For the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity, my attention fell upon the Epistle from Colossians 1:3-12. Especially striking are Paul's words in Colossians 1: 4-5: "...we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel."
Although we often associate the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love with I Corinthians 13:13, Colossians 1 emphasizes the context of love in Christian life. God is love, and divine love is preeminent, but in Christian faith and life, love must not be separated from faith and hope. Unfortunately, some modern Christians tend to make such a separation. Their emphasis on "all you need is love" is more like the Beatles than the Bible. Yet, apart from faith in Christ Jesus, we neither know what love really is nor have the capacity to love as we should. We must respond to divine love with Christian faith before we really begin to love. Furthermore, Christ-like love points believers to our heavenly hope proclaimed in the gospel of Christ. So there is a close relationship between faith, love, and hope. There is an ongoing dynamic of these virtues in our Christian faith and life. Let us hold fast to all three!
No comments:
Post a Comment