Latest / Reformed Thinking / A Prayer for God-Pleasing Wisdom (Colossians 1:9-12)

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A Prayer for God-Pleasing Wisdom (Colossians 1:9-12) · Reformed Thinking

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Imagine being chained to a Roman guard 24 hours a day.
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Yeah, seven days a week, just completely bound.
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Right, you are facing potential execution by the most brutal
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empire on the planet. You can't travel, your diet is
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just, well, whatever is handed to you, and your basic freedoms
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are entirely stripped away. It's a horrific situation.
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It really is. And in that situation, you have
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to ask what would dominate your thoughts?
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I mean, for most of us, our minds would be entirely consumed
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with her own survival, right? Absolutely survival, comfort, or
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at the very least, a desperate plea for escape.
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Yeah, but the man we are looking at today, he just ignored his
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own chains. He focused intensely on the
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theological precision of a church he had never even
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visited. It is a staggering historical
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reality. I mean, he possessed a mind
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completely unhindered by his physical captivity.
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He was focusing intensely on the objective truth, holding a
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distant group of believers together.
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Welcome to Reform Thinking. Today we are taking a massive
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deep dive into an intense theological and exegetical
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analysis of the Apostle Pauls prayer.
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Specifically, we are looking at Colossians chapter 1 versus 9
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through 12. And our mission here is
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specific. We're going to unpack how an
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ancient prison borne prayer absolutely shatters modern
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concepts of spiritual growth. Yeah, we want to show that true
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Christian maturity roots itself in objective truth.
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You know, divine intellect leading to visible daily
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obedience. That is the goal.
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So take a look at your own situation right now.
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If you feel exhausted by modern Christianity's demand for
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emotional highs or mystical experiences, or maybe those
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pragmatic self help routines, this specific text offers a
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completely different, structurally sound blueprint for
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the Christian life. It strips away all that fluff.
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It gives you an ironclad theological framework.
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So to really grasp the magnitude of this text, I think we have to
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start by setting the historical stage.
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Right, we are looking at a time frame around 8060 to 62.
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The apostle Paul is under house arrest in Rome and.
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When we say house arrest, we shouldn't picture like a
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comfortable modern apartment with an ankle monitor.
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No, not at all. He is physically chained to a
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member of the elite Praetorian Guard around the clock.
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I mean, the shifts change but the chain remains.
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His physical mobility is restricted to a very tight
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radius. He can't walk the streets, He
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can't visit the churches he loves so much.
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And he is staring down the very real possibility of a death
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sentence from the Roman emperor. Yet his theological vigilance is
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absolute. The psychological resilience
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required for that is just hard to fathom.
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I mean, we get stuck in traffic and our entire day is ruined.
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Yeah, our prayers become a list of petty complaints.
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Spot on. But here is a man, man chained
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to a literal soldier, and his thoughts are consumed by the
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welfare of a church hundreds of miles away in Asia Minor.
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And a key detail here is that Paul didn't even plant this
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church. Right.
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He had never even been there. That is correct.
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He is writing to the believers in Colisea, and to understand
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the original recipients of this letter, you really have to
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understand their socioeconomic reality.
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So what was the situation in colossi at that time?
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Well, in previous generations it had been a bustling, prosperous
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metropolis. It was situated on a major East
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West trade route. They were actually famous for a
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specific type of dark red wool. OK, so they used to have money
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and status. Yeah, but by the 1st century,
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the trade routes had shifted. The city was in severe economic
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decline. So they were struggling.
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Intensely. They were constantly
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overshadowed by their much more successful, wealthier
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neighboring cities like Laodicea and Hierapolis.
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And to make matters worse, the region was highly volatile.
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It was prone to devastating earthquakes.
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Wow, so you have a population dealing with economic
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depression, irrelevance and physical danger all at once.
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Yeah, and Paul had never visited this congregation.
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The Gospel actually reached them through the missionary work of a
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man named Epiphras. And Epiphras was likely
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converted under Paul's extensive ministry and Ephesus, right?
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Yes, and he took that truth back to his hometown to establish
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this local assembly. OK, so Epifras does the ground
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level church planting in his struggling hometown, but then he
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makes this incredibly long, dangerous trek from Asia Minor
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all the way to Rome to visit Paul in his imprisonment.
