The Purpose and Application of His Work, Col 1:21-23

(21) And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, (22) yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach — (23) if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. (1:21-23)

While the gospel message guarantees eternal life to believers, it is not without ramifications and responsibilities for believers here in this life. God’s purpose is not just to bring us into an eternal relationship with Himself in the eternal future, but into a vital, life transforming fellowship in this life. God is interested in producing a ‘holy people’ who represent Him to the world as ambassadors who live as aliens or sojourners in our present world. However, as with the promise of eternal life, this life-transforming experience is based on a proper grasp of Christ’s person and the nature of His work of reconciliation as finished and complete. To this there is nothing left for us to add by way of human works or religious rituals for either salvation from sin’s penalty or sanctification from sin’s power. We must learn to rest in the sufficiency of His life and abide in Him by faith. Believers are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10) having been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). Thus, in verses 21-23, the apostle writes to stress the purpose and application of the reconciling work of the pre-eminent Christ. [1]

The Past Alienation

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds (1:21)

‘And although you were formerly alienated’ –

Definition: ‘alienated’ – is the Greek word, apallotrioo, { ap-al-lot-ree-o’-o } which means ‘to alienate, estrange; to be shut out or cut off from one’s fellowship and intimacy.’
The NIV translates this part of the verse, ‘Once you were alienated from God’, which seems to best capture what Paul is saying. The Colossian believers were once hopelessly estranged from God, lost and without a means of salvation, completely cut off and separated from Him. This points to the fact that it is man that has alienated himself from God, not the other way around. There is no such thing as an innocent unbeliever, because their sin keeps them in this perpetual state of separation from God. (Isa 59:1-16; Eph 2:12-13; Tit 3:3-7)

‘and hostile in mind,’ –

Definition: ‘hostile’ (enemies – KJV and NIV) – is the Greek word, echthros, { ech-thros’ } which means ‘hated, detestable, hateful; hostile, hating, and opposing another.’
Definition: ‘mind’ – is the Greek word, dianoia, { dee-an’-oy-ah } which means ‘the mind as a faculty of understanding, feeling, desiring.’
The hostility to God in the mind of mankind would seem to explain how the alienation from God is to be understood. All unbelievers are hostile to God (John 3:19-20; Rom 1:21-24; 8:7; Tit 1:15), and this hostility takes possession of their mind (Eph 2:3; 4:8). Referring to unbelievers, John Gill said, “They are enemies to Christ in one shape or another; either to His person, denying his proper deity, or real humanity; or to His offices, not hearkening to Him as a prophet, trampling on His blood and sacrifice as a priest, and unwilling to have Him to rule over them as a King.” [2] No matter how religious or moral an unbeliever may appear, they oppose God because they do not recognize Him as the source of salvation.

‘engaged in evil deeds’ –

The unbeliever’s alienation from God is expressed in his evil deeds. His deeds show his inward hatred for God, which lies hidden in the heart. This can easily be seen as mankind loves the very things that God hates, and hates the things that He loves. No matter how moral or good an unbeliever may appear, or how good, kind or righteous their works appear, from God’s point of view, they are viewed as evil because they oppose His plan of grace and salvation, which is embodied in the person and the work of Christ.

The Present Reconciliation

yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach (1:22)

‘yet He has now reconciled you’ –

Definition: ‘reconciled’ – is the Greek word, apokatallassō, { ap-ok-at-al-las'-so } and means to bring back to a former state of harmony.
Verses 19-20, the focus of Jesus’ work of reconciliation was on the whole of creation. In verse 21 Paul narrows the focus to the former state of the Colossian believers as alienated and hostile to God. And now in verse 22, Paul emphasizes God’s purpose and plan of spiritual growth and transformation of the Colossian believers.

‘in His fleshly body through death’ –

As the first part of this verse points to Jesus’ deity, so this part stresses Jesus’ full humanity. He is the God-man whose death made full atonement for mankind’s sin. He had to be fully God to be able to reconcile all of mankind to God. But he also had to be fully human to die on the cross. Because Jesus had a real human body, He could perfectly represent mankind. And because He was fully God His death had great power and significance. Without a real body of flesh and bone there could be no death and therefore no reconciliation. By being fully human and fully God at the same time, Jesus’ death and resurrection gives us eternal life and the imputed righteousness of God.
Paul appears to purposely emphasize the physical body of Christ, most probably because the Gnostic false teachers denied the incarnation and that Jesus had a real human body. Remember that the Gnostics taught that all matter was evil.
Angels do not have the power or ability to be reconciling mediators because they do not have physical bodies (cf. Col 2:18); they are spiritual, non-corporeal beings.

