When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, something remarkable happens — the gospel doesn’t just sit in our minds as a set of facts to agree with. It begins to work in us, transforming every part of who we are. In Colossians 1:3-6, the Apostle Paul walks through what takes place in a person’s life after they genuinely receive the gospel by faith. It changes the way we love, reshapes where we place our hope, and propels us to share the good news with the world.
The Gospel Results in Love
Paul begins Colossians 1:3-6 by expressing thankfulness for the Colossians’ faith and love — and notice the connection: “We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). The word “and” is important. Their faith in Christ was evidenced by their love for God’s people.
This isn’t sentimental, warm-fuzzy emotion — it’s action. God doesn’t expect us to feel love for every person at all times. But He does expect those who have been saved by the gospel to demonstrate sacrificial love towards their brothers and sisters in Christ.
How do we know this kind of love is real? Because God demonstrated it first:
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
— Romans 5:7-9
First John makes the connection between love and genuine faith unmistakably clear:
“Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
— 1 John 3:14-15
“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
— 1 John 4:20
So what does this love look like at Grace Bible Church? It looks like the care team reaching out to those going through hard times. It looks like cooking meals for someone recovering from surgery. It looks like paying a bill when a family faces an unexpected financial crisis. It looks like serving in the nursery, teaching a Sunday school class, running sound on Sunday morning, or volunteering on the trustee team. Every act of service towards God’s family is an expression of the gospel at work.
God saves us so that we love one another. If you’ve trusted Christ, you get to participate in this — and there is always a need.
The Gospel Refocuses Our Hope
The second thing the gospel does is it completely redirects our hope. Paul writes, “the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (v. 4b-5).
Hope is one of the best — and one of the most painful — parts of being human. We hope in sports teams, politics, careers, retirement plans, and finances. And we’re consistently disappointed because those things either let us down, fade away, or come to an end.
The Christian faith offers something radically different — a living hope:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”
— 1 Peter 1:3-4
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God — and so we are. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
— 1 John 3:1-3
When Jesus fulfilled the first set of Messiah prophecies — suffering, death, and resurrection for our sins — He guaranteed that He will also fulfill the second set: His return, our glorification, and our reign with Him forever. That’s our hope.
Moses exemplified this exchange. He was raised in Pharaoh’s palace with every luxury imaginable. Instead of chasing the temporary pleasures of Egypt, he chose “to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26).
Paul, writing from a Roman prison in his final days, didn’t say, “I hope I get out of here.” He said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:6-8). That’s someone whose hope was fixed on heaven.
This hope reframes every problem we face. When the doctor gives a difficult diagnosis, when the job is lost, when relationships fracture — the Christian can say, “This is hard, but the best is yet to come.” Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior (Philippians 3:20-21).
The Gospel Reaches the World
Paul closes this section with a breathtaking declaration: “The gospel…has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing” (v. 5b-6a).
When the gospel takes root in our hearts, it produces love for God’s people, reshapes our hope toward heaven, and drives us to share this message with everyone. The same power that saved us is meant to go through us into the world.
This is why GBC Phoenix sends missionaries, why we have a presence in the community, and why we gather on Sunday mornings to be encouraged in the truth of God’s Word. The job isn’t finished until Christ returns — and every one of us has a role to play in that mission.
If you’ve placed your faith in Jesus Christ, God has saved you to love, given you an unshakeable hope, and commissioned you to be part of reaching the world with the gospel. That’s what the power of the gospel does in a life. May we embrace it, live it out, and share it with others.
Scripture References
- Colossians 1:3-6 — The Gospel’s Work in Our Lives
- Romans 5:7-9 — God’s Love Demonstrated
- 1 John 2:9-11 — Love as Evidence of Light
- 1 John 3:10, 14-15 — Love as Evidence of Children of God
- 1 John 4:20 — Loving God Means Loving Brother
- Galatians 5:13-14 — Love Serves One Another
- 1 Peter 1:3-5 — Living Hope Through Resurrection
- 1 John 3:1-3 — Our Future Hope and Present Purity
- Romans 8:18-19 — Creation’s Longing for Glory
- Hebrews 11:24-27 — Moses Chose Future Reward
- Philippians 3:17-21 — Our Citizenship is in Heaven
- 2 Timothy 4:6-8 — Paul’s Crown of Righteousness