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Colossians 1 — Commentary 4

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Benson Commentary Colossians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, Colossians 1:1-2 . Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ — To convince the Colossians that all the things contained in this epistle were dictated by the Spirit of God, and therefore were at once infallibly true, and deeply important, the apostle begins with assuring them both that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ, and that he was made such by the will of God the Father, an honour which none of the false teachers could claim. And Timothy our brother — “Timothy’s early piety, his excellent endowments, his approved faithfulness, and his affectionate labours in the gospel with the apostle, well known to most, if not to all, the Gentile churches, rendering him highly worthy of their regard, Paul allowed him to join in writing several of the letters which he addressed to these churches: not, however, to add any thing to his own authority, but rather to add to Timothy’s influence; for which purpose also he calls him here his brother, rather than his son.” — Macknight. To the saints and faithful brethren — The word saints expresses their union with God, and brethren, their union with their fellow-Christians. Colossians 1:2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Colossians 1:3-8 . We give thanks, &c. — See on Romans 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 — ?????????? , having heard; of your faith, &c. — See on Ephesians 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, ( Colossians 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. Colossians 1:4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, Colossians 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Colossians 1:6 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: Colossians 1:7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; Colossians 1:8 Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. Colossians 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it , do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; Colossians 1:9-11 . For this cause — The report of your faith and love; we do not cease to pray for you — We fail not to remember you in all our prayers. This was mentioned in general, Colossians 1:3 , but now more particularly; that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will — That is, his revealed will concerning the salvation of mankind by faith, ( Ephesians 1:5 ; Ephesians 1:9 ; Ephesians 1:11 ,) or the gospel of Christ, — the truths declared, the blessings offered, and the duties enjoined in it; in all wisdom — That ye may have just, clear, and full views of every part of it; and spiritual understanding — That understanding which proceeds from the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, spoken of Ephesians 1:17 , (where see the notes,) and is a spiritual and experimental, and therefore a practical knowledge of divine things, very different from that mere speculative and notional knowledge of them with which many rest satisfied, though it neither changes their hearts nor governs their lives. That — Knowing his will, and complying with it; you may walk worthy of the Lord — May conduct yourselves in a manner suitable to his nature and attributes, the relation in which you stand to him, the benefits you have received from him, and the profession you make of believing in, loving, and serving him; unto all pleasing — So as actually to please him in all things. The apostle mentions next four particulars included in this walking worthy of the Lord. 1st, The being fruitful in every good work — Or embracing all opportunities of doing good to the bodies and souls of men, according to our ability, and thus showing our faith continually by our works, and our love by our obedience, James 2:14-18 ; 1 John 3:17 . And, 2d, Increasing in the knowledge — The experimental practical knowledge; of God — That is, while we are diligent in performing good works outwardly, taking care that we increase in vital religion inwardly, even in a participation of the divine nature, and a conformity to the divine image. 3d, Receiving and bearing with patience, long-suffering, and joyfulness — All the sufferings which come upon us in the course of divine providence: in other words, that we sustain, with entire resignation to, and acquiescence in, the divine will, and with a calm and tranquil mind, all the chastisements of our heavenly Father, knowing they are for our profit; and all the trials by which it is his will our faith and other graces should be exercised, and all the purifying fires through which he is pleased to lead us; that we patiently bear with the infirmities, failings, and faults of our fellow-creatures, saints or sinners, and receive even their injuries and provocations without resentment; and that in the midst of all these apparent evils, we rejoice on account of the present blessings we possess, and especially in the knowledge we have that all these, and such like things, however afflictive to flesh and blood, shall infallibly work together for our good, while we love God. Well might the apostle signify, that, in order to all this, we need to be strengthened with all might, or very mightily strengthened, according to God’s glorious power, always ready to be exerted in behalf of his suffering people. The fourth particular mentioned by the apostle, as included in walking worthy of the Lord, is continual gratitude for the blessings enumerated in the three next verses; blessings which whosoever enjoys, has unspeakable reason for thankfulness, whatever his state or condition may be as to the present world. Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Colossians 1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Colossians 1:12-14 . Giving thanks unto the Father — Of all mercy and grace, who, by justifying and sanctifying us through faith in his Son, and the influence of his Spirit, hath not only entitled us to, but wrought in us, a meetness, that is, an increasing meetness, for the inheritance of the saints in light — For, being in Christ, we are, in a measure at least, new creatures, old things being passed away, and all things, in a great degree, become new, 2 Corinthians 5:17 ; where see the note. Who — In order to this meetness for the heavenly inheritance; hath delivered us from the power of darkness — That is, the power of the prince of darkness, and all his infernal legions, called, ( Ephesians 6:12 ,) the rulers of the darkness of this world; and we are delivered from their power when, being rescued from that state of ignorance and error, of impenitence and unbelief, in which we naturally lie involved, we are brought to know the truth, and the truth makes us free from the guilt and power of sin, John 8:32 ; Romans 8:2 . Some commentators have supposed, that by the power of darkness here, the apostle principally, if not only, intended that power which Satan had over the heathen world, to keep them in their various idolatries and other vicious practices, and that the apostle speaks of himself as if he had been one of the Gentile converts. But we have great reason to believe that when divine grace opened the eyes of his understanding, and made him sensible what he had been in his Pharisaical state, he saw himself to have been under the power of darkness, as Christ represents those of the Jews to have been, who, influenced by the spirit of darkness, were combined against him, Luke 22:53 ; as indeed all, even the professors of Christianity are, while under the power of known sin, John 8:34 ; John 8:44 ; 1 John 3:8 . None can doubt, however, that, as Dr. Doddridge observes, “the ignorance and sin, confusion and misery, which reigned in the Gentile world, were also in the apostle’s thoughts when he used this expression.” And hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son — The kingdom of grace, preparatory to that of glory. Of the Father’s dear or beloved Son, the apostle proceeds to speak in the 15th and following verses. In whom we have redemption through his blood — See on Ephesians 1:7 , where the contents of this verse are fully explained. The subject is treated of also from the middle of the 18th verse of this chapter. The reader will observe, that the work of redemption and salvation is here spoken of in an inverted order. The natural order is this: 1st, We have redemption through the blood of Christ; 2d, In consequence of this, and by repentance and faith therein, we have the forgiveness of sins; 3d, Being forgiven, and taken into favour with God, we are delivered, by the influence of his word and Spirit, from the power of Satan and of sin, and made the loyal subjects of Christ’s kingdom. 4th, Being thus justified and adopted into God’s family, we are also renewed in the spirit of our minds, and, in a measure at least, sanctified, and made meet for the heavenly inheritance, as is observed in Colossians 1:12 . Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: Colossians 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: Colossians 1:15 . Who — That is, the Son of God, in whose blood we have redemption; is the image of the invisible God — By the description here given of the glory of Christ, and his pre-eminence over the highest angels, the apostle lays a foundation for the reproof of all worshippers of angels. The Socinians contend that Christ is here styled the image of the invisible God, merely because he made known to men the will of God; and that in this sense only Christ said to Philip, ( John 14:9 ,) He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. But it should be considered, that in other passages in Scripture, the word image denotes likeness, if not sameness of nature and properties, as 1 Corinthians 15:49 : As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Certainly, as Dr. Whitby observes, the more natural import of the phrase is, that Christ is therefore called the image of God, because he made him, who is invisible in his essence, conspicuous to us by the divine works he wrought, they being such as plainly showed that in him dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily; for the invisible God can only be seen by the effects of his power, wisdom, and goodness, and of his other attributes. He who, by the works both of the old and new creation, hath given such clear demonstrations of the divine power, wisdom, and goodness, is, upon this account, as much the image of God as it is possible any person or thing should be; and to this sense the expression seems here necessarily restrained by the connective particle ??? , for. He is the image of God, for by him all things were created. Moreover, this passage in exactly parallel to that in the beginning of the epistle to the Hebrews, as will evidently appear on a comparison of the two. Here he is said to be the image of God; there, the brightnes s ( ????????? , effulgence ) of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person, or substance, as ?????????? more properly signifies: here he is called the firstborn, or Lord, of every creature; there, the heir of all things: here it is said that all things were created by him; there, that he made the worlds: here, that by him all things do consist; and there, that he upholdeth all things by the word of his power. Now, that he is there styled the image of God’s glory, and the express image or character of his person, or substance, by reason of that divine power, wisdom, and majesty, which shone forth in his actions, some Socinians are forced to confess. It is not, therefore, to be doubted that he is here styled the image of God in the same sense. And it is highly probable that he is called the image of the invisible God, as appearing to the patriarchs, and representing to them the Father, who dwells in light inaccessible; ( 1 Timothy 6:16 ;) according to what is frequently observed by the ante-Nicene fathers, that God the Father being invisible, and one whom no man hath seen or can see, appeared to the patriarchs by his Son. Add to this, that the Son is likewise called the image of God, because he manifested the divine perfections in the flesh visibly, by that fulness of grace and truth which shone in him during his abode on earth. This St. John’s words evidently imply: No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. See the notes on John 1:14 ; John 1:18 . In which sense Christ’s words to Philip also ( John 14:9 ) are to be understood: He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, as our Lord manifestly shows, when he adds, I am in the Father, and the Father in me: the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. And 2 Corinthians 4:4 , he is plainly styled the image of God, for the like reason, because ( Colossians 1:6 ) the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is reflected from his face, or person, as ??????? signifies. See the notes there. The firstborn — Or first-begotten, ( ?????????? ,) of every creature — Or rather, of the whole creation, as ???? ?????? is translated Romans 8:22 , existing before it, and the heir and Lord of it. “According to the Arians, the firstborn of the whole creation is the first-made creature. But the reason advanced to prove the Son the firstborn of the whole creation overturns that sense of this passage; for surely the Son’s creating all things doth not prove him to be the first-made creature; unless his power of creating all things originated from his being the first-made creature; which no one will affirm. As little does the Son’s creating all things prove that he created himself. Yet these absurdities will be established by the apostle’s reasoning, if the firstborn of the whole creation signifies the first-made creature. But it is proper to observe, that ?????????? , the firstborn, or first-begotten, in this passage, may signify the heir, or Lord: of the whole creation. For, anciently, the firstborn was entitled to possess his father’s estate, 2 Chronicles 21:3 . The firstborn was likewise lord of his brethren, who were all his servants. This appears from what Isaac said to Esau, after he had bestowed the rights of primogeniture on Jacob, Genesis 27:37 . Hence, among the Hebrews and other nations, firstborn, heir, and lord, were synonymous terms. See Galatians 4:1 . According to this interpretation of the terms firstborn and heir, the apostle’s reasoning is perfectly just: for the creation of all things, ( Colossians 1:16 ,) and the making of the world, ( Hebrews 1:3 ,) through the Son, is a direct proof that he is the firstborn, heir, or Lord of the whole.” See Whitby and Macknight. Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: Colossians 1:16-17 . For by him were all things created, &c. — The casual particle ??? , for, or because, with which this verse begins, refers to both parts of the preceding verse. The Son is the image of the invisible God, as well as the firstborn of the whole creation, because by him were all things created. See the note on John 1:3 , where the creation of all things by Christ, God’s eternal Word and Son, is explained at large. That are in heaven — And heaven itself; but the inhabitants are named, because more noble than the house; and earth; visible — The material fabric of this world, with all its inhabitants, called, ( Hebrews 11:3 ,) ?? ????????? , the things which are seen, including the visible splendour of the celestial luminaries, the sun, moon, and stars, even all the hosts of these lower heavens; and invisible — The different orders of angels, both those that stood and those that afterward fell; called, in the following part of the verse, thrones, dominions, &c. Because, in after times, false teachers would arise and affirm, some, that the world was made by angels; others, that it was made by an evil principle; the apostle may have been directed by the Spirit to declare, in the most express manner, that all things were created by God’s beloved Son, that the sincere might be preserved from these pernicious errors. All things were created by him and for him — They are the productions of his unsearchable wisdom and almighty power, and were made by him, that he might possess and govern them, and be glorified in and by them. To interpret this, as the Socinians do, of the new creation in a spiritual sense, is so unnatural, that one could hardly believe, if the evidence were not so undeniably strong, that any set of learned commentators could have imbibed such an opinion. And he is before all things — In the duration, as well as in the dignity of his nature; or, as Micah expresses it, ( Micah 5:2 ,) he is from everlasting; and by him all things consist — Or subsist in that harmonious order of being which renders this universal system one beautiful whole. For the original expression, ????????? , not only implies that he sustains all things in being, or, as it is expressed Hebrews 1:3 , upholdeth all things by the word of his power, but that all things were, and are, compacted in him into one system, and preserved therein; and that he is the cement, as well as support, of the universe. This description of the Son, as the first Maker and continual Preserver of all creatures in earth and heaven, even of the various orders of angelic beings, was most pertinent to his purpose of showing the Colossians the folly of the false teachers who were endeavouring to seduce them from their reliance on Christ for salvation, and to persuade them to confide in and worship angels, as more powerful mediators with God than his own beloved Son, by whom these angels were all created. Colossians 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Colossians 1:18-19 . And he is the head of the body, the church — The apostle having displayed the greatness of the Son, as Creator of all things, visible and invisible, in the heavens and upon the earth, proceeds, in this clause, to display his glory as head of the church, which is called the body, and his body, to intimate, that as the human body is influenced, directed, and governed by the head, so the church universal, including the whole body of believers, is influenced, directed, and governed by Christ its head. Who is — The repetition of the expression (see Colossians 1:15 ) points out the entrance on a new paragraph; the beginning — ???? , the principle, or cause of all things; absolutely the Eternal. The Greek philosophers expressed the first cause, or efficient principle of things, by this word ???? , beginning. In this sense Christ called himself ( Revelation 3:14 ) ???? ??? ??????? ??? ???? , the first cause of the creation of God. But though it be a high honour to the church that he is its head who is the first cause of all things, yet, as the apostle in this verse is speaking of Christ as the head of the church, it is probable that he is here called the first cause, or beginning, in respect of it, which began immediately after the fall, in the view of Christ’s coming into the world to perform that one great act of obedience, by which the evil consequences of Adam’s one act of disobedience were to be