Colossians 1:3-8
There was a story told by “Dear Abby” about a young man from a wealthy family who was about to graduate from high school. Apparently, it was the custom in that affluent neighborhood for the parents to give the graduate an automobile. “Bill” (not the son’s real name) and his father had spent months looking at cars, and the week before graduation, they found the perfect one. On the eve of his graduation, his father handed him a gift wrapped Bible. Bill was so angry that he threw the Bible down and stormed out of the house. He and his father never saw each other again.
It was the news of his father’s death that brought Bill home again. As he sat one night going through his father’s possessions he come across the Bible his father had given him. He brushed away the dust and opened it to find a cashier’s check, dated the day of his graduation - in the exact amount of the car they had chosen together.
I wonder how many people have done a similar thing with the Gospel. They have literally tossed aside its transforming power because they didn’t understand it, or they didn’t believe it was possible that someone’s death and resurrection could change a life.
In our world, we are taught that; “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” So many have been taken by “empty promises,” that we are naturally skeptical of anything or anyone who tells us we can have something for nothing.
And yet, that’s exactly what the Gospel promises to anyone willing to experience it. Packed inside the Gospel is the incredible power of God to change people’s lives now and for eternity.
Paul talks about the “power” of the Gospel in the first chapter of Romans:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)
Because the Greek word translated “power” gives us our English word dynamite, sometimes people speak about the power of the Gospel as the “dynamite of God.” However, the power of dynamite is destructive, while the “power” of the Gospel is constructive. It’s probably better to speak of this “power” as that which raised up Christ from the grave (cf. Romans 1:4). It is that life-giving/resurrection power that rests in the Gospel alone.
When Epaphras came to Colosse, he came proclaiming that powerful Gospel as his message of hope to the people in the city (1:5). When people believed his message, lives were transformed and a new church was born.
Before considering Colossians 1:3-8 specifically, let’s first define what we mean by, “the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” .
The word “gospel” literally means “good news.” It is the “good news” that Jesus came to make forgiveness of sins possible for anyone who believes in Him (Colossians 1:14; Romans 10:9).
Since the beginning when man first sinned, all mankind has been placed under the condemnation of God (Romans 5:12). As a result of Adam’s sin, every aspect of man is corrupted by sin--mind, will, emotions, and flesh. Because of this, there is no one that keeps God’s law perfectly (Romans 3:23) and everyone is guilty of being a sinner (Romans 5:18). Consequently, our punishment for sin is physical death (Romans 6:23), followed by eternal separation from God (Revelation 20:15; Matthew 25:46). This divine sentence is referred to as the “second death” in Revelation 20:14–15.
The fact that all are guilty of sin and condemned to spend eternity separated from God is the worst possible news! However, because of God’s love for the whole world, He has made it possible for mankind to be forgiven for their sins (John 3:16). He did this by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to take the penalty of our sins upon Himself through His death on the cross of Calvary (Isaiah 53:6; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24). When God punished our sin on Christ, God ensured that all who believe in the name of Jesus will be forgiven (Acts 10:43). That is the Gospel or “good news of Jesus Christ” referenced in the scripture. God has provided the way for men/women to be freed from the penalty of their sin (Colossians 1:14; cf. John 14:6; Romans 6:23).
It’s this Gospel that Epaphras proclaimed to the citizens living in Colosse and that resulted in people being saved and the church being planted.
Unfortunately, sometime after the beginning of the church there were others that came to the city proclaiming a false message that was not the true Gospel. Epaphras made an approximately 1000 mile journey from Colosse to Rome to see Paul and to get his help (as an apostle of Christ) in addressing the errors these false teachers espoused.
Following his salutation in 1:1-2, Paul begins this epistle by thanking God for these believers, assuring them of his continued prayers. In the process, he reminds them that the transforming power of the Gospel is how their lives had been eternally changed. He wanted them to be mindful of how the Gospel had worked in their lives so that they wouldn’t be deceived by the error of various false beliefs that worked only to undermine the Gospel.
In 1:5, Paul draws a clear distinction between the error of the false teachers and “the word of truth, the Gospel.” The false teachers espoused beliefs that he later referred to as: “...philosophy...empty deceit...the tradition of men,” and “the basic principles of the world” (2:8).
The “word of truth” implies something that is authentic and reliable. And he places “the Gospel” in apposition to “the word of truth.” Apposition is a grammatical construction “in which a noun or noun phrase is placed with another as an explanatory equivalent.” In other words, “the word of truth” IS “the Gospel” and “the Gospel” IS “the word of truth.”
The root of this phrase (“the word of truth”) is found in the Old Testament where God’s word, spoken and revealed to men, is understood as, “the word of truth.”
