Colossians 4:12
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Study Note
Study Note
The description of Epaphras as 'always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God' provides a rare window into early Christian intercessory prayer as a form of intense spiritual labor (agōnizomenos, from 'to agonize'). The athletic/combat metaphor in agōnizomenos connects to Colossians 2:1 where Paul uses the same verb for his own spiritual conflict on behalf of absent communities, establishing a Pauline theology of intercessory effort. The goal of Epaphras' prayer — 'perfect and complete in all the will of God' (teleioi kai peplērophorēmenoi en panti thelēmati tou theou) — employs the vocabulary of mature completeness that runs through Colossians as a counter to the false teachers' claims to spiritual supplementation. The verse is an important New Testament datum for the theology of intercessory prayer and its relationship to Christian formation.
Other Translations
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, saluteth you, always striving for you in his prayers, that ye may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.
Salute you doth Epaphras, who <FI>is<Fi> of you, a servant of Christ, always striving for you in the prayers, that ye may stand perfect and made full in all the will of God,
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his love, ever taking thought for you in his prayers, that you may be complete and fully certain of all the purpose of God.
Cross References
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood …
If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if …
And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all …
Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye …
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes …
Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of …
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased …
My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,