The
Supremacy of Christ (1:15-29)
Continued
B. Application
of the Preeminent Work of Christ (1:21-23)
A
preeminent person does a preeminent work. Paul now picks up on what he has just
written, elaborates on it, applying Christ’s reconciling work to the readers. Paul brings this application out by the
literary device of contrast: “once”
and “now.” The impersonal third person
style used in 1:15-20 is now dropped, and the direct, second person (you) takes
effect. It is the style of direct application. “You” is in the emphatic position. It calls attention to the matter
that Christ’s preeminent work affects them personally. The conjunction “and” (kai) is
a connector, it connects what Paul is about to write to the preeminent work of
Christ.
a. Alienation (1:21).
Paul begins the application by going back to the reader’s original
condition: “and although you were
formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds” (1:21). We
have seen in identification who needs to be reconciled. It is those who are alienated,
which describes everyone outside Christ. This is man’s natural condition. The
word alienated (apallotrioo) means to be a stranger to, to be alienated
from, estranged and indicates not only separation, but a disassociation of two
parities. It denotes spiritual alienation from God here as a pagan (cf. Rom.
1:18-32). The word is used only here and in Ephesians 2:12; 4:18. This
estrangement is from the privileges of the nation Israel (Eph. 2:11-12) as Gentiles,
and exclusion from the life of God (Eph. 4:17-18). Alienation is being out of
harmony with God. Since the context in Colossians is not dealing with an ethnic
distinction, it is best to think of this alienation as from the life of God.
While the term God is not used, it is plainly implied in verse 21. This
alienation is twofold:
·
It is
internal—“hostile in mind.” This
speaks of our spiritual condition by nature. The word mind (dianoia) indicates “the brain in action.”[1] It is
the working of the brain and indicates the mind-set, understanding, thinking,
the mode of thinking, or attitude. The mind-set is described as hostile (echthros) which denotes hating or hostility, and is best taken in an active
sense.[2] This can
be conscious or unconscious, but clearly indicates the state of mind. This
because the mind is blinded to the things of God (2 Cor. 4:4). Thus, the
natural man cannot can not accept the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14), it has no
spiritual understanding. It is the mind-set of independence from God (Rom.
1:28; 8:7; James 4:4), even an enemy of God (Rom. 5:10). This is the seat of
the natural man’s problem. The phrase must not be taken to suggest that God was
hostile to them; rather it is all the action of man toward God, not the other
way around. “It
is the mind of man, not the mind of God, which must undergo a change, that a
reunion may be effected,” notes
Lightfoot.[3]
·
It is
external—“engaged in evil deeds.” The
internal manifests itself by the external acts that we engage in. The use of
the word in (en) “connects the two
phrases, the former is the seat or cause, the second is the sphere of
development.”[4] This is the product of our natural mind-set.
These deeds of mind “can be characterized in terms of the indictment of Rom.
1:18-32.”[5] These
actions are called works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). They are described in 2
Tim. 3:2-5; Titus 3:3. These are deeds that are controlled by our natural and
sinful inclination.
The alienation for believers is a past condition. This is seen in the
word formerly (1:21) and is
contrasted with the word now in verse
22. We see the same in Ephesians 2:2-3. This alienation is described at
threefold: (1) Ye walked to the direction of this age; (2) To the dictation of
Satan; and (3) Under the domination of the flesh. This is broken by the work of
Christ on our behalf, who made us alive with Christ, raised us up with Christ,
and seated us with Christ (Eph. 2:4-6). Believers are no longer in this
condition of alienation.
[1] Campbell, COLOSSIANS,
58.
[2] O’Brien,
COLOSSIANS, 66.
[3] Lightfoot, COLOSSIANS,
158.
[4] Eadie,
COLOSSIANS, 80.
[5] Dunn,
COLOSSIANS, 106,
No comments:
Post a Comment