Chapter Six
Colossians 1:21-23 Chasm Bridged by Jesus
1:21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
While Paul undoubtedly gave the Greek philosophers, the Roman pagan worshipers and the Jews in Colossae plenty to think about regarding Jesus, especially after describing all seven of the divine attributes of Jesus he listed in verses 15 through 20, Paul doesn’t waste any time reminding us believers of what Jesus did for us and why. Paul begins with the cold hard fact that before becoming Christians ourselves, we were separated from God. Even though we were created by God, our sin prevented us from enjoying any affiliation we could have had with our Creator. In simple terms, sin broke the bond! Some scholars even use the term ‘detached’ to describe our quandary. In what could be considered as Paul’s definitive work on the subject of ‘grace’ in his epistle to the church at Ephesus, Paul reminded his readers that before accepting Jesus as their Savior they, “were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience… remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:1b-2 and 12, ESV)
In Colossians 1:21 the Greek word ‘apallotrioō’ (usually translated as ‘alienated’) captures perfectly what our predicament would have been prior to accepting Jesus, it refers to being shut out from one’s fellowship and intimacy. Paul further amplifies this by saying we were once also hostile in our thinking and performed many evil deeds. In the NLT this verse is rendered, “This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.” This translation helps us see how what we think and what we do, can keep us from God, offering a little light on understanding the non-believing world and their reluctance of accepting Jesus, even today. We see that unbelievers are still suppressing the truth, even though the truth has been clearly made known to them through the Word of God (read Romans 1:18-32). Instead of repenting of their sins and accepting Jesus, unbelievers choose to rebel against Him. “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7-8, ESV) Fortunately the story does not end there, as Jesus provides the complete and eternal solution to our otherwise grim dilemma!
1:22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
Paul brings us back to a word he used in verse 20, which is translated into the English language as ‘reconciled.’ In that verse he pointed out that Jesus made peace possible by His blood. Let’s quickly review, what peace is he talking about? Namely the peace between God and man! Jesus is offering reconciliation between God and mankind. This is one of those moments you can use that metaphor you hold on to for use on special occasions, when you want to explain someone so different, so incredible, so crazy, that normal words just don’t seem to get close, well nothing gets bigger than this gap! Yet, God provided the bridge.
Jesus lived a sinless life, suffered, died and rose to life again so that you and I could be reconciled and returned to favor with God. Perhaps Paul understood that these words might cause some to doubt, so he further points out that Jesus did this to present us as being holy, blameless and above reproach! From God’s perspective, we are guiltless, since His Son Jesus did all the work and you know that He isn’t going to do only a partial job or offer a limited deal. Jesus’ action provides everything we need for salvation, done once and for all, nothing temporary (see 1 Corinthians 1:7-9; Jude 24) He will sustain each of us! He wants us all back, it’s that simple (Remember John 3:16 and read 2 Peter 3:9).
Wait, did Paul just say something about presenting us? Would that be before a person? Who would that be? It is interesting to note that the Bible describes two very different periods of judgment with two very different groups. This might surprise some Christians as many are not taught the differences, let’s take a closer look at what Scriptures says about Judgment Day before we continue.
Looking at Paul’s second epistle to the church at Corinth, he tells us that all believers will appear before the “judgment seat of Christ” (read 2 Corinthians 5:6-10). Upon close examination of the words, “judgment seat” we see that this is actually one Greek word, ‘bēma’, referring to the location where authorities view and judge events and races, not a courtroom or a prison where a prisoner might be condemned. We also see in those verses that Jesus is giving believers recompense for their efforts in the kingdom, the body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 for examples of rewards and penalties). This is not the throne of judgment, that would be the Great White Throne as described in Revelation 20:11-15. This judgment occurs much later and does not include Christians as Jesus already paid the price for their salvation. But does that mean there won’t be anyone accusing us of being a sinner? No, the devil will still try (see Revelation 12:10; Zechariah 3:1-10) but to no avail as Jesus was and remains victorious on our behalf!
Let’s now go back to our study in the book of Colossians, we see that Paul is encouraging us to be excited (boy that sounded flat and desperate, how about saying we should see Jesus as the single most important person in our lives and we want to follow Him with every action, thought and breath, excited!! Okay, now were talking!) We will be presented as being holy, blameless and without reproach on the day of our judgment!
1:23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Now Paul reminds us that we need to trust God, to have faith in Him. As we read verse 23 we also need to remember that this verse is conditional, the Bible makes it clear that many so-called Christians will not be saved (For example, see Matthew 7:22-23), so our faith needs to be real. Paul explains that our faith needs to be stable (the word implies being placed on a solid firm foundation), steadfast (not shifting or easily mislead) and continue (perhaps the best way to translate that word would be to persevere, to continue regardless of struggle), not shifting from the expectation of the gospel message. Note how Paul returned to the truth of the gospel message (see previous verses 4-6). It really does come back to the basics, that our faith, in simple terms, is believing that Jesus did ALL THE WORK for our salvation. The gospel is indeed simple, but as we all know, living our faith is not always easy. To make sure his readers understand that being a Christian does not mean you can put your life on cruise control, he shifts the focus of the epistle briefly over to his own ministry.
Here Paul calls himself a minister of the gospel (The Greek word ‘euangelion’, meaning essentially “good news,” in the Bible this word always pertains to the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ). It might be helpful to note that the Greek word that is translated here as ‘minister’ is the word ‘diakonos’, referring to one who executes the commands of another. Being a minister or having a ministry is not about being the leader or being the one in charge, it is about giving up our own autonomy and humbly following the One who has all of the authority. “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV) Who are you going to follow? The choice is yours, choose wisely.