This phrase is similar to other phrases in Paul’s epistles: “the word of truth” (Ephesians 1:13); “the word of God” (1 Corinthians 14:36); “the word of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 3:1); “the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19), “the word of life” (Philippians 2:16); and “the word of Christ” (Colossians 3:16). All of these are equivalent to: “the word of truth” (Colossians 1:5) that is placed in juxtaposition to “the Gospel” to further clarify the meaning of “the word of truth.” All of these phrases refer to the “good news” that Jesus saves men from their sins.
Therefore, what Paul is referring to when he uses this appositional construction is, "the true and genuine gospel as taught by Epaphras, and not the spurious substitute of these later pretenders" (Lightfoot). (Paul And The Intellectuals, A.T. Robertson, p. 28)
Let’s be reminded that there is only ONE Gospel...the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Any teaching that diminishes the true Gospel or tries to “tweak” it theologically in some way, diminishes our incomparable Christ and is deserving of the strongest denunciation.
When Paul dealt with error in Galatia, he couldn’t have used clearer terms to make his point.
6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel— 7not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! 9As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell! (Galatians 1:6-9 NET)
This Gospel that is “the word of truth” is what came to Colosse through Epaphras with transformative power in people’s lives. Paul says that it was, “bringing forth fruit” (1:6), evident by the presence of: “faith,” “hope” and “love.” (1:4-5) This triad of graces (“fruit”-1:6) is commonly found in Paul’s epistles, but it wasn’t Epaphras that produced these graces. It was the power of the Gospel working in people’s lives.
What’s interesting in this text about this triad is that “hope” is said to be the reason (1:5) for their “faith” and “love.” This is unusual because most of the time we think of “faith” (in Christ) as being the reason for our “love” and “hope.” Paul is emphasizing an important thought to people that were already believers. He wanted them to know that because they enjoyed a common future (“hope”), God was at work in them through the same Gospel to produce a growing “love” for one another and an ever deepening “faith.”
“Faith in Christ Jesus” (ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ), is “...an expression which does not denote the object to which their faith is directed but rather indicates the sphere in which ‘faith’ lives and acts. The Colossian Christians live under the lordship of Christ Jesus for they have been incorporated into him.” (Word Biblical Commentary)
In other words, the power of the Gospel is not only good to save the unbelieving sinner, it also empowers/inspires the believing saint to live a godly life while awaiting the day he will be gathered together in Heaven with all the other of God’s saints.
A struggling seminary professor wrote about the ongoing power of the Gospel in a believer’s life. He said, “The depth of my Pharisaism was exposed several years ago while I co-taught a Doctor of Ministry class. During one session, my colleague realized how many of the pastors and Christian leaders in our class seemed discouraged and spiritually defeated. I, too, was struggling – just doing a great job of disguising it in front of the class.
Observing the pain all around him, he took me aside and suggested I divide the class into groups of three and lead them in sharing the Gospel with each other. I was stunned. ‘Why?’ I wondered. Did he think some of these people were not really Christians?
As he explained, however, I realized how faulty my reasoning had been. I had assumed that the Gospel was for non-Christians alone and had little or no relevance to the Christian life once someone was converted. I began learning that day that the Gospel is not just a gate I must pass through one time, but a path I should walk each day of my life.”
He continued, “...we often reduce the Gospel to ‘God’s plan of salvation’ for lost people to be saved from sin’s penalty, not realizing that it is also ‘God’s plan of salvation’ for Christians to be saved from sin’s power. The same Gospel message that saves sinners also sanctifies the saints.”
With these two aspects of salvation in view (from the penalty of sin/from the power of sin), is it any wonder that Epaphras and Paul were so deeply concerned about the false teaching that was encroaching on the church at Colosse? Not only could these erroneous teachers deceive people that hadn’t experienced salvation from the penalty of sin, they could also steal from believers the power of the Gospel to live victoriously over the power of sin.
Tampering with the Gospel is no mere triviality, left open for petty theological quibbling. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is “the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.”
Before moving on in his prayer, Paul states that there are two things that are required for the Gospel to make a difference in the lives of those in Colosse and in our lives today.
Application:
1. It has to be heard. (1:6--”heard”)
2. It has to be believed. (1:6--”knew”)
To “know” the Gospel is more than having an intellectual understanding of it. It is to have an EXPERIENCE with it, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
“The prepositional prefix epi intensifies the nature of this knowledge (ginōskō). The title ‘Gnostic’ is based upon this verb stem.”
“At the time of their conversion, they possessed a thorough and accurate saving knowledge (epegnōte) which surpassed that of the boastful Gnostics.” (Gromacki, R. (2002). Stand Perfect in Wisdom: An Exposition of Colossians and Philemon. The Gromacki Expository Series (p. 39). The Woodlands, TX: Kress Christian Publications.)
And for that to happen, someone has to be willing to be an Epaphras and bring the Gospel to you first. Will you be an Epaphras this week to someone: believer and unbeliever?
