Loading…

Colossians and Philemon is unavailable, but you can change that!

Colossians and Philemon have traditionally been overshadowed by other New Testament texts thought to express Pauline theology more clearly. In this notable commentary, however, Marianne Meye Thompson shows how these two epistles provide a unique formulation of the gospel in terms of creation and reconciliation rather than justification by faith. In Colossians she finds an overarching narrative of...

“kept for you in heaven” are future realities, what believers now have is a true foretaste of what will be theirs in fullness. What they participate in is an authentic foretaste of what they anticipate: the fulfillment of the promises of God’s blessings and salvation. Hope is the cause of the Colossian Christians’ faith and love (1:4–5). Hope gives rise to faith; faith looks forward in hope. We see here some of the suppleness of Paul’s thinking. Perhaps the most memorable instance of his use of “faith,
Page 21