1.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
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.
3.
We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4.
Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,
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;
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:
Verse 6
In all the world; that is, very generally throughout the then known world.
7.
As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;
Verse 7
Epaphras. Epaphras seems to have gone from Colosse to Rome, to confer with Paul: possibly he was the bearer of the Epistle of the Laodiceans, mentioned in this Epistle. (Colossians 4:16.) A person named Epaphroditus was sent by the Philippians to Paul. Notwithstanding the similarity of the name, however, this last was probably, but perhaps not certainly, a different person.
8.
Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
Verse 8
Your love in the Spirit; your Christian fellowship and affection.
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;
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;
11.
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
Verse 11
With all might; with all spiritual strength.
12.
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Verse 12
Made us meet to be; prepared us to be.
13.
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Verse 13
Translated us; transferred us.
14.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Verse 14
Through his blood; through his atoning sufferings.
15.
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Verse 15
The image of the invisible God; imbodying, and manifesting to men, the attributes and characteristics of God; or, as it is expressed in 1 Timothy 3:16, God manifest in the flesh.--The first-born of every creature, the head of the whole creation; the expression "the first-born" denoting the chief or head.
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:
Verse 16
By him; by his agency or instrumentality.
17.
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
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.
Verse 18
The first-born from the dead; the first who rose from death to immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:20.)
19.
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Verse 19
All fulness; every mark and token of preëminence.
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.
Verse 20
The blood of his cross; the blood shed upon the cross; that is, the sufferings endured in that death.--To reconcile all things; to open the door of reconciliation for all.
21.
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Verse 21
Sometime; formerly.
22.
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Verse 22
In the body of his flesh; in his earthly body.--Through death, through the sufferings and death which he endured in that body.
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;
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:
Verse 24
That which is behind of the afflictions of Christ; that which remains to me of affliction to be endured in the cause of Christ.
25.
Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
26.
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Verse 26
The mystery which hath been hid; the doctrine of free salvation to all, through faith in Christ. This truth is often designated as a mystery; the knowledge of it having long been withheld from mankind.
27.
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Verse 27
The riches of, &c.--among the Gentiles; that is, the exceeding preciousness and value of it to the Gentiles, who were before considered beyond the reach of salvation.
28.
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
29.
Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.