Institute for Colossians Studies

Bruno of Cologne (c. 1030–1101), master of the cathedral school at Reims and founder of the Carthusian order, is the name attached to a commentary on the Pauline epistles printed in Patrologia Latina 153. But the attribution is not secure. The work belongs to the Carthusian milieu and may come from Bruno’s school rather than his own hand. The exposition of Colossians proceeds phrase by phrase.

SOURCE: Bruno the Carthusian. “Expositio in Epistolam ad Colossenses.” In Opera omnia. Patrologia Latina 153, edited by Jacques-Paul Migne, cols. 373–397. Paris: Garnier Frères, 1880. Internet Archive.

TRANSLATION: Bruno the Carthusian. Exposition on the Epistle to the Colossians. Translated by Phil Thompson. Greenville, SC: Institute for Colossians Studies, 2026.

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Text

[unnumbered page]

12TH CENTURY THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ST. BRUNO FOUNDER OF THE CARTHUSIANS AND OF THE PRINCIPAL CARTHUSIAN FATHERS OF THE SAME CENTURY NOW COLLECTED FOR THE FIRST TIME INTO ONE VOLUME FROM VARIOUS EDITIONS OF BETTER NOTE UNDER THE CARE OF J.-P. MIGNE, EDITOR OF THE UNIVERSAL LIBRARY OF THE CLERGY OR COMPLETE COURSES IN INDIVIDUAL BRANCHES OF ECCLESIASTICAL SCIENCE. VOLUME TWO OF ST. BRUNO; THE ONLY VOLUME OF THE OTHERS PARIS AT GARNIER BROTHERS, EDITORS AND SUCCESSORS TO J.-P. MIGNE, ON THE STREET CALLED: AVENUE DU MAINE, 189, FORMERLY CHAUSSÉE DU MAINE, 127 — 1880

[page 373]

Argument to the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians.

The Colossians, just like the Laodiceans, are Asians; and they had been preempted by false apostles. The Apostle did not go to them, but rather he corrects them as well by means of an Epistle. For they had heard the word from Archippus, who also received a ministry toward them. Therefore the Apostle, already in chains, writes to them from Ephesus, through Tychicus the deacon, and Onesimus the acolyte.

Prologue of Blessed Bruno to the Same.

These Colossians were Asians, neighbors to the Laodiceans, to whom John writes in the Apocalypse along with the other Churches, and to whom Paul similarly wrote an Epistle because they were similarly being tempted by false apostles, and he commanded that the Epistle to the Colossians be read in the Church of the Laodiceans, and vice versa. However, Paul had not preached to these Colossians, nor had he come to them; rather, Archippus, a disciple of Paul, and perhaps the son of Philemon, to whom Paul writes to reconcile Onesimus, had preached to them and converted them to the faith. When they were already thus advanced in the faith, a certain Epaphras, born from the same people and also instructed by Paul in the faith, arrived, affirming what Archippus had preached to them. His fellow citizens gladly listened to him, and through him they received an increase in faith. But while they were flourishing in the faith, walking according to the teaching of Archippus and Epaphras, false apostles arrived, preaching the law to them. The people, still uninstructed, thinking that these men ought to be listened to no less than the former ones, were almost beginning to consent to them. But Epaphras, hearing that the Apostle was nearby at Ephesus, went over to him, reporting the order of events to him, and asking him to confirm his preaching and that of Archippus by a letter sent to them, but to condemn the faction of those who were contradicting them. On this occasion, Paul writes this Epistle to them, in which he has Christ and the law as his subject matter; for the former were preaching Christ, while the latter were preaching the law. He deals with them in this way by approving the faith of Christ with many clear reasons, and by condemning the law as something that must no longer be kept. With this intention, he deals with both subjects in such a way that he establishes them in the purity of faith, which is Christ.

Colossians 1:1–29

[page 375]

Expositio

“Paul,” etc. Because his authority was necessary here, he did not omit his title of dignity, saying: “Paul, an apostle,” not of the law, but “of Christ Jesus.” An apostle, I say, “by the will of God.” Know that whoever contradicts me, contradicts the will of God as well: but whoever contradicts Archippus and Epaphras, my disciples and co-workers, contradicts me and God as well. “Paul,” I say, “and Timothy the brother,” write “to those who are at Colossae.” To these I say, “to the saints,” that is, to those who have been sanctified and confirmed in the righteousness of faith. “To the saints,” I say, “and faithful brothers,” that is, to the less perfect. I say to the saints and faithful “in Christ Jesus,” because if Christ Jesus is sufficient to sanctify you, in vain do you wish to lay hold of the law. He places Timothy with him in the greeting because he was known to them, and they held him in great authority. Here, however, only authority was needed. For they were not contradicting Peter or Paul, or anyone preaching Christ, but they simply supposed that those false apostles were from Paul in the same way that those true ones were. Paul, I say, and Timothy write thus. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father,” as has often been explained.

Now, first of all, he commends their faith, which Archippus and Epaphras had handed down to them, saying: “Hearing of your faith, we give thanks to God”: for which I certainly would not give thanks if it were imperfect. But “we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” whose faith was handed down to you. Just as I consent to Him, so do Christ and His Father, God. See to it that you negligent disciples do not despise me, your teacher, because if you despise me, you also despise Christ and His Father, God. We “give thanks,” “praying for you,” that you may progress in the faith you have received, which I certainly would not pray for unless I approved of this faith. “Praying,” I say, not rarely, “but always.” See to it that you do not make the labor of my prayer useless.

He immediately adds why he gives thanks by commending the faith as Archippus and Epaphras had handed it down to them, saying: “We give thanks, hearing of your faith,” that it is “in Christ Jesus, and” hearing of the good effect of your faith, namely the love “that you have toward all the saints,” with whom you share out of your charity. A love, I say, possessed “on account of the hope,” that is, on account of the thing hoped for; which hope is “laid up,” that is, hidden for you and reserved in a place as worthy as “in the heavens.” By saying that the thing hoped for is laid up and hidden, he commends the merit of those who hope from God for what they have neither seen nor heard. When he says “in the heavens,” he shows the dignity of the hoped-for thing from the place in which it is going to be. They might say: This hope is obtained from the law. To this Paul says: The thing hoped for which you “both heard” and understood “in the word of truth.” Nor was this truth in the law, but it is the word of the truth “of the Gospel.” For the law is the word of falsehood, but the Gospel is the word of truth. Again they might say: We prefer not to obey you rather than to receive an unheard-of thing. To this Paul answers: Which “Gospel” [page 377] (having already passed through many Churches) “has come to you.” Will you then reject what every Church holds? Again they might say: It has certainly come to us, but not as complete as to others. To this he says: It “has come” to you indeed, “just as” it has come “into the whole world.” For the whole world is going after Christ in this same faith which they handed down to you. It “has come,” I say, “and is,” that is, it remains so in the whole world, “and it is bearing fruit” by doing good works, “and growing” both in number and in the knowledge of God. Not through anything other than what “was handed down to you, but just as those men laid it down in you.” They might say: It is indeed growing in us, but we want to hear those who have newly come in. By no means, says Paul, but it grows “from the day that you heard” the faith from Archippus, “and understood” through the testimonies of the Scriptures, which proved to you “the grace of God which is in faith.” For the grace of the law consists in the hand cutting off the foreskin of an old woman.

“The grace of God,” I say, “in truth”; believe me, for this is the true grace of God. The grace of the law was a shadow. “You heard,” I say, and just “as you learned,” and it is certainly shameful to have learned what you would then abandon, and vice versa. “You learned,” I say, “from Epaphras our most beloved, who serves Christ in the Gospel just as Peter or I do.” Therefore, do not listen to him any less. They might say: You call him a fellow servant, but he ministered other things to us that he did not learn from you. By no means, says Paul, because “he is a faithful minister,” adding nothing, diminishing nothing. A minister, I say, “of Christ Jesus,” that is, either because he ministers Christ, or because Christ appointed him as a minister, or he is a minister for the honor of Christ. And that he is a minister is certainly “for you,” who are his people, because unless it were for your love, I believe he would not minister. “He also made known to us,” not your hatred, not your dissension, but that “your love” is “in the Spirit,” that is, contemning carnal things, loving spiritual things.

Having shown why he gives thanks along with his approval of the faith they had received, he adds what he prays for them, inserting a condemnation of the law, saying: And because he has made known to us your love in the Spirit, “therefore we pray for you and do not cease praying, from the day that we heard” of your faith and love. “Praying,” I say, “and asking,” that is, as something owed to your righteousness, asking with confidence “that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will,” that is, that you may fully know the will of God. “May you be filled,” I say, “in all wisdom.” He places wisdom here as knowledge, and what he says “in all wisdom” has the same force as in all knowledge of the active life. May you be filled also “in all spiritual understanding” so that, just as in bodily matters, you may understand the will of God in spiritual matters. “So that,” understanding His will, “you may walk in all things,” that is, that you may work well. “May you walk,” I say, “worthily of God,” that is, that you may be worthy to have God. Or, worthily of God so that God may judge it worthy to dwell in you. I say that you, by walking in this way, may be “pleasing.” Or, that you may walk, pleasing Him “in all things,” which has the same meaning. Nor should you wish to stop in your walking, but rather “bearing fruit in every good work,” that is, having growth. I say that you, by bearing fruit in this way, may be “growing in the knowledge of God,” that is, in the knowledge of the divine essence, which no one can have unless he first performs the works that belong to God; for one does not ascend through knowledge to works, but through premised works to knowledge. This knowledge of God and the recognition of His will which he put forth earlier differ greatly from each other: for there he states what God wants and what He does not want, which is easily clear to anyone; but here he appropriately ascends to the knowledge of the divine essence, which purity of life opens up. For the will of God must first be understood; once it is understood, one must walk in it, and not stop there, but bear fruit toward something better. Then at last the entrance to the knowledge of the divine essence lies open. After arriving there, it only remains to persevere. Hence he says: After you have borne fruit and grown in the knowledge of God, be “strengthened,” that is, made robust and persevering, “in all power,” that is, in humility, temperance, and whatever other virtues there are.

“Strengthened,” I say, “according to His power,” that is, strengthened just as He is powerful to strengthen you. “The power,” I say, “of His glory,” that is, the power that has glorified you. For He who glorified you as justified men when you were in the darkness of sins, will be able and ought to more easily perfect you now that you are just. I say in all power, namely “strengthened in all patience and longsuffering with joy.” Because he saw these two virtues as more necessary for persevering, he therefore subjoins “in all patience,” that is, so that just as we suffer the bitterness of evils, so we may also suffer reproaches. For he who does not want to suffer contends and strikes back, and thus love perishes. He also added “in longsuffering.” For he who is not longsuffering in enduring, if his reward is delayed, casts off the burden of God, and thus every virtue perishes in him. Again, it is a bad thing to be patient and longsuffering unless it is out of a willing mind, and therefore he adds “with joy,” so that they may not be saddened, but rejoice to suffer and wait a long time.

Now he wishes to condemn the law for them, saying that he and the other apostles who were born in the law, because they were then in darkness, have abandoned the law and “give thanks to God” because He called them to the faith; and if the natural followers of the law abandon it and cling to the faith, it is foolish for those who were never in the law, and who have received the faith, to confound the purity of the faith by the admission of the law. Hence he says this: We do not cease praying for you and “giving thanks to God the Father, who made us worthy to share in the lot,” that is, the participation of the inheritance “of the saints,” that is, what the saints are going to have. I say that He has placed us “in the light,” that is, in true knowledge. Or “in the light,” that is, in Christ illuminating us. He says “the Father” according to the different possessors, not because there are separated parts there, since there is one beatitude for everyone. He calls the inheritance of the saints a “lot,” because it is not given by human merit, but by lot, that is, by divine election. He adds how He made them worthy of this lot, saying: He placed us in the light, “He who first rescued us from the power of darkness,” that is, of demons or of sins, or of ignominy. He calls it a power because human strength by itself could not escape it. “And” having rescued us, He “transferred,” that is, transformed us, [page 379] “into the kingdom of the Son,” so that His Son might reign in us. I say of the Son “of His love.” For all apart from this one were children of wrath. For all were born in sin; but this one alone is the Son of His love, because He is immune from sin. Concerning Him the Father says: “This is my beloved Son,” etc. (Matt 317). He adds the manner of the rescue “In whom,” the Son, “we have redemption”; for the price of blood given on the cross is sufficient for all. Through Him we also have “the remission of sins” in baptism; “who,” the Son according to His divine nature, “is the image of the invisible God,” that is, the full representation of the Father, because whatever is in the Father is entirely in the Son; yet He is not an image in such a way that He is something else, except regarding the distinction of persons, but He is a full identity in substance. We can construe it either as “the invisible image of God,” or “the image of the invisible God.” And in these words we have the Son as consubstantial with the Father, because if all things concerning the substance of the Son are said concerning the substance of the Father, He is certainly consubstantial with Him.

