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Introduction
Its AD 65 and Paul is sitting in a dark prison cell at Rome, closely watched by a Roman soldier.
Imprisoned for preaching the Gospel of Christ.
Yet in spite of all of this he has much to thank God for.
Among other things he thanks God for the salvation of the believers at Colosse.
Epaphras has come to Paul and told him about their salvation and their growth in grace and it has caused Paul to rejoice.
There were dangers that were facing the Church at Colosse and Paul deals with them later on in the letter, but at the start Paul wanted the believers to know how thankful he was to God that they had been saved.
Paul thanks God for the salvation of the Colossians.
Its this thanks giving that I want us to focus on this evening.
Paul here gives an example of how we ought to pray.
We must never forget to thank God.
To thank God for our salvation and for the salvation of others.
This is what Paul does here.
He mentions three points about their salvation;
The Marks of salvation
The Message of salvation
The Messenger of salvation
I.The Marks of Salvation
Paul begins his thanks giving with these words;
v.3 “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you”
Paul tells the Church at Colosse that every time he prays he makes mention of them before God and gives thanks for them.
Then in verse 4 and 5 he goes on and gives the reasons that he is thankful.
Basically he is thankful because God has saved them.
In explaining this Paul gives three marks of Salvation.
Three things that the Christians at Colosse had and in fact three things that all Christians have.
If a person does not have these then they are not a Christian.
The first mark of Salvation given by Paul is Faith in Christ.
Look with me at verse 4, Paul says “Since we heard of your faith in Christ...”
Paul says we have been giving thanks to God for you since we heard of your faith in Christ.
The Church at Colosse consisted of people who had faith in Christ.
They were not people who just attended Christian meetings, they were not just filled with head knowledge but rather they had a true, living faith in Jesus Christ.
What did Paul mean by faith?
The word faith is thrown around a lot today.
People claim to have faith all the time.
But they don’t have saving faith.
So what does Paul mean here by faith?
Well the Bible teaches that true, saving faith is firstly a belief of certain truths.
The Gospel is rooted in historical facts and saving faith includes a mental ascent to these truths.
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ for our sin, His resurrection on the third day, His ascension into heaven.
These must be believed but also truths about the person of Christ, His deity, He is God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity.
Faith firstly includes a mental ascent to the core truths of the Gospel.
Secondly true faith includes a sincere and hearty trust.
It isn’t enough to merely believe the facts about the death of Christ and His resurrection you must also fully trust in Him and in His finished work to make you right with God.
True faith means that you have staked your eternal salvation upon what Christ did upon the cross.
“Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.”
Thirdly, True faith involves commitment.
Its not enough to have a head knowledge you need a hearty trust in Christ but still true faith has more.
True faith means that you surrender yourself to Christ.
You give your life over to him.
He becomes the one who is in charge of you.
‘For you are not your own but you are bought with a price.’
Fourthly, True faith is always accompanied by repentance.
Repentance means to forsake your sin.
It means to turn and in this context to turn from your sin.
To no longer do the wrong things you once did.
Repentance and faith go hand in hand, they are like two sides of the same coin.
One with out the other is no good.
Saving faith could be summed up as thought, feeling and action.
This was the Faith that the Colossians had.
Saving Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Its a said reality in our day that many people go to church regularly and think that they are Christians but they have never put their faith in Christ for salvation they have never repented and believed.
Illustration: One great example from history was John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.
He was ordained in the Church of England, he was even a missionary to the Colony of Savannah, he went to teach the Indians about Christianity.
But it was after being a missionary on his way back to England, that he realised he had never been saved.
He was on a boat and storm struck and water was coming into the boat and the passengers thought they were going to die, people were screaming and crying.
But John Wesley saw a group of German Christians called the Moravians who were calmly singing hymns.
He saw them and realised they had something that he didn’t after speaking to one of them he realised that he didn’t have saving faith in Christ.
He was trusting in the Church of England, he was relying upon his own good works to get him to heaven.
But it wasn’t long after realising he was never saved, that he did put his faith in Christ.
God greatly used Wesley during the 18th Century Great awakening.
Saving faith is necessary.
These Colossian believers had it.
The second mark of Salvation that they had was love.
Paul continues in verse 4 “and of the love which ye have to all the saints,”
Paul says that the Colossian believers had love for other Christians.
Their faith in Christ resulted in their hearts being changed and now they had a love for God’s people.
Now they no longer had an affection for the world but now they had a love for the body of Christ, the Church.
This love that they had for other Christians was a mark of their salvation.
In fact in says “ We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”
This is how the Colossian believers could know they were saved because they had love for other Christians.
The Holy Bible: King James Version.
(2009).
(Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version
Now this love would not have been a mere emotion, it would have evidenced itself in the way that they treated each other, the way they served one another, the way they put others first.
The Church at Corinth were very different they had divisions among them, they were arguing among themselves, they were squabbling, they were majoring on minors.
How sad it is when Christians fight among themselves.
Paul says here that the Colossians were different, they had love one for another.
Jesus said to His discicples “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you have love one for another.”
This was the a reality among the Colossians.
App- But as we take our eyes off of the Colossians for a moment and look at ourselves, we must ask ourselves this evening; do I have a love for my brothers and sisters in Christ?
Do I show that love?
If Paul was giving thanks to God for us would this be a point for thanksgiving?
Our love for each other?
This was true of the Colossians, it should be true of us as well.
Its not always easy.
There’s that saying - To live above with the saints you love that will be glory, but to live below with the saints you know that’s another story.
It isn’t always easy but this is a mark of salvation, love for the saints.
The third mark of Salvation that Paul gave thanks for was their hope.
Look at verse 5 “For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven,”
The Colossian believers had hope.
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