1 Timothy 3:16-4:5 True Truth

1 Timothy 3:16-4:5

What we believe affects us deeply. It affects how we see and evaluate ourselves, how we see and evaluate others, and how we see and evaluate all that happens in the world. If we believe this is a dog eat dog world where only the cruel survive – that will lead to a certain kind of lifestyle. If we believe that there is a God in heaven to who we are accountable, if we believe that all people are valuable, created in God’s image, if we believe that we are utterly sinful – but amazingly forgiven and loved – that will lead to a certain kind of lifestyle.

That’s why the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write v14 and 15 “14 I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, 15 so that if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth”.

We looked at this two weeks ago, the key verses of this letter to Timothy, and saw how we need to know the truth, see the truth, and live the truth. But what is the truth?

1. Jesus is the Truth

What is the truth? The truth is the gospel of Christ Jesus as explained in chapter 1: the truth that we are sinners, we have broken God’s good law - but equally that we are forgiven “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners” (1:11). That is, indeed, a trustworthy saying!
Those are the two dimensions of the gospel: sin, and forgiveness – and we need both to see in 3D, to see the full picture.
If we only have one: forgiveness but not sin, or sin but not forgiveness – it’s like watching a 3D movie with only one eye. You’re not getting the full picture! Forgiveness but not sin is no gospel – people hear “Jesus loves you”, and they think of course he does, why wouldn’t he? There is no repentance, no acceptance of Jesus as Lord, and that leads to many who say “Lord lord”, and Jesus will respond “I do not know you”.
Sin without forgiveness leads to harsh religion – the wagging finger, the great burden you’ve got to carry to earn your salvation. And either leads to Pharisee who think they’re right with God, but aren’t, or depression, because you can’t do it.
You need both eyes – see in 3D: sin PLUS forgiveness. Then we will see that the gospel is not about us oooh I’nm so loveable or I can do it – but about Jesus, the Christ. 16 Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ. (Christ means anointed one – he is the promised rescuer, the redeemer).

Verse 16 seems to be a quote from a hymn that was sung in the early church, and its focus is simply Jesus. He is the mystery of our faith. Not words, not ideas, but him.

The false teachers come with empty words – in chapter 1 we saw power through genealogies, being linked with powerful ancestors. And here we see strict rules to follow to make you acceptable to God. Do not marry. Do not eat. Then you will be acceptable to God. That is teachings from demons says 4:1. False philosophies and empty ideas from the pit of hell.
But the true Gospel is not empty ideas, not power through genealogies, not mere words, it’s not following rules – but a Person, the Living God revealed in the flesh, seen in both heaven and earth.

16 Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.

16 Christ was revealed in a human body is the miracle of the incarnation, that is, God becoming man. To look at Jesus was to see God himself. As Jesus said to Philip the apostle: if you have seen me, Philip, you have seen the Father. (John 14:9).
Do not be fooled by teachings from demons like that peddled by the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Iglesia ni Christo, who claim that Jesus is not God and that he must not be worshipped. That is not what the Bible says.
Jesus was seen by angels, not the “other” angels, but angels – and therefore he’s not an angel. But he’s not just a man – because he was “revealed” in a human body… greater than man but not an angel – there is only God.
And when we see that Jesus is now in heaven in glory, something that is never spoken of of angels, and when we see that the mystery of our faith is not that Christ reveals “Jehovah” the God behind Jesus, but that he himself is the mystery of our faith, and when the hymn calls us to believe not in Jehovah or the Father or God but in Jesus – I think we can safely say that the apostles, the early church, tell us that Jesus was God revealed in the flesh. That is a mystery indeed! Hallelujah! What a God we serve!

The Apostle John writes in 1 John 4:3 (ESV) ...[E]very spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist.
Our faith is focussed on Jesus. He is our good confession. He is the centre of our faith. Jesus is not a conduit (a pipe through which we flow to the real God). He is not a messenger. He IS the message. Jesus did not just bring the gospel, or just tell us about the gospel – he IS the gospel. Our confession is Jesus, not Jesus said, or even Jesus did. Our confession is Jesus. That’s why this hymn, this confession of faith, is solely focussed on him. He is the mystery of faith.

16 Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. The word vindicated means “to be shown to be right”.
When was Jesus shown to be right? When was all his words and actions vindicated? When was the seeming failure of the Cross revealed to be a great victory over death and salvation for all? That’s right, when he rose from the dead.
His resurrection was his vindication. When suddenly all saw that here was indeed the son of God, the King, the Holy One of Israel. He was indeed the promised Messiah (Christ).

His resurrection changed everything.
It certainly changed the apostles! They were all depressed, huddled in a room in Jerusalem. Other followers were walking home to Emmaus, faces sad, their hopes dashed. “We thought he was the Messiah”, they said in Luke 24. And the women, well, they went to the tomb with burial spices to anoint his body. All of them thought he was dead. None of them expected him to rise from the dead.

But he did. And showed himself to them. And that was the explosive truth that spread so rapidly around the world that within a few years it had reached Rome and within around 25 years was so large, so well-known, and so hated that in 64AD the Emperor himself, Nero, burned parts of Rome to the ground and blamed it on the Christians. It was a world-wide religion, reaching even to the Emperor of Rome, within about 20 years! That is the power of the resurrection life!

