Smoodock's Blog

In a previous study we learned that Paul prayed for the Colossian believers, ever since he learned about them, probably through Epaphras, and about their faithfulness in their love for the saints in Jewish lands. In our current study we are given a kind of summary of what Paul prayed, when he prayed for the believers at Colossae. Since the very day he was told of them, he prayed, hoping they would be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, which would increase the wisdom of the Colossian church in spiritual matters (Colossians 1:9; cp. 1Corinthians 2:6-16). Moreover, being filled with the knowledge of God’s will, which, itself, increases one’s wisdom in spiritual matters (Colossians 1:9), also enables one to walk worthily of the Lord (Colossians 1:10).

In other words, being filled with knowing God’s will, and acting on that knowledge, would also enable the new believers to live in a manner that brings honor to God, which produces all sorts of good works in their lives (Colossians 1:10). Thus, doing good works helps in growing in the knowledge of God, vis-à-vis what God is like. Furthermore, knowing what God is like strengthens the believer with the power of God, when trouble comes, so that, as believers, we would gladly serve God in the light of the Kingdom of his Son, enabled, through the power of the death of his dear Son, to be free of serving the power of darkness, which itself shows we’ve been forgiven our sins (Colossians 1:11-14). Thus, as we complete the cycle once, we understand spiritual matters more deeply, and, as we repeat the cycle again and again, we come into an ever-increasing understanding of the will of God, maturing as we do (Colossians 1:10).

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul put it this way: he desired that God would grant that the brethren would be strengthened in the inner man with the power of God’s Spirit, according to his own glorious Being, to the end that Christ would dwell in the hearts of the brethren by faith, rooting and grounding them in love. Thus, the brethren were enabled to understand with the Jewish brethren the breadth, length, depth, and height of the love of Christ, surpassing all knowledge, and they would be filled with all the fullness of God, himself (Ephesians 3:16-19). Thus, the power of God that works within us is able to do more abundantly and far above what we are able to think or ask, so that we in the church may glorify him throughout all generations during the age that has no end (Ephesians 3:20-21).

In other words, Paul was telling the Colossian brethren, he prayed for them that God would enable them, not by strengthening their human faculties, but by empowering them according to his glorious power. That is, Paul desired that they would be strengthened in their spirits, through the power of God’s Spirit within them. Paul desired that the Colossian brethren would be patient and forbear with joy the problems that come with identifying oneself with Christ (Colossians 1:11; cp. verse-13).

Paul finished his prayer by thanking the Father for making the brethren at Colossae fit to be partakers of the inheritance he had promised the Jews, vis-à-vis “the saints in light”[1] (Colossians 1:12).

The phrase “in the light” refers to the light that shines out of the darkness, which this world’s authorities have placed in the hearts of everyone, but the light of the Gospel shines in the hearts of the brethren, the people of God, the followers of Christ, and this light gives us knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ, which we see in the Gospel narratives (2Corinthians 4:3-6).

Being “in the light,” we have been delivered from the power of darkness, or, as Paul puts it: God “has delivered us from the power of darkness and removed us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood…” (Colossians 1:13-14). In other words, prior to coming to Christ, the Colossian brethren (and all who come to Christ) used to behave according to the customs of this age (gentile or Jewish). Or, put another way, we’ve lived according to the authority of the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2), vis-à-vis according to the disposition or will of the man, local, national or international, who is the mover and shaker of the times. This prince could be Caesar, the high priest at Jerusalem or any authority figure, local or otherwise, who works against Christ. Thus, God has removed us from this power of darkness, vis-à-vis removed us from the influence of this world’s authorities, and placed us into the Kingdom of Christ, or under the influence of God. In the Kingdom of Christ we enjoy the spiritual light of the knowledge of the will of God, and this has been made possible, not by any work of righteousness on our part, but only through the grace of God made possible in the death of Christ on the cross (Colossians 1:13-14).

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[1] Gentiles such as those who were at Colossae are not promised Jewish lands, which was the Jews’ inheritance in the Land of Canaan. Instead, we are promised the promises to the Jews who believe in Jesus, the Jews who have entered the Kingdom of God. We, gentile believers, are promised equal status with them and inherit all the spiritual blessings that come in believing in Jesus, the Christ, who was sent by God (John 8:12).