In our Engedi class on the Holiness of God last fall the question was addressed as to how much the church of the apostolic age really understood regarding sovereign grace. Were they doctrinally literate? In view of some of the theological blunders of churches like Corinth, we would wonder. They heard the preaching of Paul, Timothy, Silas and others, but did they really comprehend what they were saying to them?

Last Sunday one of our class members and a supporter of the ministry called me aside to show me a verse with which I am certainly familiar and which I have used in teaching in the past, but I had not thought of it as the answer to our class question. The verse she showed me was Col. 1:6, “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing just as it has been since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.”

There it is! The Colossians heard the gospel on a certain day and understood God’s grace thoroughly: in all its truth. The gospel of grace is a many-faceted jewel, and to see the full ramifications filled out into the whole of truth is amazing. No doubt the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit was at work in their hearts. What we need to realize is that the question is answered. We have an instance where the fullness of God’s grace, as we might say today “the doctrines of grace,” was understood. And if understood at Colosse, very likely it was understood elsewhere.

However, in the second chapter Paul labors to warn the Colossians, these very people who understood the grace of God in all its truth, against false doctrines related to Jewish legalism, asceticism, and mysticism. Even people who understand the grace of God thoroughly still need admonition! (More next week)