Colossians 1:10, commentary and pictures

Paul's prayer asks that believers be filled with knowledge of God's will in wisdom and understanding so they live lives worthy of Him, fully pleasing Him, productive in every right action, ever growing in knowing Him, and strengthened for patient endurance with joy. It was written not only for its first readers but for every believer in every age, holding out unlimited possibilities of advancement through faith in Christ that are truly attainable by using the means God provides. To walk worthily is a fully surrendered life that seeks to please God in everything, following Christ's example, doing His will by the Spirit, and showing it in humble, loving, kind conduct. Fruitfulness is precious to Christ and comes only from His life dwelling in the soul by the Holy Spirit, producing an inner life of prayer, searching Scripture, love to God and neighbor, and self given to God. Increasing in the knowledge of God is continual spiritual progress that must be practical, bringing peace and efficiency for service, and it is gained by vital union with Christ, earnest prayer, study of the Word, and laying aside sin and self at His cross.

Verse Context and Scope

Paul's prayer is that believers be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, and then walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, be fruitful in every good work, increase in the knowledge of God, and be strengthened with all might unto patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. Knowing God's will with wisdom and spiritual understanding enables a life worthy of the Lord and fully pleasing to Him, a life that bears fruit in every good work and keeps growing in the knowledge of God. That true knowledge is the lasting good invited above all other things, most desirable especially where iniquity abounds and the law is made void, and it is to be desired and possessed by every Christian through persevering labor, earnest effort, willingness to deny self, and earnest prayer. Those who have this knowledge do not separate from God by disobedience but are animated with earnest desire to fulfill His purpose, living to please Him who gave His life so that all who believe should not perish but have everlasting life. Such knowing and walking does not lead to ungodliness, does not break down the body, and does not bring gloom over the mind, but imparts substantial joys and true happiness as divine wisdom flowing ceaselessly from a pure fountain that gives peace, joy, and health.

The prayer was written not only for those to whom Paul first wrote but for the help of every believer in every age who should afterward compose the church. It is a decided address given by the Holy Spirit for Colossians then and for believers afterward alike.

The prayer holds out wonderful possibilities and reveals the heights of attainment that may be reached through faith in the promises of the Father when His requirements are fulfilled. There is no limit fixed to advancement and no limit to the blessings privileged to be received in answer to this prayer, for through Christ constant growth in spirituality is possible and to everyone who constantly yields the will to be led and taught is promised ever-increasing development in spiritual things. This advance from strength to strength is open to everyone without envy or fear, desired unselfishly for every believer, made possible through the merits of Christ by which there is access to the throne of Infinite Power and partaking of the fullness of the Spirit. Such Christian growth is not beyond reach but comes as believers use the means God has provided and make a like effort, through prayer, through watchfulness, and through growth in understanding, strengthening with divine power unto patience and long-suffering with joyfulness and preparing to communicate truth acceptably. The prayer would never have been inspired if it were not possible to receive an answer from God in accordance with the request, and God manifests His will to His people as they need a clearer understanding of it. Heeding it brings increasing daily in the knowledge of God, with each night marking a day's march nearer home.

The verse is given as present truth for those in the darkness of error and as vital practical truth to dwell upon for the work of saving souls ready to perish. It is present, vital, practical instruction for giving light to those in error and darkness.

Walking Worthy Pleasing God

To walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing is to live a life fully surrendered to God that seeks to please Him in everything and in every way. It is an advancing experience in religious faith, producing good works and continual growth in the knowledge of God. This is the privilege and blessing of every Christian to enjoy in this life.

Walking worthily means following the perfect example Jesus gave when He left the heavenly courts and came to this world. Light from heaven constantly shines on the pathway, and when the heart is opened to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that light is reflected to those around, and this is living worthily. It means living as His people, rooted and established in Him, with faith expressed in obedience and service. The one on the Lord's side gives Him the heart, thoughts, affections and best energies, and longs to bear His image, breathe His Spirit and do His will. Those who have put on Christ and know Him reject worldly pride and customs, turn from worldly fashions, and seek to glorify God in a life shaped by His meekness and humility rather than imitating the world.

