Colossians 1: 23 – Persisting in the faith

… to present you holy and flawless and unimpeachable in His sight, since surely you are persisting in the faith, grounded and settled and are not being removed from the expectation of the evangel.

Most translations render the beginning of verse 23 conditional (if thou only), but incorrectly. The word combination (Gr. ei ge) that Paul uses here is also found in Ephesians 3:2 and 4:21 and there it is (correctly) rendered as “since surely”. So it is in Colossae 1:23. Paul assumes that the Colossians continue in the faith and are grounded and steadfast in it.

God assures that He will present the one who believes as holy, flawless and unimpeachable. That is entirely His work. He does not do this to the person who tries to realize this result himself, because in that case it would no longer be His work. Besides, a human being is not capable of that either. And in fact: it is not expected of him at all! That is why it also says here: “since surely you are persisting in the faith…”. Believe that HE does this and that HE therefore receives all the honor for it. How wonderful it is to be grounded and solid in that realization!

Delen: