Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Colossians Chapter 1

Colossians 1:1. Timotheus our brother— Or, Timothy the brother.

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Colossians 1:2. To the saints and faithful brethren— To the holy and faithful brethren. They might receive this appellation of holy, not only on account of their strong attachment to the purity of the Christian faith, but likewise as a society by profession separated from the rest of the world.

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Colossians 1:3. To God and the Father— To the God and Father. Pierce, Doddridge, &c. P. Franck has a good observation here, which illustrates the beauty of many scriptures: "The order which would seem most artificial is transposed, to make the sense plainer. It is not,—having heard of your faith, I bless God,—but vice versa." From this verse to the 13th, St. Paul acquaints them with the satisfactory account that he had received of their faith and love; assuring them, at the same time, of the great interest which they had in both his petitions and thanksgivings. In giving an account hereof, he evidently endeavours to raise their sense of the greatness of those peculiar advantages which they partook of by the gospel, which were such as the law could not secure to them; and which were in a more large and plentiful manner now dispersed, being offered to the whole world, and not confined, like the peculiar privileges of the former economy, to the comparatively small nation of the Jews. Herebyhe likewise stirs up their gratitude to God,who had dealt so kindly with them; and excites their endeavours to answer the obligations under which he had laid them.

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Colossians 1:4. Since we heard of your faith, &c.— See on Eph 1:15 and Philippians 1:3-5.

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Colossians 1:5. For the hope which is laid up, &c.— There is an ambiguity in the connection of this clause. It may either signify that the Apostle gives thanks for this their hope, (supposing the 4th verse to come in as a parenthesis,) or it may more directlyrefer to the immediately preceding words, and intimate, that a partnership in this blessed hope cemented the hearts of these good men. In either sense the connexion is instructive; but the former appears most natural.

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Colossians 1:6. In all the world— "In all the provinces of the Roman empire," as the phrase often signifies. See Romans 10:18. The words in truth, at the end of the verse, may be referred to their knowledge; and then it should be rendered, since you truly knew the grace of God. But St. Paul seems rather here to mean, the true grace of God, as the gospel is called, 1 Peter 5:12. By the true grace, or unmixed gospel of God, he probably intends what was strongly on his mind,—God's great favour to the Gentiles, in receiving them to be his people,without their submitting to circumcision, and the Jewish law.

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Colossians 1:8. Your love in the Spirit— The Apostle's meaning seems to be, that their love to him was purely upon a spiritual account;—for the sake of the doctrine that he taught; they not having reason to love him upon any inferior consideration, since they had never seen him. See ch. Colossians 2:1; Colossians 2:5.

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Colossians 1:9. Since the day we heard it,— Our translators, by inserting it, shew that they thought this verse stood connected with Col 1:7-8 whereas those two verses are rather a parenthesis; and the present verse is to be joined with Colossians 1:6. This seems clear from what he says,—That ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will. The αυτου, his, relates here to God, mentioned in the end of the 6th verse, and consequently the sense is better supplied by these things;—that is, all the good things which he had before mentioned concerning them. By comparing the latter part of this verse with Eph 1:8-9 it appears, that in both places is meant a comprehensive view of the will of God; or, as he there calls it, the mystery of his will; namely, his great purpose of calling the Gentiles. Thespiritual understanding is an understanding of spiritual things, or such things as were revealed by the Spirit, of which the afore-said mystery was one. St. Paul shews himself very desirous that the Colossians should thoroughly understand and acknowledge this mystery. See Colossians 2:1-2.

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Colossians 1:10. That ye might walk worthy, &c.— The Apostle seems here most pathetically to propose the great subject and design of this Epistle; which was chiefly intended to excite them to a temper and behaviour worthy their Christian character, and which, indeed, is the leading view in all his writings. Some would render the latter part of this verse, Being fruitful and increasing in every good work, for the knowledge of God; that is, for the acquiring of that knowledge for which St. Paul had thanked God before, Colossians 1:6.—that the gospel brought forth fruit among the Colossians; and it seems natural to suppose, that when he prays here, that they might bring forth fruit in every good work, he does not pray barely for what they already did, but for a further increase of it. Compare 1 Thessalonians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:10. The words thus understood inform us, that a holy conversation is very serviceable to dispose men to acquire the knowledge of God.

