"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men" (Colossians 3:23).

This instruction was given to slaves as they served their masters, yet isn't there a principle here for all of us, who find ourselves before various "masters" in various settings? Aren't we all called to be servants?

We need to remind ourselves that we are called not to gain the approval of people but the approval of the Lord (cf. Galatians 1:10). The Lord is our ultimate Master, and in whatever way we serve others, that service must be subordinate to our service to God.

As we seek to please the Lord, we will understand how to please others for their good (cf. Romans 15:2). So we will not flatter their egos or simply satisfy their demands, but encourage and build them up in the way of the Lord.

Friends, when we serve the Lord or preach and teach His Word, we must remember that we are not performing but proclaiming. We are not seeking acclaim for ourselves but for God. Our purpose is not people's acceptance or approval. Our purpose is simply to obey God's call to whatever end He desires. This is working heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Colossians 3:22–4:1 addresses both slaves and masters, and its significance in its original setting is easy to miss. In the Roman world, slaves had almost no standing, yet Paul addresses them directly as moral agents with dignity before God, and promises them "the inheritance as your reward" (3:24) — an inheritance, in Roman law, being something slaves could not normally receive. He then tells masters that they too have "a Master in heaven" (4:1). The whole household is placed under Christ.

The principle the comment draws is widely applied to work and service of every kind: "You are serving the Lord Christ" (3:24). That perspective transforms ordinary labor. It frees workers from needing human approval and from the resentment that comes from being unnoticed, and it calls them to integrity even when no one is watching ("not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers," 3:22). The comment's application to ministry — proclaiming rather than performing — is a fitting one. Paul said the same of his own preaching: "we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts" (1 Thessalonians 2:4).

"Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom," that we may present everyone mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28).

Friends, some pastors and leaders today instruct their members only to say encouraging things and never anything corrective, arguing that a critical spirit is unspiritual. Yet here Paul clearly says believers are to "admonish" one another. This is an important part of our ministry to one another, so that we may fully mature in Christ. Contrary to the argument that admonishment divides the church, Paul says it is what ultimately unites the church, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (a paraphrase of Ephesians 4:13).

So the unity of the faith is achieved as each person becomes fully mature in Christ. And each person becomes fully mature in Christ as they are admonished and taught with all wisdom in the community of believers. In other words, there is a perfect standard — "the fullness of Christ" — that all of us fall short of, and for this reason every believer has both the privilege and the obligation to encourage and admonish, to teach, correct, and rebuke one another with all wisdom.

Therefore, dear friends, do not elevate a pastor, teacher, or any minister to an unquestionable platform. If they put themselves on such a platform, fellow believers should gently but firmly bring them down. Only the Word of God occupies that place. And when leaders are found to go against the Word or beyond its boundaries, they too must be corrected and rebuked, like any fellow believer (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:6).

Whatever we do, we are to work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing we will receive the inheritance as our reward; "You are serving the Lord Christ" (a paraphrase of Colossians 3:23–24).

We need to be reminded of this every single day: "It is the Lord Christ whom we serve!" Even when we bless our wives, raise our children, labor at our work, and minister to one another, we are to do all these things as for the Lord. For it is from Him alone that we will receive our inheritance and reward — not our wives, children, bosses, workers, parents, pastors, or even ourselves. Let this reminder drive us to keep Jesus always before our eyes, the chief focus of our minds, and the all-consuming desire of our hearts.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving; at the same time pray for us also, that God may open a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which Paul was in prison, that he may make it clear, as he ought to speak (a paraphrase of Colossians 4:2–4).

This instruction to "continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it" recalls Jesus' words to His disciples in the garden: "Watch and pray." I still begin every morning with prayer, sometimes shorter and sometimes longer. It is when I give every thought, every desire, and every coming event of the day to the Lord. Practically speaking, it frees me from anxiety, focuses my mind on spiritual priorities, and strengthens me against daily temptation.

In addition to daily meditation on God's Word, I heartily recommend this daily and very personal time of prayer.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time; let your speech "always be gracious, seasoned with salt," so that you know how to answer each person (a paraphrase of Colossians 4:5–6).

