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… Colossians 1:21-22

There are two dangerous paths for the Christian.

One is underestimating the crime of sin, sweeping our once hostile mind and evil deeds under the rugs of humanity and no regrets and foolish mistakes.

The other is underestimating the power of our salvation, which has reconciled us and wiped us completely clean, holy and blameless and above reproach before our Father.

Forget the gravity of our sin, and we lead a life of thanklessness and tally marks, grateful to our own so-called good deeds instead of God. We substitute the pride of guilt and shame for the true humility of repentance and confession. Community and worship and the Word grow stale because we don’t believe we need them — not really.

Forget the totality of our redemption, and we walk in penance, not power. Our hearts and hands become weak under our own striving, living up to a standard that has already been shattered. Community and worship and the Word grow stale because we make them our duty instead of delight in the God who saved us.

Forget both our sin and our salvation, and we live a life under our own weary strength, a hopeless cycle of self-improvement and failure. We lurch from triumph to sorrow with neither peace nor grace.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 2 Corinthians 7:10

To be fully alive in Christ, we must stand in both the grief and the glory.

We must daily repent of who we are and claim only who He is.

Read the next post in The Colossians Project.
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