Three Virtues in a Believer’s Life: Faith, Love and Hope
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints 5 because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. (Colossians 1:3-5a)
Opening up the letter, Paul does not immediately go into his main focus of combatting false teachers and their false doctrines, but instead, speaks about the gospel message and the transformative power on the believers in Colossae. As Paul prayed for the believers there, his prayers became prayers of thanksgiving because of what he was hearing about them, which led to Paul praising and thanking “God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
After the believers heard the gospel message and chose to follow Christ, they began to grow. There are three virtues that Bible commentator Max Anders sees in this passage that should be evident in every believer’s life, faith, love and hope. “Faith is being persuaded or convinced that something is true and trusting it with your life.” The believers had “faith in Christ Jesus,” believing that He is the risen Savior and only way of salvation.
Being transformed by this saving faith in Christ, the believers then put their faith into action and loved other believers, “of the love you have for all the saints.” As we will see in the coming weeks, the false teachers were sharing that in order to have salvation, it only comes through acquiring secret knowledge and having special exclusive experiences. But Paul will give a rebuttal that evidence of transformation of true faith in Christ is shown through love. We can see this in another letter of Paul, in Galatians 5:6, in which he counters false teachers who were claiming that one had to do additional traditions on top of believing in Christ to truly be saved: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.”
Finally, the believers displayed hope in their day to day lives. Anders describes Biblical hope, “Hope is looking forward with eager anticipation and strong confidence to the sure promises of God.” Paul writes that these promises are secure, “reserved for you in heaven.” With the promise of a permanent residence free from pain or sorrow, where they are all in the presence of their Savior worshipping Him forever, the believers of Colossae are able to live their lives with integrity, staying away from the false teachings.
These three virtues, faith, love, and hope, should be in every believer’s life, having faith in Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior, loving one another as Christ loves us, and having hope in the future promise of being reunited with other believers in the presence of Christ forever and ever. May we nurture these virtues, being thankful for the saving grace of God, actively love one another, removing any negative thoughts that may hinder us from doing so, and share the hope of the gospel message to those around us, that they too can live free from the fear of death because of the work of Christ on the cross.
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
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