Colossians 1:22
Verse
Context
The Supremacy of the Son
21Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.22But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence— 23if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Sermons
Bob Phillips
James R. Cochrane
Miles J. Stanford
Thomas Brooks
Andrew MurrayThomas BrooksSummary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
In the body of his flesh - By Christ's assumption of a human body, and dying for man, he has made an atonement for sin, through which men become reconciled to God and to each other. To present you holy - Having saved you from your sins. Unblamable - Having filled you with his Spirit, and written his law in your hearts, so that his love, shed abroad in your hearts, becomes the principle and motive to every action. The tree therefore being good, the fruit is also good. And unreprovable - For, being filled with love, joy, peace, meekness, gentleness, and goodness, against these there is no law; and as they were called to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and their neighbor as themselves, the whole spirit and design of the law was fulfilled in them, for love is the fulfilling of the law. In his sight - At the day of judgment. None can enjoy heaven who have not been reconciled to God here, and shown forth the fruits of that reconciliation in being made holy and unblamable, that, when they come to be judged, they may be found unreprovable.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
In the body of his flesh--the element in which His reconciling sufferings had place. Compare Col 1:24, "afflictions of Christ in my flesh" (Pe1 2:24). Angels who have not a "body of flesh" are not in any way our reconciling mediators, as your false teachers assert, but He, the Lord of angels, who has taken our flesh, that in it He might atone for our fallen manhood. through death--rather as Greek, "through His death" (which could only take place in a body like ours, of flesh, Heb 2:14). This implies He took on Him our true and entire manhood. Flesh is the sphere in which His human sufferings could have place (compare Col 1:24; Eph 2:15). to present you-- (Eph 5:27). The end of His reconciling atonement by death. holy--positively; and in relation to God. unblamable . . . unreprovable--negatively. "Without blemish" (as the former Greek word is translated as to Jesus, our Head, Pe1 1:19) in one's self. Irreproachable (the Greek for the second word, one who gives no occasion for his being brought to a law court) is in relation to the world without. Sanctification, as the fruit, is here treated of; justification, by Christ's reconciliation, as the tree, having preceded (Eph 1:4; Eph 5:26-27; Tit 2:14). At the same time, our sanctification is regarded here as perfect in Christ, into whom we are grafted at regeneration or conversion, and who is "made of God unto us (perfect) sanctification" (Co1 1:30; Pe1 1:2; Jde 1:1): not merely progressive sanctification, which is the gradual development of the sanctification which Christ is made to the believer from the first. in his sight--in God's sight, at Christ's appearing.
John Gill Bible Commentary
In the body of his flesh through death,.... Or "through his death", as the Alexandrian copy and some others, and all the Oriental versions, read. These words express the means by which that reconciliation was made, which in the virtue and efficacy of it was applied particularly to these Colossians at their conversion whereby their minds were actually reconciled to God, as "in" or "by the body of his flesh"; that is, by the offering up of his body on the accursed tree, in which he bore the sins of his people, and made reconciliation for them: and it is so called either to distinguish it from his mystical and spiritual body the church, of which he is the head before spoken of; or from his glorious and immortal body, as now raised and exalted at God's right hand; and to denote the truth of his human body, that it was a real fleshly body, consisting of flesh and blood as ours does, and the same with ours, and not an aerial, celestial bony, or a mere phantom; and also to signify the infirmity and mortality of it, being, excepting sin, in all points like to ours, and subject to death; and that it was in that body his Father prepared for him, and he assumed; and as he was clothed with it in the days of his flesh, or mortal state, that he made reconciliation for the sins of his people, and that "through death" in it; even the death of the cross, by which he bore the penalty of the law, the curse of it, made satisfaction to justice, obtained life, abolished death, and destroyed him that had the power of it, and fixed a sure and lasting peace for all his saints; his end in which was, to present you holy and unblamable, and unreproveable in his sight. This presentation of the saints by Christ is either in his own sight, "before himself", as the Arabic version reads it; and is here in this present state, they being considered by him both as sanctified and as justified; he taking delight in the graces of his Spirit, and the exercise of them on himself, though imperfect, and in them as clothed with his spotless righteousness, in which they are perfectly comely, all fair, and without spot: or in the latter day glory, the New Jerusalem church state; when the church will be as a bride prepared for her husband, will be brought into his presence in raiment of needlework, in fine linen clean and white, the righteousness of the saints, and be presented to himself a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; or in the ultimate glory, when all the saints shall be for ever with him, continually before him, and in his sight; which is what his heart was set upon from everlasting, which he had in view in his sufferings and death, and still has in his prayers and preparations: or else this presentation is what has been or will be made before his Father, and in his sight; and which was partly done, when he gathered together all the elect in himself, and represented them on the cross, in the body of his flesh; and partly is now doing in heaven, where he appears in the presence of God for them, bears their names on his breastplate, presents their persons and their cases; and especially will be done at the last day, when he will deliver up the kingdom to the Father, and say, lo, I and the children thou hast given me: and who will be presented "holy" by him; he being their sanctification, and they having all their sins expiated by his sacrifice, and their persons washed and cleansed in his blood, and their hearts sanctified by his Spirit; which sanctification though it is imperfect in this life, yet will be completed by the author of it at death; without perfect holiness no man shall see God, or be presented in his sight: and this is in consequence of the death of Christ and reconciliation by it and a fruit of electing grace, by which persons are chosen in Christ, that they should be holy and without blame; and as here, "unblamable and unreproveable": as they are, not now in themselves, but in Christ, as arrayed with his robe of righteousness and garments of salvation, being all glorious within, and their clothing of wrought gold, in which they will be introduced and presented to himself, and to his Father, faultless, with exceeding joy, and stand so before the throne, and that to all eternity.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
1:22 The Colossians, like all believers, were holy and blameless in God’s sight not because of their own perfection but because they had been reconciled with God through Christ’s death.
