth and persistence are causes for sincerest thanks.

V "THE HOPE WHICH IS LAID UP IN THE HEAVENS" SUSTAINS OUR FAITH AND LOVE. "Faith... and love... because of the hope." This hope laid up is itself one of the things "hoped for." It is a reserved blessing, part of that great goodness of God "laid up for them that fear thee". (Psa_31:19 1Pe_1:4, 1Pe_1:5) But the links in the chain of spiritual blessings we have examined unite our souls here to the inheritance yonder. (Rom_8:24, Rom_8:25) Such hope maketh not ashamed (Rom_5:5; Jud_1:20, 21) If our souls are not firmly moored to that object of hope "laid up for us in the heavens," let us ask Which is the missing link? E.S.P.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

Col_1:3. We give thanks to God.—The apostle here, as usual, gives credit for all that is worthy in his readers, though the tidings from Colossæ had been disquieting.

Col_1:4. Having heard of your faith.—This last word might possibly mean “fidelity,” the steadiness of an unwavering loyalty. But it is better to take it as the act of personal trust. Love to all the saints.—This was the distinguishing trait of all Christians—love one for another (Joh_13:35). How often have we heard the irony, “How these Christians love one another!” We are not warranted in withholding love until men are paragons of spiritual perfection—all in Christ are “saints.”

Col_1:5. For the hope.—This word completes the triad, though the order is changed, and hope here is the object—the thing hoped for. Laid up for you in heaven.—It is the same word in Luk_19:20, “laid up in a napkin”; in 2Ti_4:8, “henceforth there is laid up”; and in Heb_9:27, “it is appointed unto [laid up for] men once to die.” The word of the truth of the gospel.—Not to be interpreted into “the truly evangelic word.” There is an imposing sound in the phrase meant to agree with the thing denoted.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Col_1:3-5

The Causes of Ministerial Thanksgiving.

It is customary with the apostle to begin his epistles with the ardent expression of thanksgiving. This showed the devout habit of his mind, his constant and emphatic recognition of the grand source of good, and his deep interest in the spiritual condition of those to whom he wrote.

I. Thanksgiving an essential element in prayer.—“We give thanks, … praying always for you” (Col_1:3). The participle marks the thanksgiving as part of the prayer, and the adverb makes it prominent, indicating that when they prayed for them they always gave thanks. There is no true prayer without thanksgiving. Gratitude intensifies the soul’s sense of dependence on God, and prompts the cry for the needed help; and, on the other hand, earnest prayer naturally glides into fervent thankfulness. As one sin is interlinked with and produced by another, so the use of one grace begets another. The more temporal things are used, the more they wear and waste; but spiritual things are strengthened and increased with exercise. Every spiritual grace has in it the seed of an endless reproductiveness. Underlying every thanksgiving for others is a spirit of tender, disinterested love. Moved by this passion, the apostle, from the midst of imprisonment and sorrow, could soar on the wings of gratitude and prayer to heaven. “Thanksgiving will be the bliss of eternity.”

II. The Being to whom all thanksgiving is due.—“To God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Col_1:3). God is the Father of Jesus Christ, not only as God, by an eternal generation and communication of His whole essence unto Him in a method to us mysterious and ineffable, but also as man by virtue of the personal union of the two natures in Christ, and in a special sense exceeding every other way in which He is Father to men or angels. Thus God and the Father of our Lord Jesus are one; the particle “and” being exegetic of the same thing, not copulative of something different. All our blessings have their source in the bosom of the divine Father. Christ is the only revealer of the Father, and the active agent in bestowing the paternal benefits on humanity. The paternal aspect of the divine character as unfolded by Jesus Christ is most fascinating and assuring; and the loving heart delights to trace its blessings up to the Parent of all good, and to render Him devout and grateful praise.

III. This thanksgiving was grounded on the reputation of their faith in the Author of Christianity.—“Since we heard of your faith in Christ” (Col_1:4).

1. Christ is the object and foundation of all true faith.—He is so as the divinely consecrated Deliverer of the race. The grandeur of His redeeming work and the dignity and glory of His character are suggested by the titles here given to Him. Man must believe in Christ, not as an abstract truth, not as a poetic conception, not as a dim impersonal force acting in the sphere of ideality, but as a divine-human person—the anointed Saviour.

2. True faith is the root principle of the Christian life.—Without it neither love nor hope could exist. All the graces that strengthen and beautify the Christian character must grow out of faith.

3. True faith is ever manifest.—“Since we heard.” It is seen in the changed disposition and conduct of the individual believer. It is marked by the anxious Christian worker, and becomes known to a wide circle of both friends and foes. Epaphras rejoiced to bear tidings of the fact; and the soul of the apostle, since he heard, glowed with grateful praise. Happy the people whose highest reputation is their faith in Jesus!

IV. This thanksgiving was grounded on their possession of an expansive Christian love.—“And of the love which ye have to all the saints” (Col_1:4). Love to Christ is necessarily involved, for love to the saints is really a generous, unselfish affection for Christ’s image in them. Love is all-embracing. Peculiarities, defects, differences of opinion, distance, are no barriers to its penetrating ardour. It is the unanswerable evidence of moral transformation (1Jn_3:14). It is the grandest triumph over the natural enmity of the human heart. It is the indissoluble bond of choicest fellowship.

“While we walk with God in light,

God our hearts doth still unite;

Dearest fellowship we prove,

Fellowship in Jesu’s love.”

V. This thanksgiving was further grounded on their enjoyment of a well-sustained hope.—The grace of hope naturally springs out of and is properly associated with the preceding two. Not one member of the holy triad can be divorced from the other without irreparable damage; without, in fact, the loss of that which is the resultant of the three—viz. active religious life. “Faith rests on the past; love works in the present; hope looks to the future. They may be regarded as the efficient, material, and final causes respectively of the spiritual life” (Lightfoot).

1. The character of this hope.—“The hope which is laid up for you in heaven” (Col_1:5). It is the prospect of future heavenly felicity. Hope is put for the object hoped for—the hope of possessing a spiritual inheritance whose wealth never diminishes, whose splendours never fade; the hope of seeing Christ in all His regal glory; of being like Him; of dwelling with Him for ever. A prospect like this lifts the soul above the meannesses, disappointments, and sufferings of the present limited life.

2. The security of this hope.—“Laid up.” This priceless inheritance is safely deposited as a precious jewel in God’s secret coffer. There no pilfering hands can touch it, no breath can tarnish, no rust corrode, no moth corrupt. Earthly treasures vanish, and sometimes, to God’s people, nothing but the treasure of hope remains. The saint’s enduring riches are in the future, locked up in the heavenly casket. Where the treasure is there the heart should ever be.

3. The source and foundation of this hope.—“Whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel” (Col_1:5). The gospel is based on unchangeable truth, and is therefore worthy of universal credence. It alone unfolds the mysteries and glories of the future. The hope of heaven rests, not on the discoveries of human philosophy, but on the revelations of the true gospel. In vain do men seek it elsewhere. By the preaching of the gospel this hope is made known to man. How dismal the outlook where hope is unknown!

Lessons.—

1. We should thank God for others more on account of their spiritual than temporal welfare.

2. Learn what are the essential elements of the Christian character—faith, love, hope.

3. The proclamation of the gospel should be welcomed, and its message pondered.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

Col_1:3-5. Good News and its Good Effects.

I. The good news, what it was.—That certain at Colossæ had not only the gospel, but had known the grace of God in truth, and were now joined to Christ by faith and to His people by love.

II. What were the results.—

1. Abundant thanksgiving to the God of redemption.

2. Constant prayer.

3. This epistle.

III. Application.—

1. It is well that ministers should be informed of the success of the gospel, both for their own encouragement and to secure their sympathy, prayers, and counsel for the young converts.

2. Established Christians and especially ministers should assure young converts of the gratitude, joy, and sympathy they feel and the prayers they present on their behalf.

3. If our hearts are right, we shall rejoice at the success of the gospel.—Preacher’s Magazine.

Col_1:5. Hope a Stimulus to Christian Perseverance—

I. In gaining the heavenly reward.

II. Because the heavenly reward is secure.—“Laid up for you.”

III. Is based on truth already known.—“Whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.”

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

II. FIRST PART

Mention of the ground of Christian fellowship and warning against apostasy

Col_1:3 to Col_2:23

1. Thanks to God for the faith and love of his readers from the beginning

(Col_1:3-8)

3We give thanks to God and [omit and]5 the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always [always, when praying] for you,6 4Since we heard of your faith in Christ 5Jesus, and of the love which ye have7 to all the saints, For [on account of] the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; 6Which is come unto you [lit.: is present unto you], as it is in all the world; and8 bringeth forth fruit [is bringing forth fruit and increasing],9 as it doth [it is] also in [among] you, since the day ye heard of it [it], and knew the grace of God in truth: 7As ye also [Even as ye]10 learned of Epaphras our dear fellow servant, who is for you11 a faithful minister of Christ; 8Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The immediate object of thanksgiving (Col_1:3-5). Ver. S. We give thanks.—As a rule the Apostle begins with thanksgiving; this is precisely as in 1Th_1:2; but in 1Co_1:4, though the address reads: “Paul—and Sosthenes,” we find εὐχαριστῶ (so also Php_1:1-3). The plural is not then conditioned by the mention of Timothy in the address (Meter, Schenkel), yet it is not=εὐχαριστῶ (Baehr). Plural and singular forms are not used arbitrarily by the Apostle; the choice depended upon the predominance of the Apostle’s individual feeling, or of the common sentiment of those participating: and this certainly includes not merely him or those named in the address, but the church in the house or place where the Apostle was. [Ellicott says: “we, i.e., I and Timothy,” but intimates that the context always fully accounts for the selection of singular or plural. So Eadie, Alford. Conybere contends for the singular meaning of the plural throughout all the Epistles—which is inadmissible.—R.]

To God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.—See Eph_1:3.—Praying always for you defines more particularly “we give thanks;” the participle marks the thanksgiving as part of the prayer, and the adverb renders it prominent, that the former was never wanting in the latter. “Always” is not to be joined with the participle “praying” (Greek Fathers, Bengel, Luther, etc.) [Alford, Ellicott, E. V. The majority of modern commentators join it with the verb,—Eadie renders: “We bless God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ always, when praying for you.”—R.] Still less is “for you” to be joined with “we give thanks” (Baehr). The latter cannot be decided by Rom_1:8; 1Co_1:4; 1Th_1:2, while the former opinion is confirmed by Eph_1:16. On the difference between περί and ὑπέρ, see Eph_5:2; Eph_6:18.

Col_1:4. The occasion of thanksgiving.—Since we heard, ἀκούσαντες.—This second participle (aorist) sets forth what had preceded the thanksgiving, while the first one (present) appends what had accompanied it. See Winer’s Gram. p. 323.12 The plural here marks the fact as publicly known, not merely made known to the Apostle and his friends.

Of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which ye have to all the saints.—“Your faith in Christ Jesus” is the first ground of this thanksgiving; your faith, resting on Christ, moving itself in Him; the phrase “in Christ Jesus” limits “faith” so Eph_1:15, not ὑμῶν (De Wette). The preposition does not affect the meaning of “faith,” so that it becomes “believing constancy” (Luther), but it only denotes that the object is to be regarded, not as the end of effort (εἰς), but as the element and ground. [Ellicott: “In Him as the sphere or sub-stratum of the πίστις, that in which the faith centres itself. The omission of the article gives a more complete unity to the conception, ‘Christ-centred faith.’ ” Alford: “the immediate element of their faith, not its distinctive character, is the point brought out,”—R.] On the remainder of the clause, “and of the love which ye have to all the saints,” see Eph_1:15.—[The reading: ἣν ἔχετε carries “more affectionate commendation” (Alford) than the simple article of the Rec. It draws attention to the love and points to its persistence (Ellicott).—R.]

Col_1:5 : describes this love more closely.—On account of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.—[Joined to “love.”—R.] Since διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα is joined grammatically to ἣν ἕχετε, Paul has not written ἀγάπην τήν as in the parallel passage, Eph_1:15, but subjoined the relative clause. “The hope” is characterized by the clause “which is laid up for you in heaven,” as objective, like the ἐλπὶς βλεπομένη (Rom_8:24), “that which is hoped for,” which is preserved, set aside (ἀπό), in deposito reconditum (Lösner), as a securely placed treasure (Chrysostom: τὸ ἀσφαλὲς ἔδειξεν; Bengel: sine periculo), or rather as a reward and prize according to 2Ti_4:8; 1Pe_1:4; Mat_19:21; comp. Heb_9:27; Heb_6:18. On “in heaven,” see Eph_1:10. Accordingly this hope gives a motive for the love in its activity as well as its extent; it does not depend upon the present, on temporal life and possessions, nor on the men, the brethren whom it reaches. It is certain of the eternal, heavenly, divine possessions and salvation, and has in these enough. “Hope” is not therefore the third with “faith” and “love” (Steiger and others), nor does it furnish a motive for faith (Baehr and others); least of all for the thanksgiving (Bengel: “from the hope is manifest how great the ground of thanks giving for the gift of faith and love”). [So Eadie, Barnes. The E. V.—“for the hope” seems obscure. Both “on account of” (Eadie, Alford), and “because of” (Ellicott), leave the reader uncertain as to the connection, which is the main difficulty here.—R.]

Whereof ye heard before, ἣν προηκούσατε.—In the ἅπαξ λεγόμενον: προακούειν, according to the context the πρό refers to the object, “the hope laid up” which πρό is future and concealed. Meyer is therefore incorrect: before you had this hope; Heinrichs: alio doctore (Epaphra) ante me; Böhmer, Huther: before the Epistle was written; Schenkel: before he had received tidings of their faith. The interpretation (Grotius): prima rudimenta accepistis, as if προακούειν described the first instruction of catechumens, is unwarranted. [Braune seems to follow De Wette and Olshausen in their view of the force of “before,” “before the fulfilment of the hope,” but as Eadie well remarks “such an exegesis is a species of truism.” Ellicott: “not before any definite epoch, but merely at some undefined period in the past,” “formerly.”—Eadie gives the sense of “already,” as intimating that this hope had been made prominent in preaching, and they of course heard of this in hearing the gospel; a view to be preferred as giving more point to the passage and fully accordant with the context.—R.] To “laid up in heaven” corresponds what is joined to “heard before,” viz:

In the word of the truth of the gospel—through which the “hearing before” has its guarantee. This expression is another briefer and independent setting forth of Eph_1:13, “after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” The hearing before of the hope is mediated by the preaching (ἐν τῷ λόγω̣) of the truth (τῆς ἀληθείας), which is the substance of the λόγος, but is taken out of nothing other than the gospel (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου), to which the truth belongs. It is not proper to follow the parallel passage, which is grammatically different, and take “of the gospel” as a genitive of apposition to “in the word of truth” (Steiger), or to “the truth” (Baehr), [Ellicott: “a defining genitive, allied to the genitive possessivus (genitive continintis), which specifies, and so to say, localizes the general notion of the governing substantive: ‘the truth which was preached in and was announced in the gospel’ ”.—R.] Nor is “the word of the truth”=sermo verax (Erasmus), or “the preaching of truth” (Huther, Bleek), nor “of the truth of the gospel”=genuine gospel (Storr), nor is λόγος defined as to its substance by ἀληθείας as absolute truth, as to its form by εὐαγγελίου as “proclamation of salvation” (Schenkel).

The deeper cause of thanksgiving (Col_1:6-8). Col_1:6. Which has come unto you—lit., is present unto yon. This is spoken of the gospel. Παρών notes its being present (1Co_5:3; 2Co_13:10); with πρὸς ὑμᾶς, 2Co_11:8; Gal_4:18; Gal_4:20, here εἰς ὑμᾶς. In the passages quoted the Apostle stands before them, turned towards them; here he speaks of the gospel, that penetrates into them; he describes the steady, constant and finally entire penetration of the gospel, which is not forced through with one blow. [The preposition conveys the idea of its having reached them, the participle implies its abiding there (Ellicott).—R.] The added clause: as it is in all the world, renders prominent the simple fact of the presence of the gospel in the world. The preposition ἐν marks the distinction between its presence in the world, and in Colosse, where it has already wrought what it should and would. “In all the world” indicates the whole world as the field, in which the gospel is found and which it will permeate. It is not confined to one part, had already begun its efficacy in the most diverse places, among Jews and Gentiles. Hence it is no synecdoche, “meaning the most noted parts of the world, as Rom_1:8; Rom_10:18” (Grotius), nor only the Roman Empire, nor popular hyperbole (Meyer). [Alford: “No hyperbole, but the pragmatic repetition of the Lord’s parting command.—R.]

And is bringing forth fruit and increasing.—[Alford, omitting καί, calls the paragraph broken and unbalanced.—R.] It is not merely in all the world, but efficient there also. We have here the usual transition from the participial construction to that of the finite verb (Winer’s Gram., p. 505 sq.); the participle with εἷναι indicates continuance and duration (Winer’s Gram., p. 326 sq.). [So in English, hence the literal rendering: “is bringing forth fruit and increasing” is preferable.—R.] Theodoret: καρποφορίαν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου κέληκε τὴν ἐπαινουμένην πολιτείαν, αὔξησιν δὲ τῶν πιστευόντων τὸ πλῆθος. The figure is borrowed from a tree which both bears fruit and grows (Mat_7:17; Mat_13:32; Luk_13:19). The former word refers to the faith, the love, the Christian virtues, which the gospel produces in the internal and external life, the latter to the extension and the multiplication of its adherents (Act_6:7; Act_12:24; Act_19:20). [The former the intensive, the latter the extensive progress of the gospel. Ellicott.—R.]—As it is also among you, introduces Colosse as a part of the field, in which the gospel is and is working (“in all the world”), and furnishes a proof that the gospel is, and how it is, “in all the world.” Hence ἐν ὑμῖν is “among you,” not “in you” (Luther). “Bringing forth fruit and increasing” must be supplied. [“It doth,” supplied in E. V., is to be changed to “it is,” to correspond with the participial form of the verb in the former clause.—R.]

Since the day ye heard it, and knew the grace of God in truth.—[Braune, following De Wette, supplies no object after “heard,” making “the grace of God” the object of both verbs. Meyer, Steiger, Eadie, Alford, Ellicott, supply: “the gospel,” which is to be preferred. E. V. “of it,” is unsatisfactory; they must have heard the gospel, as well as heard of it, before it would bring forth fruit among them.—R.] On the construction ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας see Winer’s Gram., p. 130. The first proclamation of the gospel was followed by the acceptance of it, and from that time forth the Christian life and character of the Church developed internally and externally in constant progress. The object is “the grace of God,” the substance of the evangelical preaching (Col_1:6), the marrow of the gospel over against the law. “In truth” is an adverbial qualification of the verbs “heard” and “knew.” The gospel is proclaimed vere et sincere absque fuco, οὐκ ἐν ἀπάτη̣ καὶ λόγοις εἰκαίοις13 (Greek Fathers), and is accepted non simulate, sed vere. It implies a contrast to the false teachers and is not = ἀληθῶς, “truly,” nor to be joined with “grace” (Storr and others), nor = in the gospel (Grotius) [Barnes.—R.]. Nor is it to be joined only to “knew” (Meyer and others), nor to “heard” alone (Baehr and others). [Alford: “in its truth, and with true knowledge.” So Eadie: “the words ἐν ἀληθείᾳ describe the teaching of Epaphras, or represent that genuine form, in which, by his preaching, the grace of God had been exhibited at Colosse.” This makes it qualify the verb “knew,” and at the same time define “the grace of God” by presenting the element, in which the gospel was proclaimed.—R.]

Col_1:7. Even as ye learned of Epaphras.—Καθώς refers to “in truth” [Alford: “in which truth”—R.], and describes the manner in which they had learned from Epaphras. The verb, the object of which must be “the grace of God,” marks the intermediate step between “hearing” and “knowing” and describes the earnest, constant effort of the Colossians, to which the activity of Epaphras corresponds.—Epaphras a Colossian or Phrygian (Col_4:12 : “one of you”), with Paul in his imprisonment (Phm_1:23 : “my fellow prisoner”), is not identical with Epaphroditus, the Macedonian, a preacher of Philippi14 (Php_2:25; Php_4:18), as Grotius arbitrarily assumes; here indicated as the founder of the Church in Colosse, but otherwise entirely unknown to us. Even should we accept the reading καί before ἐμάθετε, we could not, with Wiggers,15 treat it as though it were καὶ ἀπὸ Ἐπαφρᾶ (as in Rom_5:7; Eph_4:4), in order thus to maintain that there had been a proclamation of the gospel in Colosse before that of Epaphras. Still less does the καθώς resume the preceding καθὼς ἐν παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ, as though Epaphras had only told that the gospel was every where proclaimed (Theodoret). The preposition ἀπό indicates that the Colossians had gladly met Epaphras and heard him speak. The words which follow are a confirmation of the preaching of Epaphras: our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ.—“Our dear fellow servant” describes him in his position toward Christ (δούλος) [no thought of his imprisonment with Paul (Conybeare)—R.], and toward Paul with his helpers (σὺν—ἡμῶν), and in his relation to them (ἀγαπητοῦ), as an excellent minister, who, entirely dependent on the Lord, and independent of men, labored as a colleague with the Apostle and his fellow laborers, especially for the Church at Colosse (ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν), from the beginning, with proper fidelity (ὄς ἐστιν πιστός) in the service of Christ (διάκονος Χριστοῦ). [The reading of the Rec. ὐπέρ ὑμῶν “for you,” “on your behalf,” is not only better supported, but avoids the repetition of the other reading, while it is as strong a commendation of Epaphras to the Colossians, to say that he had been a faithful minister of Christ for them, as to say that he had been faithful vice apostoli.—R.]

Col_1:8. Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.—The declaration is made prominent. Epaphras has not only seen in Colosse, but spoken in Rome to Paul in a detailed, perspicuous way, as a witness respecting “your love in the Spirit.” The love was “not carnal, but spiritual” (Œcumenius), “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal_5:22 : Rom_15:30); Spirit is of course the Holy Spirit (as Rom_14:17). Hence it is not the spirit of man, the inner man, nor a “love which depends on an internal sentiment and disposition, a love sincere and earnest” (‘a Lapide, Böhmer and others), and since the context must decide what is the object of the love, it is to be regarded as “love of the brethren” (Col_1:4), including love to the Apostle, but not this latter exclusively (Baehr, Bleek and others); the following “we also” at least cannot decide this to be the meaning, since the Apostle does not pray merely in reciprocity. It is improper to join ἐν πνεύματι with δηλώσας (Wahl), as though Epaphras had narrated it through inspiration, or to explain it, per spiritum sanctum (Grotius). [Eadie properly expounds “love” as denoting the Christian grace of love, hence “in the Spirit.” Alford: “the chief gift of the Spirit,” “thus in the elemental region of the Spirit;” Ellicott: “genuine and operative only in the sphere of His blessed influence.”—R.]

