To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
I. The inscription of this epistle is much the same with the rest; only it is observable that, 1. He calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. An apostle is a prime-minister in the kingdom of Christ, immediately called by Christ, and extraordinarily qualified; his work was peculiarly to plant the Christian church, and confirm the Christian doctrine.
Commenting on Colossians 1:1-2
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ,.... This is the inscription of the epistle, in which the persons wrote unto are described as "saints", or holy men; not by birth, for all are unholy and unclean by nature; nor by baptism, for that neither takes away sin, nor gives grace; nor merely externally, by an outward reformation; but by separation, being by an act...
Continuation of Introductory Notes to Colossians THE EPISTLE FROM LAODICEA. IN , of this epistle, the apostle gives this direction: "And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea." The former part of this verse is clear; and the direction was given, doubtless, because the...