This is what I try to do on the platforms God has given me for ministry. My chief platforms at present are my family, this website, and the Youn Wha Ryu Martial Arts Organization. The local church was also a platform, but I was driven out by those who cared more about their personal agendas and interests than about the ministry of the Word. I have even been excluded from certain platforms within our martial arts organization. But none of these things faze me one bit. I will continue to preach the Gospel and teach the truths of God's Word as God gives me opportunity.

Many of you have encouraged me all along the way, and I praise God for you. As one of you remarked to me recently, faithful believers are becoming more and more of a minority in our world, even in our churches. So how thankful I am to God for every single voice and every open heart in whom I find a kindred spirit — whose love for Christ and devotion to God's Word have kept them from all kinds of political, ecclesiastical, and peer pressure to deviate from the truth.

As I pray for all of you who do this sometimes thankless but faithful work, pray also for me: that God would enlarge my ministry, grant me both boldness and clarity in preaching and teaching His Word, and guard my heart and body against every kind of spiritual and moral compromise. Grace be with you!

AI-Expanded Reflection

Colossians 1:28–29 is a compact statement of Paul's whole ministry: proclamation ("Him we proclaim"), two activities ("warning" and "teaching"), a universal scope ("everyone" three times), and a single goal ("mature in Christ"). He adds that he toils for this "with all his energy that he powerfully works within me" (1:29) — the labor is Paul's, but the power is Christ's. The comment's emphasis on mutual admonition matches Colossians 3:16, where the whole congregation, not just leaders, is to be "teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom," and to do it with "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts."

The comment's candor about being excluded from church leadership adds weight to Colossians 4:5–6. Paul wrote those words from prison, asking not for release but for "a door for the word" (4:3). His counsel to let speech be "gracious, seasoned with salt" — kind yet with substance — is a fitting guide for anyone who has experienced conflict in the church. Paul himself knew the pain of broken ministry relationships, including his sharp disagreement with Barnabas (Acts 15:39) and being deserted by Demas (2 Timothy 4:10); yet he later asked for Mark, whom he had once refused to take along, calling him "very useful to me for ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11). Reconciliation was possible even after serious division.

Paul speaks of the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for them in heaven, of which they have already heard in the true message of the gospel that came to them — a gospel bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world, as it has among them since the day they heard it and truly understood God's grace (a paraphrase of Colossians 1:5–6). And again, of the gospel they heard, proclaimed to every creature under heaven, of which he has become a servant (a reference to Colossians 1:23).

Three times Paul speaks of the gospel they heard, as if making certain that no one moves them away from what he told them. It is the gospel of God's grace, by which they have been forgiven through the blood of Christ, by whom and in whom and for whom all things exist.

He warns them against hollow and deceptive philosophy dependent on human tradition and the elemental forces of this world rather than on Christ. He warns against those who would judge them by the Law, against anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels and goes into great detail about what they have seen, and against submitting to rules like do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, which fail to restrain indulgence.

In contrast he reaffirms their position: since they have been raised with Christ, and since they died and their life is now hidden with Christ in God.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The pattern the comment traces is the letter's structure in miniature. Colossians repeatedly sets an addition against a sufficiency — philosophy, legal observance, angelic visions, ascetic rules — and answers each the same way, by asserting that in Christ all the fullness of deity dwells bodily and that believers have been brought to fullness in Him (2:9–10).

The observation about the rules is worth drawing out, since Paul's objection to them is not the one a reader might expect. He does not say they are too strict; he says they fail — that such regulations have an appearance of wisdom but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh (2:23). The charge is ineffectiveness rather than severity, which is a more interesting critique of asceticism than the usual one.

What replaces them is not laxity. Chapter 3 issues a long list of things to put to death and put on. The difference is the ground: those instructions are addressed to people already raised with Christ and hidden with Him, which is where the letter locates the power the rules lacked.

Paul writes to the Colossians about living as those made alive in Christ. Since they have been raised with Christ, they are to set their hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at God's right hand; to set their minds on things above, not on earthly things — for they died, and their life is now hidden with Christ in God; and when Christ, who is their life, appears, they also will appear with Him in glory (a paraphrase of Colossians 3:1–4).

Several things stood out. Paul writes that we are raised with Christ — as Christ escaped death, so have we; we were dead in our sins and are now raised to life. He writes that we should set our hearts on things above. Our motives and actions are driven from the heart, and God is interested not only in our actions but in what motivates them. In the parable of the prodigal son we often focus on the younger son's disobedience, but the older son, though obedient, wanted the same thing his brother wanted. His obedience was not out of love.

