{"id":1548,"date":"2015-08-09T08:51:17","date_gmt":"2015-08-09T15:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=1548"},"modified":"2015-08-09T08:52:40","modified_gmt":"2015-08-09T15:52:40","slug":"the-way-we-were-and-the-way-we-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=1548","title":{"rendered":"The Way we Were and the Way we Are"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Way we Were
\nand the Way we Are<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Col 1:21-23<\/p>\n

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach\u2014 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What the reconciliation work of Christ means to you and me<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Last week we ended up on the totality of the work of Christ.\u00a0 Remember, we said that Christ reconciled all things to Himself.<\/strong>\u00a0 But beyond the grander declaration of the total scope, Paul takes a moment and looks at what Christ did for you and me as individual believers.\u00a0 People have said the only serious surgery is the one that they have.\u00a0 They mean this as a joke, but what they are saying is that usually people are most interested in what has happened to them.\u00a0 Here we have a statement about what has happened to you if you know Christ as your Savior.<\/p>\n

There are some who like to consider that all of life is measured on a curve.\u00a0 That you might be at ease with that if you felt you were in the upper part of the class.\u00a0 I had some teachers that I was glad they graded on a curve because I didn\u2019t have to have a perfect score; I only had to be better than the larger portion of the class.\u00a0 Sounds rotten, but that it the thick and the thin of it.\u00a0 If I scored better than 80% of the class, I\u2019d get a B.\u00a0 Better than 90% of the class, I\u2019d get an A.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter if I got 10 out of hundred or 99 out of hundred.\u00a0 That is how it works when the teacher grades on a curve.\u00a0 But God has a different standard.\u00a0 God\u2019s standard is pass or fail.\u00a0 Either you pass or you fail.\u00a0 And by the way, you don\u2019t pass or fail based upon what you did, but rather on what family you belong to.\u00a0 If you belong to the family of God, then you pass.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t, then you fail.\u00a0 And God is not obligated to pass a certain percentage of all humanity.\u00a0 He isn\u2019t have any min specs for the number of people who will be in heaven.<\/p>\n

Some might say, that doesn\u2019t sound fair.\u00a0 Well, Paul reminds us what it means to be a person who doesn\u2019t belong to the family of God.\u00a0 He says that person is alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds<\/strong>.\u00a0 Let\u2019s look at each trait.<\/p>\n

Alienated<\/strong>.\u00a0 Alienated from what or from whom?\u00a0 Well, from God.\u00a0 The word actually means estranged, separated, divided, or on bad terms.\u00a0 You were a great distance from God. The choice is between being close to God or being estranged from God.\u00a0 I wonder about our thinking when we consider people who are pretty good.\u00a0 What value is it from God\u2019s perspective to be pretty good?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not only were we a great distance from God, which speaks of being spiritual remote to God.\u00a0 There is another thing here.\u00a0 If Alienated implies physically removed, look at the next phrase.<\/p>\n

Hostile in Mind<\/strong>.\u00a0 We were distanced in terms of proximity, but we were also distanced in terms of purpose.\u00a0 It is almost as if Paul addressed many types of distancing that man does from God.\u00a0 Not only is every person a long ways away from God but he is also far removed from God\u2019s purpose.\u00a0 This hostile in mind is the idea of being an enemy to God in your purpose or thoughts.\u00a0 Now some might say, wait just a minute, I was a sinner, but I never hated God.\u00a0 Did you follow Him?\u00a0 Did you strive to please God?\u00a0 Was that the over-ruling principle of your life prior to coming to Christ?\u00a0 You might also say, I came to Christ when I was four years old, I hadn\u2019t really done anything that could be considered hostile to God.\u00a0 Refusing to acknowledge Him as the God He is, that is hostile to God.\u00a0 Letting your desires for your own life rule your life is hostile to God.\u00a0 And although we might say we never acted on this thoughts or feelings, keep in mind that this is where many of us still battle today.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if you are new in the Lord or have been a believer for years, there is a battle going on in your mind to do things our own way.\u00a0 I believe that there are days when our evil nature shows itself only to us, and then there are those days when anyone who might watch our lives would see we have gone beyond that and, engaged in evil deeds<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Being engaged in evil deeds<\/strong> can mean all kinds of evil \u2013 there are the kinds of things that we probably wouldn\u2019t want to bring up in Sunday school.\u00a0 But there is also a type of evil deed that is harder to spot.\u00a0 Remember the Pharisees of Christ\u2019s day?\u00a0 What were their evil deeds?\u00a0 They were guilty of teaching that you could earn your way into God\u2019s approval.\u00a0 They were guilty of using their spiritual roles to elevate their own person prestige in the eyes of others.\u00a0 They were guilty of coming to God and believing that they were already righteous. The evil deeds are the outward expression of the evil that used to lay within our hearts of those who are alienated from God and live in hostility towards God.<\/p>\n

