COLOSSIANS 1:3-8

A Commentary and Exposition by Nate Wilson

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Greek New Testament

3 ^1
2, 4 ^{3 4}
5 ⁵ ,
⁶ 6 ⁷ ,
^{8 9 10} , '
^{11 12} : 7 ¹³
, ¹⁴
, 8 ¹⁵ .

Verbals

#	Root	Parsing	Meaning	Syntax
1	Eucaristw	1pl. P.A.I.	thank	M.V.
2	proseucomai	N.P.M. P.Dep.Ptc.	praying	Manner of #1
3	akouw	N.P.M. A.A.Ptc.	hear	Temp./Caus.
4	ecw	2pl. P.A.I.	have	Rel. Cl. Adj.
5	apokeimai	Ac.S.F. P.Dep.Ptc.	laid up, stored	Adj.
6	prohkouw	2pl. A.A.I.	heard first/before	Rel. Cl. Adj.
7	pareimi	Gen.S.N. Pres.Ptc.	be beside/come	Gen.Abs.Adj.
8	eimi	3s P.A.I.	is	Compar./M.V.
9	karpoforew	N.S.Neut. P.Mid.Ptc.	bearing fruit	Pred.Nom/Paraphrastic
10	auxan	N.S.Neut. P.Psv.Ptc.	increase, grow	“
11	akouw	2pl. A.A.Ind.	heard	Prep. Obj.
12	epiginwskw	“	understood	“
13	manqanw	“	learn by instruction	Compar.
14	eimi	3s P.A.	is	Rel. Cl. Adj.
15	dhlow	N.S.M. A.A.Ptc.	show, reveal, declare	“

Translations

NAW 3 We are giving thanks¹ to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ always praying² concerning you, 4 since we heard³ of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have⁴ toward all the saints 5 because of the hope which is being stored up⁵ to you in the heavens, which you first heard⁶ through the Word of the truth of the good news 6 which is present⁷ in you, just as also in all the world it is⁸ bearing fruit⁹ and being increased¹⁰ just as also in y’all, from the day you heard¹¹ and fully understood¹² the grace of God in truth 7 just as you learned¹³ from Epaphras our beloved fellow-slave, who is¹⁴ a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf, 8 and the one who made known¹⁵ to us your love in the Spirit.

KJV 3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, 5 for hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 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: 7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellow servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; 8 Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

ASV 3 We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have toward all the saints, 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which is come unto you; even as it is also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing, as it doth in you also, since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 even as ye learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

NAS 3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bondservant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

NIV We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints – 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day your heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Syntactical-Logical Flow

v.3 We are giving thanks¹
. . . - to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
. . . - always praying² concerning you,
v.4 since we heard³ of
. . . - your faith in Christ Jesus and
. . . - the love which you have⁴ toward all the saints
. . . . . because of the hope
. . . . . . + which is being stored up⁵ to you in the heavens,
. . . . . . + which you first heard⁶
. . . . . . . through the Word of the truth of the good news
. . . . . . . . . v.6 which is present⁷ in you,
. . . . . . . . . <> just as also in all the world it is⁸
. . . . . . . . . . . * bearing fruit⁹ and
. . . . . . . . . . . * being increased¹⁰
. . . . . . . . . <> just as also in y’all, from the day you
. . . . . . . . . . . * heard¹¹ and
. . . . . . . . . . . * fully understood¹² the grace of God in truth
. . . . . . . . . <> just as you learned¹³ from Epaphras
. . . . . . . . . . . * our beloved fellow-slave,
. . . . . . . . . . . * who is¹⁴ a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf,
. . . . . . . . . . . * v.8 and the one who
made known¹⁵ to us your love in the Spirit.