Paul continues that we must set the mind on things above. A large part of our transformation is the renewing of the mind. When our minds are on the world, our priorities reflect it.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The observation about the older brother is well made and is what the parable seems designed to expose. His complaint is about wages — years of service, never a young goat — and his father's answer is that everything he has was always available. The obedience was real and the relationship underneath it was transactional, which is a harder problem to see in oneself than open rebellion.

On the phrase "hidden with Christ in God": it is doing more work than it first appears. Paul is writing to people who could not see any evidence of the glory he describes, and he tells them their life is currently concealed — not absent, not pending, but hidden, with a stated moment of disclosure. That is a different reassurance than "it will happen eventually." It says the thing is already true and simply not yet visible, which is the specific comfort available to someone whose present circumstances do not look like what they were promised.

Dear brothers and sisters!

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15).

This is the statement that doesn't make any sense when we look through the eyes of "hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world" because our corrupted eyes see the cross as the symbol of shameful failure and defeat. When we were dead in sin, how God provided the way of our salvation was not attractive at all and even deterred us from seeking the truth in Christ. IT JUST DID NOT MAKE ANY SENSE TO US! We, however, were mysteriously drawn to the Truth by the grace of God, and that symbol of defeat and failure became the supreme beauty beyond comparison. We neither chose God nor accepted His invitation to the Banquet. We did not find God but rather were found by God who is perfect and does not depend on random chances or our puny efforts or will power to save us. He is truly the Author of our salvation! Praise be to Him forever!

AI-Expanded Reflection

Colossians 2:15 belongs with the preceding account of forgiveness and the cancellation of the record against sinners. The victory over hostile powers is connected to Christ's dealing with guilt. The comment's experience of finding beauty in what formerly looked like defeat can therefore be explained through the passage itself: the cross removes the accusation that made judgment deserved. Its glory is not that suffering is intrinsically attractive, but that Christ accomplishes liberation through the very event that appears to display his helplessness.

The language of public display and triumph would be intelligible in a world where rulers advertised victories and humiliated their enemies. Paul's presentation reverses the apparent outcome. The crucified Christ is victorious, while the powers that seem ascendant are disarmed. This is a theological reversal of perception, not a command to call every humiliation good. The believer learns to evaluate the cross through what God accomplished there rather than through the world's immediate verdict. Read Colossians 2:13–15.

The author's insistence that God found us expresses a strong conviction about grace's initiative. It should be read alongside Colossians' own language about receiving Christ and continuing in him (2:6–7). Those responses are real, even when understood as enabled by grace. The helpful contrast is between boasting in self-salvation and giving thanks for mercy. Being found by God should produce humility toward people who still misunderstand the cross, since the testimony itself acknowledges that its beauty was once hidden from the speaker too.

Friends, there is very little that is new in Colossians that is not found in Paul's other epistles, especially in Galatians and Ephesians. In fact, certain portions are almost precise parallels. For example, the mystery of the union of Gentiles and Jews into one body in Christ (Ephesians 2:11–3:13) is summarized in Colossians 1:26–27,

... the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Paul's warning against false teaching (Ephesians 4:14–16) is echoed in Colossians 2:8–10,

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Paul reiterates his argument that Christians are no longer under the Law of Moses in Colossians 2:11–23. Compare, for instance, Ephesians 2:15 with Colossians 2:14

... having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace...

... having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Paul takes this theme further in Colossians. He exhorts them not to allow anyone to judge them by the Law: "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths..." (Colossians 2:16). He reminds them that in Christ they died to and were freed from these very kind of regulations.

Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations... (Colossians 2:20, see also vss. 21–23)

It is likely that Paul adds this additional counsel, because unlike the letter to the Ephesians, which was directed specifically to Gentiles, in Colosse there was historically a sizeable Jewish presence. We are also told that Jewish believers may have gone to Colosse (Colossians 4:10–11). But like the Ephesians, the Colossians were probably a predominantly Gentile church (Colossians 1:27; 3:5–7). And the moral instructions to these Gentile Colossians (Colossians 3:1–17) are very similar to those given to the Gentile Ephesians (Ephesians 4:17–5:21).

