Thomas Aquinas Commentary Colossians 1

This letter is divided into its greeting and its message (Colossians 1:3). The greeting first mentions the persons sending the letter, then the ones to whom it is sent (Colossians 1:2), and thirdly, the good things desired for them (Colossians 1:2b). Regarding the senders, the principal one is mentioned first, and then his companion.

The principal sender of this letter is first identified by his name, Paul, which means one who is humble, for it is such persons who receive wisdom: Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes (Matthew 11:25). Therefore, Paul can teach this wisdom. Secondly, the sender is described by his office as an apostle—that is, one who is sent to bring salvation to the faithful: Set apart for me Saul and Barnabas for the work to which I have called them (Acts 13:2); As the Father has sent me, even so I send you (John 20:21). He is not the apostle of just anyone, but of Christ Jesus, whose glory he seeks and not his own: For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake (2 Corinthians 4:5).

However, some people reach their office because God is angry over a people’s sins: Who makes a man who is a hypocrite to reign for the sins of the people (Job 34:30); I have given you kings in my anger (Hosea 13:11). And so, Paul says that he holds his office by the will of God—that is, by His good pleasure: I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:15).

The other person sending this letter is Timothy our brother, so that there may be two or three witnesses, as stated in Deuteronomy 17:6. As Proverbs 18:19 says, A brother helped is like a strong city.

The persons to whom this letter is sent are the saints and faithful brothers at Colossae. The greater ones are called saints: Let us serve him in holiness and righteousness (Luke 1:74). The lesser ones are referred to as the faithful, who have at least kept the true faith, because without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Alternatively, we could say it is sent to the saints—that is, those sanctified by baptism—and to the faithful brothers, meaning those who have remained in the faith they accepted. As we read in Proverbs 28:20, A faithful man will be much praised.

Then he mentions the good things he wishes them to have: grace, which is the source of every good, as in Justified by his grace as a gift (Romans 3:24); and peace, which is the ultimate good, as in He makes peace in your borders (Psalms 147:14). Consequently, he wishes them all the good things that lie between these two, for The Lord will give grace and glory (Psalms 84:11). This grace and peace come from the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—who is the Father of Christ by nature and our Father by grace—and from the Lord Jesus Christ [Vulgate]. Therefore, they come from our Father, who is God in His Trinity, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, with respect to the human nature He assumed.

Previously, the Apostle gave the reason for his thanksgiving by mentioning the things for which he was thankful. Here, he states his prayer, showing what he is asking for them. He proceeds in two parts:

1. He gives the characteristics of prayer.
2. He mentions the blessings he is asking for (v. 9b).

Prayer has three characteristics:

1. It is timely. Thus he says, from the day we heard of it we began to pray. As it is written, “Since I spoke of him, I will still remember him” (Jeremiah 31:20).
2. It is continuous. We have not ceased to pray for you. As it is written, “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you” (1 Samuel 12:23); and, “Without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers” (Romans 1:9).
3. It is complete, having several elements: to pray and to ask. Praying is lifting our minds to God; asking is requesting things. Praying should come first so that the one devoutly requesting is heard, just as those who ask for something begin by trying to persuade their listener and bend them to their wishes. We, however, should begin with devotion and meditation on God and divine things—not to bend Him, but to lift ourselves up to Him.

He asks for three things:

1. A knowledge of the truth.
2. That they act in a virtuous way (v. 10).
3. That they have the endurance to stand up under evil (v. 11b).

He requests three kinds of knowledge for them:

1. A knowledge of what they are to do. He says, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, that is, that you may fully know the will of God. As we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” Thus, one who lives in a holy way knows God’s will, but one who sins does not, because every sinner is ignorant. As it is written, “That you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
2. A knowledge of divine things. He says, in all wisdom, which, as Augustine says, consists in the knowledge of divine things: “Think of the Lord with uprightness” .
3. An understanding of spiritual things, not of earthly, material things. As 1 Corinthians 2:12 says, “Now we have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is from God.”

He appropriately associates wisdom and understanding because, as Gregory says, wisdom is weak without understanding, and understanding is useless without wisdom. For wisdom judges and understanding apprehends; one cannot apprehend without judging, and vice versa. The Gloss says that the first kind of knowledge is taken in general, the second pertains to the active life, and the third to the contemplative life.

Furthermore, knowledge by itself is not enough, because “Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17). Therefore, it is necessary to act virtuously. The Apostle touches on this, mentioning three aspects of a virtuous life.