It is unmistakably the object of Paul in this honoring description, to establish as firmly as possible in every direction the authority of Epaphras; his doctrine is right, his relations to the Apostle hearty and intimate, his interest for the Colossians active and pure, undisturbed from the first. He seems to have been suspected by the false teachers. Paul gives prominence to these facts, in order to shame the errorists, to warn and guard the Church against them; for their sake and that of the cause, he enters particularly upon the efficiency and conduct of Epaphras. Estius: “Lest they might suffer themselves to be led away from the doctrine which they had learned from him by new teachers.”

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Faith and Love are the chief points, in judging of the condition of the Christian Church. Faith must not only be directed to (εἰς) Christ, but be a life in (ἐν) Christ; it is the foundation and source of love, by which it worketh [Gal_5:6.—R.]. This love must be “in the Spirit” (Col_1:8), that it may be pure, and extend “to all the saints” (Col_1:4), that it may be large-hearted, not limited by sensuous, arbitrary and selfish sympathies. Living, active faith in Christ alone leads to such purity and extent of love, because the believer has first of all love to God, the Father of Jesus Christ (and through Him his Father), and from a faith on the love of God in Christ, which enjoys the love of the Father and Son, he gains a love to all, in whom the same faith is active, who have become and still are the objects of the same mercy, altogether irrespective of the stage of results accomplished, however manifold the degrees of its strength may be. It overleaps party lines and difference of creeds, and prays in truth: Our Father, which art in heaven. In “Father” lies the doctrine of faith, in “our” the ethics of love, in “which art in heaven,” the impulse and motive of hope.

2. The activity of this love, growing out of faith, which embraces all Christians as brethren, as children of the Father, has its mainspring in the hope of salvation, secure for us in heaven. This is Christian eudæmonism, which indeed has in view the salvation of our own souls, the perfection and blessedness of our own personality, yet not selfishly, but seeks and knows in fellowship with all believers; nor yet externally, sensualistically, like a Turk or heathen German, but internally, in the spirit of the mind; nor yet here, but in heaven, not in time, but in eternity, hence not as a materialist or atheist burning for good fortune and earthly pleasure; and finally not in our own strength, as it has been attempted “in godless virtue,” but as a gift of the gracious God through Christ.

3. Faith grows from the preached word of gospel truth. Since faith as to its essence is God’s word become living in the heart of man, since it grows out of this word as from a seed, its establishment and growth depends altogether upon the preaching of this word of God (λόγος, Col_1:5), which alone contains the truth indispensably necessary for the soul, presenting the grace of God, which is the marrow of the gospel (Col_1:5 : τῆς ἀληθείας τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, Col_1:6 : τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ). This and not the preaching (Schenkel) is the vital principle of Christianity, which penetrates ever more deeply into the believers, producing in them and in the life of the church the fruits of virtues, both active and passive, ever extending more widely, ever permeating more thoroughly every one and all things (Col_1:6). [“To keep the figure of the Apostle, it was like a tree, whose fruit, falling to the earth, germinated, so that there sprang up a youthful and healthy forest on all sides of it” (Eadie).—R.] Preaching is only the principal means, to which we must hold fast in simplicity and freedom from all perversion, deterioration or obscuration.

4. The teachers or preachers of the gospel must labor as belonging to Christ, as entirely dependent on Him (Col_1:7 : δοῦλος) yet attached to Him (διάκονος); they are not servants of the church (Schenkel), but only of Christ; servants, but for the church (ὐπὲρ ὐμῶν), in doctrine (Col_1:6-7), in supplication to God (Col_1:3), and in the varied intercourse with men, among whom they would advance their cause. They should never forget that they do not stand alone and for themselves, but in fellowship (Col_1:7 : σύνδουλος), that as colleagues they should esteem and love each other, that one should rejoice without envy in the other, as Paul in Epaphras, who meekly flies to him, and should fraternally suffer with each other, as Epaphras with Paul. [Henry:—“Thus he puts an honor on an inferior minister, and teaches us not to be selfish, or think all that honor lost which goes beside ourselves. We learn in his example not to think it a disparagement to us, to water what others have planted, or build on the foundation others have laid.”—“Observe Christ is our proper master and we His ministers. He does not say your minister, but the minister of Christ for you. It is by Christ’s authority, but for the people’s service.”—R.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Even where we must fear and blame and warn, an opportunity for thanksgiving is not wanting.—In the general prayer for Sunday service belongs the petition for love toward all men; however easy towards some, it is just as difficult towards all.—Do not suffer a preacher, colleague or friend to be misunderstood and falsely judged, for speaking well of him belongs to obedience to the Ninth Commandment; neither break out blindly against him, that misunderstands the neighbor whose cause you would advance.—Rejoice when you see the word of God efficacious, and learn to wait patiently, as a husbandman for the fruits.

Starke:—He who does not believe on Jesus Christ, does not believe on God at all; so though the Jews and Turks think they believe on God, yet they in no wise do; for they do not believe on Jesus, on whom we must believe before we can assure ourselves of grace and salvation from God.—[Always to pray, and always to give thanks are the Christian’s needful duties.—If teaching and learning are of the right sort, then God’s word hath good speed.—Not all loving is praiseworthy; love in the Spirit is commended.—R.]

Rieger:—In the eyes of the world the character of a philanthropist, embracing all in his love, will indeed bring us more honor and glory than love to the saints; for this implies a distinction which the world does not willingly admit. The world has a love to which a Jew or Turk is more acceptable than a saint.—If we consider only the yet feeble beginnings of faith, the still prevailing temptations, we may doubt whether we have cause to rejoice and thank God. But by looking out to the mark of hope, which is set before us, the grace to us becomes very great.—It is certainly unspeakable how much the world, now so unbelieving and unthankful, does yet enjoy of the fruits of the gospel; how many arts and sciences, milder customs and laws would not exist, had not the gospel made the first advance in that direction.

Schleiermacher:—Faith, since it is active, becomes not only love to Christ, but also love to all, who belong to Christ.—We see how readily we allow ourselves to be led into all manner of divisions and limitations of love, which have less ground than then existed in the difference between Jewish and Gentile Christians. It is better to study such a love to all saints, and not one that extends to the few who exactly and specially agree with us, however great enjoyment there may be in it.—[The gospel is a germ, made fruitful by God, which cannot be received, without its making an impression on the spirit.—R.]

Passavant:—There is generally an unspeakably beneficent, tender feeling in giving thanks from the heart for a benefit.—Thanksgiving will be the bliss of eternity. The beginning, the first steps thereto must be made on the porch, else we shall have no voice nor place, no life above in the holy choirs.—It may often be long: days, years, decades may pass as we hear and know the gospel, before we obtain a living knowledge of the grace of God, that permeates our heart and mind and life.—“There are men,” says Pascal, “who admire external greatness alone, as if there were no mental greatness; others can only admire mental greatness, as though there were not one infinitely higher, to be found in wisdom.”

[Lisco:—The Apostolic thanksgiving and the praise therein contained has no other purpose than encouragement, 1) to continued steadfastness; 2) to further advance in all good.—Henry:

Col_1:3. In our thanksgiving we must have an eye to God as God (He is the object of thanksgiving as well as prayer), and as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom and through whom all good comes to us.

Col_1:4-5. Faith, hope, and love, are the three principal graces in the Christian life, and proper matter of our prayer and thanksgiving.—We must love all the saints, bear an extensive kindness and good-will to good men, notwithstanding lesser points of difference and many real weaknesses.

Col_1:6. All who hear the word of the gospel, ought to bring forth the fruit of the gospel.—Wherever the gospel comes, it will bring forth fruit to the honor and glory of God. We mistake, if we think to monopolize the comforts and benefits of the gospel to ourselves.

Col_1:8. Faithful ministers are glad to be able to speak well of their people.—R.]

[Eadie:

Col_1:5. “For the hope.” Every blessing which the gospel makes known has futurity in its eye,—and the Christian life, in the meantime, is one as much of expectation as of positive enjoyment.

Col_1:6. The gospel bore choice and noble clusters of fruit. It is not a ceremonial to be gazed at, or a congeries of opinions to be discussed. It is essentially a practical system, for its ethics are involved in its creed and worship.—The gospel was ecumenical, but the error which menaced them was only provincial in its sphere.

Col_1:8. Love is to be regarded as the crown and consequence of all the other graces. The Spirit of Him who is Love takes possession of the believing bosom, and exerts upon it His own assimilating power. A Christian community may be congratulated upon its love.—R.]

[Schenkel:—The true Christian idiosyncrasy of a church: 1) Its ground—faith in Christ: 2) its fruit—love to the saints; 3) its power—hope of the heavenly treasure of eternal life.—The gospel of Jesus Christ, the tree of life for humanity: 1) The fruit, which it brings; 2) the extension, which it gains.—The power of the gospel: 1) It consists in the word of the grace of God. 2) It is conditioned by a faithful proclamation and simple apprehension of it.—R.]

Footnotes:

[5]Col_1:3.—Θεῷ πατρί, B. C. and other MSS. and the oldest versions. א. [with A. K. L.] and others insert καί, as in Eph_1:3; Rom_15:6; 2Co_1:3; 2Co_11:31 in a similar connexion; here it is an interpolation. [Τῷ πατρί is another reading, not well supported. Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, Ellicott (though not with perfect confidence) reject καί; Wordsworth retains it.—R.]

[6]Col_1:3.—Περί, א. A. C. [K. L., Tischendorf, Alford, Ellicott, Wordsworth—R.], the less supported ὑπέρ [Lachmann—R.] probably from Col_1:9, and because more significant. [See Exeg. Notes on the above emendation.—R.]

[7]Col_1:4.—Ἣν ἔχετε, א. A. C. and others, supported by the context, [so all recent editors—R.]; τήν is poorly supported, probably from Eph_1:15. [The italics of the E. V. are therefore unnecessary.—R.]

[8]Col_1:6.—Καὶ ἔστιν on the authority of F. G. K. L. and the oldest versions, supported by the context. [Tischendorf, Meyer, De Wette, Ellicott.—R.] Καί is omitted in א. A. B. C. and others [by Lachmann, Alford, Wordsworth—R.], and is the less difficult reading.

[9]Col_1:6.—[Καὶ αὐξανόμενον, supplied on the authority of א. A. B. C. D.1 F. L., many versions and all modern editors.—R.]

[10]Col_1:7.—After καθώς, א. A. B. C. D. omit καί. It is a “mechanical repetition” from Col_1:6. [So modern editors. E. V. retains it in “also,” which should be omitted. Καθώς = “even as,” here (Ellicott).—R.]

[11]Col_1:7.—Ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, C. E. F. K. L. and א. corrected and in nearly all versions. The otherwise well supported ἡμῶν, א A. B., is an error of the transcriber, accounted for by the prevalence of the first person. [Tischendorf, Ellicott, Wordsworth. Alford, quoting Ambrosiaster (4th century, vice apostoli), reads η̇μῶν, following Lachmann.—R.]

