Colossians 1:3 Commentary and Bible Study

There is one sentence here in our Authorised Version down from verse 3 to verse 8. It is prayer. It is one long sentence in the Greek, and based on its structure and how it runs, that is clearly intended. One or two modern versions turn it into three sentences or even four, which is a great shame. It is one glorious, continuous thought and our translators have endeavoured to keep it in that form and be true to the original. ‘We give thanks to God’ – a great prayer is going to be offered and it begins with thanksgiving. But they are in trouble, Paul! There is heresy knocking at the door. They have great needs. Aren’t you going to pray for them, that they will be protected, that they will be safeguarded? Paul begins with thanksgiving before he moves to the petitions. That’s good for us, too, to proceed with thanksgiving for so many things. Even though there were doctrinal difficulties in the church which he is about to deal with in this letter, Paul had great cause to give thanks, and as he regularly brought the Colossian saints to God the Father in prayer, he knew that God had done a real work in their lives. This, he says, to encourage them by showing them that he, an apostle, viewed them as true believers in spite of these problems.