remedied. The firstborn, or first-begotten, from the dead — From whose resurrection flows all the life, spiritual and eternal, of all his brethren. Christ is called the firstborn, from, or of, (as ?? may be here rendered,) the dead, both because he was the first who ever rose to an immortal life, and because he is the Lord of all the dead, (as well as the living, Romans 14:9 ,) and will raise them at the last day. That in all things — Whether of nature or grace; he might have the pre-eminence — Suitable to the infinitely superior dignity of his nature above all created beings. For it pleased the Father — “The words, the Father, are not in the original; but they are very properly supplied by our translators. For, as the expression is elliptical, it must be completed, either as our translators have done, or as others propose, by adding the word him: It hath pleased him; namely, Christ. But, not to mention the confusion which this method of supplying the ellipsis occasions in the apostle’s discourse, it represents the Son as taking the fulness of perfection and government to himself, independently of the will of the Father; contrary to the whole tenor of Scripture, in which the Son is said, in the affair of our salvation, to act in subordination to the will of his Father.” — Macknight. That in him should all fulness dwell — All fulness of truth and grace, of wisdom, power, and love, and all divine perfections; or, as the expression may chiefly mean, all fulness of gifts and graces, to supply the wants of his church. That this fulness should reside in him constantly, and be always ready to supply the wants of those that in faith and prayer apply to him. Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; Colossians 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say , whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. Colossians 1:20 . And having made peace through the blood of the cross — The blood shed thereon, by which the design of the ceremonial law having been answered, the obligations of it were abolished, and the wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles broken down, in order to their being united in one church; by which blood of the cross also, the sins of men being expiated, peace is made between God and man; by him to reconcile all things unto himself, whether things in earth — Here the enmity began, therefore this is mentioned first; or things in heaven — Those who are now in paradise; the saints who died before Christ came. See notes on Ephesians 2:15-16 . Some commentators, under the expression things in heaven, suppose that the angels are included; therefore, instead of to reconcile all things to himself, Dr. Whitby reads, By him to make all things friendly in him, making peace between them by the blood of the cross; an interpretation which Doddridge thinks expresses “the true sense, and the only sense in which angels could be said to be reconciled; for if it were granted,” according to what some have maintained, “that the angels received confirming grace in Christ, they could not be said, upon that account, to be reconciled: but when a breach commenced between man and the blessed God, the angels, as faithful subjects, must join with him against the rebellious creature, and be ready to act as enemies to him, while he continued the enemy of God.” Macknight, who also thinks that the expression, things in heaven, includes angels, reads and paraphrases the clause, “By him to unite all things to him, whether they be men upon earth, or angels in heaven; that, being joined together in one body for the worship of God, they may be happy through all eternity by that union.” Colossians 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled Colossians 1:21-23 . And you — Colossians, in particular, with all other Gentiles; that were sometime — Greek, ???? , once, formerly; alienated — Estranged from the knowledge, love, and life of the one living and true God, (see note on Ephesians 4:18 ,) being destitute not only of all conformity to him, and union with him, but of all fear of him, and acquaintance with his nature and attributes; yea, and enemies — To him and to his worship and service; in your mind — Your understanding, judgment, will, and affections; by wicked works — Which at once manifested your inward enmity, and continually fed and increased it. Observe, reader, every violation of the divine law, every instance of disobedience to his commands, is an undeniable proof of enmity to him. This, however, is not the only evidence thereof: for, as he manifests his will by the dispensations of his providence, as well as by the precepts of his word, so far as we do not receive these dispensations, however afflictive, with resignation and patience, we manifest our enmity to him; as we do likewise, according to Romans 8:6-7 , (where see the note,) so far as we are carnally minded; that is, esteem, desire, and delight in visible and temporal, in preference to spiritual and eternal things; or set our affection on things beneath, instead of setting it on things above, and seek that happiness in the creature which ought to be sought, and certainly can only be found, in the Creator. Yet now hath he reconciled — To himself and to the society of his people. That is, he is both reconciled to you, having forgiven you all your trespasses, and also hath reconciled you, or removed your enmity, by shedding his love abroad in your hearts; in the body of his flesh — (Thus distinguished from his body the church,) namely, his entire manhood, offered up upon the cross for you; through death — Endured to expiate your guilt, and thereby both to render a holy and just God reconcileable, on the terms of repentance toward him, and faith in his Son, and to procure for you the Holy Spirit to work that repentance and faith in you, and give you such a display of God’s love to you as should win and engage your affections to him. See on Romans 5:10 ; to present you holy — Toward God, dedicated to him in heart and life, conformed to his image, and employed in his service; and unblameable — ??????? , spotless in yourselves; cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit; and unreproveable — With respect to your neighbour, cultivating truth in your words, and justice and mercy in your actions toward all men. If ye continue — That is, you will assuredly be so presented, if you continue in the faith, exercising living faith in Christ and his gospel; grounded and settled — ?????????????? ??? ??????? , placed on a good foundation, and firmly fixed upon it; and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel — Namely, that lively hope of eternal life, felicity, and glory, ( Titus 1:2 ; 1 Peter 1:3 ,) to which you were begotten again when made children of God by adoption and grace, Romans 8:17 . This is termed the hope of the gospel, because the gospel reveals that future and immortal state which is the great object of this hope, and shows us how we may secure a title to that state. Faith and hope are the principal means of our salvation, from first to last. By the former, we are not only justified, and made the children of God, ( Romans 3:28 ; Galatians 3:26 ,) but sanctified and saved eternally; ( Acts 26:18 ;) and by the latter, we have patience, gratitude, joy, purity, with a disposition to be zealous and diligent in the work of the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 1:3 ; 1 Peter 1:3 ; Romans 5:2 ; 1 John 3:3 ; 1 Corinthians 15:58 . It is therefore of absolute necessity, in order to our eternal salvation, that we should continue in the lively exercise of these graces. Which ye have heard — Even ye Gentiles; and which was preached — Or is already begun to be preached, by a special commission from God; to every creature which is under heaven — Being no longer confined to the Jews, but extended to all the different nations and languages of men; whereof — Of which gospel; I, Paul, am made a minister — By the singular mercy and grace of God. Colossians 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: Colossians 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Colossians 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Colossians 1:24-29 . Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you — Endured for your benefit, having been exposed to them in consequence of my preaching the gospel to you and other Gentiles; and fill up — That is, whereby I fill up; that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ — That which remains to be suffered by his members. These are termed the sufferings of Christ, 1st, Because the suffering of any member is the suffering of the whole, and of the head especially, which supplies strength, spirits, sense, and motion to all. 2d, Because they are for his sake, for the testimony of his truth. And these also are necessary for his body’s sake, which is the church — Not to reconcile it to God, which has been done by Christ’s sufferings, but for an example of patience to it, and for its further edification and establishment in grace. Whereof — Of which church; I am made a minister — Appointed to serve its best interests, and daily employed in doing so; according to the dispensation of God — Or the stewardship with which I am intrusted. See the same expression Ephesians 3:2 . Hence the apostle calls himself and his brethren apostles, ( 1 Corinthians 4:1 ,) ?????????? ????????? ???? , stewards of the mysteries of God; which is given to me for you — On your account, or for your benefit; to fulfil — Or, fully to preach, as ???????? seems here to signify. Thus, Romans 15:19 , ???????????? ??

