Colossians 1.29-By the Power of Christ, Paul Worked Hard Teaching the Gospel for the Spiritual Growth of the Church
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday August 16, 2015
Colossians: Colossians 1:29-By the Power of Christ, Paul Worked Hard Teaching the Gospel for the Spiritual Growth of the Church
Lesson # 37
Colossians 1:28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. (NASB95)
“For this purpose” indicates that presenting each Christian as spiritually mature in the presence of Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat through instruction in the gospel was the purpose for which Paul worked hard teaching the gospel to the Christian community by the power of God.
“I labor” is the verb kopiaō (κοπιάω), which means “to work hard” since it pertains to engaging in hard work implying difficulties and trouble and this would indicate that Paul “worked hard” teaching the gospel to the Christian community in order that they might grow to spiritual maturity.
“Also” is the conjunction kai (καί), which is emphatic meaning this statement that Paul worked hard according to God’s power which worked mightily through him is advancing upon and intensifying upon the previous statement.
“Striving” is the verb agōnizomai (ἀγωνίζομαι), which means “to struggle, fight, make every effort, to strive in the face of opposition” since it pertains to striving to perform a particular task with great intensity and effort in the face of opposition.
The participle form of this verb agōnizomai is a participle of means which indicates that it is defining specifically for the reader how Paul worked hard in teaching the gospel.
“According to His power” is composed of the following: (1) preposition kata (κατά), “according to” (7) noun energeia (ἐνέργεια), “power” (8) intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “His.”
The noun energeia means “activity” since it pertains to the state or quality of being active and is the object of the preposition kata which means “because of” indicating that Paul for his own benefit made it his habit of striving in teaching the gospel “because of” Jesus Christ’s activity through him.
“Which mightily works within me” is composed of the following: (1) energeō (ἐνεργέω), “works” (10) preposition en (ἐν), “within” (11) personal pronoun egō (ἐγώ), “me” (12) preposition en (ἐν), “mightily” (13) noun dunamis (δύναμις), “mightily.”
The verb energeō is in the passive voice and means “to be put into operation, to be made effective” since it pertains to putting one’s capabilities into operation.
Here it denotes Jesus Christ’s activity being put into operation or made effective through Paul when he exercised faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The dative first person singular form of the possessive personal pronoun egō means “me” and refers of course to the apostle Paul.
The word is the object of the preposition en, which means “through” since it is functioning as a marker of means indicating that Jesus Christ is using Paul as His instrument in the sense that He is exercising His omnipotence through Paul.
The noun dunamis means “power” and refers to the divine omnipotence of Jesus Christ and is the object of the preposition en, which is a marker of means indicating that Jesus Christ’s activity was made effective through Paul by means of His omnipotence.
Colossians 1:29 For which purpose, I in fact continue making it my habit of working hard. Specifically, by making it my habit of striving for my own benefit in the face of opposition because of His activity which is regularly made effective through me by means of power. (My translation)
As we noted in our study of Colossians 1:28, the apostle Paul asserts that he proclaimed Christ everywhere.
He then goes on to define this statement by declaring that he made it his habit of instructing the Christian community.
Specifically, he made it his habit of providing authoritative instruction for the Christian community.
He did this by means of a wisdom which is absolute which is a reference to the gospel.
Then, he states that the purpose of this instruction was to present each person in the Christian community as spiritually mature in the presence of Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat.
Now, here in Colossians 1:29, Paul asserts that he made it his habit of working hard so that every Christian would be spiritually mature when they stand before Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat.
Paul is emphasizing that he not only taught the Christian community the gospel but he in fact worked hard doing so by Christ’s power.
He was actively engaged in a conflict while communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Christian community and the non-Christian community.
He received opposition in carrying out this task.
Of course, this opposition was ultimately from Satan and his kingdom.
The intermediate agencies that Satan used were those teaching false doctrine in the Christian community and the Judaizers.
Of course, unregenerate Jews as well opposed Paul’s teaching of the gospel.
They were the reason why he was arrested by the Romans and was under house arrest in Rome awaiting his appeal to Caesar when he wrote Colossians.
This striving in the face of opposition was also a habitual activity on Paul’s part and it was also for his own benefit since this would result in the Lord Jesus Christ rewarding him at the Bema Seat for his efforts.
Next, the apostle Paul presents the reason why he made it his habit of making every effort in teaching the gospel.
He did so because of Jesus Christ’s activity through him.
Paul was not working hard and striving in the face of opposition to teach the gospel because of his own power but because of Jesus Christ’s activity.
He is emphasizing that Jesus Christ who indwelt him and all church age believers was working through him enabling him to fulfill his ministry.
He is emphasizing this with the faithful Christians in Colossae because in Colossians 1:27 he reminded them that Jesus Christ indwelt each and every one of them.
Now, here in Colossians 1:29 he is telling them that there is a reason why Christ indwells them, namely to work through them just as the Lord was working through him so as to enable him to fulfill his ministry in teaching the gospel to the world.
The apostle then clarifies something about Jesus Christ’s activity, namely that it was being made effective through him by means of power.
Jesus Christ’s activity was being put into operation or made effective through Paul when he exercised faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This again was a habitual activity because the apostle made it his habit of appropriating by faith his union and identification with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
Thus, Jesus Christ’s activity was made effective by Paul when he exercised faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Paul asserts that Jesus Christ’s activity was made effective through him which means that Jesus Christ was using him as His instrument in the sense that He was exercising His omnipotence through the apostle.
He is teaching that Jesus Christ’s activity was made effective through him by means of His omnipotence.
Now, Paul in Colossians 1:29 is informing the faithful Christians in Colossae that Jesus Christ functioned or worked through him because he appropriated the omnipotence of Jesus Christ through faith in the gospel.
Specifically, he appropriated Christ’s omnipotence by exercising faith in his union and identification with Jesus Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand is a manifestation of the omnipotence of God in that it delivered Paul and all Christians from sin and Satan and his cosmic system.
Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand gives the Christian the victory over sin, Satan and his cosmic system.
Thus, when Paul appropriated by faith his union and identification with Jesus Christ, he appropriated the omnipotence of God.
This enabled him to work hard and strive in the face of opposition from Satan and his kingdom as he taught the Christian community the gospel.
Romans 15:18, Philippians 4:13 and Ephesians 3:20-21 echo Paul’s statement here in Colossians 1:29.
Now, Paul in Colossians 1:29 is not only informing the Colossians of his reliance upon the indwelling power of Jesus Christ to fulfill his ministry but he is also at the same time telling them how much he cares for them.
His hard work is on their behalf.
This shows Paul’s love for them as well as His love for the Father whose plan for the Colossians is to become like Jesus Christ in thought, word and action (cf. Rom. 8:28-30).
Paul worked hard teaching them the gospel because he wanted them to be presented to Christ at the Bema Seat as spiritually mature.
What he wanted for himself, namely Christ-likeness, he wanted for every Christian.