1. First, he speaks of right action: to lead a life worthy of the Lord. One lives unworthily if he does not live as is fitting for a child of God. As it is written, “As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships...” (2 Corinthians 6:4); and, “As we solemnly forewarned you” (1 Thessalonians 4:6).
2. Second, he touches on a correct intention: fully pleasing. As it says, “There was one who pleased God and was loved by him” .
3. Third, he brings in the desire for progress: bearing fruit in every good work. One should always strive for a greater good: “My blossoms became glorious and abundant fruit” ; “The return you get is sanctification and its end eternal life” (Romans 6:22).

After one has borne fruit, an increase in knowledge follows: and increasing in the knowledge of God. By eagerly accomplishing God’s commands, a person is prepared for knowledge: “I understand more than the aged, because I keep your precepts” (Psalms 119:100); “Wisdom will not dwell in a body enslaved to sin” . He says, increasing in the knowledge of God, not of the world: “She gave him a knowledge of holy things” .

Next, he mentions their endurance in the face of evil. To live a virtuous life, it is not enough to know and to will; one must also act in spite of opposition, which cannot be done without patiently enduring evils. And so he says, may you be strengthened with all power, for as it is written, “Rich in power” . Such power, or virtue, comes from God, so he adds, according to his glorious might. As the Apostle says elsewhere, “Be strong in the Lord” (Ephesians 6:10). He says glorious might—that is, Christ’s, who is the glory of the Father—because to fall into sin is to fall into darkness: “She is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty” .

Then, with the words for all patience and longsuffering, he prays that they may stand up under adversity. Some people fail because of the difficulty of their trials, and they need patience: “By your patience you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:19). Others fail because their reward is long in coming; for them, he adds longsuffering, which enables a person to wait for what was promised: “If it does not come soon, wait for it; because it will come and not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3). As it is said, “And thus, with his longsuffering, he obtained what was promised” (Hebrews 6:15).

Yet, although some people avoid these two vices, they do so with sadness. Since this should not be, he adds, with joy. As James says, “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials” (James 1:2).

Then, with the words giving thanks to God the Father [Vulgate], he gives thanks for the favors granted to all the faithful: first, for the gift of grace, and second, for the fruit of that grace (v. 13).

And so he says, We pray for you, giving thanks to God, our Creator, and the Father, who adopted us and has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Some have said that the gifts of grace are given because of a person’s merit—that God gives grace to those who are worthy and does not give it to those who are unworthy. But the Apostle rejects this view, because whatever worth and grace we have was given to us by God, as were the effects of that grace. Thus Paul says, who has qualified us...: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our sufficiency is from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5).

To share in the inheritance [lot] of the saints in light. All people are good in their very nature and consequently partake of God in some way. But the wicked take pleasure in temporal things as their portion: “This is our portion and this our lot” . The holy, however, have God himself as their portion: “The Lord is my portion” (Lamentations 3:24); “The Lord is my chosen portion” (Psalms 16:5). And so he says, who has qualified us to share in the lot of the saints.

He says, in the lot of the saints, because there are two ways of apportioning things. Sometimes it is done by choosing, as when one person selects one portion and another person selects another. Other times, apportionment is by lot: “The lot puts an end to disputes” (Proverbs 18:18). The saints have their portion not because they chose it—“You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16)—but because God chose them. (A lot consists in entrusting something to God’s judgment. There are three types: consultative, divining, and apportioning. The first is not evil when dealing with temporal matters; the second is useless and evil; the third is sometimes allowed in cases of necessity.)

The portion of the saints is the possession of light: “He dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16); “In his hands he hides the light and commands it to come again” (Job 36:32). From this follows the effect of grace, which is our transfer from darkness to light.

First, he mentions this transfer, and second, the way in which people are slaves to sin before they receive grace. Since sin is a darkness, people [before receiving grace] are in the power of darkness—that is, of either evil spirits or sins: “Against the world rulers of this present darkness” (Ephesians 6:12); “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken” (Isaiah 49:25). He has transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, meaning that we might be the kingdom of God: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). This happens when we are freed from our sins: “You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God” (Revelation 5:10). Or, we are literally transferred to this kingdom so that we may obtain eternal life: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). This is what he means by the kingdom of his beloved Son.