[12][The original references are to the 6th German edition; altered throughout to the 7th German ed., 1867.—R.]

[13][“Truly and sincerely, without dissimulation, not in deceit and rash words.”—R.]

[14][Conybeare, II. Col 385: “Epaphras is the same name with Epaphroditus” (?)—“but this can scarcely be the same person,” etc.—R.]

[15][Sludien und Kritiken. 1838. p. 185.—R.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Paul’s Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession.

A prayer of grateful joy:

v. 3. we give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

v. 4. since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,

v. 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;

v. 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;

v. 7. as ye also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow-servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;

v. 8. who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

It is characteristic of the Apostle Paul that he always finds some reason for thanksgiving, that he finds evidences of blessings all around, that he feels himself to be under the necessity of praising God for some special spiritual benefit: We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying for you. In the midst of a situation which the average person would have considered decidedly gloomy and disagreeable, Paul wasted no time in lamentations. He prayed, continually, habitually, for his readers, for all Christians. And his prayer was, first of all, a prayer of thanksgiving. Seeing the glorious fruits of the Gospel in the various congregations, praise and thanksgiving rose from his heart to his lips and overflowed in words, in hymns of blessing. To God, the Giver of all good gifts, he addressed his prayer of thanksgiving; for this God is at the same time the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore our Father through the atoning work of Christ. The will of God and the will of Jesus Christ for our salvation were identical. We may have a firm and certain confidence and faith in our heavenly Father through Christ, a childlike trust in His gracious will, knowing that He always hears the cries of His children.

The occasion of Paul’s thanksgiving he names in the words: Having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have toward all saints, on account of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. The report which had reached Paul concerning the status of the congregation at Colossae spoke in glowing terms of their faith, which was centered in, and rested upon, Christ Jesus, the Savior. For there was abundant evidence of the existence of this faith in the love which the Colossian Christians showed to all saints, the true brotherly love, which feels a fellowship with all the saints, both near and far, and gives a practical proof of this feeling at every opportunity. Note that Paul here refers to the universal character of the Christian Church. In Jesus Christ all differences of rank, station, and sex are forgotten, for in Him, through his blood, we are one. These conditions obtaining in Colossae, Paul could give thanks on account of the hope which was laid up for them in heaven. Since they showed the unmistakable signs of being true Christians, Paul was certain that the object of their Christian hope, their inheritance as children of God, was laid up, reserved, for them in heaven. It is the hope to which we have been begotten by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, 1Pe 1:3-6. For the full possession and enjoyment of this hope we long with fervent desire, but also with the calm certainty based upon the promise of the Lord.

Of this hope of the Christians the apostle writes further: Of which you heard before in the Word of the Truth, namely, the Gospel, which, having come, is present with you, as also in the whole world, bringing forth fruit and increasing as also in you, since the day you heard it and realized the grace of God in truth. The hope of the inheritance in heaven was set before them, the certainty of obtaining the gift of heaven was guaranteed to them in the Word of eternal Truth, which is the Gospel. What God has promised to His believers in this Word is certain, infallible truth, to be relied upon at all times and under all conditions with a certainty which knows no doubt. When the Gospel was first brought to the Colossians, it had brought them the news of this hope in Christ, present in Him from eternity. And what they had learned at that time Paul here confirms with the authority of his apostolic teaching. This Gospel, in its course through the world, like a traveler going from one city to another, had reached also their city and had remained there since, bringing to them the tidings of great joy. The influence of the Gospel commonly does not spread with irresistible, crushing blows, but comes with steady penetration, gaining one heart after the other for the Lord’s cause. That was its progress in Colossae, that is its progress throughout the world. The message is not a vain and ineffectual sound, but it brings forth fruit in virtues and good works, Isa 55:10-11. The message of Christ enters a heart, works conviction, faith, and love; it reaches others, and the same process is repeated, there is a continual growth and multiplication of its adherents. From the first day of its introduction in Colossae this had been true, for even then some of them had come to the knowledge and understanding of the grace of God. For as the Gospel was first brought to them by Epaphras, it was preached in genuineness and sincerity; and they had accepted it in the same sense, in its genuine reality, and not in the form of the poor imitation which had been recently introduced. All true Christian knowledge must be based solely and alone upon the Word of the Truth in the Gospel, not upon human ideas and opinions.

This is emphasized by the apostle when he writes: Even as you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant, who is in your behalf a faithful minister of Christ, who also made known to us your love in the Spirit. Epaphras had founded and organized the congregation at Colossae. He was a pupil and a dear fellow-worker of Paul, a faithful, untiring servant of Christ for the benefit of the Colossians. And the latter had received his message, upon which Paul here sets the seal of his apostolic approval; they had based their faith upon this teaching; they had realized and accepted the grace of God in truth. Since Epaphras, moreover, had remained in connection with this congregation, his concern for its welfare had driven him to Rome to seek the apostle, when the Judaizing teachers had made their appearance in Colossae. Paul assures his readers that the report which had come to him through Epaphras was highly satisfactory, for it declared their love in the Spirit. Though they were not personally acquainted with Paul, they had received the Gospel out of the mouth of one of his pupils, and they had learned to love the great teacher of the Gentiles. It was a love in the Holy Spirit whose power is ever active in the hearts of the believers, and it was a love which naturally included all the brethren everywhere. All these facts gave Paul his reasons for thanksgiving.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 1 Part 2

THE PRELUDE

Col_1:3-8 (R.V.)

THIS long introductory section may at first sight give the impression of confusion, from the variety of subjects introduced. But a little thought about it shows it to be really a remarkable specimen of the Apostles delicate tact, born of his love and earnestness. Its purpose is to prepare a favourable reception for his warnings and arguments against errors which had crept in, and in his judgment were threatening to sweep away the Colossian Christians from their allegiance to Christ, and their faith in the gospel as it had been originally preached to them by Epaphras. That design explains the selection of topics in these verses, and their weaving together.

Before he warns and rebukes, Paul begins by giving the Colossians credit for all the good which he can find in them. As soon as he opens his mouth, he asserts the claims and authority, the truth and power of the gospel which he preaches, and from which all this good in them had come, and which had proved that it came from God by its diffusiveness and fruitfulness. He reminds them of their beginnings in the Christian life, with which this new teaching was utterly inconsistent, and he flings his shield over Epaphras, their first teacher, whose words were in danger of being neglected now for newer voices with other messages.

Thus skilfully and lovingly these verses touch a prelude which naturally prepares for the theme of the epistle. Remonstrance and rebuke would more often be effective if they oftener began with showing the rebukers love, and with frank acknowledgment of good in the rebuked.

I. We have first a thankful recognition of Christian excellence as introductory to warnings and remonstrances.

Almost all Pauls letters begin with similar expressions of thankfulness for the good that was in the Church he is addressing. Gentle rain softens the ground and prepares it to receive the heavier downfall which would else mostly run off the hard surface. The exceptions are, 2 Corinthians; Ephesians, which was probably a circular letter; and Galatians, which is too hot throughout for such praises. These expressions are not compliments, or words of course. Still less are they flattery used for personal ends. They are the uncalculated and uncalculating expression of affection which delights to see white patches in the blackest character, and of wisdom which knows that the nauseous medicine of blame is most easily taken if administered wrapped in a capsule of honest praise.

All persons in authority over others, such as masters, parents, leaders of any sort, may be the better for taking the lesson-"provoke not your"-inferiors, dependents, scholars-"to wrath, lest they be discouraged"-and deal out praise where you can, with a liberal hand. It is nourishing food for many virtues, and a powerful antidote to many vices.

This praise is cast in the form of thanksgiving to God, as the true fountain of all that is good in men. How all that might be harmful in direct praise is strained out of it, when it becomes gratitude to God! But we need not dwell on this, nor on the principle underlying these thanks, namely that Christian mens excellences are Gods gift, and that therefore, admiration of the man should ever be subordinate to thankfulness to God. The fountain, not the pitcher filled from it, should have the credit of the crystal purity and sparkling coolness of the water. Nor do we need to do more than point to the inference from that phrase "having heard of your faith," an inference confirmed by other statements in the letter, namely, that the Apostle himself had never seen the Colossian Church. But we briefly emphasise the two points which occasioned his thankfulness. They are the familiar two, faith and love.

Faith is sometimes spoken of in the New Testament as "towards Christ Jesus," which describes that great act of the soul by its direction, as if it were a going out or flight of the mans nature to the true goal of all active being. It is sometimes spoken of as "on Christ Jesus," which describes it as reposing on Him as the end of all seeking, and suggests such images as that of a hand that leans or of a burden borne, or a weakness upheld by contact with Him. But more sweet and great is the blessedness of faith considered as "in Him," as its abiding place and fortress home, in union with and indwelling in whom the seeking spirit may fold its wings, and the weak heart may be strengthened to lift its burden cheerily, heavy though it be, and the soul may be full of tranquillity and soothed into a great calm. Towards, on, and in-so manifold are the phases of the relation between Christ and our faith.

In all, faith is the same, -simple confidence, precisely like the trust which we put in one another. But how unlike are the objects!-broken reeds of human nature in the one case, and the firm pillar of that Divine power and tenderness in the other, and how unlike, alas! is the fervency and constancy of the trust we exercise in each other and in Christ! "Faith" covers the whole ground of mans relation to God. All religion, all devotion, everything which binds us to the unseen world is included in or evolved from faith. And mark that this faith is, in Pauls teaching, the foundation of love to men and of everything else good and fair. We may agree or disagree with that thought, but we can scarcely fail to see that it is the foundation of all his moral teaching. From that fruitful source all good will come. From that deep fountain sweet water will flow, and all drawn from other sources has a tang of bitterness. Goodness of all kinds is most surely evolved from faith- and that faith lacks its best warrant of reality which does not lead to whatsoever things are lovely and of good report. Barnabas was a "good man," because, as Luke goes on to tell us by way of analysis of the sources of his goodness, he was "full of the Holy Ghost," the author of all goodness, "and of faith" by which that Inspirer of all beauty of purity dwells in mens hearts. Faith then is the germ of goodness, not because of anything in itself, but because by it we come under the influence of the Divine Spirit whose breath is life and holiness.

Therefore we say to everyone who is seeking to train his character in excellence, begin with trusting Christ, and out of that will come all lustre and whiteness, all various beauties of mind and heart. It is hard and hopeless work to cultivate our own thorns into grapes, but if we will trust Christ, He will sow good seed in our field and "make it soft with showers and bless the springing thereof."

