Colossians 1.21-Prior to Their Conversion, the Colossians Were Alienated from God Because of Their Evil Attitude and Actions
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday June 7, 2015
Colossians: Colossians 1:21-Prior to Their Conversion, the Colossians Were Alienated from God Because of Their Evil Attitude and Actions
Lesson # 27
Colossians 1:21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds. (NASB95)
This verse intensifies and advances upon the previous statement at the end of verse 20 that Jesus Christ reconciled each and every thing to the Father by making peace by means of His death on the cross.
“You” is the personal pronoun su (σύ), which means “all of you” and is referring to the faithful Christians in Colossae.
It is used in a distributive sense meaning “each and every one of you” emphasizing that there were no exceptions among these faithful Christians in Colossae that they were all alienated from the Father because of their conduct.
“Formerly” is the temporal particle pote (ποτέ), which speaks of a period of time prior to these faithful Christians in Colossae becoming Christians through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
“Although…were alienated” is composed of the following: (1) verb eimi (εἰμί), “although were” (5) verb apallotrioō (ἀπαλλοτριόω), “alienated.”
The verb eimi means “to exist in a particular state or condition” indicating that these faithful Christians in Colossae as the subject prior to their conversion to Christianity “existed in the state or condition” of being alienated and hostile in their attitude toward the Father.
The participle form of this verb eimi is functioning as a causal participle which expresses the reason why these faithful Christians in Colossae needed to be reconciled to the Father through the death of His Son Jesus Christ.
The verb apallotrioō means “to be alienated” and is used to describe the relationship between these faithful Christians in Colossae and the Father prior to their becoming Christians through faith in Jesus Christ.
It speaks of these faithful Christians in Colossae being estranged from God.
It expresses the idea that there was hostility and unfriendly relations between the Father and these faithful Christians in Colossae prior to their conversion to Christianity.
“And hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds” is epexegetical because it explains specifically what Paul means when he says that these faithful Christians in Colossae existed in the state of being alienated from the Father prior to their conversion to Christianity.
“Hostile in mind” is composed of the following: (1) adjective echthros (ἐχθρός), “hostile” (8) noun dianoia (διάνοια), “in mind.”
The adjective echthros is used to describe these faithful Christians in Colossae as being regarded by the Father as His enemies prior to their conversion to Christianity while in their unregenerate state.
The word expresses the idea that prior to their becoming Christians, these faithful Christians in Colossae were in active opposition to God and were at enmity with Him through their evil actions.
God is holy and they were sinners by nature and by practice who broke His laws and thus consequently they were His enemies.
The noun dianoia means “attitude, disposition” and is used of the “attitude” or “disposition” of these faithful Christians in Colossae prior to their conversion to Christianity in relation to the Father.
The noun dianoia is functioning as a dative of cause which indicates that these faithful Christians in Colossae were alienated from the Father prior to their conversion “because of” their attitude.
“In evil deeds” is composed of the following: (1) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (2) noun ergon (ἒργον), “deeds” (3) adjective ponēros (πονηρός), “evil.”
The noun ergon is in the plural and means “actions, deeds” since it pertains to a thing someone does in life or it speaks of an activity.
The noun ergon is modified by the adjective ponēros which describes these actions as evil in character or contrary to the character and nature of God and His will.
It describes these actions as contrary to the character and nature of God and His will as revealed by the Spirit in the Word of God.
The noun ergon is also the object of the preposition en which means “because” since it is functioning as a marker of cause indicating that these faithful Christians in Colossae prior to their conversion were alienated from the Father “because of” their evil actions.
Colossians 1:21 Indeed, because each and every one of you at one time existed in the state of being alienated, specifically enemies because of your attitude, because of your evil actions. (My translation)
The apostle’s statement in Colossians 1:21-22a intensifies and advances upon the previous statement at the end of verse 20 that Jesus Christ reconciled each and every thing to the Father by making peace by means of His death on the cross.
Here in Colossians 1:21-22a, he teaches that because each and every one of the faithful Christians in Colossae prior to conversion existed in the state of being alienated, the Father reconciled them through the human nature of His incarnate Son Jesus Christ.
Specifically, the Father reconciled them through His Son because they were His enemies because of their attitude, because of their evil actions.
Therefore, the advancement and the intensification is that not only did the Father reconcile the entire human race through His Son’s death on the cross but He did this when the entire human race was totally and completely opposed to Him.
So therefore, here in Colossians 1:21, Paul is describing the unregenerate state of these faithful Christians in Colossae prior to their conversion to Christianity which serves to highlight the Father’s great love which He demonstrated toward them.
It serves to emphasize with the Colossians that the Father loves His enemies and thus they too are obligated to do the same.
Paul’s statement here in Colossians 1:21-22 echoes his statement in Ephesians 2:1-10 as well as Romans 5:1-10.
Paul’s statement in Colossians 1:21 identifies for his readers specifically why there was a need for their being reconciled to God through the death of Jesus Christ.
Prior to their conversion, these faithful Christians in Colossae were sinners by nature and practice and thus God’s enemies since they were violating His laws by their evil actions.
They were totally depraved.
In Romans 5:12, Paul is teaching his readers of the “total depravity” of mankind.
“Total depravity” means not only that the corruption has extended to all aspects of man’s nature, to his entire being as well but also that because of that corruption mankind has no merit with God.
The implications of depravity are critical in relation to salvation in that man has no ability whatsoever to save himself or justify himself before a holy God.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, based on this (principle), just as, through one man, the sin nature entered into the human race so that spiritual death entered through this sin nature. Thus, in this manner, spiritual death spread to each and every member of the human race without exception because each and every member of the human race sinned (the moment Adam sinned). (Author’s translation)
The Lord labeled His disciples evil in Matthew 7:11 because of their depraved nature.
Romans 1:28 and Ephesians 4:18 teach that the mind of mankind is affected and Hebrews 9:14 says that the conscience is unclean.
The heart is deceitful according to Jeremiah 17:9 and by nature mankind is under the righteous indignation of God, i.e. His wrath according to Ephesian 2:3 and Romans 1:18.
Depravity affects the soul (Mark 7:20-23), thus defiling man’s thought process, which manifests itself in sinful words and actions.
The concept of total depravity does not mean that mankind cannot perform actions that are good or helpful to others or in God’s sight.
What it does mean is that man can perform no action that could gain him merit with God.
Total depravity means that man has absolutely no merit with God since he does not measure up to God’s perfect standards.
It also means that man’s conscience has been affected by the Fall of Adam so that it cannot be a safe and reliable guide.
Nor, does total depravity mean that people will indulge in every form of sin or any sin to the greatest extent possible.