Colossians 1:22
The Supremacy of the Son
21Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.22But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence— 23if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
Blood Covenant - Part 5
By Bob Phillips1.3K53:39GEN 15:11GEN 17:2GEN 17:7GEN 17:14GEN 17:17COL 1:22In this sermon, the speaker discusses the concept of covenant and its importance in the relationship between God and humanity. They emphasize the seriousness of entering into a covenant with God, highlighting that it requires loyalty and obedience. The speaker references the story of Abraham and the covenant he made with God, explaining that Abraham drove away the birds of prey that came upon the carcasses, symbolizing his commitment to the covenant. However, the speaker also mentions that the people of God failed to uphold their covenant promises, leading to God releasing them from their obligations.
(Youth Bible School 2007) Let Us Go in and Possess the Land
By Denny Kenaston94759:43VictoryDEU 31:6JOS 1:2MAT 6:33COL 1:22HEB 4:1HEB 11:62PE 1:5In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the reward of Jesus Christ's suffering, which is a holy nation and a generation of sanctified people. He highlights the importance of God's promises and assures the listeners that they can trust in them, as they come from the God who spoke the world into existence. The preacher urges the young people to diligently abide in Christ and strive for a practical, sanctified life. He encourages them to add to their faith and not settle for mediocrity, reminding them that they have just begun their journey and there is much more to attain.
The Glorification of Man 01 Morally
By James R. Cochrane70247:39MAT 6:33ROM 8:31ROM 14:17EPH 1:4EPH 5:27COL 1:22JUD 1:24In this sermon, the speaker discusses the relationship between truth and freedom, using the example of the Dominican Republic's national flag. He emphasizes that knowing the truth can set us free, as Jesus said in John's Gospel. The speaker also shares personal experiences of how encountering the truth in the Bible has changed his thinking and corrected his erroneous thoughts. He concludes by highlighting that in the future, believers will be freed from the compulsion, deception, and consequences of sin, including death, and will experience united fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Now and Forever Free!
By Miles J. Stanford0ROM 8:331CO 1:7COL 1:22HEB 7:251JN 2:1Miles J. Stanford preaches about the assurance believers have in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will confirm us until the end, making us blameless on the day of judgment. He emphasizes that all charges against believers will be nullified because Jesus has atoned for our sins with His precious Blood, ensuring that we will stand unimpeachable before the Lord. Through Christ's intercession and sacrifice, we are cleared from judgment, the power of death is annulled, and the condemnation of Satan is broken.
Your Spots and Blots
By Thomas Brooks0Righteousness in ChristAssurance of SalvationSNG 4:7JER 23:6ROM 3:222CO 5:21EPH 1:6PHP 3:9COL 1:22HEB 10:141JN 1:7REV 14:5Thomas Brooks emphasizes the assurance of believers standing before God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, despite their imperfections and struggles with sin. He encourages those with weak hearts to remember that they are seen as lovely and without flaw in God's eyes, as stated in Revelation 14:5. Brooks reassures that even when believers feel overwhelmed by their shortcomings, they should find strength in the truth of their identity in Christ, who covers their spots and blots with His righteousness.
Assurance of Faith
By Andrew Murray0EPH 1:4EPH 5:27PHP 2:15COL 1:22JUD 1:24In this sermon on being blameless, the preacher delves into the meaning of 'amomos,' which signifies being without spot or blemish, particularly in a moral sense. This term was used in the Old Testament for sacrificial animals without defects and symbolically for the unblemished Lamb of God. The New Testament emphasizes believers being holy and blameless before God, reflecting His perfection and purity, and standing out as lights in a dark world.
