Love, Faith, Hope, and Truth!

Love, Faith, Hope, and Truth!

'Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; 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: As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. 'Colossians 1:1-8

Paul In letters then, the writer's name was expected at the start; Paul was the sole author and mentions Timothy's name to give him credence. Paul's thrust and motivation was not just his passion and character, but his realization of the debt he owed Christ and his response of overwhelming gratitude. If we focus only upon ourselves, we will fail badly. We must be like Paul and willfully keep Christ as our head, for He already is.  Acts 26:16 But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; Ephesians 3:7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.

Brother as Christians, we are together in community. Paul had a strong sense of community, togetherness, and cooperation; when we love one another, we prove and exhibit Christ (John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. 20:19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." Gal. 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; Ephesians 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We give thanks to God Meaning himself and Timothy. This is the beginning of the epistle, which is introduced with a thanksgiving to God; to whom praise and thankfulness are always due as a Creator and preserver, as the author of all good things, as the Father of mercies, temporal and spiritual, and as the covenant God and Father of his people through Christ: wherefore it follows. Philemon 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray for you this is not a superficial statement or just an instinctive response; this is a prime duty and call for all those in Christ-to seek Him and to intercede on the behalf of others. It is also an act of worship when we hold others up in prayer, as it honors Christ. Ephesians 1:16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; praying always for you; which, as it is expressive of the constant discharge of the duty of prayer, and the continual remembrance of these saints in it, and shows the affection the apostle had for them; so it points out the time when, and the way and manner in which Paul and Timothy gave thanks to God on account of them; it was when they were at the throne of grace, and in their frequent prayers to God; thankfulness for mercies received, both by ourselves and others, being a branch of the duty of prayer.

Faith in Christ, Paul answers the main debate in Colossae in this prayer, which was whether Christ's grace was sufficient or if other aspects needed to be put in too. The answer is: Christ is enough! "Christ alone by faith alone." The other aspects, such as "works," are merely the result of His working in us Galatians 5:4-6 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. And of love which ye have to all the saints; this is another thing for which thanks are given to God. The object of this grace are "saints"; all men indeed are to be loved, and even our very enemies; and good is to be done to all, but especially to holy and good men, to the household of faith; and these are "all" to be loved and respected; nor is any respect or difference of persons to be made on account of country, or natural relation, as Jews or Gentiles, or of outward state and condition, as rich or poor, bond or free, or of greater or lesser gifts and grace, weak or strong believers, or of different sentiments in the lesser matters of religion. John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Hope this is not wishful thinking; rather, it is our full confidence and assurance in Christ that leads to greater trust and faith and deeper love. Hope is a prime reason for us to be grateful. It also anticipates and looks forward to the future Psalms 25:3 indeed, none of those who wait for you will be ashamed; those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. Psalms 31:24 be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalms 71:5 For You are my hope Lord God; you are my confidence from my youth. Lamentations 3:21-24This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him. 1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, 11you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many. Because of the hope. This alludes to God and His sovereignty. This is also our security, as we have the great loving and creating God in us. Why would we prefer our own limited, feeble ways and thinking Eph. 1:4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love.

Gospel is good news. This means victory as in "God delivers," and that salvation is from, and only from God, and Christ as Lord. This refers to the person and Work of Christ, how He delivered us out of sin and into our new life. It is by His life and sacrifice that we have the Kingdom and abundance of life here and forevermore. This also refers to how God delivered Israel out of bondage as proclaimed at Sinai (Rom. 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world ; 10:18 But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed, they have; "Their voice has gone out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world”; 16:19 for the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore, I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.

Epaphras is a shorting of the name Epaphroditus, a Greek declension of "Aphrodite" (the Greek goddess of love). Philippians 2:25 But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; Philippians 4:18 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. He was the Colossae church planter and mentee of Paul who perhaps never visited this church. Thus, Paul is pastoring, mentoring, leading, and encouraging Epaphras, and through this letter, he uses his apostle leadership role to spur them on so Epaphras can in turn lead his church more effectively. Since this was a common name, there could have been more than one Epaphras Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bond slave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. Philemon 1:23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,

Your love in the Spirit. Referring that the Holy Spirit is the source and flow of our Christian love and thus is an action, attitude, and application-not just a feeling. So, we can have an impact in our relationships, church, neighborhood, and world beyond our imagination, past our fears and hurts-all because of Christ. As Christians, we have no excuse not to love or have joy no matter what our situation is Rom. 5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. ; Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.