Expositors

Expositor's Bible Commentary Colossians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, Chapter 1 THE WRITER AND THE READERS Colossians 1:1-2 (R.V.) We may say that each of Paul’s greater epistles has in it one salient thought. In that to the Romans, it is justification by faith; in Ephesians, it is the mystical union of Christ and His Church; in Philippians, it is the joy of Christian progress; in this epistle, it is the dignity and sole sufficiency of Jesus Christ as the Mediator and Head of all creation and of the Church. Such a thought is emphatically a lesson for the day. The Christ whom the world needs to have proclaimed in every deaf ear and lifted up before blind and reluctant eyes, is not merely the perfect man, nor only the meek sufferer, but the Source of creation and its Lord, Who from the beginning has been the life of all that has lived, and before the beginning was in the bosom of the Father. The shallow and starved religion which contents itself with mere humanitarian conceptions of Jesus of Nazareth needs to be deepened and filled out by these lofty truths before it can acquire solidity and steadfastness sufficient to be the unmoved foundation of sinful and mortal lives. The evangelistic teaching which concentrates exclusive attention on the cross as "the work of Christ," needs to be led to the contemplation of them, in order to understand the cross, and to have its mystery as well as its meaning declared. This letter itself dwells upon two applications of its principles to two classes of error which, in somewhat changed forms, exist now as then-the error of the ceremonialist, to whom religion was mainly a matter of ritual, and the error of the speculative thinker, to whom. the universe was filled with forces which left no room for the working of a personal Will. The vision of the living Christ Who fills all things, is held up before each of these two, as the antidote to his poison; and that same vision must be made clear today to the modern representatives of these ancient errors. If we are able to grasp with heart and mind the principles of this epistle for ourselves, we shall stand at the centre of things, seeing order where from any other position confusion only is apparent, and being at the point of rest instead of being hurried along by the wild whirl of conflicting opinions. I desire, therefore, to present the teachings of this great epistle in a series of expositions. Before advancing to the consideration of these verses, we must deal with one or two introductory matters, so as to get the frame and the background for the picture. (1) First, as to the Church of Colossae to which the letter is addressed. Perhaps too much has been made of late years of geographical and topographical elucidations of Paul’s epistles. A knowledge of the place to which a letter was sent cannot do much to help in understanding the letter, for local circumstances leave very faint traces, if any, on the Apostle’s writings. Here and there an allusion may be detected, or a metaphor may gain in point by such knowledge; but, for the most part, local colouring is entirely absent. Some slight indication, however, of the situation and circumstances of the Colossian Church may help to give vividness to our conceptions of the little community to which this rich treasure of truth was first entrusted. Colossae was a town in the heart of the modern Asia Minor, much decayed in Paul’s time from its earlier importance. It lay in a valley of Phrygia, on the banks of a small stream, the Lycus, down the course of which, at a distance of some ten miles or so, two very much more important cities fronted each other, Hierapolis on the north, and Laodicea on the south bank of the river. In all three cities were Christian Churches, as we know from this letter, one of which has attained the bad eminence of having become the type of tepid religion for all the world. How strange to think of the tiny community in a remote valley of Asia Minor, eighteen centuries since, thus gibbeted forever! These stray beams of light which fall upon the people in the New Testament, showing them fixed forever in one attitude, like a lightning flash in the darkness, are solemn precursors of the last Apocalypse, when all men shall be revealed in "the brightness of His coming." Paul does not seem to have been the founder of these Churches, or ever to have visited them at the date of this letter. That opinion is based on several of its characteristics, such, for instance, as the absence of any of those kindly greetings to individuals which in the Apostle’s other letters are so abundant, and reveal at once the warmth and the delicacy of his affection: and the allusions which occur more than once to his having only "heard" of their faith and love, and is strongly supported by the expression in the second chapter where he speaks of the conflict in spirit which he had for "you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh." Probably the teacher who planted the gospel at Colossae was that Epaphras, whose visit to Rome occasioned the letter, and who is referred to in verse 7 of this chapter ( Colossians 1:7 ) in terms which seem to suggest that he had first made known to them the fruit-producing "word of the truth of the gospel." (2) Note the occasion and subject of the letter. Paul is a prisoner, in a certain sense, in Rome; but the word prisoner conveys a false impression of the amount of restriction of personal liberty to which he was subjected. We know from the last words of the Acts of the Apostles, and from the Epistle to the Philippians, that his "imprisonment" did not in the least interfere with his liberty of preaching, nor with his intercourse with friends. Rather, in the view of the facilities it gave that by him "the preaching might be fully known," it may be regarded, as indeed the writer of the Acts seems to regard it, as the very climax and top stone of Paul’s work, wherewith his history may fitly end, leaving the champion of the gospel at the very heart of the world, with unhindered liberty to proclaim his message by the very throne of Caesar. He was sheltered rather than confined beneath the wing of the imperial eagle. His imprisonment, as we call it, was, at all events at first, detention in Rome under military supervision rather than incarceration. So to his lodgings in Rome there comes a brother from this decaying little town in the far off valley of the Lycus, Epaphras by name. Whether his errand was exclusively to consult Paul about the state of the Colossian Church, or whether some other business also had brought him to Rome, we do not know; at all events, he comes and brings with him bad news, which burdens Paul’s heart with solicitude for the little community, which had no remembrances of his own authoritative teaching to fall back upon. Many a night would he and Epaphras spend in deep converse on the matter, with the stolid Roman legionary, to whom Paul was chained, sitting wearily by, while they two eagerly talked. The tidings were that a strange disease, hatched in that hotbed of religious fancies, the dreamy East, was threatening the faith of the Colossian Christians. A peculiar form of heresy, singularly compounded of Jewish ritualism and Oriental mysticism-two elements as hard to blend in the foundation of a system as the heterogeneous iron and clay on which the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream stood unstably-had appeared among them, and though at present confined to a few, was being vigorously preached. The characteristic Eastern dogma, that matter is evil and the source of evil, which underlies so much Oriental religion, and crept in so early to corrupt Christianity, and crops up today in so many strange places and unexpected ways, had begun to infect them. The conclusion was quickly drawn: "Well, then, if matter be the source of all evil, then, of course, God and matter must be antagonistic," and so the creation and government of this material universe could not be supposed to have come directly from Him. The endeavour to keep the pure Divinity and the gross world as far apart as possible, while yet an intellectual necessity forbade the entire breaking of the bond between them, led to the busy working of the imagination, which spanned the void gulf between God Who is good, and matter which is evil, with a bridge of cobwebs-a chain of intermediate beings, emanations, abstractions, each approaching more nearly to the material than his precursor, till at last the intangible and infinite were confined and curdled into actual earthly matter, and the pure was darkened