Walking worthy unto all pleasing means practicing the principles of truth by doing the will of God instead of following own impulses. It is life under the leading of the Spirit of God, knowing the meaning of the written Word, and bringing the principles and holy precepts of God's law into daily practical life. Such was the life of the early disciples, who sought above all things to know the will of God. Where this walk is lacking the church is weak and inefficient and led by another spirit, while where it is lived experience proves the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

This worthy walk is shown in conduct and character that testify to faith, beginning with walking in all humility. By beholding Jesus and dwelling on His perfection of character and striving to be like Him, pure tender feelings replace hardheartedness, the soul is stirred with intense desire to be like Jesus and to be led by His Spirit. Being fruitful appears as walking in love, loving God with the whole heart and listening to every whisper of His Holy Spirit. It means walking by a living principle that tells constantly in word and deed, not in fits and starts, with kindness, courtesy and a longing desire for the salvation of souls ready to perish. Such religion makes its possessors truly benevolent, countenancing no littleness, no mean transactions and none of the cheap covetous actions that disgrace the doer, and requires those in responsible positions to make straight paths for their feet lest the lame be turned out of the way.

The worthy life before the Lord is expressed in faithful, uncomplaining work and conduct that pleases God and helps lead others toward what is right. Speaking about God's goodness and love reflects gratitude and Christ enshrined in the heart, while neglecting to do so shows ingratitude. It is a life shaped by devotion to Him, bringing Him glory on earth and carrying out the work He gives, as God molds and cleanses the person by His Spirit to make him like Jesus. It means working intelligently to glorify God right now, learning the note of praise and glory and thanksgiving and giving a plain straightforward testimony with true Christian influence upon all associates, because living in a most solemn serious time makes the present moment the opportunity to glorify Him. It is living in Christ, receiving His righteousness and strength, and bringing His glory into daily life.

Walking worthily requires giving a right representation of Christ by keeping Him ever before the mind as the perfect Pattern and never losing control over self. It forbids speaking impatiently and fretfully, and forbids even feeling angry without speaking, for this is sin. Speaking an angry word at once kindles wrathful feelings, like flint striking flint.

Fruitful in Good Works

Being fruitful in every good work means a life pleasing to the Lord that produces good in every kind of right action, and this fruit is precious to Christ. Knowing God's will should lead to such a worthy and pleasing life that keeps growing in the knowledge of God, and the increase belongs to genuine conversion rather than mere profession of truth. God gives each person talents to improve and use, and their increase together with the original trust is to be returned to Him by the whole person—heart, soul, mind, and strength—in service to Jesus Christ. Repentant sinners who receive Christ's righteousness and the cleansing He offers can live this life, joined with strength from God for patience and joyful endurance. Accepting the truth brings reforms that embody this walk, and the knowledge gained is divine wisdom that brings peace, joy, and happiness rather than ungodliness or gloom.

Such fruitfulness comes only from the life of Jesus Christ in the soul, which is the active principle of love imparted by the Holy Spirit. It belongs to true Bible religion of forgiveness only through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour and righteousness by faith of the Son of God, with the love of Christ as the force and power of every true message and work for God. Departing from Christ for skepticism, loving one's own way, and refusing to have Him reign over the heart forfeits this fruitfulness. The Holy Spirit gives the receiver the mind of Christ and makes him a faithful worker for his Lord, regulating relationships with others through continual reliance on God. Prayer keeps the mind seeking God's strength and wisdom, while the Holy Spirit gives light, understanding, and help that make life fruitful in good works.

Learning from Christ makes the mind more fruitful in good work, including growth in knowledge of truth and righteousness and practice of Christ's virtues. This growth helps a person resist the enemy's assaults, while weakness and indecision leave a person vulnerable. Fruitfulness includes work that strengthens church members and helps them gain experience in saving souls, and changing ministers' fields of labor can foster that growth. Producing fruit in good works is the outward result of an inner life hid with Christ in God. That inner life means habitual prayer as Christ prayed, habitual personal searching of the Scriptures with growing earnestness as the day approaches, and supreme love to God with love to neighbor as self.

It means giving self to God as a free-will offering that includes all one has, with no giving without reserve unless possessions are included, dispensing means as the Lord's goods held in trust. The worthy walk of fruitfulness is the higher life, even the life of God. God designates the particular work to be done so it brings forth fruit that in its turn brings forth more fruit unto eternal life. This life is gained by wise planning that increases spiritual, mental, and physical power, not by carrying so many burdens or overworking as to dwarf oneself and lose health, courage, and faith in God.

