Hello, and welcome to Walking With Christ. My name's Jeremy, and I really appreciate you listening today. This is an expository-style devotional series, which means that we go verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter as we seek to understand God's Word just a little bit more and to apply it to our lives and let it shape how we live, think, and walk with Christ each day. Today we are studying Colossians 1 verses 21-23, looking at how we were once cut off from God, but through Christ we are made holy and blameless in God's sight. We'll be reading from the ESV, and again that's Colossians 1 verses 21-23. Paul writes there, And you, who were once 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. Last time together, we saw how Christ reconciled us to the Father through his death on the cross, and today we get a deeper insight into this astonishing event and our responsibilities as believers. When we read, and you who were once alienated and hostile in mind, we should consider the intended audience of this letter. The Colossian Church was primarily made up of Gentile believers, and this helps explain two important details about their understanding. The first is, up until the New Testament period, it was mistakenly believed that Gentiles were excluded from the promises of God. And then the second thing is that every human is a sinner, and that's true. So in both ways, they were alienated from God the Father. Strong's dictionary defines alienated as, to be shut out from one's fellowship and intimacy. We also see that they were hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, which basically means they previously hated the things of God and were intentionally working against His will. And to personalize it, the same thing applies to you and me. But through the cross, Christ has now reconciled you and me in his body of flesh by his death. Again, we see an incredible promise of hope that as either a Jew or a Gentile, and universally as sinners, Christ has made us in good standing with the Father through his blood sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. This should be the cornerstone of all thanksgiving that pours out from a believer's heart on a continuous basis, as there is truly nothing that we could ever do to obtain this reconciliation on our own. And now, as a redeemed and reconciled child of God, Christ will present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him, God the Father. As a sinful man, this is kinda hard for me to comprehend. Each day I say and I think and I do things that reveal just how stubborn and broken my flesh is. it's really hard to grasp how I will one day stand before God the Father, who dwells in unapproachable light, as we see in 1 Timothy 6 verse 16, and be presented by Christ as blameless and above reproach. It seems the stains of my sin are so deep that they will be embedded in me forever. But here we see the opposite. Indeed, it is true and wonderful that only the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. That's 1 John 1 verse 7. However, there is a stipulation in this passage, and we've got to keep that in mind. Paul says that this promise applies if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. Reading this, I believe this is where our free will has its place in salvation. It's true that we are predestined by God before the foundation of the world. We see that in Romans 8, verses 28 to 29, and again in Ephesians 1, verse 11. However, we must also do our part through obedience. It's impossible for someone who claims to have faith in Christ to go on willfully, actively, and enjoyably sinning without remorse. The Apostle John warns, no one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. That's 1 John 3 verse 9, and you can also see Romans 6 verse 1 and Hebrews 10 verse 26. If we feel nothing when we commit acts of rebellion against God and His Christ, this is a DEFCON 1 warning signal that our salvation may not be genuine. Instead, we are to continue stable and steadfast in the hope of the gospel, surrendering ourselves to the will of God, resisting sin, trusting in Christ alone to save us, and striving to live in a manner worthy of our salvation. For more on that, see Ephesians 4. Trust me, this is hard, and we're going to fall down. But it is our obligation as believers not to trust in our own works to be saved or to continue serving our flesh, because our great and mighty Lord has paid a very high price to make us holy, clean, and presentable to God the Father. Thank you so much for spending a few minutes in God's Word with me today. I do hope you were blessed by it. As you go about the rest of your day, remember the words of Paul in Colossians 2 verse 6. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. I do pray the Lord will strengthen you to follow Him step by step each and every day as you keep walking in Christ.