Commentary

3 ^1
2,
We are giving thanks¹ to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ always praying² concerning you,

The New York Papyrus Colt⁵ dating to 700A.D. appears to support qew patri “to God the Father” (printed in English with an article “the” although not in Greek) along with the Vaticanus (4^th century) and Ephraemus Rescriptus (5^th Century) uncials and the writings of Augustine (5^th Century). The article (qew tw patri) is included, however in the Beza and Claramontanus uncials from the 6^th Century s well as the 4^th Century writings of Chrysostom. Ancient Syriac, Coptic, and Italic manuscripts quote it both ways, as do other church fathers. In truth, it doesn’t make that much difference, as the absence of a definite article in front of a defined noun does not make the noun indefinite (i.e. “God a father”); it should be translated “God the Father” either way. What makes this variant interesting is a fourth class of manuscripts which use a conjunction inbetween “God” and “Father” (qew kai patri, including the very reputable Sinaiticus (4th century), Alexindrinus (5th Century), Washington (5^th), and a host of miniscule documents from the Middle Ages. The Byzantine text and the majority of ancient lectionaries also support this latter reading, hence the KJV “to the God and Father.” Modern translations go for “to God the Father,” perhaps because of the support of the P⁶¹ papyrus and perhaps because of the semantics – it doesn’t make sense to call God “the God… of Jesus.”

There is also a dispute in verse three over punctuation. Is it:

1. “We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying always for you”

2. “We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you”

3. “We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ always, praying for you”

The latter connects the “always” with the “we give thanks,” and seems to be held by some older European scholarship, and is picked up in the NIV translation “we always give thanks;” the middle connects the “always” with the “praying,” and is held more by the King James crowd, and the first allows for ambiguity and is held by more modern scholarship.

Whether the “always” goes with “giving thanks” or “praying” or ambiguously with both (as I prefer), both verbals are in the Present tense, which means continual action, not a one-time event. Paul didn’t just pray once or twice and thank God for the Colossians, he was continually praying and thanking God! And Paul didn’t pray only privately – the verbals are plural (“we”) -- he spent a lot of time together with Timothy praying!

4 ^{3 4}

since we heard³ of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have⁴ toward all the saints

“since we heard” (KJV, NAS) “having heard” (ASV), “because we have heard” (NIV). The Aorist tense of this verb in conjunction with the Present tense main verb (we give thinks) suggests a particular event before the present time when Paul and Timothy heard about the Colossians, presumably from Epaphrus who came from Colossae to visit Paul in Rome and fill him in on things. There is also a causal sense to this word, i.e. “as a result of our hearing about your faith, we give thanks.”

- “your faith in Christ Jesus” This is the proper object of faith. This is what caused Paul and Timothy to give thanks – the Colossians believed that Jesus Christ is the eternal God who became man and died for their sins to bring them to God.

⁴ “and the love which you have toward all the saints” “which you have” is not in the Byzantine or Textus Receptus, but its presence in older texts clarifies an ambiguous genitive as being objective – this is the love which the Colossians show toward the other saints. The word “saints” here is not used in the Roman Catholic sense of a super-holy person, but in the Biblical sense of anyone who is set apart as belonging to God. In this Biblical sense, all believers – all Christians – are “saints.” This is another hallmark of Christianity for which we should thank God when we see it! Now this does not mean that we should love other Christians to the exclusion of non-christians. Our love should prioritize other Christians, but a view of the rest of Scripture mandates that we show love to non-Christians also. Note that that love is not just toward the saints they have particular affinity with, but with ALL the saints. Lord, please develop this kind of total love in my heart!

A.T. Robertson notes the difference between the two prepositions: our faith is “in” Christ – it is our “sphere or basis,” and our love is “toward” the saints – it is the direction we are moving.

5 ⁵ , ⁶
because of the hope which is being stored up⁵ to you in the heavens, which you first heard⁶ through the Word of the truth of the good news

“for” (KJV), “because of” (ASV), “—“ (NIV), Literally “through” In the accusative case (used here), dia means “on account of.” This indicates that what is to follow is the reason behind the previously-mentioned actions. In other words, the hope of heaven motivated the Colossians to love all the saints.