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He does, and he's not just bringing a friendly greeting or,
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you know, a care package. No, he is bringing highly
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concerning news. There is a specific, complex
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threat infiltrating this young, vulnerable church.
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Yes, Epifrost brings a report of a highly dangerous toxic
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syncretism. Historians often call it the
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Kalash in heresy. And this wasn't just a simple
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single false teaching, was it? Not at all.
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It was a blended system that drew from multiple contradictory
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sources. It combined Jewish legalism,
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insisting on strict adherence to circumcision, Old Testament
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dietary laws, and the observance of Sabbaths and New moons.
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And it mixed that with Pagan asceticism.
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Right, Yes, harsh treatment of the physical body, Early proto
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Gnostic dualism and Hellenistic mystery religions that practice
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the worship of angels. Trying to visualize that system
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is just dizzying. You have people demanding strict
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adherence to an ancient Jewish calendar while simultaneously
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starving themselves to induce mystical visions of angels.
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All wrapped up in Greek philosophical dualism.
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It sounds like they were taking bits and pieces from every
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religious system available in the local marketplace and just
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mashing them together into a custom built religion.
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And the most insidious part is how they view Jesus Christ.
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These false teachers didn't deny Christ outright.
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Because a full denial would have been too obvious, right?
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The Church would have rejected it immediately.
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Precisely. Instead, they demoted him.
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They presented Christ as just the starting line, or perhaps
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just one of many spiritual emanations bridging the gap
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between God and matter. They claim that while faith in
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Jesus was a fine beginning, to reach true spiritual maturity, A
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believer needed a secret higher knowledge.
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Which they called Gnosis. That along with mystical
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experiences and severe legalistic disciplines.
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They were essentially telling the Colossians Jesus is great
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for beginners, but if you want the advanced class you need our
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secret methods. You know, that sounds remarkably
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similar to the modern spiritual, but not religious trend you see
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everywhere today. Oh, very much so.
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You have people who mix and match horoscopes, Wellness
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retreats, crystals, and fragmented religious ideas from
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various traditions. And they might mention Jesus,
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but they treat him as just one of many spirit guides or
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enlightened teachers on the path to self actualization.
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Yeah, they want the mystical vibe without the objective
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exclusive claims of the biblical Christ.
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So looking at Paul's specific situation, writing from literal
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chains, how does his response expose the fatal flaw in this
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modern, self-centered, comfort driven spirituality?
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Well, it exposes the flaw by showing a staggering contrast in
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priorities. Right here is a man suffering
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under Roman guard, deprived of basic human freedoms, right.
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If modern self-centered spirituality with a standard,
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his prayers would be entirely consumed with his own
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circumstances. He would be praying for release,
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for better food, for comfortable surroundings, or, you know, for
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the downfall of his political enemies.
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Absolutely. But a man's suffering in chains
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doesn't pray for his own release or comfort here.
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He prays for the theological stamina and ethical obedience of
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free believers. That is just incredible.
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It exposes the incredibly shallow nature of modern prayers
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that only ask for a circumstantial relief.
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Paul's deepest concern is not that his chains be removed.
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His concern is that the Colossians would not be taken
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captive by false philosophy. He looks right past his own
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physical imprisonment because he recognizes that theological
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error is a far more dangerous captivity.
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Yes, you can be physically free in Colossae and be a slave to
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heresy, or you can be physically chained in Rome and be
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completely free in the Truth. Which leads us directly into how
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Paul counters this threat. In verse 9.
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He starts laying down the theological bedrock to combat
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this heresy, and he does it by focusing on the mind.
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He begins verse 9 by saying, We have not ceased to pray for you,
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asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will.
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We really need to stop and look at the concept behind the
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original Greek verb used for that you may be filled.
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We do. The way Paul constructs this
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sentence makes it clear that the believers are not the ones doing
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the filling. God does the filling.
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This is what scholars call the divine passive.
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Right. Yes, the divine passive.
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It is a strictly monarchistic work.
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The believer is the recipient of the divine action.
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That is huge because the false teachers were laying out this
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grueling synergistic treadmill. Oh, they definitely were.
