The Word and the Gospel: A Sermon Study of Colossians 1:25-29

Lord Jesus, we are unrighteous people but we need the righteousness of the Gospel of Thee to give us hope.  And come Holy Spirit and teach us Thy truth in Jesus’ name.  Amen. 

25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  28We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.  (Colossians 1 NIV)

The apostle Paul is the servant of God and of Christ before His presence and the presence of His glorious, elect angels of God.  Paul is the servant of the church of God, and he was commissioned by God to proclaim the word of God in the gospel of God.  What does the word of God contain?  It is about God’s prescribed message for sinners in commanding them to turn from their sin and believe God the Son.  Paul speaks of the word of God in its fullness; we proclaim the word of God in its fullness.  As preachers of God we must declare the whole counsel of God and proclaim the full and true gospel of grace.  We also see God’s full divine revelation in the 66 books of the Old and New Testament.  God has shown men His divine revelation of truth in written form.  The gospel was proclaimed in preaching and in written form.  We proclaim the gospel message to a lost, dark, fallen world under Satan and sin; we proclaim the word of the gospel as a bright light in a dark land.  We must be like Paul and proclaim the full gospel of God.  As people of God we ought to proclaim His matchless message of truth.  We get the command to evangelize and proclaim His gospel.  Therefore we are commissioned by God in Christ to proclaim the message of repentance.  We do not need to add to the one true gospel, nor do we need to take away from the one true gospel.  God’s people should be servants of God in presenting the truth of God in the gospel of God. 

Do we want to proclaim God’s message of truth?  We should be eager to do it, but we fall short because we are sinners.  We ought to proclaim God’s message of truth with passion and clarity and confidence.  So many today believe it is impossible to define the gospel.  But it is not impossible to define the gospel for we have it in divine Scripture.  The gospel is about faith and repentance of sin, and trusting Christ as our divine Redeemer.  The gospel is the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ.  It is receiving the imputed righteousness of Christ by faith alone to unrighteous creatures that are undeserving of His grace, mercy and eternal life that He gives to His beloved few.  Romanists leave out imputation of Christ’s righteousness and replace it with infusion of grace.  False teachers take away from the fullness of the gospel of God in Christ.  They replace it with false hope, false righteousness, false life, false faith, false instruction.  They edit the most precious gospel of God and replace it with the invention of men.  Do we want the truth of God in Christ in terms of the message of the gospel?  Or do we want the imaginations of the heart and mind, coming from the inspiration of men?  The gospel should be treasured above all things.  Do we love it more then we love sin?  Do we love it more then the people of God in the Old Testament loved the Ark of the Covenant?  Do you understand that it is more precious then our very lives? 

Calvin said in his Commentary of Colossians, “25. Of which I am made a minister. Mark under what character he suffers for the Church — as being a minister, not to give the price of redemption, (as Augustine dexterously and piously expresses himself,) but to proclaim it. He calls himself, however, in this instance, a minister of the Church on a different ground from that on which he called himself elsewhere, (1 Corinthians 4:1,) a minister of God, and a little ago, (Colossians 1:23,) a minister of the gospel. For the Apostles serve God and Christ for the advancement of the glory of both: they serve the Church, and administer the gospel itself, with a view to promote salvation. There is, therefore, a different reason for the ministry in these expressions, but the one cannot subsist without the other. He says, however, towards you, that they may know that his office has a connection also with them.  To fulfill the word. He states the end of his ministry — that the word of God may be effectual, as it is, when it is obediently received. For this is the excellence of the gospel, that it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. (Romans 1:16.)  God, therefore, gives efficacy and influence to his word through means of the Apostles. For although preaching itself, whatever may be its issue, is the fulfilling of the word, yet it is the fruit that shews at length that the seed has not been sown in vain.”  Henry wrote, “…He was steward and master-builder, and this was given to him: he did not usurp it, nor take it to himself; and he could not challenge it as a debt. He received it from God as a gift, and took it as a favour.”

