Colossians 1
BSASBPaul thanks God for the Colossians’ faith, love and hope, and prays that they will know God’s will and live to please Him. He then gives one of the Bible’s grandest portraits of Christ: Creator, sustainer, head of the church and reconciler of all things. He closes by describing his own costly service in making this Christ known.
Colossians 1:1
Paul opens by naming himself and his co-worker Timothy. His authority does not come from his own ambition. He is an apostle, sent out by the will of God. Timothy is simply called brother, a partner in the work.
BSA: apostle (“a delegate or messenger”): An apostle speaks for the one who sent him, so Paul carries Christ’s message, not his own.
Greek: ἀπόστολος (apostolos, G652) — “one sent out.” The word means someone dispatched with a commission, like an ambassador. Paul’s authority rests entirely on the One who sent him.
Colossians 1:2
Paul writes to believers in Colossae, a town in what is now Turkey. They are called saints and faithful brothers because they belong to Christ, not because of their own record. His greeting, grace and peace, is a blessing from the Father.
BSA: saints (“holy, set apart”): Saints are not specially perfect people but those God has claimed and set apart for Himself. Grace (“unmerited favor, divine influence”): Grace is God’s undeserved kindness, and it also works in us.
Colossians 1:3
Paul’s prayers for the Colossians begin with thanksgiving. He thanks God, not them, for what he has heard of their life. He calls God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, so every blessing flows from the Father through the Son.
BSA: thank (“express gratitude, give praise”): Thanks here is a kind of praise, giving God credit for what only He can do.
Colossians 1:4-5
News of their faith in Christ and love for all believers had reached Paul. Faith, love and hope appear together. Their faith and love spring from a hope already kept safe for them in heaven, which they first heard in the gospel, the word of truth.
BSA: hope (“confident expectation”): Biblical hope is not wishful thinking but certain expectation of what God has promised. stored up (“laid away, reserved”): The hope is like a treasure held in safekeeping for them, out of reach of loss.
See also: 1 Corinthians 13:13; 1 Peter 1:3-4.
Colossians 1:6
The gospel was not a local tale. It was bearing fruit and growing all over the world, as it had among the Colossians from the first day. Real understanding of God’s grace changes lives and keeps spreading.
BSA: bearing fruit (“producing good results, changing lives”): The gospel is alive and productive, changing people wherever it is received. truly understood (“knew deeply, recognized”): They did not merely hear about grace but came to know it in experience.
Greek: ἐπέγνωτε (epegnōte, G1921) — “you came to know fully.” This is a strengthened word for knowing. It means knowing something through real acquaintance, not just hearing about it.
Colossians 1:7-8
Epaphras was the one who brought the gospel to Colossae. Paul calls him a beloved fellow servant and a faithful minister. He has since reported to Paul about their love in the Spirit, a love that comes from God’s Spirit and not from human effort.
BSA: fellow servant (“a slave of the same Master”): Paul and Epaphras are equals, both bondservants of the one Lord. love (“agape, affection”): This is self-giving love of the kind God shows, not mere liking.
Colossians 1:9
Paul has prayed for them without letting up since he heard the news. His first request is that they be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. That is not mere information but spiritual wisdom and insight for living.
BSA: fill (“fulfill, make complete”): He asks that every corner of their understanding be filled up with God’s will. knowledge (“deep understanding, recognition”): This is a thorough, personal knowing, not a passing acquaintance.
Greek: ἐπίγνωσιν (epignōsin, G1922) — “full, accurate knowledge.” Paul uses this word for knowledge that goes deep. It matters here because false teachers in Colossae claimed secret knowledge, and he points to true knowledge found in Christ.
Colossians 1:10
True knowledge of God’s will is meant to show itself in daily life. Paul wants them to live in a way fitting for the Lord, pleasing Him fully, bearing fruit in good works, and growing in knowing God Himself.
BSA: walk (“in a worthy manner, uprightly”): Walking pictures the whole daily course of a life, step by step.
Greek: περιπατῆσαι (peripatēsai, G4043) — “to walk about.” Scripture often uses walking for the whole pattern of a person’s conduct. Faith is shown in ordinary steps, day after day.
See also: Ephesians 4:1.
Colossians 1:11
God supplies the strength for such a life. It is His glorious might, not ours. The result is not flashy power but steady endurance and patience, even with joy. The strength is given for holding on.
BSA: strengthened (“made powerfully strong, empowered”): The strength is poured in from outside us, from God Himself. endurance (“perseverance, patience”): It is the staying power to keep going under pressure.
Colossians 1:12
Joyful thanks goes to the Father, who has qualified believers to share in the inheritance of God’s people. We did not make ourselves fit for it. He did. That inheritance belongs to those who live in His light.
BSA: qualified (“made us fit, enabled”): God Himself made us fit for a place we could never have earned. inheritance (“divine legacy, promised gift”): It is a gift received as a child of the family, not wages for work.
See also: 1 Peter 1:4.
Colossians 1:13
Paul describes salvation as a rescue and a move. God pulled us out of the power of darkness and placed us in the kingdom of His beloved Son. We now live under a new King.
BSA: rescued (“delivered, saved”): We were captives who could not free ourselves, and God set us free. brought (“translated, transferred”): It suggests moving a whole people from one land to another.
Greek: μετέστησεν (metestēsen, G3179) — “moved from one place to another.” This word was used for relocating people to a new homeland. Believers have been resettled under a new ruler.
Colossians 1:14
In the Son we already have redemption. The word pictures a ransom paid to free someone from slavery. It is explained as the forgiveness of sins. Our freedom and our pardon are found in Him.
BSA: redemption (“salvation, being set free”): We were released from bondage, and the release is already ours in Christ. forgiveness (“pardon, remission”): Our sins are sent away, no longer held against us.
See also: Ephesians 1:7.
Colossians 1:15
Here begins a majestic description of the Son. He shows us what the unseen God is like. Firstborn speaks of rank and honor, not of being made. He holds the place of supreme heir over all creation.
BSA: image (“likeness, representation”): In the Son, the invisible God becomes visible and knowable. firstborn (“preeminent, having priority”): The word stresses first place in rank and privilege.
Greek: εἰκών (eikōn, G1504) — “image, exact likeness.” The word was used for a portrait or a face stamped on a coin. Seeing the Son truly shows us what God is like.
See also: John 1:18; Hebrews 1:3.
Colossians 1:16
Everything that exists was made in, through and for the Son. That includes things we see and things we cannot, even the highest spiritual powers. No power is above Him, since He made them all. He is both the source and the goal of creation.
BSA: created (“brought into being, formed”): Everything that exists owes its being to Him.
See also: John 1:3.
Colossians 1:17
The Son existed before everything else. He also keeps everything going. The universe is not a machine left to run on its own. Each moment it is held together in Him.
BSA: hold together (“are sustained, consist, have their being”): Creation continues in being only because He sustains it.
Greek: συνέστηκεν (synestēken, G4921) — “stands together, is held together.” The word describes a thing kept cohesive and from falling apart. Christ is the glue of creation.
Colossians 1:18
Christ is the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning of the new creation, the first to rise from the dead never to die again. God’s purpose is that He hold first place in everything.
BSA: head (“ruler, leader”): As head, He directs and gives life to His people. preeminence (“supreme authority, highest rank”): His position is first in every realm, without rival.
See also: Ephesians 1:22-23; 1 Corinthians 15:20.
Colossians 1:19
God was pleased to have all of His fullness live in the Son. Nothing of God is missing from Christ. To know Him is to meet God in full, not a part of God.
BSA: fullness (“the complete nature of God, fulfillment”): Everything that makes God God is present in Christ. dwell (“to reside, tabernacle”): God makes His home in the Son, much as He once dwelt in the tabernacle.
Greek: πλήρωμα (plērōma, G4138) — “fullness, the full measure.” The word means that which fills something completely. Nothing of God is left outside Christ.
See also: Colossians 2:9.
Colossians 1:20
Through the Son, God is bringing everything back to Himself. Peace has been made by the blood of the cross, where Christ gave His life. The creation broken by sin is being restored through His sacrifice.
