It is so good to be with you today; thank you for being there. This program is brought to you by Heralds of Hope, where our mission is to use media to make disciples of Jesus and accomplish the great commission in our lifetime. Radio is just one aspect of media we use. We also use books, another form of media, and the internet. If you want to see Brother J Mark teaching, go to YouTube and search for a guide through the Bible. If you want to hear teaching like this from other books of the Bible, the best place to do that is our website.
Our lesson is from Colossians 1, “Fruitful in Every Good Work. ” This teaching covers two lessons. Today, we will hear about the first two areas of fruitfulness, and next time, we will cover two more areas. If you can, turn to Colossians 1 and follow along as we study verses 9-14.
As a young boy, I felt God’s calling in my life. When I was about 8 years old, a visiting pastor at our church asked some of us children what we wanted to be when we grew up. I said I wanted to be a preacher. As I got older, that sense of call stayed with me.
Reflecting on that call, I wanted my life to count for something. As I got older, I understood that no matter how I chose to make a living, my life could count for God and eternity. That realization led me, at age 19, to fully surrender my life to God. It was a pivotal moment in my life. I sometimes wonder how different my life would be if I hadn’t made that commitment.
Most people, if not all, want their lives to have an impact, to make a difference. I believe you’re listening to this teaching because that’s your desire, too. Stay with me to learn how the Scriptures teach that your life can become fruitful in every good work.
Last week, we began a study of the New Testament book of Colossians. I said that the theme of the book of Colossians is Christ’s preeminence: He is above all other powers, superior to all other powers, and exercises authority over all other powers! Not all powers recognize His authority, but they are still subject to it. As we noted last week, His preeminence is reflected in the truth of the Gospel.
Today, we’ll explore Paul’s teaching in Colossians 1:9 to 14, “Fruitful in Every Good Work.”
9 For this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Paul’s teaching reveals several areas of FRUITFULNESS that will develop as we focus on Him and His redemptive work.
The First Area of Fruitfulness is
Growth in Intelligence
Sometimes, as followers of Christ, we are accused of being anti-intellectual. Occasionally, that accusation may be accurate, but usually, it’s made because we don’t embrace things that aren’t proven, like the theory of evolution or man-made global warming. Those are the conclusions of men of corrupt minds who resist the truth, as the apostle Paul refers to them in Second Timothy 3:8. They refuse to acknowledge the existence of God the Creator.
Our intellect is a gift from God. It’s the part of us that enables us to reason instead of being controlled solely by our feelings or emotions. Paul prays for the Colossian Believers that they may be filled to the fullest with the knowledge of God’s will. He encourages them to fully exercise their mental powers and present Christ to the world in terms they can understand.
Gnosticism was making inroads into the church at Colossae. So, Paul’s words here directly attack the conceit of these people who thought they alone were the reservoir of spiritual knowledge. Paul said, “God is the source of knowledge, and all who know Him through Jesus have access to the knowledge of who He is and what His will is.”
This knowledge that Paul is praying for, this growth in intelligence, is not so that the Believers could become proud. That’s what knowledge often does to people. This is why, in some cases, Christ-followers are hesitant to pursue it. That’s what it did for those who embraced Gnosticism, and it too often works that way today. Paul said in First Corinthians 8:1, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”
Paul prays that these Believers will be “filled to the fullest with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” Let’s explore this a bit. Paul wants them to develop all spiritual wisdom and all spiritual understanding. What does he mean?
Understanding decides in particular cases, while wisdom provides the general underlying principles. For example, wisdom knows that a tomato is a fruit; understanding knows better than to put it in a fruit salad! The adjectives all and spiritual define the scope of this wisdom and understanding Paul is writing about.
He wanted the Colossian Believers to think deeply and develop a fuller and more precise knowledge of who God is and what His will was for them. The world elevates its knowledge as superior to God’s Word. But any knowledge that excludes God is inferior because it excludes spiritual realities. The word used for knowledge in this text and elsewhere in the New Testament always describes moral and religious knowledge, not mere information.
