… and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you.
Summary: Paul has a lot to say about the Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. Sometimes it is hard to sort out the gift from the wrapping paper.
Paul’s sentence is longer than most people’s paragraphs! It has taken us five days to work our way through.
To review, Paul is thanking God because he has heard of Colossians’ faith in Jesus and love for God’s people. He then starts talking about where that faith and love come from. Paul explains that faith and love spring from hope that is “stored up … in heaven.” In addition to all of this, Paul is affirming that the “hope stored up for you in heaven” is the same message that they have already heard; the message of the gospel.
Whenever I read Paul’s letters about the Gospel, I marvel at how much he has to say on the subject. The Gospel itself is quite simple. As Jesus explained to Nicodemus, it is this easy:
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (John 3:14-15)
Of course, as they say, the devil is in the details.
Nobody I have ever met who believes in the Bible would argue with Jesus’ statement about salvation. But what about the details? What does it mean to “believe?”
This is where Paul’s letters shine. He loves to talk about who Christ is and why he is important. He grapples with deep theological concepts involving redemption and forgiveness. Paul marvels at the nature of spiritual transformation and wants us to understand the work of the Holy Spirit the same way he does.
Hope is more complicated. Well-meaning people of all kinds draw different conclusions from what Paul is saying. Is the Gospel the promise of salvation right now or just the hope of salvation in the future? Those in the “we have salvation right now” camp worry about losing salvation, while those in the “we have hope of salvation” camp worry about gaining salvation.
All the while, Jesus is in the background saying, “… do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” (Matthew 6:34)
What shall we do?
Shall we look at Paul’s letters as a gift or a burden?
Personally, I choose to see Paul’s letters as a gift. Like all of the Bible, I accept Paul’s letters as having been inspired and approved by God. There is a reason Paul’s words ended up where they are.
Application: Keep your eyes on Jesus. Everything else is a detail.
Food for Thought: Why is it hard for us to put our finger on what the “true message of the gospel” is?
Why is it hard for us to put our finger on what the “true message of the gospel” is?
Because of translations, I haven’t been able to find the original to put a finger on it, or how people share or explain it when we are all sinners so we fail to be able to share it as Jesus did. As sinners Our behavior, decisions, and speech can preach the gospel more loudly than our presentations. But our sin, living in a way that’s not in line with the gospel, twisting it for our own benefit can lead people to reject the true gospel or believe a false one. When people compromises with the truth of the Bible Even subtle compromises with the truth can hinder the true message of the gospel.
Amen Tim. Very well stated. I think we like our version of the gospel and tend to either add or subtract from Scripture to suit our preconceived agendas. That is a temptation we see at play in our culture consistently. It is a temptation to avoid.
Thank you, Rich!
Yes, the “agendas” aspect of human nature is a big one. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day struggled with that issue and the ones that wanted to murder Jesus failed the test.
Thank you, Tim!
Very well said!
“Our behavior, decisions, and speech can preach the gospel more loudly than our presentations.”
This is so true! Your time at WKU has not been wasted! 🙂
Why is it hard for us to put our finger on what the “true message of the gospel” is?
I sometimes wonder what Adam and Eve would be like if I met them before the fall. What I wonder is, would I perceive them as I would a child? Everything about my life experience would be foreign to them, and they might not even comprehend the smallest detail about it. Being that I am imperfect, I might start thinking I was better than them: more intelligent, more experienced, more accomplished. But all of that “more” is predicated on a corrupted world. They would have something that I would not have, to be able to stand in the presence of God, and to live a perfect existence (before the fall).
To me, that idea of “more intelligent, more experienced, more accomplished” trips mankind up. It comes down to us wanting to be able to control our environment and is based on things that don’t measure up to eternity with God. I think our drive to, and inability to, “nail down all the details” speaks to two things about mankind: our lack of confidence and our lack of humility. Our lack of confidence in that we want to be able to catalog everything until it is standardized and repeatable. “If I can get my neighbor to run these steps and get the same result, then I can be confident I am correct.” Our lack of humility in that we want that standardization so that we can “rub the lamp” whenever we feel that we need to. It is a bit of a false faith, not faith in the word of Christ, but faith in our ability to say the words and make something happen.
I believe that the true message of Christ is restoration with God, as individuals, and then as a collective body. We must be restored individually because the restoration is a personal relationship with God through Christ, and a personal relationship with Christ. What the Spirit gives to me, He may not give to you, and vice versa. But, at the same time, we all share in His glory, and His Glory is manifested in us. We ask and we receive. We don’t push a button or not push a button, with the outcome being up to us.
Matthew 18:1-4 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Thank you, Chris!
What an interesting thought experiment!!
If a person from our world interacted with Adam and Eve before the Fall, you are quite right that there would be a gulf between the two.
Most of that gulf is summed up in the sinless vs the sinful. How could the sinless interact with the sinful without being tainted by sin? (Many of the Levitical laws addressed this question. The answer is that one side has to win. The holy consecrates the unholy, or the unholy desecrates the holy. There is no blending of the two.)
Why is it hard for us to put our finger on what the “true message of the gospel” is?
The central truth of the gospel is that God has provided a way of salvation for mankind through the gift of His son to the world. Jesus suffered as a sacrifice for sin, overcame death, and now offers a share in His triumph to all who will accept it. The gospel is good news because it is a gift of God, not something that must be earned by penance or by self-improvement. John 3:16; Romans 5:8–11;
2 Corinthians 5:14–19; Titus 2:11–14
John 3:3, Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
John 3:5-8, Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:17-18, 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John 3:21, But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
John 3:36, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John 5:24, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 10:10, The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
John 10:28, I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
1 John 5:11, And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
1 John 5:13, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
I would would suggest the true message of the gospel is quite simple. It is our receiving or rejecting Gods truth that complicates
His message to all mankind.
Thank you, Ron!
I like your summation: “The central truth of the gospel is that God has provided a way of salvation for mankind through the gift of His son to the world.”
It’s really that simple, isn’t it?
🙂
God has made it this way for people like me.
Blessings,
Ron