Do you have clarity around who Jesus is and the identity people find in Him? In Chapter 1, the Apostle Paul delivers a precise report to the Colossian church as to the nature of Jesus and the difference that His truth has made in the lives of these young believers. Join Dr. Marty Baker as we continue to dive into our series on Colossians, The Connection That Counts.
Throughout the day, I, along with many other saints at BCC, receive detailed prayer requests from other believers. Evonnie Smith and her prayer team are faithful in getting this information out quickly so the names and needs can be brought before the Lord’s throne. I thank God for what these folks do, for we are commanded to pray for others, and their work not only positions us to be obedient but also to see God answer those prayers, according to His will, in a profound fashion.
This model is nothing new. The Apostle Paul employed it in his day with great effectiveness. When he heard about the needs, victories, and issues facing the churches under his care, like a good shepherd, he wasted no time heading to the Lord in prayer and informing the folks in question that they were on his prayer list. How comforting to know that your spiritual leader, along with other leaders, keeps your name before the Lord when you need divine assistance, guidance, help, or counsel.
Ephaphras, the best candidate to be the founder and pastor of the church in Colossae, traveled some 1,300 miles, either by land or sea, to seek Paul’s wisdom and insight on how to respond to a crafty, clever philosophy that was negatively impacting his people and church. Meeting Paul under house arrest in Rome, Ephaphras gave the apostle a detailed positive and negative update regarding how the saints in Colossae fared in their quest to be maturing disciples of Jesus. After Paul listened, he turned and started writing his response to the church. Interestingly enough, the wise apostle first prayed for the saints before he gave them a strategy for dealing with the false teaching being promulgated in their midst. His model is one we should all study, contemplate, and apply. We can summarize his model we encounter in chapter one, verses three through twelve, with one pithy statement:
A precise report about saints should lead to a precise response.
Read that one more time, let it sink in, and let it touch your head and heart. When we receive detailed information about or from saints, we should eventually be moved to pray with great specificity, so our faith grows as we lean on and trust God, and so that God is moved to consider our request(s) and act according to His perfect will.
Come with me as we analyze the two facets of this main motif:
A Precise Report Comes Your Way (Col. 1:3-8)
Like happens to you occasionally, Paul received some detailed intel on some believers. What did he do with the intel? He processed it and then communicated with them directly, telling them what he thought they needed to know from him, based on what he had heard. Listen and learn from Paul as he writes to the disciples in Colossae, who comprised a small, seemingly insignificant church he didn’t plant and hadn’t visited.
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as ain all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. (Col. 1)
Join me as I break down what Paul just said.
One, the intel of their spiritual progress moved him to “give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Stop right there. Paul was a heady, deep thinker and teacher, but that didn’t keep him from loving people. His words here demonstrate that. When he heard from their pastor how they were doing, he instantly gave thanks to God for them. What was he thankful for? He’ll spell that out in the ensuing verses. We’ll talk about that in a moment, but for now, let’s focus on who Paul thanked.
Paul thanked God, theos, the Greek version of Elohim, or the great and powerful Creator God (Gen. 1:1). He is transcendent, but he’s also immanent, as denoted by the language that He is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. This terminology is used by Paul elsewhere in his writings (Rom. 15:6; 2 Cor. 1:3). We understand the “father” concept as it applies to humans. A father is above you, but he is with you. Out of the gate, Paul took a shot across the bow of incipient Gnosticism, which taught that God was so beyond evil that He was essentially unreachable. Not so, says Paul. God is a father figure. Who is He the father of? While He is our father insofar as we are His creatures, He is the Father of the “Lord Jesus Christ.” Lord in Greek is kurios, and this mighty name is the equivalent of Yahweh in the Old Testament (Ex. 3:2, 4, 7, 16; 4:1, 2, 4, 5, 6; 6:1, 2, 3, 6-8, etc.). Of course, this is the name of God as the great, eternal “I Am.” It was a title Jesus rightly used of Himself (John 8:58) because He wasn’t a created Son but the eternal Son, fully God and fully man. Once more, this is another shot across the bow of incipient Gnosticism insofar as they taught that Jesus was a diluted, inferior, lesser deity that wasn’t fully God. Paul’s thanks for these saints was, therefore, directed to the first and second members of the Holy Trinity, who were with these believers.
