Colossians 1:5b–6 “The word of truth, the gospel . . . in the whole world
it is bearing
fruit and growing — as it also does among you, since the day
you heard it
and understood the grace of God in truth”.
I started another short
Bible Study the first chapter of the letter to the Colossians today. This lesson
on the passage above focused on the fruit of the gospel truth. This lesson
stated that heresies differ from one another in the precise errors that they
teach, but they are always grounded in the same kind of assumptions basic to
all false teaching. For instance, Islam’s insistence that Jesus is only a
prophet and Mormonism’s contention that He is a man who has achieved the
exalted status of godhood are plainly different in content. Yet both of these
falsehoods are based on the assumption that Jesus is not who the New Testament
says He is — God, who became incarnate to redeem sinners.
Another basic assumption in
which all heresies are rooted is the belief that because the Bible is an
insufficient revelation, we need more from God to know Him and His plans truly.
Sometimes this “extra” revelation exists in written form, like the Qur’an of
Islam. On other occasions, it is a secret knowledge known only to a select
group of elites. The teachings that plagued the Colossians when Paul wrote to
them resemble this kind of elitism, which is why the apostle takes care to
assert in Colossians 1:5b–8 that the true gospel had come to Colossae in the
past, before the arrival of the false teachers, and that Epaphras, the man who
brought it to the city, was a faithful servant of the truth as it has been
revealed in Christ Jesus.
The lesson points out that we
know little about Epaphras except that he was a co-laborer of Paul’s who was willing
to suffer with the apostle in prison if need be (Philemon 23). He was likely
from the region in which Colossae was located, but even if he was not, he had a
fruitful evangelistic mission there and in nearby cities like Laodicea. That
Epaphras’ presentation of the gospel was true, Paul indicates, is seen not only
in the fact that there is a self-evident truth to the content of the gospel
(the gospel is called the “word of truth” in Col. 1:5b), but also to the
transformative effects of its preaching among the Colossians and the whole
world (vs. 6–8). Paul’s point seems to be that God’s people recognize the
gospel’s veracity as it is preached accurately and effects change among its hearers.
As the New Testament scholar Douglas J. Moo explains, “The gospel is authenticated
not by its truth only nor by its power in people’s lives only but by both working
in tandem”. May the truth of the gospel continue to transform us.
The
bottom line is that if there is no change from smug self-righteousness to
humble, selfless repentance in those who profess the gospel, then the church
should consider whether it is in fact preaching the gospel and its application
to all of life. Of course, the Spirit sometimes works longer than we might like
to bring change through the gospel, so a lack of apparent transformation does
not automatically mean the gospel is being compromised. Keep witnessing to the
gospel truth that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord.
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