Colossians 1:21–23
Christ’s atoning death has reconciled formerly hostile sinners, and that reconciliation calls for steadfast faith.
21 You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds,
22 yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him,
23 if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.
Christ’s atoning death has reconciled formerly hostile sinners, and that reconciliation calls for steadfast faith.
To remind believers of their former alienation and their present reconciliation through Christ’s bodily death, and to exhort them to remain steadfast in the gospel.
Colossians 1:21-23 takes the cosmic reconciliation of Colossians 1:20 and applies it personally to the church. The passage moves from the Colossians’ former alienation to their present reconciliation and future presentation, then adds a persevering exhortation not to shift from the gospel hope. It prepares for Paul’s description of his own gospel ministry in Colossians 1:24-29.
The Supremacy of Christ and the Gospel of Reconciliation
Because Christ is supreme over creation, head of the church, and reconciler through his blood, the church must remain rooted in the gospel and pursue maturity in him.