The verse this following song is based on is Acts 20:24, “To testify the gospel of the grace of God.”  Let us sing, “God, in the gospel of his Son, makes his eternal counsels known; Where love in all its glory shines, And truth is dawn in fairest lines.  Here sinners of a humble frame May taste his grace, and learn his Name; May read, in characters of blood, the wisdom, power and grace of God.  The prisoner here may break his chains; the weary rest from all his pains; the captive feel his bondage cease; the mourner find the way of peace.  Here faith reveals to mortal eyes a brighter world beyond the skies; here shines the light which guides our way from earth to realms of endless day.  O grant us grace, Almighty Lord, to read and mark thy holy Word; its truth with meekness to receive, and by its holy precepts live” (Trinity Hymnal, 262).

Jesus Christ is the all-sufficient Incarnate bodily Risen Savior and Lord.  If you believe the gospel, you will abhor sin, turn from it in true and faithful repentance and cling to Christ over your sins.  After regeneration (being born again) and justification (being declared righteous) comes sanctification (the pursuit of holiness).  There is a sense in which a believer has already been sanctified in Christ in a past tense.  Believers also go through sanctification in the present tense.  After all of this, in heaven we are glorified.  This is a wonderful reality for God’s people.  God will finish what He started.  God loses none that are His property.  The gospel is not a message of gloom or sadness.  Rather, it is a message of unspeakable love that Christ has for His people.  It is surely and truly the good news of my Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ: “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3 KJV).  If someone dies in their present condition of unrepentant life, he is lost forever.  If you are brought to a time in your life, which indicates that sin is your tremendous plague, in which you are offending God, which is your tremendous grief, and your heart is to please Him and honor Him, then God has given you hope.  This hope is in His Son, Jesus Christ.  “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10 KJV).

Let us go over divine Scripture and what it says about the gospel of God:  Matthew 9:35, “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”  Matthew 11:5, “the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.”  Matthew 24:14, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”  Acts 8:25, “So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.”  Acts 8:40, “But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.”  Acts 14:7, “and there they continued to preach the gospel.”  Acts 14:15, “and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM.”  Acts 15:7, “After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.”  Acts 20:24, "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”  Paul warns against preaching of another gospel:  2 Corinthians 11:4, “For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”  The gospel is the word of truth:  Colossians 1:5, “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel…”  1 Thessalonians 1:5, “for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.”  (NASB).

Paul preached and proclaimed the full gospel.  We ought to do the same but we live in a time that false teachers preach another gospel wholly devoid of the matchless gospel.  The gospel comes with the power of God unto salvation for His elect people only.  We ought not to be ashamed of the full and true and complete gospel because this is what God has chosen to His people, but the world rejects the gospel because it is alien to the truth of God, and Satan does not want to save men but to destroy them.  We ought to be committed to the true gospel, and not to a false gospel.  May God open the eyes of His pre-converted elect who may have embraced a false gospel!  May God use His people to reach the lost in a dark world, in a dark universe!  We are entrusted with the gospel not because we are better then others but because God in His goodness has chosen to use us as vessels of righteousness for His glory, honor, praise.  Will we be like Paul we preached the gospel and fulfilled His mission from the Lord?  Or will we be in slumber and sleep with what has been entrusted to us?  The word of God is the gospel of God.  The Word of God is true, trustworthy, infallible, inerrant, proven, reliable and it convicts the hearts and minds of men.  Why then do we not spread the gospel message as we ought to, to all persons who do not know it or who oppose it?  We ought to be like Paul and follow the God of the gospel. 

