To Encourage You

Colossians 1:21-22 “And you, who once were 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.”

How do you see yourself, morally, that is?  Do you view yourself as damaged goods?  When you look back over your life, do you have any regrets for what you have done? Are there things you’d rather others not know about you?  If you’re like me, your answer to some, if not all, of these questions is “Of course.”  The Bible says that our sins are “as scarlet (Isaiah 1:18).”  Scarlet is a color that stands out to the eye.  You can’t miss it.  In other words, all of us have been marked by, i.e., tainted, by sin.  We have a record, and it’s not a good one.  If the books were to be opened regarding our past, there are things that we would surely be ashamed of.   People can carry such things through life and have a very negative view of themselves as a result.  They feel unworthy, guilty, even worthless, emotions that can lead to despair. 

So, what does the Bible have to say to those who have put their faith in Christ’s death as payment for their sins and thereby received the forgiveness of sin that only God can give?  In the verses above three words/phrases are used to describe such people, and they are wonderful words in this context: holy, blameless, and above reproach.  So, what do they mean?  Holy means to be set apart unto God, consecrated to Him, pure or sacred.  It’s a word that describes God the Father (1 Peter 1:15), Son (Acts 4:30), and Holy Spirit as well as the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:15).  “Blameless” means to be without blame or fault, free from disgrace. Think of the disgrace that is attached to the name of the town drunk or a “woman of the night,” but suddenly that person being set permanently and completely free from that reputation.  “Above reproach” is similar, meaning beyond criticism.  Imagine a sinful person being made to be pure, not at fault for the sin they’ve done, and not being subject to the criticism that they most certainly deserve.  And while those ideas are incredible in and of themselves, what is even more awesome is that the believer is viewed in these ways by God.  The Holy, sinless, perfect Creator of the universe sees the believer as just as holy, blameless, and above reproach as He sees His own Son. 

Man views these things in a relative sense.  To us, we may view anyone who is a little holier or less sinful than us as holy in our sight.  However, to be seen as holy in God’s sight, the God who sees our heart, knows our secrets, and judges by the perfect standard of His own holiness, it is almost too incredible to comprehend that He would view us as the verses above say He does. 

But all of this is not because we have any of these wonderful qualities in and of ourselves. The Bible is clear that our own righteousness is as nothing but “filthy rags,” i.e., literally, “used menstrual cloths,” before Him (Isaiah 64:6).  Not a pretty picture!  But it is the wonder of wonders that God has made available to us the righteousness of His own Son through His reconciling work on the cross.  “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Some have called this “the great exchange,” i.e., the exchange of our own filthy sins for the purity and innocence of the Son of God.  And all of this not because we are worthy of it in any way.  It’s only because God is good. 

May God help those of us who know the Lord to be continually grateful for “the great exchange” and may He open the eyes of any who don’t know Him to what is possible for anyone if they will only believe.