“the hope” -- This is not a wish, but rather an assurance. The Greek use of the word hope is more sure than the English use of the word. Note the three concepts of faith, hope, and love which Paul also brings out as being the most important hallmarks of the Christian faith in I Cor. 13. “Faith works by love, and the ground of their love is found in the hope set before them” (Vincent). Lord, let these three things characterize my life!

“which is being stored up to you in the heavens”
apo “from” + keimenhn “lying” = “laid up” (KJV, ASV), “stored up” (NIV). This participle is in the present tense, so it is not a one-time thing which was stored up and kept for future use, it is speaking of a continual stockpiling of hope. Since the participle is also in Deponent form, the question arises, “Does the context indicate Active, Middle, or Passive voice?” In other words, who is doing the stockpiling and for whom? Are the Colossians laying up hope for themselves in heaven, or is God storing up more and more hope for them in heaven? I favor the former, although I wouldn’t want to be dogmatic about it. We should be continually putting stock in heaven, continually looking forward to that hope of being with our dear Lord Jesus forever in heaven where everything will be perfect.

“which you first heard” -- The case and gender of hn match the accusative singular feminine “hope,” so the coming phrase continues to describe their hope rather than the “heavens.” pro “before” + hkousate “you heard” The Aorist tense indicates that Paul is referring to an event in the past where the Colossians heard about this hope, “what you hope for, about which you have heard before (i.e. before you received me or before you received this letter)” (A&G) “the hoped-for salvation before its realization” (Thayer). In fact, Paul elaborates further in v.7 that the Colossians first heard about this hope from Epaphras when he preached to them. Apparently, incipient Gnostics had infiltrated the church following Epahras’ preaching ministry in Colossae and had undermined the true gospel with elements of hidden wisdom, works, and asceticism. Commentators suggest that this is the reason Epaphras had come to Paul, asking for help in combating these heretics. As a result, Paul writes this letter confirming the truth of the Gospel as Epaphras first proclaimed it to the Colossians, and pointing out the error of the Gnostics to the church in Colossae.

6

“the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you” (NAS, NIV, Zurich, French)

“the word of the truth of the gospel which has come to you” (Westcott, British Bible Soc.)

“the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you” (KJV, NAS, Luther)

“the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you” (RSV)

Since both “truth” and “gospel” are in the genitive case in a parallel structure, I favor “of the truth of the gospel,” but I don’t see that it makes any difference whether the second comma is there or not. The euaggeliou/good news/gospel is contained in the words of the Bible and preached (using words) by God’s people; that is the only way people can hear about our hope. Or in Vincent’s words, “The truth is the contents of the word, and the Gospel [literally “good news”] defines the character of the truth.” This Gospel alone is true; all other systems of religion are false. For these reasons, the necessity of preaching the gospel to the world is evident. Let us be faithful to proclaim that true hope to others!

6 ⁷ , ^{8 9 10} , ' ^{11 12} : which is present⁷ in you, just as also in all the world it is⁸ bearing fruit⁹ and being increased¹⁰ just as also in y’all, from the day you heard¹¹ and fully understood¹² the grace of God in truth

literally “the one which is present,” “which is come” (KJV, ASV). The gender, case, and number of this phrase indicate that it is speaking of the gospel—it is a Genitive Absolute describing euaggellion “good-news/Gospel” (neuter, whereas logos “word” is masculine, and elpida “hope” is feminine). This verbal can indicate “coming” or “being.” Since it is in the present tense, I want to steer away from the wording of some English translations which connote a perfect tense (“which has come to you”); this is why I translated it “which is present in you” (cf. Vincent, Clark). The “in you” also matches the Greek preposition eis better than “to you.” Maybe my translation sounds a little funny – how can the “good news” be “present in” someone? – but if we believe it by faith and live it, then the Gospel is, in a sense present in us. Paul reassures them that they are indeed Christians.

