Within Small Groups at Plymouth we are going through Colossians, sinking our teeth into Gods word and warming our hearts with the Gospel. Its great fun and I am enjoying sharing ideas with the students and getting our hearts excited about telling our friends about Jesus.
But Colossians Chapter One poses an issue. Do we have the right Gospel? And does that make a difference?
So many lies dressed up in religion can sneak into church and CU. Whats worse is that they appeal to our hearts! They say to us that "there is a better way to live, forget just having Jesus when you can have so much more"
Paul is so clear to the Colossians on what it means to be an authentic Christian. And having the right message is vital. If we have the wrong message or if we start adding to the Gospel we end up far from Christ. You know if you have the right Gospel if you look like Paul describes in 1v9-12, "filled with knowledge of his will, understanding, walking in a manner worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit, strengthened with power, endurance, patience with joy and being qualified because of Jesus"
We saw that at the heart of this was to ask - who or what qualifies you to be a Christian? Certainly not yourself, nor your degree but the Father because of His son. We know we have the right Gospel if we are not resting in our works or our inner spirituality or adding on to what Jesus has done. Instead we rest in what Jesus has done and we are qualified because of Him and in Him.
How does that encourage us to tell our friends about Jesus?
If you have the right Gospel and you are an authentic Christian, then you can't hide that and you can be confident that the Gospel your telling your friends is the right one. If you find its not, then come back to the roots, come back to the cross and be transformed.
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