Thy Strong Word – Colossians 1:1-14: Faith, Love, and Hope in what? In Christ!

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Rev. Dr. Paul Deterding, pastor and teacher at St. Paul Lutheran High School in Concordia, Missouri joins host Rev. Brady Finnern to begin our study of Colossians.

Faith & hope needs a source.  The church in Colossae had faith and hope, but the source was wrong.  A source based on knowledge and a denial of physical realities.  Their pastor, Epaphras, had visited Paul while in jail and expressed concern that the church had focused more on knowledge than their incarnate, crucified, and physically risen Savior.  Paul encourages the Colossians to re-focus their attention on the content of their faith & hope, Christ and Him crucified, because from that content they receive real redemption, that is, forgiveness in Christ.  “Lord Jesus Christ, Your incarnation, death, resurrection, body and blood is where our hope is founded.  By Your Holy Spirit, keep us grounded in the true faith so that Your love will be given to others.  In Your name, Amen”

Thy Strong Word reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations.

Thy Strong Word is hosted by Rev. Brady Finnern, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Sartell, MN, and graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation.

Colossians 1:1-14

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the saints and faithful brothers[a] in Christ at Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant.[b] He is a faithful minister of Christ on your[c] behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks[d] to the Father, who has qualified you[e] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

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Footnotes

Colossians 1:2 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters

Colossians 1:7 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word sundoulos, see Preface

Colossians 1:7 Some manuscripts our

Colossians 1:12 Or patience, with joy giving thanks

Colossians 1:12 Some manuscripts us

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org