Colossians: Christ Alone

Sunday, August 31^st 2025

Colossians 1:1-8

Introduction

“The doctrine of the Person of Christ is here stated with greater precision and fulness than in any other of St. Paul’s epistles.” BJ Lightfoot

We are Set Apart to Grow in the Gospel and Bear Fruit

1. Saints Set Apart

“To the saints and faithful brothers (and sisters) in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Saints – set apart – we have been set apart by God and for God!

1 Peter 1:15 – “…be holy…”

Faithful - refers to believers who are trustworthy, steadfast, unwavering in their Christian walk. They are worthy of trust, are reliable and dependable. They maintain a firm adherence to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Christ – our ‘spiritual address’

1. Giving Thanks

The Apostle Paul now gives us the reason why he is giving thanks to God for them…

‘Faith in Christ Jesus’ – trust or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things.

‘Love for all the saints’ - agape – love one for another is evidence of a person’s genuine faith in Christ Jesus.

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34

‘Hope laid up for you in heaven’ – ‘elpis’ - Hope is always an expectation of something good as well as descriptive of something for which we must wait. Hope is the opposite of despair. Hope is the absolute assurance that God will do good to us in the future!

“We should therefore be rich in faith which is the root of every grace; to this end we should daily pray, "Lord, increase our faith." We should strive to be full even to overflowing with love which is of God and makes us like to God; we should also abound in hope, even that heavenly hope which causes a man to purify himself in readiness for the inheritance above. See to it that neither of these three divine sisters are strangers to your souls, but let faith, hope, and love take up their abode in your hearts.”  Spurgeon

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.”

1 Corinthians 13:13

• Gospel Bears Fruit

“Of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you”

‘word of truth, the gospel’ - In this context word of truth is a great definition for the Gospel.

“All previous religions could be entitled “guesses about God.” The Christian gospel gives a man not guesses but certainties about God.” W. Barclay

“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…”

“I am not ashamed of the Gospel is the power (dunamis) of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16

The GOSPEL is not a stagnant system of beliefs but is living, dynamic and growing truth. The living GOSPEL is the power that transforms lives.

“…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.”

Epaphras – a faithful minister; probably from Colossae, and learned from Paul

"For everyone will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how shall they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things!”  Romans 10:13-15

1. Conclusion