Colossians 1:6
Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
The word of the truth of the gospel had come to the Colossians as it had come in all the world, and since the day they heard it and knew the grace of God in truth it brought forth fruit in them. It is addressed to every believer in every age, for the help of those who would afterward compose the church. Its fruit-bearing means a vital union between Christ and His disciples, for religion consisting only of profession is pretense and those whose union ends with church membership bear no fruit. Genuine faith received in truth works like leaven in the heart and works by love to purify the soul, producing love for Christ and for the people He came to save. That fruit is love expressed in life and character, making its possessors benevolent, kind and courteous in word and deed, and it opens prospects for continual growth unto eternal life.
Gospel's Arrival and Scope
The address reaches beyond Colosse to every believer in every age, written for the help of those who would afterward compose the church as well as for Paul's first readers. The word of the truth of the gospel had come to the Colossians as it had come in all the world, presented with deep earnestness and great power in its simplicity. Since the day they heard it and knew the grace of God in truth it brought forth fruit in them, for the gospel is a living message that produces spiritual fruit in those who receive it.
Its fruitfulness in believers begins when they hear and truly understand God's grace, and having spread throughout the world it is present truth to be given to those in the darkness of error who are ready to perish. That saving work for souls ready to perish is the work to be done in giving it. In its context the fruit is faith in Christ Jesus and love to all the saints for the hope laid up in heaven, a faith in the gospel of Christ which works by love and purifies the soul. The surrounding words describe this same fruitfulness as good works and growth in the knowledge of God, alongside faith in Christ and love for fellow believers, manifesting Christ's mind as partakers of the divine nature.
Together with the preceding verses, Colossians 1:4-6 sets forth the conditions of acceptance with God. It calls those on the point of deciding to follow every ray of light that shines upon them, with the promise that if they follow on to know the Lord they will have increased light. His path is prepared as the morning, the lesser beams of light increasing to greater light and bringing forth fruit since the day they heard and knew the grace of God in truth.
Vital Union and Growth
Fruit-bearing in Colossians 1:6 means a vital union that must exist between Christ and His disciples, a union for which constant striving is needed. Religion that consists only of profession is pretense, and those whose union with Christ ends with the writing of their names on the church roll bear no fruit and are not channels of light. True hearers who from the day they heard it knew the grace of God in truth bring forth fruit as evidence of that living union.
Genuine faith, received in truth together with God's grace, works like leaven in the heart from the time it is heard and known. That faith works by love to purify the soul, producing love for Christ and for the people He came to save, expressed in life and character. Its fruit includes faith in Christ Jesus and love to all the saints for the hope laid up in heaven.
The verse opens prospects for continual growth in Christ, in which every person can grow in spiritual height and breadth by taking hold of it. It is the privilege of believers to have the higher life, even the life of God, increasing in spiritual, mental, and physical power. This increase stands in contrast to dwarfing oneself by overwork that loses health and courage and faith in God. The Lord designates the work to be done so that the fruit borne in the believer brings forth more fruit unto eternal life.
Fruit in Life and Ministry
The fruit spoken of is love for Christ and for the people He came to save, expressed in life and character from the day the grace of God is heard and known in truth. Genuine faith received in truth works like leaven in the heart to produce this love. The religion of Christ makes all who truly possess it benevolent, kind and courteous, working as a living principle in word and deed and not in fits and starts. It allows no littleness, no mean transactions, and no cheap, covetous actions that are a disgrace to the doer, but gives nobility of character. It carries a longing desire for the salvation of souls ready to perish, and that desire gives decided victories.
Those who bear this fruit sustain a right relation to one another. The hope laid up in heaven, heard in the word of the truth of the gospel and known in the grace of God in truth, brings forth fruit in faith in Christ Jesus and love to all the saints. That faith in the gospel works by love and purifies the soul, manifesting Christ's mind in those who become partakers of the divine nature. All who so accept the truth become epistles known and read of all men. Their experience brings joy and comfort to those whose ministry led them to Christ.
Fruit-bearing belongs to the gospel wherever it truly comes. A gospel minister must therefore preach the Word in a way that brings forth fruit. If his preaching brings forth no fruit his labor is in vain. The manifestation of real goodness in bearing fruit in good works has the endorsement of heaven, and its instruction is of the highest value. Applied to men in responsible positions it calls them to make straight paths for their feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way.