Colossians 1: 23 – Not being removed

Since surely you are persisting in the faith, grounded and settled and are not being removed from the expectation of the evangel, which you hear, which is being heralded in the entire creation, which is under heaven of which, I , Paul became the dispenser.

God does a great work for those who believe: He presents them “holy, flawless and unimpeachable in His sight.” However, he does that work on the basis of “the expectation of evangel”. That is why the apostle insists that his readers remain “grounded and settled” on that basis and not be deterred from it.

But what if, not long after Paul’s passing, Christianity has been turned away from this en masse? Officially even. The doctrine of endless punishment in hell (in whatever form) is explicitly professed in countless creeds. And ’the reconciliation of all’ as “the expectation of the Evangel” is considered heresy within Orthodoxy.

Would Paul have known or sensed that Christendom would be turned away from “the expectation of the Evangel”? One thing is certain: the need to remain grounded and settled in “the expectation of the Evangel” would be engraved in our hearts. For it is this message that the apostle was allowed to herald to every creature under heaven!

Delen: