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Colossians 1:23
23 If [eige] ye continue [epimeno] in the faith [pistis] grounded [themelioo] and [kai] settled, [hedraios] and [kai] be not [me] moved away [metakineo] from [apo] the hope [elpis] of the gospel, [euaggelion] which [hos] ye have heard, [akouo] and which [ho] was preached [kerusso] to [en] every [pas] creature [ktisis] which is under [hupo] heaven; [ouranos] whereof [hos] I [ego] Paul [Paulos] am made [ginomai] a minister; [diakonos] KJV-Interlinear
23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. NASB
Now, ultimately we are driving toward a conclusion in this chapter, located in verse 28, ‘complete in Christ.’ This is synonymous with spiritual maturity, ‘firmly established, and steadfast.’
Spiritual maturity is your ultimate objective for this life. Advancing to spiritual maturity is like running a race. And who receives the prize for winning a race? The person who never begins the race? The person who starts the race but drops out along the way? Or, the person who starts the race, sees it through to the end and ultimately wins the race?
Now, this is a trick question, but only if you want to argue with the simple illustration. Obviously the person who enters, runs, and wins the race will get the prize offered to the winner. Not a complicated concept. But then your spiritual life is just as simple. Unfortunately too many people want to complicate life, and that is where they get all screwed up, by stumbling all over their own arrogance and stupidity.
‘If you continue?,’ and that is the real question. You and you alone have to begin your spiritual advance, and you and you alone, have to continue through it for the rest of your life.
You cannot transfer your spiritual obligations or responsibilities in life, onto someone else. That is where most folks mess up in their spiritual growth. They make excuses for not obeying Gods mandates, presuming that they do not apply to them, or that someone else will take care of their responsibilities for them.
People become indifferent. People look for proofs or signs. People want to argue with Biblical principles. People are born into this world, knowing absolutely nothing, then grow up for twenty, or forty, or eighty years, etc., and then somehow along the way, presume that they know enough to question God, or life, or even perhaps that they know it all.
In one respect, since the world is full of deceit and phony religious players, then being fooled or questioning, is a natural reaction to all of the propaganda that is floating around out there. But then, if you really, really want to know the truth, then you get started with a spiritual program and stick with it.
The key is your genuine (or lack of it) desire to want to learn, but not from just anything that comes along, but from God and from no other source.
If you are driven by your sin nature, then you will latch onto anything that is compatible with what you have wanted all along. But if you have an objective side of you, then you will tend to sort through the media traffic and discover Gods truth, which, by the way, He will bring you to, or bring to you.
The key again is, whether or not you have a genuine desire for truth, or whether you are just a pretender.
You have no excuse. Paul herein states that the gospel has been proclaimed to everyone. The how’s and when’s you and I do not know, But God managed to get the gospel delivered throughout the world. And just because it is not documented in the scriptures, there is enough historical evidence in every culture, to demonstrate a fundamental knowledge of the principles of the gospel.
Paul states that He was made a minister, for the communication of the gospel as well as doctrine, and he states it in terms of honor. It is a privilege that God has bestowed on Paul, and on anyone for that matter, to even have an active role in the advancement of Bible doctrine for others.
And I might add, you should feel honored, to even have a role in your own spiritual life, because your life impacts others, even if you do not know it, and that spiritual impact lasts someone else, forever.
You can write the greatest novel ever, you can film the greatest movie ever, you can do anything in life that qualifies as the greatest as far as this world is concerned, but inevitably your efforts will be forgotten sooner or later. Only your spiritual heritage, can have a lasting (eternal) impact on someone else.
And by the way, your role is courtesy of Gods grace, not because of any effort on your part.
