This is provided as an example. Be sure to double-check the syllabus for all requirements.
**WARNING**
Colossians 1:3-14 is used as an example but is NOT the assigned passage for this semester.
Check the course syllabus for the assigned passage.
Colossians 1:3-14 (ESV)
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Consult at least three commentaries two times each to determine the meaning of difficult verses and summarize here. You may choose any verse or verses. (Six total commentary references)
1. Col. 1:9-14 This is an example of a prayer of petition that follows a prayer of thanksgiving (1:3-8).[footnoteRef:1] (Note that the comment is only about the 1st Century.) [1: Curtis Vaughan, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelin, ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1979), Accordance 13 Bible Software.]
2. Col. 1:3 “Always” probably indicates regularity, not that Paul was praying all the time and only praying. Praying three times a day was a ritual for Jews which Paul had done since childhood and would have continued to do as a Christ-follower.[footnoteRef:2] (Note that the source is footnoted.) [2: N.T. Wright, Tyndale Commentary Colossians and Philemon, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986), Accordance 13, Bible Software.]
3. Col 1:6 Paul use language of personification to talk about the Gospel. The Gospel came. The Gospel bears fruit. The Gospel has gone throughout the world. As a former Pharisee, Paul sees this as the direct result of the Old Testament Messianic prophecies.[footnoteRef:3] (Note that the comment is not copied and pasted, but is reworded from the original source(s)) [3: Ibid, Colossians 1:6 ]
4. Col. 1:9 The knowledge of God spoken of here is descriptive of a growing personal relationship with God and is not theoretical or speculative.[footnoteRef:4] [4: Ralph Martin, Colossians: The Church’s Lord and the Christian Liberty. (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1992), Accordance 13 Bible Software.]
5. Col. 1:10 When Paul writes, “please him in every way” he is not saying that the Colossian believers should be afraid but that their obedience comes out of their “glad obedience” to God. Pleasing God is in direct opposition to the Colossians pleasing their own desires in every aspect of their lives. As Paul writes, “in all things.”[footnoteRef:5] [5: G. J. Wenham and D. A. Carson. New Bible Commentary, (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), Accordance 13, Bible Software.]
6. Col. 1:14 “Redemption” and “forgiveness of sins” are directly related to one another. Paul is telling the Colossians that they could not have one without the other.[footnoteRef:6] [6: Ibid, Colossians 1:14]
WORKS CITED
Brown, Colin, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster, 1976. Accordance 13 Bible Software.
Martin, Ralph, Colossians: The Church’s Lord and the Christian Liberty. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1992. Accordance 13 Bible Software.
Morton, Timothy S., Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, Enhanced and Expanded, Accordance 13 Bible Software.
Vaughan, Curtis, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelin, ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1979. Accordance 13 Bible Software.
Wenham, G. J. and D. A. Carson. New Bible Commentary, Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994. Accordance 13, Bible Software.
Wright, N.T. Tyndale Commentary Colossians and Philemon. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986. Accordance 13, Bible Software.
Be sure to indicate that the approved Bible software was used.
Look at the document
“How to Cite Bible Software”
found under
Course Content > Documents.
4
Your project is to be double-spaced.
3
This is provided as an example. Be sure to double-check the syllabus for all requirements.