Two, Paul’s intel moved him from thanking God for these saints to praying for them. Underscore that he says he prayed quite often for them. His statement is somewhat hyperbolic, as it is impossible to live one’s life while constantly praying for believers. God knows you have to live. Yet, Paul’s statement merely highlights that he maintained an attitude of prayer regarding believers in the various churches. When their victories and needs came to his mind, he prayed.
Paul’s model here causes me to ask the logical question: Why should you pray “constantly” for other saints? Here are some of my reflections:
- God wants to know how serious you are about your specific prayer.
- It’s hard to have an issue with a person you are praying for on a perpetual basis.
- We are commanded to ask, seek, and knock on the door of heaven. This shows we are leaning on God, not ourselves. This shows we are committed to the content of our prayers.
- God doesn’t need reminders, but we do.
- It breathes life into our relationship with God. Communication is a wonderful thing. The better the communication, the deeper the relationship.
- It helps shift our focus from the earthly to the heavenly, from the temporal to the eternal.
- It gives God time to set up complex situations so His perfect will can be realized when He answers our prayers. As my mother faced her mortality, she couldn’t wait to realize her immortality. At one point, she whispered to me with a smile on her face: “I’d be so grateful if the Lord would open the door and permit me to enter heaven.” That door did open, but in the meantime, God set up other situations to accomplish things my mother hadn’t considered. One situation involved a young Muslim nurse who came by to ask for prayer before they moved my mother from the hospital to the Hospice house. Amazing.
- It’s easier for me to love someone when they are always on my lips in prayer.
- The spiritual attack of our Adversary is real and constant. After Paul explained this premise in Ephesians 6:10-17, he turned and said: “18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints . . .” (Eph. 5:18).
What about you? When you receive a sound, solid report on how other saints are faring, does it move you to pray for them frequently? It should.
Three, Paul’s intel moved him to be thankful with great specificity. He didn’t just thank God for the Colossian believers in grand, broad terms. No, he offered God thanks based on nitty-gritty details he learned from Epaphras.
Paul was thankful because this was a church that exuded love for each other:
4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; (Col. 1).
Churches like the one in Corinth wore out pastors like Paul because they specialized in constant fighting among themselves, and with Paul, their founding pastor. Churches like the one in Colossae encouraged Paul because they actually fulfilled Christ’s mandate to love one another without exception (John 13:34, 35; 15:12, 17).
- It didn’t matter if you had schooling or no schooling; they loved you.
- It didn’t matter if you were a Jew or a Roman; they loved you.
- It didn’t matter if you had a sordid marital past or had been faithful to your mate for many years; they loved you.
- It didn’t matter if you had a pleasant personality or a prickly one; they loved you.
Something extraordinary occurred in the relationships of this body, and Paul just had to make it one of his points of thanks. As your pastor, I can easily and happily apply these words to you. I’m thankful to God for you because you do show the love of Christ to each other. I see it on full display weekly in emails, care cards you send to hurting people, stories of your sacrifice, and so forth. No wonder our church is growing. People are drawn to love that originates from a love of Christ.
Paul was thankful because these believers possessed eternal hope. Here is how he puts it:
5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel (Col. 1).
Again, Paul laid the foundation here for deconstructing incipient Gnostic thinking. Because it stressed that faith in Christ wasn’t sufficient for entrance into heaven, since He wasn’t fully God, adherents had no hope of the next life. According to this philosophical system, you had to constantly give yourself to the observance of all of the minute laws, rules, and regulations. Do this enough, and you might gain entrance to God. The point was, you would never know if you had done enough. Legalism, by definition, destroys eternal hope. It always does.
The saints in Colossae had eternal hope because they understood the truth of the gospel, whereas the “truth” of the heretics in their church had wedded the gospel to legalistic laws of Judaism and Gnosticism. The true gospel gives us hope of life beyond the grave. It is a hope that, according to Paul, is laid up in heaven. What does this mean? The Greek word for “laid up” is apokeimai (ἀπόκειμαι). Bauer, Ardnt, and Gingrich’s Greek Lexicon gives us the lexical nuances:
ἀπόκειμαι (s. κεῖμαι; Pind.+) used as pass. of ἀποτίθημι ‘be put away, stored up’ (so X.+; pap, LXX, TestSol; JosAs 15:10; Just.; Tat. 6, 2; Ath., R. 68, 26)
① to put away for safekeeping lit. (POxy 69, 5 ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τ. οἰκίᾳ ἀποκειμένων; BGU 275, 9; PTebt 340, 13; Job 38:23; Philo, Det. Pot. Ins. 128; Jos., Vi. 119; Tat. 6, 2) ἡ μνᾶ, ἣν εἶχον ἀποκειμένην ἐν σουδαρίῳ the mina, which I kept laid away in a piece of cloth Lk 19:20.