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They were telling people to achieve fullness through severe
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diets, Angel worship and intellectual climbing.
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They made spiritual fullness a prize you had to earn through
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bizarre disciplines. But Paul counters that entirely.
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He asserts that God is the one who supplies the filling, and
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what he fills them with is crucial.
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He doesn't pray for them to be filled with vague spiritual
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feelings or ecstatic emotional surges.
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No, he specifies the knowledge of his will.
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And the vocabulary he chooses is laser focused against the
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heretics. The false teachers boasted about
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their secret gnosis, their subjective hidden insights that
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only the elite could attain. Right.
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And Paul counters that by using the intensified compound word
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epignosis. Yes.
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And this doesn't mean speculative guesses, esoteric
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visions, or subjective feelings. Epignesis means a full, precise,
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objective and authoritative grasp of truth.
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Paul asserts that the believers don't need to search for hidden
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keys or higher mystical planes. The objective gospel they
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already received is completely sufficient.
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They just need God to fill our minds with the precise depths of
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it. He also specifies the sphere in
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which this knowledge operates, he says, in all spiritual wisdom
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and understanding. I want to break down those two
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concepts, Sophia and Cynicis, because they show how
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comprehensive this intellectual filling is supposed to be.
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Let's do it. Those terms represent 2 distinct
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but necessary cognitive functions.
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Sophia, translated as wisdom, refers to the comprehensive
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grasp of internal ultimate truths.
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It's the big picture theological framework.
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Yes, it is understanding the grand narrative of redemptive
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history, the nature of God, and the supremacy of Christ.
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And then cynicists translated as understanding refers to
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analytical processing, right? Correct.
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It is the cognitive ability to take those massive biblical
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principles and run them together logically to make a sound
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deduction in real life. It is the application of truth
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to specific daily situations. And Paul specifies that all of
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this is produced by the Holy Spirit.
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This isn't carnal cleverness or academic superiority.
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It is divine intellect imparted to the believer.
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I like to think of Sophia as having a massive garage filled
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with all the right perfectly manufactured parts to build a
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high performance car. You have the engine block, the
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Pistons, the transmission, you possess the ultimate materials.
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Yeah, but Cenesis is possessing the mechanical logic to to
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actually assemble those parts together in the correct order.
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So the engine fires up and the car actually runs down the
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street. Spot on.
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You need both the comprehensive materials and the analytical
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logic to apply them. Without Sophia you have nothing
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to build with. Without synthesis, you just have
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a pile of expensive parts sitting on the floor.
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But let me play devil's advocate based on how our modern culture
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thinks. In today's climate,
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intellectualism is often viewed as cold, dead, or overly
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academic. Right you.
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Hear that a lot? People say don't put God in a
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theological box, just love him. So doesn't focusing so intensely
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on the mind, on precise, objective truth, run the risk of
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stripping away the heart and emotion of genuine faith?
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I reject that modern mystical notion completely.
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The idea that spiritual growth requires emptying the mind or
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bypassing the intellect is a highly dangerous falsehood.
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It really is. True biblical spirituality is
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intensely intellectual. Yeah.
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You cannot live a life pleasing to God if your mind is not
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saturated with His precise, objective truth.
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The mind is the necessary gateway to the heart.
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Absolutely. You cannot truly love a God you
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don't accurately know. If you bypass the mind and rely
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only on subjective feelings, you are not worshipping the God of
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the Bible, you are worshipping a projection of your own emotions.
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Yeah, intellectual apprehension of sound doctrine is the fuel
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that produces white hot devotion in the heart.
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Emotion without truth is just blind sentimentality.
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It's like finding out a relative left you $10 million in their
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will. The sheer intellectual knowledge
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of that objective fact is what produces the massive emotional
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response of joy and relief. The truth precedes the feeling.
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Always. And the goal of this
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intellectual filling is never to just win theological trivia
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games or act superior. The argument moves seamlessly
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from the mind to the feet. Verse 10 outlines the final
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target of all this theological precision.