A more literal translation of this phrase would read: the kingdom of the Son of his love. As Augustine says in a Gloss, “love” is sometimes taken to mean the Holy Spirit, who is the love of the Father and the Son. But if “love” always meant this Person, then the Son would be the Son of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, at other times “love” is understood essentially, indicating the divine essence. Thus, the phrase of the Son of his love can mean either “of his beloved Son” or “of the Son of his [the Father’s] essence.”

But is it true to say that the Son is the Son of the Father’s essence? I answer that if the possessive case “of the essence” is taken to indicate the relationship of an efficient cause, it is false, because the essence [of the Father] does not generate nor is it generated. Sometimes, however, the possessive case indicates the possession of a form, as when we say a thing is “of an excellent form,” meaning it has an excellent form. If we understand “of the essence” in this way, then the statement is true: the Son has the essence of the Father. As it is written, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand” (John 3:35).

Finally, when he says, in whom we have redemption, he shows the way we have been transferred. For humanity in sin was held captive in two ways:

1. As a slave: “Every one who commits sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34).
2. As deserving punishment and turned away from God: “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you so that he does not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

But these two things are taken away by Christ. As man, He became a sacrifice for us and redeemed us in His blood; thus Paul says, in whom we have redemption, for “You were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20). And from Christ as God, we have the forgiveness of sins, because He took away our debt of punishment.

After Paul recalled for us the universal and special benefits of grace, he now commends the Author of this grace, who is Christ. He does this first in relation to God, second in relation to all creation (verse 15b), and third in relation to the Church (verse 18).

Regarding the first point, we should note that God is said to be invisible because He exceeds the visual capacity of any created intellect. No created intellect, by its natural knowledge, can attain His essence. As Job says, Behold, God is great, and we know him not (Job 36:26), and He dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). Therefore, He is seen by the blessed through grace, not by their natural capacity. Dionysius gives the reason for this: all knowledge ends at something that exists, that is, at some nature that participates in the act of existence [esse]. But God is the very act of existence itself [ipsum esse]; He does not participate in existence but is the one in whom all things participate. Thus, He is not known in this way. It is of this invisible God that the Son is the image.

Let us now see how the Son is called the image of God, and why God is said to be invisible. The concept of an image includes three things:

1. An image must be a likeness.
2. It must be derived or drawn from the thing of which it is a likeness.
3. It must be derived with respect to something that pertains to the species (the essential nature) or to a sign of the species.

If two things are alike, but neither is derived from the other, then neither is the image of the other; for this reason, one egg is not said to be the image of another. Something is called an image because it imitates. Furthermore, if a likeness exists between two things but not according to their essential nature or a sign of it, we do not speak of an image. For example, a man has many accidental qualities, such as color and size, but these are not the reason for calling something an image of a man. But if something has the shape or figure of a man, then it can be called an image, because this shape is a sign of his species. The Son is like the Father, and the Father is like the Son. But because the Son has this likeness from the Father, and not the Father from the Son, we properly say that the Son is the image of the Father, and not the other way around, for this likeness is drawn and derived from the Father.

Furthermore, this likeness is according to their essential nature. In divine matters, the Son is represented, although faintly, by our concept of a "mental word." We form a mental word when we actually conceive the form of a thing we have knowledge of, and then we signify this mental word with an external, spoken word. This mental word we have conceived is a likeness of the thing in our mind, and it is like it in its essential nature. In this way, the Word of God is called the image of God.

Regarding our second question, we should note that the Arians misunderstood this text. They thought of the image of God as they did of the images they made of their ancestors, so they could see in these images the loved ones no longer with them (just as we make images of the saints to see in them those whom we cannot see in reality). They claimed that being invisible was unique to the Father and that the first visible reality was the Son, who manifested the Father's goodness. They were saying that the Father was truly invisible, but the Son was visible, and therefore their natures must be different. But the Apostle refutes this when he says: He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3). Thus, the Son is not only the image of the invisible God, but He Himself is invisible like the Father. He is the image of the invisible God.

Then, when he says, the first-born of all creation, he commends Christ in relation to creatures. He states this first and then expands on it (verse 16).

On the first point, we should note that the Arians understood this to mean that Christ is called the first-born because He is the first creature. But this is not the meaning, as will become clear. We must understand two things: how this image is generated, and in what way He is the first-born of creatures. Regarding the first, we should note that things generate in various ways depending on their nature and manner of existence; men generate in one way, plants in another, and so on. But the nature of God is His very existence [ipsum esse] and His act of understanding [intelligere]. Therefore, His generating or intellectual conceiving must be the generating or conceiving of His own nature. (In us, however, our intellectual conceiving is not the conceiving of our nature, because our nature is not the same as our act of understanding). Therefore, since this image is a word and concept of an intellect, it must be the offspring of the divine nature, so that the one receiving the nature from the other is necessarily generated.

