Do You Remember?
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Paul showed the supremacy of Christ.
At the end of that section, Paul wrote this:
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Now, the the next verses, Paul is going to expand upon this.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Once you were alienated
Once you were alienated
transferred to another owner
estranged
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
excluded
They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.
separated
Once you were enemies
Once you were enemies
hostile, hatred
hate being corrected
what if the person constantly showed you that you were wrong, what you were doing was wrong. Even many of the good things you did were done from wrong motives.
What if they constantly were better than you and you could never measure up?
hate
hostility
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
And although you were previously alienated and hostile in attitude, engaged in evil deeds,
Enemies in your minds as seen in evil behavior
Enemies in your minds as seen in evil behavior
He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them.
For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.
Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
But now He has reconciled
But now He has reconciled
not simply bringing together two parties, but bringing to parties that were estranged. They were once together, but the relationship was broken.
By Christ’s physical body through death
By Christ’s physical body through death
body of flesh
Gnostics denied Christ’s true humanity and true deity.
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
Why so important that he came in the flesh?
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
To present you...
To present you...
a servant coming before the master, a special honor
Christ presented to the Lord in the temple - Luke 2.22
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
presented, not ashamed
Here in this context God is presenting us… He is bringing us to himself in honor
To present you Holy in his sight...
To present you Holy in his sight...
holy - set apart for God, dedicated to God, a saint, devoted to God, sharing in God’s purity
… without blemish
… without blemish
blameless
nothing that would make you unworthy to be his
same word used to describe Christ
but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
In Revelation we find this word
No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
How can that be?
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
…and free from accusation
…and free from accusation
People might say something, but Nothing sticks. Behavior impeccable.
Is that true? Yeah, but...
Is that true? No absolutely not.
Colossians and Philemon—The Supremacy of Christ The Father’s Reconciling Purpose (vv. 21, 22)
Luther used a simple analogy to explain it. He described the condition of a patient who was mortally ill. The doctor proclaimed that he had medicine that would surely cure the man. The instant the medicine was administered, the doctor declared that the patient was well. At that instant the patient was still sick, but as soon as the medicine passed his lips and entered his body the patient began to get well. So it is with our reconciliation and justification. As soon as we truly believe, that very instant we start to get better; the process of becoming pure and holy is underway and its future completion is certain.
If...
If...
If statements. Typically in English, we use these statements as what we call conditional statements. If A then B. If it rains, the ground will be wet.
However, there are uses in English of if being a rhetorical device. A use of certain language structures to elicit a response from the audience. They are used to make arguments more compelling, or to draw people into the conversation.
She's 80 years old if she's a day. (there is not doubt that she is at least a day. Expressing a truth)
If he’s a woman, I’m a monkey’s uncle. (sarcasm to make a point)
If you put your hand into the fire, you will get burned. (really a command to not put your hand in the fire, couched in gentler language)
In Greek, the language Paul used to write this letter as the Holy Spirit inspired him, There are multiple ways to use conditional sentences. These constructions depend upon the word(s) used for ‘if’, the tense and mood of the verb used for the ‘if’ part - the protasis, and the tense and mood of the verb used for the ‘then’ part - the apodosis.
I am showing this chart just to help you see visually that there are different ways that Greek used conditional sentences.
Why is this important? Because if you want to understand what is being communicated, you need to know the rhetorical devices being used.
‘Butterflies in my stomach’ illustration.
If we want to understand a passage, we need to understand what was being expressed by the author, including rhetorical devices used.
Colossians 1:22–23 (NIV)
But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.
In this case, the ‘then’ part preceeds the ‘if’ part. In Greek, they are not as rigid as much of our English grammar is when it comes to word/phrase/clause order in a sentence.
In this use of a conditional statement, it is a first class conditional. It uses present tense, and indicative mood.
The first class conditional is presenting what is assumed to be true for the argument’s sake, in order to draw in the audience.
The point is to lead the audience to agree with the point being made since they agree with the condition.
If he’s a woman, I’m a monkey’s uncle.
Do you believe he’s a woman? Then you won’t believe I’m a monkey’s uncle.
She’s 80 years old if she’s a day.
Do you believe she’s a day old? Then you will agree she’s 80 years old.
Or, a Biblical example:
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
This is the construction Paul is using here in Colossians.
He has already stated the conclusion, which he wants them to accept. So, he now uses a first class condition, to lead them to that conclusion.
He reconciled us in order to present us holy in his sight, blameless and free from accusation.
If you continue in your faith
If you continue in your faith
The point here is that Paul already both believes they are continuing in the faith, even though they are being told to follow different traditions and rituals by some false teachers, and he wants to encourage them to continue to do so.
We know that because Paul already stated it a few times.
To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—
that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.
If you continue in your faith
If you continue in your faith
Paul is expecting them to agree, and say, yes, we are continuing in the faith, so that they will agree with the statement he already asserted, that He reconciled us in order to present us holy, blameless and free from accusation.
He is not doubting their continuing. He is assuming it to be true, to draw them into the conversation of his letter, as well as to spur them on in their faith with the true message of the gospel.
And, he also wants to encourage them to continue in the faith.
remain, stay, persist
The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon and to the Ephesians 4. Sinners Reconciled to God (1:21–23)
If the gospel teaches the final perseverance of the saints, it teaches at the same time that the saints are those who finally persevere—in Christ. Continuance is the test of reality.
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
Not sinless. But continuing to mature. Continuing in the faith.
Filled with the knowledge of the will of God through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives so that we may live worthy of the Lord, pleasing him in every good work: Bearing fruit, growing in the knowledge of him, being strengthened by him and giving joyful thanks to him.
…established and firm
…established and firm
established - foundation, steadfast
firm - steadfast, settled
two words to speak of being steadfast, unmovable
and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel
and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel
move away
What about me?
What about me?
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—
to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.