His instructions for wives, children, husbands, slaves, and masters (Colossians 3:18–4:1) parallel the same instructions in Ephesians 5:22–6:9.

Just as he requests the Ephesians for prayer with respect to his outreach ministry (Ephesians 6:18–20), he asks the same of the Colossians (Colossians 4:2–5).

I'd like to focus your attention on one particular parallel, which has suffered some confusion. In Ephesians 5:17–20, we read,

Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

The parallel in Colossians 3:16–17 reads,

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

The two texts follow almost lock-step in parallel in every theme, from being wise, to being filled, to speaking, to singing, and to giving thanks. The one apparent difference seems to be that in the Ephesians passage, Paul commands the believers to be filled with "the Spirit" whereas in the Colossian passage, he commands the believers to be filled with "the word of Christ." I have never heard anyone preach these passages in parallel, although they are clearly parallel.

Why is this important? It is because there is nowhere else in Scripture where there is a command to be filled with the Spirit except here. Therefore, it is unclear exactly what Paul means by it.

Some have taken it to mean that people should "pray to be filled with the Spirit," or to seek some mystical experience of filling with the Spirit. But is this what the passage is teaching? In the immediate context of Ephesians 5, Paul writes, "Do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17). Also, in the explanatory participle that follows the command to be "filled with the Spirit," Paul speaks of speaking (i.e. psalms, hyms, and spiritual songs...), singing and giving thanks. At least by implication, the Word of God is in view.

When we come to the parallel in Colossians, we find not a reference to the Holy Spirit but to the Word: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..." Would it be unreasonable then for us to understand an equivalence between the command to "be filled with the Spirit" and the command to "let the word of Christ dwell in your richly," so that filling with the Spirit can be accomplished by filling oneself with the Word? When everything else is in parallel, couldn't it also be possible that the central command is also in parallel?

And there are plenty of other Scriptures that make the connection between the Holy Spirit and the Word. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). The Spirit inspires (2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16), reminds of (John 14:26), and emboldens the proclamation of, the Word (Acts 4:31).

Therefore, Spirit filling is not something necessarily to pray for but something experienced through reading, meditating, studying, and applying the Word of God. Even in Acts 4, when the disciples ask God the Father for boldness, they do not ask to be "filled with the Spirit," but this is the consequence of their applying the Scriptures in their prayer for confidence to declare the Gospel.

Therefore, friends, if you desire to be empowered by the Spirit, there is nothing better than to daily meditate and apply God's Word, allowing God to sovereignly empower you as He sees fit.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The central contribution here is the comparison between Ephesians 5:18–20 and Colossians 3:16–17. Both passages describe a worshiping community marked by singing and thanksgiving. Ephesians connects that life with the Spirit's filling; Colossians connects it with the rich dwelling of Christ's word. Reading them together supplies a concrete account of spiritual vitality: the Spirit's work becomes visible as Christ's message shapes what people teach, sing, remember, and do. The comparison is much more informative than simply saying that both letters teach Christ's sufficiency.

The commands are addressed to congregations. In Colossians, believers teach and admonish one another; the word is meant to dwell richly among them, not merely accumulate in an individual's memory. This gives congregational singing a teaching function. A song carries an account of God, salvation, and the Christian life into the memory of its singers. The question is consequently not only whether worship feels powerful, but whether its words train the congregation to recognize and obey Christ. Likewise, gifted explanation without thanksgiving, mutual care, or obedience would fall short of the portrait in both passages. Compare Ephesians 5:17–21 and Colossians 3:16–17.

The author's proposed equivalence needs one qualification. Parallel effects show a deep relationship between the word and the Spirit; they do not make the Spirit identical to a text, or establish that prayer for spiritual help is inappropriate. Paul himself prays for believers to be strengthened through the Spirit in Ephesians 3:16. Acts 4:29–31 joins prayer, filling, and bold proclamation rather than setting them against one another. Reading and studying are vital, but neither automatically controls the Spirit nor substitutes for dependence on God.

A balanced application is therefore both active and prayerful: receive Christ's word attentively, ask God to make it fruitful, and look for its effects in the community. Greater biblical knowledge ought to produce wiser speech and deeper love. That gives a far more searching measure of spiritual fullness than novelty, emotional intensity, or possession of an unusual experience.

