Bible Study

Bible Study July 15, 2025

Colossians 1:1-8 (ESV)

“Thanksgiving With Prayer”

1 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.  3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.”

Paul writes to the church in Colosse specifically addressing the “saints.’ Who are these “saints’ He is writing to? They are those (us) who have been set apart to God and free from sin. This word saints is used exclusively in the New Testament to refer to the faithful.

Paul uses a familiar greeting to the church he says, “Grace and Peace from God our Father.” In fact he uses this phrase in all the thirteen epistles he wrote to the churches. This Sunday I am focusing on Matthew five once again but from verse twenty-one forward. The theme is love and Paul mentions that here. Love is a fruit of the Spirit that separates us from other people.

“The hope laid up for you” that is the Good News it is a similar term used in battle when victory has been secured, it is the same as our victory over sin through the blood of Jesus. But is not only victory over sin it is victory over death.

The Good News is intended for everyone not just the Jews of Jesus line. When the Jewish people rejected Jesus He went to others in the hope they would find peace through Him.

Offer the Good News to someone with an act of kindness, or an expression of love.

God Bless.