コロサイ人への手紙 1:7-15 JCB

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 1:15-23

In this passage Paul says two great things about Jesus, both of which are in answer to the Gnostics. The Gnostics had said that Jesus was merely one among many intermediaries and that, however great he might be, he was only a partial revelation of God. (i) Paul says that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God ( Colossians 1:15 ). Here he uses a word and a picture which would waken all kinds of memories in the minds of those who heard it. The word is eikon ( Greek #1504 ), and... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 1:15-23

We will remember that according to the Gnostics the work of creation was carried out by an inferior god, ignorant of and hostile to the true God. It is Paul's teaching that God's agent in creation is the Son and in this passage he has four things to say of the Son in regard to creation. (i) He is the firstborn of all creation ( Colossians 1:15 ). We must be very careful to attach the right meaning to this phrase. As it stands in English it might well mean the Son was the first person to be... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 1:15-23

Paul sets out in verse 18 what Jesus Christ is to the Church; and he distinguishes four great facts in that relationship. (i) He is the head of the body, that is, of the Church. The Church is the body of Christ, that is, the organism through which he acts and which shares all his experiences. But, humanly speaking, the body is the servant of the head and is powerless without it. So Jesus Christ is the guiding spirit of the Church; it is at his bidding that the Church must live and move.... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 1:15-23

In Colossians 1:19-20 Paul sets down certain great truths about the work of Christ for the whole universe. (i) The object of his coming was reconciliation. He came to heal the breach and bridge the chasm between God and man. We must note one thing quite clearly and always retain it in our memories. The initiative in reconciliation was with God. The New Testament never talks of God being reconciled to men, but always of men being reconciled to God. God's attitude to men was love, and it was... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 1:15-23

In Colossians 1:21-23 are set out the aim and the obligation of reconciliation. (i) The aim of reconciliation is holiness. Christ carried out his sacrificial work of reconciliation in order to present us to God consecrated and irreproachable. It is easy to twist the idea of the love of God and to say, "Well, if God loves me like this and wishes nothing but reconciliation, sin does not matter. I can do what I like and God will still love me." The reverse is true. The fact that a man is... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:7

As ye also learned of Epaphras ,.... To know the grace of God, believe the truth of the Gospel, and to own and profess it sincerely, Our dear fellow servant ; a "servant" of Christ he was, and a "fellow" servant of the apostles, jointly engaged with them in preaching the Gospel; which character, as it greatly commends Epaphras, and shows him to be a very considerable preacher of the word, so it expresses the great humility and condescension of the apostle, in putting him upon a level... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:8

Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. Not only their love to God, and Christ, and to all the saints, which is before mentioned, but their love to the apostle; though they had only heard of him, and of his great capacity for, and faithfulness and usefulness in preaching of the Gospel, which had greatly endeared him to them. This, he says, was in the Spirit; it was spiritual love, to distinguish it from a carnal and worldly one; they loved him for the spiritual grace that was in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:9

For this cause we also ,.... Not merely for their love to the apostle, and the rest that were with him; which sense is too much contracted, and carries some appearance of meanness and selfishness; but because of their faith in Christ, their love to all the saints, and the good hope they had of eternal happiness; and because they had heard the Gospel, and truly knew it, and sincerely professed it: therefore, since the day we heard it , do not cease to pray for you, and to desire ; which... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:10

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord ,.... The Vulgate Latin version reads, "of God"; to which the Ethiopic version agrees; but rather the Lord Jesus Christ seems to be designed: and to "walk worthy" of him, is to walk by faith in him; to walk after his Spirit, and according to his word, and in his ordinances; to have the conversation as becomes his Gospel, and worthy of that calling wherewith the saints are called by grace to the obtaining of his kingdom and glory. The apostle prays that... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:11

Strengthened with all might ,.... This is still a continuation of the apostle's prayer for these believers; for having prayed for an increase of spiritual knowledge, and that this might be put into practice, he proceeds to pray for strength for them, that they might be enabled to practise what they had knowledge of; to walk worthily, to please God in all things, to bring forth fruit with patience, to persevere in knowledge, practice, fruitfulness, and in an increase thereof. It implies, that... read more

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 1:15-23

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 1:15-23

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 1:15-23

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 1:15-23

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Colossians 1:15-23

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:9

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:11

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