The Fruitful Gospel
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If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Colossians 1:3
pew Bible: Page 1,043
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints
5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the word of truth, the gospel
6 that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God’s grace.
7 You learned this from Epaphras, our dearly loved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,
8 and he has told us about your love in the Spirit.
Explain what a chiasm is
Beale
A We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you (v. 3),
A’ For this reason also, since the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you … (v. 9).
B we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saint (v. 4);
B’ and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit (v. 8).
C of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel (v. 5),
C’ since the day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth just as you learned it from Epaphras (v. 7),
D which has come to you (v. 6),
D’ just as in all the world, also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as in you also
Chiastic emphasis is on the gospel bearing fruit and increasing around the world and in Colossae.
Syntax analysis - grammar itself lends itself to the same conclusion
We give thanks…when we pray… because we have heard… on account of the hope… about which you have heard previously… through the gospel that has come to you…just as it has borne fruit and increased worldwide…just as it bore fruit and increased among you… just as you learned it from Epaphras…who told us about this.
The point of this passage is that Paul can be thankful whenever he prays for the Colossians because he has heard of their transformed lives. You see, whenever the gospel is rightly preached and believed peoples lives are transformed.
The Gospel always changes us.
So today we’re going to look at this gospel that Epaphras preached and Paul celebrates. Based on our chiastic structure - I want us to see four fruitful effects of faithful gospel ministry.
1st of all:
1) The fruitful gospel grows wherever it goes.
1) The fruitful gospel grows wherever it goes.
v6 it is growing all over the world
6 that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and came to truly appreciate God’s grace.
it has grown in you
it bears fruit and grows… (fruitful and multiply)
Does that language sound familiar?
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God had given dominion - over everything. Part of the creation mandate was to be fruitful and multiply.
but part of the creation mandate was also to subdue the beasts of the earth.
Adam & Eve failed to subdue the beasts - to have dominion over the serpent and to take God at his WORD and thus spread his glory throughout creation. God had designed it so that if Adam and Eve had by faith believed God’s word and trusted his goodness, then God’s glory would have covered the earth in their fruitfulness and multiplication
Of course that did not take place and the fall marred the image of God in humans. We still are created in the image of God, but we do not fully display God’s glory because we have are all sinful and by nature exchange the truth of God’s glory for a lie.
So for Paul, there’s this connection (because of his incredible mastery of Scripture) between the word of truth, the promise/command of God and that word of his creation bearing fruit and multiplying.
We know from Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians that Jesus came to be the “second Adam” - the one who would trust God at his Word and would subdue the the Serpent forever. Faith in Jesus is what makes us a new creation and a part of a new humanity that does begin to reflect and display God’s glory even now and will ultimately do so perfectly when Jesus returns. And SO Paul sees the gospel as the beginning of a reversal of sorts. Where the new creation begins to fulfill what God’s original creation would not - we are fruitful and we multiply by reflecting God’s image to the world.
a) Gospel growth reflects God’s image.
a) Gospel growth reflects God’s image.
So this first point is an argument from Biblical Theology - there is an allusion, an echo where Paul sees the Gospel as bearing fruit everywhere it goes that the original creation failed to do. So the gospel is fruitful first because it reflects God’s image, bears fruit and multiplies.
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
But the fact that the gospel is taking root and bearing fruit wherever it goes also serves another purpose for Paul.
b) Gospel growth refutes false teaching.
b) Gospel growth refutes false teaching.
If you’ll recall from last week, Paul’s aim in writing Colossians was to provide the Christian antidote to error in doctrine and practice.
One of the things that highlighting the worldwide spread of the gospel does is it shows that this is not some cult/sect teaching that has doesn’t have any traction if you take it outside these four walls.
Christianity is not scared of you taking your faith outside these four walls - you will encounter opposition/questions/doubts, but we aren’t afraid of those encounters because we have the truth on our side.
That key element - TRUTH is what leads to our second point. Paul reminds the Colossians that the Gospel that he preaches is the exact same gospel they believed when they heard it the first time from Epaphras.
2) The fruitful gospel remains unchanging.
