Romans 1:7 - To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:3-6 - We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.
2 Thessalonians 1:3 - We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.
Conclusions:
- The basic idea of the Greek word saints is holiness
- All Christians are saints in that they are positionally set apart to God and are experientially being made increasingly holy by the Holy Spirit
- “We” in Colossians 1:3 is Paul and Timothy
- Every one of Paul’s letter, except Galatians, begins with thanks or praise
- In Colossians, thanks is an important theme
- The Bible never thanks man for his faith and love, but rather God, who is the source of these virtues
- Paul is obliged to give thanks where it is due
- Faith and love are two virtues that Paul had been pleased to acknowledge in the Thessalonian church, but that were also somewhat lacking
- “Is increasing” is the same verb Paul had used in his prayer that their love might grow
- Paul is recording an exact answer to prayer
Application:
- Are you positionally set apart to God?
- Do you thank God when you pray for people?
- Is your faith growing? Is your love increasing?
All Scripture verses taken from NIV
Conclusions derived from NIV Study Bible
No comments:
Post a Comment