In the letters of the New Testament it can be easy to gloss over those parts that are greetings at the beginning or ending of each. Much in the same way that sticking with it when you read through a genealogy or other seemingly dry part of the Bible, there is much that may be found in these sections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final verse in the book of Colossians is this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.\u00a0Remember\u00a0my chains.\u00a0Grace be with you.<\/p>Colossians 4:18 NIV<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The statement “Grace be with you” did not surprise all that much. 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon all start and end with similar words. Grace is an overwhelming theme of the Bible and of incalculable importance. Nevertheless, here let us consider the other part of this verse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five times in the Bible we see Paul state that he writes something in his own hand. In this case, the message is quite short. Before “Grace be with you” he says “Remember my chains.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the same Paul who sat chained with Silas in prison in Acts but did not remain that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
25\u00a0<\/sup>About midnight\u00a0Paul and Silas\u00a0were praying and singing hymns\u00a0to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.\u00a026\u00a0<\/sup>Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.\u00a0At once all the prison doors flew open,\u00a0and everyone\u2019s chains came loose.<\/p>Acts 16:25-26 NIV<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
This miraculous event led to the salvation of the jailor and his family (and we don’t know, but perhaps quite a few prisoners as well). Yet, in the same book of Acts, in chapter 21, he is bound again and no miracle frees Paul from his chains. He knew it was coming. He did not rebuke the chains. He did not flee. He did not call down fire from heaven on his enemies or strike them with leprosy by the Holy Spirit. He accepted as God’s will to be bound. Others tried to dissuade him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
12\u00a0<\/sup>When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.\u00a013\u00a0<\/sup>Then Paul answered, \u201cWhy are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die\u00a0in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.\u201d\u00a014\u00a0<\/sup>When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up\u00a0and said, \u201cThe Lord\u2019s will be done.\u201d<\/p>Acts 21:12-14 NIV<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Paul’s chains proved a powerful vehicle for the spread of the gospel. Three missionary journeys had done much. God worked in a new way through his imprisonment. Many Roman officials and those of their households heard the gospel message. Many others than Paul were able to engage in continuing the ministries he helped to begin. Letters of the New Testament were written and disseminated. Certainly, the result is summed up best in scripture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3\u00a0<\/sup>And pray for us, too, that God may open a door\u00a0for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery\u00a0of Christ, for which I am in chains.\u00a04\u00a0<\/sup>Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.<\/p>Colossians 4:3-4 NIV<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Paul’s chains were a mechanism for the spread of the gospel. In his weak state, God was able to use him mightily to proclaim the mystery of Christ. He we see that the prayer was not to be set free and to journey again but to proclaim the message clearly in the place and condition he found himself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the letters of the New Testament it can be easy to gloss over those parts that are greetings at the beginning or ending of each. Much in the same way that sticking with it when you read through a genealogy or other seemingly dry part of the Bible, there is much that may be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":318,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}