{"id":23498,"date":"2014-01-01T15:46:03","date_gmt":"2014-01-01T22:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?page_id=23498"},"modified":"2014-12-17T15:53:36","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T22:53:36","slug":"chapter-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/commentary\/colossians\/chapter-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Salutation<\/span><\/h3>\n

1\u00a0Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,<\/span><\/p>\n

The letter follows a traditional format<\/a>, with the sender identifying himself first. The sender identifies himself as St. Paul and his co-sender as St. Timothy (Acts 16:1-3<\/a>). Timothy is noted as being the coauthor of many of Paul’s letters (2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians and Philemon).<\/p>\n

See\u00a0introduction<\/a>\u00a0for more details about the letter’s author.<\/p>\n

2\u00a0To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colos\u2032sae:<\/span><\/p>\n

The word “saints”<\/span> here refers to all Christians, not simply those who have been canonized. Paul addresses this letter to all the Christians in Colossae and he does so in familial terms (“brethren in Christ”<\/em><\/span>).<\/p>\n

See introduction<\/a> for more details about the letter’s destination.<\/p>\n

This is Paul’s first use of the word “Christ”<\/span> in the letter. Paul is going to use this term a lot in the rest of the letter (25\/26 times), as well as “Lord”<\/span><\/em> (7 times), unsurprising since there appear to have been elements within Colossae who questioned the status of Jesus. Paul speaks 13 times about the union “in Christ”<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.<\/span><\/p>\n

Typical Pauline greeting.\u00a0Grace is a Greek concept and peace (shalom) is a Hebrew one.<\/p>\n

Paul Thanks God for the Colossians<\/span><\/h3>\n

3\u00a0We always thank God,…<\/span><\/p>\n

And so begins a prayer of thanksgiving, a standard convention in ancient letters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

…the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, …<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though Paul hasn’t physically met them, he continually prays for the congregation. He later asks them to do the same for him (4:3<\/a>).<\/p>\n

…4\u00a0because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have for all the saints,\u00a05\u00a0because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.<\/span><\/p>\n

The faith of the Colossians is well known, as well as their love for the rest of the Church.<\/p>\n

Paul mentions here the three Theological Virtues<\/a>: “faith…love….hope”<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel\u00a06\u00a0which has come to you, …<\/span><\/p>\n

When the gospel is preached ignorance and error are repelled.<\/p>\n

…as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing\u2014…<\/span><\/p>\n

The same gospel which the Colossians heard is also spreading throughout the rest of the Roman empire. Paul uses hyperbole of “the whole world”<\/span> to indicate the rapid spread of the faith since Pentecost thirty years earlier.<\/p>\n

It is quite likely that Paul is mentioning this specifically to prepare his readers for his comments about those in Colossae who are preaching hidden truths, a kind of proto-gnosticism.<\/p>\n

…so among yourselves, from the day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth,\u00a07\u00a0as you learned it from Ep\u2032aphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on our[a<\/span><\/a>]\u00a0behalf\u00a08\u00a0and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Colossian congregation was founded by Epaphras, a native of Colossae. Epaphras also evangelized the neighbouring cities too (4:12-13<\/a>).<\/p>\n

9\u00a0And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, …<\/span><\/p>\n

Ever since Paul heard of the Church in Colossae he has prayed for them.<\/p>\n

.<\/span>..asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,10\u00a0to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul wants them to grow and lead fruitful Christian lives<\/p>\n

…11\u00a0May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,\u00a012\u00a0giving thanks to the Father, …<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul wants them to be strengthened by God.<\/p>\n

…who has qualified us\u00a0to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.\u00a013\u00a0He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,\u00a014\u00a0in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.<\/span><\/p>\n

We thank God because\u00a0He<\/strong> is the one who has made us worthy by the grace of divine adoption, forgiving our sins, bringing us from darkness to light, reception into the Kingdom, the family of God, the life of the Trinity.<\/p>\n

The Supremacy of Christ<\/span><\/h3>\n

Paul now turns to speak about Christ. Again, this is most likely done deliberately to prepare his readers for what he’ll address later.\u00a0Verses 15-20 are most likely words to an early Christian hymn. It speaks of both Jesus as creator and redeemer.<\/p>\n

