“Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,

Paul’s heart was in his writing. He never wrote in the abstract when he discussed the great blessings which believers have in Christ. He was ever deeply conscious of the fact that upon him, too, though completely unworthy, the Father had bestowed these favors. Hence, it is not surprising that, deeply moved by what he is writing, he changes the wording, from “you” to “us”: verse 13, “who qualified you … ”; verse 14, “and who rescued us.…” Besides, note how all the main ideas of verses 12–14 — darkness, light, inheritance, remission of sins⁴⁴ — occur also in Acts 26:18, 23, passages that record Paul’s own experience and predict the experience of the Gentiles to whom he was now sent. The apostle, accordingly, in describing the kindnesses which had been conferred upon the Colossians and upon himself and his associates, yes, even upon all rescued sinners, echoes the very words which the Savior had used in addressing him, even “Saul,” the great and dreadful persecutor:

“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet since for this purpose I have appeared to you … delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power [or: jurisdiction] of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:15b–18, quoted in part).

So Paul writes: and who rescued⁴⁵ us. He drew us to himself, delivering us from our condition of wretchedness. The verb rescued in the present context implies both the utterly hopeless darkness and misery in which, apart from God’s mercy, “we” (the Colossians, Paul, etc.) had been groping about, and the glorious but arduous redemptive work that was necessary to emancipate us from our wretched state. The Father rescued us by sending his Son into the flesh (Col. 1:22; 2:9; cf. Gal. 1:15, 16; 4:4, 5) in order:

a. to die for our sins on the cross (Col. 1:22; 2:14; cf. Gal. 2:20; 6:14), and

b. to rise and ascend to heaven, whence he poured the Spirit into our hearts (Col. 3:1; cf. II Thess. 2:13; John 16:7), so that we, having been called (Col. 1:6, 7; cf. Gal. 1:15, 16; Phil. 3:14), were “made alive” (Col. 2:13; cf. Eph. 2:1–5; John 3:3; Acts 16:14), and by an act of genuine conversion accepted Christ Jesus as Lord and were baptized (Col. 2:6, 12; cf. Acts 9:1–19).

This entire process is covered by the words, “He rescued us,”⁴⁶ and this, out of the domain of darkness, the sphere in which Satan exercises his usurped jurisdiction (Matt. 4:8–11; Luke 22:52, 53; cf. Acts 26:18) over human hearts, lives, activities, and over all “the powers of the air,” “the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 2:2; 6:12). (For the meaning of light and darkness see above on verse 12.) Helpless, hopeless slaves were we, chained by our sins in Satan’s prison … until the Conqueror came to our rescue (cf. II Cor. 2:14). It was God in Christ who rescued us and transplanted us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. He brought us out of the dark and dismal realm of false ideas and chimerical ideals into the sun-bathed land of clear knowledge and realistic expectation; out of the bewildering sphere of perverted cravings and selfish hankerings into the blissful realm of holy yearnings and glorious self-denials; out of the miserable dungeon of intolerable bonds and heart-rending cries into the magnificent palace of glorious liberty and joyful songs.

“Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,

Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;

Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,

Jesus, I come to Thee;

Out of my sickness into Thy health,

Out of my want and into Thy wealth,

Out of my sin and into Thyself,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

“Out of the fear and dread of the tomb,

Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;

Into the joy and light of Thy home,

Jesus, I come to Thee;

Out of the depths of ruin untold,

Into the peace of Thy sheltering fold,

Ever Thy glorious face to behold,

Jesus, I come to Thee.”

(W. T. Sleeper)

It is probable that the underlying figure is one which those addressed — both Gentile and Jew — readily understood. These people knew that earthly rulers would at times transplant a conquered people from one country to another (II Kings 15:29; 17:3–6; 18:13; 24:14–16; 25:11; II Chron. 36:20; Jer. 52:30; Dan. 1:1–4; Ezek. 1:1; see also above: Introduction, II. The City of Colosse, C). So also “we” have been transplanted, and this not from liberty into slavery but from slavery into liberty. Let us then stand in that liberty. Let us not think that our deliverance is only of a partial character, or that by means of mystic rites, painful ceremonies, worship of angels, or any other means (then or now) we must slowly work our way up from sin to holiness. Once for all we have been delivered. We have been transplanted not out of darkness into semi-darkness, but out of dismal darkness into “marvelous light” (I Peter 2:9). We have even now arrived in “the kingdom of the Son of his (the Father’s) love.”⁴⁷ Here is what may truly be called “realized eschatology.” In principle we already in this present life partake of the promised glory. God has already begun a good work in us, and as to the future each one of us is able to testify:

“The work thou hast in me begun

Shall by thy grace be fully done” (cf. Ps. 138:8; Phil. 1:6).

“We” have received the Holy Spirit. And his indwelling presence is the “earnest” (first instalment and pledge) of our inheritance (Eph. 1:4; cf. II Cor. 1:22; 5:5). It is the guarantee of still greater glory to come. This follows also from the fact that the Christ who merited this glory for us is “the Son of the Father’s love.” He is both the Object of this love (Isa. 42:1; Ps. 2:7; Prov. 8:30; Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Luke 3:22) and its personal manifestation (John 1:18; 14:9; 17:26). How then shall not the Father “together with him” freely give us all things? (Rom. 8:32). We have been transplanted into the Kingdom of the Son of God’s love, in whom we have our redemption, that is, our deliverance as the result of the payment of a ransom. Just as according to Israel’s ancient law the forfeited life could be ransomed (Ex. 21:30), so our life, forfeited through sin, was ransomed by the shedding of Christ’s blood (Eph. 1:7).⁴⁸ Besides, as A. Deissmann remarks, “When anybody heard the Greek word λύτρον, ransom [on which the word ἀπολύτρωσις, redemption is based] … it was natural for him to think of the purchase-money for manumitting slaves.” Hence, “in him,” that is, through spiritual union with him (Col. 3:1–3), redemption full and free is ours. This redemption is, accordingly, emancipation from the curse (Gal. 3:13), particularly from enslavement to sin (John 8:34; Rom. 7:14; I Cor. 7:23), and release to true liberty (John 8:36; Gal. 5:1). Through Christ’s payment of a ransom and our faith in him we have obtained from the Father the forgiveness or remission (cf. Ps. 103:12) of our sins. The chain that held us fast has been broken. Though the apostle uses this expression “forgiveness of sins” (which is of such frequent occurrence elsewhere in the New Testament),⁴⁹ only here and in Eph. 1:7 (forgiveness of … trespasses), and though he generally conveys a similar idea by words and phrases that belong to the “justification by faith” family, he was, nevertheless, well acquainted with the idea of forgiveness of sins, as is shown by Rom. 4:7; II Cor. 5:19; and in Colossians by 2:13 and 3:13. In fact, in Colossians the idea of forgiveness is even emphasized. See footnote 131.

Justification and remission are inseparable. So are also redemption and remission, though this was at times denied. Thus Irenaeus in his work Against Heresies I.xxi.2, written about a.d. 182–188, tells us about certain heretics in his day who taught that here in this life salvation occurs in the following two stages:

a. Remission of sins at baptism, instituted by the visible, human Jesus;

b. Redemption at a later stage, through the divine Christ who descended on Jesus. In this second stage the person whose sins have already been forgiven attains to perfection or fulness.

It is possible, in view of such passages as Col. 2:9, 10; 4:12, that the errorists at Colosse were already spreading this or a similar notion. In any event, it was through the Holy Spirit, who knows all things even before they happen and is therefore able to issue warnings that apply to the future as well as to the present, that the apostle wrote these words. They clearly indicate that when a sinner is transplanted out of the power of darkness into the kingdom of light, he is to be regarded as having been redeemed, and that this redemption implies the remission of sins.

1:15–20

III. The Son’s Pre-eminence

Verses 15–20 form a unit. If it was not a literary gem composed by the apostle himself, it was probably a hymn or other fixed testimony of the early church adopted by Paul and reproduced here by him either without change or with alterations suitable to the needs of the Colossian church. It is, in any case, a unit and for that reason is here printed in its entirety. And since it clearly consists of two parts these have been reproduced here in parallel columns.⁵⁰ The relation of the theme to its two divisions is as follows. The Son’s Pre-eminence is shown:

A. In Creation (verses 15–17)

B. In Redemption (verses 18–20)

15 Who is the image of the invisible

God,

The firstborn of every creature,

16 For in him were created all things

In the heavens and on the earth,

The visible and the invisible,

Whether thrones or dominions or

principalities or authorities,

All things through him and with

a view to him have been created;

17 And he is before all things,

And all things hold together in

him.

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 pre-eminence,

19 For in him he [God] was pleased

to have all the fulness dwell,

20 And through him to reconcile all

things to himself,

Having made peace through the

blood of his cross,

Through him, whether the things

on the earth

Or the things in the heavens.

Very striking and solemn are these lines. Note the following points of correspondence between A. and B.:

	A.	B.
(1) “Who is” in verse	15	18
(2) “The firstborn” in verse	15	18
(3) “For in him” in verse	16	19
(4) “In the heavens and on the earth” in verse	16	cf. 20

Not only do the same expressions occur in both columns but they occur in the same sequence! There is a definite idea-and-form parallelism. The glory of Christ in Creation is balanced by his majesty in Redemption. There are also other items of resemblance; for example, the expression “all things,” occurring four times in verses 15–17 and twice in verses 18–20. And the words “through him” of verse 16 are repeated twice in verse 20.

As to the origin and nature of these impressive, solemn, and carefully balanced lines, there are two main views. See, however, footnote.⁵¹

The first of these two acceptable theories is this: Paul himself composed and dictated the lines. Those who favor this view generally add that Col. 1:15–20 is not a hymn.

The second is this: the passage is a pre-Pauline hymn or well-known and oft-repeated early saying or testimony. Paul, having learned this “hymn” or “saying” which had endeared itself to his heart, made it a part of his letter, either with no addition or alteration or else with slight changes to suit his own purpose.

The following arguments have been advanced in favor of the first alternative:

(1) Recognizable quantitative meter such as one might expect in a hymn is found here only after considerable conjectural reconstruction.

(2) It was natural for Paul, a highly emotional person who was writing on a lofty theme (Christ’s Pre-eminence) to express himself in such a solemn way. And since many Old Testament passages, very familiar to Paul, praised Jehovah’s majesty in parallelistic phraseology (Ps. 93; 96; 103; 121; 136; 145–150; etc.), the apostle, under the guidance of the Spirit, would almost naturally express himself in similar language in setting forth the majesty of Christ.

(3) There is nothing in this passage that can be considered foreign to Paul’s main theme in Colossians.

(4) The Paul of I Corinthians and Galatians writes in similar style. See footnote 51, A.5 above.

Those who disagree might answer as follows:

With respect to (1). Does every hymn have recognizable quantitative meter?

With respect to (2). Would anyone, writing spontaneously in the freely flowing style of a letter, compose a passage consisting of two parts which contain not only the same phrases, but even these same phrases arranged in the same sequence?

With respect to (3). True, but this is not in conflict with either theory.

With respect to (4). At best the passages to which Percy refers furnish only partial proof. They do not contain a true and full stylistic parallel to what is found in Col. 1:15–20.

Now though the first theory may, after all, be correct, there would seem to be a stronger argument in support of the second. Note the following:

(1) The primitive Church had not only its Old Testament Psalms but also other hymns. Cf. I Cor. 14:26. Paul loved “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”

Is not this clearly stated in Col. 3:16?

Very vividly illustrated in I Tim. 3:16?

And also clearly motivated by John 3:16?

The early church also had its famous “reliable sayings” (I Tim. 1:15; 3:1; 4:8, 9; II Tim. 2:11–13; Titus 3:4–8). All such sayings, testimonies, confessions, and songs were passed from mouth to mouth and from heart to heart, until they had embedded themselves in the very soul of the community, where all the fears, hopes, struggles, and joys of believers played around them. It would not be strange, therefore, if Paul here in Col. 1:15–20 were actually quoting, either exactly or with some additional word of application, a saying or hymn which had already secured for itself a place of prominence in the life of the Church.

