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Colossians 1

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

1:2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ who are at Colosse. Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:3 We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

1:4 Since we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love that you have to all the saints,

1:5 Because of the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of truth of the gospel;

1:6 Which has come to you. This gospel brings forth fruit in all the world, just as it has done in you since the day you first heard it, and knew the grace of God in truth.

1:7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ to you on our behalf;

1:8 Who has told us of your love in the Spirit.

1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard of it, we have not stopped praying for you, and asking that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

1:10 That you might walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing in all things, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, to all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

1:13 Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son;1 [where you are raised up together to sit with Christ in heaven.]

1:14 In whom we have redemption, the release from the bondage of sins2 through his blood;

1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.

1:16 For by him all things were created that are in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and for him;

1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

1:18 He is the head of his body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might have the preeminence.

1:19 For it pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell in him;

1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, to reconcile by him, all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they are things on earth, or things in heaven.3

1:21 And you, who were at one time alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, he has now reconciled

1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight,

1:23 If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached in every creature under heaven;4 of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for the sake of his body, which is the church,

1:25 Of which I was made a minister according to the dispensation of God that was given to me for you, in order to completely reveal the word of God;

1:26 Even the mystery which has been hidden from ages and generations, but now is made revealed to his saints;

1:27 To whom God would make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory;5

1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.6

1:29 For this purpose I labor, striving according to his power that works mightily in me.


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1 partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light; who has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. This is Paul's evidence of he and others being freed from sin, (delivered from the power of darkness), being translated from the physical dimension of this world into the spiritual dimension of the Kingdom, to dwell with the saints in the light of God. John also gives us testimony of being in the Kingdom: I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, in the kingdom, and patient endurance of Jesus Christ. Rev 1:9. And George Fox in his Letter No.172 gives us evidence:

So every one of us, that has come to the seed of God, that bruises the serpent's head, that led man from God, who is the prince of the world, the prince of darkness, and the prince of the air, the father of lies, a murderer from the beginning; the corrupter of mankind, the author of the separation from God, and the original of sin, the beginning of it, which led man from his dominion over the handiworks of God; which the royal seed Christ, destroys, and renews man again in the image of God, and brings him again to his dominion over the handiworks of God. And this hundreds of thousands are now witnessing; by which they come to be kings, and redeemed from the earth and come to be made kings upon the earth, in the image of God, over the handiworks of God, in the wisdom by which they were created ....Among these Christ is king, which thousands witness. Among these he is king.

2 In whom we have redemption, the release from the bondage of sins through his blood. The original Greek for release from bondage of sin could be translated as release from bondage, forgiveness, or remission, of sin. Release from bondage of sin is far more accurate, and perfectly describes the purification necessary to avoid being banned from heaven. The cleansing of the Word, the cleansing in the Light, both attained by waiting on the Lord, listening, hearing, watching, and obeying - such cleansing is a release from the bondage of sin. But the poor souls, who were trying to translate the Bible, had not experienced release from bondage of sin within themselves, and so obviously chose to emphasize forgiveness instead. Yet release from captivity, from the prison house, from the oppression, is what Christ said he came to do:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach release to the captives [of sin], and recovery of sight to the blind, to deliver [free] those who are oppressed [by sin], Luke 4:18-19

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; Isa 61:1-2

and for what Paul said Jesus sent him to the Gentiles to accomplish:

 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, release from sin's slavery, and an inheritance among those who are sanctified and purified by faith in me. Acts 26:18

Clearly forgiveness is not deliverance, recovery, healing, opening the prison, release, turned from power of Satan, - while release from the bondage of sin accurately describes all.

3 All things in heaven and earth are reconciled to God through and by Christ — except Satan, who was the original rebel, and who deceived all others.

4 the gospel, which you have heard, and which was (past tense) preached in every creature under heaven; Peter tells us the word of God, which endures and lasts forever, is the word by which the gospel is preached, 1 Pet 1:23; which word Paul tells us in our hearts, Rom 10:8. We are told that the grace of God has appeared to all men, Tit 2:11. And in Romans, the good tidings were described as: But I say, Have they not heard? Yes truly, their sound went into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world, Rom 10:18, Psa 19:4. George Fox expands on this gospel being universally preached, in refuting the false doctrine of predestination:

he who enlightens every man that comes into the world, enlightens these [the nations of Essau, and of Ishmael, and of the Egyptians, and Babylon] as well as others; and his grace which has appeared unto all men, has appeared unto all these as well as others; and if they did not believe in it and receive it, it was to be a witness against them, and they were worthy of the judgment and condemnation; else how will God judge the world in righteousness, according to the gospel, the power of God, if that the gospel is not preached to, or in every creature under heaven; and that Christ has not tasted death for every man, which were dead in old Adam, that they might believe and be turned unto God? But the light of the gospel, which enlightens every man that comes into the world, and the grace of God in the gospel, which brings salvation, has appeared unto all; and God has poured out of his spirit upon all flesh in his new covenant, so that all flesh might see the salvation of God.

