Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Whereunto—namely, "to present every man perfect in Christ."
I also labour—rather, "I labor also." I not only "proclaim" (English Version, "preach") Christ, but I labor also.
striving—in "conflict" (Colossians 2:1) of spirit (compare Romans 8:26). The same Greek word is used of Epaphras (Colossians 4:12), "laboring fervently for you in prayers": literally, "agonizing," "striving as in the agony of a contest." So Jesus in Gethsemane when praying (Luke 22:44): so "strive" (the same Greek word, "agonize"), Luke 13:24. So Jacob "wrestled" in prayer (Genesis 32:24-29). Compare "contention," Greek, "agony," or "striving earnestness," I Thessalonians 2:2.
according to his working—Paul avows that he has power to "strive" in spirit for his converts, so far only as Christ works in him and by him (Ephesians 3:20; Philippians 4:13).
mightily—literally, "in power."
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Colossians 1:29:
Colossians 2:1
Colossians 4:12
1 Thessalonians 2:2
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