Gospel Love Colossians 1:3-9

Gospel Love Colossians 1:3-9

Is your idea of love a gospel love? Are we living it?

Colossians 1: 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 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, 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, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant.[b] He is a faithful minister of Christ on your[c] behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

 

Gospel Love

We notice in verse four that a gospel infused love is obvious. It is seen. Rumors of it are spread from person to person to neighborhoods and throughout nations. It can even spread into cells with iron doors because a gospel love is public. It can’t be contained. It’s very nature requires it to be viral spreading from host to host. Like any virus there must be a cause.

 

Cause and effect

In verse five it starts with the word “because”. It is showing a cause and effect relationship. The gospel love has a starting point. It comes from what is hoped for and not hope itself. Too often we talk about having hope in in a challenging time, but the contents of that hope is too often thinking of a future time when the challenge or struggle is finished and the circumstances are back to our liking. That’s not what Paul’s talking about. He’s talking about treasure in heaven. First the treasure that is found in Christ. Second the treasure that we are to God because of what Christ has made us in Him.

 

He continues to point out that the causation of such a far-reaching faith and love obviously has the gospel at its root. Any other fruit would have a different root. It is Spirit driven. Infact Galatians 5 says love is fruit of the spirit. So this love is other-worldly. It is not of this world. That’s why God is the one being thanked at the start and not the Colossians.

 

How do we display this gospel love?

1. Read God’s word. Don’t make excuses for why you don’t have time to be in it. Don’t let others indulge your excuses. The love that changes lives and will transform you and your family is not of this world. So you must pursue this God who is the maker of this world and out of this world to through His Word the Bible. It’s not going to come out unless you are putting it in.
2. Verse 8 says it is not by our own power but by the power of the holy spirit. Only complete dependency in Christ can rescue us from total depravity. Like the episode in Seinfeld when George Constanza decided to do everything the opposite from the way he usually did. Everything you usually did would always go wrong. So he decided if he did everything the opposite, every decision, every encounter, every meal the opposite, it would go right for a change. So you have to literally let go and let God. The Holy Spirit will empower you to affirm Scripture and give you an awe of Scripture, like you’ve never had.
3. The church in Colosse wasn’t putting their hope in bringing in crowds of people. They weren’t putting their hopes in worldly aspirations. They weren’t depending on one or two people to display love. They were displaying love as an entire church body and were able to do so because their hopes were based on an eternal promise. It is a promise that we have the privilege of bringing to fruition every day through the way we love others.