Colossians 1:3-8

Thanksgiving - 1:3-8

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

All our praise and gratitude belong to God. Paul offers an expression of thanksgiving for this church. We are often quick to criticize but very slow to express appreciation and gratitude.

Praying always is the attitude of faithful Christians. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Jesus taught us to always pray and never faint. (Luke 18:1) We must be sure that at all times and situations we are in a place and position where prayer could be made. We must be in the frame of mind and in situations where prayer would not only be allowed, it would be appropriate.

3 - We are thankful to God, who is the Father of Jesus Christ our Lord. We are continuing in prayer for you.

4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;

Since Paul had not been to Colosse, he was relying on the information of those who had been there and reported to him. He heard of their faith. To be a saving faith, it must be active, living, obedient.

Paul also knew of the love this church has for all saints in all places.

In 1 Corinthians 13:13 Paul binds together - Faith, Hope, and Love - these three. Here he does the same with the discussion of Faith and Love in verse 4 and Hope in verse 5.

4 - We have heard of your active faith and of your love of the brotherhood.

5because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,

Hope is desire AND expectation. Both must be present to have hope. Desire without expectation is only a wish or a dream. Expectation without desire is fear or dread.

The hope we have is eternal life. That hope will be realized in heaven. Our hope is to be raised to eternal life and be with Jesus in that eternal abode. Peter said it was "reserved in heaven." (1 Peter 1:4)

The gospel is truth. These two words are often used in exchange for each other. There are several words or phrases that are parallel: Way, Truth, Gospel, Light, Word, and Life.

5 - And the hope reserved for you in heaven. You heard the word, the gospel;

6which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;

As the gospel was heard by others, it has now come to you. Now you can keep it going by sharing this news with others.

Without radio, TV, or Internet, the news of the gospel was being rapidly spread through out the world.

Paul declares that the message has been declared to every creature under heaven. (verse 23)

Where the gospel is shared with others - there is fruit. The fruit of an apple tree is apples. The fruit of sharing your faith with others is Christians. This principle is taught in John 15:16.

Do you remember the day you heard the message of salvation? How long should one wait after becoming a Christin, to begin working in the Kingdom? Answer: From the day you heard the message, you had faith, and you have exercised and acted on that faith since that day.

Salvation includes knowing the grace of God. Here is the motivation for these Christians. They "knew" God's grace. I have to wonder if we have even started to understand the depth and breath of grace in our lives.

6 - Which came to you from others, and is going from you into all the world producing Christians. From the day you heard, motivated by your understanding of God's grace, you were reaching others, growing faith in them.

7as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,

Epaphras is, apparently, the one who established the church in Colosse and is the source of information for Paul to know about this church and their faith.

SEB "Our co-slave" NASB "Our beloved fellow bond-servant"

We do not like the idea of slavery. In society, I agree. In the church, we are slaves. We are either the slaves of God or the slaves of sin. (Romans 6:16) We chose who will be our Master. Whom are we really working for?

Epaphras is a faithful minister. This is not a title to be worn. It is a work to be done. God had only one Son and he was a minister. Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve. (Mark 10:45)

7 - You learned about God's grace from Epaphras. He is a very special co-slave, faithful to his Master, Jesus.

8who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

Paul's information is from Epaphras. He brought Paul the report of their faith, love and hope. The news was good. The church at Colosse is growing.

Their love is directed toward God and then toward all the saints. (1:4) The phrase "in the Spirit" have been explained in several ways.

Their love was because some apostle had given them power to perform spiritual gifts.

Their love is on a spiritual level. It was a deep, fervent love, in a spiritual sense.

Their love was the spiritual gift which they had.

I believe that we are learning of their spiritual love for Paul.

8 - He has told me about your fervent spiritual love.