Discourse

editing

NT

Colossians 1:4-5

esv

.. we heard of g your faith in Christ Jesus and of g the love that you have for all the saints,

because of h the hope i laid up for you in heaven.

Of this you have heard before in j the word of the truth, the gospel,

ideaexplanation

ground

The triad of faith, hope and love is a very familiar theme in Paul's epistles and theology. We can see this triad in Romans 5:1-5, where hope is understood to be as the subjective experience of hoping and that it is anchored on love, God's love. Meaning, the ground or basis of our hope is the love of God. Now in Galatians 5:5-6, faith is the means by which we wait for the hope of righteousness. Here, hope is not our subjective experience but the objective content that we're hoping for, namely righteousness. It is also worth noting that the means through which faith works is love. Now in Colossians 1:4-5, this objective hope provides the cause or ground for our faith and love, and the contents of which are found in the gospel. So to summarize what we've seen so far, the love of God provides the anchor for our subjective hoping, and hoping is faith looking forward to an objective hope, which contents we have heard in the gospel, and this same hope gives rise to faith that works through love. What does it mean then for us? Hope sustains our faith in Christ, and rejuvenates our love for people. If our faith is to work itself out through love, then we must always preach the hope of the gospel to our soul.

discourse

notes

Devotion

The triad of faith, hope and love is a very familiar theme in Paul's epistles and theology. We can see this triad in Romans 5:1-5, where hope is understood to be as the subjective experience of hoping and that it is anchored on love, God's love. Meaning, the ground or basis of our hope is the love of God. Now in Galatians 5:5-6, faith is the means by which we wait for the hope of righteousness. Here, hope is not our subjective experience but the objective content that we're hoping for, namely righteousness. It is also worth noting that the means through which faith works is love. Now in Colossians 1:4-5, this objective hope provides the cause or ground for our faith and love, and the contents of which are found in the gospel. So to summarize what we've seen so far, the love of God provides the anchor for our subjective hoping, and hoping is faith looking forward to an objective hope, which contents we have heard in the gospel, and this same hope gives rise to faith that works through love. What does it mean then for us? Hope sustains our faith in Christ, and rejuvenates our love for people. If our faith is to work itself out through love, then we must always preach the hope of the gospel to our soul.