COLOSSIANS 1:3–6 – 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.”
THEME OF THE DAY: THE FRUITS OF THE GOSPEL. The chief tactic of the devil against Christians is doubt. He seeks to get believers to doubt God’s Word, doubt God’s work in them, and ultimately create a lack of assurance of salvation. If Christians succumb to his lies, they will lack joy, peace, and become a timid, fearful, and ineffective witness for the Lord Jesus. When it comes to battling doubt, there are many ways God provides for His child to defeat it. We have His sure promises that will never fail. We have the faultless character of God that always speaks truth and never lies. And then we have today’s scripture – the fruits of the Gospel. At the end of the day in our war against doubt, we may always come to assurance we are children of God by what the Gospel produces in a truly believing person – a confident faith in Jesus Christ and a sincere love for all His people – since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints. But we must make sure we understand these fruits.
First, faith in Christ that is a saving faith goes beyond acknowledging facts, assenting to His Person, or simply using words of “I believe in Christ” in a generic or vague way. True saving faith is a trust, even a desperate abandonment of oneself to the Person of Jesus Christ. It says, “I am casting myself entirely on Christ to save from the guilt of my sins, from the power of my sins, and ultimately from the presence of all sin.” Biblical faith in Christ is a complete giving of oneself over to Him as the helpless and powerless people we are. And this not just for salvation but for daily living. The evidence this describes us will be in the next fruit of genuine Gospel-change in a person.
A second necessary and always present fruit of being changed by the Gospel is an impartial, (get that word – impartial) love for all of God’s people. Yes, even the ones who hurt us, sin against us, betray us, slander us, gossip of us, and abandon us. Granted, Christians who willfully do those things without remorse and reconciliation, need to really re-think their own conversion. True believers simply cannot live with these bitter and loveless attitudes in their lives.
So, when the devil tempts us to doubt our salvation, immediately examine ourselves for the fruits of salvation – saving faith in Christ producing sincere love for all God’s people. Their presence in our lives is the surest evidence of being born again, new creatures in Christ.
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for the transforming power of the Gospel.”
QUOTE: “A true belief in the Gospel produces confidence in Christ and love for His people.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim