Colossians 1: 8 – Love in spirit

…according as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow slave, who is a faithful dispenser of Christ for us, who makes evident also to us you love in spirit.

Epaphras was the liaison between Paul and the Colossians. He was the one who made known “the truth of the Evangel” to his fellow citizens and then told Paul how this message had been received among the Colossians. From Philemon :23 we can conclude that he also accompanied Paul in his captivity.

In addition to telling Paul about how the Evangel grew and bore fruit among the Colossians, Epaphras also spoke to Paul about their “love in spirit.” In verse 5 we read of their “love for all the saints,” but here it is called their love “in spirit.” Their love was spiritual. This expression refers specifically to the Colossians’ love for Paul himself because they did not know him personally and they “had not seen his face in the flesh” (2:1).

The love of the Colossians was not based on sympathy, character, or physical attraction. Their “love was in spirit” and was grounded in the Good News and “the grace of God”. They loved Paul because of the word and the stewardship that had been entrusted to him by God.

Delen: