In 1:5 Paul goes on to say “of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.” The truth of the gospel is the reality, the real facts, not the doctrine of the gospel. The word, not the truth, may be considered the doctrine of the gospel. In our preaching of the gospel there must be not only the word of the gospel, but also the truth of the gospel, which is Christ Himself. Christ, the reality of the gospel, must be the reality in our preaching.
However, in much gospel preaching there is only the word, perhaps the eloquent or persuasive word, but no reality. This means that Christ is not ministered as reality to those who hear. Our gospel preaching must be different. Although we may be slow in speech, the listeners must be able to sense that the reality of Christ is being infused into them. Those under such a preaching of the gospel will soak in Christ as their reality.
We need to tell the Lord in prayer that what we desire is not knowledge in letters, but His presence with Himself being infused into us and ourselves being saturated with Him. We want to be under His heavenly shining. The longer we stay under His shining, the more reality will saturate and pervade us. This is the truth which is Christ Himself.
Because the Colossians had heard the word of the truth, the reality, of the gospel, they could lay up for themselves a hope in the heavens by living Christ in loving the saints. By taking Christ as their life, they could love those whom it was humanly impossible for them to love. They could enjoy Christ as life by soaking Him in as the truth of the gospel. In this way, they could experience Christ as their hope. Therefore, in these verses both the hope and the truth are the Christ we experience subjectively.
Verse 6 continues, “Which is come to you, as also in all the world it is bearing fruit and growing, as also in you, since the day you heard and fully knew the grace of God in truth.” The love for the saints is the fruit borne by the gospel. When the gospel is preached in reality, it bears fruit. In those who receive it, it produces love for all believers.
The church in Colosse was composed of both Jews and Gentiles. Humanly speaking, the Jews and the Gentiles despised and hated each other. But after the Colossians had believed in the Lord Jesus, the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers came to love one another. Although such a love is a human impossibility, it is a fruit of the gospel. This gospel which grows and bears fruit is also Christ Himself. It was Christ who was growing in the Colossians from the day they first heard the word of the truth of the gospel.
In this verse Paul says that the Colossians “fully knew the grace of God in truth.” To know the grace of God fully is to know it in full, not in part. The grace of God is what God is to us and what God gives to us in Christ (John 1:17; 1 Cor. 15:10). Actually, grace is Christ Himself. In the first chapter of the Gospel of John we are told that the Word which was with God and which was God became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and truth (vv. 1, 14). Furthermore, of His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace (v. 16). Truth here means reality. To know the grace of God in truth is to know it in its reality experientially, not just in word or in doctrine mentally. Truth is Christ as reality, and grace is Christ as our enjoyment. As we experience Christ and enjoy Him, Christ as the truth becomes our grace. The way the gospel grows in us and bears fruit is through our enjoying Christ and experiencing Him as our grace.
In these few verses we see that Christ is so much to us: our hope, our truth, our reality, and our grace. Only when Christ becomes grace to us can we enjoy Him and experience Him. The more we enjoy and experience Christ, the more we grow, bear fruit, live by Him, and lay up hope for ourselves in the heavens.
The words “in truth” may be regarded either as an adverb modifying the predicate knew or as an adjective modifying the noun grace. The grace of God is in truth, in reality, not in mere doctrine or knowledge. As we listen to messages given in the Lord’s recovery, we often enjoy grace in reality. Through such a ministry of the Word, grace in reality is infused into us. Because this grace is solid and substantial, we can taste it, enjoy it, and live by it.
If we take the words “in truth” as an adverb modifying knew, we see that our knowledge of grace should not be in doctrine, but in reality. This means that our knowing Christ as grace must be in reality. In the gospel Christ is conveyed to us and infused into us both as truth and as grace. We have Christ as our reality, and this reality is our enjoyment. As we live by the Christ whom we experience as truth and grace, we lay up for ourselves hope in the heavens.
In verse 7 Paul says, “As you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-slave, who is a minister of Christ faithful for you.” Here Paul points out that Epaphras was a minister of Christ. A minister of Christ is not only a servant of Christ who serves Christ, but a serving one who serves others with Christ by ministering Christ to them.