Reconciliation: Reality and Responsibility
Colossians 1:21-23
John Murray (1898–1975), a preacher from Scotland, taught systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) from 1930 until his retirement in 1965. His book Redemption Accomplished and Applied was originally published in 1955 and has been reprinted dozens of times over the years. In it, Murray biblically explains the two sides of redemption—how Christ accomplished redemption by His atoning death and resurrection, and how redemption is applied to the lives of believers.
Christ has accomplished redemption, or to use the term found in Colossians 1, Christ has accomplished reconciliation by His substitutionary atonement for sins. But in order for that accomplished redemption to be effective, it must be applied in the life of the sinner. Unless Christ accomplished reconciliation, it could never be applied. But unless it is applied, what good does it accomplish? Christ has accomplished reconciliation on the cross and He applied it to us by faith. Another way to say this is that reconciliation is both a reality and a responsibility.
Remember that the Colossian church to whom Paul wrote this letter was in danger of being influenced by some false teachers. In the first part of his letter to the Colossians, Paul gave thanks for the work of the gospel in their church and prayed that they would know God’s will and walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. Then, in Colossians 1:15-20, Paul laid the foundation for protecting the church from false teaching by extoling the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We saw that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the creator and sustainer of all things, and the head of His body, the church, so that in everything He would be preeminent. We saw that the work of Christ was that He came to earth as a man with all the fullness of God dwelling in Him, so that through Christ, God might reconcile all things to Himself. All of heaven and earth will be restored to the glory of God in Christ by the blood of His cross.
Now, in Colossians 1:21-23, Paul applies this reconciliation to the Colossians in particular. Reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel. The word reconciliation means to restore to a right relationship, ending the hostility, and making peace. Our text divides into two parts: the reality of reconciliation (Col. 1:21-22) and the responsibility of reconciliation (Col. 1:23). The reality of our reconciliation is accomplished by the atoning work of Christ. The responsibility we have because we have been reconciled is to continue in the faith.
1. The Reality of Reconciliation (Col. 1:21-22)
Here, Paul gives us a “before and after shot” of the Christian. First, the “before shot.” He reminds the Colossian Christians of what their condition was before God intervened to reconcile them to Himself. All of us were in the same condition before we heard the gospel and came to Christ. As believers, we must never forget where we were and from what Christ saved us.
a. Our Past: Alienated from God (Col. 1:21)
Look at Colossians 1:21, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled.” Back at the beginning of the letter, Paul addressed these Colossian believers as “saints and faithful brethren in Christ” (Col. 1:2). But they had not always been. Before believing the gospel, they were “once” or “formerly” alienated from God. The tense of the predicate “were alienated” implies a settled alienation or estrangement from God. It was not a passing problem that slipped into our lives then quickly passed away. It was a disaffection deeply rooted in us which we could not remove ourselves.
Remember when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, what happened? They ran from God. They hid from God. Then the LORD God came seeking Adam and called out to him, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). By the way, it wasn’t like God lost Adam or didn’t know where he was. The narrative is showing us that God always seeks lost sinners, and He wanted Adam to recognize his alienation from God.
Paul uses this same word “alienated” twice in Ephesians to describe the condition of the Gentiles without Christ, writing, “that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Eph. 2:12). And again in Ephesians 4 he writes that they should not longer walk as the rest of the Gentile walk “in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart,” (Eph. 4:17-18).
Paul reminds the Colossians, you were “enemies in your mind” (Col. 1:21). This alienation was settled in their minds, in their thinking. That is, they had been enemies toward God right down to the very attitudes of their minds and hearts. In Romans 8, Paul talks about the sinful mind of those who are in the flesh, writing, “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be,” (Rom. 8:7).
And why was our very way of thinking hostile to God? It was because of our evil behavior. Paul says you were “enemies in your mind by wicked works” (Col. 1:21). Instead of loving God we loved our sin. John 3:19-20 explains, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” Because our deeds were evil, we loved darkness and hated the light. We were enemies of God in our minds and in our actions.
With the Colossians, in a very pagan setting, this might have come out in idolatry, indulgence in sensual sins, or covetousness. In twenty-first century America, it might be seen in arrogance or pride, in anger or revenge, in lust or impurity, in greed or injustice, in cruelty or callousness, in selfishness or abuse. Unfortunately, there seems to be no limit on the capacity of the human mind or heart to display its sinfulness.