There is a punctuation dispute is over verse 6. Is it:

1. “to you, just as in all the world also it is bearing fruit and increasing even as also in you, since the day” (WH, BF)

2. “to you. Just as in all the world also it is bearing fruit and increasing, even as also in you, since the day” (RV, ASV)

3. “to you, just as in all the world also it is bearing fruit and increasing. Even as also in you since the day” (French)

4. “to you, just as in all the world also it is bearing fruit and increasing, even as also in you since the day” (Luther)

5. “to you, just as in all the world also it is bearing fruit and increasing - even as also in you, since the day” (RSV)

6. “to you - just as in all the world also it is bearing fruit and increasing even as also in you - since the day” (German)

7. “unto you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you since the day” (KJV)

My take is that whatever we do with the punctuation, we should tie together the thought like Paul does. This is one long comparison for him. The comparative kaqws “just as” is used three times in this passage:

“just as in all the world it is bearing fruit”

“just as it is in you”

“just as you heard it from Epaphras”

I believe these three comparisons refer to coming of the Gospel “it came to you, just is it is coming into all the world, just as Epaphras bore it.” Since it is a longer sentence in Greek than we are comfortable with in English, I believe that commas or dashes can help separate the sub-thoughts, but I wouldn’t put a period in it.

This paints a picture to me of Paul towards the end of his life, meditating on what has happened in the last 30 years in terms of this Gospel to which he had dedicated his life. Over three missionary journeys, he had seen church after church established in city after city throughout Palestine, Asia Minor, and Greece, and now, as he sat in prison, he listened as report after report rolled in from visitors as to how the Gospel was continuing to spread throughout the world! Epaphroditus had come from Philippi with help and a good report from the church there, Titus was organizing the church in Ephesus, Timothy had gone and established the church in Thessalonia, and now this Epaphras was bringing a report of a church Paul had not even established and how faithful and loving they were, not to mention the host of other co-workers mentioned at the end of this book – who knows what all churches they were working with? How incredibly exciting this must have been to him! And it should be exciting to us, as the Gospel continues to advance throughout the world today. Since Paul’s time, the Gospel has spread to every country on every continent throughout the world, and missions is now focusing on cleaning up the last remaining ethnic groups overlooked to date in the worldwide spread of the Gospel. It is indeed exciting!

“it is” – “emphasizes the continuous fruitfulness of the Gospel” (Vincent, cf. ATR).

^{8 9} - “Just as in all the world, it is bearing fruit and being increased” karpo “fruit” + foroumenon “carrying” Middle voice indicates that it bears fruit of itself—there is fruitfulness in the proclamation of the Gospel to the world, God’s word will not return to Him void! The Gospel itself has inherent power unto salvation (Rom. 1:16).

- “being increased/growing” in the Passive voice indicates that it is being caused to grow by God. The Byzantine and Textus Receptus do not have this second participle describing the increase of the Gospel (“just as it is bearing fruit and increasing”), but because the two participles are somewhat redundant, the omission of the second does little to change the meaning. It is in all the best Greek texts. Lightfoot notes that this second participle adds the idea that the Gospel is “not like those plants which exhaust themselves in bearing fruit. The external growth keeps pace with the reproductive energy.” (“inward growth and outward expression” – ATR). “Bearing fruit” and “being increased” are Neuter - still referring to the gospel. It is God’s design that His good news go out into all the world and bear fruit and increase in the multiplication of believers and the establishment of the church. Are we fully participating in this agenda?

- “just as also in you” -- Just as the Gospel is growing and bearing fruit throughout the world, so it is growing and bearing fruit specifically in the lives of the Corinthians.

'

“from the day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth”

There are three verbs in this passage, all in 2^nd person plural, Aorist, Active, Indicative, which indicate simultaneous action:

1. “heard,”

2. – epi “upon” + ginwte “you know” Sometimes the epi doesn’t add significance, but it usually lends the concept of full or complete knowledge and understanding (Thay., A&G), Pershbacher adds that this knowledge is the result of careful observation.