Now, another reminder of what it cost Jesus to redeem you: yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death<\/strong>.\u00a0 This was the path.\u00a0 There was no other way.\u00a0 This is the reason why we take communion, to remember this truth.\u00a0 He reconciled you in His fleshly body through death.<\/strong>\u00a0 I think we talked enough about this previously so let\u2019s move forward to see the goal of that reconciliation.\u00a0 This is the restoration of the relationship between man and God, or the restoration of the relationship to what it should be. This is a very strong word and Paul uses this word to confront issues of false teaching.\u00a0 So Paul is showing that Christ is God; in verses 15 through 19 and then he goes on to show what was done by this deity, this God. There were people teaching in that day that Jesus wasn\u2019t enough to save us.\u00a0 Sound familiar?<\/p>\n

John M. used this phrase that I believe covers some differences between forgiveness and reconciled.\u00a0 Forgiveness deals with the sins of our lives. He forgives them. Redemption deals with the root, the condition of our nature. As slaves to sin He frees us. We’re no longer slaves to sin. Forgiveness deals with the fruit, redemption deals with the root. Now reconciliation deals with our condition, and sonship deals with our position. Reconciliation deals with our condition. We become His friends, we experience fellowship.<\/p>\n

In order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.<\/strong>\u00a0 Remember you were formally alienated.\u00a0 Now you are no longer distanced from God.\u00a0 You have been brought close to Him. Notice the verb \u201cto present\u201d is the picture of someone walking into the presence of a King.\u00a0 That is what Christ\u2019s death has done for you.\u00a0 All of us who were formally a long ways off, are now being presented before Him.\u00a0 And although you used to be hostile in mind, you are now beyond reproach.\u00a0 You used to participate in evil deeds, now you are Holy.\u00a0 What a dramatic turn-around.\u00a0 There is only one thing that can explain the difference and that was the work of Christ.\u00a0 It is truly a miracle but we have gotten too used to this and have at times turned it into the mundane.\u00a0 But this is why He must be the one to present you.\u00a0 You can\u2019t present yourself because you have no rights to just walk into the presence of God the Father.\u00a0 You have the right only through the work of Christ.\u00a0 Because you have trusted the Son, you can now enter into the presence of the Father but only under the protection and authority of Jesus.\u00a0 Remember also that you don\u2019t enter as a servant, you enter as a Joint Heir with Jesus.<\/p>\n

This next portion of the passage is one of those that people discuss from all kinds of directions.\u00a0 If indeed you continue in the faith firmly<\/strong> \u2013 what is the role of our continuation in the faith?\u00a0 Are we required to continue in the faith in order to be saved?\u00a0 If that is true, then does salvation become a matter of our faithfulness, turning it into something we must earn or also said, a matter of works?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m so glad you asked.\u00a0 I am a firm believer that if you have ever accepted Christ as your Savior, in other words if for that moment you truly trusted Christ, then you are saved forever because your salvation is kept by the Father.\u00a0 There are others who believe that there is a clear demonstration of a true believer that they continue in the faith.\u00a0 I believe that the only way that a person can truly believe is by God\u2019s drawing that person to Himself.\u00a0 So how could a person accept Christ without God\u2019s empowering?\u00a0 I do admit that if a person does accept the Lord it seems that they would continue in the faith, but I am afraid that knowing if a person accepted the Lord or not is beyond my knowledge. Continuance is a test before men, but God tests the hearts of men.\u00a0 And in the end, it is the Lord\u2019s call if you are in the family or not. Only He knows if you have truly trusted Jesus as your Savior.\u00a0 And what is to happen of those who have misled by cults and false teachers?\u00a0 Were they sheep or goats?\u00a0 There is the Biblical principle that His sheep shall hear His voice and follow Him.\u00a0 So maybe those who are led astray weren\u2019t really saved, but it seems a fairly simple answer to a complicated question.\u00a0 Then again, remember that God baffles the wise because His simple things are wiser than man\u2019s best knowledge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paul goes on to write to the church of Colossae about the gospel, telling them that it is:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The gospel that you have heard\u2013 <\/strong>emphasizing that this was the same gospel that caused their lives to be so changed.\u00a0 He is stressing that people should not be quick to grab onto new ideas.\u00a0 You and I are saved by the same gospel that saved Paul, Peter and all who have been saved since the Lord walked on this earth.<\/li>\n
  2. The gospel \u2026 which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven — <\/strong>there is only one gospel.\u00a0 Not many different ones for various situations.\u00a0 There is only one.\u00a0 Jesus said it and Paul wrote it, but for some reason we sometimes have a difficult time hearing this.\u00a0 We like to think that people can follow many paths and get to the same place we are \u2013 but Jesus said, \u201cI am the way, the truth, and the life.\u201d\u00a0 People don\u2019t like to hear this, but any other gospel is there to mislead not to bring people to God.\u00a0 There are only two directions, towards the Creator or away from the Creator.<\/li>\n
  3. The gospel \u2026 of which I, Paul, was made a minister<\/strong> — meaning that the same gospel that Paul preaches comes from the teaching on Epaphras. \u00a0Not only does this gospel save us, but it calls us to service, it challenges us to a new purpose in life.\u00a0 Paul never stopped making tents either.\u00a0 If you were to ask him what he did for to earn a living, he would of course tell you that the Lord provides, but in his case, the Lord provided work of tent making.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Way we Were and the Way we Are \u00a0 Col 1:21-23 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[83],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1548"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1549,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548\/revisions\/1549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}