In v15-20 Paul gives us a beautiful hymn in honour of Christ. He speaks about Christ's role as creator, head of the church, and as the agent of reconciliation. Having outlined cosmic reconciliation, Paul now has something to say about personal reconciliation. This then is the thrust of our passage for study.

v21. In v20 Paul tells us that Christ's work of reconciliation achieves "peace" for "all thing". He now brings the notion of reconciliation, and its end "peace", down to a personal level. The believers in Colossae were, like Paul, once estranged from God by sin. Their state was one of enmity, rather than peace. They had no peace with God, and therefore were not at peace with each other.

v22. Yet, this enmity no longer exists because of Christ's reconciling work. The believer achieves peace with God through Christ's physical death. Paul does not go on to explain how Christ's death can move the sinner from their state of condemnation to one of acceptance before God. An exposition of the atonement is obviously outside his brief at this point in time. Here Paul focuses on the results of Christ's death. Peace with God, reconciliation, through Christ's sacrificial death, involves being presented before God holy, without blemish, and thus free from accusation. Identification with Christ involves the transfer of our sin to Christ on the cross, and the imputation of his righteous. Therefore, we stand totally approved before God, holy and acceptable, and thus reconciled and at peace with Him. We have full salvation now. This point obviously serves to counter the Colossian heretics who see full salvation as something achieved through law-obedience.

v23a. As for perseverance in this hope (full salvation now), it is not dependent on progression in the Christian life through faithful obedience (sanctification by works), rather, it is dependent upon a continued trust in Jesus. The gospel promises the gift of eternal life through faith in Christ. This gift is always ours while faith remains. Disobedience, failure, not even weak faith, is able to separate us from God's free gift of life in Christ. While we believe, we live.

v23b. This message of God's grace in Christ (the gospel) was proclaimed at Colossae, as well as throughout the known world. It is a message for all mankind; it is a message that transcends race. Paul, the persecutor of the church, is now one of its main communicators.

Presented holy in God's sight, without blemish, free from accusation:

Once alienated

Now reconciled

Always reconciled

From my early days in youth fellowship, I was aware of the ease with which people moved in and out of Christianity. For many young people, youth fellowship was little more than a place for socializing. Nothing wrong with socializing, and the local church did well to provide a safe place for teens to gather and interact, yet the lives of those young people did not necessarily intersect with Christ.

What concerned me was the large number of young people who took up the faith with gusto, only to walk away from it once they were through their teens. Christianity was the social environment for the moment and they simply adjusted to this environment while they found their adult legs. They certainly revisited the church when they wanted to get married or have their children baptized. They would often send their children to the church youth club, and at times, even attended Sunday services themselves. There is nothing wrong with this minimal, or what we often call "nominal" church association, but none of it touched the substance of faith.

In my own reaction to the socializing, enculturating influence of church, I tended to programme youth activities outside of a Christian environment. My only focus was to remind the kids that there was a God and that Jesus was the way into his presence. "If you want to be with Jesus for eternity, just ask him. He'll never let you go." Very few took up the offer, and this only served to further convince me that much of the people-management activities undertaken to grow institutional churches, serves only to bolster the institution rather than gather the lost. People-management serves to grow the dynamic youth fellowship, build the attending congregation, but rarely does it build the kingdom of God.

These days, when I hear of objectives like growing our congregations by 10%, I actually cringe. I can't imagine Jesus telling the twelve that he wanted the apostolic band to grow by 10% over the next year. The gathering of an alienated people progresses through faith in Christ on a hearing of the gospel. The retention of a reconciled people is realized in the same way, through a word-centered faith in Christ. None of the machinations of human organization impinge on this reality.

1. Why are we alienated from God?

2. How are we reconciled?

3. How do we "continue" in our standing, "established and firm"?