The Son, I say, “the firstborn of all creation,” that is, begotten from the Father before every creature; He alone is begotten, while the rest are created, not begotten by Him; nor is He Himself created, and in these words we have Him coeternal with the Father. Truly He was begotten before every creature, “because all things were created in Him,” that is, through Him, according to that word: “You have made all things in wisdom” (Ps 10424), that is, in the Son. “All things,” I say, because “things visible and invisible in the heavens,” such as angels, the sun, and the moon, and things visible and invisible on earth, such as the spirits of animals, and all earthly bodies. I rightly say “in the heavens,” because “whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created through Him,” and so through Him that the created things are contained “in Him,” that is, within His amplitude; for He is inside all things and yet outside them. And “He Himself is before all things” in dignity according to both natures, “and all” created things “hold together in Him,” that is, they have their existence through Him. For just as they could not exist except through Him, so created things cannot hold together except through Him, and Christ Himself “is the head,” that is, the beginning and the governance “of the Church.” He states it thus The head “of the body of the Church,” because just as the human body has all its senses in the head, so the Church has all its powers in Christ, its head, its beginning, and its ruler. Someone might object: Why do you call Christ the head of the Church, when Abel and many righteous men preceded Him in time? He answers it in this way: He is truly the head of the Church, “because He is the beginning” of the Church. For although many saints preceded the flesh of Christ in time, they would never have been saved unless through faith they were members of Christ the head. Therefore He could be the head of the Church, because “He is the firstborn from the dead.” For He was the very first of all to rise from the dead. And “firstborn,” because He Himself holds the entire inheritance of the Father. And whoever has anything from it, must have it from Him. Just as the firstborn son has the entire inheritance of the father, and no one has anything except from him. Nor is this firstborn one to be rejected, like Esau; but He is “firstborn” in such a way “that He Himself might hold the primacy in all” created things. For He has been established as the Prince of all; therefore “holding the primacy, because it pleased” God the Father to have “the fullness” of all good things dwell “in Him,” the Son, as John says: “From His fullness we have all received” (John 1:16). And it pleased God through that Son “to reconcile all things to Himself,” both Gentiles and Jews.

“All things,” however, I say, remaining “in Him.” For whoever does not remain in Him will be without a share in the reconciliation. It pleased Him to reconcile, “making peace” between the world and Himself, or between the Jews and Gentiles among themselves, not by blood poured out in some honorable kind of death, but “by the blood of His cross”; which kind of death was the most contemptible. “Making peace,” I say, with God, “whether things on earth or things in heaven,” that is, the saints whose souls already reign in the heavens, “or things on earth,” that is, those who are still journeying on earth. Or like this: “Whether things in heaven,” that is, angels, “or things on earth,” that is, men. Before Christ there was discord between angels and men: but once man was justified, he immediately had peace with the angel. Now at last he descends to the point he intended from the preceding remarks, saying: He has made peace for us Jews, and He has similarly reconciled you Gentiles. “You,” I say, “although,” that is, even though, “you were formerly,” that is, in the time of your unbelief, “alienated from God” through ignorance: “and you were enemies,” that is, you harbored enmity toward God, “in your mind,” that is, out of your own will. Enemies also “in evil works.” Or, even though you were enemies in your mind, nevertheless He reconciled you, “and now He has reconciled you in the body,” not yet immortal, but the body “of His flesh,” that is, still mortal. And if He did this in a mortal body, what will He do in an immortal one? Far more. He reconciled you in the body “through death,” for in order to reconcile you, He was willing to suffer death, that is, so as “to present you holy” by the placement of virtues, “and immaculate” by the removal of evils, “and blameless before Him,” God. So that not even His subtlety (to whose eyes all things are naked) might find anything in them to blame. I say He will present you thus, however, “if you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith.” And if you remain “stable,” as much as lies in you. “And immovable,” if a persecutor threatens, “from the hope,” that is, from the hoped-for thing. “The hope,” I say, “of the Gospel,” that is, the hoped-for beatitude which the Gospel promises; which “Gospel you heard” from our disciples. And you ought not to refute it, because all the righteous receive it in this way. And he says it like this: Which “Gospel has been preached to every creature,” and remains so in every creature. He calls the righteous a “creature” by excellence, because although all are creatures of God, nevertheless by a certain privilege the righteous are called a creature in whom the prior generation, which was in the sin of the flesh, has been wiped away through baptism, and the newness of faith has begotten them as new sons in Christ. Hence he speaks thus: “In every creature,” that is, in all the righteous who have been made a new creature in the faith of Christ. “Every,” I say, not of one region, but “which is under heaven.” Or like this: The creature “which is under heaven,” that is, which is still journeying in the world, soon, by the merit of faith, to be transferred above the heavens. And in this word he commends the faith to them sufficiently.

Now he establishes his own authority, which was necessary for their confirmation, saying: Of which “Gospel [page 381] I, Paul” (whose authority it is not lawful to oppose), “was made by God,” certainly not the giver, “but a minister”; “who also,” so that I might magnify the Gospel, “now rejoice in my sufferings,” placed as I am in chains, and I rejoice in those sufferings “for your sake,” to instruct you. For if they saw Paul fleeing to avoid suffering for the faith, they would disparage the faith from Paul himself, who would be showing in himself that it is not worth suffering for. I rejoice, I say, and rejoicing “I fill up what is still lacking of the afflictions of Christ,” and what remains for me to fulfill. He calls his own afflictions those of Christ, both because Christ instituted that he should suffer thus, and because he suffers for the name of Christ. He says he fills them up because he is proceeding to death, in which is the consummation of afflictions. Or like this: “I fill up what is still lacking of the afflictions of Christ.” Christ had many afflictions, suffering reproaches, harassments, and scourgings, and ultimately, death. In the same way, Paul had suffered reproaches, beatings, and many afflictions, and he was hastening toward death, so that just as Christ died for him, he himself might die for Christ. I fill up the afflictions of Christ: not in the loss of property, not in reproaches alone, but “in my flesh.” For I present my flesh itself for punishment, and this “for the sake of His body,” namely, by multiplying Christ. Not for the body which was received above the heavens, but “for the body which is the Church.” He could have simply said “for the Church”; but when he says: “For His body which is the Church,” he greatly commended the faith, which makes a person a member of this body, whose head is Christ. Of which Church again “I have become a minister according to the dispensation,” because I know how to dispense to each one according to his measure; to this one a greater grace, to that one a lesser grace. “The dispensation,” I say, “of God,” that is, because I either dispense God Himself, or because God has appointed me as a dispenser, “according to the dispensation which has been given to me for you.” This seems to be superfluous, “which has been given to me for you,” since he had said “according to the dispensation”; but to some a dispensation was handed over who nevertheless, being preempted by martyrdom, did not have the time to dispense it; but Paul both received the office of dispensing and was given the opportunity to dispense.