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Right, the syntax flows Florida State into the application, he
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prays. They would be filled with
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precise knowledge for a highly specific purpose, to walk in a
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manner worthy of the Lord. The vast theological reservoir
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in the mind is designed to produce a radical behavioral
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change in daily life. And when you dig into the
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historical background of the Greek word used for worthily, it
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conjures the image of a balance scale, like a merchant weighing
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out grain or gold in an ancient marketplace.
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The imagery is incredibly vivid. On one side of the scale you
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have your lofty theological confession, the epignesis of
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God's will, your belief in the absolute supremacy of Christ,
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your grasp of double imputation. And on the level side of the
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scale, you have your daily observable conduct.
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Yes, Your private life, your business ethics, how you speak
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to your spouse, how you treat your employees.
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The Word demands that the behavioral side weigh the same
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as the doctrinal side. The daily conduct of a believer
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must balance perfectly with their confession.
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That paints A convicting picture.
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You can't have 50 lbs of systematic theology on one side
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of the scale and only 2 ounces of patience and kindness on the
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other. No, you can't, and Paul
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describes what this balanced walk looks like, using beautiful
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organic terms, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing
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in the knowledge of God. Original language indicates
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continuous habitual action. This is an organic circle of
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fruitfulness. Knowledge of God produces A
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worthy walk which yields good works, which in turn leads to a
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deeper, more intimate knowledge of God.
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It destroys the sterile mechanical rule keeping of the
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false teachers. It really does.
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They offered rigid list. Do not touch, do not taste, do
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not handle. Paul describes a living,
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breathing tree that naturally produces continuous fruit
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because its roots are submerged in divine truth.
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But as Protestants, our central thesis, ISIS, is justification
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by faith alone. So when I see a text
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aggressively demanding every good work and telling believers
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they must be fully pleasing him, the tension is obvious.
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I see where you're going. Are we sliding back into a works
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based system here? How do we reconcile this intense
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demand for daily behavioral obedience with the absolute
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bedrock truth that salvation is by faith alone, apart from human
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works? We reconcile it by clearly
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distinguishing between the root and the fruit.
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Works never justify A Sinner before holy God.
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Never. Justification is an
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instantaneous forensic declaration based solely on the
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imputed righteousness of Christ received by faith alone.
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However, a justified person will always inevitably produce good
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works. The works are the visible
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evidence, the necessary fruit of a sovereignly regenerated heart.
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Yes, the same God who justifies also sanctifies.
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The good works are the proof of life, not the purchase price of
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life. A dead apple tree produces no
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apples. A living apple tree produces
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apples because of its nature. And understanding this
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distinction allows us to deliver a dual critique against two
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major errors prevalent today. Let's talk about those first.
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It critiques dead orthodoxy. Yeah, there are people who brag
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about knowing deep theology, who can debate historical doctrines
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perfectly, but who act harshly at home, cheat in their business
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dealings, or cause bitter divisions in the local church.
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Their scales do not balance. Not at all.
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Their lack of fruit exposes a severe deficiency in their
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supposed knowledge. It is treating theology as an
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academic hobby rather than submitting to it as a sovereign
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master. That makes a lot of sense.
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So what is the second critique? The second critique lands
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heavily against modern seeker sensitive pragmatism.
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Oh yeah. This movement measures the
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success of a church by the size of the crowd, the production
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value of the music, and the emotional response of the
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audience. They prioritize whatever
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pragmatic strategy draws the most people, often watering down
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the objective truth of Scripture to avoid offending the culture.
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The pulses. The standard is walking worthily
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and pleasing the Lord in every respect through quiet, holy
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obedience. Pragmatism asks what works to
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build an audience. Biblical Christianity asks what
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pleases the Lord of the universe?
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It takes the focus off visible earthly metrics and places it
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entirely on the daily integrity of the believer's walk.
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Exactly. I mean spot on.
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But let's be honest about the reality of the Christian life.
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Walking worthily in a fallen world, surrounded by hostility,
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temptation and our own remaining sin is utterly exhausting.
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It is draining we. Cannot sustain that balance
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scale on our own. We will burn out if we try to
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generate that kind of obedience from our own willpower.
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Paul knows this, which is why verse 11 addresses the true
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source of spiritual stamina. Verse 11 speaks of being
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strengthened with All Might. And again, the grammar points to
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an outside source. It does.
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The word for might here means raw manifest might.