No one can legitimately accuse Paul of being anti-intellectual. Remember, in Acts chapter seventeen, he held his own with the philosophers in Athens on Mars Hill. He was an educated and intelligent person. Here, he clearly stated that he wanted the Colossian Believers to exercise all of their intellectual powers in interpreting, understanding, and applying their faith in Christ. His prayer also includes you and me today. We should learn all we can about God, His Word, and His world and order our lives accordingly.
The Next Area of Fruitfulness is
Growth in Obedience
Paul is praying for them to gain a fuller knowledge of Christ’s will so that they can live in a way that is appropriate to their calling. Paul echoes this theme in Ephesians 4:1, where he implores the Believers “to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called…” In other words, if you say you’re a Christ-follower, live like one!
As a metaphor for progress in life, this idea of walking is a Jewish concept rather than a Greek one. Psalm 1 talks about the blessing of one who “does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly.” Proverbs 4:18 says, “The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.” A path suggests the idea of walking.
Then Paul further explains what he means by walking worthy of the Lord. He prays that we will live in a manner that’s fully pleasing to God. As we grow in our knowledge of God, we should become more willing to do whatever pleases Him.
Paul calls us to this worthy walk, described by four characteristics, and each of them indicates repeated or continuous action.
The first characteristic of this worthy walk is “being fruitful in every good work.” Jesus said in John 15:7 and 8, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this, My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so, you will be My disciples.” Knowing His words and walking in obedience to them do two things. They motivate us to ask for the right things. And they produce fruit that brings glory to the Father.
The fruit produced from a godly life should draw attention primarily to the Father. But it will also alert others that God is present in your life. They will see your kindness, humility, patience, and desire to serve. As Paul mentions in verse four, they will see your love, especially for all Believers but also for all people. Most of these characteristics are lacking in our world, so they are immediately noticeable when you and I practice them, especially when provoked.
Another characteristic of this worthy walk is “increasing in the knowledge of God.” Immediately, I think of Paul’s words in Philippians 3:10, where he states that the supreme goal of his life is to know Christ! At the very end of his life, in prison, facing execution, does he ask for reprieve or commutation of the sentence? No, he asks for his books and parchments. To the very end, he wants to know Christ more fully. That doesn’t sound anti-intellectual to me!
Notice that Paul keeps reminding the Colossian Believers that pursuing the knowledge of God is far superior to the false teaching of the Gnostics. And, while Gnosticism may no longer be with us, there’s plenty of false teaching in our world today that is erroneously labeled “Christian.” In Peter’s second epistle, following his teaching on the inspiration of Scripture, he warns us about false teachers. He says they “will secretly bring in destructive heresies…and beguile, or entice, unstable souls.” The airwaves and internet are full of such teachers.
We might ask: Is Paul talking about growing in or by knowledge? Is there a reason it cannot be both? Since we’re talking about obedience as part of fruit-bearing, perhaps an analogy might be a fruit tree and its fruit. When a tree is young and immature, it only produces a small amount of fruit, but it makes more fruit as it grows and matures. So, the growth of the fruit and the growth of the tree are both critical.
As we grow in knowledge and obedience, that growth expands our understanding of God and leads us to the next area of fruitfulness.
The next area of fruitfulness will have to wait until next time. Thanks, J Mark, for sharing these with us. Until next time, see if you can remember knowledge and obedience, and of course, as you remember them, grow in them. Then, when we are together again, we will finish the rest of this lesson.
If you have any questions or want to contact us for any reason, here are a few ways to reach us. An easy way is email; our email is hope@heraldsofhope.org. You can also message us online; our website is heraldsofhope.org. Once there, click on “Contact Us” at the top right. And of course, you can write to us. Our address is Hope for Today, Box 3 Breezewood, PA 15533. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you for joining us. As J Mark read today’s passage, verse 11 stood out, especially the first part. Again, it is “Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power.” Think about that! We can be strengthened by Him, by His power. Listen, there is nothing more substantial than that! He created our world and every galaxy, making the smallest bacteria and molecules with this same power. Be encouraged; this Creator can help you where you are.
*This episode is an exposition by J. Otis Yoder, re-recorded by J. Mark Horst, with an opening and closing by Arlin Horst.
