1 PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,
5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;
8 Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
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 preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would 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 preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

1Paul an Apostle of Iesus Christ, by þe will of God, and Timotheus our brother,

2To the saints and faithfull brethren in Christ, which are at Colosse, grace be vnto you, and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Iesus Christ.

3We giue thanks to God, and the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ, praying alwayes for you,

4Since we heard of your faith in Christ Iesus, and of the loue which yee haue to all the Saints,

5For the hope which is layd vp for you in heauen, whereof ye heard before in the word of the trueth of the Gospel,

6Which is come vnto you as it is in all the world, and bringeth foorth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day yee heard of it, and knew the grace of God in trueth,

7As yee also learned of Epaphras our deare felow seruant, who is for you a faithfull Minister of Christ:

8Who also declared vnto vs your loue in the spirit.

9For this cause wee also, since the day we heard it, doe not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisedome and spirituall vnderstanding:

10That ye might walke worthy of the Lord vnto all pleasing, being fruitfull in euery good worke, & increasing in the knowledge of God:

11Strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, vnto all patience and long suffering with ioyfulnesse:

12Giuing thanks vnto the Father, which hath made vs meete to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light:

13Who hath deliuered vs from the power of darkenesse, and hath translated vs into the kingdome of his deare Sonne,

14In whom we haue redemption through his blood, euen the forgiuenesse of sinnes:

15Who is the image of the inuisible God, the first borne of euery creature.

16For by him were all things created that are in heauen, and that are in earth, visible and inuisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.

17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

18And hee is the head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the first borne from the dead, that in all things he might haue the preeminence:

19For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulnesse dwell,

20And (hauing made peace through the blood of his crosse) by him to reconcile all things vnto himself, by him, I say, whether they bee things in earth, or things in heauen.

21And you that were sometimes alienated, and enemies in your minde by wicked workes, yet now hath hee reconciled,

22In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy & vnblameable, and vnreprooueable in his sight,

23If ye continue in the faith grounded and setled, and be not moued away from the hope of the Gospel, which yee haue heard, and which was preached to euery creature which is vnder heauen, whereof I Paul am made a Minister.

24Who now reioyce in my sufferings for you, and fill vp that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for his bodies sake, which is the Church,

25Whereof I am made a Minister, according to the dispensation of God, which is giuen to mee for you, to fulfill the word of God:

26Euen the mystery which hath been hid from ages, and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints,

27To whom God would make knowen what is the riches of the glory of this mysterie among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

28Whom we preach, warning euery man, and teaching euery man in all wisedome, that we may present euery man perfect in Christ Iesus.

29Whereunto I also labour, striuing according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

 

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 to the holy ones and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae: grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the holy ones 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. Of this you have already heard through the word of truth, the gospel, 6 that has come to you. Just as in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing, so also among you, from the day you heard it and came to know the grace of God in truth, 7 as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow slave, who is a trustworthy minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. 9 Therefore, from the day we heard this, we do not cease praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding 10 to live in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God, 11 strengthened with every power, in accord with his glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light. 13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross (through him), whether those on earth or those in heaven. 21 And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds 22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him, 23 provided that you persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, am a minister. 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church, 25 of which I am a minister in accordance with God's stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, 26 the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, 27 to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 For this I labor and struggle, in accord with the exercise of his power working within me.

Like Ephesians and Philippians, Colossians was written from prison in Rome. The church had possibly been started by Epaphras, but Paul had never visited there. Heresy had crept into the church, and Paul addresses that in chapters 2 and 3.
v 1,2. Paul’s salutations have a general pattern, but they are not meaningless repetitions. Notice his emphasis on Christ.
v 3. He will have strong warnings later, but first he wisely expressed thanks for them. He apparently prayed for everyone when the Lord laid them upon his heart.
v 4-6. His prayer for them was stimulated by hearing of their faith which was manifested in love. This was further developed by their hope for the future, 1 Jn. 3.3. The gospel was bringing forth fruit in them as it does wherever preached and believed.
v 7,8. This may infer that Epaphras was the one who started this church. At any rate he was faithful in his ministry to them and in reporting their love to Paul.
v 9,10. Paul’s repeated prayer had two major goals, that 1, they might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, and 2, they might walk worthy of the Lord. Two evidences of walking worthy and pleasing the Lord are fruitfulness and growth. A baby may be healthy but need to grow in maturity. These people may have been spiritual, but Paul prays for them to grow in spiritual maturity. They needed growth in greater comprehension and discernment of spiritual things. It is good to know about a person or God, but much better to get to really know them.
v 11,12. A third evidence of walking worthy is joyfulness and thanksgiving, in the face of difficulties. God gives strength for those things, especially as the believer realizes he has been qualified to share in the inheritance given to believers.
v 13,14. It is through the blood of Christ that we are redeemed, bought out of the slave market of sin, but He also set us free. (Ilus. of hawk catching small pheasant but eagle driving away hawk and taking pheasant, but the eagle let the pheasant go free.)We are not under the power of darkness, and become a part of Christ’s heavenly kingdom (not earthly). In 12-14 four blessings may be summarized: 1 Made partakers of the inheritance, 2 Deliverance from the power of darkness, 3 Translated into Christ’s kingdom, 4 Redemption through His blood.
v 15. Christ is an exact representation of God (like a finger print), Jn. 14:9, but made visible where God is invisible. He is first born in honor, preexisted, sovereign, not first created.
v 16. Furthermore, Christ, along with the rest of Trinity created everything that was created, and He created all for His own purpose.
v 17. Not only was He the original Creator, but by Him all creation holds together and operates, what scientists call “natural law”.
v 18. The church is a new creation being the body and Christ being the head. As in the rest of creation, Christ has preeminence or first place.
v 19. God the Father and the Holy Spirit dwell in Christ in full measure.
v 20. On earth men reconcile by making concessions, but God does not change His position. He reconciles all who place their trust in the blood of Christ.
v 21,22. Before salvation we were all enemies of God, but through the reconciling death on the cross, Christ has taken our impurity and presents us perfect in Him. At the judgment Seat of Christ, our works, not our sins, are the imperfections.
v 23. This verse does not present a possibility of loss of salvation. If is best translated since, or inasmuch.
v 24,25. Paul rejoiced in his suffering in the example Christ had set, because it was to be part of his ministry in building the Church.  Dispensation here is the stewardship God had committed to Paul to preach the Word. He kept his own word of 1 Cor. 4:2 that it is required of a steward that a man be found faithful. 
v 26,27. Here Paul begins to lay the groundwork against the Gnostics who claimed knowledge of certain mysteries not understood by most Christians. There were mysteries in the Old Testament but they are not reserved for a few. This one Paul proclaims to Gentile believers as the mystery of the indwelling Christ.
v 28. Christ was the central theme of all Paul’s preaching. His goal was not just to win souls, but to see them being perfected, growing in maturity.
v 29. He not only labored in the gospel, but at times had to support himself by tent making. “Working, mightily” - God gave him superhuman energy to do this.