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1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
and Timotheus our brother, 1:2 To the saints and faithful brethren
in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace,
from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
1:3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying
always for you,
1:4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye
have to all the saints,
1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard
before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
1:6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth
fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the
grace of God in truth:
1:7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you
a faithful minister of Christ;
1:8 Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to
pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his
will in all
wisdom and spiritual understanding;
1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being
fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto
all patience and longsuffering with
joyfulness;
1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of
sins:
1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every
creature:
1:16 For by him were all things
created, that are in heaven, and that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
1:19 For it pleased the
Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to
reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in
earth, or things in heaven.
1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by
wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and
unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved
away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached
to every creature which is under
heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is
behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is
the church:
1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God
which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations,
but now is made manifest to his saints:
1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the
Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all
wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
1:29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which
worketh in me mightily.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
Colossians
Book: Colossians
Chapter: 1
Overview:
The
Apostle Paul salutes the
Colossians, and blesses
God for
their
Faith,
Love, and
Hope.
(1-8) Prays for their fruitfulness
in spiritual knowledge.
(9-14) Gives a glorious view of
Christ.
(15-23) And sets out his own character, as the
Apostle of the
Gentiles.
(24-29)
1-8 All true Christians are brethren one to another.
Faithfulness runs through every character and relation of the
Christian Life.
Faith,
Hope, and
Love, are the three principal
graces in the
Christian Life, and proper matter for
Prayer and
thanksgiving. The more we fix our hopes
On the reward in the
other world, the more free shall we be in doing good with our
earthly treasure. It was treasured up for them,
No enemy could
deprive them of it. The
Gospel is the
Word of
Truth, and we may
safely venture our souls upon it. And all who hear the
Word of
the
Gospel, ought to bring forth the
Fruit of the
Gospel, obey
it, and have their principles and lives formed according to it.
Worldly
Love arises, either from views of interest or from
likeness in manners;
Carnal Love, from the appetite for
pleasure. To these, something corrupt, selfish, and base always
cleaves. But
Christian Love arises from the Holy
Spirit, and is
full of
Holiness.
9-14 The
Apostle was constant in
Prayer, that the believers
might be filled with the knowledge of
God's will, in all
Wisdom.
Good words will not do without good
Works. He who undertakes to
give strength to his people, is a
God of power, and of glorious
power. The blessed
Spirit is the author of this. In praying for
spiritual strength, we are not straitened, or confined in the
promises, and should not be
So in our hopes and desires. The
Grace of
God in the hearts of believers is the power of
God; and
there is
Glory in this power. The special use of this strength
was for sufferings. There is work to be done, even when we are
suffering. Amidst all their trials they gave thanks to the
Father of our
Lord Jesus, whose special
Grace fitted them to
partake of the inheritance provided for the saints. To bring
about this change, those were made willing subjects of
Christ,
who were slaves of
Satan. All who are designed for
Heaven
hereafter, are prepared for
Heaven now. Those who have the
inheritance of sons, have the education of sons, and the
disposition of sons.
By Faith in
Christ they enjoyed this
Redemption, as the purchase of his atoning
Blood, whereby
forgiveness of sins, and all other spiritual blessings were
bestowed. Surely then we shall deem it a favour to be delivered
from
Satan's kingdom and brought into that of
Christ, knowing
that all trials will soon
End, and that every believer will be
found among those who come out of great
Tribulation.
15-23 Christ in his human nature, is the visible discovery of
the invisible
God, and he that hath seen Him hath seen the
Father. Let us
Adore these mysteries in humble
Faith, and behold
the
Glory of the
Lord in
Christ Jesus. He was born or begotten
before all the
Creation, before any
Creature was made; which is
the
Scripture way of representing eternity, and
By which the
eternity of
God is represented to us. All things being created
By Him, were created for him; being made
By his power, they were
made according to his pleasure, and for his praise and
Glory. He
not only created them all at first, but it is
By the
Word of his
power that they are upheld.
Christ as
Mediator is the Head of
the body, the
Church; all
Grace and strength are from him; and
the
Church is his body. All
Fulness dwells in him; a
Fulness of
merit and
Righteousness, of strength and
Grace for us.
God
showed his
Justice in requiring full satisfaction. This mode of
redeeming mankind
By the
Death of
Christ was most suitable. Here
is presented to our view the method of being reconciled. And
that, notwithstanding the
Hatred of
Sin On God's part, it
pleased
God to reconcile fallen
Man to himself. If convinced
that we were enemies in our minds
By wicked
Works, and that we
are now reconciled to
God By the
Sacrifice and
Death of
Christ
in our nature, we shall not attempt to explain away, nor yet
think fully to comprehend these mysteries; but we shall see the
Glory of this plan of
Redemption, and rejoice in the
Hope set
before us. If this be
So, that
God's
Love is
So great to us,
what shall we do now for
God? Be frequent in
Prayer, and abound
in holy duties; and live
No more to yourselves, but to
Christ.
Christ died for us. But wherefore? That we should still live in
Sin?
No; but that we should die to
Sin, and live henceforth not
to ourselves, but to Him.
24-29 Both the sufferings of the Head and of the members are
called the sufferings of
Christ, and make up, as it were, one
body of sufferings. But He suffered for the
Redemption of the
Church; we suffer
On other accounts; for we do but slightly
taste that
Cup of
Afflictions of which
Christ first drank
deeply. A
Christian may be said to fill up that which remains of
the sufferings of
Christ, when he takes up his
Cross, and after
the pattern of
Christ, bears patiently the
Afflictions God
allots to him. Let us be thankful that
God has made known to us
mysteries hidden from ages and generations, and has showed the
riches of his
Glory among us. As
Christ is preached among us,
let us seriously inquire, whether he dwells and reigns in us;
for this alone can warrant our assured
Hope of his
Glory. We
must be
Faithful to
Death, through all trials, that we may
receive the
Crown of
Life, and obtain the
End of our
Faith, the
Salvation of our souls.