Although it was not directly to them, he nevertheless says that a dispensation was given to him for them, because they belong to his apostolate and were instructed through his disciples. It was given to me for this reason, “that I might fulfill the word of God,” which He both spoke from eternity, and prophesied in time through His prophets. Paul asserts himself to be of great authority with God, when he says that through him is being fulfilled what was predicted so many ages ago, and which had remained unfulfilled until him, namely, the salvation of the Gentiles. The word of God, I say, that is, “the mystery that was hidden from past ages,” and hidden from the ages in such a way that it was also hidden “from generations,” that is, so that whoever was in a prior generation would be ignorant of this secret. Although a few recognized it then, even these were to be justified through the coming faith, such as Abraham. It was once hidden, “but now,” in the days of grace, “it has been manifested to His saints,” namely, Christ’s saints, and not to everyone, but to those “to whom God willed.” As it appeared there, when the disciples rebuked Peter because he had received the Gentile Cornelius, not yet fully recognizing the mystery of God concerning the salvation of the Gentiles; “to whom” God “willed to make known the riches of glory.” “Riches,” because the gifts of God are infinite; “of glory,” because there is glory in all of them. “The riches,” I say, “of this mystery,” of which I have become a minister. I say of the “mystery among the Gentiles”; for the salvation of the Gentiles was hidden from almost everyone, but the mystery is not spoken of concerning the salvation of the Jews, because Christ was promised openly to them in the law, whereas God was not among the Gentiles, “which mystery is Christ,” who was promised under a mystery in the law. “Christ,” I say, “the hope of glory among you,” that is, in whom you are permitted to hope for every glory unto the remission of sins, and righteousness of life, and future glory. “Whom,” namely such a hope of all (future) glory, “we proclaim,” with all confidence “warning every man and teaching,” warning the one wandering from the truth, or contradicting the faith. Teaching even the one who knows nothing, or still understands things simply, “warning and teaching in all wisdom,” that is, concerning both bodily and spiritual things, for this reason, “so that we may present” not only the Jew, but “every man,” neither the Gentile less, nor the Jew more perfectly; but “every” man equally “perfect in Christ Jesus,” who alone suffices for perfection. “For which,” that is, for which purpose, so that I may present every man perfect, I not only “warn and teach, but I also labor, struggling.” He labors by fasting, keeping watch, and through things of this kind he struggles against persecutors by enduring, and against false apostles by confirming the faith. “I labor” and “struggle,” acting “according to His working which He works in me in power” of miracles, that is, God so cooperates with me in labor and struggle, as He does in the working of miracles, wherein even unbelievers confess that the power of God is in me.

Colossians 2:1-23 [page 383]

Expositio

For this reason “I labor and struggle,” because “I have a deep concern for you, and I want you to know how great,” that is, how infinite, “a concern I have for you” to confirm you, “and for those who are at Laodicea.” Whom he armed against the same thing through an Epistle sent to them. I am concerned also “for those” neighbors of yours, “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.” For by reputation they have seen me; therefore I have a concern “so that their hearts may be comforted,” that is, their own hearts. I say their hearts, “instructed through me in love,” that is, in the love of God, so that remembering that Christ suffered for them out of love alone, they might be ignited by the love of Him, hastening to meet Him by suffering. “Instructed,” I say, in love, and instructed “in the knowledge of the mystery of God,” so that they may know certain mysteries (secrets) of God. For example, how the Trinity is in the Unity, and vice versa, or something of this sort. For if anyone knows any mystery of God, through this he will certainly be augmented in his love for Him. And because human sense cannot penetrate to invisible things except through visible ones, he premises: instructed in love “and into all,” that is, passing through all “the riches of the full assurance of understanding: all the riches,” so that they may know something about all things, even if not perfectly; “of full assurance,” so that they may have complete knowledge about individual things. Or of full assurance, so that concerning three or four things they may fully know all the riches, so that they may have complete knowledge about all things. And instructed through all the riches of the full assurance of understanding “into the knowledge of the mystery of God the Father and of Christ Jesus.” For in order to arrive at the height of divine knowledge, we must first consider bodily things, which lie before our eyes; next, bodiless things within us, that is, souls. Through souls, again bodiless things in the heavens, such as angels; and from the angels we ascend to God, understanding Him from the purity of creatures to be more pure, more spiritual, and incomprehensible. “In whom,” in Jesus Christ, “are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” that is, in whom all wisdom concerning spiritual things and knowledge concerning bodily things is hidden, just as in a treasure; for He Himself is the treasure. From His fullness everyone is enriched without diminution. Treasures, I say, “hidden,” that is, revealed to few.

They might say: We have not seen these treasures, so as to have wisdom and knowledge in both. To this Paul says: “And if you find the treasure of all good in Christ,” in vain do you wish to join the law to the faith. In Christ are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. “But I say this” concerning Christ, namely that all treasures are in Him, “so that no one may deceive you with lofty speech,” because those false apostles strive greatly in lofty words. “With loftiness,” I say, “of speech,” because this loftiness is only in speech, not in meaning; whereas the faithful have simplicity in words, but loftiness in meaning. Therefore I say: “see to it that no one deceives you.” In saying this, he looks back to what was said above: “Let no one deceive you. [page 385] Deceive you,” I say, “through philosophy,” as they reckon it, “and” which I call “empty deceit.” Deceit, because there is no truth in it; empty, that is, without usefulness. For there are many lies, such as those of the poets, which are useless. Philosophy “and empty deceit,” I say, existing “according to human tradition,” that is, of those who are wise in a human way, namely according to the law; which law, before Christ, was indeed the tradition of God. But when the Truth came, and God wished it to cease, the law was no longer the tradition of God, but of men. According to human tradition “and deceit,” I say, practiced “according to the elements.” He calls the same law the elements, because, just as boys first learn through the elements so that they may thus pass on to the perfection of letters, so those legal requirements were called elements, because the carnal people, powerless to grasp spiritual things, were instructed through carnal things, so that, accustomed in these to the worship of God, they might afterward cross over to serving in spiritual things. The elements, I say, “of the world,” because they were both carnal precepts and those who received them were carnal. This philosophy is “according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ, whom you have received and learned.” Truly those who hand down the law are not according to Christ, “because in Him,” in Christ, “is all fullness”; which those who seek some righteousness outside of Christ, namely in the law, do not believe. In Christ Himself dwells the entire fullness of the Godhead. He rightly says “dwells.” Because the Godhead is in Christ in such a way that it remains in Him forever. “The fullness of the Godhead,” that is, the plenary and perfect Godhead, which is in no way imperfect. “All in Christ,” because all the graces whatsoever that were in all people are in Christ, and grace even more abundantly, because in Him the Godhead is said to be humanized, because, just as the soul is united to the body, so the Godhead itself is personally united to that man. The Godhead is everywhere in different ways. For it is in every creature, according to the fact that without the Godhead it has neither being nor permanence. It is in the saints in this and in another way, because it is through grace; and it was in Christ in both of these ways, and still more abundantly, because (as has been said) in the same way the soul is humanized in the flesh of a man, so the Godhead was humanized in Christ. The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ “bodily,” that is, imperatively, not that the Godhead was made a body, but because shadows had gone before, and the truth of the shadows was in Christ, because He is the fulfillment of all things that had been predicted or prefigured.

