“If You Continue in the Faith”
In vv. 21 and 22 we have a synopsis of our redemption in Christ. We have a brief description of how we were before our redemption: we were “alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds” (v. 21). Then we have a brief description of how we are now in Christ: Christ “has reconciled us [to God] in his body of flesh by his death (v. 21). And finally we have a brief description of how we are to be: “holy and blameless and above reproach before [God]” (v. 22). We can say that this synopsis is divided into two major parts: before and after our redemption. But we notice that the second part is further divided into two: our present and our future. We will address the significance of this subdivision later. But now let us review Paul’s synopsis of our redemption as he found it necessary to remind the Colossians.
How does Paul describe our condition before our redemption? “Alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds” (v. 21).
The description “alienated” refers, first, to the Colossians’ former identity as Gentiles in the flesh. So Paul would speak particularly of “the mystery”, which has been “hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints” (v. 26)--that is, “how great among the Gentiles are the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (v. 27). But we will deal with this sense of alienation next time.
But there is another sense of alienation that is even more immediate to our passage: our alienation from God. Although Paul does not specify from whom we were alienated, we know that he implies God. Paul does not specify with whom we are reconciled (v. 22) either, but there too God is implied: if we are reconciled through Christ’s death, then we are reconciled with God through Him, Christ being the instrument of our reconciliation, not the object. And it is to God that Christ desires to present us holy and blameless and above reproach (v. 22). So then, we were once alienated from God.
Mother Theresa observed our human condition well when she
said (paraphrasing her words) that there is no poverty so destitute and
devastating than the loneliness that comes from being unwanted. So deep is this
need for companionship that nothing in life seems more satisfying and
fulfilling, so important and so needed, than a meaning relationship we have
with others. So when we hear about the last moments of people’s lives, what do
we hear? What did those who were on United Airlines Flight 93 do when it was about
to crash? Some of them, who managed to make phone calls, did not call their
work places to instruct what needs to be done for their work projects; they
called their beloved ones to tell them how much they loved them. What did the
thirteen miners who were trapped in Sago Mine in
These relationships of ours are indeed precious and
important. So great therefore is the pain of alienation from
our beloveds. If we feel this deeply about human
companionship, then what about our relationship with God? If being
unwanted by fellow human beings is so devastating, what about being without God
in the world (Eph.
Paul has more to say how we used to be: “hostile in mind, doing evil deeds” (v. 21).
Paul would have us know that we, who were once alienated as Gentiles, were no innocent, helpless victims. We were hostile in mind, again against God (and His people). We were not just indifferent; we were hostile against God. We see this everywhere, don’t we? When I attended UC Berkeley, I daily passed by those, who were so angry at God and everything associated with Him. And we all know that even the “nicest” people get so emotionally worked up when the issue of (the Christian) God comes up.
But why should we be so hostile against God? What is so many people’s beef with Him? Of course, many blame God for all the things that go wrong in their lives, even if they say they don’t believe in God. We rarely see our own faults and the faults of others as the cause--God is to blame. If God is God and good, they say, then He should be able to make all things all right despite all our foul-ups--that is God’s job. This is such a simplistic and one-dimensional view of God. When we recognize the complexity of human soul, why should we think that God is any less complex than his own creatures, that He is no more complex than a vending machine? His complexity does not come from some kind erratic or neurotic psyche like ours, of course. If God should allow “bad” things to happen in our lives and the world, it is for a myriad of reasons that are in accordance with His holy character, His sovereign purpose and His infinite wisdom. For one, He desires to show the ugliness of our sins and their horrible consequences. And what He does and what He allows cannot be understood apart from His eternal purposes that have in view not just this world and this age but the age to come--the Final Judgment and the eternal blessing and punishment to follow. That is why we should not envy the prosperity of the wicked, why we must not be too discouraged by the misfortunes we go through in this life. God’s perfect justice will be executed on the final day, not now in this world. If it did, than this world would be heaven and hell. But this world was not meant to be that.
But if people are hostile in mind against God, it is ultimately because they don’t want to bow down before the sovereign authority of God. To them, “it is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven”--except that hell is not their kingdom; it is their eternal prison. Yet they would rather live with their illusion, as Satan does, than to submit to the authority and will of God. They don’t want anyone telling them what to do, not even God. That God is infinitely wiser than they does not matter. What is important is that they do it their way, even if they end up in the pits. Maybe that is why we feel safer when driving ourselves than when traveling by plane flown by someone else. Sinners do the same with God: they would rather drive themselves off the cliff into eternal destruction than submit to His will for eternal salvation. Sinners are wiser in their own eyes than God.
