Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Colossians 2

The metaphor of the arena is implicit in this verse as Paul again uses the word “struggling” (a Greek word built on the same root as “struggling” in 1:29; GK 74). He indicates how strenuously he was exerting himself with deep and earnest solicitude. The powers that wrestled with Paul for the ruin of his work were real and resolute; he therefore had to meet them full force in Christ. The particular struggle Paul had in mind appears to have been that of prayer. At the time he wrote these words he could not move beyond the walls of his “rented house” (Acts 28:30), being continuously held by the chain linking him to a Roman soldier. But even under these circumstances he could engage in the combat of prayer and so exert himself strenuously in behalf of his readers.

This brings before us an aspect of Paul’s prayers that we often overlook— namely, that they sometimes involved him in a truly awesome conflict, an intense struggle of the soul. This agony in prayer was “for” (i.e., in behalf of) the Colossians. But it was also in behalf of “those at Laodicea and for all who have not met me personally.” Laodicea was an important banking center in ancient times and is mentioned elsewhere in the NT only in 4:13, 15–16; Revelation 3:14. The wording of v.1 seems to suggest that the Colossians and the Laodiceans were among those who had not met Paul personally.

Paul’s concern for his readers was that “they may be encouraged in heart and united in love.” The Greek word for “encouraged” (GK 4151) means “to call to one’s side,” signifying such ideas as comfort, encouragement, and exhortation. The central thought here is being strengthened against the onslaught of error. “United” (GK 5204) suggests being welded into a genuine unity. The Greek construction suggests that the means by which the strengthening takes place is the readers’ being knit together in love.

One consequence of being encouraged and united is attaining “the full riches of complete understanding.” Heart encouragement and being united in love bring an inward wealth that consists in full or assured understanding. This in turn brings a deep and full knowledge of Christ, who is “the mystery of God” .

This Christ is now described as the One “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” This statement contains two thoughts. (1) All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ. The false teachers claimed to have, through their relation with a supposed hierarchy of supernatural beings, a higher knowledge than that possessed by ordinary believers. Against this, Paul argues that all wisdom and knowledge are in Christ and that their treasures are accessible to every believer. (2) The treasures of wisdom are in Christ in a hidden way. “Hidden” does not, however, mean that they are concealed but rather that they are laid up or stored away as a treasure.

Paul now expresses the reason for his anxious concern. His words in vv.1–3 have been written so that the Colossian errorists will not “deceive” (GK 4165) the Christians in Colosse and lead them away from their convictions about Christ. “Deceive” implies leading astray by false reasoning; “fine-sounding arguments” has something of the same meaning, implying the attempt to convince someone by “fast talk.”

Paul was no indifferent spectator of his readers’ problems but had a sincere interest in them. Though not physically with them, he felt his spiritual oneness with them and rejoiced in their orderliness and in the firmness of their faith. “How orderly you are” contains a military term connoting the orderly array of a band of disciplined soldiers. “Firm” (GK 5106) also belongs to military parlance and means solidity and compactness. If this is the imagery Paul intended, he sees the situation of the Colossians as being like that of an army under attack and affirms that their lines were unbroken, their discipline intact, and their “faith in [reliance on] Christ” unshaken.