The Hope of the Gospel

What is the hope of the Gospel?   There are two places in Chapter one of the book of Colossians that speak of a certain hope and this hope is contained in the message of the Gospel. 

 

The Apostle Paul gave thanks to God for the believers in Colossae because of their faith in Christ and love for other believers and “because  of   the   hope  which is laid up for you in heaven,  of  which you heard before in  the  word  of   the  truth  of   the   gospel” (1.5).

 

Paul also writes to the church in Colossae that they must continue in that “hope of the Gospel” to be presented before God as holy, blameless, and above reproach:  “to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight--  if indeed you continue in  the  faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from  the   hope   of   the   gospel  which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven,  of  which I, Paul, became a minister.” (1.22-23)

 

The Hope of the Gospel must be the promise of eternal life.  The Gospel is not a message without hope.  It contains the promise of eternal life, and this was the aim of why Christ came to die on the cross, and it is the promise of God for all who believe in Christ for it.  

 

The Apostle Paul speaks of this hope of eternal life in his letter to Titus.   “Paul, a bondservant  of  God and an apostle  of  Jesus Christ, according to the faith  of  God's elect and the acknowledgment  of  the truth which accords with godliness,   in  hope   of   eternal  life  which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,  but has in due time  manifested  His  word  through  preaching,  which was committed to me according to the commandment  of  God our Savior.” (1.1-3)   “But when the kindness and the love  of God our Savior toward man appeared,  not by works  of  righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing  of regeneration and renewing  of  the Holy Spirit,  whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,  that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the  hope   of   eternal   life.” (3.4-7)

 

Jesus often spoke of this hope, especially in the Gospel of John.   Jesus said he came to give life:  “I have  come that they may have  life, and that they may have [it] more abundantly.” (John 10.10)  Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting  life , and shall not  come  into judgment, but has passed from death into  life.”  (John 5.24)  Jesus said to the Jews that eternal life was through Him alone:  “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal  life ; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to  come  to Me that you may have  life .”  “I  am  the way, the truth, and the  life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14.6)  “"I  am  the resurrection and the  life . He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11.25, 26)

 

Jesus came to die so eternal life could be given: “I  lay   down  My  life for the sheep.” (John 10.15) To “lay down” your life speaks of death, and the death of Christ and His resurrection are part of the Gospel message.  It is the provision aspect of the gospel message, because His death paid for the “wages of sin” being death (Romans 6:23), and his resurrection is proof and guarantee of who he was and what he did and promised.  The hope or promise of the gospel is eternal life.  Both the provision and hope are there in the message of the Gospel.  Just as we see it in John 3.14-16:  "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up [death by crucifixion],  that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal  life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have  everlasting   life.”

 

Eternal life is the hope of the Gospel message that was proclaimed.  That hope is the promise of the provision of the message, the provision is that Christ died for your sins.  The Hope of the Gospel is eternal Life to those who believe in Christ, their sin-bearer on the cross.  Eternal life is “the   hope  which is laid up for you in heaven,  of  which you heard before in  the  word  of   the  truth  of   the   gospel.”  And we can take God at his word: “in  hope   of   eternal  life  which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.”

Eternal Life is conditional

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 6:23 that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

When Adam sinned in the garden, it brought the consequence of death.  That death is the opposite of eternal life, which is a quality of life with God. After Adam and Eve sinned, something changed within them, for they saw things differently, hiding themselves from God.  That death was an alienation from the life of God.

Physical death was a further consequence in the curse God placed on the human race--mankind would have a limited time to escape the condition brought on by Adam's sin.

That death which is alienation from God was why Jesus came into the world to die.   Jesus came to bear what sinned had caused on the human race to make the way of escape. 

The Book of Hebrews says that Jesus became a little lower than the angels--he took on flesh and blood--so that he "by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone." (Hebrews 2.9) 

The Apostle Peter said of Christ: “who himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree.” (1 Peter 2.14)  

Dr. James Denny writes, “His death, and his bearing of our sins are not two things, but one.” Denney refers to several Old Testament examples where the bearing of sin involved bearing the consequences of the them, such as the Jews wondering in the wilderness for 40 years for refusing (their sin) to go into the promised land—they had to bear their sin, that is, the consequences of them, being one year of wondering in the desert for every day (40 of them) that the spies spent spying out the land (Numbers 14.34).

Though Christ suffered for all on the cross that death caused by sin, it does not automatically release everyone from that death, resulting in everyone having eternal life.  

