Colossians

Pause for a Mid-Course Assessment

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Yesterday’s post was the twelfth in this Bible study series on Colossians. I am pausing here today to make some comments and to solicit yours. It’s time for a mid-course assessment. First, some observations: My readership has plummeted. I don’t think you can gain access to my “site stats,” but during this series my daily average readership has been just slightly over the average during periods in which I have not posted at all. Ouch. My original readership was born out of my accounts (starting in 2011) of some rather intense activity within the realm of the PC(USA), when I […]

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Colossians 1:23b–29: Christ in You, the Hope of Glory

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I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. 24I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the

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Colossians 1:21-23: If Thinking Leads to Doing, Where Are We Headed?

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As we continue our study of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we are struck with the contrasts he so vividly paints. In today’s passage, Paul connects the dots between the glorious accomplishments of the Lord Jesus Christ and us (all) who were alienated and hostile to God’s intents and purposes. 21And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— 23provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the

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Colossians 1:18–20: Jesus Christ the Lord of Redemption

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In my last post, we contemplated the wonders of Jesus Christ, the very One who has known and loved us, as present and active at the creation. Thinking along these lines might be like realizing that someone you have known for years as, say, “Janie’s mom” was actually quite famous in a former life. In our relationship with Jesus, I fear that our familiarity with him may have caused us to forget the truly awesome role he has played in everything good, life-giving, and creative. He is not one among many, as perhaps the Colossians believed; and he is not

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Colossians 1:15-17: Jesus the Lord over All Creation

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The high point of Paul’s presentation of God now moves from the Father (vs. 12) to the Son (vs. 13b) who, so far, is identified as the source of our redemption and the forgiveness of sins (vs. 14). What follows is a well-constructed, eloquent statement of the supremacy of Christ over creation and his unique preeminence as the world’s only redeemer. 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have

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Colossians 1:12-14: The De-Churched Should Expect a Transfer

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We move on to the extension of Paul’s prayer, which in essence is a plea for knowledge of God’s will and the strength to carry it out. What follows is a riff (that goes through verse 23) on how that knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and strength was made available to us and by whom: 11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

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Colossians 1:11–12a: A Prayer for Strength and Endurance for the Journey

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11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, . . . Paul’s prayer for the good folks at the Colossae church continues with a run-on sentence we are unpacking phrase by phrase. Just a little textual note here: Early New Testament manuscripts carry few punctuation marks, so sometimes we can’t really tell where one sentence ends and another begins. I have personally seen the Codex Sinaiticus at the British Museum; not only is there no punctuation

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Colossians 1:9b-10: Knowing in Order to Act Wisely

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9. . . asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. Today in our continuing study of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we are tarrying a bit around verses 1:9-10 in order to unpack one of the apostle’s cascading sentences. Yesterday I mentioned that the church so easily falls into a pattern that yields bitterness and stagnates growth. This

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Colossians 1:9-11: A Productive Prayer for the Sojourner

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9. . . asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. Parents encourage their emerging adult children with “You’ll know what to do,” but those young adults never grow old enough to know precisely what course to take any given moment. I have been a legal adult now for 43.5 years, and sometimes I still feel like I’m a

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Colossians 1:9–14: A Prayer Everyone Needs

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9For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has

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