Colossians

1:21-23

2. The person and work of Christ, 1:15-23

Reconciliation

In v15-20 Paul, in a beautiful hymn in honor of Christ, presents Jesus as the exalted Lord of the universe, Lord over all powers, supernatural or otherwise. 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 how this reconciliation applies to the Colossians. "For this gift of reconciliation to remain theirs, they must continue in the faith", Pfitzner. Paul concludes in a way that leads into the next section. He does this by commenting on the gospel and his role as a minister of the gospel.

In the Greek these three verses form one sentence with the main verb apikathllaxen, "he reconciled", modified by four adverbial participles. Harris structures the sentence nicely:

"And you

at one time estranged ..., v21a (previous state)

but now he reconciled ...., v22a (present condition)

in order to present you ...., v22b (purpose of reconciliation)

    provided you continue .... v23a (condition of presentation)"

kai uJmaV "once you" - and you. Paul now applies his words concerning reconciliation to "you" Gentiles.

pote "once" - at one time, formerly. Not one particular point in time, but generally "you used to be ....." lost, estranged .... and therefore in need of reconciliation.

ontaV aphllotriwmenouV (apollitriow) perf. pas. part. "you were alienated from [God]" - being foreigners, strangers. A perfect periphrastic construction formed by the present tense of the verb to-be + the perfect participle of "alienate". The verb to-be is also a participle, probably forming an adverbial clause temporal, "when you were estranged." The passive, "having been alienated/estranged", implies that something has happened in the past to alienate the Gentiles from God, but this is probably not the intended sense. Their state of being in a lost condition is the likely sense - they were far away from God, did not know him as a friend. "Time was, when you were estranged from God", Cassirer.

th/ dianoia/ (a) dat. "[were enemies] in your minds" - [enemies/hostile] in the mind/thinking/attitude. The dative of "mind" is probably locative, expressing where the Gentiles are enemies of God. Possibly "hostile in attitude" = an intended hostility toward God. The relationship of this phrase, along with the following one, with "alienated from God", is open to speculation. For example, Lightfoot suggests that both phrases describe how the Gentiles are far away from God - they are far away in their "intentions" and in their "evil works." "You were God's enemies, both in your thinking and in your evil deeds."

en + dat. "because of [your evil behavior]" - by/in [works evil]. This preposition can give a causal sense, so the NIV, "because". Yet, surely evil behaviour is caused by a "hostile attitude / enemies in your mind" toward divine truth. "Godlessness naturally leads to evil actions", O'Brien; their attitude was evil and so as a result, their deeds were evil. So the preposition is probably instrumental expressing "the means by which the enmity located in the disposition comes to expression", Moo; "[God's] enemies in heart and mind, as your evil deeds showed", REB.

In this verse, the three adjectives, holy, pure and faultless, describe the blameless state of a believer in the presence of God through the sacrificial death of Christ. All three start with the letter alpha A, heightening the impact of the clause through alliteration. They are also words that have a cultic background, as does "present", ie. present a sacrifice to God.

nuni "[but] now" - Intensive form of "now". The "now" may be this moment in time, but more likely it is the time in history when God has acted in Christ.

apokathllaxen (apokatallassw) aor. "he has reconciled you" - he reconciled. The aorist "he reconciled" following the perfect "having been alienated" may seem a problem in time terms, but the different tenses describe two states. The Colossians were in one state, but because of a definitive act by Christ, they are now in another. Textual variants include a passive participle "having been reconciled" and the passave "have been reconciled." Irrespective of the textual varients, the meaning is clear: "God has restored your relationship with him", "God has made you his friends."

en + dat. "by" - in/by. The preposition is taken as instrumental by the NIV, "by", ie. God has reconciled us by means of Christ's sacrificial death on the cross (lit. by the body of his flesh [physical body] through the death). Yet it could be locative, "in", ie. we are reconciled to God in our participation in / identification with the person of Christ, (dia = expressing the means) "through" his death on the cross. Both possibilities are theologically sound.

parasthsai (paristhmi) aor. inf. "to present" - present, bring into the presence of, stand by. The verb is probably transitive, with God as the subject and "you" the object, but note JB. opts for intransitive, "now you are able to appear before him." The infinitive probably forms a final clause expressing purpose, "in order to present you / bring you into his presence ...", NRSV. The sense is of a future presentation in glory. Yet it may form a consecutive clause expressing result, "to cause you to stand before him ....". The sense is then of a present reality, we even now stand before our God, perfect in his sight through the blood of Christ. Most commentators go with the first option, but the second is also theologically sound.
     

ei ge + pres. ind. "if" - if indeed. The ge is added for emphasis. Introducing a conditional clause, 3rd. class, where the condition is assumed to be true, "if, as is the case, ..... then .....", ie. Paul is sure that the Colossians will continue in their faith. The apadosis, the then clause, is actually v22. Being presented holy in God's sight is conditional, it belongs to the believer, "provided that / as long as you continue in your faith ..."

epimenete (epimenw) pres. "continue" - remain, abide, continue. Describing an active perseverance rather than just a static abiding in faith.

th/ pistei (iV ewV) dat. "in your faith" - in the faith. The NIV has taken the article to represent the personal pronoun "your", but it can be read as "the faith". The dative may be instrumental, "continue by means of faith", ie. by means of exercising your faith/trust in Christ. Yet, it is more likely locative, "continue in your faith/trust." The object of this trust is possibly Christ, but more likely the gospel - "persevere in your trust of the gospel."

teqemeliwmenoi (qemeliow) perf. pas. part. "established [and firm]" - having been founded, established [and steadfast]. The participle is adverbial, modal, expressing the manner of the abiding; "if at least you continue firm and steadfast in the exercise of faith", Goodspeed.

metakinoumenoi (metakinew) pas/mid part "[not] moved [from]" - moving away, shifting from. Either passive, "removed", or middle, eg. "never letting yourself drift away", JB. The negated participle is adverbial, modal, expressing in a negative way the manner of the abiding, and forms a participial clause covering the rest of the verse; "if you adhere ....., instead of shifting from the hope you have learned in the gospel .... which has been preached to every creature under heaven and of which I Paul have been made a minister", Moffatt.

thV elpidoV (iV idoV) "the hope" - The hope is the promise of an eternal right-standing in the sight of God through faith in the faithfulness of Christ, which promise is contained in the gospel.

tou euanneliou ou| hkousate "held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard" - of the news which you heard. The genitive "gospel" is probably best understood as possessive, "the hope that belongs to / is attached to the gospel." The gospel, news, important news (not necessarily good news for those who don't believe) details/contains the hope of glory, the promise of salvation. This divine message, the Colossians heard and believed.

tou khruxqentoV (khrussw) aor. pas. part. "that has been proclaimed" - the one having been proclaimed/preached [to all creation under heaven]. Note how the NIV has supplied the subject, "gospel". The participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting/describing "gospel". Paul crafts two clauses informing us about the gospel. In the first he makes the point that the gospel has been preached throughout the world, which for Paul means the Roman Empire (also possibly "to every creature" ie. all mankind. Certainly the next phrase, "beneath the arch of heaven", carries this sense).

egenomhn (ginomai) aor. "have become" - [of which] became [I Paul a minister]. The second clause tells us that Paul is a minister of the gospel. Paul sees himself as a servant of the gospel, in that he proclaims it.

Colossians Introduction

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