Cornerstone Church, 9:45 am Sunday, Andy’s Bible Study class on Colossians 1:21-29, Question 3

#3. How does Col 1:23 relate to eternal security and /or perseverance of the saints? Also consider Heb 12:14

Col 1:23: “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.”

To gain context Col 1:21, 22 say “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—“

“Eternal Security” is gained when God, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit have chosen a person before creation later bringing that physically alive person on the Earth through a Born Again event by the Holy Spirit so that this person’s mind hears the truth of the Gospel ( Col 1:21, 22) and believes those facts and trusts their truth and repents and begins to live for God. The evidence of this heart changing truth if it is genuine and therefore eternally secure is a continuous high(est) priority desire given and fueled by the Holy Spirit to not give up, bail out, disregard, change, but steadfastly believing, trusting, and obeying the Gospel which provides peace with God resulting in worship, prayer, meditating on the Bible, and living a lifestyle as Mat 5:16 for God’s glory.

One further evidence (proof) from Heb 12:14 that a person has been given a new heart (born again) will be his new desire to pursue peace with all men. Mat 5:9 says “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God”. God did everything needed (this is beyond understanding, sinless Jesus paid the extreme punishment) to satisfy God’s required just ‘payment’ for man’s sins and then provided certain men’s mind ability to believe, trust, and obey. Knowing what huge ‘price’ Jesus paid for us to have peace with God, how can we not seek to have peace with fellow human’s even to give them what they need most, the Gospel.

Andy’s question #3 asks about eternal security, a believer has eternal security now but God has plans for mankind on earth that will include experiences, circumstances, events, discipline, suffering, trials, consequences, etc. all geared for our gaining maturity (sanctification, Col 1:22) “to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach”. For most of believers it will encompass physical death before God ends the current creation and makes a new one where we will exist eternally with Him. One of the hints that God’s plans are approaching completion of this age is given is Col 1:23 as it states the Gospel “was proclaimed in all creation under heaven.” A quick ‘rabbit trail’ is interesting to explore this hint because: (notice past tense)

1. Mat 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.”                                                                                                                        Mark 13:10 “And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.”
2. At first glance, it leads one to ask has the Gospel been preached (Col 1:23) such that this requirement has been completed, such that it is not one of the things holding back the end times?  Mat 24:1-44, Mark 13:1-27, Luke 21:5-28 give us many other “birth pang” signs that could fit – wars, rumors of wars, nation against nation, Christians persecuted, earthquakes, famines, plagues, etc. that we see at least partially fitting. Does the fact that the temple’s destruction in 70 AD give hint that some criteria for the end are actually past?
3. What other hints from the Scriptures might indicate the Gospel has already gone to the world
   1. Col 1:5, 6 “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel, 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;” 
   1. Rom 1:8 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. 
   1. Rom 10:18 “But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? Indeed they have; “their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” 
4. God built into all human’s minds 3 important characteristics so evangelism is not a cold call
5. Rom 1: 18-32 here’s sample verses: (19-21) “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”  While what “they knew God” is not defined, the context would point to creation being made by Someone, which Ps 19:1-5 echoes screaming without noise which all humans have some ability to recognize. (There is some evidence the original constellation descriptions of the night sky originated as ‘pictures’ depicting history of God’s actions for creation and man before pen and paper.)
6. Rom 2:14 “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,” Instinctive’s definition is: a natural or inherent aptitude, impulse, or capacity, a largely inheritable and unalterable tendency by an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason and for the purpose of removing somatic tension. Humans don’t need a law – they have been given an ability to know right and wrong and that right is better.
7. Rom 2:15 “in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,” Humans have a conscience, they have a feedback system that provides guilt when wrong is done, sympathy for others, motivation for doing what’s right, joy when loved, they are not robots recognizing these characteristics don’t come from cold hard logic of survival of the fittest.
8. Three evidences (creation, instinct, and conscience) all point to something Supernatural. Every society, civilization, culture (including AI) has produced a ‘god’ and a religion to explain how man came to be. On top of that, here’s what God is doing (Acts 17:26, 27) “and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist”
9. Rom 1:20 concludes “they are without excuse” for loving darkness (John 3:19, 20) and without the Holy Spirit’s help (2Cor 3:6) will suffer indescribable consequences (Rev 20:11-15). What more does God need to do – as when the rich man in torment asked Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to tell his brothers but Abraham indicated they have the written word and if a man did come back from the dead, they still wouldn’t believe (Luke 16:31). (But God so loved the world He did that with Jesus,,,,)
   1. Rom 16:26 “but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith;”
   1. 1 Thes 1:8 “For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.”
      1. Acts 2:5 “Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men, from every nation under heaven.”  They could have communicated (brought the word) back home in ‘every nation under heaven’ that they came from.
      1. Josh 2:9-11 “and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And when we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.“  It seems the rumor mill and gossip traveled fairly quickly and with decent accuracy back in those times.
   1. Acts 8:26-38, Ethiopian eunuch (with a copy of Isaiah!) going home from Jerusalem could have turned into an evangelist for Africa.
10. What assumptions do we make when we hear “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.”   ?
    1. Rom 11:25 “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in;” Most scholars believe this has not happened and do we know when in the course of events of Ezek 36:26 will be done? Do we have a complete list of all that God wants done before Jesus returns that we can accurately determine when He is coming?
    1. Jesus said Acts 1:7 “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;” (there may be a difference between times and epochs) Note also Mat 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” 
    1. The end will come when we least expect it (Matt 24:38) “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.”     
    1. 1John 2:18 “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.” 
    1.  Matt 24:42 says “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” The ‘birth pangs’ should make us alert, anxious, and ready and ready to spread the Gospel.                                                                                           

Summary:

• Related to the Last Days:
  • We cannot know when Jesus will return.
  • He can return any time He chooses.
• Related to salvation of other people:
  • Only God knows what is in each man’s heart.
  • Fruit can be deceiving.
• Related to your own salvation:
  • Only you and the Lord know the response you have made to His call.
  • It is a matter of faith and trust.
  • Every man’s heart is deceptive, Jer 17:9 KJV; This is why the Apostles put a caveat in many of their writings.
  • The Holy Spirit can and does provide confirmation to our souls.