Giving Thanks for a Sufficient Savior

Follow Along with the Message

 Introduction

The first century church in Colosse in Asia Minor had begun to add to the gospel.

• They were practicing an early form or what would later come to be known as Gnosticism.

1. Jesus Christ is the     for our faith. (v. 3-4a)

• Sometimes what gets added to the gospel actually subtracts from the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

2. Jesus is both the   and the  of genuine faith.

• He is the subject because we much know certain things about him in order to believe.
• He is the object because genuine faith is centered upon Jesus and nothing else.

3. Genuine faith is made   by a love that   Jesus’ love. (v.4b)

• Agape-selfless love which reflects God’s character and priorities.

• We do not love in an attempt to appease God’s wrath.  Rather we love because such love flows from a transformed life based on faith in Jesus Christ, who Himself satisfied God’s wrath.  The former is works.  The latter is an outworking of grace.

4. Genuine faith is marked by a   that is   in the gospel. (v.5-6)

• Not wishful thinking, but a confident affirmation that God will complete what He has begun, along with a confident expectation that God’s purpose will be fulfilled.