Secondly, we must understand how the Son is called the first-born. God does not know Himself and creatures through two different sources; He knows all things in His own essence, as in the first efficient cause. The Son, however, is the intellectual concept or representation of God as He knows Himself, and consequently, as He knows every creature. Therefore, inasmuch as the Son is begotten, He is seen as a word representing every creature, and He is the principle of every creature. For if He were not begotten in that way, the Word of the Father would be the first-born of the Father only, and not of creatures: I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, the first-born before all creation [Vulgate].

Then, when he says, for in him all things were created, he explains what he has just said: that the Son is the first-born because He was generated as the principle of creatures. He does this with respect to three things: first, the creation of things; second, their distinction, in heaven and on earth; and third, their preservation in existence, for in him all things hold together.

He says that the Son is the first-born of every creature because He is generated or begotten as the principle of every creature. And so he says, for in him all things were created. In this regard, we should note that the Platonists affirmed the existence of Ideas, saying that each thing came to be by participating in an Idea, like the Idea of man or some other kind. Instead of all these, we have one: the Son, the Word of God. An artisan makes an artifact by having it participate in the form he has conceived within himself, enveloping it, so to speak, with external matter. We say that the artisan makes a house through the form of the thing which he has conceived within himself. In this way, God is said to make all things in His wisdom, because the wisdom of God relates to His created works just as the art of the builder relates to the house he has made. This form and wisdom is the Word; thus, in him all things were created, as in an exemplar. As Genesis says, He spoke, and they were made (Genesis 1), because He created all things to come into existence in His eternal Word.

With respect to the differences among things, we should note that some, like the Manicheans, were mistaken in thinking that earthly bodies, being corruptible, were made by an evil god, while the heavenly bodies, being incorruptible, were made by the good God, the Father of Christ. This was an error, because both types of bodies were created in the same Word. And so he says, in heaven and on earth. This difference is based on the different parts of corporeal nature. In the beginning—that is, in the Son—God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

The Platonists also said that God created invisible creatures, namely the angels, by Himself, but created bodily natures through the angels. But this is refuted here, because Paul says, visible and invisible. Regarding the first, he says: By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible (Hebrews 11:3). About the second we read: We have seen but a few of his works. For the Lord has made all things, and to the godly he has given wisdom . This difference in things is based on the nature of created things.

The third difference concerns the order and degrees found in invisible realities, when he says, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities. The Platonists were mistaken in this matter, for they said that different perfections are found in things and attributed each of these to its own first principle. They proposed an order of principles corresponding to the orders of these perfections. Thus they affirmed a first being, from whom all things participate in existence; another distinct principle, a first intellect, from which all things participate in intelligence; and then another principle, life, from which all things participate in life. But we do not agree with this, for all the perfections found in things are from one principle. Thus he says, whether thrones or dominions..., and so on, as if to say: they do not depend on an array of principles, but on the one unique Word of God.

Why does Paul say in his letter to the Ephesians, He has made him the head over all the Church (Ephesians 1:22)? He does not seem to be saying the same thing there as here. I reply that here Paul is giving a descending list of such beings, because he is showing the procession of creatures from God. But in Ephesians he gives an ascending list, because he is showing that the Son of God, as man, is above all creatures. In Ephesians, the principalities are placed under the authorities (or powers), and the virtues are between the dominions and authorities. But here in our text, the principalities are placed above the authorities, and between the dominions and the authorities. This is how the teaching of Gregory differs from that of Dionysius. Dionysius arranges the spiritual beings as they are in Ephesians, putting the dominions, virtues, and authorities in the second hierarchy. But Gregory arranges them as Paul does here, putting the dominions, principalities, and authorities in the second hierarchy, and the virtues, archangels, and angels in the third.

We should note, as Gregory and Dionysius say, that the spiritual gifts from which these different orders receive their names are common to all of them. Yet some orders receive their name from certain of these gifts, and others from different gifts. The reason for this can be seen from the teachings of the Platonists: whatever belongs to something belongs to it in one of three ways: essentially, by participation, or causally. A thing belongs essentially to another if it belongs to it in proportion to its nature; this is how being rational belongs to man. A thing belongs by participation if it surpasses the nature of the thing which has it, though the thing participates in it to a certain extent, albeit imperfectly; thus man is intellectual by participation, while being intellectual, which is superior to being rational, is in the angels essentially. A thing belongs to another causally if it accrues to it, as artifacts belong to a person; for they do not exist in him as in matter, but exist in his artistic power.

