Colossians 1:21-23 - Persevere in the Hope of the Gospel

Summation and Diagnosis

Let us pray.

I invite you to open your Bibles to Colossians 1:21-23 this morning. This passage is burst with Gospel application. There is so much hope in these verses. Whether you are not a follower of Christ or have been for decades, these verses are full of the hope of the Gospel. Over the past few weeks we looked at a hymn in Colossians 1:15-20 where Christ has supremacy over all things including the Church. In Colossians 1:21-23, we see how this general principle is applied to the Colossians in reality.

Colossians 1:21–23 ESV

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 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, 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.

God brings about salvation and we are to persevere.

Colossians 1:21-22 - The Salvific Process

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

Who once were

Past reality

They did not have personal experience of conversion

Application of Colossians 1:15-20 brought home

Alienated

Estranged/broken relationship with God

Romans 5:10 ESV

10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Ephesians 2:1–2 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 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—

Romans 8:7 ESV

7 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.

This alienation was active. They are set against GOD!

Hostile in mind

Mind or disposition

Doing evil deeds

Will that results in alienation from God

The entire person is set against God

Hostility goes both ways

Sinful humanity is set against God

God’s wrath is set upon sinful humanity who have not repented

Romans 1:18–20 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Is this your present?

This is the past of the Colossians, but is this also not our past?

22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death,

He has now

BUT NOW HE HAS

Big But’s of the Bible

Divine, Glorious but of God

The Son

Reconciled

Restoration of broken relationship between God and sinners

The opposite of alienation is reconciliation

Ephesians 2:16 ESV

16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Romans 3:23–25 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

In His body of flesh

Colossians 1:20 ESV

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

By His death

Matthew 27:50–51 ESV

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

Reconciliation is given by no other means

Reconciliation is only accomplished by the bodily death of Christ as the perfect sacrifice for sins

In order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

In order to present you holy

Dedicated to God

Blameless

Without fault/Morally blameless

Above reproach

Guiltless or without charge

Before Him

The Father

Future event

Romans 5:1 ESV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:18–19 ESV

18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Imagine this future event

1 Corinthians 15:22–24 ESV

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

Uses

Who is the agent of this process?

God is the author and agent of salvation

Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

What is the purpose of this great salvation?

Ephesians 1:3–6 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Colossians 1:23 - Continuing in the Gospel

23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast,

If indeed you continue in the faith

A warning to not fall away!

This is a call to perseverance!

Remember, there are false teachers who are seeking to move the Colossians away from the hope of the Gospel!

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.

Not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard

1 Corinthians 15:12–17 ESV

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven

And of which I, Paul, became a minister

Paul is a servant/minister of the Gospel

Uses

What causes us to drift from the Gospel?

“Sinner’s prayer” that doesn’t lead to life change

Love of this present world

1 John 2:15–17 ESV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

2 Timothy 4:10 ESV

10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

Persevere in the hope of the Gospel

Hebrews 3:7–14 ESV

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. 10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ” 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.