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Colossians 1:12. Made us meet to be partakers,— The words rendered, partakers of the inheritance, literally signify, the proportion of an inheritance, which falls by lot to each of those among whom it is divided; alluding, as is supposed, to the manner in which the land of Canaan was divided among the tribes. It may be rendered, who hath made us fit for a part in the inheritance of the saints in light;—an expression which some understand as referring to the lustre of the glorified body of the saints: who will be clothed after the resurrection with a visible lucid glory, resembling that of the Shechinah.

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Colossians 1:13. Who hath delivered us.— Some think that the us and we, in these verses, refer to the Gentile converts only; but though there is no doubt that the Apostle refers to their dark andsinful state, yet there is no reason to believe that he means to exclude himself: for when divine grace made him sensible of what he had been in his pharisaical state, while a blasphemer, a persecutor and injurious, he must certainly have seen himself to have been under the power of darkness; as Christ represents those of the Jews to have been, who, influenced by the spirits of darkness, were combined against him. See Luke 22:53.

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Colossians 1:14.— St. Paul having, in the 13th verse, mentioned God's dear Son, he here, accordingtohisusualmanner,runsoutimmediatelyintoadigressionconcerning him; but it is such a digression as is very much to his main purpose; viz. to establish them in their adherence to Christ, and to make them sensible how unreasonable their attempt was, who endeavoured to seduce them from him. Nothingcould be said more proper for this end, than what he here says, to shew the pre-eminence and headship of Christ, in all respects, even infinitely above the angels, whom some would have persuaded them to worship; and to set forth his transcendent excellency, and the greatness of the advantages which the Gentiles received by him. See the Inferences and Reflections.

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Colossians 1:15. Who is the image— Adam is said to have been made in the image of God, and dominion given him over the creatures of the earth; by which he became Lord of this lower world. St. Paul, in Php 2:6 tells us, that Christ was in the form of God, which gave him dominion over the works of nature, which had their being from, and owe their preservation to his power. Moses gives us an account how Adam fell from the dignity in which he was created, and entailed misery upon his descendants, through his disobedience and vain ambition. St. Paul says, that Christ, through obedience and submission to the will of his Father, has made an atonement, and has set us an example, by which, if the same mind be in us, through his grace, we may recover what is lost. Moses tells us, that Adam was tempted to eat the forbidden fruit, upon the hopes which the tempter gave him, that it would make him like to God. He thought it such an advantageous proposal, that he catched at the opportunity, and eagerly embraced the offer. St. Paul's account is, that Christ, who had a right by nature to appear in the majesty and glory of God, yet voluntarily laid it aside, and lived and died upon earth, in fashion as a man. What Adam got by his bold attempt, we all know; but Christ, for a recompence of his obedience, was highly exalted in his glorified humanity. Adam was, at best, a faint image of God; but Christ was a true, faithful, and infinitely complete image of the wisdom, power, and goodness of his Father. Adam was such an image of God, as the reflection of the sun is, when seen in the water; but Christ was such an image of the sun, as another sun would be, adorned with equal lustre and radiance. The Apostle describes our Redeemer in this and the following verses, in such lofty terms, as evidently bespeak him to be a Divine Person, truly and really God; and consequently the fittest, the only person to undertake so great and glorious a work as the redemption of a perishing world. The Father is always represented in the New Testament as invisible: but Christ is represented as visible; since he actually took upon him flesh, and was seen in the world. Indeed, his being called the image of God, in this place, and 2Co 4:4 implies his being visible, and that the perfections of the whole Godhead do most eminently shine in him. It is remarkable how expressly Philo, the Jew, in more places than one, calls the Logos, or Word, of which he speaks, the image of God.