As faith is the foundation of all virtue, so it is the parent of love, and as the former sums up every bond that knits men to God, so the latter includes all relations of men to each other, and is the whole law of human conduct packed into one word. But the warmest place in a Christians heart will belong to those who are in sympathy with his deepest self, and a true faith in Christ, like a true loyalty to a prince, will weave a special bond between all fellow subjects. So the sign, on the surface of earthly relations, of the deep-lying central fire of faith to Christ, is the fruitful vintage of brotherly love, as the vineyards bear the heaviest clusters on the slopes of Vesuvius. Faith in Christ and love to Christians-that is the Apostles notion of a good man. That is the ideal of character which we have to set before ourselves. Do we desire to be good? Let us trust Christ. Do we profess to trust Christ? Let us show it by the true proof-our goodness and especially our love. So we have here two members of the familiar triad, Faith and Love, and their sister Hope is not far off. We read in the next clause, "because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens." The connection is not altogether plain. Is the hope the reason for the Apostles thanksgiving, or the reason in some sense of the Colossians love? As far as the language goes, we may either read "We give thanks because of the hope," or "the love which ye have because of the hope." But the long distance which we have to go back for the connection, if we adopt the former explanation, and other considerations which need not be entered on here, seem to make the latter the preferable construction if it yields a tolerable sense. Does it? Is it allowable to say that the hope which is laid up in heaven is in any sense a reason or motive for brotherly love? I think it is. Observe that "hope" here is best taken as meaning not the emotion, but the object on which the emotion is fixed; not the faculty, but the thing hoped for; or in other words, that it is objective, not subjective; and also that the ideas of futurity and security are conveyed by the thought of this object of expectation being laid up. This future blessedness, grasped by our expectant hearts as assured for us, does stimulate and hearten to all well doing. Certainly it does not supply the main reason; we are not to be loving and good because we hope to win heaven thereby. The deepest motive for all the graces of Christian character is the will of God in Christ Jesus, apprehended by loving hearts. But it is quite legitimate to draw subordinate motives for the strenuous pursuit of holiness from the anticipation of future blessedness, and it is quite legitimate to use that prospect to reinforce the higher motives. He who seeks to be good only for the sake of the heaven which he thinks he will get for his goodness-if there be any such a person existing anywhere but in the imaginations of the caricaturists of Christian teaching-is not good and will not get his heaven; but he who feeds his devotion to Christ and his earnest cultivation of holiness with the animating hope of an unfading crown will find in it a mighty power to intensify and ennoble all life, to bear him up as on angels hands that lift over all stones of stumbling, to diminish sorrow and dull pain, to kindle love to men into a brighter flame, and to purge holiness to a more radiant whiteness. The hope laid up in heaven is not the deepest reason or motive for faith and love-but both are made more vivid when it is strong. It is not the light at which their lamps are lit, but it is the odorous oil which feeds their flame.

II. The course of thought passes on to a solemn reminder of the truth and worth of that Gospel which was threatened by the budding heresies of the Colossian Church.

That is contained in the clauses from the middle of the fifth verse to the end of the sixth, and is introduced with significant abruptness, immediately after the commendation of the Colossians faith. The Apostles mind and heart are so full of the dangers which he saw them to be in, although they did not know it, that he cannot refrain from setting forth an impressive array of considerations, each of which should make them hold to the gospel with an iron grasp. They are put with the utmost compression. Each word almost might be beaten out into a long discourse, so that we can only indicate the lines of thought. This somewhat tangled skein may, on the whole, be taken as the answer to the question, Why should we cleave to Pauls gospel, and dread and war against tendencies of opinion that would rob us of it? They are preliminary considerations adapted to prepare the way for a patient and thoughtful reception of the arguments which are to follow, by showing how much is at stake, and how the readers would be poor indeed if they were robbed of that great Word.

He begins by reminding them that to that gospel they owed all their knowledge and hope of heaven-the hope "whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel." That great word alone gives light on the darkness. The sole certainty of a life beyond the grave is built on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the sole hope of a blessed life beyond the grave for the poor soul that has learned its sinfulness is built on the Death of Christ. Without this light, that land is a land of darkness, lighted only by glimmering sparks of conjectures and peradventures. So it is today, as it was then; the centuries have only made more clear the entire dependence of the living conviction of immortality on the acceptance of Pauls gospel "how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was raised again the third day." All around us we see those who reject the fact of Christs resurrection finding themselves forced to surrender their faith in any life beyond. They cannot sustain themselves on that height of conviction unless they lean on Christ. The black mountain wall that rings us poor mortals round about is cloven in one place only. Through one narrow cleft there comes a gleam of light. There and there only is the frowning barrier passable. Through that grim canyon, narrow and black, where there is only room for the dark river to run, bright-eyed Hope may travel, letting out her golden thread as she goes, to guide us. Christ has cloven the rock, "the Breaker has gone up before" us, and by His resurrection alone we have the knowledge which is certitude, and the hope which is confidence, of an inheritance in light. If Pauls gospel goes, that goes like morning mist. Before you throw away "the word of the truth of the gospel," at all events understand that you fling away all assurance of a future life along with it.

Then, there is another motive touched in these words just quoted. The gospel is a word of which the whole substance and content is truth. You may say that is the whole question, whether the gospel is such a word? Of course it is; but observe how here, at the very outset, the gospel is represented as having a distinct dogmatic element in it. It is of value, not because it feeds sentiment or regulates conduct only, but first and foremost because it gives us true though incomplete knowledge concerning all the deepest things of God and man about which, but for its light, we know nothing. That truthful word is opposed to the argumentations and speculations and errors of the heretics. The gospel is not speculation, but fact. It is truth, because it is the record of a Person who is the Truth. The history of His life and death is the one source of all certainty and knowledge with regard to mans relations to God, and Gods loving purposes to man. To leave it and Him of whom it speaks in order to listen to men who spin theories out of their own brains is to prefer will-o-the-wisps to the sun. If we listen to Christ, we have the truth; if we turn from Him, our ears are stunned by a Babel. "To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life."

Further, this gospel had been already received by them. Ye heard before, says he, and again he speaks of the gospel as "come unto" them, and reminds them of the past days in which they "heard and knew the grace of God." That appeal is, of course, no argument except to a man who admits the truth of what he had already received, nor is it meant for argument with others, but it is equivalent to the exhortation, "You have heard that word and accepted it, see that your future be consistent with your past." He would have the life a harmonious whole, all in accordance with the first glad grasp which they had laid on the truth. Sweet and calm and noble is the life which preserves to its close the convictions of its beginning, only deepened and expanded. Blessed are they whose creed at last can be spoken in the lessons they learned in childhood, to which experience has but given new meaning! Blessed they who have been able to store the treasure of a lifes thought and learning in the vessels of the early words, which have grown like the magic coffers in a fairy tale, to hold all the increased wealth that can be lodged in them! Beautiful is it when the little children and the young men and the fathers possess the one faith, and when he who began as a child, "knowing the Father," ends as an old man with the same knowledge of the same God, only apprehended now in a form which has gained majesty from the fleeting years, as "Him that is from the beginning." There is no need to leave the Word long since heard in order to get novelty. It will open out into all new depths, and blaze in new radiance as men grow. It will give new answers as the years ask new questions. Each epoch of individual experience, and each phase of society, and all changing forms of opinion will find what meets them in the gospel as it is in Jesus. It is good for Christian men often to recall the beginnings of their faith, to live over again their early emotions, and when they may be getting stunned with the din of controversy, and confused as to the relative importance of different parts of Christian truth, to remember what it was that first filled their heart with joy like that of the finder of a hidden treasure, and with what a leap of gladness they first laid hold of Christ.

That spiritual discipline is no less needful than is intellectual, in facing the conflicts of this day. Again, this gospel was filling the world: "it is in all the world bearing fruit, and increasing." There are two marks of life-it is fruitful and it spreads. Of course such words are not to be construed as if they occurred in a statistical table. "All the world" must be taken with an allowance for rhetorical statement; but making such allowance, the rapid spread of Christianity in Pauls time, and its power to influence character and conduct among all sorts and conditions of men, were facts that needed to be accounted for, if the gospel was not true.

That is surely a noteworthy fact, and one which may well raise a presumption in favour of the truth of the message, and make any proposal to cast it aside for another gospel a serious matter. Paul is not suggesting the vulgar argument that a thing must be true because so many people have so quickly believed it. But what he is pointing to is a much deeper thought than that. All schisms and heresies are essentially local, and partial. They suit coteries and classes. They are the product of special circumstances acting on special casts of mind, and appeal to such. Like parasitical plants, they each require a certain species to grow on, and cannot spread where these are not found. They are not for all time, but for an age. They are not for all men, but for a select few. They reflect the opinions or wants of a layer of society or of a generation, and fade away. But the gospel goes through the world and draws men to itself out of every land and age. Dainties and confections are for the few, and many of them are like pickled olives to unsophisticated palates, and the delicacies of one country are the abominations of another; but everybody likes bread and lives on it, after all.

The gospel which tells of Christ belongs to all and can touch all, because it brushes aside superficial differences of culture and position, and goes straight to the depths of the one human heart, which is alike in us all, addressing the universal sense of sin, and revealing the Saviour of us all, and in Him the universal Father. Do not fling away a gospel that belongs to all, and can bring forth fruit in all kinds of people, for the sake of accepting what can never live in the popular heart, nor influence more than a handful of very select and "superior persons." Let who will have the dainties, do you stick to the wholesome wheaten bread.

Another plea for adherence to the gospel is based upon its continuous and universal fruitfulness. It brings about results in conduct and character which strongly attest its claim to be from God. That is a rough and ready test, no doubt, but a sensible and satisfactory one. A system which says that it will make men good and pure is reasonably judged of by its fruits, and Christianity can stand the test. It did change the face of the old world. It has been the principal agent in the slow growth of "nobler manners, purer laws" which give the characteristic stamp to modern as contrasted with pre-Christian nations. The threefold abominations of the old world-slavery, war, and the degradation of woman-have all been modified, one of them abolished, and the others growingly felt to be utterly un-Christian. The main agent in the change has been the gospel. It has wrought wonders, too, on single souls; and though all Christians must be too conscious of their own imperfections to venture on putting themselves forward as specimens of its power, still the gospel of Jesus Christ has lifted men from. the dungheaps of sin and self to "set them with princes," to make them kings and priests; has tamed passions, ennobled pursuits, revolutionised the whole course of many a life, and mightily works today in the same fashion, in the measure in which we submit to its influence. Our imperfections are our own; our good is its. A medicine is not shown to be powerless, though it does not do as much as is claimed for it, if the sick man has taken it irregularly and sparingly. The failure of Christianity to bring forth full fruit arises solely from the failure of professing Christians to allow its quickening powers to fill their hearts. After all deductions we may still say with Paul, "it bringeth forth fruit in all the world." This rod has budded, at all events; have any of its antagonists rods done the same? Do not cast it away, says Paul, till you are sure you have found a better.

This tree not only fruits, but grows. It is not exhausted by fruit bearing, but it makes wood as well. It is "increasing" as well as "bearing fruit," and that growth in the circuit of its branches that spread through the world, is another of its claims on the faithful adhesion of the Colossians. Again, they have heard a gospel which reveals the "true grace of God," and that is another consideration urging to steadfastness.

In opposition to it there were put then, as there are put today, mans thoughts, and mans requirements, a human wisdom and a burdensome code. Speculations and arguments on the one hand, and laws and rituals on the other, look thin beside the large free gift of a loving God and the message which tells of it. They are but poor bony things to try to live on. The soul wants something more nourishing than such bread made out of sawdust. We want a loving God to live upon, whom we can love because He loves us. Will anything but the gospel give us that? Will anything be our stay, in all weakness, weariness, sorrow, and sin, in the fight of life and the agony of death, except the confidence that in Christ we "know the grace of God in truth"? So, if we gather together all these characteristics of the gospel, they bring out the gravity of the issue when we are asked to tamper with it, or to abandon the old lamp for the brand new ones which many eager voices are proclaiming as the light of the future. May any of us who are on the verge of the precipice lay to heart these serious thoughts! To that gospel we owe our peace; by it alone can the fruit of lofty devout lives be formed and ripened; it has filled the world with its sound, and is revolutionising humanity; it and it only brings to men the good news and the actual gift of the love and mercy of God. It is not a small matter to fling away all this.