3. (v.7) “learned”

These three things happened together. Epaphras taught “grace of God” in “the word of the truth of the Gospel” to the Colossians and they 1) heard, 3) learned it from him, and 2) fully understood it.

This further elaborates on what the gospel/good news is, it is a description of “the grace of God.” Grace is when God gives us something we don’t deserve. What did God give us that we don’t deserve? He gave us Christ and His righteousness. This is the heart of the Gospel.

The very day that the Colossians heard and understood the Gospel, it began bearing fruit and multiplying in them. Even though he’d never seen the Colossians, Paul knew that this was the case, because that is the universal way of God. If we are His, then we will bear fruit (cf. John 15).

7 ¹³ , ¹⁴ ,

“just as you learned¹³ from Epaphras our beloved fellow-slave, who is¹⁴ a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf,”

The Byz./T.R. addition of the word kai in “just as you also heard” makes no difference in meaning.

“you learned” This is the same root word for “disciple” in Greek. It means to learn by instruction -- to sit at the feet of someone and soak in what they know. Are you a “learner” or are you a know-it-all? The Colossians became disciples of Epaphras and humbly learned everything they could from him about the good news of God’s grace.

“our beloved fellow [bond]servant” (ASV, NAS) “our dear fellow-servant” (KJV, NIV). Because I translated the word diakonos according to its literal meaning (servant) later in this verse, I had to make the distinction between diakonos and doulou by translating doulou as “slave.” Paul and Timothy love Epaphras very much and they affirm him here as a man who works right along with them as slaves of Christ. Epaphras is confirmed to the Colossians as a bearer of the genuine Gospel.

– indefinite relative pronoun usually translated “whoever,” but here defining a class of person “who” is a faithful servant of Christ, just like the many other faithful co-workers which Paul mentions later on in the book.

“is a faithful” -- Epaphras has faith in Christ.

“servant of Christ on your behalf” or “minister of Christ on our behalf” (ASV, NIV). There is a variant in the Greek texts here; the difference is that of only one Greek letter, like it is in English (your/our) and thus could be easily miscopied by a scribe. The most ancient manuscripts vouch for “our” (Papyrus #46, Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and Beza), but just about everything since then uses the “your,” including the later uncials, all the miniscules, the Byzantine text, lectionaries, and most of the church fathers. This latter way is reflected in the KJV “Epaphras…who is for you a faithful minister.” The age of “our” is in its favor, whereas the total disuse of it in favor of “your” is in favor of the latter. The only difference it makes is whether or not Paul and Timothy are claiming to have ownership of the ministry of Epaphras, as the fact that Epaphras served the church in Colossae is indisputable. Epaphras “is probably one of Paul’s converts while in Ephesus who in behalf of Paul evangelized the Lycus Valley where Paul had never been himself” (ATR). In that sense Paul and Timothy could claim Epaphras as “our” minister. On the other hand, it makes a lot of sense for Paul and Timothy to acknowledge Epaphras as the Colossians’ minister. Perhaps this is why the UBS took a rare step away from the oldest manuscripts to favor the later reading.

Epaphras was first of all a servant of Christ, and secondly, his ministry was all on behalf of the Colossians. Every minister of the Gospel would do well to remember those priorities; he is not to work on behalf of himself, he is to serve Christ on behalf of his parish. In fact, this should be the duty of EVERY Christian, to serve God on behalf of others.

Note the repetition of “heard” – 4 times in this passage, plus a 5^th reference to hearing/learning from Epaphras.

• since we heard of your faith in Christ…
• which you first heard through the Word of the truth of the good news
• from the day you heard and fully understood
• just as you learned from Epaphras

Even in Paul’s time, books were rare, since they all had to be hand-copied. The propagation of the Gospel was almost exclusively by word-of-mouth -- and careful hearing.

8 ¹⁵

and the one who made known¹⁵ to us your love in the Spirit.

