Thomas Aquinas Commentary Colossians 1:9-14

"For this cause we also, since the day we heard [it], do not cease to pray and make request for you, that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, unto all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins:" — Colossians 1:9-14 (ASV)

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.