THE GLORIES OF SALVATION- Col. 1:21–23

Paul moves from his focus on Christ, the series of sermons that I titled “Paul’s High Christology,” to one of the many results of Christ’s person and work, namely, the glories of salvation.

For those of you who know and are familiar with the apostle Paul, you know that he was raised and trained to be a Pharisee. His achievements in the Pharisaical religion were phrased in his own words in Philippians 3:4–6 “4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”

In addition to his advancements, accolades, and achievements, Paul also hated Jesus Christ. In Paul’s mind, Christ was a blasphemer, a phony, and an imposter seeking to draw the people of Israel away from the one God.

And in a remarkable display of God’s incredible, heart-stopping grace, God saved Paul. Paul was on his way to imprison, torture, and kill followers of Christ, and Christ appears to Him and saves his soul.

Paul never forgot God’s grace in his life. And neither should we. In this portion of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Paul is reminding the believers of the glories of Salvation. He has done this to other churches as well. And we would be wise to follow the instruction of the apostle of Jesus Christ and spend time this morning meditating and praising God for the glories of salvation.

I. YOU WERE LOST IN YOUR SINS- 1:21

Although some Christians do not like to be reminded of their formal states, or perhaps it might be better to say some who think they are Christians do not like to be reminded of their former state, Paul regularly tells God’s people to remember their states before Christ saved them.

Paul uses several words to convey their lostness.

A. You were alienated from God

Alienated is an interesting word that Paul uses in only two other places, both in Ephesians. They were separated from God. They were from a different nation, if you will, with no allegiance or connection to God.

B. You were hostile to God

It is not that you were just indifferent to God, Paul tells us, you were hostile to God in your mind. And mind here refers not to our mind in the commonly understood sense, but our way of thinking.

A rather glaring example of this hostility in mind or reasoning is found in John List, an assuming man, Korean War vet, accountant, and from all outside perspective a family man.

He would go on to murder his wife, mother, and three kids. Why would John List commit such a heinous act? His reasoning was that he was saving the souls of his family. That is a sad example of the hostility of our reasoning due to our lostness in sin.

This is an extreme example to be sure, but I think it shows you how warped lost thinking can be.

It can be used to exterminate an entire ethnic group of people like the Jewish people in WWII, or the Native Americans here in our own country, or to justify a certain lifestyle, not paying taxes, and the list could go on and on.

You were lost in sins, as in past tense. But, Paul tells us and thanks be to God, you are saved by Christ!

II. YOU ARE SAVED BY CHRIST- 1:22a

As with Paul, we should never tire of hearing of our deliverance from the bondage to sin and slavery to the devil and our flesh.

“Yet He has now reconciled you…” God made the initiative to save you, and God saved you.

Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley remind us,

“The goal of reconciliation is not merely release from God’s judgment, but restoration to God’s friendship. This is the delight of the true Christian, but not good news to worldly people, who may rejoice at the thought of escaping hell but have no interest in God himself.” Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, 1002

We sinned against God and deserve judgment but Christ endured our punishment (Isaiah 53:4–6). But that is only half the good news, because we are reconciled with God.

We fellowship with the God of the universe because of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Because of our complete reconciliation to God, everything in our lives changes. Paul will go on to elaborate this throughout the rest of this letter, so we will not unpack this thought this morning, though I would love to!

We will simply stick to Paul’s words that we are now reconciled through Jesus Christ.

III. YOU WILL BE BLAMELESS- 1:22b

Christ saved you, delivered you from judgment and reconciled you to God in an incredible relationship. But there is a purpose, to be holy and blameless, to be like Christ (cf. Rom. 8:28–29).

There will be a glorious day, the day of judgment in which the followers of Jesus Christ that they will be holy and blameless. How encouraging is that? Those days when you fail the Lord, give in to temptation, struggle to believe, those days will end and through Christ’s glorious work of salvation you will be like Christ.

To use another way Paul discusses this, Philippians 1:6 “6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Or another encouraging verse on our road to Christlikeness is in 2 Timothy 2:11–13.

Let us hold on in faithfulness, through the good times and bad, to this blessed truth. Let it bolster our faith!

IV. YOU MUST BE FAITHFUL- 1:23

Now, at this point it seems as if Paul is shifting from the God-focused view of our salvation to now a man-based continuation of that salvation.

“God saved you by grace, but its your duty to keep that salvation!” some believe Paul is teaching.

But that is not the case. The word if can also be translated since or even in some cases assuming (as in the case of Matthew 4:1–11 and the temptation of Christ).

What Paul is saying here is that true saints, those saved by the grace of God, are kept by the grace of God.

The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 and the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith both have more to say about this, and I have included those in your sermon notes.

To put it in a way that only R. C. Sproul could,

“If you have it, you never lose it, and if you lose it, you never had it.” R. C. Sproul

Now, there are two ways that we can imbalance what is taught by the apostle here.

First, there are some that put all the effort and results (that is, your life and eternity) on the shoulders of human beings.

That is, you have to earn your salvation, or to keep it.

Paul is not teaching that God begins our salvation and then we keep it. God saves us, past, present, and future. The Spirit works out our salvation as we grow in the use of what we call the ordinary means of grace, prayer, Scripture reading, church, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.

Second, there are some that say once we are saved we do not have to do anything at all. There’s a few phrases we could use to describe such people. They are saved, seated, and soured. Or pew potatoes, or Benchwarmers for Jesus, or name on the roll, soul on hold.

Now, to be sure, we do not keep ourselves saved. But what Paul is saying is that if you are saved you will continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast. There will be a desire, even it if it not consistent, to grow in Christlikeness.

Or, to put it in the words of the Lord Jesus in John 15:1–11.

“Faith in Christ is not only the first step in the Christian life but the continuing walk of the Christian life.” Kevin McFadden, Hidden with Christ in God, 30

“His point is that Christ must be the soil in which believers grow and the foundation on whom believers are constructed.” Kevin McFadden, Hidden with Christ in God, 30