New Testament

Colossians 4

Chains, Prayer, and Communion

7 passages

Overview

Writing from imprisonment, Paul calls the Colossians to watchful, grateful prayer ordered toward the proclamation of the Gospel, instructs masters to treat those under their authority justly before God, and closes with commendations of his emissaries, mutual accountability among neighboring churches, and a handwritten farewell that grounds the letter's lofty theology in the concrete reality of his chains and the grace of Christ.

Passages

1The Master Who Answers to a Master 2–4Open the Door: Prayer, Vigilance, and the Mystery Proclaimed 5–6Wise and Gracious Conduct Toward Outsiders 7–9Bearers of the Word: Tychicus and Onesimus as Apostolic Messengers 10–14A Cloud of Witnesses: Fellowship in the Work of the Kingdom 15–17The Circulating Word: Communion, Accountability, and the Ministry Entrusted 18The Prisoner's Seal: Paul's Final Word

Study Resources

No study guides, devotionals, or teaching outlines have been created for this chapter yet.

Colossians 4

¹Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

²Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving, ³praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds, ⁴that I may reveal it as I ought to speak.

⁵Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. ⁶Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

⁷All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord. ⁸I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts, ⁹together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here.

¹⁰Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received instructions, “if he comes to you, receive him”), ¹¹and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for God’s Kingdom who are of the circumcision, men who have been a comfort to me.

¹²Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. ¹³For I testify about him that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis. ¹⁴Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you. ¹⁵Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, with Nymphas and the assembly that is in his house. ¹⁶When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans, and that you also read the letter from Laodicea. ¹⁷Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.”

¹⁸I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Amen.

Colossians 3