15\u00a0He is the image of the invisible God, …<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul says that, through the incarnation, we have a visible image (eikon<\/em><\/span>) of God.<\/p>\n

…the first-born\u00a0of all creation; …<\/span><\/p>\n

The phrase “first-born”<\/em><\/span>\u00a0is a term which refers to the eldest child. As such, Jesus is heir to the entire cosmos.<\/p>\n

…16\u00a0for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, …\u00a0\u2014all things were created through him and for him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Christ is the creator (something restricted to Yahweh in the Old Testament).<\/p>\n

…visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities…<\/span><\/p>\n

These refer to differing classes of spiritual beings (both angelic and fallen). The different choirs of angels are as follows:<\/p>\n

Level 1. Seraphim, Cherubim & Thrones
\nLevel 2. Dominions, Authorities & Powers
\nLevel 3. Rules, Archangels & Common Angels<\/p>\n

This is significant given what Paul will later say about worship of angels.<\/p>\n

17\u00a0He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Christ both creates and sustains.<\/p>\n

18\u00a0He is the head of the body, the church;…<\/span><\/p>\n

He is the head of the Church, the body. By “head”<\/span>, Paul means that \u00a0that he directs the “body”<\/span>. The use of head\/body indicates that the two share the same life.<\/p>\n

…he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he\u00a0might be pre-eminent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Christ was the first to be raised from the dead.<\/p>\n

19\u00a0For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, …<\/span><\/p>\n

Christ has the fullness of divine life. This is one of the clearest statements of Christ’s divinity in the New Testament.<\/p>\n

… 20\u00a0and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.<\/span><\/p>\n

Christ came to reconcile all things, both the relationship between man and God, as well as harmony within mankind. This is a reversal of the affects of Adam’s rebellion.<\/p>\n

21\u00a0And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,\u00a022\u00a0he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, ….<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul speaks about the former life of the Colossians prior to coming to faith and the transformative impact of Christ.<\/p>\n

… 23\u00a0provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, …<\/span><\/p>\n

The condition.<\/p>\n

…which has been preached to every creature under heaven, …<\/span><\/p>\n

An exaggeration, but describes the missionary commission of Christ.<\/p>\n

This is a preparatory statement for what Paul will say later about “secret knowledge”.<\/p>\n

…and of which I, Paul, became a minister.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul was appointed by God to be an apostle.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s Interest in the Colossians<\/span><\/h3>\n

24\u00a0Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking\u00a0in Christ\u2019s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, …<\/span><\/p>\n

Powerful statement about the unity of Christ and the Church. Paul had suffered much for the gospel (2 Corinthians 11:23-29<\/a>). Regardless of state of life, all Christians will undergo the trials of life which may be united to Christ.<\/p>\n

…25\u00a0of which I became a minister according to the divine office which was given to me for you, …<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul now speaks about his own calling…<\/p>\n

…to make the word of God fully known,\u00a026\u00a0the mystery hidden for ages and generations\u00a0but now made manifest to his saints.\u00a027\u00a0To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The plan of salvation – the coming of Christ and the inclusion of the Gentiles. The use of later section regarding “secret knowledge”, it is significant that Paul speaks about “mystery”<\/span> that has been “[made] known”<\/span>.<\/p>\n

The Gentiles participate fully in the riches of God. Again, this is a preparatory statement for what will come later concerning Judaizing.<\/p>\n

28\u00a0Him we proclaim, …<\/span><\/p>\n

Christ is the main content of the preaching of the Gospel.<\/p>\n

…warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ.\u00a029\u00a0For this I toil, striving with all the energy which he mightily inspires within me.<\/span><\/p>\n

As in Paul’s prayer, he expresses his desire to bring the Colossians to maturity.<\/p>\n

Back to index<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Salutation 1\u00a0Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, The letter follows a traditional format, with the sender identifying himself first. The sender identifies himself as St. Paul and his co-sender as St. Timothy (Acts 16:1-3). Timothy is noted as being the coauthor of many of Paul’s letters (2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 &<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":23494,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-23498","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23498"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52003,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23498\/revisions\/52003"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}