One early Baptist pastor, Charles D. Mallary, expressed it with great clarity, writing:
The scriptural doctrine of depravity is not that every man is a bad as he possibly can be, for there may be indefinite progression in guilt—nor that one man is necessarily as wicked as another—for there may be as many shades of depravity as there are sinners in the universe. But it teaches us that man, by nature, is destitute of all holy principles and desires; that there is nothing in his character which is pleasing in the sight of God; that being alienated in his heart from God, corrupt in the very fountain of action, in the temper and spirit of his mind, all the actions that he performs, even those which are in themselves excellent and lovely, are still the service of an alien and a rebel, and consequently an abomination in the sight of heaven. Every imagination of the thought of his heart is only evil continually.[1]
Why does Paul remind them of their terrible lost condition before Christ? It’s because he wants to highlight how much God has done in reconciling them to Himself. They were once alienated from God, enemies in their mind toward Him, proving their condition by the wicked nature of their deeds. As he wrote in Ephesians, “… we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others … having no hope and without God in the world.” (Eph. 2:3, 12). Only when we understand the depth of our depravity can we truly appreciate the wonder of our salvation.
At this point, someone may be wondering, “What’s the big deal about sin alienating us from God? Why can’t God just forgive and let it go? Even us humans are able to forgive others who wrong them. Why did Christ need to die for our sins?” Or maybe you have thought, “My sins aren’t that bad. I’ve never murdered anybody. I’m faithful to my spouse. I work to support my family. I don’t hate God. Why did God require the death of Christ for my sins?”
If you still have thoughts like that, then you don’t sufficiently understand the holiness of God or your own sinfulness. We live in a time and culture when tolerance of everyone, including their gross sins, is seen as a great virtue. People picture God as a doting, tolerant man-upstairs. They think, “I’m not a bad person. Compared with murderers and terrorists, I’m pretty good!”
But listen, if God were tolerant of sin, He would not be God. If He denied His absolute holiness by winking at sin, He would be compromising His justice, which rightly demands that the penalty for sin be paid. We would consider it a travesty of justice if a judge simply let a mass murderer go free simply because the judge believed him to be a good person. In Romans 3 Paul writes about the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, “whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, … to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” By the atoning death of Christ God upholds both His holy justice and His gracious mercy.
Have you considered how far you were from God? Does it humble you to think that God saw nothing pleasing in you? Let this truth stir you to trust in Christ and exult in His gracious love.
So that’s the “before” shot of the Christian. You were alienated from God and an enemy in your mind by wicked works. What’s the “after” shot?
b. Our Present: Reconciled by Christ’s death (Col. 1:22a)
Paul writes, “yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight” (Col. 1:21b-22). Now, Paul says, Christ Jesus has reconciled us to God. God did not leave us in our depraved condition. He rescued us, restored us, reconciled us. Now, we are no longer aliens and enemies. We are “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).
And how did he do this? “… in the body of His flesh through death,” (Col. 1:22). Paul emphasizes Christ’s physical body of flesh. The false teachers in Colossae were likely implying that the Son of God did not take on an actual body but only appeared to be human in the flesh. Paul insists that Christ was not an angel or a spirit-being pretending to be human. Jesus Christ was truly God and truly man. He was born into our world so He could die for our sins. His death took away our sins that separated us from God and took away God’s wrath that was justly on us for our sins. Romans 5:10 says, “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” How did God reconcile you to Himself? God reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death. God’s work of reconciliation took place on the cross. As Colossians 1:20 says, God “made peace through the blood of His cross.” When Jesus cried out “It is finished!” (John 19:30) from the cross, redemption was accomplished and reconciliation was a reality.
Listen, the death of Jesus Christ was not just an effort by God to bring us to sympathize with Christ or to move us to repentance and love as we view His horrible death. It was not just triumphing over the forces of darkness to which we were enslaved. It was God the Father, who acted through Jesus Christ His Son, atoning for our sins and satisfying His justice by the blood of His cross. In every passage in the New Testament that speaks about our reconciliation to God, the death of Christ on the cross is stated clearly as the means. It is only through His bloody death on the cross that the enmity and alienation between us and God could been removed. By God’s grace through faith, we receive what Christ has already accomplished.
What was God’s purpose in doing all this for us in Christ?
c. Our Purpose: Holy and blameless (Col. 1:22b)
God’s goal in reconciling sinners is “to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight” (Col. 1:22). These words reflect the sacrificial language of an offering, the love language of marriage, and the judicial language of court. In the Old Testament when the Israelites presented sacrificial offerings to the LORD, they were to be unblemished and holy. Paul uses this same language in Romans 12:1 instructing believers to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” When Christ has reconciled us, He presents us to God as holy and blameless and above reproach because of His sacrifice.
In Ephesians 5, Paul uses the language of marriage to picture Christ presenting us to God, writing,
… Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Eph. 5:26-27).
Also, in the language of the court, when we stand before God in judgment, Christ presents us holy, blameless, and above reproach. No charges can stand against us because Christ Himself paid our debt with His own blood. Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Then, later in Romans 8, Paul drives that point home, writing, “33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” (Rom. 8:33-34). That is what Paul means by “above reproach.” This is the ultimate “after” picture of the Christian. You are presented perfect in God’s sight.
