Introduction
Do you know someone personally who once professed faith in Christ but is no longer walking with Christ?
Do you sometimes wonder if you have really changed since professing faith in Christ?
Do you ever ask yourself whether you will make it safely to heaven?
John Newton (1725-1807) was a slave trader who was converted to Christ.
He eventually became a pastor and served two churches.
John Newton is perhaps best known as the author of my favorite hymn, “Amazing Grace.”
Yet, despite his clear transformation and faithful service to Christ, he sometimes struggled with assurance of his salvation.
Newton was painfully aware of ongoing sin in his life—such as pride and impatience—so that he questioned whether he truly belonged to Christ.
He lamented that, having professed faith in Christ many years earlier, he was far from where he longed to be.
These struggles stirred fears about whether he would make it safely to heaven.
Colossians 1:21-23is one of the most glorious summaries of the gospel in all of Scripture.
In our previous lesson, Colossians 1:15-20, Paul proclaimed that the peerless Christ is supreme over all things.
In today’s text, Paul turns to personal application. He begins by saying, “And you….”
What God has done in Christ is not abstract or distant—it is for you, if you are in Christ.
Today’s glorious text shows us our past, our present, and our future in Christ, encouraging us to persevere in him.
Scripture
Let’s read Colossians 1:21-23:
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 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, 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.
Lesson
Colossians 1:21-23 teaches us that because you have been reconciled to Christ, you will continue in the faith.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. Contemplate What You Once Were (1:21)
2. Consider Where You Now Stand (1:22)
3. Continue in What You Must Do (1:23)
I. Contemplate What You Once Were (1:21)
First, contemplate what you once were.
Paul is, of course, writing to the Colossian believers.
But his words are true for believers throughout all ages.
Paul writes in verse 21, “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds....”
Paul now speaks directly to his Christian readers.
A sharp contrast is drawn between your pre-Christian past and your present standing in Christ.
Before your conversion to Christ, you were “alienated” from God.
“Alienated” means to be cut off from fellowship with God, excluded from his favor, and outside his family.
This is not merely a feeling of being far from God.
It is an objective state of separation because of sin.
Sin alienates.
In addition to being “alienated”from God, you were also “hostile in mind.”
You were not merely neutral towards God, but inwardly opposed to God's rule in your life.
Sometimes people say that they are not hostile toward God.
They say that they don’t think about God.
But that is what hostility is.
Think about an argument that you have with your spouse.
It is not a little disagreement.
It is a vehement disagreement.
Your spouse decides not to speak with you.
This goes on for days, even weeks.
The relationship is hostile.
And that is exactly the state of unbelievers who think that they have no hostility toward God when, in fact, they are “hostile in mind” toward God.
Because of your alienation and hostility, you were engaged in “doing evil deeds.”
Your alienated heart and hostile mind produced evil deeds in your life.
Sin is not a surface problem, but the fruit of a corrupt root.
You did not become a sinner because you sinned.
Instead, you sinned because you were a sinner at the very core of your being.
This is, of course, what we call “total depravity.”
Total depravity does not mean that you were as bad as you could be, but rather that no part of you was untouched by sin.
Just how intense is an unbeliever’s opposition to God?
Dr. J. Vernon McGee illustrates this point with a personal example:
“A great many people think that people are lost because they have committed some terrible sin. People are lost because their minds are alienated from God. I think this explains the fierce antagonism toward God on the part of the so-called intellectuals of our day. There is an open hatred and hostility toward God. Some time ago, I had the funeral of a certain movie star out here in California. The Hollywood crowd came to the funeral. One of the television newscasters commented on the funeral, and I appreciated what he said. He said, ‘Today Hollywood heard something that it had never heard before.’ But I also saw something there at that funeral that I had never seen before. I had never seen so much hatred in the eyes of men and women as I saw when I attempted to present Jesus Christ and to explain how wonderful He is and how He wants to save people. There is an alienation in the mind and heart of man” (J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible, Vol. 5, p. 342).
If you are in Christ today, never forget what you once were.
You were alienated, hostile in mind, and doing evil deeds.
If you are not in Christ today, contemplate your true condition before a holy God.
You are alienated from God—even though you don’t think you are.
You are hostile in mind toward God.