We do not prejudge the question of the truth of Christianity; but, at all events, let there be no mistake as to the fact that to give it up is to give up the mightiest power that has ever wrought for the worlds good, and that if its light be quenched there will be darkness that may be felt, not dispelled, but made more sad and dreary by the ineffectual flickers of some poor rushlights that men have lit, which waver and shine dimly over a little space for a little while, and then die out.

III. We have the Apostolic endorsement of Epaphras, the early teacher of the Colossian Christians. Paul points his Colossian brethren, finally, to the lessons which they had received from the teacher who had first led them to Christ. No doubt his authority was imperilled by the new directions of thought in the Church, and Paul was desirous of adding the weight of his attestation to the complete correspondence between his own teaching and that of Epaphras.

We know nothing about this Epaphras except from this letter and that to Philemon. He is "one of you," a member of the Colossian Church, {Col_4:12} whether a Colossian born or not. He had come to the prisoner in Rome, and had brought the tidings of their condition which filled the Apostles heart with strangely mingled feelings-of joy for their love and Christian walk {Col_1:4, Col_1:8}, and of anxiety lest they should be swept from their steadfastness by the errors that he heard were assailing them. Epaphras shared this anxiety, and during his stay in Rome was much in thought, and care, and prayer for them. {Col_4:12} He does not seem to have been the bearer of this letter to Colossae. He was in some sense Pauls fellow servant, and in Philemon he is called by the yet more intimate, though somewhat obscure, name of his fellow prisoner. It is noticeable that he alone of all Pauls companions receives the name of "fellow servant," which may perhaps point to some very special piece of service of his, or may possibly be only an instance of Pauls courteous humility, which ever delighted to lift others to his own level-as if he had said, Do not make differences between your own Epaphras and me, we are both slaves of one Master. The further testimony which Paul bears to him is so emphatic and pointed as to suggest that it was meant to uphold an authority that had been attacked, and to eulogise a character that had been maligned. "He is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf." In these words the Apostle endorses his teaching, as a true representation of his own. Probably Epaphras founded the Colossian Church and did so in pursuance of a commission given him by Paul. He "also declared to us your love in the Spirit." As he had truly represented Paul and his message to them, so he lovingly represented them and their kindly affection to him. Probably the same people who questioned Epaphras version of Pauls teaching would suspect the favourableness of his report of the Colossian Church, and hence the double witness borne from the Apostles generous heart to both parts of his brothers work. His unstinted praise is ever ready. His shield is swiftly flung over any of his helpers who are maligned or assailed. Never was a leader truer to his subordinates, more tender of their reputation, more eager for their increased influence, and freer from every trace of jealousy, than was that lofty and lowly Soul.

It is a beautiful though a faint image which shines out on us from these fragmentary notices of this Colossian Epaphras-a true Christian bishop, who had come all the long way from his quiet valley in the depths of Asia Minor, to get guidance about his flock from the great Apostle, and who bore them. on his heart day and night, and prayed much for them, while so far away from them. How strange the fortune which has made his name and his solicitudes and prayers immortal! How little he dreamed that such embalming was to be given to his little services, and that they were to be crowned with such exuberant praise!

The smallest work done for Jesus Christ lasts forever, whether it abide in mens memories or no. Let us ever live as those who, like painters in fresco, have with swift hand to draw lines and lay on colours which will never fade, and let us, by humble faith and holy life, earn such a character from Pauls Master. He is glad to praise, and praise from His lips is praise indeed. If He approves of us as faithful servants on His behalf, it matters not what others may say. The Masters "Well done" will outweigh labours and toils, and the depreciating tongues of fellow servants, or of the Masters enemies.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

1:3-14 This opening section begins with a thanksgiving, typical of New Testament letters. Paul thanks God for the Colossians’ progress in the faith and prays that they might understand it even better. With this prayer, Paul hints at his concern about the influence of false teachers.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Col 1:3. Εὐχαριστοῦμεν—ἀκούσαντες, we give thanks—since we heard) Comp. Eph 1:15-16. For the Epistle to the Colossians bears considerable resemblance to the two epistles to which it is subjoined: to the Epistle to the Ephesians, in its general subject (thesis) and mode of exhortation (paraclesis); to the Epistle to the Philippians, in its opposition to the false teachers, and in their refutation. More of these coincidences will be noticed in their proper places. The Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians were sent at the same time by Tychicus, Col 4:7; Eph 6:21.—πάντοτε, always) Construed with praying: Rom 1:10; Php 1:4.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col_1:3 f. Thanksgiving for the Christian condition of the readers, down to Col_1:8.εὐχαριστο͂υμεν] I and Timothy; plural and singular alternate in the Epistle (Col_1:23-24; Col_1:28-29 ff., Col_4:3); but not without significant occasion.

καὶ πατρὶ κ.τ.λ.] who is at the same time the Father, etc. See on Eph_1:3.

πάντοτε] belongs to εὐχαρ., as in 1Co_1:4; 1Th_1:2; 2Th_1:3; Phm_1:4, and not to περὶ ὑμ. προσευχ. (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Erasmus, Luther, Castalio, Beza, Calvin, Grotius, Bengel, and many others, including Böhmer, Olshausen, Dalmer)a connection opposed to the parallel Eph_1:16, as well as to the context, according to which the thanksgiving is the main point here, and the prayer merely a concomitant definition; and it is not till Col_1:9 that the latter is brought forward as the object of the discourse, and that as unceasing. This predicate belongs here to the thanking, and in Col_1:9 to the praying, and περὶ ὑμῶν προσευχ.words which are not, with Bähr, to be separated from one another (whereby προσευχ. would unduly stand without relation)is nothing but a more precise definition of πάντοτε: always (each time, Php_1:4; Rom_1:10[11]), when we pray for you.

ἀκούσαντες κ.τ.λ.] with reference to time; after having heard, etc. Comp. Col_1:9. In that, which Paul had heard of them, lies the ground of his thanksgiving. The πίστις is faith (Rom_1:8; 1Th_1:3; 2Th_1:3) not faithfulness (Ewald), as at Phm_1:5, where the position of the words is different. That Paul has heard their faith praised, is self-evident from the context. Comp. Eph_1:15; Phm_1:5.

ἐν Χ. Ἰ.] on Christ, in so far, namely, as the faith has its basis in Christ. See on Mar_1:15; Gal_3:26; Eph_1:13; Eph_1:15. As to the non-repetition of τήν, see on Gal_3:26.

ἫΝ ἜΧΕΤΕ] Paul so writes,not by joining on immediately (ΤῊΝ ἈΓΆΠΗΝ ΕἸς ΠΆΝΤΑς Κ.Τ.Λ.), nor yet by the mere repetition of the article, as in Eph_1:15 (so the Recepta, see the critical remarks),because he has it in view to enter more fully upon this point of ἀγάπη, and indeed definitely upon the reason why they cherished it.

[11] For a like use of ἀεί, see Stallbaum, ad Plat. Rep. p. 360 A.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Col 1:3-8 . PAUL’S THANKSGIVING FOR THE TIDINGS HE HAS RECEIVED OF THE SPIRITUAL WELFARE OF THE COLOSSIANS. According to his usual custom (so in Thess., 1 Cor., Rom., Phil., Philm.), Paul begins his letter with an expression of his thankfulness to God for the Christian graces of his readers. There is, however, a certain conventional element in these greetings, as may be seen from a comparison of similar formulæ in letters found among recently discovered papyri (see articles by Prof. Rendel Harris in The Expositor for Sept. and Dec., 1898). Eph 1:15-17 is parallel to Col 1:3-4 ; Col 1:9 .

Col 1:3 . τῷ Θεῷ πατρὶ κ . τ . λ .: “to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus”. Even if Θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ were read, we should probably not make Κυρίου dependent on Θεῷ as well as πατρὶ , since this is not Paul’s usual language, though it is found in Eph 1:17 ( ὁ Θεὸς τ . Κυρ . ἡμ . Ἰ . Χ .). πάντοτε is connected by several commentators (Beng., Alf., Ell., Findl., R.V.) with προσευχ . In favour of this is οὐ παυόμεθα ὑπ . ὑμ . προσευχ . (Col 1:9 ). But more probably it should be taken with εὐχαριστ . (Mey., Lightf., Ol., Haupt, Weiss, Abb.), as this is the usual collocation in Paul. But περὶ ὑμῶν belongs to προσευχ ., not (as Lightf., Ol.) to εὐχαριστ . “We always give thanks when we pray for you.”

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3–8. Introductory thanksgiving for their effective reception of the Gospel in the true form of it taught them first by Epaphras

(Col 1:3) We both always thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you; (Col 1:4) for we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your continual love towards all the saints; (Col 1:5) these being due to your reception of the news of your glorious future in the heavens, which you heard of before you were exposed to later errors, in the message of the Gospel in its integrity which is come unto you. (Col 1:6) But indeed you are not alone in this. It is already even in all the world, continually producing life and the results of life, and spreading—just as it does with you. For this was so with you from the very first; you recognised God’s surprising mercy accurately, (Col 1:7) This knowledge of yours corresponded to what you learned by word of mouth from Epaphras, who is our rightly-loved fellow-servant in the work Christ gave us to do, carrying out work faithfully for our benefit as a minister sent by the Messiah. (Col 1:8) It was he too who told us plainly about your love (as I said in Col 1:4) towards others in the new sphere of the Spirit in which you now live.

3. τῷ θεῷ πατρὶ BC*. This difficult reading was corrected by the insertion either of τῷ before πατρί, D*G and Chrys.372, or of καί, אActs 2DcK, etc. Cf. Col 3:17, also Col 1:12 infra.

Ἰησοῦ [Χριστοῦ], only B omits.

περὶ ὑμῶν Text. Rec. and W.H. Text, with אACDcK; ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν W.H.mg. BD*G as in Col 1:9.

3. εὐχαριστοῦμεν. In all St Paul’s Epistles except Gal. and the Pastorals he thanks immediately after the salutation, always employing εὐχαριστεῖν save in 2 Cor. and Eph. (yet cf. Eph 1:16). Cf. Col 2:7, Col 3:15. The plural is to include Timothy; contrast Col 1:24.

τῷ θεῷ πατρὶ τ. κυρ. ἡμ. Ἰησ. [Χριστοῦ]. See the notes on Textual Criticism. “We thank the God (and) Father of our Lord Jesus [Christ].”

Though θεὸς πατήρ is fairly common in St Paul’s Epp.† yet ὁ θεὸς πατὴρ occurs only here and Col 3:17, and possibly in Col 1:12, in each of these three cases following εὐχαριστεῖν. Observe that when the object of εὐχαριστεῖν in the N.T. is God the article is invariably used (e.g. 1Th 1:2). Hence the article here appears to be due to the presence of εὐχαριστεῖν, and θεῷ πατρὶ is probably the same combined expression as in Col 1:2 and wherever else it comes. In other words, He is here represented as both the θεός and the πατήρ of our Lord. For the double thought compare Joh 20:17; Rom 15:6; 2Co 1:3; 2Co 11:31; Eph 1:3; 1Pe 1:3, and perhaps 1Co 15:24. Cf. also esp. 2Pe 1:17, and for αεός also Mat 27:46, Eph 1:17. See also the notes on Col 2:2 τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ.

