Reconciliation means perseverance

George Clayson

Colossians • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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Introduction

How can we stand firm when our faith is being shaken?

When we look at this letter to the Colossians we must always keep in mind the reason why Paul wrote. Paul wrote this letter with a specific purpose in mind. Paul had been informed by Epaphras that the Church at Colosse what being put in danger by false teaching. Heresy was endangering the Church and so Paul wrote this letter in order to combat the heresy and strengthen the Church.

Paul is writing to ensure that the believers at Colosse stand firm in the faith and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel.

In this three verses that is exactly what Paul is doing.

He does this in three ways, first he reminds them about what they were like before they came to Christ, second, he reminds them of what Christ has done for them and third he reminds them about what they must continue to do.

Remember what you were. Remember what Christ has done. Remember what you must do.

The faith of the Colossians was being attacked by false teaching, and Paul seeks to strengthen their faith.

In these verses there is a lot for us to learn, in our lives we have many influences trying to shake our faith in Christ. We battle against flesh, the world and the devil. How can you stand firm when your faith is being shaken?

Paul says; “Remember what you were. Remember what Christ has done. Remember what you must do.”

Three headings- Christians were enemies v.21. Christians are reconciled v.22. Christians must persevere v.23.

Firstly then, Remember what you were.

I. Christians were enemies v.21

Paul begins by reminding the Colossians about what they were like.

In verse 21 he says; “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,”

Here Paul reminds the Colossian Christians that they were once pagan sinners.

“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,”

They were alienated. That means they were estranged and far away from God. They were cut off from the blessings of God.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

They were “Without Christ… having no hope, and without God in the world:” Eph 2:12

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Not only were they alienated from God, they were hostile towards God,

Paul says they were enemies in their minds. There attitude was hostile and hateful towards God.

They were rebels again the Most High God.

Paul is reminding the Colossian Christians that they were not merely apathetic or neutral towards the things of God but they were actively hostile towards them.

They hated God.

Then Paul goes on and says that this hatred, this hostile mindset towards God revealed and showed itself by their sin.

He says “enemies in your minds by wicked works”.

They had a reprobate mind, and this resulted in their wicked works, their evil deeds.

comes to mind.

Paul could have said this about the Colossians;

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

This is a good description of what the Colossians were like before they turned to Christ.

They were pagan sinners.

Immoral. Evil.

Surely this reminder that Paul gave them would have caused the Colossians to rejoice in the fact that they were no longer in that condition.

That is all in the past now.

Their lives were once as black as midnight but now they light has dawned, and Christ has changed them.

This graphic reminder given by Paul would have caused them to rejoice in their Saviour who has been described to them in verses 15-20.

This description of their past would have caused them to adore the God of grace who as v.13 says “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son”

This powerful reminder would have served to stop the Colossians from departing from the truth of the Gospel. It was the true Gospel of Christ that changed them from what they once were.

Paul is reminding them that they need to remain in Christ, their faith in Him must continue. It was by saving faith in Christ that this great change took place. To depart from Christ would mean to go back to pagan immorality.

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Those of us here this morning who know Christ, who have been cleansed from sin by Faith in Him, we could rejoice with those of Colosse had we been there.

The words used to describe them before they came to Christ could have been said about us too.

We were alienated- separated and cut off from God, we did not know God. We were with out understanding and did not seek for God.

We were cut off from all of his blessings. We were strangers to him, darkened in our understanding.

We were also enemies in our minds. We were rebels against God. We hated God.

This all evidenced itself in the way that we chose to live. The things we did, our wicked works.

Christian this is what you were like before you came to Christ.

This was the diagnosis of your life.

This was the summary of relationship with God.

How grateful you should be this morning that it is no longer true.

Just as it all changed for the Colossian Christians so it has changed for you.

Just how they needed to be reminded of this fact, so we must be reminded. We were dead in sin before Christ saved us and changed us. We should dread the thought of ever returning to what we once were.

Remembering what we were like should make us cling to Christ this morning.

Are you struggling with doubts this morning? Remember what you were like before Christ changed you.

But if you are here this morning and you are not a Christian, then dear friend this is you this morning.

You are alienated from God. You do not know him, you are a stranger to him.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

More than that you are a rebel against him, you are his enemy. Your mindset and attitude are against him.

This is proven by your wicked works as Paul puts it, it is shown by the sins you commit each day in open defiance against God.

