Colossians 1:21-23 Translation and Commentary

Colossians 1:21-23 Translation and Commentary

Will Nielsen

November 14th, 2006

NA27

21 Καὶ ὑμᾶς ποτε ὄντας ἀπηλλοτριωμένους a καὶ ἐχθροὺς b τῇ διανοίᾳ c ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς , 22 νυνὶ δὲ ἀποκατήλλαξεν ἐν τῷ σώματι τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου παραστῆσαι d ὑμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους e καὶ ἀνεγκλήτους f κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ , 23 εἴ γε ἐπιμένετε τῇ πίστει τεθεμελιωμένοι g καὶ ἑδραῖοι καὶ μὴ μετακινούμενοι h ἀπὸ τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ εὐαγγελίου οὗ κούσατε , τοῦ κηρυχθέντος ἐν πάσῃ κτίσει τῇ ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν , οὗ ἐγενόμην ἐγὼ αῦλος διάκονος.

Translation

21 And you, who were once alienated and hostile in disposition by evil works, 22 he now [i] has reconciled in his fleshly body through death in order to render you holy, blameless and irreproachable before him 23 if indeed you continue in the faith(fulness), founded, steadfast and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Commentary

One sentence that draws a dramatic temporal contrast is presented here. In the context of a very warm and pastoral letter to the Colossian church, Paul reminds them of where they came from. It is part of who they are and helps them, by showing them what they are not, to see more clearly their destination in Christ Jesus – and the wonder of getting there.On the one hand, Paul reminds them of their stature apart from Christ and before he irrupted into their lives. It is a sober reminder that we in the modern church shy away from or even ignore. We who have been made rich in Christ are paupers in our own right. He reminds them that Christians are those who hunger and thirst after a righteousness that they do not themselves have.However, on the other hand, on the other side of the blood of his Cross (v 20) there is peace and reconciliation to God. That reconciliation is not without effect. Christ’s death purposed that those whom he bought would be made holy, blameless and irreproachable without exception. That is the destination of the Christian pilgrimage.

Do not stumble over Paul’s language here, when he says, “if you continue in the faith”. There is one faith, one baptism and one Lord. There is only one way to be reconciled to God according to Scripture and that is through the blood of Christ’s cross. Christians believe that they are united to Christ by faith alone and that this union to Christ is in his life, death and resurrection. In other words, we go where Christ our Captain has gone before. We know that the Christian cannot fail in this because Christ has bound himself to the believer. Only believers would continue in the faith, while failing to continue in the faith would demonstrate that one had never been bound to the one Person who was ever truly faithful to God, the Lord Jesus.

Our union with Christ guarantees not only our justification but also our sanctification and glorification. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Sola fides justificat, sed non fides sola.