The Word of the Gospel was hidden in ages past, and now it is revealed, and it was revealed by the Lord Christ.  The Lord Christ accomplished a work for us, not in us.  The central theme of the Gospel is the Cross.  And it was in the Cross where Christ accomplished His work for His people.  He died in their place, and in their behalf.  The Gospel is of God and not of men.  The work of Christ was done for us, and it is not from the inspiration of men but from God Himself.  The Cross occurred from the will of God through His Son and by the power of the Spirit in the life of Christ.  It is an inward manifestation of an outward work.  We are holy because of the Savior alone not because we have inherent holiness.  The Christ of the Bible is the Lord of Righteousness, the Lord of Holiness, the Lord of purity, the Lord of Justice.  We ought to not look to ourselves but to Christ in the gospel.  If we look to ourselves it is foolish but if we look to Christ is the hope of glory.  Obeying the true Gospel, the word of the Gospel, is the hope of glory, but our obedience does not form the grounds for justification.  Rather, it is the active and passive obedience of Another, Jesus Christ alone.  We would not make it to heaven on our imperfect, flawed, foolish obedience tainted with sin, but if we possess the perfect righteousness of Christ we do not lack true hope, but the assured hope of true glory in heaven.  We are to look to Christ and be found in Him.  We cannot commend to God the deeds of our works, because every department of our being is tainted with sin.  We must wholly trust Christ and not ourselves.  I submit that the most outwardly of men who perform good deeds do not meet the perfect righteousness of God in Christ.  Even Mother Teresa in all of his works did not perform one work that was perfect.  Her works will never avail before God as acceptable; but only the perfect righteousness of Christ the Redeemer and Lord avails before God, imputed to us by faith alone.  Nowadays they are trying to find a miracle to officially make her a saint, but my friends; this is all rubbish before God, and He desires the sinless righteousness of His Only Beloved Son.  Nothing in all the world compares with the imputed righteousness of Christ. 

What are we to preach to the Church?  We are to preach Christ.  We are not to teach with the wisdom of men but the wisdom of God in Christ.  Nothing will profit a man before God save His Scriptural wisdom in Christ.  We need to be in Christ on the Last Day otherwise we will not stand.  When we are glorified we will be perfect in Christ.  We cannot obtain to perfection now, but we will in glorification.  At that time we will no longer sin, and we will not need to repent.  The Word of the Gospel makes us wise unto salvation, but it is not the oral tradition of Rome, but the living and active Word of God alone.  We ought to preach Christ and Him only.  What do we see in the Church of Rome?  We see them advocating a belief in making Mary a Co-Redeemer.  Such is completely alien to divine Scripture, and we need to preach Christ only to be faithful to the divine text of Scripture.  The Gospel is the power of God, the wisdom of God and the salvation of God.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of truth.  It is indeed the Word of God.  Let us remember that we can only be presented perfect in Christ at the Last Day, and standing before Him in His perfect righteousness.  The Gospel is not about the righteousness of men but the alien righteousness of the Son of the Father. 

God’s gospel is offered to the elect, His chosen people.  But we preach the gospel to everyone in everyplace.  We do not say “Here is one elect person” and “Here is a non-elect person.”  We proclaim the gospel indiscriminately to everyone: men and women, boy or girl, poor or rich.  The gospel is the power of God, and it by God’s sovereign power changes lives.  God has chosen to save His people in the past, and He has chosen to save people nowadays.  He has not ended His work of saving His people, but when the last disciple is saved, Christ will come again in His Second Coming or rapture.  Christ has chosen to save Jews and Gentiles; we all make up the spiritual Israel of God.  Romans 11:7,  “What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened…”  Colossians 3:12, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience…”  2 Thessalonians 2:13, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”  2 Timothy 2:10, “For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”  Revelation 17:14, "These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful."

Paul was commissioned by God to preach the gospel with all wisdom.  1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  1 Corinthians 1:21, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”  1 Corinthians 1:25, “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”  1 Corinthians 2:14, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”  1 Corinthians 3:19, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God For it is written, "He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS…”  (NASB).