2) The fruitful gospel remains unchanging.
you already heard about this (middle of verse 5)
you learned this from Epaphras (beginning of verse 7)
When being faced with the false teaching that was threatening the church, Paul reminds the Colossian brothers and sisters that the gospel they heard bore fruit in them the same way it does around the world. They started loving each other sacrificially. They started demonstrating a faith in Jesus Christ and not in idols. Paul didn’t have a single thing to add to what Epaphras had already faithfully taught them. The truth of the gospel was unchanged. But notice carefully it was a specific word of truth that they heard and they understood and learned. You see we don’t receive the grace of God by osmosis. You don’t become a Christian by simply going to church. The gospel requires our ears.
a) The unchanging gospel requires our ears.
a) The unchanging gospel requires our ears.
How many times did Jesus say “he who has ears to hear, let him HEAR!?”
Paul says in Romans 10
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
A life that is truly transformed does not come about because you simply get a feeling that God loves you, or that there’s a bigger purpose for you, or that there’s a higher power and he’s got your back.
Gospel literally means good NEWS. NEWS, dear friends, by definition is something that is shared and something that is heard. We must listen to the gospel. And more than that Jesus’ words imply that we need spiritual ears to hear. EVERYONE has ears.
Isaiah mourned this as a preacher. This is the preacher’s worst nightmare. Week after week, sermon after sermon, you preach, preach, preach and then you end up saying:
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”
Worse than that, the Bible teaches us that the very heavens are SHOUTING the glory of God and that their voice reaches the very ends of the earth
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
And people still can’t hear God. You need a miracle - you need him to open your ears to hear the good news. Ask him to do it. That’s why we pray. Pray that God would open your ears to hear him calling you. The good news requires you hear it.
Look at the End of verse 6 - there was a day you heard about this.
Look at the Middle of verse 5 - You have already heard about this hope - through a word
The gospel comes in words, language, propositions and as such...
b) The unchanging gospel requires our minds.
b) The unchanging gospel requires our minds.
Paul says you came to understand this gospel (end of verse 6)
6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;
Paul says it’s something you heard and something you understood. I don’t like the CSB right here - it says the day you heard and came to truly appreciate God’s grace.
The word there translated “appreciate” is epignosko - and its sense means to know, understand, recognize. Most other English Versions translate this as understand. And most commentators rightly take this as an ingressive aorist - that is, “you heard of this gospel and began to understand the grace of God in truth.” Or perhaps, you began to truly understand the grace of God.
And if we look at the chiastic structure, we realize that Paul is using “Grace” as a substitute for the entirety of the gospel.
So the gospel is something you understand. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not just something you understand - this is not merely an intellectual thing. I know of people that regularly attend this church that know all about Jesus - believe he was a historical person, and that he died on the cross and even that he rose from the dead, but have absolutely no saving faith or relationship with God.
The Bible says even the demons believe and they tremble, but their belief is not a saving belief.
What I am saying is that while the Bible is much more than simply hearing and understanding, it is certainly not LESS than that. It is for that reason that the elders do interviews with candidates for church membership and one of the things we ask is if a person understands and can explain the gospel. At the core of our faith is an understanding that Christ died according to the Scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again on the third day according to the Scripture.
So the gospel must be heard and it must be understood. But once a person believes these truths from the bottom of his heart, he comes to have a rock-solid hope in God that results in love and reassures his faith.
So we say, thirdly, that
3) The fruitful gospel situates our hope.
3) The fruitful gospel situates our hope.
I chose this word very carefully because I think it most accurately reflects our text and because I think it also helps us get a glimpse into where Paul is headed in the rest of Colossians.
Paul calls the hope the Colossians have a hope that is “reserved for you in heaven.” The ESV calls it a hope “laid up for you in heaven.”
In Corinth, the problem was divisiveness and not loving one another. So Paul talks in 1 Cor. 13 about faith, hope and love, and emphasizes love.
But here, Paul talks about faith, love and ends with hope. Paul highlights it by putting it at the end because the problem at Colossae was false teaching, which undercut faith in Christ here and now and hope in his final coming and the final resurrection in the future.
Paul reminds the Colossians that the gospel teaches us that we have a hope that is right now stored up and waiting for us in heaven. We are already promised an inheritance that propels us and motivates us to live a certain way. Peter spoke about this same concept:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Do you see it? An imperishable inheritance is being kept for us in heaven. It is a LIVING hope. And that hope, situated as it were in heaven, produces a life here on earth that demonstrates love.
a) Heavenly hope results in love.
a) Heavenly hope results in love.
This may not be obvious at first glance. How is it that the hope of an inheritance, or the hope of heaven results in a life of love?