They prove the same thing again. Truly, those who hand down the law are not according to Christ. “For you have been filled” with all good things “in Him,” that is, through Christ, which they say cannot happen without the law. “Who,” Christ, “is the head,” that is, the beginning and governance “of all principality and power.” Through these two, let us understand the remaining orders. In these words he shows that Christ can “fill” all things, because if He can fill angels, there is no doubt concerning men. He wishes to show that the truth of all the things the law commands is in Christ, saying: “In whom,” in Christ, you are not only filled, but “you were also circumcised” with a circumcision not made by hands, as in the law, “in the putting off of the skin of the flesh.” For nothing else is done there except that the skin of the flesh is cut off; but you were circumcised “in the circumcision of Christ,” by which Christ purified you. Or let us construe it this way: “You were circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands. With a circumcision,” I say, “done in the putting off of the body”; which body was “of the flesh,” that is, it was overcome by sensuality. For “you have put off the body according to carnality,” so that it may now obey the spirit, “by a circumcision not made by hands, but by the circumcision of Christ,” by which Christ cut away from you all superfluous things and dependent vices; in this “you were circumcised and purified.” We are stripped of the body of flesh in baptism, in which sins are laid aside, and the free will of man is strengthened by the received righteousness, so that now, if he wishes, he can do well. Not only are we circumcised by the laying aside of sins, “but we are also buried with Christ in baptism,” where our will is to be strengthened. We are therefore “buried with Him,” because Christ, having been buried, did not return anymore to the acts of the old man; so we, if we wish to use reason, having been strengthened in baptism, will not return anymore to the act of the oldness of sin. “In whom also,” in Christ, “you were raised” with respect to the justification of the soul. “You were raised,” I say, “through faith in the working of God,” that is, which faith God works in you. The resurrection of Christ works a twofold resurrection in us: the first, which we have already attained, concerning the soul; the other, which we expect in immortality once our bodies are restored. And that we are going to have a future resurrection of bodies, he proves through the resurrection of Christ, which is both the cause and the figure of our resurrection, saying: Just as you were raised in the first resurrection of the soul, so He will also make you alive together in the immortality of bodies. But he premises the proof of this matter, saying: God, just as He “raised” Christ “from the dead,” so also you, when, that is, although, “you were dead,” in such a way that by your own powers you could in no way breathe toward righteousness. “Dead,” I say, “in trespasses,” that is, in the transgression of the natural law. For it is called a trespass when what is owed is neglected. Dead also “in the uncircumcision of your flesh,” that is, in original sin, which he suitably signifies by the foreskin, in which is the seat of generation. We contract this original sin, however, because we are begotten by the concupiscence of our parents.

Although you were dead in this way, nevertheless “He made you alive together.” He speaks of what is future through the past tense, showing himself to be as certain of this future event as of a past one. “He made you alive together, to be placed with Him” in the same dignity of place; for He could have made us alive together when immortality was restored, and placed us elsewhere than with Christ. “He made you alive together,” I say, “forgiving you” Gentiles “all trespasses,” both original and actual. And thus He freed you from original sin through faith; just as He also freed us Jews, who were falsely thought to be freed from it through circumcision. He states it thus: “Erasing” similarly “the record of the decree,” that is, of the law, in which God had decreed what He wanted to be done. Which record “stood against us” Jews. A record is called a manuscript, which is divided into two parts so that the memory of the accomplished fact is held by both sides. [page 387] The devil held a part of this record, by which he accused the Jews before God of the transgression of the law; the Jew held the other part, whom similarly his own conscience accused. Hence he says this: “The record,” that is, the memory of the sin, “which” came from “the decree,” that is, from the law, “and stood against us,” He “erased” that; and not only the record, but even the decree itself, that is, the law itself, which was contrary to us, because the devil goaded us more, and we tended toward the forbidden thing with greater passion, and the law added the sin of transgression. “It,” I say, the decree, “He took out of the way,” that is, out of the community, so that He would not leave it to be kept by either Jew or Gentile. For He could have taken away the sin of the law, and left the law. He took it out of the way, “nailing it to the cross,” that is, He nailed the law itself, so that it would not be kept anymore, when expiring He said: “It is finished” (John 19:30); showing that there is an end and a completion of all the things that had preceded in the law, and that the shadow is no longer to be kept after the truth has arisen. “Nailing,” I say, “it to the cross.” For on the cross (as we have said) He put an end to the law, all things having been finished, just as they had been predicted.

They might object: How do you say that we cannot be justified except through Christ, when Abraham and the other saints who preceded Him were justified without Him? Paul proves that those same men were similarly freed through Christ, saying: Just as He freed us, His contemporaries, from the law and from the sin of the law, so He Himself “having stripped the principalities and powers” in the underworld. He does not say of what He stripped them, but through “having stripped” he signifies that Christ brought back His spoils from the underworld. “Having stripped,” I say, “He made a public spectacle,” like a victor carrying booty through the midst of the robbers; He Himself, I say, “triumphing over those” principalities of the underworld “boldly,” that is, having no doubt about the triumph. Triumphing, I say, “in Himself,” not through an angel or any minister, but through Himself. That He triumphed is “a public spectacle” to angels and men. Because Christ forgave all trespasses. He took the sin of the law and the law out of the way. See to it therefore that no one leads you further into the law. And to deter them more, he says: “Let no one judge you,” that is, make you judicable, that is, condemnable. “Let him judge,” I say, if you are not brought back into the whole law, at least in some part, because you would be condemned for the smallest tradition. He states it thus: Let no one “judge you in food,” either avoided because of uncleanness, or consumed because of cleanness, “or in drink,” consumed similarly or avoided, “or in a part of a feast day” observed. A feast day was a whole entity among them, having parts: “the new moon, the Sabbath,” the exodus “from Egypt,” the entrance into the “promised land,” etc. Hence he subjoins “or in a part” of a new moon, that is, the renewal of the moon, “or in the participation of the Sabbaths,” which the Jews were accustomed to celebrate. Therefore, through the word “or,” he disjoints each individual part, to show that even the smallest part is sufficient for the condemnation of the observer. But if he had joined them by “and,” it would seem that the observer is judged for all of them together, and not for just one. Neos is new, mene is moon; hence neomenia, “the renewal of the moon”; the celebration of which was a sign of the renewal of our body, which we expect to come in incorruption. Which new moon and Sabbath ought no longer to be celebrated, because they are “a shadow of things to come,” that is, prefiguring the future truth, just as a shadow seen near a body designates it. He says “of things to come,” according to the time of the law, when the shadow was present, and the truth was in the future. These are a shadow of things to come. But “Christ is the body,” that is, the truth and the fulfillment of all these things; or “the body is Christ,” that is, the fulfillment belongs to Christ; for it is His to fulfill what had been figured.