And you are doing evil deeds in the eyes of God.
Turn to Christ—he alone can change enemies into friends of God.
II. Consider Where You Now Stand (1:22)
Second, consider where you now stand.
Paul says of Christ in verse 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....”
Christ has acted mightily on behalf of the Colossians.
Indeed, he has acted mightily on behalf of all believers.
He has brought you into a new relationship with himself.
Paul says that “he has now reconciled” you with the Father.
It is important to recognize that the subject of this statement is Christ and not you.
In other words, reconciliation is Christ’s initiative, not yours.
Reconciliation is not Christ meeting you halfway.
It is Christ crossing the chasm that you have created by your sin.
Reconciliation means that the relationship of alienation and hostility has been replaced by peace and fellowship.
Christ has moved in grace toward his enemies.
One of the chapters in our Community Bible Reading program this week was 1 Kings 17.
The chapter details a key conflict between Solomon’s son Rehoboam and his rival Jeroboam, leading to Israel’s split into northern and southern kingdoms.
Jeroboam, who fled Egypt after Solomon attempted to kill him, returns after Solomon's death to voice the people’s grievances.
They ask Rehoboam to ease the burden of forced labor, distinguishing it from regular service.
Rehoboam’s advisers recommend kindness to secure loyalty, but he ignores them and follows the harsh advice of his younger advisors, threatening increased hardship.
This reckless decision causes Jeroboam to seize most of the northern kingdom when Rehoboam's officials are rejected and executed, leaving only Judah and Benjamin in the south loyal to Rehoboam.
The split fulfills Ahijah’s prophecy.
Both kingdoms suffer: Judah under weakened Rehoboam and the northern kingdom led into religious apostasy by Jeroboam, both spiraling toward decline and exile.
As I read this sad chapter about two leaders who were obstinate and unreasonable, I wondered what would have happened if there had been someone to help reconcile them.
Fortunately, for you and me, Christ has brought about a reconciliation between his heavenly Father and us.
And how did Christ do this?
He reconciled you “in his body of flesh by his death.”
Christ became your substitute.
He paid the penalty for your sin.
He bore the wrath that was due to you, thereby satisfying divine justice and bringing you into fellowship with his heavenly Father.
Why did Christ do this?
What was the purpose of his substitutionary sacrifice for you?
Paul tells us in the last part of verse 22.
Paul tells us that Christ did this “in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.”
In other words, the goal of this reconciliation is holiness.
Here we see justification and sanctification.
You are declared not guilty before the bar of God’s justice based on Christ’s substitution on your behalf.
And you are progressively becoming more like Jesus day by day.
Christ’s purpose is not merely to rescue you from hell but to present you as his spotless bride to his heavenly Father.
When Christ reconciled you to his Father, he did not leave you there.
No, Christ continued working in your life by changing you and making you more like himself.
Christ is working daily “to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before [his heavenly Father].”
The reason you will make it safely to heaven is not because of your performance.
The reason you will make it safely to heaven is because of Christ’s finished work that he has done for you.
You were alienated; Christ has reconciled you to his Father.
You were hostile in your mind; Christ has died for you.
You were doing evil deeds; Christ will present you holy and blameless and above reproach before his heavenly Father.
If you are in Christ, this is where you now stand.
Rest in the finished work of Christ.
Your reconciliation does not depend on your feelings, performance, or church membership.
Your reconciliation rests on Christ’s body broken and his blood shed for you on the cross at Calvary.
If you have faith alone in Christ alone, you are reconciled to the Father by him.
Stop trying to add to what he has done for you.
Consider that the same peerless Christ who is sovereign over all things (vv. 15-20) has died for you.
And if you are not yet in Christ, you can be.
Ask him to give you the gift of saving faith and repentance today.
III. Continue in What You Must Do (1:23)
And third, continue in what you must do.
Paul says in verse 23 that you will be reconciled to the Father by Christ’s substitutionary death and presented holy before the Father “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.”
This verse is a long and complex conditional clause.
Scholars debate the precise meaning of the conditional clause.
Some scholars suggest that Paul is uncertain, and so he means, “if, though I doubt it.”
Other scholars suggest that Paul is confident, and so he means, “if, as I am sure.”