thereby into evil. Such notions, fantastic and remote from daily life as they look, really led by a very short cut to making wild work with the plainest moral teachings both of the natural conscience and of Christianity. For if matter be the source of all evil, then the fountain of each man’s sin is to be found, not in his own perverted will, but in his body, and the cure of it is to be reached, not by faith which plants a new life in a sinful spirit, but simply by ascetic mortification of the flesh. Strangely united with these mystical Eastern teachings, which might so easily be perverted to the coarsest sensuality, and had their heads in the clouds and their feet in the mud, were the narrowest doctrines of Jewish ritualism, insisting on circumcision, laws regulating food, the observance of feast days, and the whole cumbrous apparatus of a ceremonial religion. It is a monstrous combination, a cross between a Talmudical rabbi and a Buddhist priest, and yet it is not unnatural that, after soaring in these lofty regions of speculation where the air is too thin to support life, men should be glad to get hold of the externals of an elaborate ritual. It is not the first nor the last time that a misplaced philosophical religion has got close to a religion of outward observances, to keep it from shivering itself to death. Extremes meet. If you go far enough east, you are west. Such, generally speaking, was the error that was beginning to lift its head in Colossae. Religious fanaticism was at home in that country, from which, both in heathen and in Christian times, wild rites and notions emanated, and the Apostle might well dread, the effect of this new teaching, as of a spark on hay, on the excitable natures of the Colossian converts. Now we may say, "What does all this matter to us? We are in no danger of being haunted by the ghosts of these dead heresies." But the truth which Paul opposed to them is all-important for every age. It was simply the Person of Christ as the only manifestation of the Divine, the link between God and the universe, its Creator and Preserver, the Light and Life of men, the Lord and Inspirer of the Church, Christ has come, laying His hand upon both God and man, therefore there is no need nor place for a misty crowd of angelic beings or shadowy abstractions to bridge the gulf across which His incarnation flings its single solid arch. Christ has been bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, therefore that cannot be the source of evil in which the fulness of the Godhead has dwelt as in a shrine. Christ has come, the fountain of life and holiness, therefore there is no more place for ascetic mortifications on the one hand, nor for Jewish scrupulosities on the other. These things might detract from the completeness of faith in the complete redemption which Christ has wrought, and must becloud the truth that simple faith in it is all which a man needs. To urge these and the like truths this letter is written. Its central principle is the sovereign and exclusive mediation of Jesus Christ, the God-man, the victorious antagonist of these dead speculations, and the destined conqueror of all the doubts and confusions of this day. If we grasp with mind and heart that truth, we can possess our souls in patience, and in its light see light where else are darkness and uncertainty. So much then for introduction, and now a few words of comment on the superscription of the letter contained in these verses. I. Notice the blending of lowliness and authority in Paul’s designation of himself. "An Apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God." He does not always bring his apostolic authority to mind at the beginning of his letters. In his earliest epistles, those to the Thessalonians, he has not yet adopted the practice. In the loving and joyous letter to the Philippians, he has no need to urge his authority, for no man among them ever gainsaid it. In that to Philemon, friendship is uppermost, and though, as he says, he might be much bold to enjoin, yet he prefers to beseech, and will not command as "Apostle," but pleads as "the prisoner of Christ Jesus." In his other letters he put his authority in the foreground as here, and it may be noticed that it and its basis in the will of God are asserted with greatest emphasis in the Epistle to the Galatians, where he has to deal with more defiant opposition than elsewhere encountered him. Here he puts forth his claim to the apostolate, in the highest sense of the word. He asserts his equality with the original Apostles, the chosen witnesses for the reality of Christ’s resurrection. He, too, had seen the risen Lord, and heard the words of His mouth. He shared with them. the prerogative of certifying from personal experience that Jesus is risen and lives to bless and rule. Paul’s whole Christianity was built on the belief that Jesus Christ had actually appeared to him. That vision on the road to Damascus revolutionised his life. Because he had seen his Lord and heard his duty from His lips, he had become what he was. "Through the will of God" is at once an assertion of Divine authority, a declaration of independence of all human teaching or appointment, and a most lowly disclaimer of individual merit, or personal power. Few religious teachers have had so strongly marked a character as Paul, or have so constantly brought their own experience into prominence; but the weight which he expected to be attached to his words was to be due entirely to their being the words which God spoke through him. If this opening clause were to be paraphrased it would be: I speak to you because God has sent me. I am not an Apostle by my own will, nor by my own merit. I am not worthy to be called an Apostle. I am a poor sinner like yourselves, and it is a miracle of love and mercy that God should put His words into such lips. But He does speak through me; my words are neither mine nor learned from any other man, but His. Never mind the cracked pipe through which the Divine breath makes music, but listen to the music. So Paul thought of his message; so the uncompromising assertion of authority was united with deep humility. Do we come to his words, believing that we hear God speaking through Paul? Here is no formal doctrine of inspiration, but here is the claim to be the organ of the Divine will and mind, to which we ought to listen as indeed the voice of God. The gracious humility of the man is further seen in his association with himself, as joint senders of the letter, of his young brother Timothy, who has no apostolic authority, but whose concurrence in its teaching might give it some additional weight. For the first few verses he remembers to speak in the plural, as in the name of both-"we give thanks," "Epaphras declared to us your love," and so on; but in the fiery sweep of his thoughts Timothy is soon left out of sight, and Paul alone pours out the wealth of his Divine wisdom and the warmth of his fervid heart. II. We may observe the noble ideal of the Christian character set forth in the designations of the Colossian Church, as "saints and faithful brethren in Christ." In his earlier letters Paul addresses himself to "the Church"; in his later, beginning with the Epistle to the Romans, and including the three great epistles from his captivity, namely, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, he drops the word Church, and uses expressions which regard the individuals composing the community rather than the community which they compose. The slight change thus indicated in the Apostle’s point of view is interesting, however it may be accounted for. There is no reason to suppose it done of set purpose, and certainly it did not arise from any lowered estimate of the sacredness of "the Church," which is nowhere put on higher ground than in the letter to Ephesus, which belongs to the later period; but it may be that advancing years and familiarity with his work, with his position of authority, and with his auditors, all tended to draw him closer to them, and insensibly led to the disuse of the more formal and official address to "the Church" in favour of the simpler and more affectionate superscription, to "the brethren." Be that as it may, the lessons to be drawn from the names here given to the members of the Church are the more important matter for us. It would be interesting and profitable to examine the meaning of all the New Testament names for believers, and to learn the lessons which they teach; but we must, for the present, confine ourselves to those which occur here. "Saints"-a word that has been woefully misapplied both