Because he had said: “Let no one judge you,” he subjoins those ways in which it was to be feared lest, being seduced, they condemn them, saying: But so that you are not judged, see to it: “Let no one seduce you” “in humility of speech,” displaying hidden things on the outside, “and in the religion” of the habit of beards or of fastings; “by simulated humility and religion, I say, of angels”; for the angels of God, appearing to men, would not show themselves more humble or religious than these false apostles do to the eye. Or, “of angels,” that is, of true preachers, who are the messengers of God to the people, whose authority these false apostles hypocritically usurp for themselves. “Let no one,” I say, seduce you in either this way or that way, “wishing,” that is, loving both to do them in himself and to persuade you of them, “things which he has not seen,” that is, which he has never understood, because he sees the figures and does not know the truth. That man, I say, “walking” also in the sacraments of the Church which he has received, and this “in vain.” For baptism will profit nothing to the man who detracts from the faith. Who, although he displays humility outwardly, is nevertheless “puffed up” inwardly “by his mind,” because he boasts that he senses things subtly, which the simplicity of others is not sufficient to grasp; and this disease of pride reigns most of all in heretics. “By the mind,” I say, “of his flesh”; for this man judges concerning individual things according to the senses of the flesh, not understanding otherwise than what the eyes and ears of the flesh supply to him; in which they do not differ from dumb animals, which also have a sense about things according to what they see and hear. “Puffed up,” to be sure, “and not holding fast to the head,” that is, not agreeing with his head, Christ. He does not hold fast to the head, Christ, who seeks from somewhere other than the head the source from which he may thrive, and just as a member does not belong to the head if it takes its vigor from elsewhere, which cannot happen; so he who leaves the unity of the faith cannot be joined to Christ.

From “which head the whole body” of the Church “is constructed through the joints” of faith and of the other virtues, “and nourished,” because one is nourished “by another through the ligaments,” that is, through charity, which is the nail and the nerve connecting member to member. For just as in the human body, if the members are first constructed, that is, gathered together, but not joined, that is, each one fitted to its own place, without nerves one member would still not follow another; and therefore it is necessary that the joined members be connected by nerves, and then finally one ministers to another; so in the body of the Church we, the diverse members, are constructed into one, and gathered according to the discernment of [page 389] virtues, we are joined by faith, etc. But because one has not yet been bound to another, love is necessary, so that connected by this nail the diversity of the members might serve one another by clinging to each other. “The body,” I say, “thus constructed and nourished grows” both in the number of its members and in the increase of its virtues, “until it comes into the growth of God,” that is, until it is increased to the measure which God has purposed, that is, until the number of brothers is fulfilled, when the last righteous person is added.

Now he inveighs somewhat harshly against some of them who were already beginning, if not to act, at least to consent in their mind and to make distinctions, saying: Why should we follow those men better than these? and things of this sort. Hence he says this: Because through Christ the whole Church grows into the growth of God, why therefore do you “make distinctions,” as if doubtful to whom you ought to cling, to Christ or to the law? But he premises why they ought not to make distinctions, saying: “If you have died with Christ, because the death of Christ has worked in you the death of sin”; “died,” I say, “from the elements,” because previously you worshipped the elements, the sun, the moon, and the rest, which is the exact same thing you do if you keep the law after having received grace; the elements, I say, “of this world,” because both those who worship are worldly, and the things that are worshipped are worldly: “if,” I say, “you have died from the elements,” so that you ought not even to breathe toward the worship of them, “why,” that is, for what reason, “as if still living in the world,” that is, carnally, “just as before in the worship of the world, do you make distinctions,” saying “Do not touch” a corpse? or something of this sort. “Do not taste pork”? or something of this sort. “Do not handle” the things which it is not lawful to touch? such as handling the private parts, “all of which things are unto destruction,” that is, they work condemnation. Not, however, if done once, but “in their very use,” that is, if anyone neglecting the traditions of the law, held these things in use.

That I say these things are unto destruction, this is not according to me, “but according to the precepts and doctrines of men,” that is, I speak of those who are wise in a human way. He calls them “precepts,” because by the command of their authority alone they compelled this to be done. “Doctrines,” when they seemed to adduce some reasons to prove what they were persuading. “These” are the precepts of men, which also are “having,” that is, they seem to have, “an appearance indeed of wisdom,” from which they are far separated. Having an appearance, I say, “in superstition.” Superstition is called a false religion added on to true religion. However, these men who were adding the law onto the received faith are rightly called superstitious. In superstition, I say, “and humility” simulated on the outside, they seem to have an appearance. “Which” also are, according to their words, “for not sparing the body.” For they say that we do not keep the law so that we may more freely indulge ourselves in the things that are pleasant to the body, but that they themselves, in the manner of the law of God, do not want to spare the body. “Which” also are “not” for them “in any honor.” For they say that they are humbled according to the law for this reason, because they do not seek to be honored by the people as we do; which also are not for them “unto the satisfying of the flesh.” For they say that, in order to observe the law, they want to macerate the flesh, and that we destroy the law so that we may stuff our bellies with everything. Or otherwise, how “not for sparing the body,” etc., are said seriously by Paul, in this way: “Which they say” seem to have an appearance, but they certainly do not have it. “Which” also are “for not sparing the body,” and it is foolish that in the very thing in which they condemn the soul, they do not at least spare the body. “Which” also “are not in any honor.” For while they append the law of Christ as if it were necessary to faith, in this they dishonor God. They also dishonor David and the other saints who said that there is no righteousness in the law, while by appending the law to faith, they contradict their testimonies. “Which” also are not “unto the satisfying of the flesh.” However, it is an extreme madness to afflict the flesh while we damn the soul.

Colossians 3:1-25 [page 391]

Expositio

And because you have died with Christ, “you no longer live to the world. Therefore seek the things that are above,” that is, the joy of the heavens, and all righteousness leading to what is above. Whatever is not of the world is said to be from above. “Seek,” I say, “if you have been raised with Christ,” that is, because you have attained the resurrection of the soul through Christ, “the things that are above, and” you both can and ought to seek them. “Above,” I say, namely “where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God,” that is, resting and judging in equality with the Father. However, Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father, is the cause, the sign, and the certainty that we will rise with Christ. And not only “seek, but set your minds,” that is, foretaste the sweetness of those things “that are above.” “Set your minds,” I say, on “the things that are above, and not on the things that are on earth.” You ought not to set your minds on the things that are on earth; for you “have died” to earthly things. You ought to set your minds on the things that are above. “For your life is in God,” and in such great dignity “that it is with Christ.” “Your life,” I say, “hidden,” that is, not revealed to all, but to a few. In this word many have erred, saying that it is foolish for a man to labor for what has not been revealed to him. Now that life of yours is hidden; “but when Christ appears,” coming to judgment, “Christ,” I say, “your life, in whose eternity an eternity is prepared for you, then,” when Christ appears, “you” also “will appear with Him to be placed in glory.”

