The Gospel Gives Power and Opens Many Doors (Colossians 1:1-23).

Class Outline:

Wednesday May 27, 2026

 

Intro:

 

We begin a broad overview of Colossians for the purpose of understanding the letter as a whole.

 

1. Opening (1:1-2:5)
2. Body (2:6-4:6)
3. Closing (4:7-18)

 

Main idea: The gospel’s power gives us the ability to have faith to follow Christ, to love all the saints, and to open opportunities that nothing else can. 

 

Every common believer possesses these same powers and has the same number of opened doors. 

 

Breakdown of the opening: 

 

1. Opening (1:1-2:5)
   1. Prescript (1:1-2)
   2. The Power of the Gospel (1:3-23)
      1. Power (1:3-14)
      2. Heart (1:15-20)
      3. Hope (1:21-23)
   3. Mystery of Christ in ministry

 

COL 1:1-14

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 

 

2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 

 

3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit. 

 

9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. 

 

13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 

 

The prescript is typical of Paul’s letters as is the thanksgiving.

 

1. The gospel’s power in you. 

 

The gospel’s power: Faith in Christ Jesus and love for all the saints. 

 

None of these should be overlooked. Colossians is small but dense with truth. 

 

The power of the gospel: continued faith in Christ Jesus. 

 

Faith in Christ Jesus is more than our first expression of faith for salvation. It is faith in His:  

 

Authority (1:15-20). 

Supremacy (1:15-20).

Reconciliation (1:22)

Indwelling (1:27).

… Etc.

 

The false teachings from various corners of the earth tell us things that claim to be true and each one diminishes one or more of these truths about Christ. 

 

“I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do.” [Corrie Ten Boom]

 

That is a faith in the sovereignty of Christ to work in our lives as He wills. 

 

The power of the gospel: love for all the saints. 

 

Christianity is a group project. Paul will state in this letter that Christ is the head of the body (1:18) and we (the church) the body (1:24). 

 

The ligaments and tendons that hold the body together is love.

 

COL 2:2

that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love

 

What would happen to the church, the body, without God’s agape love?

 

Without love the list of what we need to put off (3:5-9) and put on would not be possible (3:10-17).

 

Paul reveals at the beginning, that the power to love is not in self, but in the gospel.

 

These two powers (faith and love) are attached to the eschatology of the gospel (hope). 

 

COL 1:3-5

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven

 

Then a proud declaration of the work of the gospel. 

 

“You previously heard” - The gospel matters not the person delivering it. 

 

“Constantly bearing fruit and increasing” - Its power is to all who believe (3:11). 

 

Nothing is important about the one who sows or waters, but God who causes the growth. 

 

2. The gospel has the power to open opportunities that nothing else can. 

 

Paul’s prayer is a dense biography of character for a believer who believes the gospel. 

 

That you be filled with knowledge of His will. 

          In all spiritual wisdom and understanding

                   So that you will walk

                             To please Him

                                      Bearing fruit (1:6)

                                      And increasing in the knowledge of God

                                      Strengthened 

                                                For obtaining all steadfastness and patience

                                                Joyously giving thanks to the Father. 

                   Who has qualified us to share in the inheritance

                   And

                   For He rescued us to the kingdom of His Son

 

That Paul prays for them means that they are not guaranteed.

 

The knowledge of God’s will for your life and the cosmos is the first door and when you go through this door you see the others opened before you. Do you have the faith and courage to walk through them? 

 

The biography of potentials ends with a certainty - deliverance into the kingdom of His beloved Son.

 

Conclusion: 

 

The gospel is the word of truth and it gives power to all who have faith in it. 

 

The power includes faith to continue to follow Jesus Christ and submit to Him in all areas. 

 

The power includes the ability to love all the saints by new birth, indwelling Christ, and the example of Christ. 

 

The power of the gospel opens many doors of opportunity if we will walk through the door that is being filled with the knowledge of God’s will.