Colossians 1:21-23 (NKJV) 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
The verses above are pretty lengthy. But what they say can be broken down fairly quickly, so let’s take a look at it together, because it’s pretty important stuff.
Paul was addressing the Christians in the Colossian body. In the verses surrounding the 3 mentioned above, he poured his heart out to them, expressing his love, concern and compassion for them.
In verse 21, above, he reminds them that they were once alienated from God because of the things they were involved in, wicked works.
But he wanted them to know that they were now reconciled to God because of the sacrifice that Christ made for us all, rendering them holy, blameless and above reproach in God’s sight.
But here’s the interesting part that we want to emphasize today. One word; “if”.
Paul uses that little two-letter word as a bridge to connect the first part of his teaching to the second part. “If” is the key that makes the whole thing complete.
He said that they are holy, blameless and above reproach, “if” they continued in their faith, steadfast and grounded. And if they are not moved away from the hope of the gospel.
There’s an important lesson there for each of us, too.
It’s critical that we stay steadfast and grounded in our faith. We can’t turn away from it and expect to walk in God’s blessings and favor. We can’t turn our backs on God and expect Him to shower us with blessings and continuously-answered prayers.
We can’t walk away from our faith, or be half-hearted in it and expect our lives not to show fruits of those decisions.
Let’s make sound choices, walking daily in His grace and mercy, choosing to put Him first in everything we do and every choice we make, that we may remain in His favor, holy, blameless and above reproach in His sight.
Amen
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808
401-315-0902
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