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CHAPTER ONE. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and Timothy the

brother. He writes the epistle to men who had received the word of the Gospel from Epaphras, but who were in need of greater knowledge; for they did not have perfect knowledge. Therefore he also touches upon deeper doctrines, and leads them into the very sea of the economy, and prays that they may be perfected in this knowledge. Not only this, but he also exhorts them not to be led away, neither by those from Hellenic deceit who would rob them of the truth, nor to believe those of the circumcision. For both are outside the mystery according to God. Furthermore, he also joins to them the moral discourse, teaching them what sort of people those who live according to Christ ought to be. To those in Colossae. The city of Phrygia. To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful, we are called not only because we believe, but also because we have been entrusted with the mysteries of God. We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying for you, having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love which you have for all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. He says he offers thanksgiving for them for these two things, both for their right faith in Christ, and their love for the saints. 95.885 Which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel which has come to you. From Epaphras, clearly. As also in all the world, and it is bearing fruit, just as also among you, from the day you heard it, and came to know the grace of God in truth, just as you also learned from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. He speaks of the power of the Gospel, for the confirmation of those who hear, saying that it extends through the whole world, bearing fruit in works, and increasing with the additions of those who believe, so that those who hear may know that, just as in a great city, the Churches are numbered throughout the whole world. For this reason we also, from the day we heard it, do not cease to pray and ask for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Your affairs, he says, are worthy of my zeal. Therefore I also pray without ceasing, asking for the gift of wisdom, that through it you may learn how God willed to bring the world into reconciliation with himself, and in what manner the things of reconciliation were able to come about. While the law was not able to join one to God, Christ alone joins, because he himself, having become the fulfiller of righteousness on behalf of men, bestows what was fulfilled in himself upon those who believe. That you might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, in all power according to the might of his glory, unto all patience and longsuffering with joy. For this is spiritual wisdom, from which comes a sound and spiritual life. For understanding intensifies the eagerness for good works. Giving thanks to God, who has made us fit for the portion of the inheritance of the saints in the light; who has delivered us. He calls God our Father, according to the adoption given to us through faith in the Only-Begotten; For as many as received him, to them he gave power to become children of God. From the power of darkness, he has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Darkness is the power of the devil, and he has power in darkness, just as the thief in the night; but against those to whom the darkness of wickedness has not come, the devil has no power. 95.888 But those who have escaped this power are placed under the kingdom of the Son, through whom we run back to the kingdom of the Father. But since the things spoken are of the economy according to the flesh, for this reason it is said

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ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΠΡΩΤΟΝ. Παῦλος, ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ, καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ

