Verse Lens · Context pointer
Colossians 1:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The thanksgiving begins by directing continual prayerful gratitude to God for the community rather than starting with its risks.
Read It With
- Colossians 1:3-8
Read Colossians 1:3-8 as a complete movement. The writers thank God because gospel hope has produced faith in Christ and love for all the saints, bearing fruit since the Colossians learned God's grace from Epaphras. At 1:3, focus on this verse's contribution: The thanksgiving begins by directing continual prayerful gratitude to God for the community rather than starting with its risks.
Read Colossians 1:3–8 together
Why these verses belong together: One thanksgiving sentence traces faith and love to hope, gospel fruit, and Epaphras's ministry and report.
Verse 3. 3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
Verse 4. 4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,
Verse 5. 5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
Verse 6. 6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
Verse 7. 7 As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;
Verse 8. 8 Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Colossians 1:3-8 — Thanksgiving Traces Faith and Love to Gospel HopeSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: The exact pinned KJV wording, paragraph data, and supplied-word markup for Colossians 1:3-8.
Exact location: eBible/CrossWire eng-kjv2006 USFM, source files dated 2026-08-19, Colossians 1:3-8; archive and normalized-corpus SHA-256 values are recorded in the shared library policy.
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: The critically edited Greek wording, connective structure, lexical forms, and variation markers.
Exact location: Official Faithlife SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Col.txt, Colossians 1:3-8.
Open the Colossians Greek text file ↗