Read: Colossians 1:23, Hebrews 10:23
It’s amazing how tight you can hold onto something that is precious and important to you. Think of how tightly you hold onto the hand of a young child in a crowded place. Think of how tightly you hold onto that new engagement or wedding ring or how tight you hold onto your loved one as you say goodbye for an extended time. The things that are precious to us, we hold onto tightly.
The gospel is no exception. We are commanded numerous times to hold on tight to the truth that we have received. We cannot let go, we must hold on tight so that we don’t lose the truth. That’s what Paul is saying here. We can look forward to being presented before Him on that final day, spotless and without blemish if we continue in our faith, if we hold onto the truth and hope of the gospel. We must continue in our faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope in the gospel.
We must take the gospel incredibly seriously. Remember that in Colossae the gospel was getting murky. False teaching was creeping into the church and the believers were getting confused about the truth. Here Paul encourages them to be serious about the truth. He exhorts them to continue in the truth of the gospel,
Holding firm to the gospel is vital in our day too. Amongst all the television preachers, books and doorknockers it is easy to let the gospel get murky. It is easy to allow other teachings in that don’t fit with the hope we have in Christ and stray from the truth. We too must resolve to continue in the truth, to hold on tight to the hope of the gospel.
This means we need to know the gospel well and to have wisdom to discern when there are things that cloud the gospel. We must resolve to understand God’s Word well enough that we might be able to tell when things are not right. We must hold on tight to the truth and be deadly serious about fighting for the truth. When the gospel is made murky by false teaching we must fight against it.
But this does not need to cause us to live in fear. We don’t need to constantly be afraid of losing our salvation or falling away from the truth. Paul is exhorting us to be attentive but not terrified. The author of Hebrews makes a similar exhortation but gives us the reason we can be hopeful and not afraid. We are to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, to the gospel, because He who promised is faithful.
God is faithful. This is why we don’t need to be afraid. God always delivers on His promises. He always does what He says He will do. We can have absolute confidence in Him carrying through on what He has promised us. As we are faithfully and firmly holding onto the truth of the gospel He is faithfully holding onto us with a grip that cannot be broken by anything. God’s faithfulness is what drives us to hold firm to the gospel, to hold tightly onto the truth and to fight against false teaching. Thank God that He is faithful to us!
Prayer:
Use the Bible passage from today and the reading notes to write down your prayer points before you pray.
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Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
¥ Pray for the Youth Group as they gather tonight and study God’s word together. Pray that their time together would be encouraging and that they would grow in their love for God. Pray that the leaders would have wisdom and insight as they seek to disciple the teens. Pray that God would be working to soften the hearts and minds of the teens and to strengthen them in their faith.
Knowing your Bible well is one of the most important weapons you have to help you hold fast to the truth of the gospel. What are you doing to arm yourself?
1. What are some distortions of the gospel that you have heard recently? How could you respond to them with the truth?
2. What can you do to prepare yourself to recognise false teaching and to hold on tightly to the truth?
3. As a group, how can you help each other to hold firmly to the hope you have in Christ?
Intro: Sometimes you need to hold on tightly to something important to you so that you don’t lose it.
Share: A time when you lost something precious to you because you weren’t holding onto it properly. What happened? Did you ever get it back?
Read: Colossians 1:23 What is the gospel? What does it mean to ’continue in your faith’? What can we do to hold on tightly to the gospel? Who can help us to hold on tightly to the gospel?
Pray Together: Thank God for the gospel and that we can be made right with Him through faith in Jesus. Pray that He would help us to hold on tightly to the gospel.
Read: Colossians 1:23 What is the gospel? What does it mean to ’continue in your faith’? What can we do to hold on tightly to the gospel? Who can help us to hold on tightly to the gospel?
Pray Together: Thank God for the gospel and that we can be made right with Him through faith in Jesus. Pray that He would help us to hold on tightly to the gospel.
Intro: Sometimes you need to hold on tightly to something important to you so that you don’t lose it.
Share: A time when you lost something precious to you because you weren’t holding onto it properly. What happened? Did you ever get it back?
Read: Colossians 1:23 What is the gospel? What does it mean to ’continue in your faith’? What can we do to hold on tightly to the gospel? Who can help us to hold on tightly to the gospel?
Pray Together: Thank God for the gospel and that we can be made right with Him through faith in Jesus. Pray that He would help us to hold on tightly to the gospel.
Read: Colossians 1:23 What is the gospel? What does it mean to ’continue in your faith’? What can we do to hold on tightly to the gospel? Who can help us to hold on tightly to the gospel?
Pray Together: Thank God for the gospel and that we can be made right with Him through faith in Jesus. Pray that He would help us to hold on tightly to the gospel.
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