Colossians 1.10-The Two-Fold Purpose and Result of Paul's Intercessory Prayer for the Colossians
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday February 15, 2015
Colossians: Colossians 1:10-The Two-Fold Purpose and Result of Paul’s Intercessory Prayer for the Colossians
Lesson # 12
Colossians 1:3 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 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 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. 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 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. (NASB95)
“So that you will walk” is the verb peripateō (περιπατέω), which means “to live, to conduct one’s life” and is used in a figurative sense with reference to the lifestyle of these faithful believers in Colossae.
The infinitive form of this verb functions as an infinitive of purpose which answers the question as to “why” Paul and his companions in Rome interceded in prayer for the Colossians.
“In a manner worthy of the Lord” denotes the proper way of living one’s life as a Christian.
“To please Him in all respects” expresses the degree to which the Colossians please the Lord by living their lives in a manner worthy of the Lord and is also is indicating the purpose for which Paul wants the Colossians to live their lives in a manner worthy of the Lord.
“Bearing fruit in every good work” is composed of the following: (1) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (2) adjective pas (πᾶς), “every” (3) noun ergon (ἒργον), “work” (4) adjective agathos (ἀγαθός), “good” (5) verb karpophoreō (καρποφορέω), “bearing fruit.”
The verb karpophoreō is used in a figurative sense and is used of performing good works as indicated by the prepositional phrase ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ, “in every good work.”
The participle form of this verb is a result participle which indicates that as a result of living their lives in a manner worthy of the Lord so as to be fully pleasing to Him, the Colossians would be bearing fruit by means of each and every action which is divine good in quality and character.
The noun ergon means “works, actions” referring to works or actions that the Holy Spirit performs through the Christian as a result of the Christian’s obedience to the commands and prohibitions in the Word of God, which are inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The noun ergon is modified by the adjective agathos which means “divine good in quality and character” and describes this work or action as good in the sense that it is divine in quality and character because it is in accordance with the Father’s will.
This word describes this work or action as being intrinsically valuable, intrinsically good, inherently good in quality but with the idea of good which is also profitable, useful, benefiting others, benevolent because it is based upon and motivated by the teaching of the Spirit in the Word of God.
The adjective pas denotes “every kind of” divine good work of intrinsic quality and character emphasizing various types of acts that benefit others and are motivated by the Spirit and in obedience to the Spirit.
The noun ergon is the object of the preposition en, which is a marker of means meaning it is indicating the means by which the Colossians were to bear fruit.
“And increasing in the knowledge of God” is composed of the following: (1) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (2) verb auxanomai (αὐξάνομαι), “increasing” (3) noun epignōsis (ἐπίγνωσις), “the knowledge” (4) noun theos (θεός), “of God.”
The conjunction kai meaning it is introducing a result which is in addition to the previous one.
The verb auxanomai is used of the experiential knowledge of God the Father growing in the individual members of the Colossian church.
The participle form of this verb is a result participle which indicates that as a result of living their lives in a manner worthy of the Lord so as to be fully pleasing to Him, the Colossians would be increasing or growing in an experiential knowledge of God the Father.
The noun epignōsis refers to an “experiential knowledge” of God the Father in the sense of personally encountering Him through the process of experiential sanctification or fellowship as the Father is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture and prayer.
It also refers to being affected by this encounter with the Father which will in turn result in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ.
The noun theos refers to the Father which is indicated by the word’s articular construction which in the New Testament commonly signifies the first member of the Trinity unless otherwise indicated by the context.
Colossians 1:9 For this reason also, from the day we ourselves heard about all of you, we never permit ourselves to cease making it our habit of occupying ourselves with praying on behalf of each and every one of you. Specifically, we make it our habit of occupying ourselves with making urgent requests that (God) would cause all of you to be filled with that which is experientially knowing His will by means of a wisdom which is absolute resulting in a discernment which is spiritual. 10 The purpose would be all of you living your lives in a manner worthy of the Lord so as to be fully pleasing to Him. This would result in all of you bearing fruit by means of each and every kind of action which is divine good in quality and character and in addition increasing in knowing experientially God the Father. (My translation)
Colossians 1:10 presents the two-fold purpose for which Paul and his companions in Rome made it their habit of interceding in prayer for the faithful believers in Colossae.
It presents the purpose for which they made it their habit of occupying themselves with making urgent requests that God would cause them to be filled with that which is knowing the Father’s will experientially by means of a wisdom which is absolute resulting in a discernment which is spiritual.
The first purpose was that the Colossians would be living their lives in a manner worthy of the Lord and the second is that they would be pleasing to the Lord.
To live one’s life in a manner worthy of the Lord and be fully pleasing to Him requires that the Christian live their life in a manner which is appropriate for one who is a child of God, and which is in accordance with the Lord’s teaching to love one another.
After communicating this two-fold purpose for interceding in prayer for the Colossians, Paul then presents a two-fold result of the Colossians fulfilling this purpose.
The first is that they would bear fruit by means of each and every kind of action which is divine good in quality and character while the second is increasing in knowing experientially the Father.
Bearing fruit speaks of performing actions which are the result of the Colossians obeying the Spirit’s commands and prohibitions in the Word of God which express the will of the Father and are a manifestation of the life and character of Jesus Christ.
When Paul speaks of actions which are divine good in quality and character, he is referring to works or actions that the Holy Spirit performs through the Christian as a result of the Christian’s obedience to the commands and prohibitions in the Word of God, which are inspired by the Holy Spirit.
These actions are good in the sense that they are divine in quality and character because they are in accordance with the Father’s will because they are the direct result of a person being influenced by the Spirit.
They are good because they are intrinsically valuable, intrinsically good, inherently good in quality but with the idea of good which is also profitable, useful, benefiting others, benevolent because they are based upon and motivated by the teaching of the Spirit in the Word of God.
These actions are intrinsically valuable, intrinsically good, inherently good in quality but with the idea of good which is also profitable, useful, benefiting others.
So when Paul speaks of bearing fruit by means of each and every kind of action which is divine good in quality and character, he is emphasizing actions which benefit others and are motivated by the Spirit and in obedience to the Spirit.
Actions which Christians perform which benefit others and are pleasing to God are the direct result of the Christian obeying the Spirit inspired command of the Lord Jesus Christ to love one another as He loves the Christian.
In Colossians 1:10, when Paul speaks of the Colossians knowing the Father experientially, he is speaking of them personally encountering the Father through the process of experiential sanctification or fellowship with Him as the Father is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture and prayer.
It also refers to being affected by this encounter with the Father while experiencing fellowship with Him.
This will in turn result in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ.
The Colossians would increase in knowing the Father experientially when they obey His commands and prohibitions in the gospel.
The Holy Spirit would cause the Colossians to know the Father experientially when they exercise faith in the Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions in the Word of God which results in the Christian obeying these commands and prohibitions.
These commands and prohibitions reveal the Father’s will for their life and reflect His holy character.
So this experiential knowledge is directly tied to and based upon the Christian responding by faith to the Word of God which the Spirit has inspired (2 Pet. 1:20-21).