The Nugget:
Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
My Comment:
The Bible has much to say about the will of God. We learn from Paul’s description of the content of the prayers of Epaphras for the Colossian Christians that Epaphras had great concern that they stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. This may well be a concern that should be addressed for those we pray for today.
To study this subject further, read the cross references for Colossians 4:12 as I have given them below:
the will. Gr. thelēma (S# G2307, Gal 1:4). Mat 7:21, +*Rom 12:2, Eph 6:6, *+1Th 4:3, Heb 10:36, 1Pe 4:2, **1Jn 2:17.
These texts read as follows:
Galatians 1:4
4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
King James Version
Matthew 7:21
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
King James Version
Notice that Jesus issues a very stern warning. Lip service is not enough. Religious devotion is not enough. Sincerity is not enough. Good works are not enough. Jesus issues yet stronger warning in answer to the pleas of many in that day who point to their wonderful works done in His name:
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Jesus had already spoken of the righteousness that He requires:
Matthew 5:20
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
King James Version
Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 12:3 clarifies just what is involved in meeting the high requirement Jesus has set:
1 Corinthians 12:3
3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
King James Version
I have supplied the following explanatory note for 1 Corinthians 12:3 in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:
the Lord. The word kurios, Lord, is that by which the word Jehovah is commonly rendered in the Greek version of the Old Testament. To say Jesus is the Lord, therefore, in the sense of the apostle, is to acknowledge him to be truly God. No one can truly believe and openly confess that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh unless he is enlightened by the Spirit of God (Hodge). Thus only those enlightened by the Holy Spirit can recognize Jesus as Jehovah. Belief in the full deity of the Lord Jesus is the positive test of orthodoxy given by the apostle. **1Co 2:8; **1Co 15:47, +*Neh 9:6, *Mat 7:21, 22, 23, *Luk 6:46, +*Joh 8:24; +**Joh 20:28, +**Act 10:37; Act 11:21 note. **Rom 10:9; **Rom 10:10, 2Co 4:5, Php 2:11, +**1Pe 2:3 note with >Psa 34:8.
Therefore, to go beyond the scrupulous righteousness of the Pharisees who sought to obey all the commandments perfectly and then some (of whom Paul wrote that they went about to establish their own righteousness, Romans 10:3), we must rather fully believe the truth of Who Jesus is by believing Jesus is Who He claimed to be.
Romans 12:2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
King James Version
be not. Christians are to avoid even the appearance of moral assimilation to the life of the world, and are to be really and inwardly changed to a new moral type by the renewing of the mind (Liddon)
conformed. The present infinitive points to continuous acts (Liddon).
be ye transformed. The present infinitive points to continuous acts (Liddon).
will of God. Rom 2:18, +**Psa 23:3, +*Mat 6:10; *Mat 7:21, +Act 22:14, *Col 1:9, +1Th 4:3, Heb 10:36; Heb 13:21, *1Pe 4:2; *1Pe 4:3, 1Jn 2:17.
Ephesians 6:6
6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
King James Version
Notice the emphasis on doing the will of God from the heart.
1 Thessalonians 4:3
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
King James Version
Notice that the will of God includes our sanctification. That sanctification includes the emphasis that we abstain from fornication. Of course, that includes abstaining from all sexual sins. These commands are not optional. Failure to heed them means the loss of salvation, as plainly declared in Hebrews 12:14,
Hebrews 12:14
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
King James Version
Hebrews 10:36
36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
King James Version
1 Peter 4:2
2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
King James Version
1 John 2:17
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
King James Version