But that is not all. Paul goes on to say, “doing evil deeds”. The sinners’ hostility against God is not just mental; their mental hostility is translated into tangible acts of evil. Are we excused from this accusation because we don’t do the “terrible” things that the worst criminals commit? Yet, do we not engage in acts of evil when we act against their conscience, however small and subtle it may be; when we compromise our principles; when we do things in the private that would shame and embarrass us if caught; when we don anything without acknowledging God and His authority over his life. Such was our former condition--alienated from God, hostile in our mind against God, doing evil deeds.
But now we are reconciled with God. How did this reconciliation come about? Did we come to see the folly of our ways and come to God in repentance all on our own? No! Sin is an addiction stronger than any addiction to drugs or alcohol or gambling because it is an inherent part of the sinner’s being. It is easier for a leopard to get rid of its spots than for a sinner to give up his sin and reconcile with God.
Even if it were possible for the sinner to come to God in true repentance, would it be good enough to effect reconciliation with God? No, for reconciliation is a two-way street. God Himself must be reconciled. We must not forget that God is the offended party. But a sin against God is not just a personal offense: it is a crime against the Way, the Truth and the Life, against the One who is justice and righteousness. It is a crime of the worst kind. What happens when a murderer turns himself in and confessed his crime? Is his repentance enough to set him free from his guilt and punishment? Of course not! He is no good judge, who pardons the criminal on the basis of his repentance. For a judge is called on to uphold justice by upholding the innocent and punishing the guilty. So then, is the sinner’s repentance enough to appease God’s righteous wrath?
Paul says, “he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death…” (v. 22). Notice who brought about our reconciliation with God: not we but Christ. He is the Mediator between God and us. Notice also how He brought about the reconciliation: in His body of flesh by His death. “In His body of flesh” to doubly emphasize the physicality of Christ, the historicity of Christ’s reconciling work in His body of flesh. Also hinted by this phrase is the sacrificial aspect of Christ’s reconciling work. All throughout redemptive history there could be no true reconciliation between God and His people without an appropriate sacrifice offered on behalf of the sinful people to appease God’s wrath. And His body of flesh was offered up to God as a sacrifice to appease the wrath of God against our sin. So Christ’s reconciling work could not be accomplished apart from “His death”. For the wages of sin is death and the full reconciliation required the full payment of the penalty of our sin.
This is the good news: Christ indeed paid the full penalty of our sin through His death in His body of flesh. This payment entailed more than just His physical death. For the death our sin deserves is nothing less than the eternal punishment in hell because our sin is against the infinite honor of the infinite God. What He had to endure was all the righteous wrath of the holy God against sinners. What He endured was for our full, complete and total reconciliation with God. For our reconciliation with God to be full and complete and total, His payment on our behalf had to be equally full and complete and total. Do you know what that means? When He died on the cross, He absorbed in His body of flesh all the righteous wrath of God against us! God unleashed at Christ all His lawful rage against us sinners! Christ on the cross was the target of all of God’s lawful and just hostility against us sinners. Do you realize that all of God’s hatred against our sin, all of His disgust with our iniquity, all of God’s loathing, revulsion, abhorrence, aversion and detestation of our wickedness was completely expended on the cross of our Christ--so much so that, after the cross, nothing was left in the heart of God that might diminish our full and complete reconciliation with Him--not even a tinge of uneasy feeling toward us is left in His infinite heart! That is the kind of reconciliation He procured for us! That is the kind of reconciliation we have with God! So great is Christ’s love for us to grant us anything less! So precious is the sacrifice of Christ to accomplish anything less!
But His reconciling work extends beyond pacifying the wrath of God: it is also to present us holy and blameless and above reproach before God! In one sense, this is already done: as Christ brought forgiveness to us through His death, He also brought perfect righteousness to us through His life. Holy and blameless and above reproach before God--that is the present status of all those who are in Christ by virtue of His perfect righteousness.
But there is another sense in which this reality lies in our future. Paul says in v. 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….” Now we are reconciled with God. But we still await to be presented to God holy and blameless and above reproach. What is more, he adds, “if indeed you continue in the faith…” (v. 23). There is a sense in which our “continuing” is necessary before we are presented to God at last.
It cannot be denied that our perseverance is necessary for our redemption. We do not say, as some do, that we are saved no matter what we do. Yes, our salvation is only by grace and not by our own works. But the grace that justifies us also sanctifies us. Our salvation is not some kind of indelible stamp that stays with us even if we quit in the middle and deny our faith till the end. Perseverance is necessary.
But in what sense is it necessary? Is it necessary as the final, all-determining factor in our redemption--that is, if we do not continue in the faith, does that annul what Christ has done, not in general but specifically and personally for you and me? Could Christ have died for you personally and specifically and you do not receive salvation because you did not continue in the faith? This is known as the Arminian view: man has the freedom of will to resist God’s grace. Is this true? Is this what Paul is really saying so he can jolt the Colossians out of spiritual complacency and make them work hard with vigilance in their spiritual walk?
