Colossians 1:1-8
New King James Version (NKJV)
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Their Faith in Christ
3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
My Thoughts:
- Let’s start with (vv. 3, 4) we read “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;”
- Paul addresses the letter to Christians in Colosse and it seems that he has never met them, this church was founded by Epaphras, a man that Paul a great respect for (Phil. 2;25-30; 4:18 Philem 23; Acts 19:1-41).
- Paul has heard of their acceptance of the gospels that Epaphras has given them and Paul was very pleased about their growth in the Christian faith.
- In (v. 6) we read “which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;”
- Paul is telling then that just as the gospel of Jesus Christ has come to them so has it been sent to the world.
- “Bring fruit forth” being a Christian is like a fruit tree, as long as the fruit tree lives it will surly bring fruit. Being a Christian is just like that as long as the Christian grows and lives in the truth, he too will bring forth good fruits.
- Let’s finish with (vv.7, 8) “as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.”
- It seems that Paul has learned of them through Epaphras, maybe by means of a report to Paul or by word of mouth, but either way Paul rejoices in the news.
Thought of the Day
AMONG the safety rules mountain climbers must remember as they scale rocky cliffs is this: Keep three points on the rock. In other words, before you move a foot, make sure the other foot and both hands are firmly positioned on solid rock. And if you are going to move a hand, make sure your other hand and both feet are securely placed.
That’s a good safety tip for our spiritual lives as well. To keep from falling, we need to keep a grip on three rock-solid truths: grace, mercy, and peace, the words the apostle Paul often used to begin or conclude his letters.
The first message I heard Dr. M. R. DeHaan preach was part of a series of lessons called “Three Sisters of Salvation,” which were about these three words. I made up my mind then that I would make these three qualities part of my life.
We are given our salvation as a gift of God’s grace. His wrath is withheld from us because of His abundant mercy. And His peace enables us to stand in quiet confidence when the howling gales of adversity swirl around us. They will give us security during our spiritual mountain climbing experience.
We can appropriate these gifts through prayer and obedience. In the storms of temptation we will not fall if we always keep three points on the Rock. —D C Egner
Personal Reflection and Discussion
- What do think Paul meant in (v. 5)?
- Is Paul talking of the Holy Spirit or just the human Spirit in (v.8)
- What other things do you see in the text?
Prayer Activities
- Call your Partner and discuss this devotional.
- Continue to have a prayer list and continue to praying for them.
- Pray with them and ask for the following;
- For God to help you find all people find the grace of Jesus Christ.
- For God to strengthen our fruits of faith.
- For the individuals on your pray list.
- Let’s use (Psalms 97) for today’s prayer verse.
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Paul often uses the three words in verse 5. Faith in Christ is the heart of the message. The colossian peoples faith was grounded in the nature and work of Jesus, Love comes from the faith and shows how much faith they have. Hope is the result of faith. Without hope, there is nothing. As for verse 8,Paul says Epaphras told of the colossians love IN the Spirit. Had he said OF the Spirit it would have changed the whole statement. To me, love in the Spirit says the the colossians were very devout and showed the love of the Father in all that they did. They must have tried to live it not just preach it. Also, I had never realized that Paul did not know these people personally. This says a lot too of the work of Epaphras.
Rosi, I like your three points. I could see hope= peace which is founded in hope, love=mercy as result of the the Love recieved, and faith=grace in a walk confident with trust in God, the Lover of our soul. Either way you look at it’s important that the climber keeps his eyes upward on his goal, and not look down. Don’t look down….it could be the cause of our fall. Fear and confussion could handicap us and disheart us. We need to be focused and excited (on fire).
We should never forget that being a Christian is a growing experience, and it will not be until the day of Christ’s return will we reach our goal.
I have been asked; how can you have faith in someone you have never seen? And I tell them I see him every day. The other thing I tell them is “only in a world were faith is difficult can faith exist”