Video Transcript: Prayer of Thanksgiving

Welcome back to the biblical studies lectures. We were looking at prison epistles and we covered earlier on. We looked at introduction to prison epistles generally. And we also looked at specific things that are related to Colossians. In the past lecture we as I mean a few things the issue of authorship, the contents of the letter, and I clarified a few things so that we can now go into the text and begin to ask questions like, Why was this letter written? What is going on? What are some of the things that we need to know to actually have a good grasp of what this letter is about? So we'll move here quickly to begin the second lecture. Looking at the purpose of the letter, and then from the purpose, will go straight to start looking into what is going on in chapter one. So first, let's look at the purpose of Colossians. By the way, purpose, the English word purpose is one of those words. I have had people tell me several times in America, in England on the European side of things, in Eastern Europe, Croatia, and Bosnia is amazing. They've all been telling me you don't know how to pronounce that word. And you have to pronounce it correctly. When I mean purpose, I mean p ur p o s e. Okay. 

So the purpose of Colossians. In other words why was the letter written? Well, the letter was written to address some specific issues that were going on in the church. Imagine when I refer to the word church here, let me just clarify something here. When I refer to the word church here, don't imagine a cathedral full of people who come and meet on Sunday and then when they come and meet on Sunday, they have some wonderful hymns such as amazing grace and one of my favorite favorite a charge to keep I have a God to glorify and then a preacher stands up and preach wonderful sermon. Don't imagine that. Imagine in my reference to church here. Christians who meet in people's homes with the average size that we know the largest home could actually accommodate being 50. They come, they may sing, share meal, they may study the Scriptures, they may encourage each other. Imagine such a church and as you imagine that church and imagine this church having some problems with false teaching. 

Some people coming in to distort the message they have heard or known about Jesus Christ. Paul writes, to try to address these issues so that Christians will keep their focus. But as we think about false teaching, you may want to ask what is the nature of these false teachings? Well, some scholars think by just looking at the text closely, especially chapter two of Colossians, one begins to observe that the letter is dealing with what they call Jewish mysticism, which is, as I use a modern language, a hybrid of some form of Judaism and paganism meshed together. If you are in Latin America, there is now something they call Santeria in some of the countries where there's a mesh of Christianity and pagan activity. That kind of mystical activity going on, as some scholars would argue. I should say, though, that in recent years, a good number of commentators in this subject are moving away from that viewpoint. There is an old view that the letter was written to address some Gnostic influence or Gnostic activities in the church. We have now come to understand that Gnosticism was not actually developed by the end of the first century. So we could look at the emergence of gnostic activities in the second century. So Colossians could not be addressing Gnosticism or the Gnostic notions that we will characterize in the past scholarship as what is going on in the text. So there is a major move in scholarship from that position. That is not to say there was no validity to that thought because if you put on a Gnostic hat and begin to look at Colossians chapter 2, you may see some features that could easily make you arrive at that conclusion. 

Some have argued that the letter was written to address philosophical influence or traditions that were getting their way into the Christian thinking and shaping Christian thought and behavior. Why? This is perhaps one of the weakest of the views on the purpose of the letter that we have in scholarship. The other reason being that the word philosophy comes up in Colossians, I think chapter two and so that means some philosophy is going on there. That is really not something that modern scholars buy into that much.

The most accepted and perhaps held view among scholars today is the view that says Colossians was actually written to combat some form of syncretism. It sounds like the mystical thing that we're talking about there with Judaism and paganism. But now you add Christianity to it, and you have this pagan influence, Jewish influence, and all these things going on in the letter in the church. And Christians not being sure what Christianity is all about. By the way, this is a contest where pagan tradition was all over the place. There were so many gods there were so many and I would like to tell you that some of the fine arts I have come across actually is showing there were a lot of magical activities. People were performing magic. They want some power to do something. There was so many shrines in town and the Christians somehow were yielding to some of these influences. Just in case you thinking that they were not so smart. Let me remind you that the philosophers were influencing that part of the world in significant ways. So there were a lot of intellectual activity. People were smart, so there was potential for philosophical influence as well. 

