Who was Epaphras in the Bible?

It would appear from verse 7 that Epaphras had been the servant of Christ who brought the light to them. They had learned the Glad Tidings of the grace of God and of the hope of glory from his lips. Then verse 8 indicates that he had travelled to Rome and made known to Paul what God had wrought among the Colossians, and the depth and sincerity of their Christian love. We can see how highly Paul esteemed him. He speaks of him as a faithful servant of Christ, and at the end of the epistle we learn how truly devoted he was to the spiritual welfare of the Colossians.

The gospel of the grace of God had reached the Colossians through Epaphras, the beloved fellow-bondman of Paul and Timothy, and "a faithful minister of Christ" to the Colossian saints. He had brought to the Apostle the tidings of the genuine work of God that had been wrought in their midst as manifested by their "love in the Spirit".

Epaphras had very likely heard the gospel from Paul during Paul's long stay at Ephesus, for Colosse was not far from there; and Epaphras in turn had brought it to Colosse, his own home (ch.4:12). Paul delighted in this news from his "dear fellow servant," whom he commends as a faithful minister of Christ. It was their love in the Spirit that Epaphras declared to Paul and Timothy because Paul had not seen their faces in the flesh (ch.2:1). This the only mention of the Holy Spirit in Colossians, which gives no doctrine concerning Him at all, in contrast to Romans, Galatians and Ephesians. Here rather the Holy Spirit is drawing attention to the Person of Christ as sufficient food for the wilderness and therefore says nothing of Himself. "Love in the Spirit" then is love of another although having no direct personal contact "in the flesh."

Epaphras also was with Paul but he was "one of you," that is, a Colossian, and so not "of the circumcision." Separated as he was from his own people he yet had a great zeal for them and he was fervently labouring on their behalf. This labour was accomplished in prayer.

Epaphras belonged to Colosse, and was a servant of Christ (Col. 4:12). He was evidently with Paul when he wrote his letter to the saints at Colosse, and had told the Apostle of their state (Col. 1:6–8). This dear servant of the Lord had evidently caught Paul’s desire for the saints, as made known in his prayer in chapter 1, so that when he joined in prayer for them, he also prayed in relation to God’s will, always earnestly combating for them in prayers, to the end that they might “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (4:12).

"Epaphras saluteth you, who is [one] of you, a bondman of Christ Jesus, always striving for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all [the] will of God. For I bear him witness that he hath much toil for you, and those in Laodicea, and those in Hierapolis." vv. 12, 13. It would be a joy for the saints at Colosse to know that Epaphras, himself a Colossian as well as Onesimus, did not stand higher in the love and value of the Apostle (Col. 1:7) than in earnest remembrance of themselves in his prayers for their blessing before God. Remark too that the doctrine of the epistle (that we are filled full according to all the fullness that is in Christ), far from excluding, is the basis of desire and intercession for the saints, that they may be practically perfect and fully assured in everything about which God has a will. There was no such narrowness as shut him up to a single assembly, though there was the affectionate recollection of need where saints and circumstances were specially known to him.

Epaphras (referred to in Chapter 1:7) was also present with Paul, away from his home in Colosse, yet always in fervent prayer for saints there. This is true labor, with desire for his brethren's maturity and completeness in all the will of God. The apostle bears witness to the great concern of Epaphras for the welfare of the assemblies at Colosse, Laodicea and Hierapolis. Likely Epaphras had personally labored in these places, which would account for his special concern for them.

Vv. 12, 13. Already we have learnt from the early part of the epistle that Epaphras had laboured amongst the Colossian saints as a faithful minister of Christ. Now we learn that, though no longer with them, he still laboured fervently in prayer, for them and the saints in the neighbouring towns of Laodicea and Hierapolis. It would seem that he realised that the enemy was making a definite attack upon these assemblies in order to draw them away from Christ by religious devices. In the presence of this opposition the Apostle speaks of Epaphras as "combating earnestly for you in prayers" (N. Tn.). A wholesome and encouraging reminder that prayer is a powerful weapon in meeting the opposition of the enemy. Moreover, Epaphras not only desired that the efforts of the enemy might be frustrated, but also, that the saints might "stand perfect and complete in all the will of God". He realised that if full grown Christians, and established in the truth according to the will of God, they would be able to stand against every attack of the enemy.

We have a man mentioned in the Epistle to the Colossians, Epaphras, and he laboured earnestly for the Colossians in prayer (4:12). Here was a man who spent time in prayer in relation to the need of the believers. This is a very wonderful thing when a brother or a sister can commit themselves to a service of this kind. Oh, how important! Some brothers are gifted to preach the gospel, some are gifted to expound the word of God, others are gifted in other ways in relation to the Christian company, but what a service to render to the saints, to labour earnestly for them in prayer. You can think of Epaphras naming all the Colossian believers one by one and remembering the new convert Onesimus, the runaway slave who had been converted through Paul while in prison, but mentioning each one and knowing each one intimately, praying for the things that they required, praying for help for them in every way, perhaps material, perhaps physical, but above all, spiritual, that they might grow in the knowledge of God. What a service!

Is Epaphras a good specimen of what was mentioned earlier in the readings, a brother who not only taught the saints but had them in his heart? In Colossians 1:7 we read he ministered Christ to them; here we read he prays for them.