Colossians: Faith, Love, and Hope in Christ

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Talk intro:

Last week we started a series where we’re going to be going through the Letter to the Colossians and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us a portrait of the incomparable Christ.

The main reason for Paul writing this letter was so that the church in Colosse would understand who Jesus was and what it meant to follow Him.

In verses 1-2 we saw how Paul called the Gentile believers ‘saints’ and ‘faithful brethren’ revealing that the gospel of Jesus Christ and removed the barriers that had separated them from the kingdom of God. In Jesus Christ they had experienced the grace and peace of God.

This gift is also given to us. Through Jesus Christ we have received the grace and peace of God. This is an important point because it shows us that Jesus is the focal point, the gateway, and our access to all the benefits of the gospel of the kingdom of God.

A very rough way to think of it is that God has provided these blessings from the foundation of the world, but we can not reach them because of the barrier of our sin. But Jesus has removed our sin and made it possible for us to enter into the kingdom of God and to receive its blessings.

Now as we look at verses 3-8 we will see that grace and peace were only the beginning of the blessings of the kingdom we receive through Jesus.

Let’s read Colossians 1:3-8

In these verses Paul is telling the Colossians how thankful he is for their faith, love, and hope that they have in Jesus Christ. Now did you happen to notice that in the first 8 verses of this letter that Paul mentions five blessings of the kingdom of God: grace, peace, faith, love and hope?

What that tells us is that this is no ordinary greeting, or some nice words to make them feel better. Paul is revealing to them how Jesus changes everything in their life. God’s undeserved favor and inner peace come to us through Jesus Christ.

In addition to grace and peace we have faith, love, and hope. Do those three sound familiar? 1 Cor. 13:13 Now abide faith, hope and love… These five blessings are the result of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In vs. 7-8 Paul tell us that Epaphras was the one who had taken the gospel of Jesus Christ to Colosse and he had shared with Paul what had happened. So Paul is saying in vs. 3-5 that he knows that what has happened in Colosse is the real deal because he sees the evidence of these five things at work in their midst.

Wherever the gospel takes root, grace, peace, faith, love, and hope are the fruit.

Let’s take a closer look at the three things Paul is thankful for. The first thing he mentions is their…

Their faith in Jesus Christ. It’s not surprising that this is where Paul would start. It is through faith that we believe and are saved. Faith, as it is used here, means a conviction of the truth. It is belief amped up by an inner assurance that what is believed is true. That’s why you see truth and the gospel so closely connected in Scripture.

It’s also important that we see that our faith is in Jesus Christ and it is the gospel that opens the door for faith.

Paul is also thankful for….

Their Love for all the saints. The word love comes from the Greek word ‘agape’ that is always used of God’s love. Paul is thankful because love for other people is proof that we have been born of the Spirit. Love is the active, outward expression of true faith.

John said it like this 1 John 2:9-10 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

Love is the unmistakable and unfakeable evidence of faith in Christ.

Finally, Paul is also thankful for….

Their hope in what is laid up in heaven. Faith is tied to belief and hope is tied to expectation. Hope, as it is used by Paul, is a product of the gospel that proclaims everlasting life in Christ and points to the earnest and compelling expectation of heaven, but is anchored in the object of that expectation, the person of Jesus Christ.

So in all these things Jesus Christ is magnified.

Jesus is the seed of faith, the source of love, and the supplier of hope.