Chapter I.
(Vers. 1, 2, 3.)
(Verse 1, 2, 3.) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. The beginning of the letter follows the usual custom, in which he continues to address the saints and faithful brothers, expressing his desire for the grace of God to abide with them through Christ.
(Vers. 4, 5, 6.)
(Verse 4, 5, 6.) We give thanks to God and to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying for you, having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth. Then, because of the love they had for the saints, they believed that their hope in God was strong, and that God would reward those who believed and loved one another, according to Christ, whose name has reached all the nations, so that they may multiply in their faith.
(Vers. 7, 8.)
(Ver. 7, 8.) And it is fruitful and growing, as it is also in you, since the day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth, as you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ for you, and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. Following the example of the other Gentile churches, you continue to grow and produce vital fruit with joyful speech. So that from the grace they have received from God, they may increase both in number and in deed, adding to their faith and making them brothers and sisters in Christ. For many were attracted by the example of those good works, as attested by Epaphras, who served them as Christ's grace in place of an apostle, which they immediately embraced like a spiritual drink in the love of the Lord, which is not in the flesh, but in the spirit.
(Vers. 9, 10.)
(Ver. 9, 10.) Therefore, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. The Apostle, hearing their devoted and ready willingness in the faith of Christ, prays for them, that with a more inclined knowledge of God's will, they may fulfill devotion with reasonable works, which they had learned from the heard faith of Christ, so that their faithful dedication and strength of faith, while producing something without consultation and without skill, may not lose the fruit of their labor. For this is eagerly accepted, because it is done with a devoted and wise mind.
(Vers. 11, 12, 13.)
(Vers. 11, 12, 13.) Growing and increasing in the knowledge of God, taking strength in every virtue according to the power of His glory, with all patience and longsuffering, giving thanks to God the Father, who has called you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light, who has delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. May their works increase with knowledge, so that they may not be ignorant of the hope of their faith; for then they will be firm and steadfast, if they consider the things promised for the faith and the greatness of the glory of God's majesty in patience; so that they may endure with longsuffering the human race, which in its impiety not only neglects the Creator, but also persecutes those who love Him; so that they too may be patient, enduring insults and curses from unbelievers, or if they suffer oppression, awaiting the judgement of God without doubt, and rejoicing even more in the promised life with thanksgiving to God, who has deemed it worthy to call and lead the Gentiles into the promise of the Jews, which is eternal light, i.e., eternal life, everlasting truth. For we have been freed from the condition of darkness, that is, rescued from hell, in which we were held by the devil as well as by our own sin, through faith we have been transferred into the heavenly kingdom of the Son of God; so that God might show us the depth of His love for us, when He lifted us up from the depths of hell and brought us into heaven with His true Son. Now all believers, who are devoted with fixed minds, leaving the world, are led into heaven by the guidance of the Father's right hand angel, which was not granted before defeated death.
(Vers 14.)
(Verse 14) In whom we have redemption, and the forgiveness of sins. In the kingdom of His Son, God has transferred us, through whom He has redeemed and set free; for the forgiveness of sins sets free those who were once held captive by debts that they might not be held bound. For without the faith of Christ, no one has come forth from Hell; for one bound by sins cannot exit the gates of Tartarus. He is the invisible image of God. The invisible image of God cannot be visible, otherwise it is not an image; for what is invisible cannot be painted, nor can the visible see the invisible; for either it is a body that is seen, or a figure, or some formed substance that is brought forth by the eyes’ glance, and yet the whole is still a body: but how can God, who is separate from all these things, have a visible image? But it is said in this way, so that the Son may be understood to be such as the Father is; so that because he is of him, and does not differ from him in the divinity of nature, he may be called his image and form; lest another god be believed by the unfaithful, even though this is contained in the name itself; for this reason, the true Son of God is called, so that it is believed to be of him. But because of a bad understanding, it is also added that he is called his image; so that when he appears, even though in human form, or certainly in fire, as to Moses (Exod. III, 2), it is understood that he is not the Father himself, but the Son: and by the fact that he is called his image, it is believed that he does not differ from him. Where he says to Philip: Philip, whoever sees me sees the Father also. How do you say: Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? (John 14:9). This is the unity and substance of the Father and the Son, that they are in each other; so that whoever sees the Son, sees the Father also. Now let us see how the Son was seen; so that we may understand in what way Philip, by seeing the Son, sees the Father also. Indeed, by their intellect they have seen the Son of divine works, not with physical eyes. The Son, who has accomplished these works, said that He is of the Father, in order to show the unity of power. He was also seen in a similar manner by Jacob, from which he received the name Israel, that is, a man who sees God (Gen. 32:28). For this reason, He is called the image of the invisible God, so that He Himself may be understood to be God, who is seen by the intellect. However, the Father has never appeared in any way, as it is stated in the Gospel: No one has ever seen God (John 1:18).