… – “the one who declared” (KJV, ASV) “informed” (NAS), “told” (NIV), “revealed, made known, showed” (Thayer, A&G), “made manifest” (Vincent) – it is a broad word. In this case, refers to v.4 – Epaphras visited Paul and Timothy and told them about the Colossians. This sews the thought back up so that Paul and Timothy can proceed to how they pray for the Colossians in the following verses.

“your love in the Spirit”
Epaphras made this love known by telling Paul and Timothy that the Colossians had a great deal of love for all the saints (v.4). This love was “grounded in the Holy Spirit” (ATR). Perhaps the Colossians sent along some gift to Paul with Epaphras to show their love for him, I don’t know. But this love appears, in Paul’s mind, to be the one-word summation of his reassurance that the Colossians are indeed Christians. If someone were to sum up in one word why they thought you were a Christian, would they come up with the same word?

Summary

Upon hearing the report of Epaphras the evangelist, Paul and Timothy are driven to praise and prayer concerning the Colossian church. Epaphras’ faithful teaching of the Gospel was heard by the Colossians and resulted in faith, hope, and love, and this is just one of many places throughout the world where this same process is taking place.

Applications

1. Always be praying and giving thanks concerning the church.

2. Don’t just pray alone; pray with other people, too!

3. We should be excited and thankful when we hear of people’s faith in Jesus Christ

4. Faith in Jesus, hope in heaven, and love for others should characterize Christians.

5. We should be motivated to love others by our expectation of heaven.

6. Never stray from your belief in the Gospel as you first heard it.

7. We must be diligent to preach the word of the truth of the Gospel, just as Epaphras was

8. Ours is the only truly “good news”

9. God’s agenda is that the Gospel bear fruit and increase through all the world, so we should be involved with Him in missions!

10. Is the Gospel bearing fruit and growing in you, as it was in the Colossians?

11. Do you understand the grace of God? This is the heart of the gospel.

12. If you do not understand the grace of God, are you willing to be a learner like the Colossians were?

13. We should love our fellow-servants in Christian ministry like Paul and Timothy loved Epaphras.

14. We should live our lives serving Christ on behalf of others first of all.

15. The single-most prominent characteristic that proves we are Christians should be our love.

Sermon on Colossians 1:3-8

For the pastors of the Rocky Mtn. Presbytery of the PCA

I. INTRODUCTION: Setting: 1^st century nerve center of world missions

I can see it now in my mind’s eye. A modest little house in the metropolis of Rome, Italy, the sunlight, mixed with the smells of the city filtering in through two windows in the simple living room, a room full of men talking. The one that catches your attention is the short, wiry man in his sixties standing near the middle. He has a round face and curly black hair, typical of Mediterranean features. What catches my attention about him is the chains that drape from his arms to the brawny soldier dressed in the bright red regalia of the Roman imperial guard. The soldier isn’t angry, though; he is listening intently. Near the 60-year-old man is a younger man, perhaps in his thirties, seated at a desk with parchments, ink, and quills. Ranging around the room are other men, deep in prayer and discussion. Unassuming as it is, this little house is the hub of the greatest enterprise the world has ever known. The older man with the chains is meditating on what has happened in the last 30 years in terms of this Gospel to which he had dedicated his life. Over three missionary journeys, he had seen church after church established in city after city throughout Palestine, Asia Minor, and Greece, and now, as he is confined to house arrest in Rome, he listens as report after report rolls in from visitors as to how the Gospel is continuing to spread throughout the world! Epaphroditus had come from Philippi with help and a good report from the church there, Titus was organizing the church in Ephesus, Timothy had gone and established the church in Thessalonica, and, of course, there were the other men in the room, Aristarchus, Mark, Luke, Justus, Demas – who knows what all churches they were working with! How incredibly exciting it must have been for Paul and Timothy and their co-workers to see that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was indeed bearing fruit and increasing throughout the world! On this afternoon, another middle-aged man enters the house. Paul and Timothy’s faces light up as they recognize an old friend. “Epaphras! How are you doing?” They had discipled Epaphras in Ephesus and then sent him to plant a church in Colossae. Paul had never been to Colossae, but Epaphras now came with a report of a thriving church there, too! Can you imagine Paul’s excitement at what God was doing to expand His church?!