BSA: reconcile (“to fully restore, make peace with”): The broken relationship is not merely patched up but fully restored.
Greek: ἀποκαταλλάξαι (apokatallaxai, G604) — “to reconcile completely.” The word is heavily intensified, meaning to bring back into harmony thoroughly and finally.
See also: 2 Corinthians 5:18-19.
Colossians 1:21
Paul now turns from the cosmos to the readers themselves. They were once strangers to God. Their minds were set against Him, and their evil deeds followed. It is a plain look at where we all began.
BSA: alienated (“separated, estranged”): Sin put distance between us and God, like family members who no longer speak.
See also: Ephesians 2:12.
Colossians 1:22
But now God has made peace with them through Christ’s body given in death. The aim is that He will bring them into His presence holy, unblemished and without accusation. This is a gift made possible by Christ’s death.
BSA: holy (“set apart, dedicated to God”): They belong to God now and are His own. blameless (“without fault or reproach”): No charge can stand against them in His presence.
Colossians 1:23
Paul adds a call to keep going. Those truly reconciled continue in the faith, firmly grounded and not drifting from the hope of the gospel. That gospel is not a private teaching. It has gone out to everyone everywhere, and Paul is its servant.
BSA: continue (“remain, keep on”): Faith is shown by staying with Christ and not wandering away.
Colossians 1:24
Paul can rejoice in suffering because it is for others. Christ’s own work on the cross is finished. Yet His body, the church, still suffers for the gospel’s sake, and Paul gladly takes his share. Christians explain this phrase in different ways, but the spirit is plain: love that is willing to pay a price.
BSA: fill up (“supplement, complete”): Paul sees his own hardships as adding to what the church must bear in carrying the gospel.
Greek: ἀνταναπληρῶ (antanaplērō, G466) — “I fill up in turn.” This is a double-compounded word meaning to fill up on someone’s behalf. Paul pictures himself taking his turn in a shared load.
See also: 2 Corinthians 1:5.
Colossians 1:25
Paul is a servant of the church by God’s own appointment. His job is to proclaim the word of God in full, holding nothing back. His ministry is a trust given to him, not a position he chose.
BSA: commission (“direction, purpose”): He serves under a task that God assigned to him. fully proclaim (“to present fully, to make known”): He aims to declare the message in its completeness.
Colossians 1:26
In the Bible a mystery is not something puzzling but a truth once hidden, now openly made known. For ages God’s full plan was veiled. Now in Christ it is disclosed to His people.
BSA: mystery (“a hidden truth, secret”): It is a truth that could be known only when God chose to reveal it.
See also: Romans 16:25-26.
Colossians 1:27
God chose to show His people how rich this secret is, and that it includes the Gentiles. The secret is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The Messiah is not far away but present with His people, and He guarantees the glory to come.
BSA: riches (“abundant treasures, wealth”): The gospel is a vast treasure, not a small thing. in you (“within, among”): Christ lives within believers and also in the midst of His people.
See also: Ephesians 3:6.
Colossians 1:28
Christ is the center of Paul’s message. He warns and teaches every person with wisdom. His goal is to present everyone mature in Christ, and he works toward that for all, with no one left out.
BSA: admonishing (“guiding, warning”): Ministry includes caring correction as well as instruction. perfect (“complete, mature”): The goal is full spiritual maturity, not flawlessness in every detail.
Greek: τέλειον (teleion, G5046) — “complete, fully grown.” The word speaks of reaching the intended goal or full growth. Paul wants believers grown up in Christ.
Colossians 1:29
Paul works hard toward this goal, but not by his own strength. He struggles with the energy that Christ powerfully supplies within him. Faithful service is tiring effort, yet carried by God’s own power.
BSA: striving (“fighting, contending”): It describes the effort of an athlete or a soldier in a real contest. energy (“power, active strength”): The strength at work in him is God’s, not his own.
Greek: ἀγωνιζόμενος (agōnizomenos, G75) — “struggling, competing.” Our word agony comes from this. It was used of athletes straining in the arena, and it shows how hard Paul labored.
See also: Philippians 4:13.