Note, moreover, that Col. 1:15–20 bears testimony to the greatness of Christ, which is the very theme of I Tim. 3:16. That passage, as already indicated, in all probability was another hymn. In this connection it may be of some significance that a generation after Paul’s death Pliny the Younger, describing the Christians of his day to the emperor Trajan, states, “They affirmed, moreover, that the sum-total of their guilt or error was this, that they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ as to a God …” (Letters X.xcvi).

(2) The relative pronoun “who” in “who is” (verses 15, 18, especially the latter) “is not obviously natural” (C. F. D. Moule, op. cit., p. 62). It has all the appearance of having been borrowed from a hymn in which it may have been preceded by such words as, “We thank our glorious Lord Jesus.” This is comparable to the antecedant presupposed by the hymn quoted in I Tim. 3:16. See N.T.C. on I and II Timothy and Titus, pp. 137, 138.

(3) The carefully constructed nature of the passage, Col. 1:15–20, the parallelistic correspondences pertaining to its two parts, the recurrence of words and phrases in the same sequence in these two sections, is more natural in a hymn than in the free-flowing style of a letter.

Before attempting a study of the separate parts, the passage should be seen in its entirety. The following points should be noted:

(1) The passage indicates at least the following, namely, that only about thirty years after Jesus had suffered a shameful death on the cross divine honor was ascribed to him. His pre-eminence both in Creation and Redemption, his exaltation above every creature, was being clearly proclaimed by the apostle Paul. However, if the passage is a quotation from an earlier source, as is distinctly possible, it would mean that the recognition of Jesus as God even antedated Paul! See John 20:28; cf. 1:1–18.

(2) By insisting so strongly on the greatness of Christ, this passage implies that he is able to grant to the Colossians the things which Paul, in his beautiful prayer (verses 9–14), had requested for them. That is the connection between the prayer and the “hymn” or testimony. Such assurance was necessary, for the apostle had asked nothing less than clear knowledge of God’s will, all spiritual wisdom and understanding, bearing fruit in every good work, and all vigor so as to exercise every kind of endurance and long-suffering.

(3) Col. 1:15–20 pictures a Christ who holds in his almighty hand and embraces with his loving heart both the realm of creation and that of redemption. He who is “the firstborn of all creation” is also “the firstborn from the dead.” He who died on the cross knows by name the most distant star. He not only knows it but guides it. Still better: he controls it in such a manner that it will serve the interests of his people (Rom. 8:28). The so-called “laws of nature” have no independent existence. They are the expression of his will. And because he delights in order and not in confusion it is possible to speak of laws. He who in answer to prayer grants assurance of salvation is also able in answer to prayer to grant rain!

The present-day application of this truth is immediately evident. Since the Christ of Calvary rules the heavens and the earth in the interest of his kingdom and to the glory of his Name, always over-ruling evil for good, neither automation nor bomb nor communistic menace nor depression nor economic unbalance nor fatal accident nor gradual decline in mental vigor nor hallucination due to nervous disorder nor any invader from outer space (about which some people have nightmares!) will ever succeed in separating us from his love (Rom. 8:35, 38). He who tells us how to go to heaven and actually brings us there, also knows how the heavens go; for he, all things having been created and “holding together” in him, through him, and unto him, causes them to perform their mission and to go to the place predestined by him.

(4) Over against the heretics who threatened the Colossian church and proclaimed Christ’s insufficiency, this passage sets forth his all-sufficiency for salvation. This salvation implies not only being saved from the wrath of God, from the sentence of condemnation, and from eternal punishment, but also being spiritually regenerated and strengthened so that one is able to lay aside his old nature with its many vices (Col. 3:5–9) and to put on the new nature with its many virtues (Col. 3:1–3, 12–17). It is the all-sufficient Christ, he and he alone, who brings his people to glory. Thus the apostle, even in this grand passage, Col. 1:15–20, is really dealing with the practical implications of faith in Christ. In contrast with this faith the notions of the errorists fade away into worthlessness.

(5) The passage also clearly teaches that Christ’s redemptive activity is universe-embracing. In Christ God was pleased to reconcile all things to himself. See on 1:20.

Turning now to the first of the two parts into which the section, verses 15–20, is divided we note the Son’s Pre-eminence

A. In Creation

15. Paul writes, Who is the image of the invisible God. This reminds us of Gen. 1:27 which reports that man was created as God’s image. As such man was given dominion over the rest of creation. It is significant that Psalm 8, in which this dominion is described in some detail, is by the author of the epistle to the Hebrews interpreted Messianically (Heb. 2:5–9). But though this reference to man’s creation as God’s image and consequent dominion may well have been in the background, it does not do full justice to the idea conveyed here in Colossians with respect to the Son. Man, though God’s image, is not God. But, as the image of the invisible God, the Son is, first of all, himself God. “In him all the fulness of the godhead dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9; cf. Rom. 9:5). “In him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden” (2:3). Secondly, as the image of the invisible God, the Son is God Revealed. In Paul’s writings this identification of the Son with God himself, the Son being God’s image or God made manifest, is not new. Also in a letter to the Corinthians, written earlier by several years, the apostle had called Christ “the image of God” (II Cor. 4:4). With this should be compared the apostle’s description of his Lord in Philippians (a letter written probably shortly after Colossians), namely, “existing in the form of God” (see N.T.C. on Phil. 2:6). We have here in Col. 1:15 the same teaching as is found in Heb. 1:3, where the Son is called “the effulgence of God’s glory and the very impress of his substance.” In different language the apostle John expresses the same thought: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was face to face with God, and the Word was God.… God himself no one has ever seen. The only begotten God, who lies upon the Father’s breast, it is he who made him known” (John 1:1, 18). Cf. also John 10:30, 38; 14:9; Rev. 3:14. It is in the Son that the invisible God has become visible, so that man sees him who is invisible (cf. I Tim. 1:17; 6:16).

Now if the Son is the very image of the invisible God, and if this invisible God is from everlasting to everlasting, it follows that the Son, too, must be eternally God’s image. With respect to his deity he cannot belong to the category of time and space. He cannot be a mere creature, but must be in a class by himself, that is, raised high above every creature. Accordingly, the apostle continues, the firstborn of every creature,⁵² that is, the One to whom belongs the right and dignity of the Firstborn in relation to every creature. That the phrase “the firstborn of every creature” cannot mean that the Son himself, too, is a creature, the first in a very long line, is clearly established by verse 16. He is prior to, distinct from, and highly exalted above every creature. As the firstborn he is the heir and ruler of all. Note Psalm 89:27:

“I will also make him my firstborn,

The highest of the kings of the earth.” Cf. Ex. 4:22; Jer. 31:9.

The same thought is expressed in Heb. 1:1, 2, “God … has spoken to us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also made the worlds.”

16. The interpretation just given brings verse 15 in harmony with verse 16 which again stresses Christ’s pre-eminence above every creature. And that, let it be re-emphasized, was after all Paul’s main theme over against the teachers of error who were disturbing the church at Colosse. We read:

For in him were created all things

In the heavens and on the earth,

The visible and the invisible.

Whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities,

All things through him and with a view to him have been created.

All things — it makes no difference whether they be material or spiritual — were created in him, that is, with reference to the Son, the firstborn. As two walls and the bricks in these walls are arranged in relation to the cornerstone, from which they derive their angle of direction, so it was in relation to Christ that all things were originally created. He is their Point of Reference. Moreover, it is through him, as the Agent in creation, and with a view to him or for him as creation’s Goal that they owe their settled state (“have been created”). All creatures, without any exception whatever, must contribute glory to him and serve his purpose. But is not God the Father — or else the Triune God — rather than the Son, the One for whom all things were brought into being? And do not passages such as Rom. 11:36, I Cor. 10:31, and Eph. 4:6 point in that general direction? Here it must be borne in mind, however, that the apostle’s very emphasis in this letter is that the Son, too, is fully divine. In him all the fulness of the godhead dwells bodily (Col. 2:9). Hence, it is entirely reasonable for him to say that the Son is not only the One to whom all things owe their origin, as the divine Agent in their creation, but is also the Goal of their existence. Of all creatures he is Sovereign Lord. Hence, there is absolutely no justification for trusting in, seeking help from, or worshiping any mere creature, even though that creature be an angel. Angels, too, however exalted they may be, are creatures, and as such are subject to Christ. The region to which they or any other created beings belong or which they are thought to occupy, whether that region be heaven or earth or some place in-between, makes no difference. Note the crisscross or chiastic manner in which this thought is expressed:

“For in him were created all things”

Here clearly the visible creatures are those viewed as on earth; the invisible as in heaven.

Paul is thinking especially of thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities. The teachers of error were constantly referring to those angelic beings. The apostle does not deny their existence (Eph. 1:21, 22). Neither does he reject the idea that they are able to exert influence for good, if still unfallen (on this see N.T.C. on I Tim. 5:21) or for evil, if fallen (Eph. 6:12). The apostle’s idea is rather this: angels have no power apart from Christ. In fact, apart from him they cannot even exist. They are creatures, nothing more. To the salvation or perfection of the Colossians they, in and by themselves, can contribute naught whatever. They can only render service and this always in subjection to Christ and through his power. The good angels cannot add anything to the fulness of riches and resources which believers have in Christ. The evil angels cannot separate them from his love (Rom. 8:35–39). In fact, through his death these sinister powers were basically vanquished (Col. 2:15). They are approaching the day when even their ability to do harm in God’s universe and in the hearts and lives of earth-dwellers will be ended once and for all (I Cor. 15:24, 25).

The enumeration “thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities” is not necessarily an arrangement of angels in four distinct groups, either in an ascending or in a descending scale of eminence, as if there were these four sharply differentiated classes. It is possible, nevertheless, that thrones and dominions must be viewed as throne-spirits, that is, such spirits as are dwelling in the immediate vicinity of God’s throne (cf. the cherubim, Rev. 4:6). On this assumption principalities and authorities, generally mentioned together (Col. 1:16; 2:10, 15; Eph. 1:21; 3:10; I Cor. 15:24), could be spirits of lesser rank. But, however that may be, what Paul is saying is this: “These angelic beings of which false teachers are making so much, call them by whatever names you wish (Eph. 1:21; Phil. 2:9, 10), are mere creatures, and having been created through and for Christ, are subject to him.” The inference, of course, is this, also for salvation you should expect everything from him, from him alone, not from him and the angels!⁵³

17. Now if all things have been created through him and with a view to him (verse 16), it stands to reason that he preceded all created beings in time. In fact, “there never was a time when he was not.” He was “begotten of the Father before all worlds” (Nicene Creed). Accordingly, the “hymn” continues, And he is before all things. He is, accordingly, the Forerunner. The doctrine of Christ’s pre-existence from eternity is taught or implied in such passages as John 1:1; 8:58; 17:5; II Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:6; Rev. 22:13. He is indeed the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. And this temporal priority in turn suggests pre-eminence and majesty in relation to all creatures: And all things hold together in him. The central position of Christ is defended here over against those who rejected it. The One with reference to whom, through whom, and with a view to whom all things were created is also the One who maintains them. The unity, order, and adaptation evident in all of nature and history can be traced to the Upholder or Sustainer of all (cf. Heb. 1:1–3).

All things hold together; that is, they continue and cohere.⁵⁴

There is, accordingly, unity and purpose in all of Nature and History. The world is not a chaos but a cosmos. It is an orderly universe, a system. This, to be sure, does not always appear on the surface. Nature seems to be “raw in tooth and claw,” without harmony and order. Yet, a closer look soon indicates a basic plan. There is adaptation everywhere. For their perpetuation certain plants need certain definite insects. These insects are present, and so wondrously constructed that they can perform their function. The polar bear is able to live where there is ice and snow. It is kept from slipping on the ice by having fur even on the soles of its feet. The yucca plant can live in the hot, dry desert because not only does it have roots reaching down deeply into the soil for water but also leaves so formed that evaporation is very slow. Our lungs are adapted to the air we breathe, and our eyes to the light by which we see. Everywhere there is coherence.

