and who also informed us of your love in the Spirit.
Parallel translations
- WEB who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
- KJV Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
- NKJV who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
- NASB and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.
- NLT He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Epaphras reported to Paul about the Colossians' love produced by the Holy Spirit. Christian love is a work of the Spirit, not mere natural affection.
Overview
This is the only explicit mention of the Spirit in Colossians, here as the source of the believers' 'love.' Their love is 'in the Spirit,' meaning it is generated and sustained by God's own work within them. The report of this love is what prompted Paul's thanksgiving and prayer.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Rom 15:30Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.
- 2 Tim 1:7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
- Gal 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- Rom 5:5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
- Col 1:4because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints—
- 1 Pet 1:22Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The image of the invisible God, firstborn over creation, in whom all things hold together and all the fullness of God dwells bodily — supreme over every power.
How Colossians 1:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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