................. (and further down in the same writing)

For Ishmael and Essau had the covenant of circumcision, in the flesh, as is said before, a type of the new covenant and circumcision in the spirit. And the gospel was preached to them, being preached to every creature under heaven.

And Cain had his day of visitation; for the Lord told him, ‘if he did well, he should be accepted; and if not, sin lay at his door:’ so there was a promise of God to Cain, if he had believed it and received it; so his destruction was of himself. And so was the old world's, for grieving God's good spirit, and not receiving righteous Noah's preaching, who was a preacher of righteousness; and therefore, their destruction and condemnation came upon themselves, for going from the spirit of God in themselves, and not regarding this righteous preacher Noah

....................................... and in his writing: To All Who Claim to Be Christians:

For ‘Christ has enlightened all,’ that they might see, and poured out his spirit upon all, that they might understand and obey. The apostle says, ‘he has tasted death for all, and is a propitiation for the sins of the whole world; and the gospel, which is the power of God, is preached in every creature under heaven;’ so that all are left without excuse, and God is just and righteous in his judging of the world, for all have had a visitation by God's light, grace, spirit, and gospel.

And so, the gospel is also preached in a man, when the Spirit of God visits a man, in the day of his visitation, which all men have. Paul proves that the gospel was preached during the time of Isaiah in Rom 10:16: But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah said, "Lord, who has believed our report?" Rom 10:16. Paul also proves the gospel was preached to Abraham: saying, And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand , saying, "In you will all nations be blessed."

Now, if the gospel, (which is a mystery), has been preached in all men, as this verses plainly states: the gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached in every creature under heaven, the preaching has to be done by the Spirit of Christ himself. Only the Spirit could reach the far corners of the globe. In the days of the Apostles, the Americas had not even been discovered; and prior to Christ, there were no Apostles to send out to the world to preach the gospel.

The Lord preaching the gospel is easily accepted because we know that the Lord teaches us:

Paul clearly states that we must be taught by hearing Jesus speak to us:

you must not walk as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.
Who being past feeling [pangs of conscience], have given themselves over to fleshly indulgences, to work all impurities with greediness.
But you have learned differently from Christ;
Assuming you have actually heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus. Eph 4:17-21 .

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he will instruct sinners in the way.
He will guide the humble in what is right and teach them his way. Psalm 25:8-9

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you shall go; I will guide you with my eye. Psalm 32:8

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word or God. Rom 10:17. This is a critical scripture for understanding what is faith. Remember, Paul tells us in Rom 10:8 that he preached the word of faith that is in your heart. So faith is hearing the word of Christ from within your heart, and recognizing it as the Spirit of God speaking to you, or Christ speaking to you; and believing it enough to obey. Thus to believe is: to believe, [trust, depend on, obey] on the word, Christ, heard in your heart. Blessed are those who hear the word of God [from within their hearts] and keep [practice, obey] it.

And so are they blessed who hear the gospel preached by the Lord and believe it. This is more evidence that faith comes from hearing Christ, the word of God, speak to you from within your heart. As Jesus said: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. If any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Rev 3:20. God is fair. God is just. God is righteous. He would knock equally at every man's heart. He visits every man. He reasons with every man. Every man has his chance. The day of visitation can come from a true preacher, with written or spoken words supplied by the Spirit of God, or directly in a man's heart from the Spirit of Christ. At judgment, every man will remember his day of visitation.

The everlasting gospel, the mystery, is explained by the great early Quaker, Isaac Penington:

"'Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him that made heaven, and earth,' Rev 14:7.

you have, without doubt, met with the gospel, the everlasting gospel."

The mystery, which has been hidden from ages and generations, but now is made revealed to his saints. Col 1:26. And for certain Christendom, (without a saint to its name), has no idea what the gospel is. They are not even aware that the gospel is a mystery. They think it is Jesus Saves or the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Take heart: Nothing is hidden, except what is meant to be revealed. Mat 10:26, Luke 12:2. Seek, and keep on seeking with your whole heart and soul, and you will find.

5 The Mystery of the Ages, Christ in You, the Hope of Glory. God has extended the gift of himself to all men, simply by believing in and following by obedience to his Son, Jesus. This gift is to have Christ formed in you, so that you are a part of God himself - the glory: righteous, pure, perfect, holy, and full of love, joy, and peace. When he appears, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. Everyone with this hope purifies himself, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3. Paul further refers to this glory: When Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Col 3:4. There are five stages of Christ being formed within you; see The Mystery, Christ in You for the detailed understanding.

6 we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To enter the Kingdom you must let God make you pure and perfect by his grace, you must crucify you lusts and affections - mortifying the deeds of the body. Notice, Paul says: warning every man; for if you don't persist in seeking his grace, if you don't strive to enter by the narrow gate and the compressed way, if you don't lose your life to save it, you will fall short of the mark — and fail to produce fruit, fail to please God, and fail to enter the Kingdom.

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