Faith, Hope, and Love: What Colossians 1 Teaches Us

Faith, hope, and love are three of the most important words in the New Testament. And Paul leads with all three when he writes to the Colossians. What he says about them in Colossians 1:3-8 is foundational to discipleship. They are the natural overflow of a people who genuinely encounter the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you.

In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.” (Col. 1:3-8)

Let’s spend some time unpacking them.

1. Faith

Faith is the first thing that Paul acknowledges regarding the Colossian church. He writes, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus…” (Col. 1:3-4a)

The faith of the Colossian church had been recognized during that time. Then news had travelled back to Paul. Despite pressure from outside sources, they stayed focused on this new Gospel message that so many people rejected.

2. Love

As we read further, Paul jumps to love. He states, “because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people…” (Col. 1:4). The Colossian church was not only a people of faith but also of love.

Their love for their brothers and sisters in Christ had become something to be commended. Paul doesn’t state how this love was shown. Perhaps they excelled in areas such as encouragement, hospitality, mercy or giving. Nevertheless, their love for each other and the church was noteworthy.

3. Hope

Then Paul moves to hope. That, “the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you.” (Col. 1:5-6a)

Paul clearly states that the Colossians’ faith and love stem from the hope they embraced. Hope not for what this world has to offer. Hope for the heavenly things that are centred around the Good News of Christ.

The Gospel

These people were concerned about Christ and their eternal future, not about the ways of this world. These Believers were focused on the Gospel. We, much like the Colossian church, have numerous failings every day. And yet, we should be striving forward in faith, love and hope.

Pursuing faith, hope, and love shouldn’t stem from good intentions. Nor from a desire to be kind to people because it’s the right thing to do. It should be an outpouring of the Gospel transformation in our hearts. It should be the renewed mind that can only come from genuinely experiencing a spiritual rebirth.

That kind of faith, hope, and love does not depend on life circumstances or temporal emotional responses. It should be rooted in the person and power of Jesus Christ.