Re: Colossians 3 — when I was newer to the Word, I would have argued that the passage on wives' submission was more a cultural comment than an actual command from God. It took me several rounds of reading Scripture to notice a broader pattern of submission running throughout.

Jesus to the Father, the Church to Jesus, people to their government, husbands to Jesus, wives to husbands, children to parents, and so on — this pattern has held since the beginning, through the Old Testament, and continues throughout the New.

When I see myself as a leader, I feel like God is watching, waiting to catch me if I drift from the law of Christ. When I think of myself as a minister of God's word, I feel like I'm racing Paul's marathon — will I have much worth laying at Jesus's feet? When I picture myself as a soon-to-be father, I keep asking myself what example I'm setting.

Of these roles, being a husband is the one I find most challenging. I'm told not to be harsh (v. 19), and to be like Christ (Ephesians 5:25) — easy to say, "be perfect, basically." And when I fall short, I can't hide it — my wife knows me better than anyone, more so with each passing day. It becomes a practice of swallowing my pride and doing better — without letting that same pride overstep my role and become "too harsh," and without becoming too timid to actually be "Christlike."

Through all this, though, none of these roles implies inferiority. Jesus's value isn't inferior to the Father's, nor the sanctified to the sanctifier, nor the person to the church, the wife to the husband, or the child to the parent. Different roles, but each with a value sealed by God's own word.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The Trinity comparison this comment draws is a genuinely careful and important one, since it addresses the exact concern that makes discussions of submission so uncomfortable for many readers — the assumption that submission automatically implies lesser worth. The Son's submission to the Father within the Trinity is precisely the theological pattern many scholars point to for resolving this tension: full equality of divine essence and value, alongside a real distinction in role and relational order. Whatever one concludes about how that pattern should apply to marriage specifically (a question this whole project has flagged as genuinely debated among careful Christians), this comment's underlying instinct is right: role distinction and equal worth aren't logically incompatible ideas, and Scripture's own picture of the Trinity is often exactly where that compatibility gets demonstrated most clearly.

Friends, Colossians 2:10 tells us that in Christ we've been made complete (a paraphrase), and Colossians 1:28 describes proclaiming Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we might present everyone complete in Christ (a paraphrase). Meditating on these verses, it struck me that I already have all of Christ — in Him, I'm already complete. So it's theologically off, strictly speaking, for me to keep asking for "more" of Christ, the way a popular worship chorus puts it, repeatedly asking for more of Him. A more theologically precise song might instead express the opposite sentiment — that what we already have in Him is more than enough, more than we could want or need.

It isn't that I need more of Christ — it's that Christ wants more of me, and I need to be satisfied with what I already have of Him. Jesus gave His life for me. Jesus gave His righteousness to me. But I'm still holding onto my own will, my own interests, pursuits, and passions — these are what I need to surrender to Him. It's the same principle again: deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Him. So rather than asking for more of Him, let's instead resolve to give Him more of ourselves. And looking again at Colossians 1:28, giving Christ more of ourselves means striving to become more like Him — imitating His submission to the Father's will, and loving one another as He loved us. This is how we're conformed to Christ's image.

Being complete in Christ is a central theme of Colossians. That's why Paul warns against anyone who'd judge us by the Mosaic Law and human traditions — "don't let them" (a paraphrase of Colossians 2:16–17) — and against anyone who'd try to defraud us through claimed mystical experiences and visions — "watch out for them" (a paraphrase of Colossians 2:18–19). Such people may carry an appearance of wisdom and spirituality, but they're of no real value to us (cf. Colossians 2:23). We're complete in Christ — all that remains is to follow His moral example, since He is our all in all (cf. Colossians 3:11), obeying "the word of Christ" as our guide into all wisdom (cf. Colossians 3:16).

AI-Expanded Reflection

Worth adding one more angle to this "complete in Christ" theme: Paul makes essentially the identical argument to the Corinthians when he tells them they're not lacking any spiritual gift, eagerly waiting for Christ's return (a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 1:7) — completeness in Christ isn't a Colossians-specific idea, but a recurring conviction across Paul's letters that believers already possess everything necessary in their union with Christ, regardless of how incomplete their own experience of that reality might feel. This comment's practical reframing — asking less "what more can I get from Christ" and more "what more can I give of myself to Him" — is a fitting personal application of that same theological starting point.