Grow With Pastor Joe

When you think about the gospel, what do you think of? When you think of God’s grace, what do you think of? I believe that when we think of one we should think of the other. The two are a package deal. It is God’s grace that saves us through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is not just to supplement what we couldn’t do on our own. Nor do we need to keep God’s law as a supplement to His grace for our salvation. We are saved by grace alone (See Galatians and Ephesians). We live by grace alone. It is the gospel of grace plus nothing else. It is grace that reveals the truth of the gospel, and it is by grace through faith that we receive the truth of the gospel. It is by God’s grace that we are daily renewed. It is by grace that we retell the truth of the gospel. It is by grace that we rest in the truth of the gospel. The gospel always points us to His grace, and His grace leads us to the gospel! If we “follow the yellow brick road,” it will always lead to the Celestial City of grace by the way of the gospel! The gospel and grace of Jesus Christ that saves us will also sanctify us. It is this truth that points us back to the reality that Christ is supreme and sufficient. His gospel is supreme and sufficient. His grace is supreme and sufficient. Nothing else compares! He fulfilled the Law on our behalf when we could not and would not obey it. He graciously gave His life for us through the gospel, His death, burial, and resurrection. He gives us grace to be saved, and He seals and secures us by His grace for our good and His glory.

            As we continue our study through Colossians, we must remember why Paul was writing this. He was writing to encourage the church and to remind them of the foundational and transformational truth that Chris is supreme and sufficient. The Colossians like us today were tempted to add their own wisdom or works to the supreme and sufficient gospel and grace of Jesus Christ. What do we have to offer or add to the most supreme God-Man who ever lived? What could we add to His all-sufficient merit and sacrifice? Believers who live by the strength of their own flesh or self-righteousness (though it be hidden from themselves) don’t practically live as if Jesus truly is supreme and sufficient. As a pastor, I have seen many go down this winding road that leads to a place of being unsettled and unsatisfied with their spiritual walk. Many who go down this road call for practical preaching. Sadly, in my counseling and conversations I have found that what they really want is the Law and not the gospel and grace of Jesus. They want to be told what to do in order to better please God, serve God, or stay in His favor. In their search for practicality, they settle to live with only grace being theoretical. They treat their own grit as if it is all on them. They treat God’s grace like it is a Flintstone Vitamin that is only there to give the little extra boost or protection that they need. We will never see the gospel of grace of Jesus to be practical until we see Christ as supreme and sufficient. Practical Christian living flows from making Christ preeminent as we see our weakness and receive His strength freely given by His grace.

            Paul opens up his letter with a warm greeting as he praises God for the growth that they have exhibited but then focuses on the gospel and grace of Jesus. In many respects, this was all Paul talked about. As you read through his letters, you will find him proclaiming Christ by explaining and applying the gospel and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Practical Christian living is to know what it means to be in Christ and how to live in Him. We naturally know how to live in and of ourselves. However, being in Christ means that God’s grace through the power of the gospel and the indwelling Holy Spirit we can learn to live in Christ. In Paul’s greeting we see His gratitude for their growth, but then what we will see today is the source and strength of their growth which is the “word of the truth of the gospel,” which is also described as “the grace of God in truth.” Paul’s greeting is seen in Col. 1:3-8 which says, “³ We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, ⁴ Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, ⁵ For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; ⁶ Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: ⁷ As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; ⁸ Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.” Today’s study will focus on Col. 1:6-8 as we see the productivity and practicality of the gospel of grace.