In the church, think about some Jews in the church and think about some non-Jews in the church. One group coming from a pagan background, one group coming from  traditional Jewish background, and you're trying to live Christian life in this puristic context. Clint Arnold, I should say, first, maybe I should establish a disclaimer. Clint Arnold is now the dean of Biola Talbot School of Theology in Biola University, Clint argument is now what is held to be the most, perhaps the best explanation as you put it, to describe what's going on in the letter. And Clint is the one who proposed this syncretistic view for us. And Clint has this to say, which interestingly, you may find many commentators quoting this same sentence that I have here on the screen for you. The Colossians philosophy does represents a combination of Phrygian folk belief, local folk Judaism and Christianity. 

The local belief has some distinctive Phrygian qualities, but it is also much in common with what we could also describe as magic or ritual power. The Judaism of the area have already been influenced by this local beliefs, and practices. Conversely, the magical substructure of Anatolian Judaism have already made its own contribution to pagan beliefs and practices. With the proclamation of the Pauline gospel at Colossae and a creation of Christian community out of the converted Jews and pagans a controversy arose in the church a few years later about the practices and beliefs of an emerging faction within the church. The philosophy in the strongly held opinion of the apostle Paul compromise too much with the surrounding religious environment. Paul saw this syncretistic compromise and as you say, Clint annulled in the book he actually wrote these words, and titles with the word syncretism as in the title. Paul says this as a dangerous compromise and therefore sought to address this issue. 

So as far as the purpose is concerned, let's look at it this way. Problems in a church. I don't think about in America or elsewhere in the world, where we have this. Now, the American audience, you think about New York City or somewhere in some of the smaller towns in Pennsylvania, where I discovered recently that there are a lot of Wiccan activities. So you have the Wiccan, you have some other things, you have some palm reading, you have so you want to experience something more, of course, when you're trying to have all these things happening, and they want to bring it into your Christian experience as well. Those who are following this from an African context, or maybe Latin American countries, you are aware that actually a lot of Christians still consult pagans for all kinds of things and still think they can go on with their Christian life. So imagine Paul addressing these issues in the community of believers, where these are becoming such a problem to contaminate the true content of the truth, namely, the gospel. 

But who and where were these false teachers coming from? Is it false teaching that is going from outside that is trying to bring things on the church? Or it from inside or what? Well, you can put it on three fingers. If we think about one specific heresy, it will be very difficult to establish that in Colossians to say there's this one specific heresy that is going on here. And so good another argument for syncretistic tendencies is is more about a scholarship. As far as where the people are coming from, the evidence seems to point more towards insiders. In other words, people in the church who are trying to dap into philosophy, paganism, this folk religions and all that to have some high level of spiritual experience. 

One should be reminded that when we send syncretistic activity and we try to explain it, we can't use simplistic language to explain this as if we have all the details of the nature of the false teaching. One thing for certain, the Christians were being deceived. They were being deceived to follow teachings that are not compatible with the gospel. Their surrounded religious and philosophical thoughts seem to be influencing the Christian activities. Paul needed to address that and to help them in a genuine walk with God.

When we look at how these false teachers are depicted in the letter itself, we become more aware about who are they and what they're doing. And here I defer to a colleague who teaches at Wheaton College Douglas Moo, who has written a very nice commentary on Colossians outlining his observations from chapter two. And you may see them here. That in 2 verse 8 the false teaching is hollow and deceptive philosophy. It depends on human tradition. It depends on or engages in elemental spiritual forces of this world. A specific notion we will look at later. It does not depend on Christ. This is important in Colossians, because it departs from Christ. Paul has to establish with clarity that Christ is the center of everything that we should believe and hold on to as Christians. This false teaching calls for dietary restrictions and abstinence from Jewish holidays. It promotes some form of ascetic disciplines, verse 18, and 23. It focuses attention on angels. It advocates for visionary experience. It has some pride component to it. Vs. 18, they’re puffed up without reason, by the sensuous minds, Paul writes. It has no grounding in Christ. And its connection to the head is not stable. And these false teachers promote worldly rules. That should give you an idea about the complexity of the false teaching and the kind of effect it was having in a church and how it is shaping people's thought and behavior. 

So, if we know this about the church, to whom the letter we call Colossians was written, what general themes do we see in this letter before we look at verse one. The theological themes I may highlight for you includes what we call the Christ hymn, or major cosmic Christology we'll look up in chapter one verse 15 to 20. We have what's known as called Realized Eschatology. And one of the things I liked about this letter, as you will find in the discussion on prison epistles is the emphasis on knowledge. Knowing and learning as a necessity for Christian maturity. So the Christians will be able to know, understand and live the life that is ready of those who call themselves followers of Christ. 