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It is paired with a term that refers to God's weight bearing
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glory. So the standard of our strength
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is not our own willpower or our psychological resilience.
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It is the glorious omnipotence of God Himself continuously
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supplied to us. Right, and when humans think
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about asking God for divine might, we usually have a very
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specific flashy picture in mind. We want superhero abilities, we
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want the strengths to fly away from our problems, or the
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capacity to smash through our obstacles so we don't have to
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deal with them anymore. We want the hostile boss fired,
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the chronic illness vanished, the bank account filled.
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But what is this divine might actually use for according to
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Paul? That is the most shocking part
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of the prayer. Paul says This divine
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omnipotence is supplied for steadfastness and
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long-suffering. It is not for spectacular
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theatrical miracles. The first term, hypomony,
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translates to steadfastness or endurance under crushing,
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unchangeable circumstances. It is the capacity to hold up
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under a heavy load without breaking.
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Think of a devastating medical diagnosis or a financial
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collapse. And the second term,
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macrothymia, translates to long-suffering, specifically
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dealing with difficult, provoking antagonistic people
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without retaliating. Think of the hostile Co worker,
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the mocking neighbor or the rebellious child.
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And crucially, it must be done with joy.
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Adding with joy prevents this endurance from souring into a
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grim, stoic resentment. You aren't just gritting your
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teeth, surviving the day while secretly hating everyone around
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you. You are enduring the crushing
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weight with a genuine Christ exalting joy.
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God doesn't give us the ability to instantly vaporize the
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hurricane. No, he doesn't.
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Instead, he supplies the structural integrity of an iron
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pillar. The winds are howling, the
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debris is flying. The circumstances are absolutely
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terrifying, but the iron pillar stands firm, completely unmoved
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by the chaos around it. That structural integrity is the
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omnipotence of God at work and the believer is vital to apply a
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strict cessationist view to this verse.
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How so? Well, in the modern era, many
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people have been taught that the supreme manifestation of the
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Holy Spirit in the Church Age is seen through ecstatic Babble,
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dramatic faith healings, or alleged new prophecies.
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They look for the spectacular and the bizarre.
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Yeah, that is very common. But Paul locates the greatest
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display of divine omnipotence in a completely different sphere.
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The true, undeniable miracle is a believer enduring severe
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affliction, grief, or relentless persecution with supernatural
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joyous patience. When a Christian suffers A
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devastating loss and continues to praise the sovereignty of God
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without bitterness, the world witnesses a display of divine
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might that no fraudulent faith healer could ever replicate.
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We have to redefine what a miracle looks like in the daily
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life of the Church. The miracle is the quiet,
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unbreakable steadfastness of a St. under pressure.
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And this steadfastness, this joyful endurance, flows directly
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into the climax of the entire prayer in verse 12.
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The final action in this chain is giving thanks to the Father.
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This grounds the entire ethical walk, all the endurance, and all
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the fruitfulness and gratitude for an objective reality.
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Verse 12 gives the specific reason for this Thanksgiving,
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giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the
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inheritance of the Saints in light.
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We must focus intensely on the concept of God qualifying us.
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The grammar here denotes a completed historical event.
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It is an action that is finished and stands as an accomplished
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fact in the past. Yes, that grammatical reality is
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a death blow to any synergistic theology.
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It shatters it completely. Because synergism teaches that
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salvation is a cooperative effort between God and man, it
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suggests that God does his part, and then we must do our part to
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maintain our justification or finalize our standing, right?
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It relies on a system of human merit, cooperating with divine
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grace. But Paul says the Father has
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already qualified us. We do not work to qualify
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ourselves. There is no progressive
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qualification. There is no future purgatory
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required to purge away remaining sins so we can finally be fit
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for Heaven. The qualification is a completed
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historical reality. For a Sinner who by nature is a
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child of wrath, to be instantly and permanently qualified sounds
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impossible. How does the mechanics of that
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actually work? It happens through the glorious
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reality of double imputation. Think of it as a legal forensic
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courtroom declaration combined with a transfer of financial
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ledgers. OK, lay that out for us.
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Our sins, our guilt, and our total lack of qualification were
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imputed or legally credited to Jesus Christ on the cross.
