Elder Ko Swee Chay

Unblameable in Holiness before God

Introduction
"In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight." (Col 1:22).
"To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." (1 Thess 3:13).

These two Bible verses contained in the letters written by Apostle Paul to the believers in Colossae and to the church of the Thessalonians respectively, sum up the divine purpose for believers after salvation and the divine expectation at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s people are to be prepared and have confidence when they stand before the judgment seat of Christ. As believers, we ought to know and constantly remind ourselves of this divine purpose and expectation, to live daily a life that is "holy and unblameable and unreproveable" in the sight of God.

Understanding God’s Requirements & Expectation
Holy/Holiness
In Greek, these words basically mean separation from what is common or unclean, and consecration to God. In other words, it is to be made holy, or made free from sin. Holiness is in relation to God, not measured against man’s view and standard. The phrase "in holiness" means that we are holy not merely in outward conduct, or the observance of religious rites and practices, but in purity and cleanliness of heart. Holiness is not equal to sinless perfection, but the awareness of sin, hatred for sin and the desire to get rid of sin and not to commit sin. Holiness is required of all who would go to heaven; and we must act so that we do not contradict the profession we make of holiness, for God is holy and there is no sin in heaven. The holiness for which the apostle Paul prays in 1 Thess 3:13 comes up again in 1 Thess 4:1-8: "To walk and to please God, . . . to abstain from fornication, . . . to possess our vessel in sanctification and honour, not in the lust of concupiscence, . . . that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter, . . . for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God who hath also given unto us his holy spirit." Daily we are to watch and guard our thinking, our speech, our deeds and our desires, making sure that they are aligned with God’s Holy Word.
Unblameable (or Blameless)
To be "unblameable" is to "not be responsible for or guilty of a mistake or something bad." The meaning is, so that there could be no "charge", or to be free from "all valid charges" or "accusation" against them. To be "unblameable" is not sinlessness. An unblameable person deals with any wrong immediately without any excuses. He does not cover up shortcomings and sin. In a spiritual sense, "unblameable" means "without blame or blemish, spotless", as applied to Christ "a lamb without blemish and without spot" in 1 Pet 1:19.
"unblamable in holiness before God": This refers to both in soul and body, in the sight of God, who in His judgment looks at the hearts. Gill has rightly explained that "There is no holiness in men naturally; what is in them without the grace of God is only a show; true holiness is from the Spirit of God; and this is a stable thing in itself, and can never be removed or taken away… yet through the grace of God their hearts may be so established with principles of holiness, and they may be so assisted in the acts of it daily, as to give no just cause of blame to men, and so to behave as to approve themselves "before God", who sees the heart, and knows from what principles all actions flow."
"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfectingholiness in the fear of God" (2 Cor 7:1).

Unreproveable
This means that there can be no criticism, no blame, no disapproval or accusation against something that someone has done. A person who is unreprovable is one who gives no occasion for his being brought to a law court. Barnes has astutely stated that "There will be none to accuse them (God’s people) before God; or they will be free from all accusation. The law will not accuse them - for the death of their Redeemer has done as much to honor it as their own punishment would have done; God will not accuse them - for he has freely forgiven them; their consciences will not accuse them - for their sins will all have been taken away, and they will enjoy the favour of God as if they had not sinned; holy angels will not accuse them - for they will welcome them to their society; and even Satan will not accuse them - for he will have seen that their piety is sincere, and that they are truly what they profess to be."

Apostle Paul is pleading for the Lord to "stablish" our hearts unblameable in holiness before God at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. As believers, this should be our heart’s cry and our deep desire; this should guide us daily in our thoughts, our words and our deeds; this should help us on how to relate to others – our parents, our spouses, our children, our friends, our colleagues and brothers and sisters in the church.

Means to Attain God’s Requirements & Expectations
Pray earnestly for persevering Faith, Love and Hope
Paul gives this exhortation to believers at Colossae: "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven ….." (Col 1:23); and he prays these prayers for the Thessalonians: "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of our God and our Father." (1 Thess 1:3); "Day and night praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in the faith. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men …" (1 Thess 3:10 & 12). [emphasis added]