That is the reality of reconciliation. Christ has fully accomplished it by His death on the cross. We receive it by grace, believing in Christ. But how do you know if these things are true of you? What is the evidence that you are reconciled to God? Paul goes on to say in Colossians 1:23 that you know it’s real if you continue in your faith.
2. The Responsibility of Reconciliation (Col. 1:23)
Look at Colossians 1:23, “if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
Here, Paul shows us three aspects of our responsibility as those who are reconciled to God. It is first to,
a. Continue in faith
Paul says, “if indeed you continue in the faith” (Col. 1:23). The conditional sentence, “if indeed you continue,” could be translated, “assuming that you continue.” In other words, Paul assumes this to be true of them. Peter O’Brien paraphrases the idea “At any rate if you stand firm in the faith—and I am sure you will.”[2] He was not writing to cast doubt on their salvation but to help them understand the nature of true conversion. When you are reconciled to God the effect of reconciliation shows up in the way you go on living your life.
I believe that the clear teaching of scripture is that we are saved by God’s grace and kept saved by God’s grace. In other words, our salvation is secure by the accomplished work of Christ. If you are truly saved, you cannot lose your salvation. Saving faith in Christ is a continuing faith in Christ. The question is not, “Did you trust in Christ at some time in the past?”, but “Are you trusting in Christ now?” The proof of genuine faith is that you continue in the faith. Saving faith is persevering faith.
Ray Stedman points out that many people start out the Christian life, filled with joy because they have found a new sensation. But it does not last. Somewhere along the line it fades. Finally, they set it all aside and go back to the way they once were. That is a sign there was never real faith at the beginning. It is continuance that proves reality. Someone has well said, “If your faith fizzles before you finish, it is because it was faulty from the first!” You get an “F” for that performance![3] This doesn’t mean that our faith might not be tested or waver from time to time. We all have trials that test our faith. But although our faith may struggle, true faith never ceases. Pastor Stedman said he once received a phone call from a young man who said, “I’m going to quit being a Christian. It’s too hard. I don’t want to pay the price.” And he said to him, “I think that is what you ought to do.” There was a long silence for a moment, then the young man said, “You know I can’t do that.” He could not, and he did not, because continuing faith is the proof of real faith.
What does continuing faith look like? Paul uses the words “grounded and steadfast.” “Grounded” means having a good foundation. “Steadfast” means settled or steady in mind or purpose. The foundation for the Christian faith is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Stand on the finished work of Christ on the cross.
This brings us to the second aspect of the responsibility of the reconciled:
b. Be not moved away from the gospel
If you continue in the faith “and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard” (Col. 1:23). The false teachers plaguing the Colossian church threated to pull believers away from the true gospel. Paul wanted to protect the church from those who sought to move Christians away from their settled confidence in the all-sufficient person and work of Jesus Christ. Earlier in Colossians 1:5 Paul had reminded them “of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.” Edward Mote expressed this hope of the gospel in his hymn, “The Solid Rock,”
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.[4]
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
The final responsibility of the reconciled is to,
c. Proclaim the gospel to all
Speaking of the gospel, Colossians 1:23 concludes, “… which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.” The gospel is meant to be preached and heard. Christ gave it to us to proclaim. If you have heard the gospel and God has reconciled you to himself through Christ, then you need to share the gospel with others so that they too may be reconciled with God. We must proclaim it to “to every creature under heaven.” That means the gospel is available for everyone. Paul became a servant of the gospel. In the rest of Colossians 1, Paul will elaborate on this.
But today, let me ask you. Are you a servant of the gospel? To be a servant of the gospel means that your whole life is dedicated to gospel of Jesus Christ and its furtherance in this world. This is the responsibility of the reconciled.
Do you know the reality of being reconciled to God? If so, then it is evidenced by your continuation in a sure and stable faith in Christ. You are not trying to find life anywhere else; not the world, material possessions, pleasure. You are anchored in Christ alone; and from Him you will not budge! And His gospel you will live and you will share.
[1] C.D. Mallary, “The Doctrine of Election,” The Georgia Pulpit, Robert Fleming, ed., (Richmond: H.K. Allyson, 1847), 176, quoted by Mark Coppenger, “The Ascent of Lost Man in Southern Baptist Preaching,” Founders Journal, Summer 1996, p. 6.
[2] Peter O Brien, quoted by https://www.preceptaustin.org/colossians_121-23#1:23.
[3] Ray Stedman, http://www.raystedman.org/colossians/4023.html.
[4] Edward Mote, The Solid Rock, Baptist Hymnal 2008 #511.