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Colossians 1
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| 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
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 "Paul ... to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse"
Although Colossians (1:1) claims to have been written by Paul, most scholars think it was written
later by one of his followers.1
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| 1:2
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.
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| 1:3
We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying
always for you, |
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| 1:4
Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye
have to all the saints, |
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| 1:5
For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before
in the word of the truth of the gospel; |
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| 1:6
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: |
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| 1:7
As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a
faithful minister of Christ; |
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| 1:8
Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. |
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| 1:9
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; |
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| 1:10
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in
every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; |
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| 1:11
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all
patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; |
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| 1:12
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of
the inheritance of the saints in light: |
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| 1:13
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us
into the kingdom of his dear Son: |
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| 1:14
In whom we have
redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: |
"We have redemption through his blood."
God bought us with someone else's blood.
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| 1:15
Who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: |
 "The invisible God"
Is God invisible?
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| 1:16
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:
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(1:16-17)
"For by him were all things created."
(Including guinea
worms?)
Is Jesus God?
(1:16-17)
The New World Translation inserts the
word 'other' four times in these
two verses (although it is not included in the Greek) to support the Governing Body's denial of
the divinity of Christ. (Adding words to scripture is condemned in
Pr.30:6.)
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| 1:17
And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist.
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| 1:18
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.
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| 1:19
For it pleased the
Father that in him should all fulness dwell; |
(1:19-20)
"It pleased the Father ... having made peace through the blood of his cross"
God makes peace through blood.
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| 1:20
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.
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| 1:21
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled |
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| 1:22
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and
unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: |
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| 1:23
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; |
"The gospel ... was preached to every creature."
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| 1:24
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: |
"Rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh"
The suffering Jesus was not sufficient to satisfy God's wrath, so the Paul (or whoever wrote Colossians) had to make up for
what as lacking with his own sufferings.
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| 1:25
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;
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| 1:26
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but
now is made manifest to his saints: |
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| 1:27
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: |
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| 1:28
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom;
that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: |
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| 1:29
Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh
in me mightily.
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Next Chapter
1. Bart D. Ehrman,
The New Testament: A Historical Introlduction to the
Early Christian Writings, 3rd ed. (2004), chap.23
- Wikipedia
- Colossians
- Authorship of the Pauline epistles
- Deutero-Pauline and Pastoral Epistles
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