This is true also in the daily events of History. Here, too, things are not as they seem. Often Confusion seems to be rampant. A Guiding Hand is nowhere visible. Instead, we hear the cry of battle, the shriek of anguish. The newspapers, moreover, are filled with accounts of burglary, murder, rape, and race-clash. If we compare the wheel of the universe to a machine, we might say that its gear-teeth seem not to mesh. To be sure, one day in the far-flung future, all will be harmony: the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.… They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:6–9). But that time has not yet arrived. All is chaos now. But is it really? Should we not rather compare our world to a weaving, whose underside forms no intelligible pattern, but whose upperside reveals beauty and design? Or to an international airfield? Though its planes, constantly coming and going, make us dizzy, so that we expect a collision any moment, we need not really hold our breath, for the man in the control-tower directs each take-off and landing. Thus, too, all creatures in all their movements throughout history are being held together. And that which holds them together is not Chance or Fate or the laws of Nature or even the “nine orbs, or rather globes” of Scipio’s Dream. On the contrary, “all things hold together in him.” It is the Son of God’s love who holds in his almighty hands the reins of the universe and never even for one moment lets them slip out of his grasp (cf. Rev. chs. 4 and 5). Though the man of flesh regards this as so much pious twaddle, the man of faith proclaims with the inspired author of the Hebrews, “Now we see not yet all things subjected to him. But we behold … Jesus … crowned with glory and honor” (2:9). The believer knows that while the rule of Christ has not been established in every human heart, the over-rule is an actual fact even now (Rom. 8:28; cf. N.T.C. on Phil. 1:12). And at the sea of crystal the Church Triumphant will forever praise and glorify God for his mighty works and ways (Rev. 15:1–4).

Summarizing, the hymn has shown that with respect to all creatures, Christ is Firstborn (verse 15), Point of Reference, Agent, Goal (verse 16), Forerunner, and Sustainer — Governor (verse 17).

B. In Redemption

18. The section showing the Son’s pre-eminence in the sphere of Creation has ended. Here, at verse 18, begins the paragraph describing his equal sovereignty in the realm of Redemption. We read: And he is the head of the body, the church. In the writings of Paul this expression is something new, whether we view it as original with him or as here taken over by him from a familiar hymn or saying. It is nowhere found in the earlier epistles such as Galatians, I and II Thessalonians, I and II Corinthians, or Romans. Yet, it would be unwise on this account to say that Paul cannot have been either the author or confirmer of the idea that Christ is, indeed, the head of the body, namely, the church. To be sure, in the earlier letters the apostle wrote not about Christ as the head of the church but about the church as the body of Christ (Rom. 12:5; I Cor. 12:12–31, especially verse 27). His purpose was to show that in that one body there were many members (“foot,” “hand,” “ear,” “eye”); in other words, that in the one organism of the church there were many functions and talents distributed among a large number of believers, and that each “member” should use his gifts to benefit the entire body. He did not then specifically state that the head of this body was Christ. That was not the point at issue in these earlier letters. At Colosse, however, this headship or pre-eminence of Christ was distinctly the truth in need of emphasis, as has already been shown. It is for this reason that this particular aspect of the doctrine is set forth here in Colossians rather than in the earlier epistles.

Nevertheless, it cannot be truthfully maintained that the proposition “Christ is the head of the church” was absolutely foreign to Paul’s thinking previous to the time when he wrote his Prison Epistles. Is not a body supposed to have a head? Besides, had not the apostle written, “The head of every man is Christ” (I Cor. 11:3)? Now if Christ is the head of every man in the church, is he not also the head of the church?

As head Christ causes his church to live and to grow (Col. 2:19; cf. Eph. 4:15, 16). He is its Organic Head. As head he also exercises authority over the church; in fact, over all things in the interest of the church (Eph. 1:20–23). He is its Ruling Head. It is doubtful whether either of these two ideas is ever completely absent when Christ is called head of the church, though sometimes one connotation and then again the other receives the greater emphasis, as the context indicates. And in such a passage as Eph. 5:23, 24 both ideas (growth and guidance) are brought to the fore.

Now if the Son of God is the Organic and Ruling Head of the church, then the church is in no sense whatever dependent on any creature, angel or otherwise. This is the clear implication over against the teachers of error. Does not the church receive both its growth and guidance from its living Lord? Is it not energized by his power and governed by his Word and Spirit? Hence, is it not true that in Christ it has all it needs, and also that without him it can accomplish nothing? Cf. John 15:5, 7.

“Thou, O Christ, art all I want;

More than all in thee I find.”

(Charles Wesley, in “Jesus,

Lover of My Soul”)

And what could be a better illustration of the relation of Christ to his church than the underlying idea of the relation of the human head to the body? Advance in scientific knowledge has confirmed the adequacy of the figure used by the early church and by Paul. In a human individual it is to the head that the body, in large measure, owes its vigorous life and growth (the organic relationship). From the pituitary gland, housed in a small cavity located in the base of the skull, comes the growth hormone (and several other hormones). This hormone is known to be closely related to the health and growth of connective tissue, cartilege, and bone.

Consider also the other functions of the head, those related in large measure to guidance. It is in the head that the organs of special sense are mainly located. The brain receives impulses from the outside world (indirectly) and from inside the body. It organizes and interprets these impulses. It thinks. It reacts, and this both voluntarily and involuntarily. Thus it guides and directs the actions of the individual. In the cerebrum are located, among other things, the areas that control the various parts of the body. The cerebellum has been called “the co-ordinator and harmonizer of muscular action.” The medulla controls such actions as winking, sneezing, coughing, chewing, sucking, swallowing, etc. Here also the cardiac center regulates the rate of heart-beat, while the respiratory center is in charge of the activity of the respiratory organs.

Thus, indeed, when the triune God created the human body with its organic and ruling head, he so constructed that head that it could serve as an excellent symbol of the Organic and Ruling Head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ.

With reference to the latter the “hymn” now continues, Who is the beginning, the firstborn from die dead. By his triumphant resurrection, nevermore to die, Christ laid the foundation for that sanctified life, that hope and assurance in which his own rejoice (Col. 3:1–17; I Peter 1:3 ff.). This resurrection is also the beginning, principle, or cause of their glorious physical resurrection. Hence, from every aspect the statement is true, “Because I live you too will live” (John 14:19). He is the path-breaker, who holds the key of Death and Hades. He has authority over life and death (Rom. 8:29; I Cor. 15:20; Heb. 2:14, 15; Rev. 1:5). It is he who “on the one hand, utterly defeated death, and on the other hand, brought to light life and incorruptibility through the gospel” (II Tim. 1:10). All this is true in order that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. It stands to reason that One who is Firstborn, Point of Reference, Agent, Goal, Forerunner, and Sustainer — Governor (verses 15–17) in the sphere of Creation; and Head of the Body, Beginning, and Firstborn from the dead in the realm of Redemption (verse 18), has the right to the title, “the One who has the pre-eminence — the divine sovereignty — in all things, that is, among all creatures.”

19. Note, however, the words, “that he might have.” These words show that this high honor possessed by the Son was a matter of design, the Father’s good pleasure. Hence, the text continues, For in him he [God] was pleased to have all the fulness dwell.⁵⁵

This delight of the Father in the Son was evident even during the old dispensation, yes, even before the world was founded (Ps. 2:7, 8; John 17:5; Eph. 1:9). During the period of Christ’s sojourn on earth it manifested itself again and again (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; John 12:28). It was indeed God’s good pleasure that in his Son all the fulness should dwell. The powers and attributes of Deity were not to be distributed among a multitude of angels. The divine supremacy or sovereignty, either as a whole or in part, was not to be surrendered to them. On the contrary, in accordance with God’s good pleasure, from all eternity the plenitude of the Godhead, the fulness of God’s essence and glory, which fulness is the source of grace and glory for believers, resides in the Son of his love, in him alone, not in him and the angels. It dwells in him whom we now serve as our exalted Mediator, and it manifests itself both in Creation and Redemption.

Explanatory passages are:

John 1:16, “For out of his fulness we have received grace upon grace.”

Col. 2:3, “in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are stored up.”

Col. 2:9, “For in him all the fulness⁵⁶ of the godhead dwells bodily.”

20. Now both in Col. 2:9, 10 and here in 1:19, 20 the fulness which dwells in Christ is mentioned with a practical purpose. It is a source of blessing. Thus here in Col. 1:19, 20 we are told that it was the good pleasure or delight of God the Father that in the Son of his love all the fulness should dwell and through him to reconcile all things to himself,⁵⁷ having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him,⁵⁸ whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens. Not only were all things created “through him,” that is, through the Son of God’s love (verse 16), but all things are also (in a sense to be explained) reconciled “through him” (verse 20). In both cases all things has the same meaning: all creatures without any exception whatever:

“There rustles a Name O so dear ’long the clouds,

That Name heaven and earth in grand harmony shrouds.”

This is the nearly literal translation of the first lines of a Dutch hymn:

“Daar ruist langs de wolken een lieflijke naam,

Die hemel en aarde verenigt te zaam.”

Some have objected to the lines for theological reasons.⁵⁹

Personally, I see no reason for rejecting the idea expressed in this poem. One might as well reject Col. 1:20! It is all a matter of interpretation. Thus, it is true, indeed that heaven and earth are not now united, and are not going to be united, in the sense that all rational beings in the entire universe are now with gladness of heart submitting themselves, or will at some future date joyfully submit themselves, to the rule of God in Christ. This universalistic interpretation of Col. 1:20 is contrary to Scripture (Ps. 1; Dan. 12:2; Matt. 7:13, 14; 25:46; John 5:28, 29; Phil. 3:18–21; II Thess. 1:3–10; and a host of other passages). It was Origen who was probably the first Christian universalist. In his youthful work De Principiis he suggested this thought of universal, final restoration for all. In his later writings he seems to imply it here and there, but obscures it somewhat by the suggestion of a constant succession of fall and restoration. He has, however, had many followers, and among them some have expressed themselves far more bluntly. Some time ago a minister told his audience, “In the end everybody is going to be saved. I have hope even for the devil.”

The real meaning of Col. 1:20 is probably as follows: Sin ruined the universe. It destroyed the harmony between one creature and the other, also between all creatures and their God. Through the blood of the cross (cf. Eph. 2:11–18), however, sin, in principle, has been conquered. The demand of the law has been satisfied, its curse born (Rom. 3:25; Gal. 3:13). Harmony, accordingly, has been restored. Peace was made. Through Christ and his cross the universe is brought back or restored to its proper relationship to God in the sense that as a just reward for his obedience Christ was exalted to the Father’s right hand, from which position of authority and power he rules the entire universe in the interest of the church and to the glory of God. This interpretation brings the present passage in harmony with the related ones written during this same imprisonment. Note the expression “the things on the earth or the things in the heavens” (or something very similar) not only here in Col. 1:20 but also in Eph. 1:10 and Phil. 2:10.

There is, of course, a difference in the manner in which various creatures submit to Christ’s rule and are “reconciled to God.” Those who are and remain evil, whether men or angels, submit ruefully, unwillingly. In their case peace, harmony, is imposed, not welcomed. But not only are their evil designs constantly being over-ruled for good, but these evil beings themselves have been, in principle, stripped of their power (Col. 2:15). They are brought into subjection (I Cor. 15:24–28; cf. Eph. 1:21, 22), and “the God of peace (!) will bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Rom. 16:20). The good angels, on the other hand, submit joyfully, eagerly. So do also the redeemed among men. This group includes the members of the Colossian church as far as they are true believers, a thought to which Paul gives expression in the following verses.

