23 if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant.
For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end:
because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel, which has come to you; even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him."
but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house; whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under the sky.
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into the Kingdom of God.
Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don't give up.
Don't be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.
of which I was made a servant, according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you, to fulfill the word of God,
When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die.
Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation. That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. That in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and bring forth fruit with patience.
As he spoke these things, many believed in him. Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, "If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
If a man doesn't remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving.
Behold, how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,
For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for by whom a man is overcome, by the same is he also brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state has become worse with them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, "The dog turns to his own vomit again," and "the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire."
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy became our father again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold tightly to our confession.
that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
And I thank him who enabled me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he counted me faithful, appointing me to service;
and hope doesn't disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruptibility, eternal life;
But these things don't count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Gospel of the grace of God.
who, when he had come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad. He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should remain near to the Lord.
to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place."
For he was numbered with us, and received his portion in this ministry.
"Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn't fall, for it was founded on the rock.
those who have turned back from following Yahweh, and those who haven't sought Yahweh nor inquired after him.
Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain that waters the earth." "Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, And like the dew that disappears early.
You will pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of Yahweh.
They are planted in Yahweh's house. They will flourish in our God's courts. They will still bring forth fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,
and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.
This day will I begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of you.
I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you.
that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you know that we are appointed to this task.
from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
of which I was made a servant, according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power. To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
having the eyes of your hearts{TR reads "understanding" instead of "hearts"} enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.
Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I am more so; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often.
But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation. We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we don't faint.
So let a man think of us as Christ's servants, and stewards of God's mysteries. Here, moreover, it is required of stewards, that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by man's judgment. Yes, I don't judge my own self.
Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him?
For this, I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this cause I suffer also these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Colossians 1
Commentary on Colossians 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 1
We have here,
Col 1:1-2
Col 1:3-8
Here he proceeds to the body of the epistle, and begins with thanksgiving to God for what he had heard concerning them, though he had no personal acquaintance with them, and knew their state and character only by the reports of others.
Col 1:9-11
The apostle proceeds in these verses to pray for them. He heard that they were good, and he prayed that they might be better. He was constant in this prayer: We do not cease to pray for you. It may be he could hear of them but seldom, but he constantly prayed for them.-And desire that you may be filled with the knowledge, etc. Observe what it is that he begs of God for them,
Col 1:12-29
Here is a summary of the doctrine of the gospel concerning the great work of our redemption by Christ. It comes in here not as the matter of a sermon, but as the matter of a thanksgiving; for our salvation by Christ furnishes us with abundant matter of thanksgiving in every view of it: Giving thanks unto the Father, v. 12. He does not discourse of the work of redemption in the natural order of it; for then he would speak of the purchase of it first, and afterwards of the application of it. But here he inverts the order, because, in our sense and feeling of it, the application goes before the purchase. We first find the benefits of redemption in our hearts, and then are led by those streams to the original and fountain-head. The order and connection of the apostle's discourse may be considered in the following manner:-