A thing is named only from what belongs to it essentially; thus we do not define man as an intellectual or artistic being, but as rational. Regarding the gifts present in the angels, those which belong to the higher angels essentially, belong to the lower ones by participation; and those which belong to the lower ones essentially, are present in the higher angels causally. Consequently, the higher angels receive their names from the higher gifts. The highest thing in a spiritual creature is that it attain to God and somehow participate in Him. Therefore, the higher angels receive their name because they attain God: seraphim, as being fervent or on fire with God; cherubim, as knowing God; and thrones, as having God seated in them.

One thing can participate in another in three ways: first, it can receive what is proper to the nature of what it is participating in; second, it can receive a thing insofar as it knows it; and third, it can serve the power of a thing. For example, a doctor participates in the art of medicine either because he possesses the art in himself, has received knowledge of the art, or serves the medical art. The first way of participating is greater than the second, and the second is greater than the third. In Sacred Scripture, what is divine is signified by fire: The Lord your God is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24). And so the highest order of angels is called the seraphim, as though on fire with God and having a divine property. The second order is the cherubim, who attain God by knowledge. The third are the thrones, who serve His power. The other orders are not named because they attain God, but because of some activity of God. Some angels direct or command; these are the dominions. Others accomplish what is commanded; the principal angels who do this are the principalities: The princes went before, joined with the singers (Psalms 68:25). Among the others who carry out commands, some act over spiritual creatures, such as the authorities (powers), who restrain evil spirits. If some act over natural things, they are called virtues, and these perform miracles. If they act over human beings, they are called archangels when concerned with great matters, and angels when concerned with lesser things. And so Paul concludes, all things were created through Him [per ipsum], as by an efficient cause, and in Him [in Thomas’ text], as in an exemplary cause: All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3).

Since someone might ask if all things are eternal, the Apostle answers: No! He is before all things, that is, before all time and all other things: The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old (Proverbs 8:22). Or, He is before all in dignity: For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? (Psalms 89:6).

Regarding the preservation of things, he says, and in him all things hold together, that is, they are preserved. For God is to all things as the sun is to the moon, which loses its light when the sun departs. And so, if God were to withdraw His power from creation, all things would immediately cease to exist: upholding the universe by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3).

After the Apostle commended Christ in His relationship to God and to all creatures, he now commends Him in His relationship to the Church. He does this in three ways:

1. In a general way.
2. In particular, with reference to the Colossians (verse 21).
3. In reference to himself (verse 23b).

Regarding the first point, he does two things: first, he mentions Christ’s relationship to the entire Church, and second, he explains this relationship (verse 18b).

He says, therefore, that Christ, the firstborn among creatures, is the one in whom we have our redemption. But because He has been made the head of the Church, two things must be explained: first, in what way the Church is a body, and second, how Christ is its head. The Church is called a body because of its similarity to a single human being. This similarity is twofold: first, in that it has distinct members, as in And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11). Second, the members of the Church serve each other in different ways: The members may have the same care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25); Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). Furthermore, just as a body is one because its soul is one, so the Church is one because the Spirit is one: There is one body and one Spirit (Ephesians 4:4); Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread (1 Corinthians 10:17). Next, we must consider the relationship of the members to the head of the Church—that is, to Christ. For Christ is the head of the Church. But you, O Lord, are the lifter of my head (Psalms 3:3).

He explains what it means to be a head, saying, He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. The head has three privileges over the other members of the body.

1. It is superior in dignity, because it is a source and a ruler.
2. It has the fullness of the senses, which are all in the head.
3. It is the source of an inflow of sense and movement to the members of the body.

Therefore, Paul shows how Christ is head: first, because of His dignity; second, because of the fullness of His grace (verse 19); and third, because of the inflow from Him (verse 20).

