As Paul
the apostle ended his letter to the Colossian church, he mentioned
several men who were instrumental in helping him in the ministry of
the gospel of Jesus Christ. In chapter four and verse eighteen Paul
closes his letter with a final “salutation”, a request,
and a last blessing which were all personally written by him. We
read:
The salutation by the
hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds.
The
verse begins, “The salutation by the hand of me Paul.” The
word employed by Paul was “salutation” which means
“greeting” which was personally written “by the hand of me
Paul”. Paul the apostle usually dictated his letters, and
although another person did the actual writing of them, he often
wrote just one or two lines at the end. In this case Paul desired for
the church members to know that he personally wrote this final
greeting.
The verse continues, “Remember
my bonds.” In addition to his
final greeting, Paul made one final request of the church members,
“Remember” or “to
be mindful of, to call to mind, to think of and feel for a person or
thing, to hold in memory and keep in mind” “my bonds”
which literally means “bands” and speaks of “the captivity in
which the preaching of the gospel had thrown” Paul.
Finally the verse says, “Grace be with you.
Amen.” There are no greater final words which could be written
to the Colossians than “Grace” or “unmerited favor”
“be with you”. It was by the “grace” of our
Lord Jesus Christ that the Colossians and we have been saved. It is
also by His amazing “grace” that we shall live from day to
day. Paul's final word to the Colossians was “Amen” which
literally means “firm” and implies “let it be so or so be it”,
and with that final word, we end our study of the book of Colossians.
Throughout
this letter Paul has mentioned the “grace” of God and his
desire for them to know their position in Jesus Christ because of
God's grace. The Gnostics and the Judaizers were attempting to thwart
the direction of the church members with the false-teachings, and
Paul knew there was nothing greater than the “grace of God”
for their salvation. As we meditate upon Paul's final words to
the Colossians, let us along with the Colossians remember the “Grace”
of Jesus Christ and enjoy the blessing of God who extended it to
us.
Next
time we will begin a new book from the old testament named “Micah”,
so read ahead, and
we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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