Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, a and Timothy b our brother:
2 To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers and sisters.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
Thanksgiving
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, c the gospel 6 that has come to you. It is bearing fruit d and growing all over the world, e just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate f God’s grace. ,g 7 You learned this from Epaphras, h our dearly loved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ i on your behalf, 8 and he has told us about your love in the Spirit. j
Prayer for Spiritual Growth
9 For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking k that you may be filled with the knowledge l of his will m in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work n and growing in the knowledge of God, o 11 being strengthened p with all power, q according to his glorious r might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. s 13 He has rescued t us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom u of the Son v he loves. w 14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Centrality of Christ
15 He is the image of the invisible God, x
the firstborn over all creation. y
16 For everything was created by him, z
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through him and for him. a
17 He is before all things, b
and by him all things c hold together.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning, d
the firstborn from the dead, e
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.
19 For God was pleased to have
all his fullness f dwell in him, g
20 and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace h
through his blood, i shed on the cross. ,j
21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds expressed in your evil actions. 22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, k to present you holy, faultless, l and blameless before him m— 23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith n and are not shifted away from the hope o of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation p under heaven, q and I, Paul, r have become a servant of it.
Paul’s Ministry
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings s for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, t that is, the church. 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ u in you, the hope v of glory. 28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 I labor for this, striving w with his strength that works powerfully in me. x
1. GREETINGS FROM PAUL AND TIMOTHY TO THE COLOSSIANS (1:1–2)
1:3–6. First establishing the Colossians’ faith and love in Christ (1:4), Paul then adds another of his favorite terms—“hope” (1:5; see 1 Co 13:13; 1 Th 1:3; 5:8). The terms “faith,” “love,” and “hope” are dynamic and active for Paul (see also 1 Th 1:3). Faith is rooted in Christ; it involves personal trust, and it acts based on that trust. Love is a commitment to the well-being of all believers and then to the world. Hope is not merely hopefulness but the clear vision of that which is hoped for.
1:7–12. Paul offers high praise to Epaphras, a fellow worker with Paul who faithfully presented the gospel of Christ to the Colossians (1:7). Epaphras is with Paul when he writes the letter. In Phm 23 (written at the same time as Colossians), he is identified as Paul’s fellow prisoner (cf. Col 4:10; Rm 16:7). This is probably not an honorific title, and it likely indicates that while Paul wrote Philemon, Epaphras stayed with him in prison.
A. The Father rescues his people (1:13–14). Paul explains how the church’s rightful inheritance of God’s kingdom (1:12) has been accomplished. (On the kingdom of God in Paul, see also Rm 14:17; 1 Co 4:20; 6:9; 15:24–28.) The Colossians had lived in darkness—that is, in sinfulness—but God rescued them through his beloved Son, and now they are in the light (1:13; cf. Lk 16:8; Jn 12:36; 1 Th 5:15). Paul describes forgiveness in terms of release from captivity (1:14), a theme he will develop more fully later in the argument, when he speaks of Christ’s overcoming the powers and authorities (1:16; 2:10, 15).
1:15. In declaring that Christ is the image of the invisible God, Paul asserts that pagan idols are not representative of God, for God is invisible, except through the Son (see Jn 1:18). Moreover, as the image of God, Christ reflects the Godhead in its divine nature. Christ is “the firstborn,” which means that Christ is the exalted preexistent one who was with God at creation, though he was not in his human form. These key ideas play out in 3:9–10, where Paul admonishes the Colossians to live in their new self, which is “being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.”
1:16–17. Christ is the means through which creation was made and is sustained. In Christ all things were created, including anything, seen or unseen, that claims ultimate authority or precedence in a believer’s life—anything that is feared or honored above Christ (1:16). Christ being the source of all things, Paul concludes that all things are held together and function for Christ (1:17).
1:18. The fact that Christ is preeminent over creation has consequences for humanity. Specifically, Christ is the head (Gk kephalē) of the church, which Paul identifies as his body. And Christ is the beginning (Gk archē). Both of the terms in Greek carry the sense of source, creative initiative, or first principle as well as leader. Paul may be drawing on all these nuances—Christ is the source, the leader, and the mind of the church. It is Christ’s resurrection that secures his supremacy. Christ has always had preeminence in principle, but the resurrection made that supremacy actual in time by defeating sin and death on the cross and in the grave. The reward is not only authority over all things but also the resurrection of his body (literally and figuratively as the church).
1:19–20. The purpose behind Christ’s death and resurrection, as 1:20 makes clear, is to reconcile all things to God. Christ is fully God (1:19) and as such is able to carry out the redemption plan, which redeems and reconciles all creation—his creation—to God. The cross made peace between God and his creation; it reconciled all things, which suggests that its power was not limited to human sin but covered the ramifications of sin throughout all creation. This reconciliation is available to all by faith. Paul is not claiming a universal salvation here; rather, he is emphasizing the scope of Christ’s redemptive work—all people, and indeed all creation, can be reconciled, through faith (1:23; see also 2 Co 5:10). [The Colossians and the Hymn to Christ]
C. The Colossians stand firm in faith and hope (1:21–23). After finishing the hymn of praise to Christ, Paul now presents the implications of his Christology. In the past the Colossians were alienated from God (1:21). From God’s perspective, the situation that created their alienation has been fixed on the cross (1:22). Does Paul imply that this “fix” is conditional, when he adds “if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith” (1:23)? The point Paul makes is that the Colossians must stay the course, both in mind and in behavior. They must remain connected to the head, Christ, for the body cannot live without its head. Paul gives no hint that he is worried they might not reach this goal.
D. The example of Paul’s suffering (1:24–27). 1:24. Paul declared himself a servant of Christ in 1:23 and in the next few verses fleshes out what that means in terms of Christ’s sacrifice and the growth of the church. He uses terms such as “flesh” and “body” that carry a range of meanings. In 1:22, Paul declared that Christ conquered sin with his death (on the cross) in his fleshly body, and in 1:24, Paul expands the connotations of Christ’s body to include the church. He has both meanings in mind when he declares that he suffers physically (in his flesh) for the church, following Christ’s example for the church (metaphorically, Christ’s body).
1:25–27. Paul has described the gospel’s power as bearing fruit and expanding across the whole world (1:6, 23). Now he adds a new descriptor to the word of God—mystery (1:25–26), which refers to the new activity of God in Christ in creating a new people for God (see also Rm 11:25–26; 16:25–26; Eph 3:3–6). The secret revealed is that Gentiles are full members of God’s family through Christ (1:27). Now Jews and Gentiles equally partake of the riches of God through faith in Christ. The mystery is Christ himself (2:2) and his work on the cross creating a body (church) for himself.
A. Paul contends for the Colossians (1:28–2:7). 1:28. Paul reveals his overriding concern for the Colossians—namely, their maturity in Christ, which consists of discerning true wisdom (found in Christ alone) and then living that truth consistently to the end. The term “mature” carries the connotation of completeness and realized potential.
1:29–2:5. Twice Paul uses an athletic image to stress his fervent efforts on behalf of the Colossians and their neighbors in Laodicea. He is “striving” (1:29) and “struggling” (2:1) for them, using terminology that draws on the rich imagery of the Roman stadium games. Paul invites them to compare his diligence in serving the church with that of athletes who train fiercely for clan honor and pride.