by the Church and the world. The former has given it as a special honour to a few, and "decorated" with it mainly the possessors of a false ideal of sanctity-that of the ascetic and monastic sort. The latter uses it with a sarcastic intonation, as if it implied much cry and little wool, loud professions and small performance, not without a touch of hypocrisy and crafty self-seeking. Saints are not people living in cloisters after a fantastic ideal, but men and women immersed in the vulgar work of everyday life and worried by the small prosaic anxieties which fret us all, who amidst the whirr of the spindle in the mill, and the clink of the scales on the counter, and the hubbub of the market place and the jangle of the courts, are yet living lives of conscious devotion to God. The root idea of the word, which is an Old Testament word, is not moral purity, but separation to God. The holy things of the old covenant were things set apart from ordinary use for His service. So, on the high priest’s mitre was written Holiness to the Lord. So the Sabbath was kept "holy," because set apart from the week in obedience to Divine command. Sanctity, and saint, are used now mainly with the idea of moral purity, but that is a secondary meaning. The real primary signification is separation to God. Consecration to Him is the root from which the white flower of purity springs most surely. There is a deep lesson in the word as to the true method of attaining cleanness of life and spirit. We cannot make ourselves pure, but we can yield ourselves to God and the purity will come. But we have not only here the fundamental idea of holiness, and the connection of purity of character with self-consecration to God, but also the solemn obligation on all so-called Christians thus to separate and devote themselves to Him. We are Christians as far as we give ourselves up to God, in the surrender of our wills and the practical obedience of our lives-so far and not one inch further. We are not merely bound to this consecration if we are Christians, but we are not Christians unless we thus consecrate ourselves. Pleasing self, and making my own will my law, and living for my own ends, is destructive of all Christianity. Saints are not an eminent sort of Christians, but all Christians are saints, and he who is not a saint is not a Christian. The true consecration is the surrender of the will, which no man can do for us, which needs no outward ceremonial, and the one motive which will lead us selfish and stubborn men to bow our necks to that gentle yoke, and to come out of the misery of pleasing self into the peace of serving God, is drawn from the great love of Him Who devoted Himself to God and man, and bought us for His own by giving Himself utterly to be ours. All sanctity begins with consecration to God. All consecration rests upon the faith of Christ’s sacrifice. And if, drawn by the great love of Christ to us unworthy, we give ourselves away to God in Him, then He gives Himself in deep sacred communion to us. "I am thine" has ever for its chord which completes the fulness of its music, "Thou art mine." And so "saint" is a name of dignity and honour, as well as a stringent requirement. There is implied in it, too, safety from all that would threaten life or union with Him. He will not hold His possessions with a slack hand that negligently lets them drop, or with a feeble hand that cannot keep them from a foe. "Thou wilt not suffer him who is consecrated to Thee to see corruption." If I belong to God, having given myself to Him, then I am safe from the touch of evil and the taint of decay. "The Lord’s portion is His people," and He will not lose even so worthless a part of that portion as I am. The great name "saints" carries with it the prophecy of victory over all evil, and the assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God, or pluck us from His hand. But these Colossian Christians are "faithful" as well as saints. That may either mean trustworthy and true to their stewardship, or trusting. In the parallel verses in the Epistle to the Ephesians (which presents so many resemblances to this epistle) the latter meaning seems to be required, and here it is certainly the more natural, as pointing to the very foundation of all Christian consecration and brotherhood in the act of believing. We are united to Christ by our faith. The Church is a family of faithful, that is to say of believing, men. Faith underlies consecration and is the parent of holiness, for he only will yield himself to God who trustfully grasps the mercies of God and rests on Christ’s great gift of Himself. Faith weaves the bond that unites men in the brotherhood of the Church, for it brings all who share it into a common relation to the Father. He who is faithful, that is, believing, will be faithful in the sense of being worthy of confidence and true to his duty, his profession, and his Lord. They were brethren too. That strong new bond of union among men the most unlike, was a strange phenomenon in Paul’s time, when the Roman world was falling to pieces, and rent by deep clefts of hatreds and jealousies such as modern society scarcely knows; and men might well wonder as they saw the slave and his master sitting at the same table, the Greek and the barbarian learning the same wisdom in the same tongue, the Jew and the Gentile bowing the knee in the same worship, and the hearts of all fused into one great glow of helpful sympathy and unselfish love. But "brethren" means more than this. It points not merely to Christian love, but to the common possession of a new life. If we are brethren, it is because we have one Father, because in us all there is one life. The name is often regarded as sentimental and metaphorical. The obligation of mutual love is supposed to be the main idea in it, and there is a melancholy hollowness and unreality in the very sound of it as applied to the usual average Christians of today. But the name leads straight to the doctrine of regeneration, and proclaims that all Christians are born again through their faith in Jesus Christ, and thereby partake of a common new life, which makes all its possessors children of the Highest, and therefore brethren one of another. If regarded as an expression of the affection of Christians for one another, "brethren" is an exaggeration, ludicrous or tragic, as we view it; but if we regard it as the expression of the real bond which gathers all believers into one family, it declares the deepest mystery and mightiest privilege of the gospel that "to as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons of God." They are "in Christ." These two words may apply to all the designations or to the last only. They are saints in Him, believers in Him, brethren in Him. That mystical but most real union of Christians with their Lord is never far away from the Apostle’s thoughts, and in the twin Epistle to the Ephesians is the very burden of the whole. A shallower Christianity tries to weaken that great phrase to something more intelligible to the unspiritual temper and the poverty-stricken experience proper to it; but no justice can be done to Paul’s teaching unless it be taken in all its depth as expressive of that same mutual indwelling and interlacing of spirit with spirit which is so prominent in the writings of the Apostle John. There is one point of contact between the Pauline and the Johannean conceptions on the differences between which so much exaggeration has been expended: to both the inmost essence of the Christian life is union to Christ, and abiding in Him. If we are Christians, we are in Him, in yet profounder sense than creation lives and moves and has its being in God. We are in Him as the earth with all its living things is in the atmosphere, as the branch is in the vine, as the members are in the body. We are in Him. as inhabitants in a house, as hearts that love in hearts that love, as parts in the whole. If we are Christians, He is in us, as life in every vein, as the fruit-producing sap and energy of the vine are in every branch, as the air is in every lung, as the sunlight in every planet. This is the deepest mystery of the Christian life. To be "in Him" is to be complete. "In Him" we are "blessed with all spiritual blessings." "In Him," we are "chosen." "In Him," God "freely bestows His grace upon us." "In Him" we "have redemption through His blood." "In Him all things in heaven and earth are gathered." "In Him we have obtained an inheritance." In Him is the better life of all who live. In Him we have peace though the world be seething with change and storm. In Him we