NIV Application Commentary: Colossians and Philemon (NIVAC)

Top Highlights

“What is lacking is Christ’s bodily presence. Paul’s physical suffering as a member of Christ’s body represents Christ’s continuing suffering for the world through his servants.” (Page 122)

“For Paul, understanding God’s will involves recognizing how Christ is the fulfillment of God’s redemptive purposes (1:27; 2:2), how God’s salvation is open to all people, and how God intends for Christians to live in whatever situation they find themselves.” (Page 65)

“If Christ is the head of the church, it means that the destinies of creation and the church are bound together and that God’s purposes for all creation gestate in the church’s congregational life.³⁶ The church does not exist to meet the needs of its members or to insure its institutional survival, but to fulfill the redemptive purposes of Christ, its head.” (Page 91)

“‘Being built’ implies that believers are still under construction and not yet a finished product.” (Page 140)

“He is the basic operating principle controlling existence.³² The universe is not self-sufficient (as in the deistic model), nor are individuals, no matter how much they may deceive themselves into thinking they are.³³ Even those who do not acknowledge Christ’s reign and those who actively oppose him are entirely dependent on him.” (Page 90)