One of the key things that is not really highlighted in scholarship, but which forms a major part of my own contribution to scholarship in the disputed Pauline letters is household relations in these letters. So, we see this mega themes but you also want to take note of what you may find sometimes given the titles of books or commentaries on Colossians that is the Christology, the high Christology Christ, the center, Christ, the supreme, Christ, the creator and the means to reconciliation with human beings and God. And the need to hold on and be connected to the head still Christ, so that Christians can live the life that is expected of us. 

Now, you may want to take your Bible. A lot have been said without picking up the Bible? So take your Bible. You can have whatever translation you like. Preferably, if you have some translations like NIV ESV NRSV and all that. Then you may follow the reading I'm reading. I'm actually reading from ESV this time and let's begin to look at the letter. You may be telling yourself wow so scholars I mean, you spend all this time before you even start looking at it. It’s so simple. Yeah, I used to think that way too. But it helps to know some of these things so that as you get into the letter, you can embrace what the letter stands for, and be open to learn from what the Word of God has to teach us. 

As we look at the first few verses of the letter, we come across these lines. Paul, the apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae. Grace to you, and peace from God our Father. Let me just try to unpack a few things here. Normally, we skip some of these greetings, as if they are so easy, so normal. We don't really have to worry so much about what they have to convey or teach us. But, note that the one who identifies himself as the author is Paul. But he also wants to make sure that for a church that does not know him, they actually know something about him and his relationship to the central figure that they will need to know more about in this letter. He is an apostle. He is an apostle of Christ Jesus. He is someone who is sent by Jesus Christ. He has no message on his own and he has no mission on his own. He transacts business in the name of the one who sent him. 

So the word, apostolos or apostle which can mean the one who is sent or a title of someone who has known and followed Christ as a leader, as we know for instance of the apostles. So Paul describes himself as an apostle, a person who is sent or one who has the title. As a prominent person who has followed Jesus Christ, has seen his work, has spent time with him. Remember! Paul talks about him experiencing Jesus personally on his way to Damascus. But that is not enough in the way Paul identifies himself. He wants to establish not only his relationship with Christ Jesus as an apostle, but as far as dealing with God, his apostleship is by the will of God. He legitimizes his role, his position as someone who acts in the wishes of God. You don't want to lose sight of that as you read this letter. Because by establishing his authority with such clarity, he's actually showing these believers that his personal standing with Christ is intact. He functions and performs and writes and says the message so that they would all understand what the will of Christ, which is a shared conviction is, regarding the issue of false teaching in the church. 

And he says I write this with Timothy. Timothy is our brother. Timothy is our brother Timothy is not your brother. Timothy is not someone else's brother. But Paul uses what we call fictive kinship here. We see ourselves as a family of God and putting himself in that family. He's telling the readers, though we have not met or some of you may not have met me personally, we are all brothers and sisters. And I want you to know that Timothy, the one who writes with me is also our brother, having shared conviction and shared faith in Christ Jesus. And then Paul will go on to greet the church, which is very standard in ancient letter writings. 

He greets them. And it's very interesting to look at how he greets them or calls them. This is a church that has some problems in it. right. This is church in which some are yielding to false teaching, right? Well, Paul calls them saints, to the saints, who are in Christ Jesus. To the holy ones, literally translated in Greek. By the way, saint here does not mean papal beatification. It doesn't mean the Pope has to make someone a saint. Paul uses that to refer to those who have been redeemed whilst they were all sinners when they encountered Christ Jesus as you will see in chapter one. Something happened, by the blood, by his work on the cross for your sins were forgiven. And so they are become holy ones. He could refer to them as saints in Christ Jesus. 

He also calls them brothers. Wow. And he calls them faithful brothers. That is striking. So far, they are showing signs of unfaithfulness in their standing with Christ and in allowing certain things to come into church. But for a Paul, he sees the grand picture, the bigger picture. These are people who are saints in Christ Jesus. They are still holding on to the faith. Did they have some challenges? Yes. Do they have some internal issues? Yes. But they are saints, they are faithful, and he would not distance himself from them. They are brothers and sisters like Timothy mentioned earlier in the first line. To say they are faithful has both ethical and place or to say the faithful is to say the faithful in their walk with God or they’re faithful in the way they actually conduct. Even, their faithfulness in God will also show that as far as their place in God is concerned, they are deemed faithful ones. Greetings. Greetings, my dear friends, greetings to the saints. Greetings to the brothers and greetings specifically to those who are in Colossae. 