② to reserve as award or recompense, reserve, a common term in honorary documents expressing appreciation for sense of civic or other communal responsibility, fig. ext. of 1: ἀπόκειταί μοι … στέφανος a crown is reserved for me 2 Ti 4:8 (cp. Iambl., Myst. 8, 7 p. 270 P. τὰ ἀπὸ τ. εἱμαρμένης ἀποκείμενα κακά; Demophilus, Similitud. 22 p. 6 Orelli; OGI 383, 189–91 οἷς ἀποκείσεται παρὰ θεῶν χάρις εὐσεβείας; UPZ 144, 47 [II b.c.] ἀπόκειται παρὰ θεοῦ μῆνις τοῖς …; 2 Macc 12:45; Jos., Ant. 6, 368; Just., A I, 18, 2 κόλασις αἰωνία). FPfister, ZNW 15, 1914, 94–96. διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα τ. ἀποκειμένην ὑμῖν ἐν τ. οὐρανοῖς because of the hope that is reserved for you in heaven Col 1:5 (the ‘hope’ is the totality of blessing that awaits the Christian in the life to come).
③ Impers. ἀπόκειταί τινι it is unavoidable in view of inevitable circumstance, it is certain, one is destined (Ael. Aristid. 39 p. 764 D.) w. inf. foll. ἅπαξ ἀποθανεῖν Hb 9:27 (cp. Kaibel 416, 6 ὡς εἰδώς, ὅτι πᾶσι βροτοῖς τὸ θανεῖν ἀπόκειται; 4 Macc 8:11).—M-M. TW.[1]
What does all this Greek mean? It means your hope of what is promised regarding heaven is sure, primarily because it is based on God’s promises. It’s just waiting for you to claim it when you take your last breath. Along these lines, my dying mother said, “I’ve waited my whole life to see Jesus, and I can’t believe I’m finally getting to go.” That’s a woman who understood her hope was secure.
- Hope of eternal existence (John 3:16).
- Hope that there will be no more tears, only laughter and joy.
- Hope that there will be no more disease and death, for they will be vanquished.
- Hope that Jesus, the Master Carpenter, has prepared a mansion for us (John 14:1-6).
- Hope that we will enjoy a new body fitted for the amazing dimension of God (1 Cor. 15; 2 Cor. 5:1-5)
- Hope that we will be reunited with loved ones who also loved Christ.
- Hope that we will see Jesus face to face in all of His glory.
- Hope that we will never have to say goodbye to a loved one who loved Jesus.
- Hope that we will rule and reign with Jesus Christ over His glorious kingdom.
- Hope that we will live in an eternal day with no night (Rev. 21).
- Hope that we will be united by one language (Zep. 3:9).
Do you have this hope? I do. Many of those who are sitting among us do. The saints in Colossae did. No wonder Paul was thankful. He wrote to people who had traded falsity for truth, death for life, the temporal for the eternal. I, too, am thankful for those in our body who have this gospel hope. It encourages you as you age, as you lose family members and friends, as you struggle with the advancement of evil. The gospel hope puts all of life in the proper perspective, and that’s the reason why it creates thanks in the life of a saint sold out to the gospel.
Paul was thankful because these believers were living, breathing examples of the absolute power of the gospel of Christ:
6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; (Col. 1).
Once more, Paul here sets up his future deconstruction of the false teaching that Judaism’s love of the Mosaic Law is wedded to the rise of Gnostic thinking. He does this by speaking about grace and truth. The false system, as we shall see in chapter two, was built on a rigid obedience to laws, rules, and regulations. Obey these, and you could tap into the angelic realm. Of course, as with all non-Christian belief systems, it knew absolutely nothing about grace from God for sinners. Instead of embracing God’s grace evidenced in the person and work of Jesus, these people sought to work their way into God’s good grace. That position was false and was contrasted against the truth of the gospel these saints had formerly embraced in faith, not works. The implication is that they would realize this and steer clear of the false teachers. They already had the truth of how sinful creatures could have a relationship with God, so they didn’t need any fine-tuning.
