Who We Are In Christ Series

2. What does it mean to be faithful?

Faith is related to the Hebrew word that we all know -- AMEN. When you say amen, you are saying, "Truly or that’s true, or so be it." You are also saying by implication "That is a faithful saying!"

So Jesus would say, "Truly, truly I say to you..." He said, "Amen, amen..I say to you." A person who is faithful is a person who is true, who is reliable, and is stable.

Verses 3-6

He goes on, through the Gospel, this church in Colossae is bearing fruit and is growing.

Jesus says, "If you abide in Me and My word abides in You, you shall bear much fruit. Without Me you cannot do anything." But the Bible also says, "I can do all things through Chris t, Who strengthens me." Jesus says those that bear fruit, God prunes. And if you do not bear fruit, He is going to keep pruning until He cuts you off and you are thrown into fire. A part of definition of what it means to be in Christ is that you bear fruit. If you are not bearing fruit, you are not in Christ.

What does it mean to bear fruit? I like to suggest a couple of things.

* We have the fruit of the Spirit in Gal.5:22. If you lack these, you are not in Christ. By the way I am not recommending that we should become "fruit inspectors," looking at our neighbor and saying.."Hmm..I do not think that person is bearing fruit." If you are wanting to inspect fruit, look in the mirror, evaluate yourself.

* John 12:24 -- unless the corn of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit.

* In the Kingdom of God, we are like the dirt, and if we grow up properly, we will bear fruit 30, 60 and a 100 fold.

* Jesus is a seed, and what kind of fruit did He bear? Us! Yes. If we are in Christ, and if we bearing fruit, we should have the fruit of the Spirit and also the fruit of reproducing. If you are mature in Christ, you should be leading others to Christ.

Verse 7

Growing, Learning, Understanding God’s grace in all its truth. We as God’s people should always

be learning and growing in our understanding. We have to be in the Word to accomplish that.

Verse 10

That you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in everyway.

Do you feel that you are living a life that is worthy of Jesus Christ? The price that He paid to give you life? Are you there yet? If you are on the journey that is good. Our lives should always be moving in the direction of being worthy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Verse 10 - Bearing fruit in every good work.

What does ALL mean? All means all and that’s all all means. So believers should be busy doing good work. Paul knew what he was called to do.

The Greek letters always began from who it was. So Paul wrote, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God." You should be able to say your vocation, like -- Jain, a teacher by the will of God...or Rajeev, a musician by the will of God...or Jack, a businessman by the will of God...whatever it is that you are doing, you should be certain that it is God’s will.

I am confident that God has called me to a couple of things. God has called me to be a teacher. I do not have any question about that. I am confident that God has called me to be a musician. It was placed upon me and I did not have a choice about it. He pushed me into that direction. I was obedient, but it was His calling. So I can say, Ken, a musician or a Bible teacher by the will of God. Are you confident what God has called you to do and to be right now?