II. The Report of Epaphras

Epaphras proceeded to share with the men in the room what was going on in the church in Colossae, and here we have in Colossians 1:4-8, a digest of the good report which Epaphras gave to that 1^st century nerve center of world missions. This passage is so rich that it would take hours to plumb its depths, but I’d like to focus on just three points of Epaphras’ report as related to us in this passage: the Proclamation of the Gospel, the Response of Faith, and the Outworking of Love, these three things typify the work of church-planting.

1. THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL

v.5 “the hope which you first heard through the word of the truth of the good news” v.7 “you learned from Epaphras”

HOW

Epaphras preached the Gospel in Colossae. How did he do it? Although this passage doesn’t give us many details, two words give us clues as to how Epaphras proclaimed the Gospel. Verse 5 tells us that it was through the “word;” Epaphras communicated the Gospel in words, and his words were based upon the Word of God. Yes, it’s true that our lives and actions speak volumes, but unless we actually communicate in words the truth of the Gospel, the world will not know enough to save them. We must preach the Gospel and make it known in words! A second word in this text which tells us how Epaphras proclaimed the Gospel in Colossae is found in v.7 – the word “learned.” The Greek word emaqete here is related to the word maqatais– “disciple.” Epaphras was a discipler, who diligently taught people.

WHAT

So, what did Epaphras teach? According to our passage, He taught “the Word” – the Holy Scriptures – and its “good news” about the “grace of God” which resulted in “faith in Christ Jesus.” Epaphras taught the fact that, according to the Scriptures, God showed His unmerited grace to mankind by sending His Son Jesus to take the punishment we deserve for our rebellion against God by dying on the cross. That same Jesus was raised from the dead, according to the Scriptures, and now reconciles us to God as He rules the world at God’s right hand. This is good-news! The Gospel is just another word for “good news.” Grace is when God gives us good news when we don’t deserve it. He gave us Christ and His righteousness and fellowship with Him. This is the heart of the Gospel; this is what Epaphras proclaimed, and this is what we must still proclaim today.

2. HEARING AND UNDERSTANDING – THE RESPONSE OF FAITH

v.4ff “since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus… because of the hope which is being stored up to you in the heavens… which is present in you… you heard and understood the grace of God in truth”

The second point about the process of church planting in Epaphras’ report is the response of faith. The Colossians listened to Epaphras’ proclamation of the Gospel, they submitted themselves to his teaching, and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they understood it! The response of the Colossians to Epaphras’ proclamation of the Gospel was faith in Christ Jesus. The only proper object of Faith is Christ Jesus; He is the only one we should ever put all our trust in. If you have never placed all your trust in Jesus, I call you to do so now.

3. THE RESULT OF LOVE

v.4 “since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have toward all the saints…Epaphras… made known to us your love in the Spirit.”

The third point in Epaphras’ report which I want to point out is that the result of faith is Love. Love is the outstanding, identifying mark of a Christian. It was Epaphras’ report of the love which was present in the Colossian church which convinced Paul and Timothy that they were genuine Christians. Note in v.8 that “love” is the only characteristic which Paul and Timothy pick out to describe Epaphras’ report on the Colossian church. That one characteristic of love is enough to say, “yes, they are Christians!” Love is a necessary and natural outworking of faith in Jesus Christ. We don’t know all the details of how that love was expressed by the Colossians, but we can look to other passages of Scripture to see practical details of love: Leviticus 19 “love your neighbor as yourself,” John 15 “Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life,” I Corinthians 13 “love is patient, love is kind, it is never envious, boastful, or proud,” James 2 “don’t show favoritism... and if a brother or sister comes to you and is in need of daily food and clothing… faith without works is dead.” We have plenty of teaching in the Scripture of what it means to love. The point is that the Apostles recognized that love is the mark of a true church, and it should be the outstanding mark of your church.