conquer though earth and our own evil be all in arms against us. If we live in Him, we live in purity and joy. If we die in Him, we die in tranquil trust. If our gravestones may truly carry the sweet old inscription carved on so many a nameless slab in the catacombs, " In Christo, " they will also bear the other " In pace " (In peace). If we sleep in Him, our glory is assured, for them also that sleep in Jesus, will God bring with Him. III. A word or two only can be devoted to. the last clause of salutation, the apostolic wish, which sets forth the high ideal to be desired for Churches and individuals: "Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father." The Authorised Version reads, "and the Lord Jesus Christ," but the Revised Version follows the majority of recent text critics and their principal authorities in omitting these words, which are supposed to have been imported into our passage from the parallel place in Ephesians. The omission of these familiar words which occur so uniformly in the similar introductory salutations of Paul’s other Epistles, is especially singular here, where the main subject of the letter is the office of Christ as channel of all blessings. Perhaps the previous word, "brethren" was lingering in his mind, and so instinctively he stopped with the kindred word "Father." "Grace and peace"-Paul’s wishes for those whom he loves, and the blessings which he expects every Christian to possess, blend the Western and the Eastern forms of salutation, and surpass both. All that the Greek meant by his "Grace," all that the Hebrew meant by his "Peace," the ideally happy condition which differing nations have placed in different blessings, and which all loving words have vainly wished for dear ones, is secured and conveyed to every poor soul that trusts in Christ. "Grace"-what is that? The word means first-love in exercise to those who are below the lover, or who deserve something else; stooping love that condescends, and patient love that forgives. Then it means the gifts which such love bestows, and then it means the effects of these gifts in the beauties of character and conduct developed in the receivers. So there are here invoked, or we may call it, proffered and promised, to every believing heart, the love and gentleness of that Father whose love to us sinful atoms is a miracle of lowliness and longsuffering; and, next, the outcome of that love which never visits the soul empty handed, in all varied spiritual gifts, to strengthen weakness, to enlighten ignorance, to fill the whole being; and as last result of all, every beauty of mind, heart, and temper which can adorn the character, and refine a man into the likeness of God. That great gift will come in continuous bestowment if we are "saints in Christ." Of His fulness we all receive and grace for grace, wave upon wave as the ripples press shoreward and each in turn pours its tribute on the beach, or as pulsation after pulsation makes one golden beam of unbroken light, strong winged enough to come all the way from the sun, gentle enough to fall on the sensitive eyeball without pain. That one beam will decompose into all colours and brightnesses. That one "grace" will part into sevenfold gifts and be the life in us of whatsoever things are lovely and of good report. "Peace be unto you." That old greeting, the witness of a state of society when every stranger seen across the desert was probably an enemy, is also a witness to the deep unrest of the heart. It is well to learn the lesson that peace comes after grace, that for tranquillity of soul we must go to God, and that He gives it by giving us His love and its gifts, of which, and of which only, peace is the result. If we have that grace for ours, as we all may if we will, we shall be still, because our desires are satisfied and all our needs met. To seek is unnecessary when we are conscious of possessing. We may end our weary quest, like the dove when it had found the green leaf, though little dry land may be seen as yet, and fold our wings and rest by the cross. We may be lapped in calm repose, even in the midst of toil and strife, like John resting on the heart of his Lord. There must be, first of all, peace with God, that there may be peace from God. Then, when we have been won from our alienation and enmity by the power of the cross, and have learned to know that God is our Lover, Friend, and Father, we shall possess the peace of those whose hearts have found their home, the peace of spirits no longer at war within-conscience and choice tearing them asunder in their strife, the peace of obedience which banishes the disturbance of self-will, the peace of security shaken by no fears, the peace of a sure future across the brightness of which no shadows of sorrow nor mists of uncertainty can fall, the peace of a heart in amity with all mankind. So living in peace, we shall lay ourselves down and die in peace, and enter into "that country, afar beyond the stars," where "grows the flower of peace." "The Rose that cannot wither, Thy fortress and thy ease." All this may be ours. Paul could only wish it for these Colossians. We can only long for it for our dearest. No man can fulfil his wishes or turn them into actual gifts. Many precious things we can give, but not peace. But our brother, Jesus Christ, can do more than wish it. He can bestow it, and when we need it most, He stands ever beside us, in our weakness and unrest, with His strong arm stretched out to help, and on His calm lips the old words" My grace is sufficient for thee," "My peace I give unto you." Let us keep ourselves in Him, believing in Him and yielding ourselves to God for His dear sake, and we shall find His grace ever flowing into our emptiness and His settled "peace keeping our hearts and mind in Christ Jesus." Colossians 1:3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Chapter 1 THE PRELUDE Colossians 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 Apostle’s 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 a

Illustrator

Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Colossians 1:1-5 The writer and the readers A. Maclaren, D. D. Notice — I. THE BLENDING OF LOWLINESS AND AUTHORITY IN PAUL'S DESIGNATION OF HIMSELF. He does not always bring his apostolic authority to mind in his letters. In his earliest, to the Thessalonians, he has not yet adopted the practice. In Philippians he has no need, for it was not gainsaid. In Philemon friendship is uppermost, and he will not command as an "apostle," but pleads as "the prisoner of Christ Jesus." In the rest he puts it in the foreground, as here. 1. He claims the apostolate in the highest sense of the word — equality with the original apostles, the chosen witnesses of Christ's resurrection, for he, too, had seen the Lord, and his whole ministry was built upon the fact. 2. "Through the will of God" is at once an assertion of Divine authority and of independence, and also a lowly disclaimer of individual merit and power. 3. His gracious humility is seen in his association of his young brother Timothy, who has no apostolic authority, but whose concurrence in his teaching might give it some additional weight; but in the fiery sweep of his thoughts, Timothy is soon left out of sight and Paul alone pours out the wealth of his wisdom and the warmth of his heart. II. THE NOBLE IDEAL OF THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER SET FORTH IN THE DESIGNATIONS OF THE COLOSSIAN CHURCH. In his earlier letters the address is to "the Church," but in his latter, beginning with Romans, and including Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, he drops the word, and uses expressions which regard individuals rather than the community. This did not arise from any lower estimate of "the Church," but advancing years and familiarity with his work, his position, and his auditors, all tended to draw him closer to them, and led to the disuse of the formal and official term in favour of the simpler and more affectionate "brethren." 1. Saints — a word wofully misapplied. The Church has given it as a special honour to a few, and decorated with it the possessors of a false ideal of sanctity — that of the ascetic sort. The world has used it with a sarcastic intonation as if it implied loud professions and small performance, not without a touch of hypocrisy. Saints are not people living in cloisters, but men and women immersed in the vulgar work of every day life.(1) The root idea of the word is not moral purity, but separation to God. Consecration to Him is the root from which the white flower of purity springs. We cannot make ourselves pure, but we can yield ourselves to God, and the purity will come.