Exclamation Point!
if indeed you continue in faith firmly established and steadfast Colossians 1:23
If Indeed – Jesus wants to present us holy and blameless. That’s the plan (see verse 22). The first step in this glorious transformation has been accomplished (John 19:30). You and I have been reconciled with God. We have been rescued from inescapable condemnation. The result wipes away our past guilt and opens the door for true obedience from the heart. As Soren Kierkegaard said, “Now, with the help of God, I can become myself.” Now we are free to obey, not in order to gain merit or earn righteousness, but in order to live in such a way that we can be most effectively used by God and be presented as light in the dark. Now we can be who we were meant to be.
Of course, that means there is a second step in the plan and that’s what Paul addresses in this verse. The opening word is crucial. “If indeed” is the Greek eige. This tiny word combines the idea of the conditional “if” with what is the equivalent of an exclamation point. In other words, Paul puts the stress on eige. Holy and blameless do not follow automatically. These characteristics of a redeemed life depend on perseverance. If you want the best that God has to offer, if you want to come before Him completely expended in His purposes, then you must continue. Keep on keeping on. God’s glory and your honor are not completed in returning you to a reconciled state. They are completed when you stick with it to the end. Remember eige. IF!
If the church ignores the emphasis in this verse, dangerous and damaging consequences result. Congregants begin to believe that all they need to do is focus on heaven. They imagine that reconciliation is the end of the matter, not the beginning. They do not see that transformation is a prerequisite to holiness and blamelessness. They distribute the perfection of the Messiah across their own lives like SPF 60 sin-block. Convinced that the whole game is accomplished in the opening serve, they forget about the hard work of baseline strokes and volleys. The Christian life is Game-Set-Match. It’s a long obedience in the same direction. But without the “if!” we assume that Christ did it all so that we can be sideline observers.
A great deal of the concern about these two steps comes from the confusion of law and grace. Grace is absolutely all that is needed to bring reconciliation. That was true for Abraham. It is true for us. No amount of blameless obedience will ever earn us favor with God. Why? Because He already favored us. Trying to improve God’s completed work is pointless. But God still expects us to demonstrate our gratitude and affection by following His instructions (often misnamed “law”). Instructions show us how to live after reconciliation. In other words, obedience is the pathway to becoming fully human and God’s plan is to bring about full humanity in us. God’s label for full humanity is “holy and blameless.”
Just think how blessed we are! God has purposed to guide us toward becoming all that He intends us to be. He initiates the process on His own. Then He gives us the complete instruction book of human being and promises to help us with every step. All we have to do is get going and stick with it.
Topical Index: Perseverance
