The book of Colossians was written by the apostle Paul and is a highly Christological book, informing us in a profound way about the person and work of Christ. This is largely to address the problems that they are facing in Colossae. Although it is not explicitly mentioned, most scholars agree that the issues facing the Colossians are issues of Jewish folk belief. This particularly relates to things that are more Jewish in nature, such as their laws, but it also deals with the person of Christ.

Colossae would have been about a third of the way from Israel to Rome and is near several towns that you would probably recognize, most notably Ephesus. Although Colossae was near other places Paul visited, there is no record of him ever visiting Colossae. The church was probably started while Paul was in Ephesus. Potentially, Ephapras, their pastor, came to faith through Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.

The opening of this book does not dive right into the issues that the people face, though; it opens with thanksgiving, which is not unusual for Paul, but in this thanksgiving, he commends the people greatly. One thing I think we must think about in this text is where we stand on the things that Paul commends them for, and how we can grow in these areas.

Colossians 1:1–8 ESV

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

This letter starts off in customary Pauline fashion. Paul identifies himself as an apostle, thus giving him a position of authority. He did not come to this position by his own will though; it was by the will of God. We see the strong call that he has in Acts 9:1-3: But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. Then down a few verses in Acts 9.20: And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

Paul was a man that was struck by the will of God and became the apostle to the Gentiles. The letter to the Colossians is one of Paul’s prison letters, meaning that he was in prison for proclaiming the gospel while he wrote it. He went from throwing Christians into jail for their faith to being in jail himself. This is the power of the will of God.

Paul was not alone in writing this, though; there is also Timothy. Timothy is not denoted as an apostle but rather a beloved brother. He was probably known by the people because of his relationship with Paul. Paul taught and built up Timothy, and together they formed a very deep relationship.

After opening the letter with who it is from, he addresses who the letter is to. This address not only gives us a physical location of who it is to but also a spiritual location. The physical is clear; it is Colossae. The spiritual location is the saints and faithful brothers in Christ. This is written to Christians. The word saints does not give any inherent moral qualities; it merely denotes that they are the holy ones, not that they are perfect, but they have received Christ’s holiness through faith. They are also denoted as being in Christ. This describes the deep saving relationship that they have with Christ. Later in verse 4, it says the words in Christ again; here, it is the location of their faith. They are completely wrapped up and consumed in Christ.

Paul then concludes his greeting with the salutation of grace and peace. This is very customary across the Pauline books. Grace is a very Christian addition to the greeting, and peace is very customary among Jews.

This greeting is followed by thanksgiving and prayer; here, we are just going to be looking at the thanksgiving portion. Paul is very intentional with giving thanks and I think what is seen here in these verses is something very unique. Paul points out some things about the people of Colossae that we can all look at and grow in.

The central idea of what Paul is saying here can be summarized in this: The people of Colossae are faithful people who love well, this all springs from the hope that they have.

They are Faithful

The first thing that Paul really drives home is that the people of Colossae are faithful. We see this first in Colossians 1:2: To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. Then again in Colossians 1.4: since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,

So, Paul has heard of their faith in Christ and, without personally knowing them, goes so far as to call them faithful brothers. Whenever Paul hears of people being faithful he wants to commend them for it because it is of utmost importance. It says in Galatians 5:5-6: For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

Only faith counts for anything. This puts forward that faith is of the utmost importance. That is why Paul always commends people for it whenever he can, and that is why it is such a prevalent theme throughout his letters.

Paul also commends Epaphras for his faith, calling him a faithful minister in verse 8. That is high regard for a minister, I hope to live my life in a way that if I were locked up with Paul he would say something like this about me!

Notice the object of their faith too. I do not want us to miss this point. Faithful brothers in Christ, faith in Jesus Christ, faithful minister of Christ. When we are looking at faith in this passage, it is all aimed at one person, and that is Jesus Christ. He is the object of their faith and he should be the object of our faith. When we think of our faith, it should always be aimed at Christ.

We should all strive for deeper faithfulness to Christ. This is a deeper trust and reliance on him. Think about it, if your pastor was locked up in prison with the apostle Paul what kind of letter would your church be getting? We should also consider this individually: What does my life reflect? Does it reflect faithfulness, or something else?

There is good news about all of this though because of Christ we can be faithful and we can grow in our faithfulness. Without him we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Through the work that he accomplished on the cross we can have faith.