Numerous Scriptures reveal that receiving eternal life is conditional, being through believing in Jesus Christ for it.  People are still by nature (and actions) "alienated from the life of God" (Ephesians 4.18; Col 1.21). 

Because of the death of Christ for sin, God is free and just in giving eternal life to all. God promises eternal life to all who believe in Jesus for it, because Jesus bore the penalty of sin, being death, for all.

Romans 5:12-21 lays this all out pretty well.  This text speaks of how death came to all through Adam's sin, but through Christ, and through his grace--which was Christ becoming man and bearing the sin of the world--one can "receive" (that is, believe in Christ for) the "free gift" of justification (being declared righteous before God) which results in "life" (eternal life).

Jesus also spoke of the connection between his death and eternal life: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3.14-16)

Jesus in John 3.14-16 spoke of both the provision of the death he would die on the cross and the promise (the hope) of eternal life for those who believe in him for it. 

Concerning the provision, Jesus in John 3.14 makes reference to the Old Testament account in which Moses put a brass serpent on a pole.  The brass serpent was lifted up for those who were bitten by certain serpents (the bite brought certain death), with the promise that one would live, if they looked at that serpent on the pole (“when he looks at it, he shall live,” Numbers 21.8-9). 

The serpent on the pole lifted up is an analogy of the provision of Christ who would be “lifted up” (on the cross), with the promise of deliverance from death and the giving of eternal life to whoever believes in him.  This is how God "so Loved the world"; this was how God "gave His only son”; and he spoke of the promise, being that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (to “perish” is to continue in this death and be forever separated from God in Hell after this temporal life).

We see that Jesus bore the wages of sin which is death, so that conditionally, one can receive the promise of eternal life through believing in Jesus for it:  "The Wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

“Rejoice because your names are written in heaven”

Jesus said this to his 70 disciples after they had returned from their preaching ministry in the Jewish cities about the kingdom of God.  The disciples were amazed that the demons were subject to them.  Demon activity of oppression and possession was occasionally (if not frequently) encountered at that time among the Jewish people, and these disciples discovered that they could exercise authority over them:  “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’"  Luke 10:17

 

Jesus responded this way: "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you,

but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:19-20

 

Having one’s name written in heaven is presented as something greater than having authority over demons.  One should rejoice in that over the other.  The disciples could see their authority over demons, but how did they know their names were written in heaven?  It must be knowable, if Jesus said it was the preferable thing to rejoice over.

 

I believe having your name written in heaven is the same as having eternal life.  The opposite of eternal life is being separated from God in the “Lake of fire.” We are told in Revelation 20.15, that "anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."  The "Lake of Fire" is called the "second death," Rev 20.14.

 

When the Apostle Paul wrote the Church in Philippi, he said, "help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life." (Phil 4.3)

Paul states that the names of his companions in ministry were in the Book of Life.  How did he know this?  Did he get special revelation from God just for these folks, so he could say such a thing?  I really doubt it.

 

To have your name written in heaven or the Book of Life, I believe, are the same thing.  How did Paul know his companions’ names were written there, and how were the disciples to know their names were written in heaven?  I believe it is as simple as believing the provision and the promise of God in Jesus for salvation from sin or for eternal life.  God promises eternal life to those who believe in Jesus as Savior from sin and its consequences.

 

John 3.14-16 states the provision (God “gave” his Son: Jesus died for you, bearing the penalty of all sins) and the promise ("whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life”).   If you believe this, then you have eternal life, and if you have eternal life, then your name is written in heaven, written in the book.   If you don't believe this, then you will perish, meaning you will be cast into the Lake of Fire, which is the "second death" because it is the final separation from God and that Life with him which is eternal life.  

 

Paul knew his companions believed this, and Jesus told his disciples that this knowledge should be the cause of their rejoicing.  The certainty of having your name written in the Book/ Heaven is in the assurance of the promise of God.  God, who cannot lie, promises eternal life to all those who believe in Jesus as their Savior from sin.

 

Eternal life is the ultimate thing to rejoice about, to give thanks about.

you have left your first love

These words that Jesus spoke to the Church in Ephesus (Revelation 2.4) are usually understood to mean that they have left their love for Christ.  I believe the words are referring to something else.  I believe Jesus is referring to a love that characterized them at the first, in their beginning as an assembly of believers. 