Since parallel passages point to the idea of confidence, and because Paul expresses confidence in the Colossians in Colossians 2:5, where he says, “For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ,” it seems to me that Paul is expressing confidence in our present verse.
Paul is indeed concerned that false teachers might “disqualify” the Colossians believers (see 2:18).
Therefore, he wants them to take his words very seriously.
My professor and commentator Doug Moo writes:
“He wants to confront the Colossians with the reality that their eventual salvation depends on their remaining faithful to Christ and to the true gospel. Only by continuing in their faith can they hope to find a favorable verdict from God on the day of judgment. We have, in this verse, then, a real warning. This warning, along with many similar ones, presents the ‘human responsibility’ side in the biblical portrayal of final salvation. God does, indeed, by his grace and through his Spirit, work to preserve his people so that they will be vindicated in the judgment; but, at the same time, God’s people are responsible to persevere in their faith if they expect to see that vindication” (Douglas J. Moo, The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon, The Pillar New Testament Commentary [Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2008], 144).
Perseverance is the evidence of reconciliation, not the cause of it.
Believers are to be “stable and steadfast.”
Like a building, they are to be grounded on a firm foundation.
When I was in construction, I learned that sometimes the ground is unstable, and so the foundations had to go deeper until they rested on solid rock.
For believers, that means you must build your faith on sound, solid Biblical truth.
That is why Paul goes on to say that you must “not [shift] from the hope of the gospel that you heard.”
Paul warned his young associate Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3–4, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
We live in a time when people shift away from the gospel.
Do you know how many Protestant denominations there are in the United States?
There are over 200 distinct Protestant denominations in the United States.
That means that if you do not like what one denomination is doing, you have 199 other denominations from which to choose.
Sadly, many people drift from denomination to denomination.
Their itching ears are attracting them to teachers to suit their own passions, and they are wandering off into myths.
That is why you must continue in what you must do.
And what is that?
You must be a Berean.
In another reading from our Community Bible Reading this week, we read in Acts 17:11“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
You must study the Scriptures daily to see if what you are being taught is consistent with what the word of God says.
Almost 50 years ago, I ran several marathons.
The longest marathon I ran was the Comrades Marathon, which was 55 miles long.
I ran the Comrades Marathon from Durban to Pietermaritzburg in eastern South Africa.
5,867 runners started the Comrades Marathon in 1983, when I ran it.
Because there were so many runners, the faster runners were near the front, and the slower runners were near the back of the pack.
I started about two city blocks behind the starting line.
It took me about 5 minutes to get to the starting line.
I did not get a medal because I crossed the starting line.
No, I got a medal because I finished the race—8:53:52 after the start.
Similarly, you don’t get to heaven just because you started in the faith.
You get to heaven when you finish your race.
And the glorious, good news is that your Savior, who called you to begin the race, will enable you to persevere to the very end.
So, examine yourself.
Are you continuing in the faith—stable, steadfast, and fixed on the hope of the gospel?
Or, are you drifting into indifference, legalism, carelessness, or mysticism?
If you find yourself drifting in your faith, repent and return to your first love.
Remember God’s promise in Philippians 1:6, “That he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Remember Pastor John Newton?
He sometimes struggled with the assurance of his salvation.
Over time, however, Newton learned to shift his focus from the strength of his own change to the sufficiency of Christ’s grace.
He described himself as a weak, wandering sheep kept by a strong Shepherd.
Near the end of his life, with his memory failing, he summed it up: “I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”
His assurance rested not in himself, but in Christ’s preserving hold on him.
Conclusion
Colossians 1:21-23gives a glorious, sweeping view of salvation.
It tells you about your past: you were alienated from God.
It tells you about your present: you are now reconciled to the Father through Christ’s sacrificial death.
And it tells you about your future: you will be in glory if you continue in the faith, steadfast and stable.
My dear brothers and sisters, behold the glorious Good News!
Enemies have become sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father.
The alienated have been brought near.
The unholy will one day stand blameless because Christ has reconciled you by his death and will present you to the Father by his power.
This is all of grace from election to glorification.
Therefore, hold fast to the hope of the Gospel, proclaim it to every creature under heaven, and live for the day when you will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
To the Triune God, the Father who planned it, the Son who accomplished it, and the Spirit who applies and preserves it, be all glory now and forever. Amen.