To Paraphrase John Calvin, when a person comes to realize that his treasure is in heaven, he aspire toward heavenly things and despise worldly things. He will point all of his affections toward God-centered and treasure-producing acts of love.
Jesus said where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
ABF conversation about living out our faith - importance of hope in an inheritance (Abraham for example)
Coming to understand our positional hope of the resurrection manifests itself in loving deeds. But Paul also says that the faith he heard about in Colossian believers was on account of the hope of heaven. So we say that our hope in heaven reinforces our faith.
b) Heavenly hope reinforces our faith.
b) Heavenly hope reinforces our faith.
The writer of Hebrews also drew the connection between hope and faith. He said that
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Faith and hope are not the same. But underlying all saving and sanctifying faith is a hope that undergirds and supports it. The hope of redemption, and the hope of resurrection and the sure and confident hope in the fulfillment of God’s promises manifests itself in faith, which by the power of the Holy Spirit also produces the fruit of love.
That’s what the fruitful gospel does. It bears the fruit of love, which are good works done in faith (to the glory of God), grounded in the hope of the an eternal inheritance - all of which is given to us as a free gift by the grace of God.
And it is because of all this that Paul has reason to give thanks to God. You see, lastly:
4) The fruitful gospel inspires thankful prayer.
4) The fruitful gospel inspires thankful prayer.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
The result of all that the good news has produced in the life of the Colossian believers is that Paul thanks God for them regularly.
Now let me remind you that Paul had never actually met these believers in person. He had only heard the report of their response to the gospel. But that is a huge lesson for us today.
When we hear the report of God’s grace in other believers, we ought to thank God in prayer for them. I think that all too often we hear mission reports or read stories of other believers and neglect to make it a habit to pray for those brothers and sisters. For Paul, the global spread of the gospel was central to his prayer life.
Paul in fact teaches us that
a) Thankful prayer rejoices in lives transformed.
a) Thankful prayer rejoices in lives transformed.
Does your prayer life include a time to thank God for the love you see in other believers? When someone sacrifices of themselves to serve you - do you thank God for that grace? What about when you see someone sacrificially love someone else? Do you make note to pray and thank God for that person and their love? If that person is a believer, you ought to praise God for the grace demonstrated through their lives in faith and in love.
We need to make it a point to praise God for the faith that others have in Jesus and the love they demonstrate - because if we understand this all correctly, we know that that love - that grace shining through that persons life is actually the result of God’s Word taking root in their hearts and God’s grace working through that person. So God receives glory when he shines through our good works.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Give God glory in thankful prayer for his work in those around you.
But not only does thankful prayer rejoice in transformed lives, it rekindles vital connections.
b) Thankful prayer rekindles vital connections.
b) Thankful prayer rekindles vital connections.
Our lives are mysteriously joined together with the lives of believers all around the world.
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,
5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Paul models for us in Colossians that prayer does not have to be restricted to the LBC prayer list. Our prayers ought to be far broader in scope than that. We are vitally connected to believers all around the world. And we ought to thank God for every person who professes Christ as Savior everywhere. Paul had only heard a report of the Colossians’ faith - but he puts them on his prayer list and continues to rekindle his affection for these brothers and sisters that he’s never even met.
In our world, we are so connected with technology, we have the great benefit of being able to knowledgeably pray for believers across the globe. Go and read stories on the IMB website of how the Lord is working through the lives of missionaries and thank God for them. Keep up with those people you’ve gone on short term mission trips with. Pray for believers who are facing persecution across the globe even today. Thank God every time you pray for being a part of a family of believers that is so broad and so multi-ethnic. Rekindle your love and brotherhood with those you’ve never been able to meet - and do it with prayer.
God is very honored when we pray in that way. We pray for his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven - and heaven will be filled with people from every tribe and nation and tongue - all praising the Lamb who was slain.
The Gospel makes us prayerful people who pour out our hearts to God in gratitude not only for his grace in our lives but in the lives of every brother or sister who has put their faith in Christ. The gospel bears fruit wherever it goes. The good news of Jesus CHANGES people. I can testify to you this morning that it has transformed my life. Has about you? How about you? Has it changed you? I praise God and thank him in prayer that I know all across this room, and in the hearts of my brothers and sisters I’ve come to know around the world - it has changed them. I pray if you’ve never experienced this transforming hope, you’ll trust Jesus today.