No longer enemies
This week is on Colossians 1:21-23:
These verses are a great summary of the Christian faith. A lot of heresy and misconceptions could be neatly put to rest if people would read them. You have sin, the cross, salvation, and devotion all in one small paragraph. And it's all true.
We were once alienated from God and enemies of him before we were Christians. Enemies have opposing goals and beliefs. Enemies compete for resources. Enemies try to exert their will over those they oppose. We did evil while God wanted good. We were alienated from God, the same as someone would be alienated if transplanted into the land of their enemies. But that is all in the past.
We are no longer alienated from God, nor are we his enemies, nor do we continue to only do evil. People act as though God is our enemy who begrudgingly tolerates us, but that is not how things are. Christ actually died in order to bring that phase of our lives to a permanent eternal end. We were alienated once, but no longer. Let that sink in a bit.
If we continue in our faith, we continue to be holy and not evil. We continue not to be enemies. There's a conditional there. We can't just accept Christ on the street when some evangelist walks up to us, and then go back to being an atheist or whatever, continuing to do evil and to distance ourselves from God. We have to live as though the gospel is true, acknowledging those facts in our life choices and beliefs.
But what does that mean? What hope is there in the gospel? How do we establish ourselves firmly on it? The answer is right in the paragraph: We were enemies, and now we are not, and that change is due to Christ's physical sacrifice. The hope is that we will live eternally without condemnation because of that sacrifice. Being firmly established on that means not throwing it out when it becomes boring or inconvenient.
So if we find ourselves believing that we are alienated from God, we are not holding onto that hope. And if we are believing that Christ's sacrifice wasn't necessary for us, we are outside of the life of faith Paul describes. Ask yourself: Do I feel like my relationship with God is on good terms and that he is pleased when I approach him in prayer? If not, you may need to remind yourself of these verses and the truth they convey. We are no longer enemies. We are no longer alienated from God. A huge price was paid in order for that to happen.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
These verses are a great summary of the Christian faith. A lot of heresy and misconceptions could be neatly put to rest if people would read them. You have sin, the cross, salvation, and devotion all in one small paragraph. And it's all true.
We were once alienated from God and enemies of him before we were Christians. Enemies have opposing goals and beliefs. Enemies compete for resources. Enemies try to exert their will over those they oppose. We did evil while God wanted good. We were alienated from God, the same as someone would be alienated if transplanted into the land of their enemies. But that is all in the past.
We are no longer alienated from God, nor are we his enemies, nor do we continue to only do evil. People act as though God is our enemy who begrudgingly tolerates us, but that is not how things are. Christ actually died in order to bring that phase of our lives to a permanent eternal end. We were alienated once, but no longer. Let that sink in a bit.
If we continue in our faith, we continue to be holy and not evil. We continue not to be enemies. There's a conditional there. We can't just accept Christ on the street when some evangelist walks up to us, and then go back to being an atheist or whatever, continuing to do evil and to distance ourselves from God. We have to live as though the gospel is true, acknowledging those facts in our life choices and beliefs.
But what does that mean? What hope is there in the gospel? How do we establish ourselves firmly on it? The answer is right in the paragraph: We were enemies, and now we are not, and that change is due to Christ's physical sacrifice. The hope is that we will live eternally without condemnation because of that sacrifice. Being firmly established on that means not throwing it out when it becomes boring or inconvenient.
So if we find ourselves believing that we are alienated from God, we are not holding onto that hope. And if we are believing that Christ's sacrifice wasn't necessary for us, we are outside of the life of faith Paul describes. Ask yourself: Do I feel like my relationship with God is on good terms and that he is pleased when I approach him in prayer? If not, you may need to remind yourself of these verses and the truth they convey. We are no longer enemies. We are no longer alienated from God. A huge price was paid in order for that to happen.
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