Having sufficiently condemned the law and sufficiently commended the faith, just as in the Epistle to the Ephesians, he subjoins moral instruction, first teaching the Church in public, then the sexes, ages, and conditions, saying: Because “your life is in God,” you are going to appear “with Christ in glory, therefore put to death your members which are on the earth,” that is, clinging to earthly things. He calls these members sins, which are members of the body of sin, as he hints in what follows. Put to death your members, namely “fornication,” such as having relations with a neighbor’s wife. Another member is “uncleanness,” lust, that is, a lustful will, “and concupiscence.” And because concupiscence is spoken of concerning good things, he added “evil,” such as coveting another person’s property. Put to death also in yourselves “covetousness,” “which” consists in illicitly gathering and retaining, “which covetousness is the service of idols.” For he who places God second so that he can increase his money, having despised God, worships money. “On account of which things the wrath,” that is, the vengeance, “of God comes even upon the children of unbelief.” But if those who had not received the faith are condemned for such things, what do you think of yourselves, who, by receiving the faith, have renounced all these things? “In which” members of the body of sin “you” also, just like the other unbelievers, “walked once, when you were living in them,” namely in the time of your unbelief.

You once walked in them. “But now,” already made believers, “put away from yourselves” both the aforementioned things and all the things that follow, namely “anger,” that is, the sudden commotion of the mind; “indignation,” that is, lest you be indignant about some prosperity of those inferior to you. Put away also “malice,” both of the mind and of the body, “and blasphemy” against God and neighbor. Put away also all “filthy language out of your mouth.” “And do not lie to one another,” so that one deceives the other. In order that I may briefly forbid all such things, be “stripping yourselves of the old man,” that is, the habit of sins, “with his practices.” For some put off the habit of sin, who sometimes, compelled by frailty, fall into the act of sin. Not, however, taking back the habit of sin, although they do the act, because after the fall they hasten to repentance. “Stripping yourselves of the old man, and putting on the new,” that is, the habit of virtues, “him,” namely, “who is being renewed daily growing in the newness of righteousness.” “Is being renewed,” I say, tending “into the knowledge of God,” because he always grows in the knowledge of the deity as much as he ascends in virtues. He is renewed, I say, “according to the image,” that is, the purity, “of Him who created him,” by conforming himself to Him according to his own measure; “where,” that is, “in which” new man “there is not” male “and female,” that is, no one is received or rejected on account of sex. Where also “there is not Gentile or Jew,” that is, it does no harm to be a Gentile, it does no good to have been a Jew; Gentile and Jew, I say, “by birth.” And because some from the Jews crossed over into gentility, and some from the nations crossed over into circumcision, therefore he adds where there is not “circumcision and uncircumcision,” because it is no more profitable to have been “circumcised” than to be “uncircumcised.” Where likewise there is not “Barbarian and Scythian,” who is more barbarous than the barbarians. Where there is not “slave and free”; for thus “in the body” of virtues, the “slave” is received just as the master. For “substances” neither harm nor profit in the new man, because “every substance” is a good creature of God; but “the qualities,” such as righteousness or unrighteousness, “which are added on by us, these either profit or hinder.” Gentile and Jew “are not” there, “but Christ,” that is, the virtue coming from Christ, “is all things,” that is, every perfection. “And in such a way that in all,” that is, in individuals, He is “all things.”

And since the new man is to be put on, “therefore put on” the members of the new man. “Put on,” he says, both according to beauty, because we had been disfigured by the nakedness of sin, and according to the driving away of the cold of iniquity. “Put on,” I say, “yourselves,” as “the elect of God,” that is, whom God elected from eternity and in time by calling them to the faith through ministers. “Elect,” I say, “and holy,” that is, sanctioned in the good by the placement of virtues, “and” in both, that is, in election and sanctification, “beloved, put on mercy.” And for a greater incitement he says more expressly: “Bowels of mercy,” so that pious affection may overflow in the very [page 393] bowels. Put on yourselves also with “mercy” of mind this member of the new man, namely “kindness” in giving, “and humility” in word and gait, “and modesty,” that is, temperance in all things, “and patience,” if adversities press upon you. “Bearing with one another,” that is, carrying each other’s burdens by alternating prayers and fasts. “And if any of you has a complaint,” that is, a just claim of anything, “against any brother, forgiving each other mutually,” not so that you remit the price and love less than usual, but “just as the Lord has forgiven you,” by remitting the debt, “and” superadding “love, so also you forgive one another.” “Patience,” etc., “put on; but above all these things,” that is, superior and more worthy than all these, “have love.” Or like this: “Above these,” that is, labor more to have love than to have the premises. Which, namely, “to have love is the bond,” that is, the connecting link, “of perfection,” that is, of the other virtues which make one perfect. For all virtues gathered together without love are like loose dust, which is easily scattered at the impulse of the wind (because it was without cement). For thus the virtues gathered together without the cement of love easily yield to any temptation. And so that you may be perfect in love, let “the peace,” that is, outward concord, “the peace,” I say, “of Christ,” that is, which Christ had in the world, and taught to be had, be in you, in such a way that “in your hearts,” not by coercion, but out of willingness, you have “peace” toward all, and let it be in your hearts in such a way that it may “exult” there, that is, rejoice over its daily increase. “Into which,” that is, to have which “peace you were called” by God “in one body,” that is, not only that you might come to the unity of the body, “but that you might remain in that” unity. Let “the peace” be “in your hearts. And be thankful,” that is, “always giving thanks to God concerning the benefits bestowed upon you.” “Thankful,” I say, “teaching and admonishing one another.”

But in what they ought to teach and admonish themselves he premises, saying: “So that you may be able to teach and admonish yourselves, let the word,” that is, the teaching, “of Christ,” that is, either about Christ, or which Christ taught, “dwell continually in you. And in such a way that it is abundantly, that is,” that you may have abundance “in all wisdom,” that is, in every kind of understanding, historical, moral, and allegorical, “teaching yourselves” by studying in the Scriptures, “and,” being well taught, “admonishing one another.” For exhortation avails very much, even in things which we know well. “Teaching and admonishing,” I say, “in psalms,” in which good morality is contained; and “in hymns,” in which the praise of God, or of the saints, is referred to the glory of God; “and in spiritual songs,” that is, dealing with the joy of spiritual goods. “And not only teaching and admonishing, but also singing to God,” that is, to the glory of God, not only “on your lips,” but also “in your hearts. Singing,” I say, “in grace,” that is, in consideration “of the grace of God, by which” He justified you by forgiving your sins. So that I may absolve in a few words what you must do: “Whatever you do in word or in deed, these and all things” whether in habit or in thought, “do in the name,” that is, to the honor, “of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Or otherwise: “Whatever you do in word or in deed,” such that it is “whole,” that is, perfect, not done for the praise of men, do it “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. You,” I say, “always giving thanks to God the Father, through Him,” Christ, “through whom He conferred all good things upon you.” For the giving “of thanks” avails very much for obtaining things.