‘in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach’ –

‘in order to present you before Him’ –

The object of the atonement was to enable Jesus to present the redeemed believers to God, freed from sin, and made holy in his sight.

‘holy and blameless and beyond reproach’ –

Definition: ‘holy’ – is the Greek word, hagios, { hag’-ee-os } as applied to mankind, and means ‘to dedicate, set apart, separated to God’s service; in the moral sense of sharing God’s purity.’ “As used of people in the New Testament, hagios refers to those who are set aside from Satan’s world system, and who are dedicated to the service and worship of God. God, who is often called Holy, is the perfect standard of holiness because He is totally set apart from sin and devoted to all that is holy and good. In 1 John 1:5, John declares that ‘God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.’ ” [3]
Definition: ‘blameless’ – is the Greek word, amomos, { am’-o-mos } and means ‘without blemish, spotless, faultless, innocent.’ It is applied to a lamb (1 Pet 1:19); to the Savior (Heb 9:14); and to the church (Eph 1:4; 5:27; Jude 1:24; Rev 14:5).
Definition: ‘beyond reproach’ – is the Greek word, anegkletos, { an-eng’-klay-tos } which means ‘cannot be called into account, unreproveable, free from accusation, blameless.’ In 1 Tim 3:10 and Tit 1:6-7, it is used to define the qualifications of elder or a deacon. Note: it does not mean sinless or without fault.
Jesus did not save mankind so that they can live their lives as they please, but to live as a special people set apart to Him and for His glory (cf. 1 Pet. 1:13-16; 2:9-12). Each Christian goes through the three steps of justification, sanctification and glorification. Justification is our eternal position before God from the moment of our conversion. Sanctification is the process whereby the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God changes us little by little to be like our Savior Christ Jesus. And glorification is our future position where we stand complete and without sin in heaven with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Most scholars view this verse in one of two ways:

First, this verse could be referring to mankind’s glorification, that final state of the believer as the bride of Christ, when he will stand before God at Judgment day.
The second way and most probable way this verse could and should be viewed, is how God views us right now through the finished work of Christ, even in our present state of continual sin. Verses 21 through 24 focus on the spiritual growth of the Colossians, so the second view would seem to be a better fit with Paul’s message. “God see us now as we will be in heaven when we are glorified. He sees us clothed with the very righteousness of Jesus Christ.” [4] (Col 3:10; 2 Cor 3:18)

The Evidence of Reconciliation

if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. (1:23)

‘if indeed you continue in the faith’ –

There are two ways to view this portion of the verse:

Some believe that this verse shows that it is possible to lose one’s salvation, as some commentators suggest (like James Burton Coffman and John Eadie). here are plenty of Scriptures that can be used on both sides of the Arminian and Calvinist debate. So, without getting unduly sidetracked by this debate at this time, it should be pointed out that this verse would be a very poor selection for Arminians to use to prove their case because the verse does not state that one will lose one’s salvation. The focus of this portion of verse 23 is on, ‘in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach’, in verse 22.
The other position that commentators take on this verse is that it refers to the danger of not being presented before the Bema seat of the Lord as mature believers. Unfortunately, this position assumes the Calvinist position.
Regardless of the position one takes here, there is a danger of not being presented before the Lord as holy, blameless and beyond reproach, if one does not continue in the faith. Remember that the teachings of the false apostles were causing the Colossians to question what they had been taught by Epaphras.

So, how can we view this verse and avoid the controversy? As always, we need to make sure that we let Scripture speak for itself.