(Vers. 16.)
(Verse 16) The firstborn of all creatures. Before every creature, he testifies that the Son, begotten and not created, was born; so that his birth be distinguished from the creation of creatures: and to make this completely clear, he added:
For in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. Therefore, those things which were done by Him, are said to be done through Him, because He was born for this purpose, that He might create the creature: that is, to have made it in Him and through Him. For His birth does not profit Himself, but us; because He who was in these things had no need to be born. How then is the only Son of God the Father, how does He Himself know what things are uncreated of God the Father? For He was in God, who proceeded from God, so that He might be one God: and thus it happens, that there is neither any diminution of the Father, nor any progress of the Son, when He is born. And in order to clearly explain what and how great the power of the Son is, he shows what exists through him, namely Thrones, Dominions, and Principalities, and Powers; so that, therefore, it is believed that there is absolutely nothing less in him than in the Father.
(Vers. 17.)
(Verse 17.) And he is before all. Before all he is; because he alone was born of God the Father, from the ungenerated substance of God. But by his power, which he has through generation from the Father, they subsisted; not that there is a sharing of substance with him, but they began to exist by the will of God the Father, with the Son acting. And all things consist in him. They consist in him, because without him they are nothing; for if they are not subject to him, they will go astray and become liable to destruction.
(Vers. 18.)
(Verse 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 may have the preeminence. Christ is the head of the Church, if indeed all celestial and terrestrial beings have one mind, so that they may be the Church, which is of one faith. But if, lacking the head, they are cut off from the whole body, that is, from their Creator, they will be carried away by a certain insanity and vanity. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence. Since all things were created through him, through him they were also made subject to a certain negligence, to be reformed; lest his work be restored by another to the detriment of him; that just as he was born before all, so he would be the first again from the resurrection of the dead, having his former life restored; for he was born before all things from God, in order to create all things that did not exist. But again, he was born in the flesh from a virgin, in order to abolish the sin that had entered the world through the virgin Eve. Born, therefore, and dead, he rose again, so that he might recreate what he had first made, because they had been like dead through error, so that he might always be first and foremost in every life.
(Vers. 19.)
(V. 19) Because it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell. The fullness is in Him and remains; because He is always able to accomplish everything, so that nothing is excluded, that cannot be achieved through Him; so that He might create, and reform, and raise up what has fallen, and give life to what is dead. Hence He says: As the Father has life in Himself, so He has given the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26); and: As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wills. For the Father does not judge anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son (Ibid., 21, 22). What could be more just than that, unless that he who has done all these things through him should give judgment, so that all the fullness of divinity might dwell in him by virtue of what we have said, that he has all power in himself; that is, he is perfect God; for whoever does not have all these things is not God.
(Vers. 20.)
(Verse 20.) And through him to reconcile all things to himself, making peace by the blood of his cross, whether things on earth or in heaven. This is what he mentioned above, that in order to restore all things that he had made, which had begun to diverge from one another in a certain error, and also from their author (for there is still error in the earthly heavens), he humbled him by becoming incarnate, so that being made man he might show and teach how those things which are in the heavens and on the earth could be reconciled to the Creator. In order to bring it to perfection, he allowed himself to be killed for the sake of mankind, so that those whom he had taught here on earth might not be held captive by the second death when they depart from here; so that his teaching might have the fruit of the first institution, and all things accomplished through him might live in him as in their author, just as Peter confesses in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 3:15).