Let us consider some essential truths of the Word of the Gospel:

The Gospel is Sufficient.  We learn in the Bible that we have the divine Scriptures to make us wise unto salvation.  We learn that God’s Word is enough to know about the salvation of our souls.  We do not need to add or take away from divine Scripture because it is sufficient for salvation.  When we hear the gospel we do not have an insufficient message but a sufficient message of divine truth.  Herein is about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ:  “…Repent and believe in the gospel.”  (Mark 1:15 NASB).  The gospel is, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”  (Acts 16:31 NASB).  It is a true story about the expiation (that is, Christ Himself has removed sin for His elect only “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12 NASB), and propitiated (that is, Christ Himself has appeased the wrath of God the Father), and at the same time, (the Son of God came into the world to save sinners in sinless conformity with the Father’s will not in opposition to it) for His elect people.  This gospel pamphlet is concerning the holiness of God, man’s total depravity, the negative result of that, which is God’s real wrath, and the actual eternal solution to it, Who is the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is from the will of God the Father by His divine Spirit, and people that are His have repentance and faith toward God.  Within the text of Holy Scripture is the message of the gospel of grace and peace.  The Scriptures, as some say, are merely the words of men, and simply an ancient document written with many errors.  The burden of proof is on those who make such false claims.  On the testimony of the sinless, error-free Christ, the divine Lamb of God; the Scriptures are rightly presented, within this presentation of the gospel, as the very words of God Himself (John 17:17; John 10:35 cf. 2 Timothy 3:16). 

You must enter the narrow gate:  “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24 NASB). Those that cannot enter the narrow gate were not drawn by the Father.  Those who are drawn by the Father enter the narrow gate.  It is essential:  “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14 NASB).  Once you are through the narrow gate, it is an indication of being saved.  If God grants you to truly come to Him, you will never truly be forsaken (see Hebrews 13:5) nor will He cast you out.  Once a person is in Christ “there is…no condemnation.”  (Romans 8:1 NASB).  To one person the gospel of Christ is the fragrance of death, and to another person the gospel of Christ is the aroma of life (see 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 NASB).  Believe the eternal Son of God:  “…but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31 NASB).  God’s people who believe, who have received Him, become the children of God (John 1:12).  Moses asked, as do I, “…Who is on the LORD's side?...”  (Exodus 32:26 KJV).

The Gospel is Divine.  We learn in the New Testament that the Gospel is the Gospel of God or of the Son not the Gospel of Men. Come Divine Spirit and work in our minds!  Romans 1:1, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God…”  Romans 1:9, “God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you.” Romans 15:16, “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”  2 Corinthians 9:13, “Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.”  2 Corinthians 11:7, “Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge?”  1 Thessalonians 2:8, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”  1 Thessalonians 2:9, “Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.”  1 Thessalonians 3:2, “We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith…”  2 Thessalonians 1:8, “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”  1 Timothy 1:11, “that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.”  1 Peter 4:17, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

The True Gospel is Sound Doctrine.  Titus 1:9, “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”  We must be committed to sound doctrine regarding the gospel.  We must treasure it more then life itself. 

The Gospel Is the Power of God.  Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”  1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 

Let us exalt God by the proclamation of His gospel.  Let us bring God glory by preaching repentance no matter what the response.  Let strive together by the Scripture’s clear testimony of the Gospel.  Let us proclaim it with clarity and truth.  Let us speak to young and old far and wide and bring the truth of God to a perishing world.  Let us do this with love in our hearts, and commitment in our souls.  For on the Last Day let us be able to say with St. Paul, I blameless in the sight of God and innocent of all of men, for I proclaimed the gospel to everyone I could.  Let us not forget about God’s truth and His sovereign plan.  Let us fully carry out our mission in preaching and proclaiming the gospel and grace and peace.  Amen. 

Father, thank you for blessing this time, and we sought to give you glory.  May we live a life worthy of the gospel, and preach Thy truth to a world of evil and hatred.  Amen.