These are strong words but these are the words used in the Word of God to describe people who are without Christ.

But thankfully all of this changed for the Colossians.

It has changed for those of us who are in Christ.

And it can change for those who will put their trust in Jesus Christ.

Paul reminds the Colossians about their past. They were enemies. Next he goes on to speak about the present.

God in his grace has stepped in and changed everything.

Remember what Christ has done.

II. Christians are reconciled

Christians were enemies next Paul says Christians are reconciled.

After describing their dreadful past Paul continues with the words; “Yet now”

These two words prepare us for a great change.

“Yet now hath he reconciled in the Body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.”

Here Paul reminds the Colossians that now they have been reconciled.

Reconciled means that the hostility has been taken away. Though they were once the enemies of God, now they are the friends of God.

He reminds them how they have been reconciled and why they have been reconciled.

He reminds them about the procedure and the purpose.

He reminds them about the method and the motive.

a)How?

Firstly then the how.

Paul reminds the Colossians that they had been reconciled by Christ he says “Yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death.”

Jesus Christ was the one who reconciled them to God and he did so by his death upon the cross.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Paul tells the Colossians that Christ took on a physical body and it was in this body of flesh that he reconciled them to God.

He did this through his death.

Here Paul is reminding the Colossians that it was not because of their own merit or good works, they were enemies remember. But it was because of the death of Christ that they were accepted before God.

But it was because of the death of Christ that they were accepted before God.

Jesus Christ by dying upon the cross, paid for the guilt of their sin, so that they could be freely forgiven by God.

The punishment that was their due reward for their wicked works was taken by Christ on the cross.

They like sheep had gone astray, they had turned every one to his own way and the LORD had laid upon Jesus Christ the iniquity of them all.

The hymn reminds us;

Jesus Paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.

This is what Christ had done for the Colossians and in His death and full payment of their sin, he had reconciled them to God.

They needed to stand firm in their faith in Christ, he reconciled them to God by his death. In Christ they have reconciliation with out Christ they have hostility and separation.

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Christ has done the same us this morning. Those of us who are his have been reconciled back to God because of the full atonement that he made upon the cross.

Not because of any good in us but because of his substitutionary death upon the cross, because he died in our place.

Knowing this should cause us to rejoice. Our acceptance before God isn’t dependant on what we can do but upon what Christ has done.

We need to

If you are not a believer this morning then without Christ their is no reconciliation.

He alone died upon the cross to pay for sin, and he alone can reconcile you to God by removing the enmity.

You need to turn from your sin and turn to Christ by true faith in order to receive this reconciliation.

That’s the how. That was the procedure, that was the method; By Christ’s death upon the cross.

But why, why has God reconciled the Christians at Colosse? For what Purpose?

b)Why?

Paul reminds the Colossians why. He says “to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:”

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Here is the purpose, here is the motive for reconciling them to God. Christ did it so that they could be justified in God’s sight.

Christ died for them in order to present them Holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.

The word holy means consecrated to God, set apart from sin and set apart for God’s glory.

Unblameable means with out blemish, the imagery used here is that of the sacrifices of the OT a lamb had to be perfect with out any defect. This is how Christ will present the believer.

The word unreproveable comes from the court room and means free from accusation. No one will be able to point the finger and accuse the one who is reconciled.

comes to mind “who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”

Christ has reconciled the Christians at Colosse so that at the last day, on the day of judgement they mind be presented to God as a perfect bride. Holy, unblameable and unreproveable.

The reason they will be all of these things is not because they are good in themselves but because the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them. Christ is infinitely holy, totally unblameable and absolutely unreproveable and this merit of Christs is given to those who are reconciled.

says “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

2 Corinthians 5 ESV

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is what Christ had done in his body of flesh through death, reconciled believers so that he can present them holy, unblameable and unreproveable in his sight. Justified, sanctified and glorified.

Paul is reminding them of all that Christ has done for them. The false teaching trying to infiltrate the church there was trying to say that Christ wasn’t enough. Here Paul is reminding them that Christ is enough, he is all they need. In him is full salvation. On the great day of judgement all they need is Christ. They must cling to him.

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What can be said about the believers in Colosse can be said about us here this morning.

When they are presented to God with the righteousness of Christ we will be too. When they appear before God holy, unblameable, unreproveable so will we.