The people of Colossae are not only commended for their faith, though, they are also commended for the love that they display, so let’s look at this next.

They Love Well

The next thing Paul points out and commends is that they love well. We see this first in Colossians 1:4: since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,

This love is directed towards fellow Christians, towards the holy ones, towards those whom Christ has changed. So, there is a deep love that they have for one another. Then in Colossians 1:8: and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

This description tells us that their love is prompted and promoted by the Holy Spirit. They are a deeply loving people, so much so that their pastor is bragging on them to the apostle. You know it would be easy for him to be telling Paul all the issues that he is having so that he can go to them with apostolic authority and tell them to straighten up; instead, he is telling Paul that his people are faith-filled people that are so loving towards everyone, especially their fellow Christians. He is telling him that they are living a life worthy of the gospel.

We know that love is a very important thing in the Bible; it is the first fruit of the Spirit after all. About love it says in 1 Corinthians 13.13: So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

We are talking about these three things today and here it says that love is the greatest of the three. Why is this? It is because faith makes us capable of it and hope motivates us towards it. We are being driven to love! Love is the greatest commandment, Matthew 22.36-40 says Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

Love is something that the church in Colossae is commended for and it should be something that defines us as the church. It is in Christ that we can love well, and it is only in Christ that we can do this. Because of the love that he has shown us.

One question still lingers though. Being loving and faithful is hard work, so why should we do it? What is the point? Why do the Colossians love well and why are they so faithful?

They do this because of Hope

Why are the people so faithful and loving? It is because of hope. Look at Colossians 1.5: because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,

Their eyes are set on their hope, this hope is the totality of blessings that await them in the life to come. This hope is based on something that is as good as a fact but has not yet been realized. This hope is not subjective; it does not change based on any situation, but rather it is objective.

It is hope that motivates them and it is hope that should motivate us to the same end. When our eyes are set on Christ and we are awaiting the blessed future with him then following him in full faith is not so much of a challenge anymore. When our eyes are set on him and we are awaiting this blessed future with him, then loving well is almost second nature, even towards difficult people. We must keep our eyes fixed on Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith. The one who loves us enough to lay down his life for us.

Not only should we keep our eyes fixed on this hope, but this hope should also be flowing out of us in every aspect of life. Look again at Colossians 1.5: because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, They have heard it in the word of truth, the gospel! Look further at Colossians 1.6: which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,

The gospel has come to them; this hope has come to them. It is bearing fruit and increasing among them. Not only them but also the whole world! Do you see the perspective that Paul has in this statement? He has a local interest in the people of Colossae but he also has a global perspective in the advance of the gospel.

I have a friend who is a church planter in a very lost place that has very little gospel presence. When I asked him what made him pick this city to plant a church in, he gave me a twofold answer. First was just how lost the people were and how little gospel presence there was in the city. The second thing he told me though was shocking, but in light of this passage it makes perfect sense. He planted a church there because there are so many colleges in the area that attract students from around the world. He was looking at doing ministry there in the city, but with the hopes of having a global impact through the colleges. This is the perspective that Paul is showing here.

Our hope is in Christ, and we have gained this hope through the gospel. This gospel is not merely a local event there in Colossae or right where you are; it is a global event. We should dig in where we are at and let it flow out of our very being. God is advancing the gospel in the time of the Colossians and he is advancing it here in our time.

People around us see where our hope lies, let them see a hope that lies in the creator of the universe, let them see a hope that lies in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have come into this hope through the gospel by faith. This faith was proclaimed to the Church in Colossae by the beloved Epaphras and maybe at one time was proclaimed to you in such a way that you gave your life to it. This is the hope that gave us forgiveness of our sins. The sins that we all have and the sins that make us worthy of death and eternal punishment. This hope came and gave his life on the cross in our place. This hope also rose from the grave three days later, conquering sin and death forever. This hope tells us to lay hold of this forgiveness you must put your faith in him. This hope is Christ.

We cannot be faithful and loving in a Christlike way without first having Christ. We must have this hope, we must be saved. Jesus says in Mark 1 that we must repent and believe in the gospel, this is the way for salvation. By putting your faith in him and turning away from your sins he will forgive you and love you and he will be your hope.

With this hope we can do so much. With this hope motivating us and pushing us forward we can become ever more faithful to Christ, and we can become ever more loving as the church.