Dr. Hammond observes, that the word πρωτοτοκος, besides the ordinary notion of first-born, is used sometimes in scripture for a Lord, or person in power; who hath the privilege of the first-born, dominion over all his brethren; and according to this notion it is used commonly in scripture for a prince, or principal person; (see Psalms 68:27.) and among the civilians, the heir and the lord are synonimous terms. That this is the true sense ofthe word in this place, appears probable, for the following reasons:

1. Because the Apostle immediately adds, for by him were all things created; so that the creation of all things by him is given as a reason for his being πρωτοτοκος, or the first-born. Now it is not a good argument, that, because he created all things, he was therefore himself produced before them; it is sufficient for that purpose, that he had almighty power, and was before them: but it is a very good argument, that, because he created all things, he should therefore be Lord, or Heir of all things. 2nd, Because the same Apostle, Heb 1:2 hath stiled the same person Heir of all things; and probably alluded to the same reason, when he added, by whom also he made the worlds. Thirdly, Because the prophesy in Psa 89:26-27 confirms this interpretation, and shews the true meaning of the word. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation; also I will make him my first-born,— (in the 70: πρωτοτοκος,) higher than the kings of the earth; but, according to the Arian notion, this should have been, He is or was my first-born. See Hebrews 1:6. Revelation 3:14. It may not be amiss to observe, that the word πρωτοτοκος hath yet another signification; and is applied by Homer, Il. P. to an animal that hath brought forth its first young; in which sense it might be applied, without any great impropriety, to the Creator of all things; to Him, who, as it were at the first birth, by the exertion of his creating power, brought forth all things. The words πασης κτισεως, so naturally signifying the whole creation, [as they are translated in Romans 8:22.] (a version which gives a much nobler and more determinate sense than every creature), at least render this interpretation very remarkable. Some translate it the first-born before, or born before all the creation. See Blackwall, S.C. vol. ii, p. 173. Sherlock, vol. 4: dis. 1. Scott's Christian Life, vol. 3: p. 559. Wallis's Sermon on the Resurrection,Tillotson, vol. 1: serm. 43 and "The Doctrine of the Trinity," &c. p. 16.

According to the Arians, the first-born of the whole creation, is the first-made creature. But the reason advanced to prove the Son the first-born of the whole creation, overturns that sense of this passage. For surely the Son's creating all things, does not prove him to be the first-made creature, unless his power of creating all things originated from his being the first-made creature; which no one I think will affirm. As little does the Son's creating all things, prove that he first of all created himself. Yet these absurdities will be established by the Apostle's reasoning, if the first-born of the whole creation signifies the first-made creature.

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Colossians 1:16. Whether they be thrones, &c.— See Ephesians 3:10. For him, at the end of the verse, means to be in subjection to him,—to be created particularly for his glory. This is justified by what is said, Colossians 1:18 that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.

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Colossians 1:17. And by him all things consist— This is a new argument which St. Paul uses, to prove the super-eminent dignity and authority of Christ; namely, that as the Father made all things by him, so he upholds and preserves all things by him too. The same is asserted, Heb 1:3 where he is said to uphold all things by the word of his power.

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Colossians 1:18. And he is the head of the body— St. Paul had proved Christ's superiority to all the creatures, by his making and sustaining them; and now, by a third argument, he confirms his full authority over the church, and that is by God the Father's constitution and appointment at his resurrection. The insisting expressly upon this was agreeable to his grand design, to confirm the Colossians in their regard to Christ, being apprehensive that they were in some danger of being drawn off from him. The beginning here mentioned, (who is the beginning) is very different from that spoken of before; and yet this beginning, which is his resurrection, is plainly laid down as a foundation of the principality and headship which he holds over the church. He was the beginning, with respect to the creation of all things, being the Lord or first born of every creature; He is the beginning and head of the church, being the firstborn from the dead;—the first who ever rose to an endless life. 1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Corinthians 15:23.Acts 26:23; Acts 26:23.Revelation 1:5; Revelation 1:5. In all things, means in all respects; not only as the Maker of all things, but as the Mediator raised from the dead.