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He absorbed the full wrath of God in our place, paying the
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debt we owed. Simultaneously, Christ's perfect
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lifelong act of obedience and spotless righteousness were
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imputed to us. Through faith alone.
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We are clothed in the righteousness of the sun.
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Therefore, the believer is instantly, forensically and
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permanently qualified for the inheritance.
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God the Father looks at the believer and sees the perfect
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qualification of Jesus Christ. And this inheritance is
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described as belonging to the Saints in light.
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There is a massive redemptive historical shift happening here
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that we cannot miss, especially given the false teachers in
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colossi pushing Jewish legalism. In the Old Testament, the
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concept of inheritance was tied to a physical, earthly
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geopolitical territory. For national Israel, it was tied
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to the land of Canaan, physical descendants of Abraham, and a
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specific earthly temple. But here Paul is writing to a
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church composed largely of Gentiles in Asia Minor.
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Yes, he explains that the inheritance is no longer an
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earthly piece of real estate, but a spiritual heavenly
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citizenship for the church. The Father has brought Gentile
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believers directly into the promise, making them Co heirs
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with Christ without them needing to submit to Jewish ceremonial
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laws, dietary restrictions or physical circumcision.
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The inheritance is entirely spiritual and eternal, located
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in the Kingdom of Light. For the Colossians, who are
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constantly being harassed by false teachers telling them they
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were second class citizens unless they follow the Jewish
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calendar and worship angels, this would have been an
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incredible comfort. Oh, absolutely, But this brings
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up a crucial question regarding human motivation.
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If my qualification is a completed fact in the past and
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my standing is permanently secure through double
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imputation, why shouldn't I just relax?
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That is the common objection. If I am already qualified, what
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drives the continuous effort of the worthy walk?
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Why strive for good works or endure suffering with joy if my
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ticket is already punched? That question exposes the
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difference between a mercenary and a true a mercenary only
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works to earn a wage or out of fear of being fired or punished.
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But forensic justification produces overwhelming, heart
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shattering gratitude. Yes.
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We do not obey out of fear of losing our status, nor do we
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obey to earn a higher rank. We obey because we are utterly
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stunned by the sheer magnitude of sovereign grace.
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When you realize that you were a dead, condemned rebel and the
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father unilaterally qualified you at the cost of his own son's
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blood, the only logical response is a lifetime of joyful
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submission. Our daily conduct, our good
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works, our endurance under trial, all of it is an
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outpouring of worship for a secured inheritance.
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Gratitude is the engine of Christian obedience.
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Let's. Synthesize the golden chain laid
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out by Paul here, because it's a flawless progression.
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It really is. It starts with a monarchistic
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work, God filling the believer with precise, objective
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intellect, the authoritative knowledge of his will.
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This divine intellect fuels a worthy walk, bringing the
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balance scales of confession and conduct into alignment.
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That walk produces continuous fruit which is sustained by
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divine stamina, the iron pillar of joyful endurance under
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crushing circumstances. And this entire cycle culminates
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in unceasing, joyful gratitude to the Father for a completed
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forensic qualification. It is an unbreakable logical
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chain that leaves absolutely no room for human boasting,
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mystical subjectivism or pragmatic manipulation.
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It relies entirely on the sufficiency of Christ and the
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objective truth of His Word. As we wrap up this deep dive
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into Colossians, I want to leave you with a searching thought
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drawn directly from this text. What is it?
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Take a hard look at your own private prayers this week.
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If someone wrote them down on paper and analyze them
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objectively, what would they reveal about your theology?
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Would they reveal a desperate hunger for the knowledge of
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God's will, a desire for ethical obedience, and a plea for the
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stamina to endure difficult people with joy?
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Or would they reveal a heart concerned only with
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circumstantial comfort, physical health and earthly success?
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The content of our prayers exposes the true anchor of our
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theology. Let Paul's prison borne
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intercession recalibrate the desires of your heart, pulling
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you away from a human centered religion and grounding you in
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the objective sufficiency of Christ.
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Thank you for joining us on Reformed Thinking.
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We encourage you to look back into the objective truth of
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Scripture, recognizing that the Father has already qualified you
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and that reality changes absolutely everything about how
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you walk today.