1:21–23

IV. The Son’s Reconciling Love toward the Colossians

and

Their Resulting Duty to Continue in the Faith

21 And you, who once were estranged and hostile in disposition, as shown by your wicked works, 22 he in his body of flesh through his death has now reconciled, in order to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before himself; 23 if, indeed, you continue in the faith, founded and firm, and are not moved away from the hope that is derived from the gospel which you have heard, which was preached among every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

21, 22a. And you, who once were estranged and hostile in disposition, as shown by your wicked works, he in his body of flesh through his death has now reconciled.⁶⁰

With joy of heart the apostle now testifies that the Colossians, too, had become recipients of this marvelous gift of reconciliation, a reconciliation which for men whose hearts receive Christ has a far more beautiful and intimate meaning than it has for the world in general. Paul reminds the Colossians of the great change that had occurred in their lives, in order that this reminder may cause them to dread the very suggestion of returning to their former manner of life (cf. Col. 3:7). Meaning: “You were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world … far off … darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God” (Eph. 2:12, 13; 4:18). This state of estrangement, moreover, was not due simply to ignorance or innocence. There are no innocent heathen! On the contrary, they were estranged and hostile in disposition. It was their own fault that they had been and had remained for a long time “far off,” for they had actually hated God; and when God through conscience and through his revelation in nature and history had made himself known to them to a certain extent, they in their hostility had “suppressed the truth by their wickedness” (Rom. 1:18–23). Such inexcusable human hostility, which is the sinner’s condition by nature, merits God’s wrath (Rom. 1:18; Col. 3:6). By nature sinners are therefore “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3). Moreover, the inner disposition of aversion to God and antipathy to the voice of conscience which formerly had characterized these Colossians had revealed itself in wicked deeds, such as those that are enumerated very specifically in Col. 3:5–9.

But all this was past now, at least basically. Through the blood of the Son of God’s love peace had been made. He, meaning this Son of God’s love,⁶¹ in his body of flesh (that was the sphere of the reconciliation), and through his death (that was the instrument) had brought about a return to the proper relation between the Colossians and their God. A return, not as if there had been a time, many, many years ago, when these Colossians had been Christians, but rather in this sense, that the establishment of peace between the Father-heart of God and the soul of the sinner is for the latter a going back to the state of rectitude in which God originally created man. (The condition to which grace brings the rescued sinner is, of course, far better than that before the fall.) By God’s sovereign grace the prodigal returns to his home from which he had been estranged (see verse 21; also Luke 15:11–24). That is the meaning of reconciliation. By Christ’s atoning death God is reconciled to the sinner, the sinner to God. “The reconciled God justifies the sinner who accepts the reconciliation, and so operates in his heart by the Holy Spirit that the sinner also lays aside his wicked alienation from God, and thus enters into the fruits of the perfect atonement of Christ.”⁶²

Note once more that expression “in his body of flesh,” a Hebraism meaning Christ’s human body, and thus by extension, his entire physical existence on earth, in which he satisfied the demands of the law and bore its punishment. (Cf. Luke 22:19; I Cor. 11:27; Heb. 10:10; I Peter 2:24.) It is probable that “body of flesh”⁶³ is here contrasted with “body, the church” of verse 18. It should be added, however, that the Holy Spirit who inspired Colossians (as well as the rest of Scripture) foresaw the time when the Docetics would be teaching that Jesus Christ appeared to men in a spiritual body, and since he had no physical body only seemed to suffer and die on the cross. Col. 1:22 gives the lie to that theory.

22b. The purpose of the Son’s reconciling work as it affected the Colossians is now stated: in order to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before himself.⁶⁴ Note: holy, that is, cleansed from all sin and separated entirely to God and his service; faultless: without any blemish whatever (Phil. 2:15), like a perfect sacrifice; and blameless: completely above reproach (I Tim. 3:10; Titus 1:6, 7).

The presentation here referred to must be viewed as definitely eschatological, that is, as referring to the great consummation when Jesus returns upon clouds of glory. This follows from the conditional clause, “if, indeed, you continue in the faith.…” It is comforting to know that not only the apostles looked forward with joyful anticipation to the time when they would present the fruit of God’s grace and of their labor (they being God’s coworkers, I Cor. 3:9) as a pure virgin to Christ the Bridegroom (II Cor. 11:2; Phil. 1:10; 2:16; I Thess. 2:19, 20; I John 2:28), but so does also Christ himself (Eph. 5:27). To him, too, the words of Zeph. 3:17 are applicable, “He will rejoice over you with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over you with singing.” This glorious presentation is here referred to as the purpose of the reconciliation.

23. Now in connection with this glorious presentation at the Lord’s return a condition must be fulfilled. Hence, Paul continues: if, indeed, you continue in the faith, founded and firm.… Divine preservation always presupposes human perseverance. Perseverance proves faith’s genuine character, and is therefore indispensable to salvation. To be sure, no one can continue in the faith in his own strength (John 15:5). The enabling grace of God is needed from start to finish (Phil. 2:12, 13). This, however, does not cancel human responsibility and activity. Yes, activity, continuous, sustained, strenuous effort (Heb. 12:14). It should be noted, however, that this is distinctly the activity of faith (cf. I Tim. 2:15), a faith not in themselves but in God. Thus they will be “founded and firm,” that is, firmly established upon the one and only true foundation, the foundation of the apostles (through their testimony). Of this foundation Christ Jesus is the cornerstone (I Cor. 3:11; Eph. 2:20: Rev. 21:14, 19, 20). The conditional clause continues: and are not moved away from the hope that is derived from the gospel which you have heard. Danger was threatening; and it was of a twofold character, as pointed out earlier (see Introduction, III B; IV A). Hence, the apostle by implication is here warning the Colossians against relapse into their former state with all its soul-destroying vices (Col. 3:5–11) and against the “solution” urged upon them by those who refused to recognize Jesus Christ as the complete and all-sufficient Savior. Let them not allow themselves to be dislodged or shunted away from the hope — ardent expectation, complete confidence, watchful waiting — of which the gospel speaks and to which the gospel gives rise, that gospel which the Colossians “have heard,” that is, to which they have not only listened but to which they have also given heed. See above on Col. 1:6–8. That gospel, moreover, was not meant for a select few — the Colossian errorists may well have considered themselves an exclusive set! — nor was it confined to any particular region; on the contrary, it was the gospel which, in obedience to the Lord’s command (Matt. 28:19; especially Mark 16:15), was preached among every creature under heaven. It recognized no boundaries whether racial, national, or regional. It is always the “whosoever believeth” gospel. Having reached Rome, from which Paul is writing this epistle, it had actually invaded every large center of the then-known world. More on this under verse 6 above. With deep emotion and humble gratitude the apostle concludes this section and links it with the next paragraph by adding: and of which I, Paul, became a minister. The real depth of these words can only be understood in the light of such passages as I Cor. 15:9; Eph. 3:8; and I Tim. 1:15–17. A minister⁶⁵ of the gospel is one who knows the gospel, has been saved by the Christ of the gospel, and with joy of heart proclaims the gospel to others. Thus he serves the cause of the gospel.

1:24–29

V. The Apostle’s Share in Proclaiming “the Mystery,” namely, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”

24 I am now rejoicing amid my sufferings for you, and what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ I in his stead am supplying in my flesh, for his body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister, according to the stewardship of God given to me for your benefit, to give full scope to the word of God, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints; 27 to whom God was pleased to make known what (is) the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory; 28 whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, in order that we may present every man perfect in Christ; 29 for which I am laboring, striving by his energy working powerfully within me.

24a. Expanding the personal reference begun in verse 23 the apostle continues: I am now rejoicing amid my sufferings for you. The word now probably refers to the fact that right at this moment Paul is not making missionary journeys nor by his presence ministering to the Colossians, as he hopes to do later (Philem. 22), but is enduring the many details of suffering and hardship — note the plural “my sufferings” — that pertain to his present imprisonment (Col. 4:10, 18; Eph. 3:1; 4:1; Philem. 1, 9, 23). But instead of complaining he rejoices, for do not these trials confirm his apostleship? Remember Acts 9:16! And is not suffering in behalf of Christ a great privilege also for other reasons? See N.T.C. on Phil. 1:29, 30. And will not his endurance in the midst of many hardships strengthen the Colossians, and in fact believers everywhere, in their faith? Paul has every right to say, “my sufferings for you.” See also on 2:1.

24b. This positive aspect of enduring sufferings, namely, that such sanctified cross-bearing will be of blessing to the church is brought out meaningfully in the much discussed words which follow, namely, and what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ I in his stead am supplying in my flesh for his body, which is the church.

Closeness to Christ causes Paul to write as he does. He is even now reflecting on the afflictions which the Savior endured when he was on earth. Paul knows that he himself in his transitory earthly existence is, in a sense to be explained presently, filling in or supplying what was lacking in Christ’s sufferings. The apostle is undergoing these hardships in the place of Jesus, since Jesus himself is no longer here to endure them. Not as if Paul were doing this all by himself, but he is contributing his share. Other believers contribute theirs. Paul is also convinced of the fact that his afflictions are being borne for the benefit of Christ’s glorious body, the church (see above, on verse 18). He knows that by his calm endurance and clear testimony during trial the church will be established in the faith.

In the foregoing paragraph I have made it clear that it is my considered opinion that the apostle is actually saying that he, as one among many, is in a sense supplying what was lacking in the afflictions which Jesus suffered while on earth. Percy, op. cit., p. 130, calls this “the only possible interpretation.” Ridderbos writes, “Our conclusion can be no other than this, that the expression the afflictions of Christ points to the historical suffering of Christ” (op. cit., p. 158).

Of course, this does not mean that there was anything lacking in the atoning value of Christ’s sacrifice. It does not mean that good works, the suffering in purgatory, faithful attendance at mass, the purchase of indulgences, or any other so-called merits can be or need be added to the merits of our Lord. Among the many passages that would refute such a theory are Col. 2:14; John 19:30; Heb. 10:11–14; and I John 1:9. But we have no right, in the interest of Protestantism in its struggle with Roman Catholicism, to change the clear grammatical and contextual meaning of a passage. We should bear in mind that although Christ by means of the afflictions which he endured rendered complete satisfaction to God, so that Paul is able to glory in nothing but the cross (Gal. 6:14), the enemies of Christ were not satisfied! They hated Jesus with insatiable hatred, and wanted to add to his afflictions. But since he is no longer physically present on earth, their arrows, which are meant especially for him, strike his followers. It is in that sense that all true believers are in his stead supplying what, as the enemies see it, is lacking in the afflictions which Jesus endured. Christ’s afflictions overflow toward us. This interpretation is supported by passages such as the following:

“If they called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household” (Matt. 10:25).

“You shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake” (Mark 13:13).

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.… But all these things will they do to you for my name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent me” (John 15:18–21).

“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? … I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:4, 5).

“The afflictions of Christ overflow toward us” (II Cor. 1:5).

“… always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus” (II Cor. 1:10).

“I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17).

“… that I may know him … and the fellowship of his sufferings” (Phil. 3:10).

“And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman because she had brought forth the male child” (Rev. 12:13).⁶⁶

25. Paul has indicated that his sufferings are for the benefit of the church. He continues, of which I became a minister, according to the stewardship of God given to me for your benefit. Harassed by men who tried to lead them astray, the Colossians must bear in mind that Paul, who is now addressing them and to whom indirectly they owe their knowledge of salvation, was their divinely appointed steward. The office of “administrator of spiritual treasures” had been entrusted to him and to his helpers (I Cor. 4:1, 2; 9:17; I Tim. 1:4; Titus 1:7). And this, says Paul, is for your benefit. In their case that was true in a special sense, for they had been won over from the Gentiles (Col. 1:27; 3:5–11), and it was especially (not exclusively) to the Gentiles that Paul had been sent (Acts 13:47; 22:21; Rom. 11:13; 15:16; Gal. 2:8, 9; Eph. 3:1, 2, 8; I Tim. 2:7; II Tim. 4:17). The stewardship of God had been given to him, moreover, to give full scope to the word of God, that is, to proclaim the Christ in all his glorious fulness to everyone, regardless of race, nationality, or social position.

26, 27. That word of God centers in Christ, God’s glorious mystery. Hence, the apostle continues, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints. Paul uses the term “mystery,” but not as indicating a secret teaching, rite, or ceremony, having something to do with religion but hidden from the masses and revealed to an exclusive group, the sense in which the term (generally in the plural: mysteries) was at that time being employed outside of the circles of true Christianity. On the contrary, in the Pauline literature a mystery⁶⁷ is a person or a truth that would have remained unknown had not God revealed him or it. Such a mystery is said to have been revealed in the fullest sense only then when its significance is translated into historical reality. The mystery of which the apostle is thinking here in Col. 1:26, 27 had been hidden; that is, for ages and generations (lit. “since the ages and since the generations”) it had not been historically realized. It was present, to be sure, in the plan of God and also in prophecy, but not in actuality. Now, however, that is, in this present era which began with the incarnation, and even more specifically with the proclamation of the gospel to the Gentiles, it was made manifest to his saints, that is, to the entire church of this new dispensation, none excepted. It was there for all to see! To describe more fully what he has in mind Paul continues: to whom God was pleased to make known what (is) the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The mystery, accordingly, is Christ himself, just as in I Tim. 3:16; cf. Eph. 3:3, 4, 9. It is Christ in all his glorious riches actually dwelling through his Spirit in the hearts and lives of the Gentiles. In all the preceding ages this had never been seen, but now every child of God (“saint”) could bear witness to it. The Colossians themselves offered proof. To be sure, even during the days of the old dispensation there were predictions which, with ever-increasing clarity, foretold that the Gentiles would one day constitute part of God’s people (Gen. 22:18; 26:4; 28:14; 49:10; Ps. 72:8; 87; Isa. 54:2, 3; 60:1–3; Micah 4:1, 2; Mal. 1:11, to mention only a few), but in the divine good pleasure the realization of these predictions did not arrive until this present Messianic Age. “Christ in you, the hope of glory” had to wait until now. “Christ in you” means Christ in you Gentiles, and that on a basis of perfect equality with Israel, the “middle wall of partition” having been completely removed (Eph. 2:14)!

Christ in you, the hope of glory, an Easter theme⁶⁸

1. Its meaning

Christ in you is here proclaimed as the hope or solid basis for the expectation of future, eschatological glory. The content of this glory is set forth in the context: “the inheritance of the saints in the light” (verse 12), “the presentation” of the bride to the Bridegroom (verses 22, 28); see also Col. 3:4, 24; Rom. 5:2; 8:18–23; I Cor. 15; Phil. 3:20, 21; I Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:13–17; II Thess. 1:10; II Tim. 1:12; 4:8; Titus 2:13. While the apostle included the intermediate state in this concept of glory (II Cor. 5:1–8; Phil. 1:21, 23), his horizon was Christ’s second coming and never-ending bliss.

2. Hopes that deceive

In all ages men have tried to establish their own basis for belief in immortality and even in a future state of perfection.

a. Some reason from the premise of unsatisfied desire. We desire to see a perfect landscape. Yet when, standing on a hill, we think we see one, the descent into the valley with its rotting logs and decaying fruit, disillusions us. Nevertheless, the desire persists. This guarantees future realization.

b. Others derive their proof from the unheeded voice of conscience. A voice within me is constantly saying, “Thou shalt do this, that.” Yet, no one has ever fully obeyed this categorical imperative. Is not this unrelenting demand a prediction of a future state of strict compliance, a state of perfection?

c. There is also the argument from the enduring character of the self within me. In a steady line of progress I as a person have already survived successive stages of being. I was an embryo. When that stage ceased my self persisted. I was born, became an infant. I survived that stage too. And so after boyhood I became a young man, then a man of middle age, etc. Consequently, as I have survived every one of these stages, will I not also survive the last stage, namely, physical death, and rise to an immortality of bliss and glory?

A moment’s reflection is all that is necessary to show the weakness of this type of reasoning in any of its forms. Persistent yearning for the ideal in the realm of beauty, inner compulsion to obey the moral law coupled with the realization that in the here and now one can never obey it fully, and also the self’s leapfrogging of biological stages, these facts do not guarantee immortality, much less perfection in a future existence. As to the last argument, even a dog, in proportion to its own life span, passes through and survives various stages, yet does not thereby attain to immortality!

3. Christ … the hope of glory

Now over against these fallible reasonings Paul proclaims Christ as the one and only solid basis for the expectation of immortality not only, but of future, eschatological glory. The evidence, moreover, which Christ gave to the world of a future state of perfection lay not only in his words or deeds but in himself. Our persistent yearning for the ideal in the realm of true, spiritual beauty is realized in him. And because his soul is beautiful, words of grace and beauty fell from his lips.

“Fair are the meadows,

Fairer still the woodlands,

Robed in the blooming garb of spring:

Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,

Who makes the woeful heart to sing.”

Crusaders’ Hymn

As to the persistent demand of conscience, he was the only one who satisfied it in every respect. He was able to say, “Who of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8:46).

“Weak is the effort of my heart,

And cold my warmest thought;

But when I see thee as you art,

I’ll praise thee as I ought.”

John Newton

And finally, as to surviving every stage of earthly existence, even the last one, he did that very thing! Easter proclaims in every land, “Hallelujah, Christ arose.” In Paul’s day there were witnesses — many of them, in fact — who had seen him alive after his resurrection (I Cor. 15:6). And was not the apostle himself also a witness? (I Cor. 15:8).

“Death cannot keep his prey —

Jesus, my Savior;

He tore the bars away —

Jesus my Lord.

Up from the grave he arose,

With a mighty triumph o’er his foes.

He arose a Victor from the dark domain,

And he lives forever with his saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!

Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Robert Lowry

4. Objection

But granted that Christ does indeed satisfy the desire for beauty, for moral and spiritual perfection, and for ultimate survival, is not he an exception to the rule, an interruption in the race of Adam? How can his adequacy satisfy my inadequacy? How can he really be the solid basis for the hope of future bliss for the entire church, and particularly, in the present context, the Gentiles’ hope of glory?

5. Objection answered

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

“This Christ through his Spirit is dwelling (and this not passively but energetically) in you,” says Paul. Hence, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11).

28, 29. In connection with “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” Paul continues, whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom. Whether Paul, Timothy, etc., proclaim the gospel (cf. I Cor. 9:14), the testimony of God (I Cor. 2:1), or whatever else it may be called, in any case it is ever the Christ himself (thus also Phil. 1:17) whom they proclaim. This proclamation took the form of admonishing and teaching. The apostle had been carrying on this blessed activity before his imprisonment, but even now in his bonds he makes use of every opportunity, both in person (Acts 28:30, 31; Phil. 1:12–14) and by letter, to make known far and wide the riches both present and future, which believers possess in their Lord and Savior. And so do his helpers. Paul was ever emphasizing the need of pastoral labor. For him to admonish meant to warn, to stimulate, and to encourage. He would actually plead with people to be reconciled to God (II Cor. 5:20). He would at times even shed tears (cf. Acts 20:19, 31; II Cor. 2:4; Phil. 3:18). See N.T.C. on Philippians, p. 181. His proclamation of the Christ was a marvelous combination of the true gospel and the most affectionate presentation. He was able to write to the Thessalonians, “But we were gentle in the midst of you, as when a nurse cherishes her own children: so being affectionately desirous of you, we gladly shared with you not only the gospel of God but also our own souls, because you had become very dear to us … just as you know how, like a father (dealing) with his own children (so we were) admonishing each and all of you, and encouraging and testifying that you should live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom of glory.”

It should be stressed in this connection that there was no wide gulf between Paul’s admonishing and his teaching. For him abstract doctrine did not exist. Neither did Christian ethics suspended in mid-air. On the contrary, Paul’s teaching was done with a view to admonishing; his admonishing was rooted in teaching. Accordingly, the apostle never proclaimed a Christ who was a Savior but not an Example, nor a Christ who was an Example but not a Savior. Christianity for Paul was, indeed, a life, but a life based on a doctrine. And for those — for those alone! — who embrace Christ as being, by God’s sovereign grace, Lord, Savior, and thus Enabler, he can also be Example.

It is remarkable how often Paul links his admonishing with his teaching concerning the person and work of Christ. A few illustrations must suffice:

Reference	Admonition, in substance	Link to teaching concerning Christ’s person and work
Rom. 15:2, 3	Please the neighbor	“for Christ also pleased not himself.”
Rom. 15:7	Extend a hearty welcome to each other. (Receive one another.)	“just as Christ also welcomed (received) you.”
II Cor. 8:7–9	Abound in the grace of giving to the needy	“for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that through his poverty you might become rich.”
Eph. 5:2	Walk in love	“just as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us.”
Phil. 2:3–8	Be humble and unselfish	“which (disposition) is also in Christ Jesus, who … emptied himself … took on the form of a servant … humbled himself and became obedient even to the extent of death; yes, death by a cross.”
Col. 3:13	Forgive	“just as Christ has forgiven you.”

And because this proclamation of the Christ by means of admonishing (putting people in mind, as is the literal meaning of the word) and teaching is ever Christ-centered, it is, of course, God-centered, that unto the triune God through Christ his Son may be the glory forever and ever (Rom. 11:36; I Cor. 8:6; 10:31; Col. 3:17). It is being carried out, moreover, in all wisdom, that is, in a truly practical manner, for in strict compliance with the will of God his ambassadors use the best means to reach the highest goal, expressed by Paul in these words: in order that we may present every man perfect⁶⁹ in Christ; naturally “in Christ,” in the closest possible union with him, a union which is brought about by the Holy Spirit, and which is kept alive by the exercise of a faith that is not only God-given but is in its every expression being constantly sustained by God. When all guilt has been imputed to Christ, and all pollution has been cleansed by his Spirit, the church will be perfect, indeed, and will thus be presented to God in the day of the consummation of all things. See further on verse 22b above, where the same theme is discussed. Note, however, that while there and in Eph. 5:27 it was Christ to whom this task and honor of the presentation of believers is ascribed, and while in II Cor. 4:14 it is God the Father, here in Col. 1:28 it is Paul himself and his fellow-workers. Cf. Phil. 2:16; I Thess. 2:19. With a reference to himself Paul continues, for which I am laboring, that is, toiling to the point of weariness and exhaustion. Cf. Gal. 4:11; Phil. 2:16; I Tim. 4:10. Let anyone read II Cor. 11:24–33, and let him, add II Cor. 6:4–10 and II Tim. 4:7, 8 to see what it meant in those days to be a missionary, especially the missionary, Paul! It implied an unflinching fight against Satan and his hosts.

Paul knew what it had meant to oppose with all his might fanaticism among the Thessalonians; contention, fornication, and litigation among the Corinthians; and right now, as if his imprisonment did not bring trouble enough all by itself, the twofold danger of vice and heresy among the Colossians. See Col. 2; 3:1–17. What fightings without and fears within! Yet, constrained by the love of Christ for him, he is willing, even anxious, to give his all to the cause, and this not just in order to be an instrument in God’s hand to rescue souls from hell, but to perfect them, and thus perfect in soul and body to present them to God in the day of days. To describe more fully what is implied in such labor or toil Paul adds the word striving. See footnotes 70 and 71. Such striving implied earnest prayers (striving in prayer, Col. 4:12, 13; cf. Rom. 15:30), listening to God, careful planning, letter-writing, giving direction — even from prison! — to the missionary program, bidding defiance to Satan, official gospel-proclamation (whenever possible), personal witness-bearing, and living an exemplary Christian life even in the midst of great pressure and affliction.

The question has often been asked, “How was it possible for one man (and a man with a thorn in the flesh!), even with the help of fellow-workers, to accomplish so much?” The answer is contained in the words of Paul himself: (striving) by his energy working powerfully within me.⁷⁰ Day by day, yes even moment by moment Christ’s enabling Spirit was at work within Paul’s entire person, bestowing strength upon body and soul. Moreover, at times in the apostle’s missionary career there were even special signs and wonders (Rom. 15:19; II Cor. 12:12). Therefore, by implication, to the never-failing Christ the apostle ascribes all the glory and honor! Cf. Phil. 2:12, 13; 4:13.

Summary of Colossians 1

Epaphras, charged with the spiritual care of the Colossians, is visiting Paul, the prisoner, in Rome. He has given the apostle a full report of conditions in the Colossian church and its twofold danger: a. of relapse into pagan vice, and b. of endeavoring, in obedience to the advice of false teachers, to supplement its faith in Christ by having recourse to man-made remedies against fleshly indulgence. He has also informed Paul about the loyalty to Christ which characterized the church as a whole. The prisoner, his heart filled with genuine love for the Colossians, decides to write them a letter. In this letter he takes the positive approach, so characteristic of him, and after a Christ-centered opening saluation, tells the addressees that he is continually thanking God for their faith in Christ Jesus and their love for all the saints, both of these (faith and love) strengthened by the hope laid up for them in the heavens, that is, the inheritance of the saints in the light. That prospect does, indeed, intensify faith in the Giver and love for all the fellow-recipients.

The hope of obtaining this inheritance is firmly grounded in the world-conquering gospel that has also made its presence felt among the Colossians, through the ministry of ever-faithful Epaphras.

Encouraged by answers to previous prayers, Paul is constantly praying that God may multiply his favors upon the Colossians, so that, while living among those whose doctrines would lead them astray, they may receive an ever clearer insight into the will of God, and may, as a result, live lives that will be spiritually fruitful in every way, and will abound in evidences of sincere and humble gratitude to God. Let them ever bear in mind that it was God who rescued them out of the domain of darkness and transplanted them into the kingdom of the Son of his love.

By means of a ringing testimony — perhaps a hymn which he is quoting — the apostle proclaims Christ as all-sufficient Savior, sovereign in both realms: creation and redemption. Therefore let the Colossians not place their confidence in anything other than Christ, for apart from him no creature has any strength either to help or to hurt. Through Christ the universe is restored to its proper relationship to God, for from his position at the Father’s right hand Christ rules the entire universe in the interest of the church and to the glory of God. He who died on the cross to save sinners holds in his hands the most distant star.

If the Colossians will keep clinging to the gospel that proclaims this sovereign and all-sufficient Christ who rescued them from their former wicked life, they will not slip back. On the contrary, this Christ will one day present them holy, faultless, and blameless before himself. Of this glorious gospel Paul had been privileged to become a minister. Because of his loyalty to that gospel he is now a prisoner in Rome, supplying in his flesh what was lacking in the afflictions of Christ. Yes, the afflictions which Christ endured were overflowing to him. But he rejoices in his God-given stewardship, and intends, by God’s grace, to give full scope to the word of God, the long-hidden but now revealed mystery, which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The fact that one day Christ would be living through his Spirit in the hearts and lives of the Gentiles had been long predicted but had now become a reality. This indwelling was itself the guarantee of a glorious future. With reference to the indwelling Christ, Paul concludes the chapter by saying, “whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, in order that we may present every man perfect in Christ; for which I am laboring, striving by his energy working powerfully within me.”

N.T.C. W. Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary

²² A. Deissmann, Light From the Ancient East (translated from the German by L. R. M. Strachan, fourth edition, 1922, pp. 179, 180).

²³ Commentators are agreed that in nearly every one of his letters Paul’s thanksgiving and/or doxology follows the salutation. On the details there is some confusion. According to some otherwise thoroughly conservative commentators, in all of Paul’s letters “except Galatians” the opening salutation is followed by thanksgiving. Are these commentators unaware of the fact that, by implication, they are surrendering the Pauline authorship of Titus? This should not be done. See N.T.C. on I and II Timothy and Titus, pp. 4–33, 377–381 (footnote 193). According to others, however, the thanksgiving is omitted not only in Galatians and Titus but also in I Timothy. Now it is true, indeed, that in that letter the opening salutation is not immediately followed by thanksgiving or doxology. After an intervening paragraph (I Tim. 1:3–11) there is, however, also here a thanksgiving, beginning with verse 12. A correct summary of this matter, accordingly, would point out that in all of Paul’s epistles, with the exception of Galatians and Titus, the opening salutation is followed, either immediately or very shortly, by a thanksgiving and/or doxology. For the doxology see II Cor. 1:3 ff.; for the doxology and thanksgiving, Eph. 1:3 ff., and 1:15 ff.

²⁴ Since both Paul and Timothy are mentioned in the immediately preceding context (verse 1) it is natural to interpret the “we” of verse 3 as a reference to them rather than as an epistolary plural. See N.T.C. on I and II Thessalonians, p. 82, footnote 65.

²⁵ Though it is grammatically possible (with A.V. and A.R.V.) to construe always with praying, it is better to join it with thanking. This is true in view of the immediately following context (verses 4–8) in which reasons for thanksgiving are given, and also in view of I Cor. 1:4; Eph. 1:16; Phil. 1:3; I Thess. 1:2; II Thess. 1:3; and Philem. 3.

²⁶ Some are of the opinion that since the preposition ἐν is used, not εἰς, Christ cannot be regarded as the object of faith, but must be viewed as the sphere in which faith is exercised. This interpretation disregards flexibility of use with respect to the verb πιστεύω and its prepositions and cases. See Gram.N.T. (Bl.-Debr) sections 187 (6), 206 (2), 233 (2), 235 (2), 397 (2).

²⁷ The question, “Why Christ Jesus instead of Jesus Christ?” has been discussed in N.T.C. on I and II Timothy and Titus, p. 51, footnote 19.

²⁸ See A. M. Hunter, “Faith, Hope, Love — A Primitive Christian Triad,” ET xlix (1937–1938), p. 428 f.

²⁹ Some read verses 3–5 as if these meant: “While praying for you we are always thanking God … because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you cherish for all the saints, and because (we have also heard) of your hope.” Others translate: “We give thanks to God … (praying always for you, having heard of your faith … and of your love …) because of the hope.” Thus hope, and it alone, is viewed as reason for thanksgiving. Lenski is right when he states: “But this construction yields a strange resultant thought, namely that after hearing of the faith and love of the Colossians Paul and Timothy are thanking God, not for this faith and love as we should expect but only for the hope laid away for the Colossians.… No ordinary reader would refer the διά- phrase back so far in order to get such a thought and then pass on.” In one form or another this construction which connects hope with the apostle’s thanksgiving, and avoids the difficulty of making it the reason for faith and love, is advocated by G. G. Findlay (“A Biblical Note,” Exp, first series, 10 [1879], pp. 74–80), Athanasius, Calovius, Conybeare, Eadie, Hofmann, Michaelis, Storr, etc. Opposed to them are Bruce, Calvin, De Wette, Ellicott, Erasmus, Lenski, Lightfoot, C. F. D. Moule, Ridderbos, Robertson, etc. Commentators of this latter group believe that it makes good sense to say that faith and love are based on hope. With this judgment I am in agreement, and this also for the grammatical reason that the words “by reason of the hope” are in the original joined more closely with “faith … and love” than with “always thanking God.”

³⁰ The interaction of the elements in Christian experience has been discussed in N.T.C. on John 7:17, 18.

³¹ Thus rather than simply, “which came to you.” See Oepke, art. παρουσία, πάρειμι, Th.W.N.T., p. 863 ff.

³² For a summary of Paul’s Mission Strategy see the author’s Bible Survey, pp. 199–207.

³³ Though something can be said for the rendering, “came to acknowledge truly,” it would seem to be best to connect the words ἐν ἀληθείᾳ directly with the immediately preceding τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ. I favor this construction for two reasons: a. the mention of “the message (or the word) of the truth” in verse 5; and b. the purpose of the letter, namely, to place the truth as to Christ’s pre-eminence and all-sufficiency over against the lie that was being propagated by the false teachers.

³⁴ With A.R.V., R.S.V., Bruce, C. F. D. Moule, Ridderbos, Robertson, etc., I accept the reading ἡμῶν instead of ὑμῶν. It is true that either reading would make sense. Yet, the phrase “minister … on our behalf” would seem to harmonize most exactly with the words “our fellow-servant.” Epaphras, who probably owed his conversion to Paul, had been the apostle’s representative to the churches at Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis (cf. 4:13). Another reason for adopting this reading is the fact that it has stronger textual support, “well-distributed and early witnesses” (thus C. F. D. Moule), which cannot be said in the same degree with reference to the alternative reading.

³⁵ The phrase ἐν πνεύματι, though not always referring to the Holy Spirit, frequently does so (Rom. 8:9; cf. 8:16; Eph. 2:22; 5:18; 6:18; cf. Jude 20; I Tim. 3:16; see N.T.C. on I and II Timothy and Titus, p. 140). For the reasons given I cannot agree with Lenski’s comments on pp. 31 and 32 of his Interpretation of Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, Philemon.

³⁶

The apostle has been accused of “rambling” or of uttering thoughts that reveal no definite sequence. It is true that ideas crowd his mind in such a manner that logical order is not always immediately apparent. Accordingly, interpreters are by no means agreed on the grammatical construction of verses 9–14. Some are of the opinion that the apostle is following a zig-zag course, starting out with thanksgiving in verse 3, changing to earnest petition in verse 9, but turning back to the giving of thanks in verse 12. Now even were this true it would be entirely unobjectionable. How often does not this happen to any believer? I am of the opinion, however, that this view of what the apostle is writing is erroneous. In verse 12 it is not Paul who is giving thanks but the Colossians who will be giving thanks if they “walk worthily of the Lord” (verse 10). Grammatically I view the construction of verses 9–14 as follows:

Verse 9

The conjunction καί does not mean, “Not only other people but also we,” nor, “Not only are you praying for us but also we for you.” But rather, “We are not only thanking God (as in verses 3–8) but we are also praying for you.”

The participles προσευχόμενοι and αἰτούμενοι (though the former indirectly) have as their object-clause (non-final) ἵνα πληρωθήτε κ.τ.λ.. What Paul was asking for was that the Colossians might be filled with clear knowledge of God’s will.

Verse 10a

The infinitive περιπατῆσαι introduces a “contemplated result” statement: “so as to live lives worthy of the Lord,” or more literally, “to walk worthily of the Lord” as A.R.V. has it.

Verses 10b–12a

The four participles καρποφοροῦντες, αὐξανόμενοι, δυναμούμενοι, εὐχαριστοῦντες, describe what happens when people live lives worthy of the Lord, so that the Colossians (and in fact all believers everywhere then and now) may know whether they are living such lives and how they may attain to greater perfection in reaching this goal. These participles may therefore be considered supplementary to περιπατῆσαι and in that sense in apposition with the meaning of the infinitive.

Verses 12b, 13

Mention of the Father in verse 12a leads to the participial modifier τῷ ἱκανώσαντι κ.τ.λ., and to the relative-clause modifier ὅς ἐρρύσατο κ.τ.λ. of verse 13. These are not merely descriptive but also causal, supplying reasons for thanksgiving.

Verse 14

Mention of “the Son of his love” in verse 13 gives rise to the relative modifier ἐν ῷ̔ ἔχομεν κ.τ.λ., setting forth in summary the redemptive significance of Christ, a fact on which the apostle is going to expatiate.

Conclusion: there surely is no rambling here. The thoughts follow each other in excellent sequence.