ἀδελφός. Γράφει τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἀνδράσι παραλαβοῦσι μὲν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τὸν λόγον παρὰ Ἐπαφρᾶ, δεομένοις δὲ τῆς πλείονος γνώσεως· οὐ γὰρ εἶχον τελείαν γνῶσιν. ∆ιὸ καὶ δογμάτων βαθυτέρων ἅπτεται, καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ τῆς οἰκονομίας αὐτοὺς εἰσάγει πέλαγος, καὶ ἐπεύχεται τελειωθῆναι ταύτῃ τῇ γνώσει. Οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ παραινεῖ μὴ ἀπάγεσθαι, μήτε τοῖς ἐξ Ἑλληνικῆς ἀπάτης ἀποσυλῶσιν αὐτοὺς τῆς ἀληθείας, μήτε πιστεύειν τοῖς ἐν περιτομῇ. Ἀμφότεροι γὰρ ἔξω τοῦ κατὰ Θεὸν μυστηρίου εἰσίν. Ἔτι γε μὴν καὶ τὸν ἠθικὸν αὐτοῖς συνάπτει λόγον, ὁποίους εἶναι δεῖ τοὺς κατὰ Χριστὸν ζῶντας, διδάσκων αὐτούς. Τοῖς ἐν Κολοσσαῖς. Ἡ πόλις τῆς Φρυγίας. Ἁγίοις καὶ πιστοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ. Χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Πιστοὶ, οὐ διὰ τὸ πιστεύειν μόνον καλούμεθα, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὸ πιστευθῆναι τοῦ Θεοῦ μυστήρια. Εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι, ἀκούσαντες τὴν πίστιν ὑμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους, διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα τὴν ἀποκειμένην ὑμῖν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Εὐχαριστίαν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀναφέρειν φησὶ διὰ δύο ταῦτα, διά τε τὴν ὀρθὴν εἰς Χριστὸν πίστιν, καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους. 95.885 Ἣν προηκούσατε ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τοῦ παρόντος εἰς ὑμᾶς. Παρ' Ἐπαφρᾶ δηλονότι. Καθὼς καὶ ἐν παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ, καὶ ἔστι καρποφορούμενον, καθὼς καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, ἀφ' ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσατε, καὶ ἐπέγνωτε τὴν χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, καθὼς καὶ ἐμάθετε ἀπὸ Ἐπαφρᾶ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ συνδούλου ἡμῶν, ὅς ἐστι πιστὸς ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν διάκονος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ καὶ δηλώσας ἡμῖν τὴν ὑμῶν ἀγάπην ἐν Πνεύματι. Τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου λέγει, πρὸς βεβαίωσιν τῶν ἀκουόντων, λέγων αὐτὸ διήκειν διὰ τοῦ κόσμου παντὸς, καρποφορούμενον ἐν ἔργοις, καὶ αὐξανόμενον ταῖς προσθήκαις τῶν πιστευόντων, ὥστε εἰδέναι τοὺς ἀκούοντας, ὅτι καθάπερ ἐν μεγίστῃ πόλει, καταριθμοῦνται δι' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης αἱ Ἐκκλησίαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἀφ' ἧς ἡμέρας ἠκούσαμεν, οὐ παυόμεθα ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν προσευχόμενοι καὶ αἰτούμενοι, ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ, ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ, καὶ συνέσει πνευματικῇ. Ἄξια σπουδῆς, φησὶν, ἐμοὶ τὰ καθ' ὑμᾶς. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχομαι αἰτούμενος τὸ σοφίας δῶρον, ἵνα δι' αὐτοῦ μάθητε πῶς ἠθέλησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον εἰς οἰκείωσιν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀγαγεῖν, καὶ τίνι τρόπῳ τὰ τῆς οἰκειώσεως γενέσθαι δυνατὸν ἦν. Τοῦ μὲν νόμου συνάπτειν Θεῷ μὴ ἰσχύοντος, Χριστοῦ καὶ μόνου συνάπτοντος, ὅτι αὐτὸς δικαιοσύνης τῆς ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων πληρωτὴς γενόμενος, τὸ πληρωθὲν ἐφ' ἑαυτοῦ χαρίζεται τοῖς πιστεύουσιν. Περιπατῆσαι ὑμᾶς ἀξίως τοῦ Κυρίου, εἰς πᾶσαν ἀρέσκειαν, ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ καρποφοροῦντες, καὶ αὐξανόμενοι εἰς τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει κατὰ τὸ κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, εἰς πᾶσαν ὑπομονὴν καὶ μακροθυμίαν μετὰ χαρᾶς. Αὕτη γὰρ σοφία πνευματικὴ, ἐξ ἧς ὁ ὑγιὴς καὶ πνευματικὸς βίος. Ἐπιτείνει γὰρ τὴν προθυμίαν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἡ σύνεσις. Εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ Θεῷ, τῷ ἱκανώσαντι ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν μερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί· ὃς ἐῤῥύσατο ἡμᾶς. Πατέρα ἡμῶν λέγει τὸν Θεὸν, κατὰ τὴν δοθεῖσαν ἡμῖν διὰ τῆς εἰς τὸν Μονογενῆ πίστεως υἱοθεσίαν· Ὅσοι γὰρ ἔλαβον αὐτὸν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα Θεοῦ γενέσθαι. Ἐκ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σκότους, μετέστησεν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ, ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν, τὴν ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν. Σκότος, ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ διαβόλου, καὶ ἐν σκότῳ τὸ δύνασθαι ἔχει, καθάπερ ὁ κλέπτης ἐν νυκτί· οἷς δὲ μὴ παρέστη τὸ κακίας σκότος, κατὰ τούτων οὐκ 95.888 ἰσχύει διάβολος. Οἱ δὲ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ταύτην ἀποφυγόντες, ὑπὸ τὴν βασιλείαν καθίστανται τοῦ Υἱοῦ, δι' οὗ ἐπανατρέχομεν ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ Πατρὸς βασιλείαν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τῆς κατὰ σάρκα οἰκονομίας τὰ λεγόμενα, διὰ τοῦτο λέγεται