Holding to the Truth – Colossians 1:3-8

Christians are rightly concerned about true doctrine. A friend recently told me that another friend had declared his opposition to some biblical truths. If someone has compromised the gospel, or if a church departs from true teaching, we are saddened and perhaps concerned that we bolster our faith so as not to fall victim to the same thing.

Paul has only heard good things about the church at Colossae, things consistent with adhering to the true faith.

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. (Colossians 1:3-8, ESV)

Paul thanks God for three things regarding the Colossians:  Their faith in Christ Jesus, their love for all the saints, and the hope that is laid up in heaven for them.

For Paul, the Christian life may be summed up by three qualities: faith, love and hope. Faith includes believing in the word of truth, the gospel, and the message of grace from God that came with it. Faith also includes holding true to the truth in the midst of the false teaching that abounds. And faith is what he is emphasizing in this letter, the one of the three qualities that he expounds on (as in Ephesians he expounds on love, and in 1 Thessalonians on hope, for example). The true gospel bears fruit wherever it goes and is always focused on grace, God’s grace, freely bestowed upon us in the Beloved.

And faith is always transmitted by faithful teachers, in this case Epaphras, whom Paul designates as his faithful fellow servant. Paul puts his approval on the teaching of Epaphras to affirm what the Colossians need to know, that the true gospel came first to them through Epaphras and that it came with apostolic authority. If they hear a teaching that contradicts what the apostles and particularly Epaphras teach, they must know that it is heretical. We’re talking about teaching that contradicts the gospel, the core teaching about how one has a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ by faith alone in his finished work.

Paul prays constantly for these believers because he knows how difficult it is to maintain the faith with all the pressures the world and the devil put on believers to conform to their worldview. Every false gospel errs by teaching that our salvation is up to us, that we must merit it by what we do or believe. Grace is always the tripping point for false gospels. Free salvation, free forgiveness, free love from God, does not make sense to the unconverted mind. Does it make sense to you?