And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, 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. Col. 1:21-23 ESV
Before we came to faith in Jesus Christ, we were hostile to
God in our minds and in our hearts. We may not feel that we were, but the flesh
is at war with the Spirit, and the Spirit is at war with the flesh. So, when we
live in the flesh, to do what our flesh desires, we are hostile towards God in
our minds.
Therefore, we were separated from God, without hope of
eternal life with God, and without salvation from sin. For, all have sinned and
have come up short of attaining God’s divine approval and his righteousness and
holiness. For, not one of us can be saved from our sins in and of ourselves. We
cannot earn or deserve our own salvation, no matter how good we feel we are
(Rom. 3:23; Eph. 2:8-9).
But God, in his great love for us, sent God the Son to the
earth, to take on our humanity, and to suffer and die on a cross so that we
could be liberated from our sinful condition and from our slavery to sin, and
so we could be acceptable to God, and so we could have eternal life with God
(Rom. 6:1-23; Phil. 2:1-11; 1 Co. 6:20; 2 Co. 5:15, 21; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Pet.
2:24).
Now, by God-given faith in Jesus Christ, we can be delivered
from our sinful condition and our slavery to sin, we can have the hope of
eternal life with God, and we can, in the power of God, walk righteously before
our God.
And, this salvation of the Spirit of God means we die with
Christ to sin and to our self-life, we are reborn of the Spirit of God
(spiritually), and that we now have the empowerment of the Spirit to live holy
lives, pleasing to God.
ONCE WE WERE
So, that also gives credence to this opening verse where it
says that we ONCE were alienated from and hostile in our minds towards God,
doing evil deeds. That means that our old lives of living in the flesh were
done away with through our faith in Jesus Christ in death with Christ to sin,
and through our resurrection with Christ, to newness of life in Him, created to
be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24).
So, that also means that we ONCE were (in the past) doing
(practicing) evil deeds, too. That means that we should no longer be doing evil
deeds, as a matter of practice in our lives. It doesn’t mean we will never sin
again, but that sin should no longer be what we practice. It should no longer
have control and dominion over our lives now that Jesus has set us free. Amen!
For, Jesus Christ died that horrible death on a cross, and
he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of
God. He died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that
we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us.
For, in his death he redeemed us (bought us back for God) that we would now be
God’s possession and that we would live our lives for his glory (1 Co. 6:20; 2
Co. 5:15, 21; 1 Pet. 2:24; Tit. 2:11-14).
He didn’t die on that cross for us just to forgive us our
sins and to promise us heaven when we die, and he didn’t die on that cross just
to make us positionally righteous in his sight. He died to transform us away
from our self-lives, away from our sinful addictions, and to conform us to his
likeness.
IF WE DO
Too many people these days are teaching unconditional
salvation. Yes, it is true that we do nothing to earn or to deserve our own
salvation. We cannot work our way into heaven or into God’s graces. We can
never be acceptable to God by our own works of our own flesh. We will always
fall short.
But, our faith in Jesus Christ is not absent of works (Tit.
2:11-14; Eph. 2:10; Jas. 1:22-27; Jas. 2:14-26; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1
Jn. 2:3-6).
And, scripture is real clear on this issue. We must walk (in
lifestyle) according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God, and we must not
walk according to the flesh, if we want to have eternal life with God. Sin
should no longer be what we practice. If it is, then we don’t have eternal life
with God, but a fearful expectation of the fires of hell and eternal punishment
(Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Eph. 5:3-6).
So, this is why it says here that IF we continue in our
faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that we
heard (providing we heard the true gospel as Paul taught it) that we are
reconciled to God and God presents us as holy and blameless and as above
reproach before him. For, our faith in Jesus Christ is present tense and it is
continuous.
[Other IF verses: Jn. 8:31-32; Rom. 11:17-24; I Co. 15:2; II
Tim 2:10-13; Heb. 3:6, 14-15; 2 Pet. 1:5-11; I Jn. 2:24-25.]
STABLE AND STEADFAST
Our faith in Jesus Christ, if it is the kind that saves us
from our sins, is God-given and it is divinely persuaded, and thus it submits
to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, it repents of sin, and it walks in obedience
to Christ’s commands (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 2:8-10; Eph. 4:17-18; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
This does not mean we are perfect and that we never sin
again, but it means we have been turned from light to darkness, and from the
power of Satan to God, so that we can receive forgiveness of sins and a place
among those sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 26:16-18).
So, if we are to remain stable and steadfast in our faith,
this is not about holding on to some confession of faith we made at one point
in our lives whereby we were promised heaven as our eternal destiny. It means
we are steadily and consistently and persistently walking by faith according to
the Spirit of God and we are not walking (in practice) according to our flesh.
And, not shifting from the hope of the gospel is also not
about not relinquishing our belief that heaven is our eternal home. For, the gospel
of Jesus Christ isn’t just about our eternal destiny. It is about our heart
transformation of the Spirit of God away from living for sin and self to living
for God and his righteousness. So, we are not to shift from this in our
conduct, in our attitudes and in our practices (our habits).
We have to continue in walking according to the Spirit and
not according to the flesh. We have to persist in righteous and holy living and
not give the devil a foothold in our lives by playing with sin. We have to be
honest in our dealings with others, and tell the truth. We have to be pure in
heart and mind, and not be taking in the filth of the world via various media
sources.
For, you know why the gospel is such “good news”? It is
because it teaches us that God’s grace instructs us to say “NO!” to ungodliness
and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while
we wait for Christ’s return. It is because it teaches us that Jesus died to
deliver us out of our bondage to sin and to free us to become slaves of his
righteousness (Tit. 2:11-14; Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24).
If all he does is just forgive us our sins and promise us
heaven when we die, but he leaves us still dead in our sins, still bound to
sinful addictions, feeling as though we are always going to be stuck in a rut
of “sin confess sin confess,” then that is no hope at all. That is hell on
earth! But, the good news is Jesus died to set us free from our sinful
addictions and to empower us to live godly, holy and upright lives while we
wait his soon return!
Songs
in the Night
An Original Work / December 18, 2013
“About
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other
prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84
Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.
I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!
Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.
I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!
Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.
Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!
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