On Faith - The whole Christian life is built upon faith with the Bible as the foundation. This is known as Christian or objective faith. The word "faith" in Col 1:23 is the Christian faith. In 1 Thess. 3:10, the word "faith" is known as Believer’s or subjective faith which God gives to all believers at the point of salvation, which enables us to receive the gospel and believe in it. In Rom 1:17 Paul teaches us "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH"; and in Heb 10:38, we read "Now THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. BUT IF ANY MAN DRAW BACK, MY SOUL SHOULD HAVE NO PLEASURE IN HIM." (cf. Hab 2:4). [emphases added] Apostle Paul sought to impress upon us these important things concerning the believer’s faith: we can expect a happy end to our faith only when we continue in the Christian faith which is grounded and settled in the gospel and not move away from it, and when we continue to grow in maturity from faith to faith – this begins in faith and ends in faith, and praying for faith to be made perfect. In Col 2, Paul gives further elaboration on the idea of being "rooted in faith": "…. the stedfastness of your faith in Christ." (Col 2:5); "Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught…." (Col 2:7). In 1 Thess 4 & 5, Paul tells us what he found lacking in the faith of the believers in Thessalonica. Some of the issues were related to moral concerns (1 Thess 4:1-8) and doctrinal issues (1 Thess 4:13 - 5:11). We all need to reflect on our lives. Are we also lacking in the faith?

On Love – From 1 Thess 1:12-13, it becomes clear that the Lord makes His people to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men, to the end that Christ may stablish (establish) our hearts unblameable in holiness before God. Which is true, for holiness without love to men is not truthful and is for show and is in vain and is blameable. Love itself is a great part of holiness; and who will blame holiness when love is the cause and motive? The following two verses sum up the power and greatness of love with regard to holiness: "Above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfection." (Col 3:14); "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sin." (1 Pet 4:8). Holiness in love will be unblameable before God and men. Paul prayed for the believers in Colossae "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love …." (Col 2:2) and further discussed the subject of "love toward one another, and toward all men" in 1 Thess 4:9-12. Jesus said unto one of the Pharisees, a lawyer, "THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF." (Matt 22: 37-39). [emphases added] Walking in love is inseparable from walking in truth. Love without truth and truth without love is in vain. Walking in love is a commandment and is based on God’s Word, which we are to obey and do consistently to both the lovable and unlovable (2 John 1-6).

On Hope – Hope in heaven: "For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel." (Col 1:5); Hope of resurrection and to forever be with the Lord (1 Thess 4:16-17); Hope of glory (Col 1:27); Hope of salvation: "That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of salvation" (Titus 3:7).
Paul provided the method to protect and sustain our faith, love and hope: "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation." (1 Thess 5:8).

Walk worthy of the Lord (Col 1:10a, 1 Thess 2:12, 4:1)
Our great gospel duty is to walk worthy of God, that the temper of our minds and the tenor of our lives be suitable to the honour and privilege that God had called us into His Kingdom and glory. As we walk in God’s way, we would abound more and more and excel in those things that are good and in good works. Holy walking in the narrow way is pleasing to the holy God. This ought to be the goal of every Christian - to please, honour and glorify God, and to be accepted of Him.

Increasing in the knowledge of God (Col 1:10c)
This can only be achieved through the study and meditation of God’s Word regularly and fervently. Without knowing God’s Word and the working of the Holy Spirit in us, it is not possible for believers to continue in the faith, to grow in love and to hold on to the hope of the gospel.

Pray for Spiritual Strength (Col 1:11)
We need to pray for our spiritual life to be strengthened by His glorious power by the grace of God - for patience in enduring afflictions, tribulations and all kind of troubles in life; longsuffering in dealing with difficult and unreasonable people, and with joyfulness in times of temptations and tribulations. Through prayer we can draw strength from God’s Word, so that we do not sin against God during divers temptations.

Put off the Old Man and put on the New Man (Col 3:8-13)
As the elect of God, we are to put off the old man with his deeds like: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of the mouth, lying tongue etc.; and we are to put on the new man with bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another.

Conclusion
Jesus Christ in obedience to the Father, through sacrificial and painful death on the cross of Calvary to redeem us, earnestly wants to present God’s people holy and unblameable and unreproveable to the Father in His eternal Kingdom. We who are redeemed through His blood, having made peace and reconciled us with the Father, have to do our part to fulfil this divine purpose set for us, that is to live a life that is holy, unblameable and unreproveable. Therefore, we must continue in the faith, remain grounded and settled; we must love God and love one another; we must not move away from the hope of the gospel – our salvation, our resurrection with the glorified body, and eternal life, no matter what. We must never take God's salvation for granted, thinking that we have some kind of eternal security without obedience to God's Word and God’s Will. Instead, let us "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in very good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthen with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;" (Col 1:10-11), "To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." (1 Thess 3:13). Amen.

References – various Bible Commentaries:
1.Matthew Henry’s Study Bible and Concise Commentary
2. Life Application Study Bible
3. Barnes' Notes on the Bible
4. Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
5. Matthew Poole's Commentary