I believe Jesus is referring to that love that they had for one another when they were a new assembly. I believe He has this specifically in view.  They had left that love that first characterized them for one another.  We find this in that “new commandment” that Jesus gave to his disciples in the Gospel of John: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35

 

Someone might respond to this by saying that even if that is true, they have left their love for Christ by doing such.   But I believe Jesus is addressing the specific issue here.  For Jesus, the church as an assembly, that functions properly, is extremely important.  He addresses Churches in the book of Revelation, not individuals out on their own, doing their own thing.  When Jesus addresses the 7 Churches in Asia about things they are doing wrong, he doesn’t tell them to disband, go to the church in the next city, or go it alone.  No, he tells them to get right, repent.

Some of the Churches Jesus addresses in Revelation had some serious issues.  They were to get right.  Would Jesus accept excuses from people in those churches for what they were doing?  Yet those who have abandoned the assembly of believers have excuses.  Would Jesus accept your excuses today?  If the church is not good enough for you, well, it wasn’t always good enough for Jesus either.  What was his solution? 

To the Church in Ephesus, Jesus said, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent.”

 

Fallen from Grace

These are words found in the book of Galatians, words written by the Apostle Paul concerning those who had received the spirit by the hearing of faith (3:2-3), but were being charmed (“bewitched” NKJ) into thinking justification was not by faith alone in Christ, but required the addition of keeping certain rituals of the law, especially the rite of circumcision.  

Some may argue the issue in Galatians is not justification but practical sanctification, but it’s both, because the error being promoted is that justification is not complete by faith alone, but requires the sanctification that comes through the Law to secure justification.

Paul reminds his readers that “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” and “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.” (3.6-7)  Paul warns them that if they become circumcised, “Christ will profit you nothing” and “I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law…You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law: you have fallen from grace.” (5.2-4)  

If they believe their salvation is not complete by faith alone, but requiring fulfilling certain requirements of the Law, then they will not have the “profit” that comes from Christ for a righteous life-walk.  The shift of confidence will result in their unprofitableness in their testimony to Christ alone for salvation, as it will put the focus and confidence in one’s flesh.

 

The words “fallen from grace” seem to get used for those who fall away in the sense that they were once believers who have become agnostics or atheists.  I believe that is not an appropriate application of these words.  That is another issue not addressed here.  These words are used with reference to those who still believe in Jesus as the Christ, but they have fallen from grace in the sense that they have departed from ‘faith alone’ for justification before God.  It's not about believers losing their salvation or never having been saved because of some supposed false faith.  It’s about believers who have been charmed by teachers into believing salvation is not by faith alone in Christ alone. 

This same kind of issue is addressed in the book of Hebrews in Chapters 6 and 10 concerning believers who are being persuaded to go back to observing the Law of Moses for salvation, though they started out by believing in Christ alone for salvation.  Hebrews 6.4-6 speaks about these believers having been “enlightened,” tasting the “heavenly gift,” being “partakers of the “Holy Spirit” (compare with Galatians 3.2-3: having received the spirit by faith), and “have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.”  Then the author of Hebrews says, and ”they fall away…[then it is impossible] to renew them unto repentance.”  If they go this route, if they “cast away” their “confidence”(10.35) in Christ, then they have devalued the death of Christ for sins (6.6; 10.29), and the affect on their conscience will be such that a future change of mind will be impossible.  

It’s not speaking here about them becoming agnostics or atheists, but a change of mind about the value of the death of Christ alone for salvation.  If they do this, then they become unprofitable for Christ and can expect divine consequences:  “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?   For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The Lord will judge His people." (10:29-30)  To avoid this route, the author exhorts his readers to hold fast to their confession of hope without wavering, and this is helped by the assembling of believers to stir one-another up (10.23-25).  The author reminds these believers to “recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings:   partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated;   for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.  Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.   For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”  (10:32-36)

 

It was maybe more of a struggle in the time of the early church period to continue in the teaching of faith alone in Christ alone for justification before God apart from keeping the law of Moses.  To depart from that belief would result in a legalistic life that would be unfruitful for God and bring one under Divine judgment.  To depart would be to fall from Grace.  The problem today is that justification by faith alone is not proclaimed or taught from the beginning.  Some, maybe undiscerningly, include things along with what they believe to be “faith alone.”  Some don’t discern the contradiction in what they are saying, if they say we are saved by faith alone, but they include other requirements for salvation.  They may not require circumcision, which seems totally out of the picture as a requirement, but they require other things that seem necessary for salvation to take place.  Maybe its water baptism, or maybe its some degree of moral reformation.  But these things can become the confidence of one’s salvation just like circumcision was for the early church. If they put these other things as necessary for salvation, they have departed from justification by faith alone.  If one comes to this view after they have believed in Christ for salvation, then they have “fallen from grace.”