Colossians 1:3-8 (NIV)
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.
Paul did not start the church in Colossae, in fact, he had not even visited there. But he had heard of their strong faith, and the growth and expansion that was happening in the city and the surrounding area from Epaphras, the man who had started the work there, and who was now with Paul in Rome.
Paul points to two key indicators that were present in the Colossian Church, showing it to be the genuine Church of Jesus Christ: their faith and their love. Faith is much more than belief in someone or something. True faith accepts a word from God and then takes action as if that word were true. This is illustrated very clearly in James’ noted statement that “faith without deeds is dead.” (James 2:26), and in the famous Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, with each person listed having demonstrated their faith by their productive obedience.
Paul had heard that the Colossian Christians had not only believed in Jesus for salvation and forgiveness, they had received God’s commands and His promises, and were working and living in compliance with them, fully believing that the one who made the promises would fulfill them if they were obedient.
Paul had also heard about their love for the saints. Like faith, the word love in the Christian vocabulary is more about action than feeling or emotion. To love your brother in Christ is to help him, support him, build him up, pray for him, and help him to be the best he can be in Jesus.
Paul understood that the growth that the gospel was producing all over the Roman Empire had its roots in the actions of Christians who were fully rooted in exactly that kind of active faith and love, and he rejoiced along with Epaphras that such a powerful and productive church had risen in Colossae.
Father, all too often we are taught, and teach others, that faith and love are primarily emotions, feelings about You and about others. And so, we wait and hope that these feelings will somehow manifest themselves in our lives so that we can then act on them. We want to feel faith bubbling up in our lives so that we have the courage to respond to your commands. We want to feel love bubbling up in our hearts so that we can love others, to feel good about them. But your focus on both love and faith is on the actions not on the feelings: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15); “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” (Luke 17:6) Help us, Lord, not to feel faith, but to be faithful in obeying you, and to act faithfully in the Commission you have given us. And help us to not so much feel love for others, as to obediently and faithfully show love to others, so that Your word can spread through us, and Your Kingdom can grow. Amen.