Reaching the Lost
When
we think of great ministers of the gospel in scripture, the apostle Paul
certainly leaps to the forefront of our minds.
We can hardly imagine the struggles and trials he had to endure,
traveling and laboring to reach the lost during the early years of the
church. Through Paul’s efforts, many
souls were introduced to the Truth, and many of those obeyed the gospel and
were baptized into the body of Christ. It
seems safe to say that the gospel was not hidden in him!
The
word ‘hid’ in II Corinthians 4:3 is sometimes translated as ‘veiled’, rendering
the verse, “If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing”
(ISV). The apostle Paul knew several
important facts concerning this statement.
First, he knew that the hope of life dwells in every faithful disciple
of Christ (I Pet.3:15, I John 4:4, Titus 3:7).
Secondly, he knew that the disciples of Christ who make up the church
have an obligation to share that hope with those whose sin separate them from
God, that is, the lost (Luke 19:10). He
also knew that if the church, disciples of Christ, kept the gospel to
themselves, kept it ‘veiled’ from the rest of the world, that the lost would
perish not knowing the Truth.
In
the first chapter of Colossians the significance of unveiling the Truth is
further explained. Before we can reveal
the gospel to the lost, our own faith must be “grounded and settled” and we
should not be “moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard”
(v.23). How can we teach that which we
have forgotten or lost for ourselves?
Let us remain grounded and settled in our faith. Let us be diligent in our own study and
meditation of God’s word. Herein is the
preparation to teach made.
In
verses 25 and 26, he speaks of the word of God as “the mystery which hath been
hid from ages and from generations.”
Indeed, the hope of Christ was a mystery to previous generations (Eph.
3:5), that which was veiled to even those who diligently waited for it. Inspired by the Spirit of God, Old Testament
writers spoke of the coming and mission of Christ as sacrificial agent and
Redeemer (Isaiah 53), but the mystery remained veiled to them. However, verse 26 of Colossians 1 says the
mystery is “now manifest to his saints”, that is, the saints of God. Even now, the mystery of Christ is revealed
to his saints, disciples of Christ, that we might have the hope of and know how
to obtain eternal life.
Paul
further discusses the glorious riches of that unveiled mystery, which he says
is “Christ in you” (v.27), and that God would make the mystery known even among
the Gentiles (Eph. 3:6). He says it is
Christ who is the central subject of the apostles teaching (v.28); Christ should
be the central subject of our teaching as well.
If the glorious riches of the gospel within us is Christ, then why would
we need to teach anything else not pertaining to Him? If we do not teach Christ, the hope remains
veiled within us. It is the teachings of
the life, doctrine, crucifixion, and triumphant resurrection of Christ that has
the power to convict and save, and nothing else.
In verse 28, he adds there should be warning as
well as wisdom in teaching Christ. The
lost need to be warned that they are lost.
They also need to be warned about false teachings. In unveiling the Truth we must also call upon
wisdom - God’s wisdom and not that which originates in man (I Cor. 2:7,13) - as
good stewards of spiritual
knowledge, “that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
Paul
concludes the first chapter of Colossians by emphasizing that he labors and
strives according to the working of Christ within him (v.29). By unveiling the gospel that we’ve committed
faithfully and firmly in our own hearts to others, we expose precious lost
souls to “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes” (Rom.
1:16).
Jeremy Koontz
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