Kolose 1:25

1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ¹  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ²  the word of God,

Kolose 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ³  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ⁴ 

Kolose 2:18

2:18 Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths ⁵  about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. ⁶ 

Kolose 4:8

4:8 I sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing ⁷  and that he may encourage your hearts.

[1:25]  ¹ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ² tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.

[2:1]  ³ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[2:18]  ⁵ tn For the various views on the translation of ἐμβατεύων (embateuwn), see BDAG 321 s.v. ἐμβατεύω 4. The idea in this context seems to be that the individual in question loves to talk on and on about his spiritual experiences, but in reality they are only coming out of his own sinful flesh.

[2:18]  ⁶ tn Grk “by the mind of his flesh.” In the translation above, σαρκός (sarkos) is taken as an attributive genitive. The phrase could also be translated “by his sinful thoughts,” since it appears that Paul is using σάρξ (sarx, “flesh”) here in a morally negative way.

[4:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “the things concerning us.”