The Church exists in two states: the state of grace in the present time and the state of glory in the future. But it is the same Church, and Christ is its head in both states, because He is the first in grace and the first in glory. With respect to the first, he says, He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, because He is not only first in grace as a man, but all people are justified by faith in Christ: By one man’s obedience many will be made righteous (Romans 5:19). So he says, He is the beginning [principium]—that is, the source of justification and grace in the entire Church—because even in the Old Testament, some were justified by faith in Christ: I am the beginning who am speaking to you (John 8:25); With you is the beginning (Psalms 110:3) [Vulgate]. Christ is also the beginning of the state of glory, and so he says, the firstborn from the dead. The reason for this is that the resurrection from the dead is a kind of second birth, because it restores us to eternal life: In the rebirth, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne (Matthew 19:28). But Christ is the first of all; thus, He is the firstborn from the dead—that is, the firstborn of those who are born by the resurrection.

But what about Lazarus (John 11)? I answer that he and some others did not rise to the immortal life mentioned above, but to a mortal life. But Christ, having risen from the dead, will never die again (Romans 6:9); Jesus Christ, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth (Revelation 1:5); Christ has risen from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20). This is so that in everything He might be preeminent: preeminent in the gifts of grace, because He is the beginning, and preeminent in the gifts of glory, because He is the firstborn: In every nation I have had first place [Vulgate].

Then, in verse 19, he shows the dignity of the head with respect to the fullness of all graces. For some saints had particular graces, but Christ had all graces. And so he says, that in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell. [It seems that Thomas’s version lacked the words “of God.”] Each word has its own force. Pleased indicates that the gifts Christ had as man were not the result of fate or merits, as Photinus says, but were due to the good pleasure of the divine will taking this man into a unity of person: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17). He says, all, because some have one gift and others have different ones; but with Christ, The Father had given all things into his hands (John 13:3). He says, fullness, because one can have a gift without having the fullness of it or its power, since one might lack something unwillingly. But John says that Christ was full of grace and truth (John 1:14). My abode is in the fullness of the saints . He says to dwell, because some received the use of a grace for only a time. Thus, the spirit of prophecy was not always possessed by the prophets, but it is continuously present in Christ, because He always has control over this fullness to use it as He wishes: He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, as we read in John (1:33).

Then, when he says, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, he shows that Christ is the head of the Church because of the inflow from Him. This is the third characteristic of a head. First, he shows the inflow of grace, and second, he explains it.

He says, therefore: I say that it pleased God not only that this fullness exist in Christ, but that it also flow from Christ to us. And so he says, and through him to reconcile to himself all things. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19).

He mentions the nature of this reconciliation and how all things are reconciled. Now, two things must be considered in a reconciliation. First are the matters in which the reconciled persons agree. People at odds have conflicting wills, but when they have been reconciled, they agree on certain things. In this way, wills that were previously in conflict are made to harmonize in Christ.

For example, consider the wills of men, of God, and of the angels. The will of men is represented, because Christ is a man, and the will of God is represented, because Christ is God. There was also conflict between the Jews, who wanted the law, and the Gentiles, who did not. But Christ created harmony between the two, because He was from the Jews and He freed us from the legal observances.

This harmony was accomplished by the blood of His cross. The cause of discord between God and humanity was sin; the discord between the Jews and the Gentiles was caused by the law. Christ destroyed sin by His cross and fulfilled the law, and in this way, He took away the causes of discord: You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22). Thus we are reconciled and all things are set at peace, whether on earth—that is, Jews and Gentiles—or in heaven—that is, the angels and God. And so when Christ was born the angels sang: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men (Luke 2:14). Again, Christ said at His resurrection: Peace be with you (John 20:19); For he is our peace, who has made us both one (Ephesians 2:14).

Then, in verse 21, Christ is commended because of the gifts He gave them. First, Paul recalls their past condition; second, Christ’s gift (verse 22); and third, what they must do now (verse 23).

Their past condition had three evils: in their intellect, they were ignorant; in their affections, they were enemies of justice; and in their actions, they committed many sins. Regarding the first, he says, estranged; regarding the second, hostile in mind, according to the reading of one version. This shows that there was a defect in that wisdom that the Jews proclaimed about the one God: Men loved darkness rather than light (John 3:19). But were the Jewish people bound to the law of Moses? Yes, they were, as far as it concerned the worship of the one God. Or, we could say the Jews were estranged in mind—that is, by choice, maliciously contradicting God: They turned aside from following him (Job 34:27). As to the third evil of their past condition, he says, doing evil deeds. Their deeds were evil, as we read in John (3:19).

Then, when he says, He has now reconciled, he mentions the benefits coming from Christ. The first of these is reconciliation in His body, and so he says, He has now reconciled in his body of flesh. He says, His body of flesh, not because His body and His flesh are not the same, but to show that Christ took a real body: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). A body of flesh—that is, a mortal body: God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and of sin, has condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3). The second benefit from Christ is holiness; thus he says, in order to present you holy. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood (Hebrews 13:12). The third benefit is their cleansing from sin, and as to this he says, and blameless. The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purifies your conscience from dead works (Hebrews 9:14). Looking to the future, he says, irreproachable. Be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace (2 Peter 3:14). And he adds, before him. Man sees things that appear, but the Lord beholds the heart (1 Kings 16:7).

What God requires of us is that we be firm in faith and hope. And so Paul continues, provided that you continue in the faith, stable. For faith is a foundation; if it is firm, the entire structure of the Church is firm. And steadfast in hope, not weakening from within, not shifting by allowing others to shake that hope. This hope, I say, is the hope of the gospel—that is, the hope that the Gospel gives for the good things of the kingdom of heaven: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17). And there is no excuse, because the Gospel has been preached; he uses the past tense here instead of the future tense because this future event is so certain. The Gospel has been preached by the apostles to every creature under heaven—that is, to every new creature, the faithful, for whom it had been prepared.

After Paul commended Christ in relation to God, to all creation, to the entire Church, and to the Colossians themselves, he now commends Christ in relation to himself, showing that he is Christ’s minister. He does this in three ways:

1. He mentions his ministry.
2. He shows his faithfulness in it.
3. He shows its greatness (Colossians 1:25).

He says that the Gospel has been preached to all, the very Gospel of which he, Paul, became a minister. He preaches it not on his own authority, but only as a minister: This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:1).

Paul is a faithful minister, which is obvious because he does not run away from the dangers involved in his preaching. He demonstrates this in two ways:

1. He shows his attitude toward his sufferings.
2. He shows the fruit of his suffering (Colossians 1:24b).

His attitude was one of joy, because Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake—that is, for your benefit: If we are afflicted it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer (2 Corinthians 1:6). He also rejoices because of the joy of eternal life which he expects from them, and which is the fruit of his ministry: Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testimony of your faith produces steadfastness (James 1:2), and Even if I am to be poured as a libation upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all (Philippians 2:17).

Along with this joy is the fruit that in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. At first glance, these words can be misunderstood to mean that the passion of Christ was not sufficient for our redemption and that the sufferings of the saints were added to complete it. But this is heretical, because the blood of Christ is sufficient to redeem many worlds: He is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).

Rather, we should understand that Christ and the Church are one mystical person, whose head is Christ and whose body is all the righteous, for every righteous person is a member of this head: individually members (1 Corinthians 12:27). Now God in his predestination has arranged how much merit will exist throughout the entire Church, both in the head and in the members, just as he has predestined the number of the elect. Among these merits, the sufferings of the holy martyrs occupy a prominent place. For while the merits of Christ, the head, are infinite, each saint displays some merits in a limited degree.

This is why Paul says, I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions—that is, what is lacking in the afflictions of the whole Church, of which Christ is the head. "I complete," that is, "I add my own amount," and I do this in my flesh, meaning it is I myself who am suffering. Alternatively, we could say that Paul was completing the sufferings that were lacking in his own flesh, for what was lacking was that, just as Christ had suffered in his own body, so he should also suffer in Paul, his member, and in similar ways in others.

Paul does this for the sake of his body, which is the Church that was to be redeemed by Christ: That he might present the Church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27). In the same way, all the saints suffer for the Church, which receives strength from their example. The Gloss says, “Afflictions are still lacking, because the treasure house of the Church’s merits is not full, and it will not be full until the end of the world.”

Then, when Paul says, of which I became a minister, he shows the greatness of his ministry in three ways:

1. From its origin.
2. From the end to which it is directed (Colossians 1:25b).
3. From its purpose (Colossians 1:28).

But someone could ask, “Is his a great ministry?” He answers yes, because he became a minister according to the divine office that was given to me. This can be explained in two ways:

1. In an active sense, the meaning is that he became a minister so that he could dispense divine things to them, faithfully passing them on, and this power has been given to him.
2. In a passive sense, the meaning is that Paul became a minister insofar as he was appointed by God: And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11); Set apart for me Barnabas and Paul for the work to which I have called them (Acts 13:2).

What is the end of his ministry? Certainly not money or his own glory. Rather, he has received it for a great purpose: to make the word of God fully known. He shows the greatness of this purpose in two ways:

1. He shows the greatness of that for which he has received this ministry.
2. He shows what this is—namely, that it is Christ.