Soul-Purifying
By Thomas Brooks0HopeSanctificationROM 15:132CO 7:1EPH 4:24PHP 1:6COL 1:221TH 5:23TIT 2:14HEB 10:231PE 1:221JN 3:3Thomas Brooks emphasizes that true hope is soul-purifying, leading believers to pursue holiness and sanctification. He explains that those who have the strongest hope of salvation are diligent in their efforts to be sanctified, as hope keeps their focus on God, Christ, and the Word. This hope ignites a fire within the soul, burning away corruptions and drawing purifying strength from Christ, the ultimate source of purity. Ultimately, hope inspires believers to aspire to be like Christ in glory.
What Paul Said About Holiness 4
By Aaron Hills0PHP 1:9COL 1:221TH 4:32TI 2:21TIT 2:12HEB 12:14Aaron Hills preaches on the Apostle Paul's emphasis on sanctification in his letters to various churches, highlighting the importance of believers pursuing a deeper experience of holiness and righteousness. Paul's prayers, commands, and use of specific words like 'sanctify,' 'righteousness,' 'perfect,' and 'holiness' underscore his strong encouragement for Christians to seek sanctification as a second blessing after justification. The Epistles to the Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and Hebrews all contain passages where Paul urges believers to pursue sanctification and live blamelessly before God.
Christ Pleads His Will
By T.M. Anderson0JHN 14:1JHN 17:24COL 1:22HEB 7:25HEB 9:15T.M. Anderson preaches about the precious legacy of Jesus' intercessory prayer, revealing His final will for the redeemed to be with Him in glory. Jesus' prayer is an integral part of His redemptive work, assuring believers of a place prepared in the Father's house. Through His finished work on the cross, Christ provides the necessary fitness for believers to share eternal bliss with Him. His intercessory prayer cleanses and sanctifies believers, presenting them holy and blameless before God.
The Love of Jesus for His People
By J.C. Philpot0ISA 54:5HOS 2:19MAT 3:17JHN 3:35JHN 14:31JHN 17:23ROM 5:5EPH 5:30COL 1:22J.C. Philpot preaches about the profound love of Jesus for His people, emphasizing the communicative nature of love that desires to give and receive affection. He delves into the Triune God's eternal love for humanity, highlighting the deep bond between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Philpot explores the union and communion between Christ and the Church, illustrating how Jesus' sacrifice and love reconcile believers to God and lead to a transformative relationship. He encourages seeking communion with Christ through prayer, repentance, and a deep desire for His presence, as true religion is found in a living faith and love for Jesus.
What He Has Done for My Soul
By Thomas Brooks0God's GraceTransformationPSA 66:16ISA 1:18ROM 5:12CO 5:172CO 5:21EPH 2:8EPH 5:8COL 1:221PE 2:91JN 1:7Thomas Brooks shares a powerful testimony of the transformative work God has done in his life, emphasizing the soul blessings and favors bestowed upon him. He reflects on his past state of darkness, unrighteousness, and deformity, contrasting it with the light, righteousness, and completeness he has received from God. Brooks encourages listeners to recognize and celebrate the profound changes God can bring to their souls, highlighting the cleansing and renewal that comes from faith.
1 Peter 3:18
By John Gill0RedemptionSufferingISA 53:5JHN 10:18ROM 5:81CO 15:202CO 4:17EPH 2:13PHP 3:10COL 1:22HEB 10:101PE 3:18John Gill expounds on 1 Peter 3:18, emphasizing that Christ suffered not for His own sins, but for the sins of His people, enduring immense pain and sorrow throughout His life and culminating in His death on the cross. He highlights that Christ's singular sacrifice is sufficient for the remission of sins, contrasting it with the repeated sacrifices of the Old Testament. Gill encourages believers to endure their own sufferings patiently, as Christ, the just one, suffered for the unjust to bring them to God, offering them reconciliation and access to divine grace. He reassures that while Christ was put to death in the flesh, He was quickened by the Spirit, promising believers the hope of resurrection and eternal life. This profound understanding of Christ's suffering serves as a model for Christians to bear their trials with patience and faith.
