Colossians 3.17-The Colossians Must Continue Doing Everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus While Giving Thanks to the Father
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday October 30, 2016
Colossians: Colossians 3:17-The Colossians Must Continue to Do Everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus While Giving Thanks to the Father
Lesson # 92
Colossians 3:17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. (NASB95)
Colossians 3:17 Indeed, whenever any of you, at any time, should do something, whatever, anything, by means of a word or by means of an action, each of you must continue to make it your habit of doing each and every one of these things in a manner consistent with the Lord’s name, who is Jesus. Simultaneously, each of you continue to make it your habit of giving thanks to the one and only God who is the Father through Him. (My translation)
Colossians 3:17 summarizes Paul’s teaching recorded in Colossians 3:5-16 which is indicated by the fact that the command in verse 17 addresses the conduct of the Colossians and the commands and prohibitions in verses 5-16 do so as well.
Verse 17 contains a fifth class conditional statement as well as a temporal clause.
This fifth class condition contains a protasis and an apodosis.
The former is “Whenever any of you, at any time, should do something, whatever, anything, by means of a word or by means of an action.”
The apodosis is “each of you must continue to make it your habit of doing each and every one of these things in a manner consistent with the Lord’s name, who is Jesus. Simultaneously, each of you continue to make it your habit of giving thanks to the one and only God who is the Father through Him.”
This fifth class conditional statement is expressing an eternal spiritual principle, which is true for everyone in the Colossian Christian community and applies to them with regards to every moment of their day.
It is to govern their conduct at all times and asserts that whenever any of the Colossians, at any time, should do something in life, whatever it is, it could be anything, each of them must continue to make it their habit of doing each of these things in a manner which is consistent with the name of the Lord Jesus.
Paul wants all their conversations, whether they are amongst themselves or with those outside the Christian community to be according to the gospel.
Their conversations with people must always reflect the holy standards of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They must speak in a manner that expresses the love of God by the power of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:25, 29, 32; 5:4, 19, 20; Colossians 3:12, 13, 16, 17).
The conversations of the Colossians must be the result of being filled with the Spirit, or in other words, they must be influenced by the Spirit, which is the result of accepting by faith the Spirit’s teaching in the gospel.
This will result in godly words.
Thus, Paul wants the conversations that the Colossians are engaged in with each other and with those outside the Christian community, to be godly, which would reflect the holy standards or godly standards of the gospel.
Paul wants their conversations to be consistent with their position in Christ and reflect that which they profess and the holy standards of the gospel.
They are to exemplify godliness in all their conversations.
Not only is Paul concerned about the way the Colossians speak to each other and those outside the Christian community, but he is also concerned about their actions.
Their actions must always be the result of being in fellowship with God.
Their actions must be the result of obedience to the Holy Spirit.
When they exercise faith in the Word of God and specifically exercise faith in Paul’s Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions in this epistle addressed to them, their actions will be godly and reflect the holy standards of the Lord Jesus.
The command in Colossians 3:17 is implied and required that the Colossians continue making it their habit of speaking and acting in a manner which is consistent with the name of the Lord Jesus.
Colossians 1:3-5 and 2:5 affirm the Colossians were already engaged in obeying this command.
“The Lord’s name, who is Jesus” or “the name of the Lord Jesus” has a five-fold sense: (1) It signifies the “personality” of the Lord distinguishing Him from the heathen gods. (2) It signifies the “character” of the Lord representing who He is. (3) It signifies the Lord’s “work” in creation and for the salvation of sinful humanity. (4) It signifies the “reputation” of the Lord before men. (5) It signifies the “authority” of the Lord Jesus over the church.
Thus, Paul is emphasizing with the Colossian Christian community that everything they do in life whether their words or actions must be done in a manner which is consistent or in conformity with the holy person of the Lord Jesus.
It also signifies with them that everything they do in life must be done in a manner which is consistent with or in conformity with the holy character of the Lord.
It also denotes that everything the Colossians do in life must be done in a manner consistent with or in conformity with the Lord’s work of salvation on their behalf.
This prepositional phrase also indicates that the Colossians must do everything in life in a manner which is consistent with or in conformity with upholding and magnifying the Lord’s reputation before the human race.
Lastly, it signifies that everything they do in life must be done in a manner which is consistent with or in conformity with or in subjection to the Lord’s authority over their lives.
Notice in Colossians 3:17 that Paul does not give a list of do’s and don’t’s but simply he commands them that whenever they speak or act, it must be done in a manner which is consistent with the name of the Lord and all that this signifies or implies as mentioned above.
The Colossian Christian community’s union and identification with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father must govern all that they say or do in life.
Colossians 3:17 ends with a temporal clause which indicates that while the Colossians continued to make it their habit of doing each and every thing in a manner consistent with the name of the Lord Jesus, they must also continue to make it their habit of simultaneously giving thanks to the Father.
Colossians 1:3-5 and 2:5 affirm the Colossians were already doing this.
Colossians 3:17 indicates that Paul wanted thanksgiving to be an integral part of the Colossians’ prayer life since this verse reveals that they must continue to give thanks to the Father in prayer through the personal intermediate agency of the Lord Jesus.
This is the third time Paul has mentioned in this epistle the subject of thanksgiving in prayer (Col. 1:3, 12).
Paul does not enumerate what the Colossians must give thanks to the Father for.
However, this epistle and a comparison of other New Testament passages related to the church indicate that they were to give thanks to the Father for delivering them from eternal condemnation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
For those who were Jewish, they were also delivered from condemnation from the Mosaic Law.
Both Jew and Gentile church age believers have been delivered from the indwelling Adamic sin nature and have received the forgiveness of all their sins-past, present and future.
They have also been delivered from spiritual and physical death.
They have been delivered from Satan’s power.
They were declared justified by the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
They are also permanently indwelt not only by the Lord Jesus Christ but also the Father and the Son.
They were also placed in union with Jesus Christ and identified with Him in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father at the moment of justification through the baptism of the Spirit.
They have been elected to privilege and predestinated to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
They have been sanctified.
They have access to the Father in prayer twenty-four seven because of their union and identification with Christ and His death on the cross on their behalf.
They will experience the millennial reign of Jesus Christ as well as the new heavens and the new earth.
For those who were faithful in life, they will be rewarded.
These are some of the reasons why the Colossians and all Christians today should offer up thanks to the Father.
Also, notice in Colossians 3:17, that the Colossians were to give thanks to the Father in prayer “through” the personal intermediate agency of the Lord Jesus.
This means that they were able to approach the Father in prayer based upon the merits of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross on their behalf.
They are also able to approach the Father in prayer based upon the merits of their union and identification with Christ in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father.
The Colossians were declared justified by the Father based upon the merits of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross on their behalf.
They are able to approach the throne of the Father in prayer because Jesus Christ’s death on the cross transformed for them the Father’s throne from a throne of judgment to a throne of grace.