colossians 1

Over the summer I'm taking both the senior high and the junior high through the book of Colossians. Today we went over the first 14 verses.

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

2To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

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

9And 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, 10so 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 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

My friend, Sarah Costa, recently posted some thoughts on Facebook on the importance of theology in discipleship. And here, Paul, makes the same case.

His prayer for the Christians in Colossae (and for all believers) is that they would be filled with all knowledge and wisdom so that you may be "fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work." He is clear that right teaching affects behavior. He is also clear that the right teaching is the gospel: "redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Our prayer for believers should be grounded in this. Praying that we would all continue to increase in knowledge of the God who saves so that we could live a life that glorifies him. Amen.

-joe