- Adam Clarke
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
In the body of his flesh - By Christ's assumption of a human body, and dying for man, he has made an atonement for sin, through which men become reconciled to God and to each other. To present you holy - Having saved you from your sins. Unblamable - Having filled you with his Spirit, and written his law in your hearts, so that his love, shed abroad in your hearts, becomes the principle and motive to every action. The tree therefore being good, the fruit is also good. And unreprovable - For, being filled with love, joy, peace, meekness, gentleness, and goodness, against these there is no law; and as they were called to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and their neighbor as themselves, the whole spirit and design of the law was fulfilled in them, for love is the fulfilling of the law. In his sight - At the day of judgment. None can enjoy heaven who have not been reconciled to God here, and shown forth the fruits of that reconciliation in being made holy and unblamable, that, when they come to be judged, they may be found unreprovable.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
In the body of his flesh--the element in which His reconciling sufferings had place. Compare Col 1:24, "afflictions of Christ in my flesh" (Pe1 2:24). Angels who have not a "body of flesh" are not in any way our reconciling mediators, as your false teachers assert, but He, the Lord of angels, who has taken our flesh, that in it He might atone for our fallen manhood. through death--rather as Greek, "through His death" (which could only take place in a body like ours, of flesh, Heb 2:14). This implies He took on Him our true and entire manhood. Flesh is the sphere in which His human sufferings could have place (compare Col 1:24; Eph 2:15). to present you-- (Eph 5:27). The end of His reconciling atonement by death. holy--positively; and in relation to God. unblamable . . . unreprovable--negatively. "Without blemish" (as the former Greek word is translated as to Jesus, our Head, Pe1 1:19) in one's self. Irreproachable (the Greek for the second word, one who gives no occasion for his being brought to a law court) is in relation to the world without. Sanctification, as the fruit, is here treated of; justification, by Christ's reconciliation, as the tree, having preceded (Eph 1:4; Eph 5:26-27; Tit 2:14). At the same time, our sanctification is regarded here as perfect in Christ, into whom we are grafted at regeneration or conversion, and who is "made of God unto us (perfect) sanctification" (Co1 1:30; Pe1 1:2; Jde 1:1): not merely progressive sanctification, which is the gradual development of the sanctification which Christ is made to the believer from the first. in his sight--in God's sight, at Christ's appearing.
John Gill Bible Commentary
In the body of his flesh through death,.... Or "through his death", as the Alexandrian copy and some others, and all the Oriental versions, read. These words express the means by which that reconciliation was made, which in the virtue and efficacy of it was applied particularly to these Colossians at their conversion whereby their minds were actually reconciled to God, as "in" or "by the body of his flesh"; that is, by the offering up of his body on the accursed tree, in which he bore the sins of his people, and made reconciliation for them: and it is so called either to distinguish it from his mystical and spiritual body the church, of which he is the head before spoken of; or from his glorious and immortal body, as now raised and exalted at God's right hand; and to denote the truth of his human body, that it was a real fleshly body, consisting of flesh and blood as ours does, and the same with ours, and not an aerial, celestial bony, or a mere phantom; and also to signify the infirmity and mortality of it, being, excepting sin, in all points like to ours, and subject to death; and that it was in that body his Father prepared for him, and he assumed; and as he was clothed with it in the days of his flesh, or mortal state, that he made reconciliation for the sins of his people, and that "through death" in it; even the death of the cross, by which he bore the penalty of the law, the curse of it, made satisfaction to justice, obtained life, abolished death, and destroyed him that had the power of it, and fixed a sure and lasting peace for all his saints; his end in which was, to present you holy and unblamable, and unreproveable in his sight. This presentation of the saints by Christ is either in his own sight, "before himself", as the Arabic version reads it; and is here in this present state, they being considered by him both as sanctified and as justified; he taking delight in the graces of his Spirit, and the exercise of them on himself, though imperfect, and in them as clothed with his spotless righteousness, in which they are perfectly comely, all fair, and without spot: or in the latter day glory, the New Jerusalem church state; when the church will be as a bride prepared for her husband, will be brought into his presence in raiment of needlework, in fine linen clean and white, the righteousness of the saints, and be presented to himself a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; or in the ultimate glory, when all the saints shall be for ever with him, continually before him, and in his sight; which is what his heart was set upon from everlasting, which he had in view in his sufferings and death, and still has in his prayers and preparations: or else this presentation is what has been or will be made before his Father, and in his sight; and which was partly done, when he gathered together all the elect in himself, and represented them on the cross, in the body of his flesh; and partly is now doing in heaven, where he appears in the presence of God for them, bears their names on his breastplate, presents their persons and their cases; and especially will be done at the last day, when he will deliver up the kingdom to the Father, and say, lo, I and the children thou hast given me: and who will be presented "holy" by him; he being their sanctification, and they having all their sins expiated by his sacrifice, and their persons washed and cleansed in his blood, and their hearts sanctified by his Spirit; which sanctification though it is imperfect in this life, yet will be completed by the author of it at death; without perfect holiness no man shall see God, or be presented in his sight: and this is in consequence of the death of Christ and reconciliation by it and a fruit of electing grace, by which persons are chosen in Christ, that they should be holy and without blame; and as here, "unblamable and unreproveable": as they are, not now in themselves, but in Christ, as arrayed with his robe of righteousness and garments of salvation, being all glorious within, and their clothing of wrought gold, in which they will be introduced and presented to himself, and to his Father, faultless, with exceeding joy, and stand so before the throne, and that to all eternity.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
1:22 The Colossians, like all believers, were holy and blameless in God’s sight not because of their own perfection but because they had been reconciled with God through Christ’s death.