Daily Bible Reading 27th May 2025 // Colossians 1:3-8
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 growing—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. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Faith, love and hope (v 5) are a favourite trio for Paul. They are the proper evidences of a work of God in the soul of man. For Paul, these three qualities are the spiritual hallmark of the genuine article. No cheap and trashy imitation could possibly bear this authenticating hallmark of the work of God. Faith, love and hope are the outgrowth of the gospel, the fruit of the Spirit of God, the consequence of the work of God in a person's life. Now notice what it is that Paul is doing here. In his thanksgiving he is pointing the Colossian believers to the gospel and to its fruit in their lives. He is causing them to review the whole course of their spiritual pilgrimage, right from the beginning. And that is surely what we must do whenever we are assailed by doubt like this. Notice that the gospel is called the word of truth (v 5). There is nothing relative, nothing uncertain or doubtful here. The gospel is not a matter of opinion, it is a body of truth, it is truth through and through for everyone, whether they will submit to its claims or not. Paul reminds the Colossians, then, of The Truth and of its effect in their lives. If we try to follow Paul's train of thought for a moment, we see the intimacy of connection between the preaching/proclamation of the gospel and the effect of the gospel on the lives of men and women: (1) Epaphras preaches the gospel of Christ to the Colossians (v 7). (2) They hear and understand God's grace in all its truth (v 6). (3) As the truth of God grips their minds and hearts, as the Spirit of God works in their lives, so they are given new hope (v 5). (4) As the hope of the gospel is presented to them, held out before them, faith in Christ and love for one another are kindled in their hearts (vv 4/5). This is still God's way.