We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.
Colossians 1:11-12
Remember, our journey yesterday revealed that Paul’s reason for praying for the church was so that they might please God – not just in the big things but in “every good deed [or work]. In today’s passage, Paul continues to share his prayer for the church – both to encourage them in their walk of faith and to remind them that God has enabled them to share in the “inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light.” This is not simply an inheritance of property or land or money, but the far more valuable gift of God, which is eternal life and that of the Holy Spirit.
The Role of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in the assurance and realization of the saints’ inheritance. Ephesians 1:13-14 states, “In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.” The Holy Spirit is both a seal and a guarantee, affirming the believer’s status as an heir and providing a foretaste of the future inheritance.
Peter describes the inheritance as imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven (1 Peter 1:4). It is an inheritance not earned or deserved, but acquired by faith and secured through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. By God’s grace, believers are described as co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), sharing in His glory and the fullness of God’s promises.
Click here for more on the inheritance that is ours through Christ.1
I really appreciate the following commentary2 from David Guzik concerning the prayer of Paul and Timothy for the Colossian believers:
c. Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. This is how we can be fully pleasing to God and how we can have a worthy walk.
i. This is an echo of Jesus’ thought in John 15:7-8: If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
ii. “‘Fruitful in every good work.’ Here is room and range enough – in ‘every good work.’ Have you the ability to preach the gospel? Preach it! Does a little child need comforting? Comfort it! Can you stand up and vindicate a glorious truth before thousands? Do it! Does a poor saint need a bit of dinner from your table? Send it to her. Let works of obedience, testimony, zeal, charity, piety, and philanthropy all be found in your life. Do not select big things as your special line, but glorify the Lord also in the littles – ‘fruitful in every good work.’” (Spurgeon)
d. Strengthened with all might: As we walk worthy of the Lord, His strength is there to help us meet all of life’s challenges, and to endure and overcome problems with circumstances (patience) and people (longsuffering) with joy.
Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
a. Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us: In the divine administration, the Father is mentioned in connection with the broad sweep of His plan of redemption. He is the Person of the Trinity who initiates the plan of the ages.
b. To be partakers of the inheritance of the saints: It is the Father who qualifies us, not our own works. We gain this as an inheritance, instead of earning it as a wage.
Reflection and Application
Friends, let us not overlook Paul’s words of specific thanks to the Father. Instead, let us be faithful to include such thanksgiving in our own prayers. For it is good to give thanks to God, to praise Him for what He has done and for His good, good gifts – of love, mercy, and grace and of His presence with us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Let us also be quick and faithful to not just tell someone we will pray for them but truly and specifically pray for them and make them aware of our prayers that they might be encouraged and strengthened “with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need.”
- https://biblehub.com/topical/t/the_saints’_inheritance.htm ↩︎
- Guzik, Enduring Word ↩︎
Me From the Inside Out 