Colossians 4.12-Epaphras Struggled in Prayer on Behalf of the Colossians
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday May 7, 2017
Colossians: Colossians 4:12-Epaphras Struggled in Prayer on Behalf of the Colossians
Lesson # 116
Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. (NASB95)
“A bondslave of Jesus Christ” is composed of the following: (1) noun doulos (δοῦλος), “bondslave” (2) noun Christos (Χριστός), “Christ.”
The noun doulos is ascribed to Epaphras expressing the fact that this man was totally and completely under the control of Jesus Christ.
It means that he is under the power and authority of Jesus Christ and is His property because His death on the cross redeemed or purchased Epaphras out from the slave market of sin and Satan’s kingdom.
“Always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers” is composed of the following: (1) temporal adverb pantote (πάντοτε), “always” (2) verb agōnizomai (ἀγωνίζομαι), “laboring earnestly” (3) preposition huper (ὑπέρ), “for” (4) personal pronoun su (σύ), “you” (5) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (6) noun proseuchē (προσευχή), “prayer.”
The verb agōnizomai means “to struggle, fight, make every effort, to strive in the face of opposition, to wrestle” since it pertains to striving to perform a particular task with great intensity and effort in the face of opposition.
The present tense of the verb agōnizomai is a customary present which indicates that Epaphras “made it his habit of” wrestling in prayer for the Colossian Christian community.
The personal pronoun su means “all of you” referring to these faithful Colossian believers as a corporate unit and is used in a distributive sense meaning “each and every one of you” emphasizing that Epaphras was always wrestling in prayer for each of these Christians without exception.
The personal pronoun su functions as the object of the preposition huper, which functions as a marker of benefaction to another which indicates that each and every one of these believers benefited from this man’s intercessory prayer to the Father.
The adverb of time pantote is modifying the verb agōnizomai indicating how often Epaphras was making it his habit of making every effort during his intercessory prayers for the Colossians.
It is expressing the idea that Epaphras was always or at all times causing himself to make it his habit of wrestling in prayer for the Colossians.
The noun proseuchē refers to prayer in the general sense of speaking face to face or in the presence of the Father to worship and adore Him.
This word is also the object of the preposition en, which means “in” since the word functions as a marker of location and so this prepositional phrase expresses the fact that Epaphras was always wrestling in prayer for the Colossians in the face of opposition from Satan’s kingdom.
“That you may stand perfect” presents the content of the intercessory prayer which Epaphras made it his habit of offering to the Father for the Colossians.
“That you may stand perfect” is composed of the following: (1) verb histēmi (ἵστημι), “you may stand” (2) adjective teleios (τέλειος), “perfect.”
The verb histēmi means “to be in a particular state or condition” and this condition is identified by the accusative masculine singular form of the adjective teleios, which means “mature” since the word pertains to being at an advanced stage of spiritual development.
“And fully assured in all the will of God” presents the result of the Colossians being established as spiritually mature.
“And fully assured in all the will of God” is composed of the following: (1) verb plērophoreō (πληροφορέω), “fully assured” (2) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (3) adjective pas (πᾶς), “all” (5) noun thelēma (θέλημα), “the will” (6) noun theos (θεός), “of God.”
The verb plērophoreō means “to be fully assured, to be absolutely convinced” and signifies the Colossians being free from doubt and certain regarding every aspect of the Father’s will for their lives.
The noun thelēma is used by Paul in regards to the will of the Father which is indicated by its genitive adjunct which is the articular genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (θεός), “of God.”
In the Greek New Testament, the articular construction of theos is commonly used to signify the Father unless otherwise indicated by the context.
The noun thelēma is modified by the adjective pas, which means “every aspect” since the word denotes totality and is used in a distributive sense.
Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a slave owned by Christ, sends each of you his regards. He is always causing himself to make it his habit of wrestling in his prayers for each of you that each of you would be established as mature. The result would be that each of you are absolutely convinced with regards to every aspect of the Father’s will. (My translation)
In Colossians 4:12, Paul passes along greetings to the Colossians from Epaphras who he describes as being a part of their community or one of their number.
He also describes Epaphras as “a slave owned by Christ.”
Paul uses this description of himself when writing to the Roman and Philippian Christian communities (cf. Rom. 1:1; Phil. 1:1).
When Paul states that Epaphras is a slave of Jesus Christ, he is affirming the fact that Epaphras had been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ from the slave market of sin and delivered from Satan’s power and authority and is now possessed by Him.
This description also is expressing the fact that Epaphras was totally and completely under the control of Jesus Christ.
It means that he is under the power and authority of Jesus Christ and is His property because His death on the cross redeemed or purchased Epaphras out from the slave market of sin and Satan’s kingdom.
This description marks Epaphras as a communicator of the Word of God which is clearly indicated by the fact that Paul is using this word in the context of mentioning one of Epaphras’ duties or responsibilities as a pastor-teacher, namely interceding in prayer for his congregation.
It is also indicated by Paul’s statement in Colossians 1:7 which affirms that the Colossians learned the word of truth from Epaphras.
In this verse, Paul reminds the Colossians that they learned the truth from this man and calls him a beloved fellow-servant who was faithfully serving Christ on behalf of the Colossians.
Epaphras is not only mentioned in Colossians 1:7 and 4:12 but also in Philemon 23.
In Colossians 4:12, Paul informs the Colossians that Epaphras was always causing himself to make it his habit of wrestling in his prayers for each of them or in other words, Epaphras was making it his habit of exerting great effort when interceding in prayer to the Father for them.
Epaphras was actively engaged in a conflict while interceding in prayer for the faithful believers in Colossae.
He received opposition in carrying out this task and of course, this opposition was ultimately from Satan and his kingdom.
Satan’s kingdom opposed Epaphras when he interceded in prayer for the Colossians so that the latter had to put forth great effort to accomplish this task.
Like Paul, Epaphras interceded in prayer for the Colossians (cf. Col. 1:9-11) and like Paul, Epaphras wrestled in prayer for the Colossians (cf. Col. 2:1-2).
In Colossians 4:12, Paul identifies the content of these intercessory prayers, namely that each of the Colossians would be established as spiritually mature which is the condition of the believer who has arrived at an advanced stage of spiritual development.
The Father’s will for the Colossians and all church age believers is to achieve spiritual maturity (Cf. Rom. 8:28-29; Eph. 4:11-16).
A spiritually mature believer is a Christian who has arrived at spiritual adulthood and thus speaks of a Christian who has become like Jesus Christ in their thoughts, words and actions.
The apostle Paul communicates the result of Epaphras praying to the Father that each of the Colossians would be established as spiritually mature, namely that they would be absolutely convinced with regards to every aspect of the Father’s will.
Note the correlation between conviction with regards to every aspect of God’s will and being spiritually mature.
A spiritually mature believer will have conviction with regards to every aspect of the Father’s will for their lives.
No doubt Epaphras was offering up this prayer to the Father because of his concern for the Judaizers’ false teaching which the Colossians were being exposed to and which Paul addressed in this epistle in Colossians 2:8-23.
When Paul refers to the Colossians being absolutely convinced with regards to every aspect of the will of God, he is also referring to the “geographical” will of God which answers the question, “where does God want me to be?”
Secondly, it refers to the “operational” will of God, which answers the question, “what does God want me to do?”
Lastly, it refers to the “viewpoint” will of God, which answers the question as to “what does God want me to think?”
Therefore, we can see that like Paul, Epaphras desired that the Colossians grow to spiritual maturity (cf. Col. 1:24-28).