And then Paul goes on to say grace to you grace to you. Peace from God. And hisGod I'm talking about is our Father. Grace to You. For Paul grace is not a simple word of charity. Paul, who was once a persecutor of the Lord Jesus Christ, encountered him on the road to Damascus and there he saw what God would decide to do to him, instead of spanking him on the head, instead of holding his head if he had some hair on his head and pick him up and punch him and say, Hey, Paul, you probably could persecute me, right? God showed him grace. Grace will become a theological word in Paul. It becomes a reminder of what God has done to us who did not deserve his mercy. In that spirit, in that note, he says, greetings grace to you. 

Peace from God. Peace carries the sense of well being. Peace is not peacekeeping. Peace from the one who is the Prince of Peace, the one who can give peace from inside out, peace to you. And this peace comes from our Father. Look at how kinship language features in first two letters of Colossians. Timothy is described as our brother. The church members are described as brothers and God is described as our Father. So here, even in these two verses, Paul has already established a family, a family of God with real family issues to be addressed in ensuing pages. We are family, our Father is God. We are brothers and sisters. So let's deal with the issues that will help us to be faithful people, loyal to the family honor and family dignity in the ancient Mediterranean framework. 

One of the scholars has pointed out, Jim Stan, that when we think about peace in these greetings, we don't want to take peace for granted. It is such a rich word that we need to appreciate as we look at some of these greetings. Don writes, the richness of the Jewish greeting ‘peace’ or Shalom should not be lost sight of since it denotes not simply cessation of war, but all that makes for wellbeing and prosperity in the absence of war, and not simply individual or inner peace, but also social wholeness of harmonious relationships. Peace from God our Father, Paul writes. 

In the next paragraph from verse three to eight Paul would give thanks and pray, and I like to read that. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 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. Just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, and as made known to us your love in the Spirit. 

Let's look at this three verses from three to eight in the next few minutes. And I'd like to pose four windows in which we should use to look at into this text. In other words fur questions that will help us to look at this briefly. One to whom was thanksgiving due. Two what news prompted thanksgiving or prayer and three, how he did they know about or what actually enhanced the development of some special qualities that Paul outlines and fourth is who is Epaphras that Paul talks about? I like this few verses and this morning, actually I was struck by just looking at these verses again, how rich the passage is. 

We always thank God for you. And I will pause to say, if you have time, look at how many times verse like head appears in chapter one alone. Hope appears in chapter one alone. And that's something you can just take time, have a look at and enjoy this chapter. But let's get to the first question. To whom was thanksgiving due? Chapter one verse three to eight, thanksgiving is due to God. And note something else. It is due to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So notice something that has already happened in just few verses that is less than four verses into the letter. Timothy is our brother. The saints are brothers. God is our Father. And this God who is our Father is also the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are siblings with Jesus Christ. What a great news. It is to this God that thanksgiving is due because of what he will do in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Let's not lose sight of another important word here, Lord. Our Master Jesus Christ, the One to whom we humble ourselves in obedience to His instructions. The Lord Jesus Christ, whom we will be told that actually, he's the means of our salvation. He was there before creation and all kinds of things and the benefits we have as Christians came through him. We should give thanks to God who is his Father. 

Second question, or window as I call it. What prompted thanksgiving and prayer? We always thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. Since we heard, we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. And we also heard of your love for all the saints and it is because of the hope you have to ask for things about your faith in Christ Jesus, your love for one another and because of the hope they have, there's every reason to give thanks to God. But why should this be happening, when in fact, I told you earlier on that there was false teaching in the church. People were having all these syncretistic activities and yet Paul is trying to have all these wonderful picture. No, this is where Christians need to understand. It doesn't mean the church was a perfect church. They just have the fundamentals right. But they have some issues in the church. And it's also possible that Paul was reminding them about some areas they are good at, so that when he hits on what they are not good at it, it will not go ouch sound. What prompted thanksgiving and prayer? It is your faith in Christ, the love for the saints and because of the hope they have in Christ. 

