Colossians week 2

Colossians 1:1-14

Colossians 1:1–14 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Thank’s and Greetings

The letter was written by paul and timothy durning one of pauls trips to prission

Paul would be jailed not becasue of any sin but as a result of being a follower of christ who was sharing the Gospel

Paul writes to the st. and faithful brothers other translations use the wors holy and daithfull.

Paul addresses them in this way even though it was not an uncommon way of greeting the chruch but pauls saying that despite all their in perfection and sin from Gods eyes they are saints and faithful

additonally another key part of pauls greeting was his thanks giving and prayer offered for believers in the church. all of pauls letters with the exception of galations offers an thanks giving and prayer for the believers vs 3-8 contains a rather long thanks giving for the church in Col

what is intresting here is that paul was not familiar with the church in colosae the same way that he was with other churches

Epaphras was a believer that had interacted with paul earlier in Paul’s ministry he heard the gospel and received it and created the church in colosae. we see this in

Colossians 1:7–8 ESV

7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

Acts 19:9–11 ESV

9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

E made christ know to this particular region and we can assume that maintained communication with him. he didnt go to colosae but he knew what they were doing through the testimony of others like E.

additonally though he didnt know them personally he chose to write them and let them know he prays their community daily.

Wisdom

Paul again states how he continues to pray for them but lists