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Colossians 1:19. For it pleased, &c.— Or, For in him all fulness pleased to dwell. The 9th verse of the next chapterseems clearly to explain this passage—"It pleased the Father that all the plenitude of the Godhead should reside inhim bodily." The word rendered dwell signifies a permanent and inseparable presence; and it is stiled by the fathers an hypostatical union. See John 1:16. Ephesians 1:23.

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Colossians 1:20. And having made peace, &c.— And by him to reconcile all things unto the same (having made peace by the blood of his cross) by him, I say, &c. Dr. Whitby would render it, by him to make all things friendly in him, making peace between them by the blood of his cross. But if we take the words in their literal sense, they mean that by him God hath reconciled all things to each other, whether things on earth, i.e. Jews and Gentiles, or things in heaven, i.e. celestial spirits, who are now reconciled to all the glorified saints and to all that believe upon earth, and incorporated with them into one holy and happy society: for when a breach commenced between God and man, the angels, as faithful subjects, must join with God against rebellious man, and be ready to act as enemies to him, as long as he continued an enemy to God. See Ephesians 1:10.

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Colossians 1:22. In the body of his flesh, &c.— That body, or mortal flesh, which he was pleased to assume, that he might be capable of suffering. See Ephesians 2:16; Eph 5:27-30 and Col 1:10 of the present chapter.

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Colossians 1:23. If ye continue in the faith, &c.— "You will certainly be so presented, if ye continue established and grounded in the faith in which you have been instructed, and be not by any floods of affliction or tempers of temptation, removed and carried away from the important hope of a happy immortality brought to us by the glorious gospel; which we have heard, and which hath not only been published among the Jews, but, by a special commission from God, been preached to the whole creation under heaven, as a message which extends to all the species of mankind; by which he commandeth all men every where to repent, and promises salvation to all who believe and obey. Of which gospel I Paul am appointed a minister, and esteem it my peculiar honour and happiness that I am so."

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Colossians 1:24. And fill up, &c.— Nothing could be further from the Apostle's intention (as is manifest from the whole tenor of his writings), than to intimate that the sufferings of Christ were imperfect as to that fulness of atonement which was necessary in order to the justification of believers. But he deeply retained in his mind the impression of that first lesson which he had from his Saviour's mouth, namely, that he was persecuted in his members. Acts 9:4. He therefore considers it as the plan of Providence, that a certain measure of sufferings should be endured by this body of which Christ was the head; and he rejoices to think, that what he endured in his own person, did in some sense and degree resemble the sufferings of his adorable Lord. Comp. Ephesians 3:13.Philippians 2:17-18; Philippians 2:17-18.

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Colossians 1:26. Even the mystery, &c.— See Romans 16:25.Ephesians 3:9; Ephesians 3:9; Ephesians 3:21.

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Colossians 1:27. Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,— "This rich display of divine grace is all summed up in one word, That Christ is in you the hope of eternal glory. Being formed by divine grace in your hearts, he brings to you, who were once without hope, and without God in the world, (Ephesians 2:12.) the bright beamings of this blessed prospect;—even of a glorious and holy immortality."

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Colossians 1:28. Whom we preach— All this discourse centers in the great view of engaging the Colossians to adhere to genuine Christianity; and it is pleasing to observe how everyverse, and almost every clause, suggests more directly orobliquely some strong argument to that purpose. The words every man occurring no less than three times in the compass of this one verse, shews that St. Paul laid great stress upon them. The meaning of the last clause is, "I labour that my ministry may have that effect upon all my hearers, whether Jews or Gentiles, as that every one of them may appear perfect in the sight of God." Nor need it seem strange that the Apostle should speak of this presenting, as his own act, since he uses a somewhat similar expression elsewhere, 2 Corinthians 11:2. I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ: the expression here seems used in allusion to the offerings presented to God under the law. When he says perfect in Christ Jesus, he hints, that they had not, and could not have, this perfection by the Mosaical law.

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