            First, we must see the productivity of the gospel of grace in Col. 1:6 which says, “Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:” It is interesting that we believe that the gospel is supreme and sufficient enough to save us, but that any productivity in the Christian life comes from our own good works. This is not to say that the Christian is not to have good works in their life, but rather our source of the good works in our life is not us, but His grace for, in, and through us. We tend to view productivity in terms of busyness. My washing machine is a hard worker, but only when I turn it on and press the buttons. It only cleans clothes when I put them in. It only washes them when empowered to do so through the electricity which I pay for. This is why I can say to my wife, “I washed a load of clothes today.” Did I wash them or did the washing machine wash them? The answer is yes. The washing machine is the instrument that I use to clean my clothes, but in and of itself it is lifeless. The gospel of Jesus Christ and His infinite grace is the life of the believer. It is through the gospel that we have new life in Christ by His grace. It is through the gospel and grace of Jesus that we are cleansed, made new, forgiven, restored, revived, and daily cleansed from the sin that pollutes our feet as we walk in this world of sin. The power to live the practical Christian life is Him in us. With that established, in Col. 1:6 we see the productivity of the gospel of grace in three ways.

One, we see the reach of its productivity. The gospel and grace of Jesus Christ have a greater reach than anything or anyone. We are limited, but the gospel and grace of Jesus reach to the deepest ditches and highest hills. The grace of Jesus is first of all personal. It has a personal reach as we see Paul says that the “word of the truth of the gospel” has come “unto you.” Do you remember when the Lord reached down to you? What a wonder the gospel of Jesus Christ is! His grace reached down to you! To me! He sought you and saved you by His grace! He took lifeless clay in the earth that He had created and formed Adam. Then, you and I who are born dead as a doornail, He reached down and breathed life into us in the new birth. Furthermore, the grace and gospel of Jesus Christ is not only personal in its reach, but universal. Paul says “as it is in all the world.” This is not to say that everyone in the world during his day or ours had heard the gospel. There are still billions who have never heard the good news and over 2,000 people groups without any shred of scripture in their native tongue. The point is to say that the gospel is to go to all the world because it is for all the world. We see the productivity in that the gospel and grace of Jesus reaches throughout all the world and down to individuals who receive Him by faith. There are believers all throughout God’s green earth. Rev. 5:5-14 shows us that the gospel is productive enough to save souls from every kindred, tribe, and tongue!

Two, we see the response to its productivity. Paul shows us the response of the productivity of the gospel in the response to those who believed the word of the truth of the gospel “since the day” they “heard it.” Grace reveals the truth of the gospel and transforms all who respond in faith. The gospel and grace of Jesus demands and deserves a response. You can’t be undecided when the gospel is preached. Those who have responded in faith to the gospel of Jesus are a product of His grace. We are fruit of His productive grace that saves us and as we’ll see in a moment brings forth tremendous fruit.

Three, we see the result of the productivity. The gospel and grace of Jesus Christ didn’t just do something for your eternal home, but for your everyday here and now. Paul says that this gospel that has been heard and received by grace “bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it.” One commentator writes, “Bearing fruit (present tense) would emphasize the continuous fruitfulness of the Gospel. The middle voice of the verb, of which this is the sole instance, marks the fruitfulness of the Gospel by its own inherent power.” The gospel of Jesus has the power to save past, present, and future. The gospel and grace of Jesus is continually at work to bring us to Christ and empower us to live daily in and for Him. “Karpophoreo” is the word for “bringeth forth fruit.” It has the idea of a productive, fertile, fruit-bearing tree. Christians are to bear fruit, but we must understand that the result of the productivity of the gospel is two-fold. One, it brings forth the fruit of conversion of the salvation of sinners. Two, it brings forth the continual fruit of consecration in the sanctification of saints who are in Christ. Paul says that it is the grace of God through the gospel that “bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you.” The result of the productivity of the gospel of grace is that there will be fruit-bearing Christians. How can we grow fruit? We can’t, but He does. How does He grow fruit in our life? God grows fruitful believers through His gospel of grace that we experience through the fruit of the Spirit in our life. Paul covered this in Gal. 5:13-25; Eph. 3:14-21 and all throughout the book of Colossians. Our personal growth and corporate growth as a local church is all by His grace by the wondrous work of the gospel. Fruitfulness by the gospel of grace will abound as we abide in Christ and apply the truth that He alone is supreme and sufficient (See John 15:1-8).

