Colossians 1:5 - Exposition

(We give thanks) because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens ( Colossians 3:4 ; Ephesians 1:12-14 ; Philippians 3:20 , Philippians 3:21 ; Romans 8:18-25 ; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 ; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 ; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 ; 1 Peter 1:3-5 ; Matthew 6:20 ; Matthew 19:21 ; Luke 12:33 ; John 14:2 , John 14:3 ). "Hope" is objective—matter of hope, as in Galatians 5:5 ; Titus 2:13 ; Hebrews 6:18 . St. Paul speaks most of heaven and heavenly things in the letters of this period. Hebrews 6:4 gives the nearest grammatical connection for this clause; and many recent commentators, following Greek interpreters, accordingly find here that which "evokes and conditions" the Colossians' "love" (Meyer, Ellicott) or "faith and love" (De Wette, Lightfoot). But this construction we reject. For it makes the heavenly reward the reason of the Colossians' present (faith and) love, reversing the true and Pauline order of thought; while, on the other hand, the heavenly hope is the last and highest ground of the apostle's thanksgivings and encouragements, and the forfeiture or impairing of it the chief matter of his fears and warnings throughout the Epistles of this group. It is better, therefore, with Bengel, Hofmann, Klopper, Conybeare, Eadie, and others, from Athanasius downwards, to refer verse 5 as well as verse 4 to the principal verb, "we give thanks" (verse 3). What the apostle hears of "the faith and love" of the Colossian brethren moves him to give thanks for "the hope which is in store for them in heaven." Of that hope this faith and love are to him a pledge and an earnest, even as the "seal of the Spirit" ( Ephesians 1:14 ) and the "peace of Christ in their hearts" ( Colossians 3:15 ; see note) are to themselves. Similarly, in Philippians 1:27 , Philippians 1:28 and 2 Thessalonians 1:4 , 2 Thessalonians 1:5 , from the present faith and patience of the saints the certainty of their future blessedness is argued. By singling out this hope as chief matter of thanksgiving here, the apostle enhances its certainty and its value in his readers' eyes. From the general occasion and ground of his thanksgiving in the Christian state and prospects of his readers, St. Paul proceeds to dwell on certain special circumstances which enhanced his gratitude to God (verses 56-8). Which (hope) ye heard of before, in the word of the truth of the gospel; or, good tidings ( 2 Thessalonians 1:7 , 23; Colossians 2:7 ; Ephesians 1:13 ; Ephesians 4:15 , Ephesians 4:21 ; Galatians 1:6-9 ; Galatians 3:1-4 ; Galatians 4:9 ; Galatians 5:7 ; 1 Thessalonians 1:5 ; 1 Thessalonians 2:13 ; 1 Thessalonians 4:1 ; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15 ; 1 Peter 5:12 ). There is a veiled polemic reference in "the word of the truth of the gospel". The word "before" ( aforetime ) "contrasts their earlier with their later lessons, the true gospel of Epaphras with the false gospel of recent teachers" (Lightfoot). Others interpret, less suitably: heard already ( before my writing ) , or heard beforehand ( before the fulfilment of the hope ) . It is in St. Paul's manner to refer his readers at the outset to their conversion and first Christian experiences (see parallel passages). Their hope was directly at stake in the controversy with Colossian error. Here we meet the first of those cumulative combinations of nouns, so marked a feature of the style of Colossians and Ephesians, which are made a reproach against these Epistles by some critics; but each is appropriate in its place.