In his greeting to Philemon, Paul writes a familiar refrain that never loses its importance: “I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers.” Just a reminder that when a beloved brother or sister in Christ comes into our minds, we can silently thank God for them. You can certainly pray more, but we should be encouraged to not pray less. As you are driving down the road or sitting at your...  Read More

I want to make sure that if I died today my wife would be provided for. There are lots of ways of doing that, and I am not an estate planner, but I will say that we need to follow Paul’s command in 1 Timothy to provide for our households as men. The word for provide means to “take thought…to provide beforehand.” That means for many people that we are to work hard to save, invest, and prepare for t...  Read More

As Paul closes his letter to the church in Colosse, he mentions ten “fellows,” or, partners in the Gospel. Some he calls beloved or faithful or a servant. The first man he mentions, Tychicus, receives the full complement: “He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.” So, what do we know about this man?  We know that he was probably Paul’s favorite courier. He deli...  Read More

Paul said to the church in Colosse, “At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.” Paul was in the business, if you will, of proclaiming the Gospel. And he was in prison for that very reason. I love that Paul was clearly not concerned abo...  Read More

You have heard the story of the little girl who saw the movie “Cinderella” for the first time and was telling her neighbor about it. The lady said, “I know what happened in the end.” The little girl said, “What?” She replied, “They lived happily ever after!” And the girl said, “Oh, no they didn’t. They got married!” Sadly for many in the world, marriage has fallen into disrepute. But in God’s econ...  Read More

Paul warned the Colossian church against legalism and other “ism-traps,” making a clear argument that we must simply trust what God says about those who have died with Christ. We don’t need to work ourselves into favor with God; we have that perfectly in Christ. If we read what the Bible really says, we will see things as they really are. And that’s a safe place. I have never done any dangerous ro...  Read More

Kent Hughes tells the story of a colleague he once had in the ministry who stopped discussing the meaning of Scripture with him or others because he said he now had a “higher hermeneutic” than others did. He believed that he had gotten to the place in his study of Scripture where he could see “truths that transcended grammatical and traditional theological interpretation.” With self-proclaimed “su...  Read More

 Brothers, God has put in us from birth a desire to protect. That is standard equipment for men. When a man is protecting his family, it is a picture that makes sense and fits with the reality of God’s divine plan. When a woman is left to fend for herself or she tries to assume the role as protector of her household, it is a pitiful sight, one that brings shame and makes us shake our heads in bewi...  Read More

Paul said to the Colossian church, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” It starts and ends with Christ because He is Lord. He is all. Christ is preeminent. The goal of our ministry and indeed our very lives, is to know Him and grow in Him to maturity. That was Paul’s passion, that every church and every member of ...  Read More

It has been argued that Colossians 1:15-20 was an early hymn or poem the church knew well and recited or sang regularly, for it is a summary of the preeminence of Christ in all things. It starts with the critical truth about Christ, that “He is the image of the invisible God.” Image is the word from which we get icon. It is a representation. We can look online and find a famous person we don’t kno...  Read More

The primacy of prayer is in view in the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Paul wrote that since he had heard of the faith of the Colossians, he had been praying for them without ceasing. The Apostle was in prison and could not go to the church in Colosse but he knew that even if he could, his greater work was prayer. And he could do that from anywhere, with or without chains. Somet...  Read More

 Paul wrote to the Colossian church, “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.” Remember, Paul is in a Roman prison cell as he writes this letter and he is filled with rejoicing. Most people only rejoice when their circ...  Read More