Continue in Your Faith, Established and Firm, and Do Not Move from The Hope Held Out in the Gospel (Colossians 1:21–23)

 

Continue in Your Faith, Established and Firm, and Do Not Move from The Hope Held Out in the Gospel (Colossians 1:21–23)

Christ, the Son of God, is the Creator of all things. Yet instead of coming as the Judge of all, exercising His power and authority to condemn the world, He chose to come as Savior. On the hill of Golgotha, He was nailed to the cross, shedding His blood as an atoning sacrifice.

Through this, God began a new creation in Christ, building His church on the rock and bringing it to completion. Jesus Christ is the head of the church, the beginning, and the firstborn from among the dead. God reconciled all things to Himself through the blood of Jesus Christ.

In Colossians 1:21–23, Paul exhorts believers to remain in the faith, to be established and firm, and not to move from the hope held out in the gospel, because through the blood of the cross God has reconciled us to Himself, making us holy, without blemish, and free from accusation.

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” (Colossians 1:21–23)

Enemies of God Through Evil Behavior

Before we were in Christ, we were enemies of God. Becoming God’s enemy is the worst condition a human being could face. Yet, without ever choosing it ourselves, every person is born already separated from God. This is the unavoidable destiny inherited from Adam.

Through Adam’s sin, corruption entered humanity. In Noah’s day, God saw that sin filled the whole earth and judged it with the flood (Genesis 6). He saw that every inclination of the human heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5). Even after the flood, the thoughts of the human heart were evil from childhood (Genesis 8:21).

God is the Creator, and man is the creature. God made man male and female, in His image and likeness, and blessed them to rule over every living thing (Genesis 1:27–28). Yet, deceived by the cunning devil, they ate the forbidden fruit and fell. As a result, Adam and Eve hid from the face of God. Shame entered humanity, sin brought separation, and people could no longer stand confidently before God.

What are these “evil deeds”? Above all, people neither glorified God nor gave thanks to Him. Their thinking became futile and foolish, and their hearts were darkened (Romans 1:21). Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of God for images of man and animals (Romans 1:23). Their wickedness is shown in every form of sin: sexual immorality, wickedness, greed, depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, arrogance, boasting, disobedience to parents, faithlessness, heartlessness, and ruthlessness (Romans 1:24–31).

This reveals the absolute necessity of salvation. Without reconciliation with God, people remain under His wrath and eternal judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Even in this life, they are bound by sin and death, experiencing trouble and distress (Romans 2:8).

Reconciliation Through Christ’s Physical Body

“But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” (Colossians 1:22)

Christ gave His body as a sacrifice of atonement so that we could draw near to God again with confidence (Romans 5:2). Through His blood, our hostility toward God was removed, and we now have peace with Him (Colossians 1:20). God even willed to give up the life of His own Son to accomplish this (Isaiah 53:10).

Through the blood of the cross, God reconciled us in order to present us holy, without blemish, and free from accusation in His presence. By the once-for-all offering of Christ’s body, we have been made holy (Hebrews 10:10). Even before creation, God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in His sight (Ephesians 1:4). In Christ, through the riches of His grace, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7).

Therefore, because we are holy and blameless in Christ, we can now approach God’s throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16). No longer enemies, we are at peace with God and have become His beloved children, heirs of His kingdom and spiritual blessings (Romans 8:17). We drink the living water that flows from His throne and live in eternal life (John 4:14). The old has gone, the new has come in Christ, and the gates of Hades can no longer prevail against us (2 Corinthians 5:17; Matthew 16:18).

These heavenly blessings and living water are experienced through fellowship with God—sharing in His love, His joy, His peace, and His patience. By His love, we love others. By His joy and peace, we live in gladness. By His patience, we endure with hope.

Yet, this does not happen automatically after being born again in Christ. Because we received grace through His blood, we must again and again draw near with boldness to God’s throne of grace by the same blood. It is like a lamb orphaned from its mother, clothed in another lamb’s skin, and thereby able to receive milk.

This shows that in ourselves we have no power or authority to do good. As Paul confessed, though he desired to do good, he often did the evil he hated (Romans 7:19). We carry the body of death (Romans 7:24) and long to be delivered from it (Romans 8:23).

Therefore, to come boldly before the throne of God’s grace, we must repent. Repentance is needed because in our flesh we cannot do good by our own strength. Since we live in the body, there is a desire to act by the power of the flesh. Repentance is laying this down and depending fully on God. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

For example, we may want to forgive and love, but we cannot as we wish. At that moment, there is a fleshly desire not to forgive and not to love. That is our will. Therefore, repentance means laying down our own will.

“If you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant” (Colossians 1:23).

So how do we, being reconciled with God, come before the throne of grace to drink the water of eternal life? It is by continuing in the faith, established and firm, not moving from the hope held out in the gospel.

In short, it means always remaining in the grace of the blood of the Lord. To remain in the grace of the Lord is to continue to believe that through the merit of Christ’s blood we have been forgiven, and that we have been adopted as God’s beloved children. Through this faith we inherit the hope of the gospel, the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. By the blood of Jesus Christ, the hope of heaven is unshakable and secure.

Paul says in Colossians 1:4-6 that the saints bear fruit and grow throughout the world because of faith, love, and hope:

“Because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace” (Colossians 1:4-6).

To remain in the faith means concretely to follow the way of the cross that the Lord Jesus Christ walked. Jesus, being sent by God the Father, came into this world in the flesh and obeyed the will of the Father, becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8).

Jesus rose again on the third day after his death. This is why we follow the way of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ in faith. There is no glory without suffering. There is no resurrection without the cross. If we are to hold firmly to the hope of heaven without wavering and continue in the faith, we must be clothed with the power of the resurrection. The only way to be clothed with the power of the resurrection is to follow the way of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This specifically means self-denial and the death of the old self where sin resides. To die means to bear shame, sorrow, and pain. For this reason, Jesus, though He had no sin, first bore the cross of shame, pain, and sorrow on behalf of the sins of the world.

God the Father raised Jesus Christ, who obeyed unto death, and seated Him at the highest throne in heaven, making Him Judge over all.

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

If we follow the Lord Jesus Christ, bearing shame, sorrow, and pain, denying ourselves and dying, God will not abandon us. He will raise us up again and bless us to reign with Christ (Ephesians 2:6).

Therefore, blessed is the one who hears this gospel. That blessing is to stand firm in the hope of heaven through the power of the resurrection, never shaken. Amen!

September 21, 2025

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Scripture quotes are from the NIV.