No wonder Paul was thankful for these believers. The Roman religion was wedded to a pantheon of gods who evidenced all the sinful, limiting behavior of mankind. To curry favor with the gods, the Romans had developed the notion of “do ut des,” meaning I give so that you provide, or I scratch your back, and you scratch mine. They, therefore, sought to give their gods offerings (pigs, sheep, bulls, wine, incense, cakes, fruits, and valuables) to hopefully secure their acceptance and blessing. They frequently visited temples and shrines to demonstrate their devotion to the gods. When they attended, they lit incense, left offerings, and prayed for favor. At home, they had a lararium, or small shrine to household gods. At meals, they offered the gods some food, lit lamps, and asked for prayer and protection. At festival times like Saturnalia, Lupercalia, and Vestalia, they superstitiously showed up to ensure they didn’t offend any gods. This is just a small taste of what the saints in Colossae used to do when they were spiritually blind. Their religion was legalistic, superstitious, and all about what they could do to curry the gods’ favor. And, then, they met the Christ of the gospel and discovered that only through His gracious death and resurrection could they find lasting forgiveness and a lasting relationship with the only true God. What a radical change they made. It must have shocked family, friends, and coworkers when it happened.
This is the power of the gospel. It can take a person steeped in a false system of belief, one that creates fear and leaves the worshipper with no hope, and give them an inner peace and joy they never knew they could possess. Again, no wonder Paul offered these particular thanks in relation to these believers. He had heard about how the power of the gospel had absolutely transformed them. That same power that transformed these saints is the same power that has moved many of you from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of Christ. I join with Paul in saying I’m thankful for people like you. There is nothing like watching the gospel transform a life into one that reflects Christ.
Who did these saints learn the gospel from? Paul tells us:
7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. (Col. 1)
Epaphras must have been initially in Ephesus when Paul taught there for three years. We don’t know exactly how it happened, but somewhere along the line, he heard Paul teach about the person and work of Jesus Christ, and that put a hook in him. His belief system, probably given to him by his parents, didn’t answer life’s deepest questions, and he knew it. But when Paul spoke, he answered those questions and then some. Before he knew it, he bowed in faith before the Savior Paul spoke of. Once he did this, he couldn’t wait to head 120 miles back to Colossae and tell everyone else. From his bold witness, others came to the faith, and eventually a church was formed by all the new converts. How exciting. Now we know why Paul was so thankful. The gospel was advancing.
So, what do you do when you receive a precise report about a saint or saints? You waste no time offering God specific thanks in prayer. Will you do this? Do you do this? This is the sign of a maturing disciple of Jesus.
When Paul finished his prayer of thanks, he took it one step further. I call this . . .
A Precise Response Comes Their Way (Col. 1:9-12)
All of these reasons to be thankful for these particular believers moved Paul to pray specifically for them. The five things he prayed for them are the four things we should pray for others.
First, Paul prayed that their biblical knowledge would increase, with a dose of wisdom.
9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding . . . (Col. 1)
Why did he pray for this? Simple. These saints were infiltrated by heretics who taught that they had the corner of knowledge, gnosis, in Greek. Paul countered by praying that God would give these saints epignosis (ἐπίγνωσιν). Wedding the preposition epi to the word gnosis, or knowledge, intensifies its meaning. Essentially, Paul said, and I take a little liberty here: “I’m asking for God to give you super intricate knowledge about spiritual things, coupled with profound wisdom and knowledge so you can see through the holes of the philosophical teaching you are facing.”
I like how Pastor R. Kenneth Hughes summarizes Paul’s prayer at this juncture:
The Gnostics were teaching that Christ was a good place to begin, but that there was so much more they could know and experience if only they would incorporate the Gnostic system of passwords, rites, and initiations. Their superior, know-it-all air was intimidating, and some of the Colossians were made to feel they were lacking. What is more, the system, by promising a special understanding, appealed to the people’s natural, elitist instinct. And some had fallen. So Paul’s prayer that the Colossians be “fill[ed] … with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding” hit the problem head-on.[2]
Any pastor worth the role would want this prayer fulfilled in the lives of his people. What pastor wouldn’t want saints whom God had specifically sharpened in their thinking so they could deconstruct the false teaching the culture sought to quietly bring into the church as if it were a superior way of thinking? If you are a parent, wouldn’t you want to pray this over your children? If you are a Life Group leader, wouldn’t you desire saints who possess a deep knowledge of biblical truth that equips them not to be duped by false theology that is sure to arise?
