Colossians 1:3-8
Colossians 1:3-8
Heaven should motivate us to Love.
#love
Published February 14th, 2021
Main Point Summary
Phrase
Notes
notes
Main Point Summary
Paul is driven to being thankful for the Colossians because he had heard of their faith in Christ and that they were motivated to love others because of the gospel hope they had.
Phrase
NT
Colossians 1:3-8
esv
Paul’s Prayer
We always thank God,
the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Relationship
when we pray for you,
Temporal
Reason for his thankfulness
since we heard
Context
of your faith
Reference #1
in Christ Jesus
and of the love
Reference #2
that you have for all the saints,
Content
because of the hope laid up for you
Ground
in heaven.
Locative
Source of their hope
Of this you have heard before
Epexegetical
in the word
Source
of the truth, the gospel,
Attributive
How they acquired the hope
which has come to you,
Destination
as indeed ... it is bearing fruit and increasing—
Accompaniment
in the whole world
as it also does among you,
Comparison
since the day you heard it
and understood the grace
of God
in truth,
Manner
just as you learned it
Standard
from Epaphras
our beloved fellow servant.
Explanation
He is a faithful minister
of Christ
Reference
on your behalf
Advantage
and has made known to us your love
in the Spirit.
phrasing
Notes
Are we being motivated by the right things? The Colossian's move to love was driven by the fact that their hope was not in this world, but rather was laid up for them in Heaven. Paul then elaborates through the rest of this section on where that hope had come from, namely, from the Gospel, which Paul knew about because Epaphras had taught it to the Colossians and the fruit of the Gospel had already started to bloom and be on display in their lives. Do we see the Gospel producing fruits in others? We should be quick to point it out to them and explain that it is the gospel in their lives causing this to happen. And we should praise God that he is still at work among us.
Comments
Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.