These three things, the proclamation of the Gospel, the response of faith, and the result of love are highlights of Epaphras’ report to Paul and Timothy, and they should typify the work of any minister of the Gospel.

III. Throw zoom lens wide – brief on progress of missions

v.6 “present in you, just as in all the world the gospel is bearing fruit and increasing.”

And indeed these things DO typify what God is doing to build His church throughout the whole world. Paul reminds the Colossians in his letter that what is happening among them is the same as what is happening “in all the world!”

Two words describe the work of the gospel throughout the world here in v.6:

karpoforoumenon, which literally means karpos “fruit” ferw “carrying.” This participle is in the Middle voice, indicating that it bears fruit of itself—there is fruitfulness in the proclamation of the Gospel to the world, God’s word will not return to Him void! The Gospel itself has inherent power unto salvation (Rom. 1:16). Without any human aid, it can convert the soul, just as it did to George Wishart centuries ago while he was teaching Greek as a secular discipline using the New Testament simply because it was a good example of Greek writing! The second word used to describe the work of the Gospel throughout the world is:

2. auxanomenon, “growing, increasing.” You won’t find this in the King James, but it is in all the best Greek texts. This participle is actually in the Passive voice, which means it is being caused to increase and grow from an outside source – God himself. Not only does the Gospel have inherent power to save, it has the power of God behind it to make it grow! Is that exciting or what? We may be stewards of the Gospel, but it’s not like we can really hold it back -- this Gospel is a mighty divine power that is set loose in the world and, God is determined to make it spread like wildfire!

And it should be exciting to us, as the Gospel continues to advance throughout the world today. Since Paul’s time, the Gospel has spread to every country on every continent throughout the world; missions are now focusing on cleaning up the last remaining ethnic groups overlooked to date. In the sweep of Christian history, we are seeing God’s intentions fulfilled as the church spreads to every tongue, tribe, and nation.

IV. APPLICATION:

A. This was the kind of triumphant feeling Paul and Timothy had as they finished hearing Epaphras’ report. They immediately dropped to their knees to praise God for what He was doing. In fact, the main verbs of this whole passage are not found in the report of Epaphras, but in v.3, “We are giving thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying concerning you…” Paul was committed to aid in the spread of the Gospel. As a prisoner, he didn’t have money to give, but he immediately committed the two things that he could do to help the most: he prayed, and he wrote a reference letter to support the Gospel ministry of Epaphras. Paul and Timothy loved Epaphras, their “beloved fellow-slave,” and they did everything they could to support him in his ministry. Our response should be the same when we encounter a fellow minister of the Gospel – we should do everything within our power to support their ministry through our prayers and our resources.

B. There is also a second response which we see in Epaphras, and that is faithfulness: v.7 “a faithful servant of Christ” Epaphras will go back to Colossae with this letter to strengthen the church. He has quite a challenge ahead of him to combat the incipient Gnostics which had infiltrated the church of Colossae and who were ridiculing his teaching. But he won’t shrink back from his mission in the church because he is a faithful servant of Christ. Notice that Epaphras was not a servant of Paul (although he was a fellow-worker) neither was Epaphras a servant of the church (although he did serve on their behalf); Epaphras was a servant of Christ -- the service of Christ was his goal and priority. Any minister who becomes the servant of his sending organization or the servant of his parish will invariably become unfaithful to Christ. We must continue in faithful service to Christ and Him alone.

In conclusion, as we see the amazing spread of the Gospel throughout the world in our day, let us be faithful to preach the Gospel like Epaphras to the ones God has given us, and let us be faithful in prayer and support for the growing church like Paul and Timothy.

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