Some assume that ‘holy’, ‘blameless’, and ‘above reproach’ somehow means that we will no longer sin. But as we saw above in verse 22, these words point out how God sees us right now through the finished work of Christ. Paul is describing how God viewed the Colossians at the moment he was writing the letter to them, even though they were not sinless, and would never be. The same is true for us today.
In terms of our justification, God sees us as ‘holy, blameless and beyond reproach’. However, in terms of our present sanctification, God sees our day to day obedience as well as our disobedience. So in that sense, our disobedience is not viewed as being ‘blameless and beyond reproach’ even though these sins were already paid for by Christ.
As Scripture makes abundantly clear (2 Cor 5:10; Rom 14:10-12; Eph 5:6), we will all give an account for what we have done on this earth after receiving Christ, which means, there are consequences for our sins after salvation. This does not mean that we can or will lose our salvation for our moments of disobedience, for we will all have those moments since none of us is capable of living a life of sinlessness. Someone that becomes a Christian and then proceeds to live their life as they please or worse, living as if they were not one, will have a lot to account for before God, if they are truly saved. If we are obedient, there is nothing to account for. Nevertheless, all of us will have something to account for.
Paul’s warning was intended to remind the Colossians that they were required to continue to exercise their faith every single day of their lives (Gal 6:9; 1 Th 3:5). They were not to allow the new ideas, philosophies and doctrines of Jewish ceremonialism or the Gnostics heresies to entice them to move away from the truths of the Gospel. They were being told to hold fast to their faith. No Christian can exercise faith once and expect to live a lifetime on that one act. We are to be Christians 365 days of the year. Too many believers think that they can live on past acts of faith and righteousness, and then they wonder why their growth is stunted and complain that they don’t hear God speaking to them.
None of us are immune to sin. To mature, we must obey God. But we will never mature in holiness if we listen to the wrong teachings.

‘firmly established and steadfast’ –

Definition: ‘firmly established’ – is the Greek word, themelioo, { them-el-ee-o’-o } which means ‘to lay or build a foundation; to make stable, to ground, to establish.’
Definition: ‘steadfast’ – is the Greek word, hedraios, { hed-rah’-yos } and means ‘firm, immovable, sedentary, steadfast, settled.’
It would seem that Paul was insinuating that when the foundation of Christian faith had been firmly laid in a believer’s life, the result would be a life that was immovable and steadfast in that faith. To have an unshakable faith, we must know what we believe and why we believe it. When we have doubts that go unanswered, they eat away at our inner life and faith. Doubts are like termites, they eat away at the inside leaving the outside seemingly untouched until a heavy enough weight breaks through the veneer. In the same way, those filled with doubt look fine on the outside but the slightest weight of a trial or temptation causes their lives to come crashing down because nothing is present to hold them up. To stand firm in our faith, we must hold fast to the foundation of that faith. (That does not mean that we will never have any doubt, but that we will not be filled with doubts, always questioning our faith.) As one commentators wrote, “If we do not wish to slide imperceptibly away from Him who alone will make our lives steadfast and our hearts calm with the peacefulness of having found our All, we must continuously make an effort to tighten our grasp on Him, and to resist the subtle forces which, by silent pressure or by sudden blows, seek to get us off the one foundation.” [5] (Col 2:7; Mat 7:24-25; Eph 3:17-18)
As John Gill puts it, believers are not supposed to be “on the sandy foundation of man’s own righteousness.” [6] The finished work of Christ is the only rock upon whom man is allowed to build his life. To be ‘firmly established and steadfast’ means that we allow the person of Christ and the word of God to be the basis and the source for all of our beliefs and thoughts. It is only there that we find true peace. “Let all [of our] hopes and joys, emotions and desires, fasten themselves on Him; let Him occupy and fill our whole nature, and mould and preside over all our actions.” [7]

‘and not moved away from the hope of the gospel’ –

Definition: ‘not moved away’ – is the Greek words, me metakineo, { may met-ak-ee-neh’-o } and mean ‘to cause a state or condition to cease, with the implication of force.’
The Greek word, in this context (‘if indeed you continue’), conveys the idea that the ‘moving away’ is a constant and continual external pressure or force exerted on us to gradually and imperceptibly move us away from the foundation in which we were grounded, the gospel of Jesus Christ. (John 15:6; Acts 20:24; 1 Cor 15:58)
“When believers are not firm in the faith they become easily disturbed and move from one panacea or remedy for their poor spiritual condition to another in hope of finding security or a means of true spirituality—going from one teacher or teaching to another.” [8] This could not be a better description of 20th century Charismatic Christian movements. The church has enthusiastically embraced every self-centered doctrine, from ‘name it, and claim it’ and ‘health and wealth’ doctrines, to laughing revivals and Freudian and Jungian ‘christian’ psychologies, just to name a few.
Definition: ‘hope’ – is the Greek word, elpis, { el-pece’ } and means, in the Christian sense, ‘joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.’ Holman’s Bible Dictionary says hope is ‘the anticipation of a favorable outcome under God's guidance.’ [9]
Jesus, through Paul, is calling all Christians to shun man-made doctrines that are not of God, and are not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even if they help in some ways – which most don’t even do that – they do not have the power of God that leads men and women to salvation. Spiritual transformation comes from the gospel and only the gospel, not from human wisdom and philosophies. These other doctrines do not bring hope to believers, they only cause us to doubt what the Bible teaches. (Col 1:5; Eph 1:18)

‘that you have heard’ –

Once again, Paul commends the faithful work of Epaphras by reminding the Colossians that they had already heard the ‘real’ good news.

