Colossians 1:22

yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him:

'IN THE BODY OF HIS FLESH' -A body which consisted of flesh (Hebrews 2:14; John 1:14). Without which there could have been no death.

Points to Note:

1. In this chapter Paul has emphasized the Deity of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:15-19) and also His humanity (Colossians 1:22). Fully God in. fully human body. Any teaching which either detracts from His humanity or Deity must be rejected.

2. 'It should be added, however, that the Holy Spirit who inspired Colossians...foresaw the time when the Docetics would be teaching that Jesus Christ appeared to men in. spiritual body, and since he had no physical body only seemed to suffer and die on the cross.' (Hendriksen p. 84)

3. The Gr. Ex. N.T. notes, 'Paul has in mind the false spiritualism which thought reconciliation could be accomplished by spiritual beings only, and hence attached little or no value to the work of Christ in. body composed of flesh..' (p. 512)

4. Since Jesus had. body of flesh, we must note that the flesh (human nature/the physical body) isn't inherently sinful. For Jesus was in the flesh, but never sinned (1 Peter 2:22). We must then conclude that our real struggle against sin, isn't fought "in the body", rather, it is fought in the "mind" (Colossians 1:21). And hence severe treatment of the body is vain as an defense against sin (Colossians 2:21-23). We won't be successful against temptation, until we chose to make the determination to mentally dwell on the right things (1 Peter 4:8).

'THROUGH DEATH' -

Points to Note:

1. The death of Jesus Christ was an actual historic event. Undermine and death and resurrection and you completely undermine any hope of salvation. For our reconciliation is inherently tied to both (1 Corinthians 15:12 ff; Romans 4:25).

2. This verse also teaches that Jesus had to die, if we were to end up saved. Unfortunately, even some Christians are under the impression that the sacrifice of Jesus was simply one viable option that existed to make forgiveness of sins. reality. We must realize, that it was the only option. Our sins are so bad that it necessitated that God sacrifice Himself for us. There was no other way (Luke 22:42).

THE GOALS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF BEING RECONCILED:

'TO PRESENT YOU HOLY AND WITHOUT BLEMISH AND UNREPROVABLE BEFORE HIM' -'consecrated, faultless, and blameless in His presence' (Wms); 'so that he may present you before himself as dedicated men, without blemish and innocent in his sight' (NEB).

'PRESENT YOU...BEFORE HIM' -Some believe that this refers to the future Judgement, when Christ delivers up the Kingdom to God, the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 5:27).

Point to Note:

But in view of what Paul was teaching against. The first application might be our condition immediately after our reconciliation, i.e. how we stand before God immediately after baptism. The point being that the blood of Christ is sufficient to cleanse us from all sin and to present us completely pure and innocent in the sight of. Holy and Just God. This verse completely undermines any teaching which argues that we need something more than Christ to bring us into favor with God, i.e. parts of the Old Covenant, rules concerning food, the worship of angelic beings, etc...John argues that the Christian, now, in this lifetime can stand "in the light" (1 John 1:7).