Recollect all that we have said about our passage. Remember what Paul said about our former condition--not only alienated but also hostile in mind and doing evil against God. Remember how we are now reconciled with God--not on our own initiative but on Christ’s and by His sacrifice. Remember what kind of sacrifice He made to reconcile with God--by His death. His death was the full payment that was needed for our complete and perfect reconciliation with God. It is unimaginable to think, then, that He made such a sacrifice only with some vague hope that some would respond to His grace and believe and persevere till the end; that He would lend His help, of course, to the willing but it would be ultimately up to them to be saved. Then it would be possible for Christ to have died and nobody be saved. If so, how can Jesus bear the title of “Savior”? He is our Savior because it is He who saves--actually, truly and really. He is no Savior, who simply waits around the sheepfold until we find our way back, is He? He is our Savior because He goes after the lost sheep, the sinner (Luke 15:7), and brings him back Himself and saves him! He cannot be a Savior if He goes only a half way and waits us to do the other half, for us to complete what He has only begun.
Notice also the final goal of His reconciling work in v. 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.” We can say that His work of reconciliation, in one sense, is not completed until the day of our final consummation. Since the work of reconciliation is uniquely His work, it is He who will complete it to the end (cf. Phil. 1:6). He who has reconciled us now is working to present us holy and blameless and above reproach before God.
Then in what sense is our perseverance necessary? As
an attending and on-going evidence of Christ’s redeeming work in us. A good
example is in John 11. There Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead by speaking
into the grave, “Lazarus, come out” (John
The same dynamic is at work in Paul’s words in today’s passage. If we continue in the faith, it is because Christ is at work in us. If we are able to persevere, it is because Christ is preserving us. Go back to the example of Lazarus. The very fact that he was able to exert energy into his body and legs and walk out of the grave was the evidence that Christ’s power of life was at work in him. When Lazarus was dead, he could not walk. The power to walk, then, came from Christ, not from himself. In the same way, we do not have in ourselves the ability to continue in the faith because we were dead in our trespasses and sins. The ability to do so comes from the new life Christ has imparted to us. The very fact that we can continue in the faith is the evidence that the life of Christ is pulsating throughout our mind and heart and soul.
Richard Gaffin, Jr. points us to Romans 8:33, 34 in this regard: “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” No one can condemn us because Christ died for us. But Paul tells us that, more than that, Christ is raised from the dead and is seated at the right hand of God and is interceding for us even now, so that no one can bring charge against God’s elect, even at the Final Judgment! Christ’s redeeming work continues--the salvation He has inaugurated in His death and resurrection, He continues His work to its completion, now as the resurrected Lord of glory, seated at the right hand of God.
And Christ’s prayer is efficacious, perfectly efficacious.
Remember Luke 22? Christ sees Satan entering into Judas’ heart. Later in the
same chapter Christ tells Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed
for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again,
strengthen your brothers” (Luke
Come out--you, who are alienated from God, hostile in mind and doing evil deeds--come out from the grave of spiritual death as the gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached to you! Thereby demonstrate that you have received the life-giving power of Christ!
Also, come out, you lukewarm Christians, from the prison of half-hearted devotion and indifference and spiritual lethargy and complacency! Exert your faith. Exert the strength of faith Christ has given to you as Christ speaks to you! “Come out!” commands Christ through the means of grace. Exert your faith! Put to deeds of faith what you know to be true in demonstration of the new life you possess in Christ! What are you waiting for? Your Lord is eliciting your faith and your obedience by the very ordinary means of grace that He is dispensing now through the preaching of His word. Demonstrate your redemption by your stable and steadfast perseverance in the faith, no matter how hard and challenging your life may be now. Do that now! Do not procrastinate until tomorrow or later. Now is the time.
We are encouraged all the more to do this because it is God, who is preserving us; it is Christ who is interceding for us with His efficacious intercession, even now. When He died for us, He did it to present us before God holy, blameless and above reproach. The only way He will fail to accomplish this goal is if His death can be undone. That day shall certainly come when we shall be free not only from the punishment of our sins and the power of sin but also even from the presence of sin. We will be holy and blameless and above reproach not just in our status but in our character. And we will love our God as He ought to be loved at last. We will enjoy that blessed communion with God, no longer alienated from God our Maker, no longer hostile against Him, no longer doing evil deed, but perfectly in union with our God and Savior forever more! Amen.
© Copyright 2007 by Jeong Woo "James" Lee
All Rights Reserved.