Second, Paul prayed that their talk would match their walks.
10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God . . . (Col. 1).
Nothing destroys a church or a Christian’s life and witness like hypocrisy. What is this? It is saying one thing and doing another; it is saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.” D.C. is full of arrogant, misguided, and self-righteous people.
A maturing disciple’s life will, on the contrary, match the theology he studies. To study him is to be unable to find much leakage in his thinking, life choices, way of speaking, and so forth. He consistently lives a balanced Christian life, marked by obedience to the Lord’s teachings and the Scriptures. The result of this, of course, is a life known for good works. A hypocrite reminds everyone else about the need to care for the poor and downtrodden, but then they don’t ever make a sacrifice to obey what they know… but they will be glad to judge you for not measuring up. A mature saint doesn’t live like this, ever. There is consistency in their lives between what they study and learn and how this impacts them in practice. They, then, are the first ones to step up and offer the proverbial cup of cold water to the thirsty soul.
All of this merely blew away the Judaistic-Gnostic thinking that infiltrated this church. This type of thinking was heady, first and foremost, meaning it didn’t really care about life change. It also, as I’ve said, tended to go into two erroneous directions. If the body was evil and all that mattered was the soul, then you could do with the body what you wanted, or you could be rigidly ascetic to control the bodily urges. Good luck with that. Either way left people plagued by hypocrisy because they couldn’t meet their contrived standards. Paul therefore countered, saying that the greatest apologetic against this false teaching was a consistent life. So, go out and live it. The same certainly applies to us today.
Third, Paul prayed that these saints would be filled with God’s power so they could stand surefooted with a dash of patience as they faced the onslaught of false teachers.
11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously (Col. 1).
Years ago, Liz and I took the kids to visit one of her cousins near Taft, CA. While there, her cousin’s husband, Bob, took me out to his massive tin building that housed his stock car. When he offered to let me slip into the driver’s seat through the open window, he didn’t have to ask me twice. Bob then leaned and said, “Wanna start her up and feel the 510-horsepower engine?” “Absolutely,” I replied. “Ok, then,” he said, “place your foot on that pedal on the floor and do NOT take your foot off of it for any reason. If you do, when you hit the gas, you will blast through that wall on the far side of the building.” He showed me how to start the massive engine. The car rumbled to life. I felt like I was in a jet fighter ready to take off. I’ll never forget the feeling when I kept my foot on the brake and then hit the gas.” I immediately told Bob, “I need this engine in my Chevy Suburban.” Wow. The power was jaw-dropping and bone-rattling.
And this is nothing compared to the power of God. When you are facing a challenging situation with a well-schooled false teacher, you have at your disposal the unlimited power of God to help you in protecting yourself from their clever arguments. In addition, he will give you the power to know what to say to them. At the end of the day, it will be His power, not yours, that will help you to stand against their onslaught and stand with patience that all will be well.
What a great thing to pray for saints in your life, right? Maybe you need to pray for your daughter, who is at a liberal university, or for your son who is having trouble with some buddies in his military unit. You might even need to pray this over yourself.
Fourth, Paul prayed that these saints would flourish in their ability to live thankful lives.
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light (Col. 1)
Knowing that you are a saint who lives in the light of God’s truth, you shouldn’t be smug and arrogant, but broken and humbled that the Father has promised you an inheritance in the Light. What light? The light of heaven that will be caused by the light of Jesus Christ (Rev. 21:22-23, “the Lamb is the light”). All of this should lead you to speak to Jesus frequently: “Thank you for my inheritance.”
I recently received a physical inheritance from my mother, and before she died, my sister and I told her thank you for the gift. Yet, as thankful as I am for this, it pales into insignificance in light of my spiritual inheritance. That inheritance will be eternal, glorious, and beyond human comprehension. This reality moves me, as it should you, to never miss an opportunity to tell Jesus just how appreciative you are. Such activity honors God and keeps you meek and humble.
So, pray a spirit of thankfulness over the lives of the saints around you. Pray it over your life. Pray that we’d all live thankful lives of what’s awaiting us because of Christ’s death and resurrection. Talk about a powerful way to stop false teaching in its tracks.
[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 113.
[2] R. Kent Hughes, Colossians and Philemon: The Supremacy of Christ, Preaching the Word (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1989), 22.
