Paul proclaimed this new revelation as a completed fact. The word katangellomen, translated "proclaim,"implies its completed character.
"Counseling' (nouthetountes) and teaching' (didaskontes) describe two attendant circumstances of Paul's preaching. The former word . . . has to do with the will and emotions and connotes warning. Here it relates to non-Christians, the thought probably being that the apostle sought to awaken each of them to his need of Christ. . . . Teaching,' which probably refers to a ministry for converts, stresses the importance of instruction in proclaiming the Word. With all wisdom' seems to express the way the teaching was done."90
Negative admonitions and positive teaching presented through wise (appropriate) methods were necessary to bring all people, not just the privileged few as in Gnosticism, to full maturity in Christ. Paul had the imminent return of Christ in view as the time when he desired to present every person mature in Christ (cf. Eph. 4:13). Paul proclaimed a Person, not a philosophy. Note that he did not just preach the gospel message but the whole counsel of God. His goal was not just to get people saved but to lead them to maturity in Christ (cf. Matt. 28:20).
"Here again there may be a gentle reminder that any of the Colossian recipients tempted to look elsewhere for a fuller' experience and wisdom need to look, and should look, no further than Christ for their completion.'"91
"Paul took time to minister to individuals; note the repetition of every man' in Colossians 1:28. If we minister to only a few believers, we are helping the whole church."92
