OCT 22

Colossians 1:22
Memorise Colossians 1:22
“…holy and unblameable and unreproveable…”

In Colossians 1:22, Paul makes clear how completely Jesus Christ reconciled us to God: “In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.” First of all, note we have no part to play at all in this reconciliation process. Even our ability to exercise faith in Christ is also but the result of God’s grace. As the previous verse points out, we were enemies of God, lost in sin; and the thrice holy God can hardly receive any reconciliatory efforts stained with sin. It required the Son of God to take on the form of human flesh and, as the sinless Lamb of God, die on our behalf instead. In so doing, Christ presents us unto God, and we can now be reconciled unto Him. Three separate verbs are used to describe how perfect this reconciliation is, and how we are now able to be stand in the sight of the thrice holy God. From filthy sinners immersed in the things of the world, we are now holy, separate unto God; from being stained with sins and full of blemish, we are now unblameable, whereby Satan is no longer able to lay any charge to God’s elect; from being worthy of only reproof and judgment from God, we are now unreproveable, no longer facing judgment but eternal glories in heaven!

With such complete reconciliation wrought by Christ for us, we must not give in to our carnal human tendency to completely condemn ourselves. I have encountered several teens and youths in the past who constantly fear that they were going to lose their salvation, for they could not avoid sinning though they tried very hard to. While all of us should be engaged in a never-ending battle against sin (as long as we are in this mortal body), we should remember that the price of our salvation has already been completely paid once and for all. If God Himself has accepted us through the spotless blood of the Lamb, we ourselves need to rest in the assurance that our salvation is secure. To otherwise despair is to waver in our faith, and be so full of worry that we become a source of discouragement to all around us.

Thought: What God has cleansed, do not call unclean.
Prayer: May I trust God that He has completely forgiven all my sins.