After he has admonished the Church in common, he instructs the sexes, ages, and conditions separately, saying: “Bear with one another, but you, wives, be subject more than the rest to your husbands, as is fitting.” For it is fitting that a woman be subject to a man. “Subject,” however, “in the Lord,” that is, according to the Lord. For if they want to subject you to adulteries, in this do not be subject. “But you, husbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter toward them.” For excessive austerity sometimes generates sin. And “you, children, obey your parents in all things,” provided, however, that it is “in the Lord,” not in the worship of an idol or in murder. Obey, I say, “because this,” namely to obey a parent, “is pleasing to God. And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, lest they become of a little,” that is, of a small, “mind,” in enduring, and being struck by you, they strike you back. And “you, slaves, obey your masters in all things,” even carnal ones, “not serving them with eyeservice,” that is, as long as you are in their eyes, “as if by this” service “you were pleasing men” only, “but in simplicity of heart serve them, fearing” in this “the Lord” God, who for your sin or that of your parents, appointed “you slaves,” as “we read concerning the sons of Ham” (Gen 9:25). Nor should you object that “the masters” repay you badly, “knowing that” you “will receive from the Lord” God “the reward of the inheritance,” that is, the inheritance repaid to you, “because” you patiently bore “the yoke” imposed on you “by God.” And although I say that wives should be subject, husbands should love, children should obey, and slaves should serve, “in all these things serve the Lord Christ, lest,” on account of service to a man, you despise God. “You, slaves, work in this way, because whoever does wrong, whether he is a slave or whether he is a master, will receive back what he has done wrongfully,” that is, the wages of his iniquity in the future. Therefore I say “whoever does wrong, because with God there is no respect of persons, so that this man” would be accepted because he is free; while that man would be cast out because he is a slave.

Colossians 4:1-18 [page 395]

Expositio

“Slaves, obey your masters,” and “you masters, provide your slaves with what is just,” and according to what they deserve, “and what is fair,” that is, that you should consider them to be human beings equally just as you are, “knowing that” both you “slaves and you masters have” the same “Master in heaven.”

After admonishing these particular persons, he returns once more to the public instruction of the Church, saying: You slaves and masters, act toward one another in this way; but as for the whole church, “devote yourselves to prayer, keeping watch,” either through night watches, or being zealous “in it,” always keeping watch “with thanksgiving, praying at the same time also for us,” whenever you pray for yourselves.

Or “at the same time,” that is, the whole church should make a common prayer for me, “that God may open to us a door for the word,” that is, the lips through which the word goes forth.

“May open,” I say, “to speak the mystery of Christ,” that is, the salvation of the Gentiles, which lay hidden as a mystery until Christ.

God would open his mouth for him, if his speech proved gracious to his listeners. For the mouth will never be opened by means of carefully composed words, or by subtleties of meaning, unless the Spirit is at work in the hearts of the listeners. “Because of this,” that is, because I speak the mystery of Christ, after many afflictions, “I am also currently in chains to speak so that I may make it manifest,” that is, that mystery, “in the way I ought to speak,” according to the place, the time, and the capacity of the listeners.

And just as I speak the word of Christ, so you too should preach. “Walk toward those who are outside,” that is, toward unbelievers. “Walk,” I say, “in wisdom,” that is, preaching with all discretion. “You,” I say, “redeeming the time,” that is, securing for yourselves the opportunity to walk in wisdom. For example, it would be redeeming the time if they were to invite someone to dinner and win their favor there, so that they might more easily lead them to what they wanted.

So that you may walk in wisdom, “let your speech always be with grace,” that is, gracious to the listeners, and out of that, let it be “seasoned with salt,” that is, tempered with wise discretion. Alternatively: Let your speech be “seasoned with salt,” such that it is always “with grace,” that is, in the commendation of the grace of God, and never in the law. Let it be so “seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each and every person,” according to his simplicity or prudence.

I instruct you thus concerning the aforementioned matters; but as for “all the things concerning me,” both my chains and the rest, “Tychicus will make them known to you, a most beloved brother and faithful minister.” Believe him, because he will minister nothing contrary to the faith. “And a fellow servant in the Lord,” because, just like me, he serves the Lord in the Gospel and suffers for Him. “Whom,” namely Tychicus, “I have sent to you” for this very purpose of making these things known, “and for this, that he may know the things concerning you,” and I through him, “and that he may comfort your hearts,” which have been left desolate because of my chains.

Tychicus will make these things known, “with Onesimus, a most beloved and faithful brother; listen to him, because he is one of you.” These two “will make known to you all the things that are happening here.” He commended them for this reason, so that they would believe them just as they would believe him.

“Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you,” who, like me, is held captive in chains for the Gospel. “Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, also greets you.” Regarding both of them, “you received instructions” from me not to receive them. “But if” either of them “comes to you now, welcome him,” since both have been reconciled to me. This Mark, refusing to obey Paul on a certain mission, separated from him; while Barnabas, led too much by fleshly affection, departed with Mark (Acts 15:39). But Paul, lest they preach anything contrary to the faith when separated from him, wrote to the churches not to listen to them. Now that they have been corrected, they are with Paul; and therefore he wrote again about welcoming them.

“Jesus, who is called Justus,” also greets you, having a testimony of righteousness from all. “These,” namely Mark, Barnabas, and Jesus, “are of the circumcision, and these are my only helpers from the circumcision in preaching the kingdom of God. They have also been a comfort to me” in my chains.

“Epaphras greets you, who was born among you.” That one, I say, “a servant of Christ Jesus, and earnest on your behalf in prayers,” which he continually offers. “On your behalf,” I say, “that you may stand perfect” in what you have received, not so that you might receive something else. “And that you may stand full in all the will,” that is, fully knowing the entire will of God. He is truly earnest on your behalf; “for I bear witness to him, that he has much labor,” keeping watch and praying “for you, and for those who are in Laodicea, and those who are in Hierapolis.” These were churches neighboring the Colossians.

“Luke, the most beloved physician, greets you.” This was the evangelist. “And Demas” greets you.

“Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea. Greet also Nympha,” that matron, “and the church that is in her house.” She used to minister to preachers, and Paul was afraid that, having been led astray, she might minister to those false apostles.

“And when this letter has been read among you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you read the one from Laodicea.”

“And say to Archippus,” your bishop, who ceased from his office because he was despised by you, say to him: “See,” that is, [page 397] look to and perform, “the ministry that you received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it,” because now that we have been corrected, we are ready to obey you. For it is right that the one whom your contempt deposed, your obedience should restore. This Archippus, angered because they had listened to those false apostles against him, had said that he would no longer serve as their bishop.

“The greeting written by my own hand;” by mine, I say, not a secretary’s, but mine, Paul’s. He prefixes something to the greeting: “Remember my chains,” so that you might either minister to me in my chains, or so that you might suffer for Christ following my example. The greeting is this: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”