Colossians

To defend the gospel which Colossians should stay firm and of which he is appointed for, Paul puts forward three unique differences with the false teachers and deceivers who only have arguments but nothing else. He puts forward: his suffering as a typology for Christ, his appointment from God for the gentiles, his toil for the church and the Colossians so as to present them mature in Christ.

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Colossians 1:24-2:5

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a Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,

Now j I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you,

How Paul ministers is both through his suffering and his preaching.

and in my flesh b I 1 do my share on behalf of c His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking 2 in Christ’s afflictions.

and in my flesh k I am filling up l what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions m for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

and I fill up in my physical body - for the sake of his body, the church - what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:10-12 "always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you." Paul's Life serves as a typology of Christ for the present Christians and so Our life.

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a Of this church I 1 was made a minister according to the b stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit,

n of which I became a minister according to o the stewardship from God that was given to me for you,

I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship 45 from God - given to me for you -

It uses passive voice for this block to make clear that he has not made himself an Apostle like the false teachers but was appointed by God. This section might go also with the previous block.

so that I might 2 fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,

to make the word of God fully known,

in order to complete 46 the word of God,

that is, a the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations,

p the mystery hidden for ages and generations

that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations,

This repeats again in vv27 ch2-vv2, where there the word of God is explained to be Christ Himself.

but has now been manifested to His 1 saints ,

but now revealed to his saints .

but has now been revealed to his saints .

to whom a God willed to make known what is b the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles ,

q To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are r the riches of the glory of p this mystery,

God wanted to make known to them the glorious 47 riches of this mystery among the Gentiles,

Repeated in vv26 and Ch2-vv2. The mystery is glorious and this glory is very rich and this richness is displyed by inclusion of gentiles in the saints.

which is c Christ in you, the d hope of glory.

which is Christ in you, s the hope of glory.

which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

What makes this mystery glorious is that Christ is in them. Here it ends with Christ marking ending of this section. And next one also ends in vv2:2-3 with Christ. Hence Next section applies this section to the Colossians.

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We proclaim Him, a admonishing every man and teaching every man 1 with all b wisdom,

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom,

We proclaim him by instructing 48 and teaching 49 all people 50 with all wisdom

New block should rather start here. which will end at vv2:3. Here you find an active voice. Here he also includes Epaphras who proclaimed the Gospel to the Colossians.

so that we may c present every man 2 d complete in Christ.

that t we may present everyone u mature in Christ.

so that we may present every person mature 51 in Christ.

everyone one is mentioned to make clear he is not addressing some section in the church but the united church.

For this purpose also I a labor, b striving c according to His 1 power, which 2 mightily works within me.

For this v I toil, w struggling x with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Toward this goal 52 I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully 53 works in me.

Here is mentions "also" now to properly address how Paul besides preaching struggles for the Colossians.

For I want you to know how great a a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at b Laodicea, and for all those who have not 1 personally seen my face,

For I want you to know y how great a w struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, 1 and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. 2

that their a hearts may be encouraged,

that z their hearts may be encouraged,

My goal is that 3 their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged,

2a, 2b, 2c, 2d are extremly difficult to deal with. But also the greek seem to be also complex as both translations and commentaries vary. I went with NASB supported also by the NIV Zondervan study note.

having been b knit together in love,

being a knit together in love,

and attaining to all c the wealth 1 that comes from the full assurance of understanding,

to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding

and that 5 they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 6

The NET translation took different direction which will result in two series rather than three. They also put there decision in a footnote.

progression

resulting in a d true knowledge of e God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,

and the knowledge of b God’s mystery , which is Christ ,

Repeats from vv1:26 and v1:27. Christ is Gods mystery.

in whom are hidden all a the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

c in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

This explains Christ as mystery of God. Because God accomplished all his purposes through him.

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a I say this so that no one will delude you with b persuasive argument.

I say this in order d that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

I say this so that no one will deceive you through arguments 7 that sound reasonable. 8

I went with Douglas J. Moo commentary on this where he mentions that this is a closing for what begun in vv1:24. (Peter O'Brian ties it up with vv2:1.). Paul makes a case for himself to defend the Gospel.

For even though I am a absent in body,

For e though I am absent in body,

For though 9 I am absent from you in body,

Goes with vv1:24 where he mentions about his suffering in flesh.

nevertheless I am with you in spirit,

yet I am with you in spirit,

I am present with you in spirit,

rejoicing 1 to see 2 your b good discipline and the c stability of your faith in Christ.

rejoicing to see your f good order and g the firmness of your faith in Christ.

rejoicing to see 10 your morale 11 and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

This also explains how he is in the spirit, whenever he hears about the Colossians he is with them in the spirit. So the purpose also explains the means.

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