COLOSSIANS: STABILITY BY CHRIST'S ALL-SUFFICIENCY AND SUPREMACY

Part I: Stability Through Recalling The Testimonies Of Christ's Servants On Our Salvation

(Colossians 1:1-2)

I. Introduction

A. Today's unsettling, insecure world has led many believers to become equally unsettled and insecure, so the need exists for us believers to focus on the stability and security we have in the Lord.

B. The Epistle of Colossians discloses the all-sufficiency and supremacy of our Lord Jesus Christ in ways that settle and provide security for us, and it does so starting at the epistle's first two verses.

C. We thus view Colossians 1:1-2 for stability in recalling the testimonies of Christ's servants on our salvation:

II. Stability Through Recalling The Testimonies Of Christ's Servants On Our Salvation, Colossians 1:1-2.

A. In Colossians 1:1, Paul and Timothy, who were sending this epistle to Colossians believers, are named and described, and here and elsewhere in Scripture we learn they were very credible servants of the Lord:

1. The introductory statement to this epistle testifies that Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ, Colossians 1:1a. This statement in view of the testimony of other believers and other Scripture passages makes the words of this entire epistle the authoritative Word of God (as follows):

a. Paul began as a strong enemy of the Church and its message of salvation by faith in Christ: he was very involved in the martyrdom of the Church's first martyr Stephen (Acts 7:58), and he made havoc of the Church, entering every house and hauling men and women off to prison (Acts 8:1-3; 1 Timothy 1:12-13)

b. Nevertheless, Christ in His heavenly glory and sovereignty appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, leaving him shocked to learn that Jesus was Lord and leaving Paul temporarily blinded, Acts 9:1-5.

c. Paul thus was converted to Christ, regained his sight by God's grace, and the Church was amazed at the conversion that occurred to him, glorifying the Lord in his transformation, Acts 9:6-31; Galatians 1:21-24.

d. The Lord Jesus then commissioned Paul to be an apostle (Acts 9:15-16), and thus to write Scripture and bear authority in the Church right along with Jesus' other disciples, 1 Corinthians 9:1; Ephesians 2:19-20.

2. Furthermore, Paul claimed that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God the Father, Col. 1:1b. His calling went beyond that of the All-Sufficient and Supreme Lord Jesus Christ to include also the will of God the Father, so his ministry was all the more important, authoritative and significant.

3. Paul added that his spiritual brother Timothy was also with him (Colossians 1:1c), that he thus consented to Paul's words in the epistle, and Timothy was a proven co-worker of Paul's who Paul in Philippians 2:19-22 claimed put Christ's interests ahead of his own unlike all of the other people who were then with Paul.

B. These very credible servants of Christ testified that the Colossian believers were true believers, Col. 1:2a:

1. Paul and Timothy wrote that their readers were "saints," the Greek term being hagiois, meaning "saints; Christians as consecrated to God." (U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 692; Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 9-10) They thus testified that they were truly saved people.

2. Paul and Timothy added that their Colossian readers were faithful brothers in Christ, not only true Christians, but believers who had lived for a period of time in faithfulness to the Lord in their walk.

C. These very credible servants of Christ then wished God's grace and peace to be upon their readers, Col. 1:2b:

1. Paul and Timothy's greeting wished "grace and peace from God our Father," and the best manuscript evidence omits the King James Version's claim that the Lord Jesus Christ as also exhibited this grace and peace. (Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary On The Greek New Testament, 1971, p. 619)

2. Paul thus "wished for them God's favor (grace) and a healthy condition of life (peace)," the word "peace" being "the normal Jewish salutation" that sought the welfare of others, Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 669.

Lesson: The Colossian recipients of Paul and Timothy's epistle to them provided great stability and assurance as these two highly credible servants of the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father together testified that their Colossian readers were "saints," truly saved believers who were also faithful in life to the Lord, and Paul and Timothy wished their readers God's grace with a resulting healthy condition of life in peace from God the Father.

Application: (1) May we recall the testimony of credible servants of the Lord regarding our conversions and change of lives from pre-salvation to post-salvation status as assurances of a credible evidence of our salvation. (2) May we also take heart from the blessings such credible servants of the Lord have spoken in our behalf toward the Lord's blessing our lives and ministries, that we might be more stabilized and settled in our walk with the Lord.