“A Reconciling Love and Resulting Character” Colossians 1:21-23
We continue in our study of Colossians. Having studied the hymn of the early Church in Colossians 1:15-20 exalting Christ’s supremacy over all Creation as well as redemption, we continue in verses 21-23:
Col. 1:21: “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight-- 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
Sinful man is estranged from God
After considering Christ’s majestic role in Creation and Redemption, Paul comes down to earth, so to speak, and becomes personal again with the Colossians as well as with us, explaining that “you (pl.)…were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works.” By nature, sinful man is estranged from God, and helpless to bridge the chasm. Ephesians 2:3 expresses that truth about us in our unsaved state: “Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” We were filled with self-desire and deserving only of the wrath of God. God was “a stranger” to us and us to Him. Alienated” carries with it the idea of being far off and shut out from fellowship and intimacy with God; before God worked in us, we were shut out from any intimacy with God.
Ephesians 2:12-13 also states this fact clearly; before you were saved by grace, “that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, (You had no clue about God’s saving grace by faith in Christ.) having no hope and without God in the world.(You may have THOUGHT you had hope, but you did not because you were a stranger toward God.)
Ephesians 4:18 uses this clause to describe our lost condition: “18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” Being alienated from the Holy God by our own sin is a most desperate condition, and we were unable to move without the gracious help of God.
Our text says we were “Enemies in our mind”; This means that our thoughts and intents, our minds, our hearts and our wills, were so opposed to God that we were blinded and at war against God and the things of God. We were His enemies because our sin separated us from God and of ourselves we could not come to God. Our minds will always entertain what is in our hearts, and then played out in our actions. Our wicked deeds served as proof of our alienation and produced wicked works as the fruit of our lives. Our own works proved our sinful natures, which prohibited us from knowing, fellowshipping and loving God at all, let alone with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. While pondering that commandment to love God with all our being, Martin Luther once replied in honesty: “Love God? Sometimes I hate Him.”
How can a Perfectly Holy and Just God accept sinners? By A Reconciling Love
Martin Luther’s follow up question was: How can a Perfectly Holy and Just God accept sinners who are thoroughly devastated and dead in their sin? (He found his answers in studying the book of Romans at length while he was a monk.) Our text explains it this way: “21b Yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”
“Yet now He has reconciled.” Those are the most glorious words to a believer! How can a Perfectly Holy and God accept sinners? HE HAS RECONCILED US! We looked at that word last week: Reconciliation is the act of God to remove the chasm caused by our sins in order to restore relationship with us. He is not in any way obligated to do this. In our entitled society, so many think that God somehow “owes” us happiness and success; nothing could be further from the truth. We deserve his eternal wrath because of our sinful estrangement from Him. We are totally undeserving of His forgiveness; but instead of destroying us, God exercises His merciful reconciling love to us. Romans 5:8 says: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
The Old Testament speaks of reconciliation in terms of purging, of forgiveness, and of God’s mercy being given to us. God’s mercy is God exercising pity upon us in our miserable situation, but He does far more than that. He cannot merely “forget” our sins because that would be contrary to God’s perfect justice. He looks upon us with loving, compassionate mercy, withholding the judgement and wrath that we justly deserve and He provides the payment. Ephesians 2:13 declares: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” He provides the atonement that is necessary through Christ so that we are spared the righteous judgment of the Most Holy God. We cannot minimize that fact!
Jesus provides the payment in the most unusual and extraordinary way, “22 in the body of His flesh through death.” “IN THE BODY OF HIS FLESH.” This phrase is very important in a proper understanding of what Jesus actually did; Jesus, the invisible, infinite, eternal Son, eternally generated from the Father, came to earth and tabernacled or dwelt, He “pitched His tent” among us. He lived the perfect life of God in His entire earthly existence, never once sinning, never “missing the mark” of God’s Holiness, and so since He had satisfied ALL the demands of the law, He qualified as the perfect and only sacrifice for sin. He gave His body physically and wholly on the cross for those who would believe and follow only Him as the atonement for their sins.
The Results of Christ’s Work
The purpose and the result of his perfect sacrifice was 22b “to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” Jesus cleansed us from all of our sins and brought us to spiritual life, not so that we could have a prosperous life, but so that we would be consecrated to God for holy service. God alone deserves the glory of our lives because He has created us, He has saved us, and He has sustained us every moment of our lives, and so with joy we are now committed to Him in humble service, now imperfectly, but in the future, perfectly and eternally. Now we are equipped to love and serve Him because He lives in us. We are works of God created in Christ Jesus, to serve the living God.
Perseverance in the Faith
Please look at the last verse, verse 23: “if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
At first glance you might think, “Is my salvation dependent on me remaining faithful? That’s what it sounds like.” In one sense the answer is “yes, because perseverance in the faith is characteristic of genuine saving faith. Genuine faith WILL definitely persevere until the end. True faith will produce works and the fruit of righteousness because that is the will of God in and through those whom He saves.
BUT…It is Divine preservation which presupposes human perseverance. We do not persevere without the presence and power of God in our lives. Without His power and presence, we would certainly fail, but with His presence we will certainly prevail and indeed “continue in the faith.” As John 15:5 says: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
Again in John 10:4: “And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."… 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep…. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
Perseverance in the faith is never apart from the enabling grace of God. Phil 2:12-13 teaches us: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
2 Corinthians 11:2 says: “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” This is the extravagant love which Christ has for His Bride. He will not allow her to be taken by another.
Perseverance in the faith is also NOT apart from human responsibility. This is where the many modern believers are living in sin. We are not free to do as we please, but we are to exert ourselves with everything that we have in us and at our disposal in order to grow in the grace and knowledge of God. We are to exercise spiritually through prayer, fellowship, corporate worship, and the meditation and reading of God’s Word because those are the means of grace which God has provided for our edification and growth. We do so always with Christ in mind: “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” (Heb. 12:3)
Perseverance is the activity of faith, but it is faith in the work of God in our Savior Jesus Christ alone. What a tremendous hope is ours! Jesus is our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sustainer. “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness!”
I. Sinful man is estranged from God, and helpless to bridge the chasm. (vs. 21a)
A. God was “a stranger” to us and us to Him. (Eph 2:12, 4:18)
B. Our wicked deeds served as proof of our alienation.
C. Sin separated us from God and of ourselves we could not come to God.
II. Christ provides a reconciling love. (21b-22a)
A. Reconciliation is the act of God to remove the chasm caused by our sins in order to restore relationship with us. Rom. 5:8
B. God withholds the just punishment we deserve, extends mercy, and provides the payment in Christ’s blood. Eph. 2:13
III. Christ’s work results in producing new life and character in those who believe. (vs 22b-23)
A. The purpose and the result of his perfect sacrifice was “to present you holy (cleansed from all sin, separated to Him for service), and blameless, and above reproach in His sight (no blemish). We are works of God to serve Him.
B. Perseverance in the faith is characteristic of genuine saving faith.
1. Divine preservation presupposes human perseverance.(John 15:5, 10)
2. It is never apart from the enabling grace of God. (2 Cor 11:2, Phil 2:12-13)
3. It is not apart from Human responsibility and activity. (Heb. 12:3)
4. It is the activity of faith in God. (1 Tim. 2:15)