Notice that of the two emendations of the text the var. lect. καὶ πατρί gives practically the same sense, while the “Western” reading τῷ θεῷ τῷ πατρί presumably requires τῷ θεῷ to be taken alone—“we thank God (absolutely), the Father of,” etc.

πάντοτε, “we thank … always when we pray for you.” Probably with εὐχαριστοῦμεν, notwithstanding the distance. Cf. 2Th 1:3; 2Th 2:13; 1Co 1:4; Eph 5:20; Phm 1:4.

περὶ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι. See the notes on Textual Criticism, and contrast Col 1:9. Though περὶ ὑμῶν frequently occurs with πάντοτε (1Co 1:4; 2Th 1:3; 2Th 2:13) it is here probably to be taken primarily with προσευχ., which would otherwise stand rather baldly. περὶ ὑμ. προσ. defines the times and occasions to which πάντοτε refers. περὶ ὑμῶν thus loses the emphasis it would acquire if προσ. were independent of εὐχαρ … πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3-29.] Introduction, but unusually expanded, so as to anticipate the great subjects of the Epistle. And herein,

3-8.] Thanksgiving for the faith, hope, and love of the Colossians, announced to him by Epaphras.

3.] We (I and Timotheus. In this Epistle, the plural and singular are too plainly distinguished to allow us to confuse them in translating: the plural pervading ch. 1., the singular ch. 2., and the two occurring together in ch. 4:3, 4, and the singular thenceforward. The change, as Mey. remarks, is never made without a pragmatic reason) give thanks to God the Father (πατήρ, like ἥλιος, γῆ,&c. is anarthrous, as indeed often in our own language, from its well-known universal import as a predicate necessarily single of its kind: see Eph 1:2, Eph 1:3) of our Lord Jesus Christ, always (I prefer, against De W., Mey., B.-Crus., Eadie, to join πάντοτε to περὶὑμ. προσευχ., rather than to εὐχαριστ. For 1) it would come rather awkwardly after so long an interruption as τῷ θ. πατ. τ. κυρ. ἡμ. Ἰησ. χρ. (see however 1Co 15:58): and 2) I doubt whether the next clause would begin with περὶ ὑμῶν, so naturally as with πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν, which are found together so usually, cf. 1Co 1:4; 1Th 1:3 (2Th 1:2)) praying for you (Meyer’s and Eadie’s objection to joining πάντοτε with προσευχόμενος is, that it is much more natural to say ‘we always give thanks when we pray,’ than ‘we give thanks, always praying.’ But we must remember that ‘prayer with thanksgiving’ was the Apostle’s recommendation (Php 4:6), and doubtless his practice, and that the wider term προσευχόμενος included both): since we heard of (not, because we heard: see Eph 1:15. The facts which he heard, not the fact of his hearing, were the ground of his thanksgiving) your faith in (not τὴν ἐν: the immediate element of their faith, not its distinctive character, is the point brought out) Christ Jesus, and the love which ye have (these words, dwelling on the fact as reported to him, carry more affectionate commendation than would merely the article τήν of the rec.) towards all the saints,

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He commendeth the doctrine that was delivered them by Epaphras, and their readiness in receiving it.

We cannot otherwise consider of God to our salvation, but as he is Christ’s Father, in whom we are adopted.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Here he proceeds to the body of the epistle, and begins with thanksgiving to God for what he had heard concerning them, though he had no personal acquaintance with them, and knew their state and character only by the reports of others.

I. He gave thanks to God for them, that they had embraced the gospel of Christ, and given proofs of their fidelity to him. Observe, In his prayers for them he gave thanks for them. Thanksgiving ought to be a part of every prayer; and whatever is the matter of our rejoicing ought to be the matter of our thanksgiving. Observe, 1. Whom he gives thanks to: To God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In our thanksgiving we must have an eye to God as God (he is the object of thanksgiving as well as prayer), and is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in and through whom all good comes to us. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as well as our Father; and it is a matter of encouragement, in all our addresses to God, that we can look to him as Christ's Father and our Father, as his God and our God, Joh 20:17. Observe, 2. What he gives thanks to God for - for the graces of God in them, which were evidences of the grace of God towards them: Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love you have to all the saints; for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, Col 1:4, Col 1:5. Faith, hope, and love, are the three principal graces in the Christian life, and proper matter of our prayer and thanksgiving. (1.) He gives thanks for their faith in Christ Jesus, that they were brought to believe in him, and take upon them the profession of his religion, and venture their souls upon his undertaking. (2.) For their love. Besides the general love which is due to all men, there is a particular love owing to the saints, or those who are of the Christian brotherhood, Pe1 2:17. We must love all the saints, bear an extensive kindness and good-will to good men, notwithstanding smaller points of difference, and many real weaknesses. Some understand it of their charity to the saints in necessity, which is one branch and evidence of Christian love. (3.) For their hope: The hope which is laid up for you in heaven, Col 1:5. The happiness of heaven is called their hope, because it is the thing hoped for, looking for the blessed hope, Tit 2:13. What is laid out upon believers in this world is much; but what is laid up for them in heaven is much more. And we have reason to give thanks to God for the hope of heaven which good Christians have, or their well-grounded expectation of the future glory. Their faith in Christ, and love to the saints, had an eye to the hope laid up for them in heaven. The more we fix our hopes on the recompence of reward in the other world, the more free and liberal shall we be of our earthly treasure upon all occasions of doing good.

II. Having blessed God for these graces, he blesses God for the means of grace which they enjoyed: Wherein you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. They had heard in the word of the truth of the gospel concerning this hope laid up for them in heaven. Observe, 1. The gospel is the word of truth, and what we may safely venture our immortal souls upon: it proceeds from the God of truth and the Spirit of truth, and is a faithful saying. He calls it the grace of God in truth, Col 1:6. 2. It is a great mercy to hear this word of truth; for the great thing we learn from it is the happiness of heaven. Eternal life is brought to light by the gospel, Ti2 1:10. They heard of the hope laid up in heaven in the word of the truth of the gospel. "Which has come unto you, as it hath to all the world, and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, Col 1:6. This gospel is preached and brings forth fruit in other nations; it has come to you, as it hath to all the world, according to the commission, Go preach the gospel in all the nations, and to every creature." Observe, (1.) All who hear the word of the gospel ought to bring forth the fruit of the gospel, that is, be obedient to it, and have their principles and lives formed according to it. This was the doctrine first preached: Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance, Mat 3:8. And our Lord says, If you know these things, happy are you if you do them, Joh 13:17. Observe, (2.) Wherever the gospel comes, it will bring forth fruit to the honour and glory of God: It bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you. We mistake, if we think to monopolize the comforts and benefits of the gospel to ourselves. Does the gospel bring forth fruit in us? So it does in others.

III. He takes this occasion to mention the minister by whom they believed (Col 1:7, Col 1:8): As you also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow-servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ. He mentions him with great respect, to engage their love to him. 1. He calls him his fellow-servant, to signify not only that they served the same Master, but that they were engaged in the same work. They were fellow-labourers in the work of the Lord, though one was an apostle and the other an ordinary minister. 2. He calls him his dear fellow-servant: all the servants of Christ ought to love one another, and it is an endearing consideration that they are engaged in the same service. 3. He represents him as one who was a faithful minister of Christ to them, who discharged his trust and fulfilled his ministry among them. Observe, Christ is our proper Master, and we are his ministers. He does not say who is your minister; but who is the minister of Christ for you. It is by his authority and appointment, though for the people's service. 4. He represents him as one who gave them a good word: Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit, Col 1:8. He recommends him to their affection, from the good report he made of their sincere love to Christ and all his members, which was wrought in them by the Spirit, and is agreeable to the spirit of the gospel. Faithful ministers are glad to be able to speak well of their people.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. We give thanks to God] Who is the author of all good; and from whom the grace, which has produced your conversion, has sprung by his mission of Christ Jesus. See the note on Eph 1:15; Eph 1:16.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. We give thanks to God. He praises the faith and love of the Colossians, that it may encourage them the more to alacrity and constancy of perseverance. Farther, by shewing that he has a persuasion of this kind respecting them, he procures their friendly regards, that they may be the more favourably inclined and teachable for receiving his doctrine. We must always take notice that he makes use of thanksgiving in place of congratulation, by which he teaches us, that in all our joys we must readily call to remembrance the goodness of God, inasmuch as everything that is pleasant and agreeable to us is a kindness conferred by him. Besides, he admonishes us, by his example, to acknowledge with gratitude not merely those things which the Lord confers upon us, but also those things which he confers upon others.

But for what things does he give thanks to the Lord? For the faith and love of the Colossians. He acknowledges, therefore, that both are conferred by God: otherwise the gratitude were pretended. And what have we otherwise than through his liberality? If, however, even the smallest favors come to us from that source, how much more ought this same acknowledgment to be made in reference to those two gifts, in which the entire sum of our excellence consists?

To the God and Father. Understand the expression thus — To God who is the Father of Christ. For it is not lawful for us to acknowledge any other God than him who has manifested himself to us in his Son. And this is the only key for opening the door to us, if we are desirous to have access to the true God. For on this account, also, is he a Father to us, because he has embraced us in his only begotten Son, and in him also sets forth his paternal favor for our contemplation.

Always for you, Some explain it thus — We give thanks to God always for you, that is, continually. Others explain it to mean — Praying always for you. It may also be interpreted in this way, “Whenever we pray for you, we at the same time give thanks to God;” and this is the simple meaning, “We give thanks to God, and we at the same time pray.” By this he intimates, that the condition of believers is never in this world perfect, so as not to have, invariably, something wanting. For even the man who has begun admirably well, may fall short in a hundred instances every day; and we must ever be making progress while we are as yet on the way. Let us therefore bear in mind that we must rejoice in the favors that we have already received, and give thanks to God for them in such a manner, as to seek at the same time from him perseverance and advancement.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(3, 4) Comp. Eph_1:15-16, where there is an almost exact verbal coincidence. Whatever may be the force there of the words “having heard of your faith,” clearly here they harmonise with many indications that the Colossian Church, though well known to St. Paul, was not known by personal knowledge.