(2) We have also the idea of the solemn obligation on all so-called Christians to devote themselves to Him. We are not bound to this as Christians; we are not Christians unless we consecrate ourselves. So the term does not belong to an eminent sort of Christians.(3) The one motive which will lead us to bow our necks to the easy yoke, and come out of the misery of self pleasing into the peace of serving God, is drawn from the great love of Christ who devoted Himself, and bought us for tits own, by giving Himself to be ours. And if drawn by this we give ourselves to God, He gives Himself to us. "I am thine" has ever for its chord which completes the fulness of its music "Thou art Mine." And so "saint" is a name of dignity.(4) There is implied in it, too, safety. If I belong to God then I am sale from the touch of evil and the taint of decay. 2. Faithful — trustworthy — true to the stewardship or trusting; probably the latter, because faith underlies consecration, and weaves the bond which unites men in the brotherhood, for it brings all who share it into a common relation to the Father. And then he who is believing will be faithful in the sense of being worthy of confidence, and true to his duty, his profession, and his Lord. 3. Brethren.(1) That strong new bond of union among men the most unlike, was a strange phenomenon when the Roman world was falling to pieces, and men might well wonder as they saw the hearts of master and slave, Greek and barbarian, Jew and Gentile, fused into one glow of unselfish love.(2) But the word points not merely to Christian love, but to the common possession of a new life. It leads straight to the doctrine of regeneration, and proclaims that through faith in Christ men are made children of the highest, and therefore brethren. "To as many as received Him," etc. 4. In Christ: saints, believers, brethren, are in Him as living things are in the atmosphere, the branch in the vine, members in the body, inhabitants in a house, hearts that love in hearts that love, parts in a whole. III. THE APOSTOLIC WISH WHICH SETS FORTH THE HIGH IDEAL TO BE DESIRED FOR CHURCHES AND INDIVIDUALS. "And the Lord Jesus Christ" should be omitted. Perhaps the word "brethren" was lingering in Paul's mind, and so instinctively he stopped with the kindred word "Father." 1. Grace and peace blend the Western and Eastern forms of salutation, and surpass both. All that the Greek meant by his "grace" and the Hebrew by his "peace," the ideally happy condition which differing nations have placed in different blessings, and all loving words have wished for dear ones, is secured .and conveyed to every one who trusts in Christ. 2. Grace means — (1) Love in exercise to those who are below the lover; (2) the gifts which such love bestows; (3) the effects of these gifts in the beauties of character and conduct developed in the receivers.So here first the gentleness of the Father, next the outcome of that love which never visits the soul empty-handed, and as the result every beauty of mind, heart, and temper. "Of His fulness we have received grace for grace." 3. Peace comes after grace. For tranquillity of soul we must go to God, and He gives it by giving us His love and its gifts. There must be first peace with God that there may be peace from God. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. )

Matthew Henry

1:1-8 All true Christians are brethren one to another. Faithfulness runs through every character and relation of the Christian life. Faith, hope, and love, are the three principal graces in the Christian life, and proper matter for prayer and thanksgiving. The more we fix our hopes on the reward in the other world, the more free shall we be in doing good with our earthly treasure. It was treasured up for them, no enemy could deprive them of it. The gospel is the word of truth, and we may safely venture our souls upon it. And all who hear the word of the gospel, ought to bring forth the fruit of the gospel, obey it, and have their principles and lives formed according to it. Worldly love arises, either from views of interest or from likeness in manners; carnal love, from the appetite for pleasure. To these, something corrupt, selfish, and base always cleaves. But Christian love arises from the Holy Spirit, and is full of holiness. 1:9-14 The apostle was constant in prayer, that the believers might be filled with the knowledge of God's will, in all wisdom. Good words will not do without good works. He who undertakes to give strength to his people, is a God of power, and of glorious power. The blessed Spirit is the author of this. In praying for spiritual strength, we are not straitened, or confined in the promises, and should not be so in our hopes and desires. The grace of God in the hearts of believers is the power of God; and there is glory in this power. The special use of this strength was for sufferings. There is work to be done, even when we are suffering. Amidst all their trials they gave thanks to the Father of our Lord Jesus, whose special grace fitted them to partake of the inheritance provided for the saints. To bring about this change, those were made willing subjects of Christ, who were slaves of Satan. All who are designed for heaven hereafter, are prepared for heaven now. Those who have the inheritance of sons, have the education of sons, and the disposition of sons. By faith in Christ they enjoyed this redemption, as the purchase of his atoning blood, whereby forgiveness of sins, and all other spiritual blessings were bestowed. Surely then we shall deem it a favour to be delivered from Satan's kingdom and brought into that of Christ, knowing that all trials will soon end, and that every believer will be found among those who come out of great tribulation. 1:15-23 Christ in his human nature, is the visible discovery of the invisible God, and he that hath seen Him hath seen the Father. Let us adore these mysteries in humble faith, and behold the glory of the Lord in Christ Jesus. He was born or begotten before all the creation, before any creature was made; which is the Scripture way of representing eternity, and by which the eternity of God is represented to us. All things being created by Him, were created for him; being made by his power, they were made according to his pleasure, and for his praise and glory. He not only created them all at first, but it is by the word of his power that they are upheld. Christ as Mediator is the Head of the body, the church; all grace and strength are from him; and the church is his body. All fulness dwells in him; a fulness of merit and righteousness, of strength and grace for us. God showed his justice in requiring full satisfaction. This mode of redeeming mankind by the death of Christ was most suitable. Here is presented to our view the method of being reconciled. And that, notwithstanding the hatred of sin on God's part, it pleased God to reconcile fallen man to himself. If convinced that we were enemies in our minds by wicked works, and that we are now reconciled to God by the sacrifice and death of Christ in our nature, we shall not attempt to explain away, nor yet think fully to comprehend these mysteries; but we shall see the glory of this plan of redemption, and rejoice in the hope set before us. If this be so, that God's love is so great to us, what shall we do now for God? Be frequent in prayer, and abound in holy duties; and live no more to yourselves, but to Christ. Christ died for us. But wherefore? That we should still live in sin? No; but that we should die to sin, and live henceforth not to ourselves, but to Him. 1:24-29 Both the sufferings of the Head and of the members are called the sufferings of Christ, and make up, as it were, one body of sufferings. But He suffered for the redemption of the church; we suffer on other accounts; for we do but slightly taste that cup of afflictions of which Christ first drank deeply. A Christian may be said to fill up that which remains of the sufferings of Christ, when he takes up his cross, and after the pattern of Christ, bears patiently the afflictions God allots to him. Let us be thankful that God has made known to us mysteries hidden from ages and generations, and has showed the riches of his glory among us. As Christ is preached among us, let us seriously inquire, whether he dwells and reigns in us; for this alone can warrant our assured hope of his glory. We must be faithful to death, through all trials, that we may receive the crown of life, and obtain the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls.