Colossians Series
Chapter One
Verses Three Through Eight
Verse Three. Paul states that he gives thanks for them. We need to be thankful for what God does for us and for the people He uses to bless us. Even though Paul didn’t start the church at Colosse, he was still thankful for the Christians there. Modern day Christians many times stick too closely to their particular brand of a denomination. Instead we should be thankful for all fellow Christians. There are 27 different types of Baptist...soon to be 28 as the Southern Baptist are in the process of splitting into the Cooperative Baptists and the more conservative Southern Baptists. In a Southern Baptist Church, I heard an older man just down the Independent Baptists. He was shooting arrows at fellow believers, why? Because they weren’t his brand of Baptists. Funny, but in heaven there aren’t going to be any denominations. There will be on Blood Bought Believers. So we need to get beyond the biases of denomination and be thankful for what God is doing. The thing is we need to make sure those we fellowship with are correct on salvation. The Bible does command us to be separate from the unbelievers. II Corinthians 6:14-18 We should only fellowship with those correct on salvation. If a church is correct on salvation, then we should fellowship with them. For example, a friend of mine is Presbyterian. I am a Baptist. He is right on salvation, but I feel wrong on how much water to use in a Baptism. I fellowship with him, because he is a brother in Christ. I Corinthians 12:25 With true believers we need to not have divisions. I have said all of this to make the point that we can glorify God for growth in other churches that are right on salvation that may not be our brand of denomination. In Colossians 1:3 Paul is thanking God for those who were not from Paul’s ministry. This demonstrates the humility of Paul and his sincerity in serving God. We too should be humble and sincere serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
The next part of verse 3 Paul states that he is “praying always” for the Colossians. He thanks God for them and prays for them. We too should be thanking God for fellow believers and praying for them. Notice the “always” that denotes that he prays for them more than once. We too should be praying for fellow believers each time we pray!
Verse 4. Paul states that he started thanking God and praying for them ever since he heard that the were saved. Paul hadn’t even met them when he began to pray for them. We should have the same type of prayer life. We should be praying for our Missionaries and their converts even though we may have never met them.
Notice that the Colossians had a love for all the saints. Love calls us to action. We should be helping our fellow Christians. The Colossians proved their love through action. Matthew Henry states, “We must love all the saints, bear an extensive kindness and good-will to good men, notwithstanding smaller points of difference, and many real weaknesses.” Galations 5:22,23 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc. The Colossians were exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit. Galations 5:6 Faith works through love. If we wish to walk by faith and not by sight, then we need to be allowing God’s love to flow through us.
Verse 5. The hope we have laid up in heaven is an eternal one. We through our love and serving of God here on earth and laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Matthew 6:20,21,33 We are to store up treasures in heaven, we do that by showing God’s love here on earth. Our goal is not to glorify ourselves, our church, our Pastor, our denomination, etc. We are to be glorifying God. A lot of the TV Evangelists glorify themselves. The Bible says that when we take the glory, that we have our reward. The way to build up treasures in heaven is to give God the glory!
Verse 6. The Word of God came to them through Christians who were bearing fruit. In turn when the Colossians were saved they became Christians who bore fruit. The forgiveness in Christ was spreading through the world at that time. Today we still need to bear fruit and spread Christ throughout the world. In order to bear fruit, Christ must be the focal point of our lives. Colossians 3:1,2. As we yield to God and let Him have control, the Holy Spirit can produce fruit in our lives. Our lives then are used to reach others for Christ. As the Bible says in Proverbs, ‘He who wins souls is wise.’ True wisdom comes from serving God with our whole hearts. The Colossians were not being bench warmers, but from their love for God they were producing fruit.
Verse 7. The Colossians had a teacher named Epaphras. Epaphras taught them by example. He lived the life! He was a faithful servant of God. Once he came to know the Lord, he shared Christ with others. The Colossians who Paul commended were doing what Epaphras had taught them.
Verse 8. Epaphras was the one who informed Paul of what was happening in Colosse. This is similar to a missionary letter. Our missionaries write us and inform us of what is happening. We should be thankful even as Paul was and we should pray for them even as Paul did. These verses from 3 to 8 show us an example of the way we are supposed to be. We need to be ‘doers of the Word and not hearers only.’ We should be thankful for fellow believers and praying for them. We should be living for Christ and producing fruit. We need to be on fire for God!
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