(3-8) In this expression of St. Paul’s thanksgiving for them there is as usual a peculiar correspondence to their circumstances. They had been full of faith, love, and hope, the fruit of a true gospel preached by Epaphras; there was fear now lest they should be beguiled from it, although that fear was obviously not yet realised, as had been formerly the case with the Galatians. Hence St. Paul’s emphasis on their hearing, knowing, and learning the truth, and on the faithfulness of Epaphras as a minister of Christ.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We give thanks to God,.... Meaning himself and Timothy. This is the beginning of the epistle, which is introduced with a thanksgiving to God; to whom praise and thankfulness are always due as a Creator and preserver, as the author of all good things, as the Father of mercies, temporal and spiritual, and as the covenant God and Father of his people through Christ: wherefore it follows,

and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; the sense of which either is, that God the Father, who is the object of praise and thanksgiving, is both the God of Christ, and the Father of Christ, the God of Christ, as Christ is man, and the Father of Christ, as Christ is God; or the latter is exegetical of the former, and may be rendered thus, "God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ": and very properly are thanks given to him under this character, because it is as he is the Father of Christ that he blesses his people with all spiritual blessings; and because he is their God, as well as his God; and their Father, as well as his Father, though in a different sense, his by nature, theirs by adoption. Moreover, as all their blessings come from God, as the Father of Christ, and through Christ, and for his sake, so it is very proper that thanks should be returned unto him under that character; and through Christ, by whom alone such sacrifices of praise are acceptable to God: it is added,

praying always for you; which, as it is expressive of the constant discharge of the duty of prayer, and the continual remembrance of these saints in it, and shows the affection the apostle had for them; so it points out the time when, and the way and manner in which Paul and Timothy gave thanks to God on account of them; it was when they were at the throne of grace, and in their frequent prayers to God; thankfulness for mercies received, both by ourselves and others, being a branch of the duty of prayer.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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

Ver. 3. We give thanks-praying, &c.] Prayer and thanks (saith one) are like the double motion of the lungs; the air that is sucked in by prayer is breathed out again by thanks.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We give thanks to God - See the notes at the parallel place in Eph 1:15-16.

Praying always for you - See the Rom 1:9, note; Eph 1:16, note; compare 1Th 1:2.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Give thanks—Paul had learned of the gracious state of the Colossian Christians through the communications of others, especially of Epaphras, Col_1:8; and the account of their faith in Christ and their love to all Christians, incited him to profound thanksgiving and incessant prayer in their behalf.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We give thanks - There is a near resemblance between this epistle, and those to the Ephesians and Philippians.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Our apostle, to give the Colossians a full assurance of the firmness of his love unto them, acquaints them, that himself and Timothy, from the time they heard of their conversion, did never to give solemn thanks to God for it, and particularly, for their faith in Christ, and for the love which they bare to all saints, to all their brethren, and fellow members in Christ.

Where note, 1. The person whom St. Paul offers up his prayers and praises, his supplications and thanksgivings to, and that is God; intimating, that religion’s invocation and adoration belong only to God; not to any creature, who can neither know, nor is able to supply our wants.

This God whom St. Paul prayed to, is called the Father of our Lord Jesus; so he is, with respect both to his divine and human nature; in respect to his Deity, he is of the same essence with the Father, begotten of him from all eternity; and in respect of his humanity, he is his Father, being, as man, conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Note, 2. The mercies and blessings which St. Paul offers up his thanksgivings to God for, and this on the behalf of the Colossians; in general they are spiritual blessings:

In particular, 1. For their faith in Christ Jesus; Christ alone is the proper object of our affiance and trust; and by faith we repose the entire trust and confidence of our souls upon the sufficiency of his merits.

2. For their love to all the saints.

Where observe, That faith and love ar inseparable companions: There is a necessary connection between them: Faith without love, is no living grace; love without faith, is no saving grace.

Observe also, The proper object of a Christian’s love, it is the saints as saints, that is, for their sanctity and personal infirmities be what they will: We have heard of your love to all the saints: Love is that brotherly affection which every true Christian chiefly bears to all his fellow members in Christ, for grace’s sake: now the love of grace in another, being so good an evidence of the life of grace in ourselves.

Hence, it was taht St. Paul, hearing of the Colossians’ love to all the children of God, ceases not to give thanks unto God for it, as the fruit and evidence of their conversion.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. “Always praying for you.” We do not pray enough. We ought to pray incessantly for all the saints on the earth.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3–8. We. Both Paul and Timothy. Give thanks. When offerings prayers in behalf of the Colossians, as he was wont to do for all the churches under his care, he had grounds for thanks.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

3-8. Thanksgiving for their faith and love, passing on into the assurance that the gospel they were taught by Epaphras was the true universal gospel, which proved its genuineness by the fruit it produced, both among them and in all the world

3. εὐχαριστοῦμεν. In all St. Paul’s Epistles to Churches, with the exception of that to the Galatians, the Salutation is followed by thanksgiving. In Eph. as in 2 Cor. this is in the form εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεός, elsewhere in some form of εὐχαριστῶ. On the verb, see Eph 1:15.

τῷ Θεῷ πατρί. We have the same form of words in 3:15; elsewhere, however, always ὁ Θεὸς καὶ πατήρ.

Here also καί is inserted by א A C2 Dc K L P, and apparently all other MSS. except those mentioned below; Vulg., Arm., Theodoret, al.

It is wanting in B C* D* G, Chrys. (D* G Chrys. have τῷ πατρί). Old Latin, Syr. (both), Boh., Eth.

Tisch. 8th ed. (in deference to א), restores καί, which he had omitted in 7th ed. (WH. and RV. omit). Lachm. also omits, but reads τῷ with D* F G. Meyer thinks καί was omitted in a mechanical way after the preceding Θεοῦ πατρός.

It is observable that in 3:17, א A agree with B C in omitting καί, while D F G, with K L and nearly all others, as well as Syr-Pesh, insert it. The evidence for the omission there is decidedly preponderant. It is less so here, yet perhaps decisive enough when we consider how certainly the scribes would stumble at the unusual form. The reading τῷ πατρί appears to be another attempt to get rid of it. Compare 1:12 below, where א 37, with other authorities, have Θεῷ before πατρί.

εὐχαριστοῦμεν … πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι. It is questioned whether πάντοτε is to be joined with εὐχαριστοῦμεν or with προσευχ. The latter connexion is adopted by the Greek commentators, also by Bengel, Olshausen, Alford, Ellicott, etc. But Eph 1:16 is almost decisive for the other connexion, οὐ παύομαι εὐχαριστῶν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν μνείαν ὑμῶν ποιούμενος ἐπὶ τῶν προσευχῶν μου. Compare 1Co 1:4; 1Th 1:2. προσευχ. is, in fact, a nearer definition of πάντοτε “We give thanks on your account always in our prayers,” or (as Meyer), “always when we pray for you.” “Always praying for you” would require the addition of words specifying the object of the prayer.

The reading varies between περί and ὑπέρ. The latter is read by B D* G 17, al., but A C Dc J K, with most MSS., have περί. ὑπέρ would readily be introduced from ver. 9, where there is no variant.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the Father. Some of the best texts omit and. So Rev. The form with and is the more common. Compare ch. 3 17.

Praying always for you. Rather connect always with we give thanks, and render we give thanks for you always, praying, or in our prayers.

According to the Greek order, praying for you (as Rev. and A. V.), would make for you unduly emphatic.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

ἁγίοις] ‘saints,’ i.e. the people consecrated to God, the Israel of the new covenant; see the note on Phil. i. 1. This mode of address marks the later epistles of St Paul. In his earlier letters (1, 2 Thess., 1, 2 Cor., Gal.) he writes τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις. The change begins with the Epistle to the Romans, and from that time forward the Apostle always uses ἁγίοις in various combinations in addressing Churches (Rom., Phil., Col., Ephes.). For a similar phenomenon, serving as a chronological mark, see the note on ἡ χάρις, iv. 18. The word ἁγίοις must here be treated as a substantive in accordance with its usage in parallel passages, and not as an adjective connected with ἀδελφοῖς. See the next note.

καὶ πιστοῖς ἀδελφοῖς] This unusual addition is full of meaning. Some members of the Colossian Church were shaken in their allegiance, even if they had not fallen from it. The Apostle therefore wishes it to be understood that, when he speaks of the saints, he means the true and stedfast members of the brotherhood. In this way he obliquely hints at the defection. Thus the words καὶ πιστοῖς ἀδελφοῖς are a supplementary explanation of τοῖς ἁγίοις. He does not directly exclude any, but he indirectly warns all. The epithet πιστὸς cannot mean simply ‘believing’; for then it would add nothing which is not already contained in ἁγίοις and ἀδελφοῖς. Its passive sense, ‘trustworthy, stedfast, unswerving,’ must be prominent here, as in Acts xvi. 15 εἰ κεκρίκατέ με πιστὴν τῷ Κυρίῳ εἶναι. See Galatians p. 155.

ἐν Χριστῷ] most naturally connected with both words πιστοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, though referring chiefly to πιστοῖς; comp. Ephes. vi. 21 πιστὸς δίακονος ἐν Κυρίῳ, 1 Tim. i. 2 γνησίῳ τέκνῳ ἐν πίστει. For the expression πιστὸς ἐν Χριστῷ, ἐν Κυρίῳ, see also 1 Cor. iv. 17, Ephes. i. 1. The Apostle assumes that the Colossian brethren are ‘stedfast in Christ.’ Their state thus contrasts with the description of the heretical teacher, who (ii. 19) οὐ κρατεῖ τὴν κεφαλήν.

χάρις κ.τ.λ.] On this form of salutation see the note to 1 Thess. i. 1.

πατρὸς ἡμῶν] The only instance in St Paul’s epistles, where the name of the Father stands alone in the opening benediction without the addition of Jesus Christ. The omission was noticed by Origen (Rom. 1. § 8, IV. p. 467), and by Chrysostom (ad loc. XI. p. 324, Hom. in 2 Cor. XXX, x. p. 651). But transcribers naturally aimed at uniformity, and so in many copies we find the addition καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. The only other exception to the Apostle’s usual form is in 1 Thessalonians, where the benediction is shorter still, χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη, and where likewise the copyists have supplied words to lengthen it out in accordance with St Paul’s common practice.

3–8. ‘We never cease to pour forth our thanksgiving to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ on your account, whensoever we pray to Him. We are full of thankfulness for the tidings of the faith which ye have in Christ Jesus, and the love which ye show towards all the people of God, while ye look forward to the hope which is stored up for you in heaven as a treasure for the life to come. This hope was communicated to you in those earlier lessons, when the Gospel was preached to you in its purity and integrity—the one universal unchangeable Gospel, which was made known to you, even as it was carried throughout the world, approving itself by its fruits wheresoever it is planted. For, as elsewhere, so also in you, these fruits were manifested from the first day when ye received your lessons in, and apprehended the power of, the genuine Gospel, which is not a law of ordinances but a dispensation of grace, not a device of men but a truth of God. Such was the word preached to you by Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant in our Master’s household, who in our absence and on our behalf has ministered to you the Gospel of Christ, and who now brings back to us the welcome tidings of the love which ye show in the Spirit.’

3. εὐχαριστοῦμεν] See the notes on 1 Thess. i. 2.

πατρὶ] If the καὶ be omitted, as the balance of authorities appears to suggest, the form of words here is quite exceptional. Elsewhere it runs ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ Κυρίου, Rom. XV. 6, 2 Cor. i. 3, xi. 31, Ephes. i. 3 (v.l.), 1 Pet. i. 3; comp. Rev. i. 6: and in analogous cases, such as ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ ἡμῶν, the rule is the same. See the note on Clem. Rom. § 7. In iii. 17 however we have τῷ θεῷ πατρί, where the evidence is more decisive and the expression quite as unusual. On the authorities for the various readings here see the detached note.

J. B. Lightfoot, St Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon: a revised text with introductions, notes and dissertations (London: Macmillan, 1875) — public domain. Electronic text from Project Gutenberg (ebook #50857). Covers Colossians and Philemon only (the verse-by-verse notes; introductions and dissertations are omitted); Lightfoot's companion Galatians and Philippians volumes are not included, as the available public-domain scans carry garbled Greek that cannot be faithfully reproduced.