He shows its greatness because it has been widely proclaimed, both in an obscure form and openly.

The ministry he received was to convert the Gentiles and thus to make fully known the word—that is, the eternal plan of God. In other words, by his preaching he is to show that the word of God has been fulfilled, meaning God’s plan and promise concerning the incarnation of the Word of God. Or, he is to show by his preaching the eternal plan of God in which he arranged that the Gentiles were to be converted by Christ to a faith in the true God. This had to be accomplished: Does he say and not do? Does he speak and not do what he said? (Numbers 23:19). As we read in Isaiah, My word that goes forth from my mouth shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11).

But God arranged that this be accomplished by Paul’s ministry, and so Paul says he was sent to make fully known this mystery (which is called a mystery because it is hidden). This mystery which has been hidden is this word: I have a secret, I have a secret (Isaiah 24:16) [Vulgate]. This mystery was hidden for ages, that is, from the beginning of the ages, and it was hidden from all the generations of humanity, who were unable to know it: the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God (Ephesians 3:9). For even though the early philosophers seem to have said something about Christ’s divinity, either as their own idea or appropriated (as Augustine found in the works of Plato, such as that in the beginning was the Word, and things like that), yet none could know that the Word was made flesh. But you ask, was this not known by the prophets? I reply that it was, insofar as it pertained to the Gospel, but it was not known as explicitly as the apostles knew it.

Next, he deals with the revelation of this mystery. He does two things:

1. He shows to whom it was revealed.
2. He shows why it was revealed to them (Colossians 1:27).

He says that this mystery is now made manifest, that is, in this time of grace: Behold now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). This is the knowledge of the saints: She gave him knowledge of holy things ; He showed his friend that it belongs to him, and that he can approach it (Job 36:33) [Vulgate].

It was revealed to his saints not because of their own merits, but because of God’s good pleasure. Thus Paul says, to them God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery. As Christ said: All that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you (John 15:15); and, Yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will (Matthew 11:26).

This was done to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery, because by the fact that such things had been hidden, God now appears superabundantly glorious. For God was formerly known in Judea, but through this mystery of the conversion of the Gentiles, the glory of God is made known to the entire world, as we read in John: I glorified thee on earth (John 17:4). And this is to be done among the Gentiles, that is, it is to be accomplished among them: Let us rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God (Romans 5:2); O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! (Romans 11:33).

This mystery, which is Christ—that is, which we obtain through Christ—is the hope of glory, which had formerly been promised only to the Jews: The believers from among the circumcised were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles (Acts 10:45). As it is written: Justified by faith, let us have peace toward God; and let us glory in the hope of the glory of the sons of God (Romans 5:1–2); and, The root of Jesse, who stands as an ensign of the people, will be called on by the Gentiles (Isaiah 11:10). So far, Paul has indicated the origin and end of his ministry.

Now he mentions the function of his ministry. In this regard, he does three things:

1. He indicates its function.
2. He indicates its fruit (Colossians 1:28b).
3. He indicates the help he was given (Colossians 1:29).

Its function is to announce Christ, and Paul shows this function and the method he used: Announce his ways among the Gentiles (Psalms 9:11); That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you (1 John 1:1). He states his method when he says, warning every man. This is a complete proclamation because it is to every person, not just the Jewish people: Teach all nations (Matthew 28:19). His method is to teach the truth and to refute what is false, and so he says, warning every man, or unbeliever, in this life: The weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:4). It also consists in teaching every man in all wisdom, which is the knowledge of God: To know you is complete righteousness, and to know your power is the root of immortality ; Among the mature we do impart wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:6).

The fruit of this in this life is that people are brought to perfection. And so he says, that we may present every man—that is, of any condition—mature... in Christ. You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). But is everyone bound to perfection? No, but it should be the goal of the preacher. The perfection of charity is of two kinds:

1. One is from a necessity of precept, which is that one not allow into his heart anything opposed to God: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37).
2. The other perfection of charity is from a necessity of counsel, which is that one give up even those things that are lawful; this kind of perfection goes beyond what is required.

For this, Paul had God’s help.

And so he says, For this I toil, striving against unbelievers and sinners: Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3); I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). Paul does this with all the energy—the grace of God is with me (1 Corinthians 15:10)—which God inspires within him, because God does this in him mightily, that is, by giving him the might or power: Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high, as we read in Luke (Luke 24:49).