(Vers. 21, 22.)
(Verses 21, 22.) And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind because of your evil behavior, but now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death, to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in his sight. This is the message of the gift of God's grace to the Gentiles, that he may show them how indebted they are, and indeed greatly, through their actions of gratitude toward God; for they were once enemies of his plans, which he had determined to carry out through his servant Moses, whose teachings and authority they did not accept, devoted instead to their idols and their wicked deeds; for they worshipped the works of their own hands. But the mercy and providence of God sought them out, so that they might obtain the free grace of God and return to him with a clean conscience; that on the day of judgment, when no trace of their old errors would be found in them, they may join themselves to their Creator, who, in order to benefit the human race, became incarnate as a man to conquer death with his own body.
(Vers. 23, 24.)
(Verse 23, 24.) Indeed, if you persevere in the faith that you have been founded on, steadfast and immovable from the hope of the Gospel that you have heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven. Of which I, Paul, have become a minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the Church. He confesses that he rejoices in the tribulations he suffered, because he sees his progress in the faith of the believers. For tribulation is not empty when it is endured for the one for whom it is endured, it acquires for life. The sufferings that Christ speaks of are inflicted, of which they certainly pursue the teaching; so that he may burden the treacherous with the credulity of their impiety, and may proclaim the charity of God to the faithful, whose Son now suffers injuries for us. Therefore, he now wants to be understood for what reason he writes to them, when he says: If indeed you persevere in the founded faith, so that they may know then that the passion of Christ would benefit them if they were to remain in the received faith. Therefore, the magnitude and infinite power of Christ have been declared from the beginning, to teach that our hope should be placed in him alone. For all things belong to him, and nothing can live without him, neither in heaven nor on earth. For he existed before all things, and all things consist in him, for he holds the highest position in all things. So if anyone thinks they owe devotion to any elements, angels, or Powers, let them know that they are mistaken. For here indeed is the Son of God, the head of all principality and power, whose Gospel was preached throughout the whole world, beginning from Moses, who said to the Jews: 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. You shall hear Him in all things whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people' (Deut. XVIII, 15, 16). Therefore the Lord said to the Jews: 'For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me' (John V, 46). Therefore, this one must be heard and esteemed, and no one should be valued against him; because he who holds the head, has the rest of the body subject. For he who humiliates himself to his subjects, is completely mistaken; because a body without a head is not capable of containing the whole being for life.
(Vers. 25, 26.)
(Verses 25, 26.) Of which I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 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.
(Vers. 27, 28.)
(Vers. 27, 28.) Now it has been revealed to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. This is the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations, but is now revealed to His saints. For God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is He whom we proclaim as we admonish and teach everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. This mystery was hidden for ages and generations, but is now revealed to His saints. For before the preaching of faith, the Gentiles were obligated to be circumcised if they desired to adhere to the Law. But now, by the mercy of God, they have been accepted as they are into the faith. This was viewed as unworthy by the Jews, that Christ, in whom the hope of the Jews resided, would also make the Gentiles partakers of his glory.
(Vers. 29.)
(Verse 29.) Admonishing every man, and teaching in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working which worketh in me mightily. Which he avers to be true wisdom, which is in the doctrine of the Lord, when Christ is acknowledged. This the Apostle himself testifies that he carries out with great care; that, instructing every man in this wisdom, he may present him perfect to God in the understanding of Christ, that he may attain to the mystery of the nativity from God, and the nativity from Mary, and of all his celestial and terrestrial works. He speaks of waging battle against the treacherous, with the support of signs of virtue, so that through these the unfaithfulness may be subdued. For whoever has dared to contradict with a certain subtlety of diabolical cunning, will, corrected by shame, necessarily yield to virtue.