Colossians 1:1-12

(Colossians 1:1-12)

『Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, 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. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,  Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,  For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;  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: As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.  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;  That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:』

Like Ephesians and Philippians, Colossians are one of Paul's prison letters. It is assumed that the Colossian Church was not established by Paul, but was founded by Epaphra who met the Gospel when Paul preached the gospel for two years in Ephesus during his third trip. At the time, the Colossae region was located at the crossroads of East-West culture in Asia Minor, and as a center of transportation and trade, heresy and philosophy were popular. Thus, some of the converts of pagan converts from paganism still indulged in angelic, ascetic, legalistic, and gnostic thoughts, and insisted on the unique syncretistic thoughts of the Colossian region in which these ideas were mixed, which in turn led to the essence of Jesus Christ. And the confusion of the church and its members. Paul, who brought these situations through Ephra, wrote a letter to correct the wrong teachings that disturbed the church.

『Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God』Paul introduces himself to the Colossians as "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God." Paul needed to clarify his authority so that Colossians who did not know him personally could understand that what he was saying was not the opinion of an individual, but the command of the Lord. In other words, Paul made clear to the Colossians that he had the authority as God's appointed representative of Christ, when the Colossians read Paul's epistles, it means that they should be accepted as the word of God, not the words of human Paul.

And Paul introduces his co-worker Timothy as a brother. A brother is a person who is spiritually united. That is, they are not relatives, but they have a spiritual brotherhood in the Lord. The reason for this is "Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel." When Paul heard that the Saints in the Colossae Church were standing firm in faith, love, and hope, he thanked God and treated him as a brother.

Faith is believing in Christ Jesus. Believing means believing that Jesus came to the earth to forgive my sins, that He forgave my sins through the blood of the ransom on the cross, and that Jesus and the saints who died on the cross became one and died on the cross. Romans 6:7 said that the dead are free from sin. Faith is united with Jesus.

Love is the search for the lost spirit. There will be no greater love than this. The love Jesus died on the cross is the ransom death to find the lost spirit. Love is also important among saints, but it is God's will to save the spirit of a neighbor who is trapped in darkness and becomes a spiritual blind person.

Hope must be to form the kingdom of God on earth. Personally, salvation is a hope, but it must be a hope for those who have left God to return, to defeat Satan's evil forces and form the kingdom of God on earth. It does not set our gaze on reality, but directs it to the heaven.『 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;  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: 』 The gospel is good news. The reason the Bible is the Gospel is because it makes us aware that all humans are trapped under sin.

Although people were trapped under sin, they become the gospel to them because they repent to God, discover Christ, and unite with Christ to salvation. When Paul and Timothy heard that Saints in the Church of Colossae who had learned the Gospel through Epabra live a life of faith full of faith, love, and hope, Paul and Timothy thank God and pray for the Colossians.

If you look at the content of prayer, God's will says that everyone who believes in the Son gets salvation. The wisdom of knowing God's will is the wisdom God gives to those who repent. So, faith comes from God. Those who do not have faith from God are still bound in sin. People think they believe, but God gives faith as a gift to those who repent. In Galatians 3:23『 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 』

『 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: 』 To be worthy of the Lord is to be a little Jesus. So, the life of denying oneself becomes a life that God is pleased with. Increasing in the knowledge of God will be to save the Spirit. Spiritual maturity is different from sanctification. Self-denying life is sanctification and the way to salvation. But those who repent must also open their spiritual eyes to know the kingdom of God through the Bible. 『According to the power of his glory, make him able with all his powers』. Those who are born again are always led by the Holy Spirit, not the law, and can rely on his power to reveal the glory of God.

The Bible says, “unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness,” thinking about the glory of the kingdom of God that the saints will reach in the future, and endure and endure difficulties while living in this world. 『Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light』. God expressed the born again believers as light. It is not the light of this world, but the light of the kingdom of God. This is the light that awakens the dead spirit with the Word.

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