That means that although as a Christian you still sin and make mistakes one day you will stand before God as though you had never sinned. Perfect in his sight, clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

Paul reminded the Colossians about this so that they would cling to Christ and their faith would not be shaken. When we are reminded about our reconciliation. How Christ achieved it by His death and why he did it, that he might present us holy, unblameable and unreproveable in his sight this should encourage us to remain faithful to Him no matter what we are going.

Are things happening in your life that are shaking your faith?

Remember Christs death for you. Remember how you have been justified, one day you will stand before God with the righteousness of Christ as your own.

Christians were enemies, Christians are reconciled.

Finally, Paul reminds them about what they must do.

Christians must persevere.

III. Christians must persevere

In verse 23 it is as if Paul is saying remember what you must do. He describes what they were like, what Christ has done for them and then he says this;

Look with me a v.23 “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel.”

In this verse Paul is saying all of this is true if you persevere in the faith.

Paul says “If ye continue...”

He knew that there was a danger of false teaching entering the church at Colosse and leading people astray, here he is warning them that they must continue in the faith, they must persevere in the truth of the Gospel.

Paul says they must continue in the faith Grounded and settled. The language used here by Paul is that of a firm foundation. The kind of language that would be used in building.

Just as a tall building needs a good solid foundation, it needs to be grounded, so the Colossians needed to be grounded in the faith.

Then Paul says not only what they must do but also what they must not do.

They must not “Be moved away from the hope of the Gospel.”

They must not shift from the firm hope that they have in Christ.

Simply Paul is saying “you must continue to stand firm.”

This verse has been used by many to try and teach that Christians can lose their salvation, that if they do not continue in the faith they will go to hell.

Of course we know that the teaching of Scripture is clear that those whom God saves, he keeps.

“Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” Those who predestined are called, justified and Glorified.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Jesus said in “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand”

Those who are the elect will persevere to the end.

Here Paul is saying, as the elect they must persevere.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

One commentator said this ““If it is true that the saints will persevere to the end, then it is equally true that the saints must persevere to the end”

In fact we know when someone has true saving faith because they do persevere to the end.

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

That’s because those who God saves he keeps.

The Colossians were kept by the power of God and because of this they had to keep on keeping on.

C H Spurgeon said “I hold because I’m held.”

The scripture holds these two truths in tension.

C H Spurgeon said “I hold because I’m held.”

Because the Colossians were held, Paul urges them to keep holding.

Those who are saved will persevere and must persevere.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.”

Those who do not persevere to the end were never truly converted in the first place.

King James Version Chapter 2

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

As says “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”

Of course true Christians can backslide for some time but will always be restored, they will never totally fall away.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

The word of God teaches that true Christians will never be moved away from the hope of the Gospel, here Paul warns the Christians at Colosse to not be moved away from the hope of the Gospel.

Then in the final part of the Verse he reminds them which Gospel he is speaking about. The true Gospel.

He says its the same Gospel “Which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; where of I Paul am made a minister.”

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The same instruction that Paul gave to the Colossians, is given to us this morning.

Continue in the faith, grounded, settled. Do not be moved away form the hope of the Gospel.

Persevere to the end dear saint.

Keep on keeping on.

Paul knew the danger the Colossians were in and he urged them to continue in the faith.

We face a similar danger in our walk with the Lord, the world, the flesh and the devil are seeking to take you away from Christ. You must continue in the faith.

The good news is that we can and we will, because we are kept by the power of God. But because we will persevere to the end, that means we must persevere to the end.

Maybe you have started to waiver recently, your faith is being shaken. You must continue in the faith grounded and settled, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

Conclusion

In these verses Paul provides the remedy for when a Christians faith is being shaken.

The Colossian Church was being endangered by false teaching that sought to take the believers away from the truth of the Gospel.

Paul’s solution was to remind them about important truths.

Maybe you are going through things in your life now that are putting strain on your walk with the Lord.

Remember what Christ has done- Christians are reconciled

Remember what you must do- Christians must persevere.

A three fold cord is not easily broken.

Maybe you are gacing things in your life now that are putting strain on your walk with the Lord.

Pain or sorrow.

Unrepentant sin.

Doubts.

How can you stand firm when your faith is being shaken?

Remember what you were with out Christ- Christians were enemies.

Remember what Christ has done- Christians are reconciled

Remember what you must do- Christians must persevere.

A three fold cord is not easily broken.