‘which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven’ –

The gospel message that the Colossians had heard wasn’t just Paul and Epaphras’ message, it was the same message that all of the Apostles were preaching because it was the same message that was being preached to everyone throughout the known world. (Mat 24:14; Rom 10:18)
Some view ‘in all creation under heaven’ as an exaggeration and in a way it is. For instance, we know that the gospel had not yet been preached in North and South America – unless you’re a Mormon, of course. So, what did Paul mean?

Some see Paul’s message here as referring to the fact that the gospel was designed to be preached to and received by all of mankind. Given the fact that the Bible was meant for all generations, Paul’s statement could legitimately be viewed as having a future fulfillment, since the known world has expanded significantly since Paul’s day.
Some believe Paul is referring to the known world as was understood in his day. Since no one knew that North and South America existed, Paul’s statement would have been truthful and understandable by all around him.
Others believe Paul meant that the gospel had been preached everywhere far and wide, a legitimate hyperbole. It was not his desire to identify every nook and cranny where the gospel had been preached, but simply a way to indicate that the gospel was active and alive, as well as universal. It was growing and increasing everywhere it was being preached.
Still others believe Paul may have simply been referring to the current Roman Empire. This seems unlikely since tradition says that Thomas was martyred in India, and it was not part of the Roman Empire.

‘and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.’ –

Paul seems to be communicating that he considers it of the highest privilege and honor to be entrusted by God to carry the gospel message to all that he encounters in his travels. (Eph 3:7)
It also seems to be meant to encourage the Colossians to continue in the faith and to hold fast to the doctrines that Epaphras had taught them.
Paul is calling us, as he was the Colossians, “to live in constant exercise of faith in Christ, and grip Him so close and sure that the world, the flesh, and the devil cannot make us loosen our fingers.” [10]

(21) And although you were formerly alienated [estranged; to be shut out or cut off from one’s fellowship] and hostile [hated, detestable, opposing another] in mind [a faculty of understanding, feeling, desiring], engaged in evil deeds, (22) yet He has now reconciled [to bring back to a former state of harmony.] you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy [to dedicate, set apart, separated to God’s service; in the moral sense of sharing God’s purity] and blameless [without blemish, spotless, faultless, innocent] and beyond reproach [cannot be called into account, unreproveable, free from accusation, blameless] — (23) if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established [to lay or build a foundation; to make stable, to ground, to establish] and steadfast [firm, immovable, sedentary, steadfast, settled], and not moved away [to cause a state or condition to cease, with the implication of force] from the hope [joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation] of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. (1:21-23)

Footnotes

[1] J. Hampton Keathley III, Paul’s Letter to the Colossians: An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary, p. 85.
[2] John Gill’s Commentary, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
[3] J. Hampton Keathley III, Paul’s Letter to the Colossians: An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary, p. 88.
[4] The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians & Philemon, p 65.
[5] Expositor's Bible Commentary, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
[6] John Gill’s Commentary, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
[7] Expositor's Bible Commentary, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
[8] J. Hampton Keathley III, Paul’s Letter to the Colossians: An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary, p. 90.
[9] Holman’s Bible Dictionary, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
[10] Expositor's Bible Commentary, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.

The primary sources for this study use J. Hampton Keathley III, Paul’s Letter to the Colossians: An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary, from bible.org, Copyright ©1996-2020 Bible.org, and all attributions are reprinted with permission granted by bible.org, and John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians & Philemon, (Moody Bible Institute: ©1992).

This study uses many of the commentaries, dictionaries and the Greek Lexicon which are all part of 'The Online Bible', Computer Program, © 2023, Larry Pierce, http://www.onlinebible.net/, unless otherwise referenced. See Greetings and Thanksgiving, Colossians 1:1-4 for full attribution.

All Scriptures quotes are from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 Revision, unless otherwise noted. Verse links from Blue Letter Bible, https://www.blueletterbible.org/

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