Hostile in Mind Again? – Colossians 1:21-23

Charles Templeton was an associate of Billy Graham who came to doubt Christianity to the point that he left the Graham ministry and became an atheist. He had preached the same gospel Billy preached but then abandoned it all. What do we make of such accounts?

The apostle Paul understood this issue very clearly and realistically. People who seem to believe don’t always continue to believe.

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. (Colossians 1:21-23,ESV)

The goal of Christ’s work on the cross as sacrifice is not just to forgive our sins and give us a ticket to heaven. It is to present us holy and blameless to God, no longer “doing evil deeds”. It is not just to remove our guilt. It is to remove our sinful hearts. This is in accord with the provisions of the new covenant, best explained in Jeremiah 31:31-34, where forgiveness of sins and the writing of the law on our hearts is promised.

But this reconciliation is only for those who truly believe and this belief is evidenced in continuing in the faith and in adherence to the true gospel.  If they shift from the hope of the gospel Paul is a minister of, they give evidence that they are not truly Christ’s disciples, not genuinely saved. It would be as the apostle John described in his first letter. Unbelievers who once professed faith but depart from the faith go out from the believers because they are not really “of” them (1 John 2:19).

Paul is really putting it on the line here. He wants to encourage them in the faith and he rehearses the faith for them to help them, but in the end he must warn them that how they respond determines whether they are really in the faith at all. As Jesus taught, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:20).

We want to be stable and steadfast in our faith, not blowing here and there with every wind of doctrine. As believers, we believe that we will continue in the faith. Yet we also pray, “Lord, help us to continue in the faith that delivered us from our alienation from You. Above all else, we want to know You, the true and living God, our Creator and Redeemer.”

And continuing to believe must also mean continuing to growth in holiness and blamelessness.  True faith rests in the ever life changing power of Jesus Christ, not in a static achievement of character goals.  There is always more to work on in our inner lives as we ask God know our thoughts and try our motives and see if there is any wicked way in us (Psalm 139:23,24).

For further study:  How Can So Many Pastors Be Godly and Dysfunctional at the Same Time?