³⁷ Sometimes more meaning is poured into these simple words than would seem to be warranted. Paul’s statement is used in order to strengthen the view that he had never been in Colosse, that he knew nobody there, that the church had just now been founded, etc. See what has been said about this in the Introduction, II. The City of Colosse, A. Geography; and see also on 2:1.

³⁸ “Filled with” is correct, even though the verb πληρόω is here used with the accusative, as in Phil. 1:11 (cf. II Thess. 1:11). Elsewhere the apostle uses it with the dative (Rom. 1:29; II Cor. 7:4) or with the genitive (Rom. 15:13, 14). This simply shows that there is no fixed rule with respect to the case that follows this verb. The tendency, moreover, was toward the accusative.

³⁹

What is said of the gospel in verse 6 — bearing fruit and growing — is said of believers here. But this does not rule out the idea that here in verse 10 each participle has its own modifier. Since, in view of Gal. 5:19, 22; Phil. 1:22, it is not unnatural that “bearing fruit” should take as its modifier “in every good work,” and since, in view of II Peter 3:18, it is not illogical that “growing” or “increasing” be associated with “in the clear knowledge of God,” and finally, since here in Col. 1:10 these two modifiers (ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ and τῃ ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ) are rather widely separated, there is no compelling reason to depart from those English renderings (A.V., A.R.V., R.S.V., N.E.B.) which associate the first modifier with καρποφοροῦντες, the second with αὐξανόμενοι. The only slight change I suggest (see my rendering) is to retain the chiastic word-order that is found in the original; hence,

⁴⁰

I follow N.N.’s punctuation here. The thought expressed in verse 11 probably does not need one more modifier dragging on behind. Besides, by separating the phrase “with joy” from the participle “giving thanks,” the latter would be the only participle (of the four) having no modifier.

Lightfoot’s argument to the effect that “with joy” when added to “giving thanks” would be meaningless because thanksgiving “is in itself an act of rejoicing” is hardly convincing. Authors, both sacred and secular, frequently add such modifiers in order to stress a certain aspect of the word modified. If “with joy” added to “giving thanks” is pleonastic, why should not the same be true in the immediately preceding verse with respect to the modifier “with all vigor” added to “being invigorated”? The New Testament has numerous similar examples. This phenomenon when not overdone serves to make a writer’s style interesting and vivid.

It must be admitted, however, that whether one says “so as to exercise every kind of endurance and longsuffering with joy, giving thanks,” etc., or “so as to exercise every kind of endurance and longsuffering, with joy giving thanks,” etc., makes little difference in resultant meaning.

⁴¹ The textual support for ἡμᾶς is weaker. It is probably due to assimilation: see ἡμᾶς in verse 13.

⁴² In the Dutch language the basic idea of the verb can be brought out by the verb verwaardigen.

⁴³ The futuristic reference of Col. 1:12 does not receive its due in Lenski’s interpretation of the passage.

⁴⁴ Notice even ἐξουσίας in Acts 26:18 and here in Col. 1:13.

⁴⁵ In the original “who qualified you,” etc. (verse 12) is a participial modifier, but “who rescued us,” etc. (verse 13) is a relative clause. The latter gives to the thought expressed a degree of independence, so that it is not so closely joined with that which precedes. The prayer begins to merge with a description of the generosity of the Father (verse 13) and with a summarizing statement regarding the redemptive work accomplished by means of the Son (verses 13b, 14).

⁴⁶ It is sometimes argued that since ἐρρύσατο is aorist, the reference must be to one definite act. On this assumption some commentators are of the opinion that the expression “He rescued us” refers solely to Christ’s death on the cross; others, solely to conversion and baptism. But the aorist tense does not necessarily refer to just one act. On the contrary, the aorist summarizes, viewing all that happened as one fact. See also N.T.C. on John 2:20.

⁴⁷ We must be careful at this point not to burden the exegesis with unworkable distinctions; for example, the one according to which “the kingdom of the Son” pertains to the present, but that “of God” to the future. See O. Cullmann, Königsherrschaft Christi und Kirche im N.T. Over against that view, which bases too much on I Cor. 15:23 f., Karl L. Schmidt correctly states that it is impossible to speak about the kingdom of Christ without also speaking about the kingdom of God (article βασιλεία in Th.W.N.T., Vol. I, p. 582). A careful examination of such passages as Eph. 5:5, Rev. 12:10, and a comparison of Rom. 14:17 with John 18:36 and with I Cor. 4:20 shows that no sharp distinction, to be applied wherever these two terms or their synonyms are used, is possible. The kingdom of God, to be sure, is everlasting. But so also is the kingdom of the Son (Luke 1:33; Heb. 1:8; II Peter 1:11).

⁴⁸ Though, according to the best textual evidence, the words “through his blood” (cf. Eph. 1:7) must not be inserted in Col. 1:14, the idea, cannot be excluded. Büchsel. to be sure, denies that in any biblical reference to redemption the idea of a payment of a ransom is present (article ἀπολύτρωσις, Th.W.N.T., Vol. IV, pp. 354–359). But the evidence is clearly on the other side. Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45 show that Christ came to give his life as a ransom for many. The words “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” (Rom. 3:24), in the light of the verse that immediately follows, indicates the payment of a blood-ransom. The same idea is expressed not only in Eph. 1:7, as already mentioned, but also in Heb. 9:15 (cf. verse 12). It is true that by means of a semantic shift a more general connotation — deliverance, emancipation, release, restoration, dropping the idea “through the payment of a ransom” — attaches to the word in Luke 21:28; Rom. 8:23; I Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:14; 4:30; Heb. 11:35. But it is not fair to generalize. Each passage has to be studied in its own specific context. Paul again and again stresses the idea that our Lord paid an enormous price to obtain redemption for his people. It is in the light of such passages as I Cor. 6:10; 7:23; Gal. 3:13; 4:5; I Tim. 2:6; that Col. 1:14 must be explained. Other relevant passages are Ps. 49:8; Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; John 1:29; 3:17; I Peter 1:18, 19; Rev. 5:6, 9, 12; 7:14; 12:11.

⁴⁹ See Matt. 26:28; Mark 1:4; Luke 1:77; 3:3; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18. Cf. for a fuller account E. Percy, Die Probleme der Kolosser und Epheserbriefe, pp. 85, 86. Also B. B. Warfield, The Person and Work of Christ, pp. 429 ff., and E. K. Simpson, Words Worth Weighing in the Greek New Testament, p. 8 f.

⁵⁰ In order to emphasize the formal correspondence between A. and B., section B. is often printed as beginning with 18b. Thus both A. and B. would begin with the words “Who is.” On the other hand as to content, B. should begin as printed, namely, with verse 18a, which clearly pertains to Christ’s pre-eminence in the realm of redemption.

⁵¹

A. Various Views

(1) Verses 12–20 are to be regarded as a primitive Christian baptismal liturgy, which in verses 15–20 make use of a hymn of Gnostic origin. Ernst Käsemann, “Eine urchristliche Taufliturgie,” Festschrift Rudolf Bultmann zum 65. Geburtstag überreicht (1949), pp. 133–148.

(2) Col. 1:15–20 is part of a eucharistic liturgy. G. Bornkamm, Theol. Blätter, 1942, p. 61.

(3) Col. 1:13–29 shows us a primitive Christian worship-service. There is a definite pattern of arrangement of clauses according to a 3–7, 3–7 numerical scheme. Ernst Lohmeyer, in Meyer Commentary (8th ed., 1930).

(4) Col. 1:15–20 constitutes one of the earliest Christian hymns. Paul included this hymn in his letter to the Colossians. O. A. Piper, “The Savior’s Eternal Work; An Exegesis of Col. 1:9–29, ” Int 3 (1949), pp. 286–298.

(5) The passage is a Christological confession composed by Paul. This was the opinion to which Martin Dibelius finally arrived. See his commentary, An die Kolosser, Epheser, an Philemon, in Lietzmann’s Handbuch zum Neuen Testament, 3rd ed. revised by H. Greeven, 1953. Ernst Percy also believed that the lines were written by Paul. For proof he pointed to style similarity; cf. Col. 1:16 with I Cor. 3:21; 12:13; and Gal. 3:26–28. See his well-known work Die Probleme der Kolosserund Epheserbriefe, p. 65.

(6) The lines embody traditional forms of predication, Jewish periods, and a Stoic omnipotence-formula. Eduard Norden, Agnostos Theos, 1913.

(7) They owe their origin to the Jewish Wisdom literature (Prov. 8:22–31; Ecclus. 1:4; 43:26). H. Windisch, “Die göttliche Weisheit der Juden und die paulinische Christologie,” in Neutest. Studien für Heinrici, 1914, pp. 220–234. Closely related to this is the suggestion of C. F. Burney that these lines might be a meditation on Prov. 8:22 in connection with Gen. 1:1. See his article, “Christ as the ARXH of Creation,” JTS xxvii (1925, 1926), pp. 160 ff. Another related view is that the passage, Col. 1:15–20, is “by St. Paul himself, though possibly in words drawn in part from some Hellenistic hymn to the Wisdom or Word of God.” C. F. D. Moule, The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians and to Philemon, p. 61.

(8) They embody an early Christian hymn of praise to Christ, augmented by the words “and he is the head of his body, the Church.” The passage is to be regarded as a non-Pauline composition. C. Masson, Comm. du NT, Vol. X. By eliminating certain words he arrives at a parallelism that adheres to strict and definite rules.

(9) Whatever be their origin, they show a definite stylistic pattern, a strophic arrangement. But just what was this strophic arrangement? Various attempts at reconstruction have been made. In addition to those by Käsemann, Lohmeyer, Norden, and Masson (see above for references to their writings), there are those by P. Benoit, La Sainte Bible traduite en français sous la direction de l’Ecole Biblique de Jérusalem; G. Schille, “Liturgisches Gut im Epheserbrief” (doctoral dissertation, Göttingen, 1952); C. Maurer, “Die Begründung der Herrschaft Christi über die Mächte nach Kolosser 1, 15–20, ” Wort und Dienst, Jahrbuch der Theologischen Schule Bethel, n.F.IV (1955), pp. 79–93; and, last but not least, J. M. Robinson, “A Formal Analysis of Colossians 1:15–20, ” JBL, Vol. LXXVI, Part IV (Dec., 1957), pp. 270–288.

(10) Although the formal style and the correspondence between Col. 1:15–18a and 18b–20 do give to these lines a striking and solemn aspect, these characteristics do not prove whether, on the one hand, we are dealing here with a hymn or other liturgical unit or whether, on the other hand, we have here an example of Paul’s own preaching concerning the glory of Christ. A hymnal unit is obtained only after considerable reconstruction of the text. H. Ridderbos, Aan De Kolossenzen, in Commentaar op het Nieuwe Testament, p. 151. He does, however, definitely favor a division of Col. 1:15–20 into two — and not into four — parts.

B. Criticism

Several of these thories are open to serious objection. Thus, in a letter which combats incipient Gnosticism one would hardly look for the incorporation of a Gnostic hymn. Again, though all things were created in and through and with a view to Christ and though all things cohere in him, there is no need to see any Stoic influence in this idea. As to the possible influence of Wisdom literature, if there be any such influence it would pertain to the manner of expression, not directly to the essence. It is at the most marginal, affecting form rather than content. Besides, the poetic personification of Wisdom found in Wisdom literature is not directly the Son of God himself whom Paul in Colossians has immediately in mind. As to those theories which, without any textual support, leave out entirely or re-arrange words, phrases or whole lines, in order to arrive at this or that precise strophical scheme, in which everything will be perfectly balanced, I cannot accept them. The very fact that so many of them have been tried out, each claiming to be better than the others, condemns them. As to finding here either a baptismal or a eucharistic liturgy, this, too, is very subjective. It is “found” by those who put it there.

The true reason for Col. 1:15–20 lies ready at hand. That reason is the Christ himself in very person, the One who existed from all eternity, became incarnate, fulfilled his amazingly glorious earthly ministry, suffered and died vicariously, rose from the grave, ascended to heaven, and from the Father’s right hand sent forth the Spirit.

⁵² It makes little difference in resultant meaning whether πάσης κτίσεως be rendered “of all creation” (cf. Rom. 8:22) or “of every creature” (cf. Rom. 8:39). In favor of “of every creature” is the absence (here in Col. 1:15) of the article. In connection with πάσης one would expect the article if the sense is “of all creation.”

N.T.C. W. Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary

⁵³ On these thrones, dominions, etc. see also the following: Slav. Enoch 20:1; Test. Levi 3 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VIII, p. 13); and in Th.W.N.T. the following articles: Schmitz, θρόνος, III, pp. 160–167, especially p. 167; Michel, κυριότης, III, p. 1096; Delling, ἀρχή, I, pp. 477–488, especially pp. 481–483; and Foerster, ἐξουσία, II. pp. 559–571, especially pp. 568–571.

⁵⁴ The verb συνίστημι (alongside of which συνιστάνω and συνιστάω are used) means (transitive): I cause to stand together, I bring together; I bring someone to someone else; hence, I introduce someone to someone else, I recommend or commend a person (Rom. 16:1) or thing. In the sense of commending it is sometimes used favorably — as in the well-known passage Rom. 5:8 —; sometimes with unfavorable overtones (for both unfavorable and favorable sense respectively, see the two occurrences of this verb in II Cor. 10:8). Here in Col. 1:17 it is used intransitively. The form here is 3rd person s. perf. act. indic. Cf. also for intransitive use: Luke 9:32 (standing with) and II Peter 3:5 (continuing and consisting of). See also on this verb L.N.T. (A. and G.), p. 798.

⁵⁵

With the majority of translators, ancient and modern, I would make “God” or “the Father” (understood) the subject of the verb was pleased. Reasons:

(1) In another poetic line (Luke 2:14) the related noun good pleasure means “God’s (understood) good pleasure.” Cf. also Phil. 2:13, where “the good pleasure” similarly means “his [God’s] good pleasure.” Also in Eph. 1:5 the clear reference is to the good pleasure of “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

(2) The mental insertion “God” or “the Father” is, after all, not too difficult, for in the preceding context the Father has been referred to in relation to the Son (see verses 12, 13, 15). In verse 13 the latter was called “the Son of his love,” and in verse 15 this Son was described as “the image of the invisible God.”

The alternate rendering, favored by some (including R.S.V., Abbott, Lenski, C. F. D. Moule, Ridderbos), namely, “for in him all the fulness was pleased to dwell” (or something similar) is certainly possible grammatically. My hesitancy to adopt this rendering is based on the following considerations:

(1) Nowhere else in the New Testament does Paul thus personify this fulness. Have we the right to ascribe to Paul — or to the very early church, if the apostle is here quoting a hymn — the style of Clement of Alexandria or of Irenaeus?

(2) It is hardly correct to maintain that in Col. 1:19 (alternate rendering) we have an exactly similar construction as in Col. 2:9, that is, that here in Col. 1:19 just as in Col. 2:9 fulness is the subject of a form of the verb to dwell. On the contrary, when Col. 1:19 is rendered “for in him all the fulness was pleased to dwell” the noun fulness becomes the subject not directly of a form of the verb to dwell but of was pleased, and this concept (fulness) is thus invested with a more definitely personal attribute. If any argument can be derived from Col. 2:9 it would rather be in the opposite direction, for in Col. 2:9 fulness is, indeed, subject of a form of the verb to dwell, just as it is also in Col. 1:19 when the latter is rendered, “For in him he [God] was pleased to have all the fulness dwell.” The noun πλήρωμα is then subject to the infinitive κατοικῆσαι.

⁵⁶

Much has been written about this term fulness (πλήρωμα). The sense of the word must be determined in each separate case by the context. In accordance with this rule the following shades of meaning, each according to its own setting, can be recognized. At least, the following resultant meanings deserve consideration:

Matt. 9:16 and Mark 2:21: the patch that fills up the rent in a garment.

Mark 6:43 and 8:20: basketfuls.

John 1:16: infinite plenitude from which believers receive grace upon grace.

Rom. 11:12: total number of elect Jews (cf. Rom. 11:2, 5).

Rom. 11:25: total number of elect Gentiles.

Rom. 13:10: love as law’s fulfilment; that is, love considered as that which fully satisfies the requirements of the law.

Rom. 15:29: the sum-total or abundance of blessings imparted by Christ.

I Cor. 10:26 (in a quotation from Ps. 24:1: LXX 23:1): the sum-total or abundance of that which the earth produces.

Gal. 4:4: the full measure of the time of Christ’s first coming as predetermined in Gods plan, in accordance with the imperative need which this coming satisfied, the Messianic hope which it fulfilled, and the golden opportunity which it provided.

Eph. 1:10: the fulness of the seasons, the new dispensation.

Eph. 1:23 (very controversial). Among the many interpretations are these three:

(1). the church as that which Christ completes.

(2). the church as that which completes Christ, he himself being incomplete without it, as the bridegroom is incomplete without the bride.

(3). Christ as the fulness of God, the All-Filler.

A more detailed discussion would belong to a Commentary on Ephesians.

Eph. 3:19 and 4:13: the full fruit of the work of Christ imparted to believers by God; the full maturity intended by God; spiritual maturity.

Col. 1:19 and 2:9: fulness of the divine essence and glory considered as the source of unending blessings for believers.

The theory that Paul’s frequent use of the term (though not the term itself) was due, at least in part, to its employment by the false teachers may well be correct. The noun fulness is found no less than six times in the ten chapters of Ephesians and Colossians, as often as in the seventy-seven chapters of all of Paul’s other epistles. Moreover, the number of times the verb to make full, fill, or fulfil is used in Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians (closely related Prison Epistles) contrasts sharply with its far lower frequency in the other epistles (as was stated earlier). Was one of the reasons why the apostle included this line of the “hymn” the fact that it contained the word fulness in connection with Christ? And did he, perhaps, intend to convey the meaning, “The fulness of God, and consequently the true source of his people’s fulness, about which those who proclaim error are always talking, is found in Christ, in him alone”? The probability that this was one of the reasons why Paul quoted these lines in combating the Colossian heresy must be granted, even though we cannot be sure. Lightfoot is of the opinion that Essene Judaizers derived the word fulness and its cognates from a Palestinian source, and that it probably represents the Hebrew root ml’, of which it is a translation in the LXX, and the cognate Aramaic root, as the Peshito seems to indicate.

Three additional facts should be mentioned in this connection:

(1) For the term πλήρωμα itself Paul or the early hymn-writers were by no means dependent upon false teachers. The early Christians were steeped in the terminology of the Old Testament, in which the term fulness is used again and again; for example in Ps. 24:1 (LXX 23:1); 50:12 (LXX 49:12); 89:11 (LXX 88:12); 96:11 (LXX 95:11); 98:7 (LXX 97:7). (To that extent I can agree with E. Percy, op. cit., p. 76 ff.)

(2) The theory that the frequency of the term in Ephesians and Colossians had something to do with its use by the false teachers by no means indicates that as early as this it already had the sense that was ascribed to it in the elaborate speculations of second century Gnosticism.

(3) Since the meaning of a word depends on its use in a given context lengthy arguments with respect to the question whether basically πλήρωμα means that which is filled or that which fills are not very fruitful.

For further discussion see the following:

J. B. Lightfoot, op. cit., pp. 257–273; J. A. Robinson, “The Church as the Fulfilment of the Christ: a Note on Ephesians 1:23, ” Exp, 5th series, 7 (1898), pp. 241–259: C. F. D. Moule, op. cit., pp. 164–169; and Delling, Th.W.N.T., Vol. VI, pp. 297–304.

⁵⁷ εἰς αὐτόν to be written (or with the sense of) εἰς αὑτόν. It was customary for Paul to say that reconciliation is to God (Rom. 5:10, twice; II Cor. 5:18, 19, 20). The fact that in these passages (as also in non-theological I Cor. 7:11) the verb καταλλάσσω is used, to which corresponds the noun καταλλαγή (Rom. 5:11; 11:15; II Cor. 5:18, 19), while here in Col. 1:20, 21 and in Eph. 2:16 (nowhere else in the New Testament) the compound verb ἀποκαταλλάσσω occurs, does not detract from the force of this argument. Moreover, God the Father is the implied subject in verse 19 (see footnote 55 above).

⁵⁸ The phrase “through him,” here repeated, though lacking in important manuscripts, is probably genuine. It may be considered a repetition for the sake of emphasis. The very fact that it is a repetition probably accounts for its omission from some texts.

⁵⁹

Could that be the reason why the otherwise excellent and very popular rendering by Rev. W. Kuipers, as found in No. 199 of The New Christian Hymnal, is as follows:

“I hear in the air, ’neath the canopy blue,

Sweet notes of a Name, most resplendent and true”?

This, though probably excellent poetry, is obviously not a true translation of the Dutch lines.

⁶⁰ Because of its length this footnote has been placed at the end of the chapter, page 96.

⁶¹ The modifiers “in his body of flesh through his death” make it clear that the subject of the sentence (verses 21–23) is not God (as Lightfoot maintains) but Christ. Thus also F. W. Beare, op. cit., p. 175, and Lenski, op. cit., p. 70 very emphatically.

⁶² L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, p. 373.

⁶³ On the meaning of the word flesh see N.T.C. on Philippians, p. 77, footnote 55.

⁶⁴ Agreement with the subject of the sentence (see footnote 61 above), as well as comparison with the very similar passage Eph. 5:27, inclines me to the conclusion that here in Col. 1:22b “before him” means “before himself” (that is, before the Son of God’s love), just as in verse 20 (see footnote 57 above) “to him” means (or may even be written) “to himself” (that is, to God). Note, in this connection, that while it was customary for Paul to say that reconciliation was to God, he describes presentation as being either to Christ (Eph. 5:27; II Cor. 11:2) or to God (Rom. 14:10); and sometimes does not clearly indicate the One to whom believers are to be presented (Col. 1:28; II Cor. 4:14). Of course, in view of such passages as John 14:9 and I John 2:23, it makes very little difference whether Christ is viewed as presenting his children to himself or to God. He cannot do the one without doing the other.

⁶⁵ Obviously the word διάκονος is not here used in the technical sense of deacon. For the use of this word see N.T.C. on I Tim. 3:13 and 4:6.

⁶⁶ Because of its length this footnote has been placed at the end of the chapter, page 97.

⁶⁷ The word mystery occurs 28 times in the New Testament: 3 times in the Gospels (Matt. 13:11; Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10); 4 times in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 10:7; 17:5; also 1:20 and 17:7 with a sense differing from that in which it is used by Paul; probably “symbolical meaning”); and 21 times in Paul’s letters (Rom. 11:25; 16:25; I Cor. 2:1, 2:7; 4:1; 13:2; 14:2; 15:51; Eph. 1:9; 3:3; 3:4; 3:9; 5:32; 6:19; Col. 1:26; 1:27; 2:2; 4:3; I Tim. 3:9; 3:16; II Thess. 2:7). See the entry μυστήριον in L.N.T. (A. and G.), and the extensive literature there given.

⁶⁸ Cf. G. Matheson, “The Pauline Argument for a Future State,” Exp, first series, 9 (1879), pp. 264–284.

⁶⁹ or mature, full-grown, complete. For full discussion see N.T.C. on Philippians, footnote 156, p. 176.

⁷⁰ Literally, “striving by means of (or: according to) his energy energizing within me with power.” Here striving is an athletic term, from which we have derived our word agonizing. The participle ἀγωνιζόμενος is reflected in the noun ἀγῶνα in Col. 2:1. The participle energizing is best taken as a middle, as in Gal. 5:6, “faith working through love.” And from the word power we derive our noun dynamite.

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