Greeting
1Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby the will of God, and Timothy cour brother,
2To the dsaints and faithful brothers1 in Christ at Colossae:
eGrace to you and peace from God our Father.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3fWe always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard of gyour faith in Christ Jesus and of gthe love that you have for all the saints, 5because of hthe hope ilaid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in jthe word of the truth, the gospel, 6which has come to you, as indeed kin the whole world it is lbearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you mheard it and understood nthe grace of God in truth, 7just as you learned it from oEpaphras our beloved pfellow servant.2 He is pa faithful minister of Christ on your3 behalf 8and has made known to us your qlove in the Spirit.
9And so, rfrom the day we heard, swe have not ceased to pray for you, asking that tyou may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all uspiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as vto walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, wfully pleasing to him: xbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11ybeing strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for zall endurance and patience awith joy; 12bgiving thanks4 to the Father, who has qualified you5 to share in cthe inheritance of the saints in light. 13He dhas delivered us from ethe domain of darkness and transferred us to fthe kingdom of ghis beloved Son, 14hin whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Preeminence of Christ
15iHe is the image of jthe invisible God, kthe firstborn of all creation. 16For by6 him all things were created, lin heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether mthrones or ndominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created othrough him and for him. 17And phe is before all things, and in him all things qhold together. 18And rhe is the head of the body, the church. He is sthe beginning, tthe firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For uin him all the vfullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and wthrough him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, xmaking peace yby the blood of his cross.
21zAnd you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, adoing evil deeds, 22he has now reconciled bin his body of flesh by his death, cin order to present you holy and blameless and dabove reproach before him, 23eif indeed you continue in the faith, fstable and steadfast, not shifting from gthe hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed hin all creation7 under heaven, iand of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Paul's Ministry to the Church
24Now jI rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh kI am filling up lwhat is lacking in Christ's afflictions mfor the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25nof which I became a minister according to othe stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26pthe mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27qTo them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are rthe riches of the glory of pthis mystery, which is Christ in you, sthe hope of glory. 28Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that twe may present everyone umature in Christ. 29For this vI toil, wstruggling xwith all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Footnotes
- 1 1:2 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
- 2 1:7 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word sundoulos, see Preface
- 3 1:7 Some manuscripts our
- 4 1:12 Or patience, with joy giving thanks
- 5 1:12 Some manuscripts us
- 6 1:16 That is, by means of; or in
- 7 1:23 Or to every creature
Presenting Everyone Mature in Christ — Part Two
Colossians 1:28–29 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 47:28 • ID: 3363Presenting Everyone Mature in Christ — Part One
Colossians 1:28–29 Sermon • Includes Transcript • 43:09 • ID: 3361A Study in Colossians, Volume 1
Christ the Foundation Colossians 1:1–2:15 Series • ID: 15101Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.