Colossians Chapter 1 Verses  23-29

Col. 1:23 “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; 24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: 25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.” 

“If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;”  The idea here is that we are to continue in the faith.  The faith under consideration is the faith that was once delivered to the saints as Jude said: Jude 1:3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”  This faith is the doctrine and practice and government of the New Testament Church which the Lord establish and on which we are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone (Eph. 2:20).  Also, we are to be grounded and settled in this faith.  This means that we are to have as a foundation the faith which was once delivered to the saints and to be immovable from that foundation.   

Moreover, we are not to move away from the hope of the gospel.  This hope we are told is an anchor of the soul: Heb. 6:19 “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”  This hope is founded on the promise of God which we read in Tit. 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”  God made this covenant promise which embraced his elect family before the world began.  This covenant promise is the promise we read about in Rom. 8:29, 30: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”   

Paul also said that this gospel was preached to every creature which is under heaven.  I am sure that Paul was not saying that every elect child of God heard this gospel of the grace of Christ.  Rather this seems that he is saying with the term “under heaven” that every one who was a part of the church “kingdom of heaven” had heard this gospel.   

Moreover, Paul affirmed that he had been made a minister of this gospel.  To be a minister of the gospel requires a calling from God to the work of the gospel ministry.  Also, the person called must be led by the Spirit of God in learning the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Finally, the man called to the ministry must apply himself in reading, studying, and meditating on the word of God and spend much time in prayer for the guidance of the Lord.   

“Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:”  Paul stated that he rejoiced in his sufferings for the saints and faithful brethren to whom he was writing.  Paul had suffered much by the persecutions of the Jews towards him.  While we would not think of our pain and stress during the sufferings, yet the end result is what Paul was rejoicing in.  For in his sufferings he was blessed to preach the gospel of the grace of Christ to God’s elect family and see them rejoice in the good news and then to grow in their knowledge and labor for Christ’s name’s sake and as the disciples of the Lord.  Paul said that this suffering was for Christ’s body’s sake.  The body of Christ to which he was referring was the Lord’s church.  His church is often referred to as the body of Christ.   

“Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;” God made Paul a minister and revealed to him the things which are included as a part of the cannon of scripture by his writings.  This was not self made up or just a few rational reasonings of man, but as Paul said in 2 Tim. 3:16, 17: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”  So Paul wrote by the inspiration of God and we are blessed to have these things today because of God’s inspiring Paul to write.  This took place on God’s time table, not on man’s time table. 

“Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:” There are several scriptures that teach us that the things we have in this New Testament age were hidden from God’s people for many generations: 

          1.  Matt. 13:17 “For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”         

         2.  Luke 10:24 “For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”

          3.  1 Cor. 2:7, 8: “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

          4.  Dan. 12:8, 9: “And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?  And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.”   

Moreover, there are people in this New Testament age that the mystery of the grace of Christ is still hidden:  

          1.  Matt. 11:25 “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”         

         2.  2 Cor. 4:3 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:”         

        3.  Matt. 13:10, 11 “And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.”

“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” We are indeed a blest people that God has made known to us in this day the mystery of the gospel of the grace of Christ.  We are blessed to have Christ in us which is our hope of glory.  God promised, but that promise does not mean that the promise was unto me.  The reason I know it was unto me is the indwelling of Christ in me as a result of the spiritual birth.   

“Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:”  The “every man” Paul is referring to are those who make up the elect family of God and have heard and believed the gospel of the grace of Christ.  The warning and teaching of the word of God is designed to present the “every man” perfect in Christ Jesus.  The word, perfect does not always mean without any fault or blemish as we are also sinners.  However, sometimes it means mature and that is the meaning here.  In preaching the gospel of the grace of Christ and preaching the whole counsel of God, the design is to mature God’s children in their worship and walk here as they live on earth.  Again, we go back to 2 Tim. 3:16, 17: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”  Thus, the scripture and the teaching of the scriptures are designed to mature the man of God.   

“Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.”  Paul knew and confessed that it is the Lord who begins the work of the ministry in a person with the phrase “according to his working.”  And Paul also recognized that that which the Lord had begin in him also worked mightily in him.  Similarly all God called ministers should recognize the working of the Lord in them that has called them and worked in them to minister the gospel.  Moreover, it should be our desire that He would work in us mightily as well.