Colossians 1:23

If ye continue. The Colossians had heard the word of life. They had accepted the faith and had been reconciled by the blood of Christ. They were “saints and faithful brethren” (v. 2). But all their efforts would prove futile if they should fail to “continue.” The apostle stresses their need of abiding and remaining in their confidence in the gospel.

In the faith. Compare v. 4. What had been begun by faith in the experience of the Colossian believers must be continued by means of faith also.

Grounded. Gr. themeliod, “to lay a foundation,” “to found.” The spiritual house should have its foundation fixed upon the solid Rock, which is Christ, not upon the sand, as was the house of the foolish man in Christ’s parable (see Luke 6:49; 1 Cor. 10:4).

Settled. Gr. hedraioi, “firm,” “steadfast.” The Christian believer must be firmly fixed on his foundation. Paul warns the Colossians against moving away from the position taken by them when they first heard the gospel.

Not moved away. This is the negative view of what he has already said. “Do not allow yourself,” Paul says in effect, “to be shifted from your position by the philosophical arts of false teachers or the seductive allurements of sin.” The tense of the verb he uses suggests the thought, “Be not continually shifting” from one position to another (cf. 1 Cor. 15:58).

Hope of the gospel. That is, the hope that the gospel provides. This hope, he has already intimated (see on v. 5), is the driving force of the plan of salvation. It is brought to light by the message of the gospel; it belongs to the gospel. When hope is ultimately achieved in the kingdom of God, the purposes of the plan of salvation will have been fulfilled.

Ye have heard. See on v. 5.

Preached to every creature. The principal stress of the passage is upon the fact that the gospel the Colossians had heard is the same as that preached in all parts where the gospel has penetrated. Paul does not mean that the gospel has gone everywhere in the absolute sense. This is clear from his statements elsewhere regarding the progress of the gospel. Writing to the Romans only a few years before, Paul, summing up the advance of the gospel, said, “From Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:19). He was hoping at this time to visit Rome and from there carry the gospel to Spain (Rom. 15:24). His arrest and imprisonment intervened so that his plans were not carried out. Instead of coming to Rome as a free herald of the gospel, he came bound. Being a prisoner, he could not visit Spain. It is doubtful that any work of significance had been begun there. There is, further, no evidence that at this early date the gospel had penetrated into the barbarian regions to the north of the then-civilized world. The same is doubtless true of other far-flung regions. It is clear, then, that the statement that the gospel had been preached to every creature under heaven was not meant in an absolute sense. Like the statement “as it is in all the world” (Col. 1:6), the stress is upon the fact that the gospel preached in Colossae is the same as that proclaimed in all the world. Compare Matt. 24:41; 1 Thess. 1:8; Rev. 5:13; 14:6, 7; DA 633.

Whereof I Paul. The apostle abruptly injects himself into his line of argument, in the same manner as he had introduced the Colossian believers into it in v. 21.

Am made. Or, “became.” Compare Eph. 3:7. Paul here refers to the divine commission to preach the gospel. God was now using him for the accomplishment of eternal duties (see Eph. 3:8; 1 Tim. 1:11-16; cf. Gal. 1:11-17). A divine hand had drawn him into the over-all plan for man’s salvation. When the Colossians compared Paul with the false teachers, they should think of God’s eternal purposes and realize that the one who was writing to them was part of the great plan to bring about their salvation. Paul’s message, therefore, came with divine authorization. The believers’ faith should be strengthened and their steadfastness increased by this thought.

Minister. Gr. diakonos (see on Mark 9:35). Compare the use of the word in Matt. 20:26; Rom. 13:4; Eph. 6:21; 1 Tim. 4:6.