Filled by His Will to Walk Worthy
9 For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9-10)
“For this reason,” refers to the wonderful report that Paul heard from Epaphras. Because the Colossian believers are growing and doing well, producing fruit, Paul gives a prayer of thanksgiving and encouragement for them to continue on growing. Paul wants the believers to continue maturing in the faith, especially since there are false teachers that are trying to infiltrate, leading Paul and other believers around him to continuously be in prayer for them, “we haven’t stopped praying for you.”
Specifically, Paul prays that they “may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” Now, the false teachers were teaching that salvation and other spiritual matters could only be acquired through special revelations and secret ways. Yet, seeking God’s will can be found through Him speaking through His Word and through prayer. The believers are challenged to seek out God’s will and be filled with it, fully submitting to God’s leading. As Max Anders writes, “Being controlled by God’s will should cause us to do things we might not otherwise do—things like enduring rather than giving up, like being patient with others rather than getting angry with them.” Applying God’s will in the believer’s lives will allow them to have spiritual understanding of the Scriptures and apply them into action.
Paul gives the goal as the believers are filled with God’s will, “so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him.” The purpose of the believers is to glorify God through a life of worship. Paul lists some markers in verses 10 to 14 of progress towards this goal, with two of them found here in verse 10, “bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.”
Paul states the first aspect in another letter in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Believers, being transformed through the saving work of Christ, are to strive to do good, producing spiritual fruit, such as love, joy, peace.
Finally, the second aspect of pleasing the Lord is growing in the knowledge of Him. Through reading His Word and spending time with Him daily, believers learn more about His character and His expectations. Knowing these things, believers should then strive to be more and more like Him every day, obeying His commands, and turning away from what is displeasing to Him.
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
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