Colossians 1:9-14, Part 6

There are three observations that we can make in connection with this. The first two are two sides of the same issue, and the third one will bring us to a separate discussion.

First, Paul prays that the believers would receive spiritual wisdom with the intent that this will also produce good works. The natural fruit of godly wisdom is a godly life, because this wisdom has within it the knowledge that defines godliness, the understanding that this is the way one ought to follow, and the insight to agree with all that God has revealed. So true wisdom leads to godly conduct, but what appears to be godly conduct is only such if it is a product of wisdom from God. An outward conformity to a precept of God that is based on an evil motive or a false understanding is not godly at all. The conformity in this case is incidental and not intentional. Moreover, a godly life is not characterized by altruism alone, but also endurance, patience, joy, and thanksgiving.

The first point is probably agreeable to most and is widely emphasized, but in the second point I must defy a common teaching. This is the idea that if knowledge does not lead to good works, then the knowledge is worthless, and if one's theology does not produce holiness, then the theology is defective. Along with this comes the assertion that knowledge is necessarily tied to godliness, and that the sole purpose of theology is to produce a godly life. (There are variations of this teaching, but the basic idea is the same.) However, the Bible does not teach this.

The above is often asserted on the basis of passages like Colossians 1:9-14, in which Paul indeed requests spiritual wisdom for his readers so that they will "bear fruit in every good work." But this is a false inference and a misuse of the passage. Contrary to the popular teaching, this relationship does not hold in the same way when it is reversed – that theology is intended to produce godliness does not render the theology worthless when there is no godliness. There is no need for detailed explanation. The idea is simply absent from the passage.

Even 1 Corinthians 13 does not support the teaching. There Paul says, "If I…can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge…but have not love, I am nothing." He does not say that the knowledge is nothing or that the ability to fathom it is nothing, but that the person who does not have love is nothing. Theology is a revelation of the mind of God, and as such it possesses intrinsic value, so that to denigrate it is akin to blasphemy, if it is not already. When there is sound theology but no sound conduct, let us denigrate the person – he is worthless and defective – and not the theology.

Third, Paul prays for the Christians to be "filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding" (ESV). Unlike many believers, who exhibit either feigned humility or genuine unbelief, the apostle asks for his readers to be full of knowledge in all wisdom. He requests for them the maximum – the fullness – both in terms of the nature of the knowledge and their capacity to contain and grasp it.

Of course, even our maximum has a limit (1 Corinthians 13:12), but the apostle sets this limit far, far beyond those who exalt the doctrine of our "finite human mind" more than the generosity and promise of God (James 1:5), and his power in conversion. This fullness of all wisdom is extensive enough that, if attained, enables us to be "fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work" (Colossians 1:9-10), serving him with "all power" and "all endurance" (v. 11). Paul's prayer is for fullness in knowledge, holiness, and power. Since this prayer is written under divine inspiration, even if we do not attain to such fullness, we must never suggest that it is impossible in principle.