Colossians 1.11b-God's Purpose in Empowering the Christian is to Produce in Them Perseverance and Patience with Joy
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday March 1, 2015
Colossians: Colossians 1:11b-God’s Purpose for Empowering the Christian is to Produce in Them Perseverance and Patience with Joy
Lesson # 14
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. 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, 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously. (NASB95)
“For the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously” is composed of the following: (1) preposition eis (εἰς), “for the attaining” (2) adjective pas (πᾶς), “all” (3) noun hupomonē (ὑπομονή), “steadfastness” (4) conjunction kai (καί), “and” (5) noun makrothumia (μακροθυμία), “patience” (6) preposition meta (μετά), “with” (7) noun chara (χαρά), “joy.”
The noun hupomonē means “perseverance” and is used with regards to the faithful believers in Colossae practicing this godly virtue so as to exemplify it.
It denotes these faithful Christians in Colossae continuing to make it their habit of practicing godly perseverance which is produced by the Holy Spirit so as to exemplify this godly virtue.
It speaks of them remaining faithful to the Lord by being obedient to the Word of God despite the obstacles in life such as the old sin nature, self, the cosmic system of Satan.
It refers to them bearing up under intense pressure and not quitting on God.
It depicts them as enduring undeserved suffering on behalf of the communication of the gospel.
The noun hupomonē is modified by the adjective pas which means “absolute” in the sense of perfectly embodying perseverance which is the result of appropriating by faith God’s power.
Thus, Paul wants these faithful believers in Colossae to perfectly embody perseverance which is produced by the Spirit when they exercise faith in His teaching found in the gospel.
The noun hupomonē is also functioning as the object of the preposition eis which functions as a marker of purpose indicating the purpose for which God empowers the Christian by means of the omnipotence of Jesus Christ.
This indicates that the purpose of the Lord empowering the Christian by means of His omnipotence is so that they will perfectly embody godly perseverance.
The noun makrothumia refers to the godly “patience” produced in the Colossians by the Holy Spirit when they exercise faith in His teaching in the gospel in the sense that they endure undeserved suffering and adversity.
It describes them being in a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or adversity or underserved suffering without complaint or irritation.
It speaks of remaining in a state of being tranquil despite undeserved suffering and adversity or persecution.
The noun makrothumia is also modified by the adjective pas which means “absolute” in the sense of perfectly embodying godly patience which is the result of appropriating by faith God’s power.
Thus, Paul wants these faithful believers in Colossae to perfectly embody a patience which can only be produced by the Spirit when they exercise faith in His teaching found in the gospel.
This noun is also functioning as the object of the preposition eis which functions as a marker of purpose indicating the purpose for which God empowers the Christian by means of the omnipotence of Jesus Christ indicating that the Lord empowers the Christian by means of His omnipotence so that they will embody godly patience.
The noun chara means “joy” and refers to the Colossians experiencing joy which is produced in them by the Holy Spirit when they exercise faith in His teaching in the gospel.
It speaks of a joy experienced by the Christian when enduring patiently undeserved suffering which is produced by the Spirit in the Christian when they exercise faith in the Spirit’s teaching in the gospel.
This noun is the object of the preposition meta which is indicating the manner in which the Christian is to perfectly embody godly perseverance as well as godly patience.
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 knowing His will experientially 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. 11 This is because all of you are empowered by means of a power which is absolute, because of a power which is sovereign, namely, His glory. The purpose of which is to perfectly embody perseverance as well as patience with joy. (Author’s translation)
Paul teaches the Colossians the purpose for which they are empowered to live in a manner worthy of the Lord so as to be fully pleasing to Him by means of a power which is absolute, because of a power which is sovereign, which is the Father’s glory, His Son Jesus Christ.
The purpose of the Lord empowering them by means of His omnipotence is so that they will perfectly embody godly perseverance as well as godly patience with joy.
“Perseverance” speaks of a godly perseverance which is produced by the Holy Spirit so as to exemplify this godly virtue and speaks of remaining faithful to the Lord by being obedient to His Word despite the obstacles in life such as the old sin nature, self, the cosmic system of Satan.
It refers to bearing up under intense pressure and not quitting on God and depicts a Christian as enduring undeserved suffering on behalf of the communication of the gospel.
It speaks of these faithful Christians in Colossae as staying disciplined and subjecting themselves to the will of God, which demands the acquiescence of their will to the Father’s will.
The word conveys the idea of these believers not permitting adverse circumstances to get them to surrender or quit on the plan of God and describes their triumphant confident expectation of reward and blessing in the midst of adversity.
It also involves them doing what is right and never giving in to the temptation or trial and speaks of a conquering perseverance and the ability to deal triumphantly with anything that life can do to them.
It accepts the blows of life but in accepting them transforms them into stepping stones to new achievement and spiritual growth.
Thus, Paul wants these faithful believers in Colossae to perfectly embody perseverance which is produced by the Spirit when they exercise faith in His teaching found in the gospel.
“Patience” refers to a godly patience which is produced by the Holy Spirit when the Christian exercises faith in Paul’s Spirit inspired apostolic teaching in the sense that they endure undeserved suffering and adversity.
It describes the Christian being in a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or adversity or underserved suffering without complaint or irritation.
It speaks of remaining in a state of remaining tranquil despite undeserved suffering and adversity or persecution.
Thus, Paul wants these faithful believers in Colossae to perfectly embody a patience which can only be produced by the Spirit when they exercise faith in His teaching found in the gospel.
Lastly, in Colossians 1:11, Paul teaches that embodying this godly perseverance and patience is accompanied by joy which refers to the Colossians experiencing joy which is produced in them by the Holy Spirit when they exercise faith in His teaching in the gospel.
It speaks of a joy experienced by the Christian when enduring patiently undeserved suffering which is produced by the Spirit in the Christian when they exercise faith in the Spirit’s teaching in the gospel.
The Holy Spirit produces joy in the Christian when they obey the Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions in the Word of God.
The believer experiences this Spirit produced joy by experiencing fellowship with the Spirit, which is accomplished by exercising faith in the Spirit’s teaching in the Word that they have died with Christ and have been raised with Him.
This results in obedience to the Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions in the Word of God and this in turn enables the Holy Spirit to produce a joy that is divine in quality and character and is not based upon outward circumstances or what one possesses.
Joy, happiness and contentment are one of the nine manifestations of the work of God the Holy Spirit in the Christian’s life (Galatians 5:22-23).
The fruit of the Spirit can only take place in the life of the believer who is influenced by means of the Spirit, which takes place when the believer obeys the Spirit who reveals the Father’s will through the communication of the Word of God.
Since the Holy Spirit reveals the Father’s will through the teaching of the Word of God and inspired the Scriptures, the joy of the Lord is the direct result of obeying the Word of God (Psalm 19:8; 119:14, 16, 111, 162; Jeremiah 15:16).