            Second, we must see the practicality of the gospel of grace in Col 1:7-8 which says, “⁷ As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; ⁸ Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.” It is a shame that many think that the gospel is only practical for the forgiveness of sin and nothing else. The gospel and grace of Jesus Christ is not just the foundation of our life, but it is the formation. This gospel that gripped us at the new birth grows throughout our spiritual life. God has given us in the gospel of grace all that we need for everyday ordinary practical living. 2 Pet. 1:2-8 says, “² Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, ³ According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: ⁴ Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. ⁵ And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; ⁶ And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; ⁷ And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. ⁸ For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When we think about practicality there are two things that should come to mind.

One, the practicality of the gospel of grace is for our learning. We see that in Col. 1:7 that Epaphras was a faithful gospel messenger with the fruitful gospel message that produced spiritual life and fruit in the church of Colosse. Practicality deals with all of life. The letter to the Colossians is filled with the idea that true Christianity is inside out. Practical Christian living is first in the inner man before it is in the outer. Another way of viewing it, practical living deals with your head and heart before it deals with your hands. It addresses your attitude to address your actions. Epaphras was a faithful servant of the gospel who had proclaimed the transformational truth of the gospel of grace to those at Colosse. These believers that Paul is addressing had first learned of the gospel before they could apply it in practice in their living. I believe that what many Christians miss is that because they can tell you that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again that they have a full understanding of the gospel and grace of Christ. I believe that many believe that they have learned enough. If we are honest, we are always learning because we are always forgetting. Much of what we need to learn is the continual rediscovery of the riches of His grace that are manifest in the gospel message. It is more than elementary, it is extraordinary! I would say too that whatever we learn is for more than our head, but that it is for our heart. Learning deals with our mind, will, and emotions. What you believe will later show up in how you behave; but what we learn will impact what you love or how you love. Love has been covered in this opening section and will be seen in the following verse as well. We must preach the fullness of the gospel of grace if we are going to see the practicality of what it means to see Christ as supreme and sufficient for all of life.

Two, the practicality of the gospel of grace is for our living. Christians have learned the who, what, when, and where throughout their whole life, but most of them never seem to figure out the how or why. Therefore, most of them know that they are saved by grace but then live by their own grit trying to obey God’s law in their flesh. You can’t strongarm salvation or sanctification. The practicality of the gospel of grace is seen in that we now are to live a life that is filled with “love in the Spirit.” Sanctified living is Spirit-filled living. This means to be under His authority, influence, and control. We only grow as we surrender to the continual life providing and love producing work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus declared that we can’t be productive apart from Him in John 15, He also proclaimed to His disciples that productive and practical living will be a work of the Holy Spirit as seen in John 14-16. The Holy Spirit is only mentioned here in this verse in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, but it is a reminder that all of the practical life of the believer is the work of the Trinity. In Paul’s opening greeting we have seen that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are at work from the beginning to the ending of our life in Christ. All of life is in Him, of Him, and through Him! It is the indwelling Holy Spirit that produces a love for Christ and His Church in our hearts which He then enables us by grace to love others sacrificially with our hands. His presence inside us will produce the power to live in practice in Christ and for Christ. His work is supreme and sufficient for practical Christian living.

Cut out your multi-step programs on how to be a better Christian. Abide in Him. Trust in His supremacy and sufficiency to be productive and practical. What could be more productive in your heart and life that the gospel and grace of Jesus Christ. The same thing that is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16) has the same continual enabling power to live practically by faith in Christ (Rom. 1:17). What could be more practical that the gospel and grace of Jesus? All your grit and determination are fruitless compared to the productivity and practicality of the gospel. Rest in His supremacy and sufficiency to be productive and practical in your life. God hasn’t left you to yourself. He gives you what you need to live daily in, through, and for Him. Christ is supreme over your wisdom and works. His is sufficient and praise God He is because our wisdom and works will never do. Trust that God is at work in your life and will be actively producing fruit as you practically live by faith in Him.