Colossians 1:21-23

God's Purpose for the Colossians - 1:21-23

21And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled

In the past you were a stranger from God himself. You were a stranger to Israel. You were a stranger to life with God. You were a stranger to salvation.

We were enemies. Anyone who loves sin is the enemy of God. (James 4:4) Not that God hated you, but that your life was demonstrating a hatred for God and His will.

TEV "because of the evil thing you did and thought" Sin starts in the mind of man. (James 1:14) It often ends up destroying the mind through guilt, disease and knowledge that you are apart from God.

In spite of this condition, God love you. He wants you to be restored. He wants you to have a proper relationship through Christ.

21 - You were separated from God and treated God as your enemy. In spite of this, God worked at changing your condition.

22in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight-

Christ died. Literally. It was not just a trick, or in some spiritual sense. It was not just a swoon or passing out. Jesus died in the body of his flesh. He died physically so you could live spiritually.

Holy means separated and dedicated to God and His will.

Blameless means that we should be without blemish. We must be spotless.

Above reproach suggests that we must be free from the charge of sin. Thayer "unaccused"

Here is the purpose of God. Christ died, suffering the agony of physical death, so that we could be no longer enemies and strangers, but holy, spotless and unaccused. Now it is time to praise the Lord.

22 - Christ died physically to change you into one dedicated, spotless and free from the charge of sin.

23if 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.

We must continue in the faith. Here is a conditional promise. To receive the benefits we must keep on living and growing in the faith. "The faith" is to be distinguished from "faith." The faith has reference to the body of truth, the gospel. (Judges 1:3; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4) Faith is the trust, confidence and assurance that one has. We must remain constant in the gospel, the body of truth, taught in the New Testament.

Here are the conditions necessary to obtain the benefits:

We must be grounded and settled. Grounded means that we have a foundation on which a superstructure can be built. Settled comes from a Greek word meaning "a seat, literally, seated" (Vine) The idea is that of not just set on, but seated in. A car's valves must be seated - settled in so there is a tight seal.

We must not move away. Don't drift off course. (Hebrews 2:1) Do not let anything lead you astray.

Keep hope. Hope is obtained through growth in faith. Faith is gained by hearing the gospel. (Romans 10:17)

This promise - and its conditions - have been preached, taught, offered to every creature under heaven. The grace of God has appeared to all men. (Titus 2:11)

NOTE: Jesus command that we preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15) Paul, and those with him have accomplished this in the first century. What about us today? Are we able to say what Paul said about his generation?

Paul is a minister. This does not refer to a process of being ordained. All who have heard and obeyed are commissioned to be ministering servants. Paul is saying, "This is my job by virtue of the fact that I am a Christian."

23 - You must remain solid and seated in the hope you have in Christ. Do not drift from it. We have spread the message everywhere. As Christians and minister, this is our duty.