Bearing fruit and growing in knowledge comes by being strengthened with all might according to His glorious power for patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. For those who care for the sick this means not going about with long faces in mere sympathy with suffering but cheering sufferers with words of comfort, hope, and joyfulness. It means telling them that in Jesus Christ they have a greater Physician than any human helper, showing that human helpers are only finite beings with a living connection with God who help them cooperate with God in fighting disease. It means assuring them that prayer is offered for them and caring for every suffering person with hearts filled by God with sympathy and tenderness. It means fastening faith on Christ who gave His life in love and shares His glorious power so joy may be full, being joyful in the Lord, and at times softly singing God's praises to help the sin-sick soul by faith take hold of His strength and make peace with Him.

Increasing daily in the knowledge of God and the truth is not only a privilege but a duty for everyone. That increase comes by taking time to pray and to search the Scriptures in order to understand the truth and to teach it to children. Walking worthy unto all pleasing therefore requires simplicity in dress and economy, saving time and means to be fruitful in every good work by helping the temperance cause, clothing the destitute, feeding the hungry, visiting the afflicted, and praying with and for them. Satan opposes this growth by inventing attractions that make God forgotten, and he uses fashion with great success to do this, benumbing moral sensibilities so that those with a feverish desire to follow fashions become worldly-minded, without God and without hope.

Growing in Knowing God

Increasing in the knowledge of God means continual advancing growth in Christ and in spirituality, an advancing experience in religious faith in which the walk remains worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing and fruitful in every good work. Christian life is continual spiritual progress, not standing still or turning back, but advancing continually in experience while strengthened by God's power. This growth means becoming more intelligent in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, without exalting self. It is God's purpose for believers in every age to keep increasing and growing in this knowledge as an ongoing part of a life that pleases God and bears fruit in good works, needed especially amid the warnings and dangers of the time with prayer and watchfulness and reconversion.

This privilege and sacred trust of bearing fruit and increasing in knowledge is joined to being strengthened by God's glorious power for patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. God wants His people to stand on an elevated platform with hearts refined and purified from all dross and selfishness and filled with the knowledge of God in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. The inner lamp of the soul is to be kept trimmed to reflect heaven's light and to discern God's voice in His Word and in prayer offered in meekness and humility with belief that God hears. The mouth is to be bridled against complaints and accusations that would plant injuring thoughts in others, so that life honors the Lord and fully pleases Him, bearing fruit in every kind of good work and growing in knowing God with patient endurance with joy.

Increasing in the knowledge of God means daily gaining more knowledge of Him and growing in grace and in spiritual understanding. This knowledge must be practical, giving spirituality to the understanding, and the Lord is pleased when those connected with Him are filled with the knowledge of His will. It increases spiritual efficiency in order to give strength to those for whom God's servants labor, who are strengthened with might according to His glorious power. Knowledge of Scripture and of God's will should therefore deepen spiritual understanding, help believers grow in grace, and increase their spiritual strength and effectiveness in serving and strengthening God's people.

This true knowledge is to be desired and possessed by every Christian, requiring persevering labor, earnest effort, and willingness to deny self. It is divine wisdom flowing ceaselessly from a pure fountain that gives peace, joy, and health, imparting substantial joys and true happiness. Such knowing and walking does not lead to ungodliness, does not break down the body, and does not bring gloom over the mind. A Christian life pleasing to the Lord that is fruitful in every good work and keeps growing in the knowledge of God thus brings peace, joy, and happiness rather than ungodliness or gloom.

As Christians grow toward maturity in Christ in true Christian growth and sanctification, they come nearer to perfection of character while becoming more aware of their unlikeness to Christ, less self-reliant, and more dependent on God. Knowing God's will should shape a life that pleases the Lord, produces good works, and continues to grow in knowledge of God, and this experience of spiritual growth is what the church needs in order to live faithfully and uphold God's character before the world. Walking worthy unto all pleasing means practicing the principles of truth by doing the will of God instead of following own impulses, bringing the principles of God's law into daily life under the leading of the Spirit of God. Being fruitful and increasing in knowledge comes from being filled with the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding and knowing the meaning of the written Word, seeking above all things to know God's will as the early disciples did. Where this walk is lacking the church is weak and inefficient, led by another spirit; where it is lived, experience proves the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

Receiving and Living Verse

To walk worthy, be fruitful and increase in knowledge is to live in vital union with Christ, a union that must be constantly striven for and continually sought. It is not a religion consisting only of profession, for religion that is only profession is pretense, and genuine conversion is required and not merely profession of truth. Those whose union with Christ ends with the writing of their names on the church roll are not channels of light, for merely having a name without living union does not meet what is required. Bible sanctification bears this fruit in good works and growth in knowing God, and such growth is not beyond reach but comes as the means God has provided are used with like effort. A life that pleases the Lord and bears this fruit comes through close union with Him and shows itself by producing good in every kind of right action while growing in knowing God.

This life is made possible through the power and riches of His great salvation by receiving Christ, becoming God's children, and receiving His righteousness and cleansing. Repentant sinners who receive Christ's righteousness can live in a way that pleases the Lord, doing good works and growing in knowledge of God, joined with strength from God for patience and joyful endurance. It was desired unselfishly for every believer without envy or fear that others should go before, holding that high attainments are open to everyone. Heeding it brings advance from strength to strength, increasing daily in the knowledge of God, with each night marking a day's march nearer home. It requires being filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, a knowledge most desirable in a world where iniquity abounds and the law is made void, and those who have it do not separate themselves from Him by disobedience but are animated with earnest desire to fulfill His purpose, living to please Him who gave His life so that all who believe should not perish but have everlasting life.

The blessing is obtained by earnest prayer and by daily prayer for God's favor to make the heart right, bringing sweet peace and the working of the Holy Spirit seen in the words, with new power in Scripture and keen appetite for the Word. Prayer is to be offered in meekness and humility with belief that God hears, together with watchfulness and growth in understanding, and to everyone who constantly yields the will to be led and taught is promised ever-increasing development in spiritual things with no limit fixed to advancement, strengthening with divine power unto patience and longsuffering with joyfulness and preparing to communicate truth acceptably. It means putting oneself where the Spirit of all wisdom and spiritual understanding is received in order to live worthily and fully pleasing to Him, and sharing in Christ's sufferings while continuing to pursue knowing the Lord gives increased strength and increased knowledge. It requires filling the chambers of the soul with His precious words and heeding the reproofs and encouragement given in the Word, and habitually studying the Word to know the only true God and Christ, beholding Jesus and dwelling on His perfection until pure tender feelings replace hardheartedness. Walking in all humility and in love means loving God with the whole heart, listening to every whisper of His Spirit, seeking the Lord diligently as a little child, and letting the Spirit take truth from the sacred page and stamp it on the mind rather than keeping truth in the outer courts and closing communion with God.

Receiving this knowledge requires coming to Christ and laying aside sins, vices, follies, pride and worldliness at His cross, because He saves from sins and not in sins. Servants must not enter His service with natural traits of character unconverted. The love of God calls believers to bring joy into their hearts by being filled and not merely tasting with the knowledge of His will, reaching a higher state of worthy walking, fruitfulness and increasing knowledge. Keeping a sense of the goodness of God in sending His Son to die for sinful man interwoven into experience and riveted in the mind produces such love for those for whom Christ died that there is no desire for supremacy and, in worshiping God, no hatred, envy or evil surmising, because the eternal weight of glory and the plan of salvation from beginning to close is kept before the mind in order to present it justly to the world. This knowledge gives spirituality to the understanding and increases spiritual efficiency in order to give strength to those for whom His servants labor, and daily growth in grace and spiritual understanding is that with which the Lord is pleased.

God wants His people to stand on an elevated platform with hearts refined and purified from all dross and selfishness and filled with the knowledge of God in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. The inner lamp of the soul is to be kept trimmed to reflect heaven's light and to discern His voice in the Word and in prayer, and the mouth is to be bridled against complaints and accusations that would plant injuring thoughts in others. The head is lifted instead of bowed down like a bulrush in dejection, and cheap nonsensical remarks spoken to create levity are kept from falling from the lips. Communion with God makes a person fruitful in knowing His will and supplies practical truths and practical subjects to share that strengthen and solemnize others rather than encourage frivolity. This growth is joined to purity of heart and life, leading to a sacred morally serious life rather than levity.