Third question and perhaps before that, leet me remind you about a friend, a very good catholic scholar who teaches in Canada, Margaret MacDonald who thinks we shouldn't take the word hope for granted. Margaret writes hope here has a special significance. It is less in attitude to foster than an object to be seized. In essence, the term functions as a synonym for eternal life. We have a place that is unambiguous. It is clear. We are not hoping for something that does not exist. We are hoping for something that is concrete, that we can possess – eternal life. But how did they come to these qualities. How did they have faith love, this hope that is talked about? Well, came through the Gospel, the word of truth. 

Verse four, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and a love for the saints, because of the hope laid out for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you as indeed the whole world. It is bearing fruit and increasing. The gospel is one of the means by which they actually have access and the resources to develop these qualities. We may have to sit back and say maybe this is a little bit of exaggeration to say the gospel is in the whole world. Yes, I agree that Paul is known as saying I went through the globe. I pick up the world geography in my office, and then I circled what the gospel has gone here. No, he's just trying to make an expression that says, The Gospel has spread to the known world. And that is the kind of gospel he's talking about and this is somebody who is responsible for sending the message to so many parts of the world. 

They have learned and they have learned all this from one man called Epaphras. So it's worth noting that we need to know something about this man called Epaphras. I have often asked question that I will skip here. To what extent do you see credibility as important part of forming a case for a church that is dealing with false teaching? And if you want to pause to think about us, think about how the letter beginning. Think about how Paul establishes himself. Think about how he described the one on whose behalf he transacts business. Look at how he describes the saints. Look at how he establishes a relationship between him and the saints. In the way he use kinship language. Look at the adjectives he used to qualify the gospel truth, for instance. And see how it is important to establish credibility to address real issues. And then he could tell you that indeed, if you had a gospel of truth, you probably heard it from the right guy. Epaphras.

Epaphras, we are told from verse seven, you learn it from Epaphras our beloved Fellow servant. He is a faithful minister in Christ on your behalf, and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. As we're in this letter, we'll get to know more about Epaphras. Epaphras was someone Paul was sent with Timothy to do various things. Paul is even a witness of his work in the Lycos Valley. And is on this basis Paul could actually make a strong claim about Epaphras and his standing. From here he will switch on and actually pray from verse nine for the church. 

And so, as I read from the ESV, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints, in what, in the light? Why? Because He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. 

It is fair I just highlight a few things here for you. Note the prayer for knowledge. For a church that has been misled, it is important pray a wish of Paul that they may be filled with knowledge. They may know. I like to tell some of my audience and I do have opportunity here and there to talk to Pentecostals and charismatics. I like to say being knowledgeable, it's not unspiritual. Because when false teaching is infiltrating the church, the community of faith needs to be grounded in knowledge. And the faith that the believers should have should be a reasoned faith, something that is processed intellectually, grounded in solid knowledge of the truth. Pauline prays assertively for that for the church, that they may be filled with knowledge and not just knowledge, but knowledge of his will. He said he is an apostle by the will of God and he prays that they may be filled with the knowledge of his will. 

Interestingly, he prays for knowledge and actually impacts in specific areas, that they may have spiritual wisdom. The ability to grasp the concept and to process and transmit it in real life. Spiritual wisdom counts for spiritual development, especially with false teachers are around you. When there are all kinds of ungodliness around you. We are recording this lectures, actually in Massachusetts, where we have the least church parts of the United States. When you live Christian life in such a context, you want to be prepared for all that comes and for that Paul's prayer comes through. One need to be filled with knowledge of spiritual wisdom and in understanding so that faith that is lived out is a risen faith. 

Paul prays specifically in the area of conduct as well. That they may walk worthy of the Lord. In the midst of false teaching and false teachers’ influence it really matters that Christians live Christian lives. Christian integrity counts in the world of darkness. The world must know that Christians do things differently. To be Christian is to be a follower of Christ, trained for conduct. He prays that they may be fully pleasing to God, because in a culture of honor and shame if their conduct does not conform to the God to whom they called Father, they’re embarrassment to the family. It matters, that they leave good Christian life. That they might bear fruit. I like that because elsewhere we find in Galatians Paul will use this same metaphor of bearing fruit to refer to what the Spirit can do in the lives of individuals. And it's not as though when the Spirit is working inside you that you just stop and burst in prayer. No, when the Spirit is at work in you, part of what happens is you are able to bear the fruit of the Spirit which is ethics. Christian living is important amidst the influence of false teachers. And Paul prays specifically for that. 

He also prays that they might increase not that they don't have any knowledge. They have knowledge, but that their mind increase in knowledge. Learning. The fact that you are choosing to learn in this biblical study series is actually a way to increase your knowledge in Christ. That is a good thing. Paul prays also for spiritual strength. He prayers using what we call the divine passive. That they may be strengthened, they may  be strengthened. That God would give them the ability to have the strength that is needed. And strength is needed, not that they can fight each other in the church. So that they can endure the challenges that they are facing. All the challenges that will come later. That they will learn to be patient just in case these they have believed in God. Charis hour does not come in the very time they expect to see a specific outcome. 

He prays for spiritual strength and then he prays for their demeanor. He prays that, in fact, they might not be grumpy people in a trial. But that they might enjoy a gratitude. Verse 11 May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Verse 12 Give thanks for the answers that you have. The answers and the enablement to participate in the inheritance of the saints. Inheritance of the saints is not about to unfold. Inheritance of the saints in Colossians id real. It is there. You have a part. You are a child of God who has an inheritance in God. Give thanks to God for that access and participation. Give thanks to God for the deliverance he has offered. 

Vs. 13, I'd like to draw attention to the end of verse 13, whatever translation you have. You will notice that when he talked about inheritance of the saints, he said he has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints. And there are two words there that almost seem immaterial, but it's really important. He has done all these things in light or in the light. So that he can contrast in verse 13 He has delivered you out, he has delivered us from the domain of darkness contrasting the light and the benefits in the light. He took us from the darkness. And the word there is he delivered from darkness and he transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. The world that is filled with the activities of the dark forces as we'll see later in this letter is the world from which we are taken, saved in Christ and brought into the kingdom of, just nobody, of his beloved Son. Let’s give thanks to God. Let's be filled with gratitude for what God has done. 

It is in this vein that Paul will praise in the spirit of praise and then give what we will call the Christ hymn. I don't know how you have thought about your work and you're standing with God. But I just want to pause here to highlight how this may relate tangibly in our real life today. All of us face some challenges in our walk with God. As Christians, we want to be reminded that facing those challenges do not make us less of Christians as Paul would not even pray for endurance. We want to be aware of the kind of prayer Paul had for us and perhaps that could be a part of our prayer that we may be strengthened. We may be filled with knowledge. We may be positioned in the right place and be filled with thanks to actually be who God want us to be, regardless of all the challenges that are around us. 

Here's a letter that is going to address the influence of false teaching. But look, I've got a beautiful reminder. A beautiful reminder of what Christ has done. I like the word he has transferred us. He has transferred us. Have you ever had a bad job? Have you ever hated your boss? Have you ever thought this is so horrible to be in. just imagine being transferred from that place into the best place of your dream job. He took us from darkness in Colossians and he brought us into the kingdom of His beloved son. Let's be filled with gratitude. Let's put things into perspective. God has not let his own and so as the church finds itself with all kinds of confusion and division and falsity and somebody said I know this more. Oh, I have heard some new teaching. This is the best thing to do. Let us be reminded. We have an inheritance. 

And as I said earlier on, go through this letter and begin to underline the word hope and appreciate what you have in Christ. Underline the word learn in chapter one of Colossians. I think you may come across about four or so times the word is used and understand the necessity to learn. And I hope and pray that as you begin to delve into this letter, you may just pause with gratitude. You may be filled with the strength that is needed to be able, not just to be a scholar for brain exercise, but one who is able to transfer what it's learned into a life, conduct that is pleasing to God. 

When we come back, I'll draw your attention to how Paul sets this framework and then burst into a praise of Christ. The one who's responsible, the one God brought in the midst to make all this happen. And that particular paragraph or paragraph is actually referred to by scholars as the Christ Hymn. We will look at that when we come back. I hope you are in the course of learning something with us in this biblical study series. Thank you.

This is Dr. Dan Darko  in his lecture series on the prison epistles. This is session number two, “Prayer of Thanksgiving” in Colossians chapter one verses 1-14.