COLOSSIANS 1:22

“yet He has now reconciled you in His body of flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—” 

The last two words I would use to describe myself is “holy” and “blameless.” I know we are commanded to be holy as He is holy (Lev. 11:44; 19:2; 20:7; 1 Pet. 1:15-16), but that is hard, isn’t it? And blameless? Are you kidding me? I have done so many things against the Lord I can hardly be called blameless. Yet, here we have today’s verse.

Take a good look at the verse. Notice that it does not say you or I have done anything to make ourselves holy or blameless. No amount of effort on our part will do that. It is because “He has now reconciled you” that you are called holy and blameless. That word “reconciled” is the same word we looked at two days ago in Colossians 1:20. Only God can declare us holy and blameless. The second we declare ourselves with those terms, we have ceased to be that very thing.

APPLICATION

You need to understand what these two words mean. “Holy” is the Greek word hagios which means to be set apart for a purpose. God sets you apart for His work. It’s used 235 times in the New Testament, so you need to do your own word study on hagios. That would be a great study. You could take one day for each time you find that word and dig out that verse. I give you that challenge.

And “blameless” is the Greek word amomos which means without blemish or faultless. Which one of you could describe yourself that way? Not me! But God declares me to be just that. Remember, His Son shed His blood to make us this way. His blood covers us and purifies us. We see this in 1 Peter 1:18-19. “18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

So, if God declares us holy and blameless, shouldn’t we do our best to live that way? We can if we choose to. We can live holy lives. We can live blameless lives. I am not saying we can be sinless, but we can stay covered by His blood. We can choose to live to honor Him and only allow those “accidental” sins to happen. We do not choose to sin. If we do that, we can honor His description of us.

O Lord, I praise You for making me holy and blameless. Strengthen me today to live like that.