Note 7 at Col. 1:28: Paul's preaching took on two forms; that of warning and teaching. "Warning" carries the idea of "to caution, to make aware of potential danger, to notify to stay away or to admonish as to action" (A.H. Dict.). "Teaching" is instructing, training, imparting knowledge and spiritual truth. It is the responsibility of every believer in carrying out the great commission of Jesus Christ (Mt. 28:20). It is also necessary to insure freedom from the forces of darkness (Jn. 8:31-32).

"Warning" and "teaching" were to be done in all "wisdom." In other words, this was probably the manner in which Paul sought to "warn" and "teach." His words and actions were as wise as possible in every circumstance. The end result was to bring people into maturity (perfection) in Christ Jesus (Eph. 4:13; 2 Tim. 3:17; Heb. 6:1; 1 Pet. 5:10).

Note 8 at Col. 1:28: There are some groups who have taken statements like the one Paul made here and also in verse 6 and have taught that Jesus actually appeared to the American Indians after His resurrection. How else could every person be reached? This is not what these verses are saying.

It is to be understood that Paul is warning and teaching every man he possibly could, but he was not claiming that every person had been reached anymore than he is claiming that every person will be perfect in Christ Jesus. This is his goal but it was not meant to be taken literally.

This was a figure of speech called a hyperbole, which is an intentional exaggeration used for emphasis. The Pharisees did this same thing when they said, "Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him" (Jn. 12:19). Not every person in the world had gone after Jesus. They certainly hadn't. They were overstating the situation for emphasis. This is what Paul did.