'Once you were alienated from God... But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation- if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.' Colossians 1:21-23
I was really struck by this phrase today 'not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.' I don't know about you, but I often feel discouraged by lack of progress. When I examine my behaviour over the week, I see myself falling into the same old sins. For every small victory, there are so many defeats. It's tempting to think that I'm stuck in bad habits forever!
But this passage brings an amazing truth: in Christ we ARE reconciled to God and holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation. When we walk in faith, we are walking boldly in that truth that we are forgiven through Christ's death on the cross. If we are going to be people of faith and continue as established and firm believers, we have to be sticking to the hope of the gospel.
What is the hope of the gospel? It's that sinners can be washed clean through the blood of Jesus. It's that enemies of God can become His children. Our whole identity can and will change!
My character hasn't undergone any immediate quick-fix transformations or solutions, but day by day in His grace I AM changing and my behaviour is conforming to my status as a child of God. What an encouragement!
I also feel this is a massive encouragement when we are discipling others. Sometimes we can see brothers and sisters in Christ fall into sticky patches. They may be getting tangled up in sins from their past, or new temptations. But this is the hope of the gospel, that they CAN be forgiven, they CAN be restored to God, if they will continue in FAITH.
I need to stop crushing the hope of the gospel with cynical attitudes towards whether people can really change, because in the power of the Holy Spirit and walking by faith, they CAN!
How desperately our world needs to hear about this hope of the gospel. Let's pray for opportunities to share it and stand firm on it this week!
