Colossians 4:12

Epaphras. — See Note on Colossians 1:7.

Servant of Christ. — A title assumed by St. James and St. Judo, as well as by St. Paul himself, but given by him only to Timothy (Philippians 1:1) and to Epaphras here. Of course, all Christians are “servants of Christ.” But the name, as applied here, is no doubt distinctive of some peculiar character of service.

Labouring fervently. — Properly, wrestling in agony of prayer. (See Romans 15:30.)

Perfect and complete. — The word here found in the best MSS. for “complete” is used in Romans 4:21; Romans 14:5, for “fully convinced” or “persuaded.” This is probably, though not perhaps necessarily, its meaning here. In the two epithets — perfect and fully established in conviction — we may again trace, as before, reference to the pretensions of the Gnostic teachers to exclusive perfection in wisdom. St. Paul’s true fellow-worker, like himself, prays that this perfection may belong to all, and that it may have its basis not is the secrets of heavenly knowledge, but in the revealed “will of God.”