Colossians 1:6

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ¹  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ²  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Colossians 2:19

2:19 He has not held fast ³  to the head from whom the whole body, supported ⁴  and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God. ⁵ 

[1:6]  ¹ tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ² tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.

[2:19]  ³ tn The Greek participle κρατῶν (kratwn) was translated as a finite verb to avoid an unusually long and pedantic sentence structure in English.

[2:19]  ⁴ tn See BDAG 387 s.v. ἐπιχορηγέω 3.

[2:19]  ⁵ tn The genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a genitive of source, “from God.”