Not surprising that the hymn continues that Jesus was announced to the nations and ... believed in throughout the world. It is amazing to think that when 1 Timothy was written, in about 62AD, the gospel had already spread across the whole world. So much so, that singing about Jesus being announced to the nations and believed in throughout the world was a perfectly normal part of church. That is the power of Jesus. As he said in Acts 1:8 (Mia?) “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus is the gospel. Jesus empowers the gospel. And finally, Jesus is seated now in glory, overseeing the gospel.

V16 ends, having taken us through the incarnation, the resurrection, and the spread of the gospel, to lift up our eyes to heaven where Jesus now sits enthroned in glory. He was taken to heaven in glory.

That’s what we’ve just celebrated: Ascension Day (Kristi Himmelfart). After saying “you will be my witnesses” the next verse in Acts continues: After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

This is the glorious saviour we love and serve. Jesus is the gospel. He who knew no sin became sin for us. What love is this when God himself comes to bear our sins, pay the price we deserve, break the power of sin and death over us and set us free. Praise Him! And now to give us His Spirit so that we can share His joy, his forgiveness, this great Gospel with everyone around us.

Now, when you have such a glorious truth to share – why would you settle for anything less?

2. Satanic lies (anything other than Jesus is not the truth)

4:1 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. 2 These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.

What does the Apostle Paul mean by writing that the Holy Spirit tells us that people will turn away? How does He tell us?

Well maybe it is a direct revelation from the Holy Spirit, but it’s probably because Paul knows his Bible! That’s where the Spirit’s voice is heard clearly, authoritatively, objectively.
The Holy Spirit reveals quite clearly what the leaders of God’s people are like in the history of Israel. You don’t really have to know the Old Testament that well to be able to say “the Holy Spirit warns us that people will turn away from the true faith”.

As the prophet Jeremiah warns us in Jer 17:9 The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.
And so because of greed, lust for power, a desire to be God, these men have been lured away from the truth by Satanic lies, and now they peddle those same lies. And their method is always the same: appear to be godly, be impressive, have lots of pomp and ceremony around you – maybe flashy clothes and white suits, or big religious hats, collars, cloaks, and a large silver cross – all things that say “I am a representative of God”. And then speak words that seem true, but aren’t.
“Brothers and sisters, we must obey God. He has wiped our past sins away, but now we must earn his trust by obeying his law.” To some of you that will be very familiar – you’ve heard your teachers saying those very same words – words from Satan. We were saved, but now we have to earn our salvation. They are evil words, for they deny the sovereignty of God in salvation, and make our salvation dependant not on the finished work of Christ – but on our own efforts.
It is evil because it’s close to the truth, but it is not true truth. We are called to obey, but our salvation is not dependant on our obedience. It is dependant on Christ’s obedience. We do not obey to be saved – we obey because we are saved,

Satan always wants to tear down Christ from his position of honour. Beware of any teaching which puts man at the centre, and shifts Jesus away to the side. Because that is not the Gospel. Jesus is the gospel – not you, not me, not our efforts, not the church, not even the good of mankind – Jesus. To him be the glory, and no other!

But these men are not satisfied with just taking the focus off Jesus – oh no, they need the focus on them. So then they start making up silly, unbiblical rules – not only saying “you need to follow the law”, but, just like the Pharisees, adding to the law. Do not marry, they say. Do not eat certain foods, they say. That is how you impress God.
Ugh.

They did not care about the gospel. They did not see the church as the pillar and foundation of the truth. They did not care about the lost. All they cared about was themselves, their own power, their prestige. How many leaders in the church today are like that? Twisting the Scriptures to enhance their own popularity...
For example. Have you heard this “Brothers and sisters, the law of God is love. Same sex marriage is an expression of love. Love is not a sin. Same sex marriage is not a sin.” Hooray. I’m sure the fact that homosexuality now so accepted in our society has nothing to do with their change of heart. In fact, I’m sure all the bishops were championing this form of “God’s love” 20 years ago.
What, they weren’t. Oh. How strange.

If I replace the word with adultery we’ll see how deceptive it is. “Brothers and sisters, the law of God is love. Adultery is an expression of love. Love is not a sin. Adultery is not a sin.”
Both adultery (sex with someone other than your spouse) and homosexual sex (sex with someone of the same sex) are sin, just like lying, murder, gossip, and all the other things we do which God would not do!
May I just point out that being attracted to members of the same sex is not sinful. That’s often not something we can control. I’m deeply attracted to my wife – but I can’t stop myself finding certain other women attractive as well – because they are - just like a homosexual man will find certain men attractive – because they are. It becomes a sin when I act on that attraction – either in my head or by actually doing it. When I give in to the attraction.
There are many godly men and women with same-sex attraction serving the Lord. If you need help thinking through this issue, have a chat with me after the service. A website www.livingout.org is a great resource. However, the real problem in the church today is not homosexuality – it is our attitude to God and to his Word.

We are saying yes to things God said no to, and saying no to things God says yes to. And it matters because we are sending people to hell. The church is the pillar of the truth – not a hotbed of lies.

3 They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. 4 Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. 5 For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.

Where do we say that “in order to be a real Christian you need to accept Christ and... stop smoking, wear the right clothes, not eat meat with blood in it, not get a tattoo, not dance on Sundays, not read Harry Potter, not close your curtains.” The list goes on and on of stupid rules we can make up. And we need to repent.

There is freedom in Christ. Eat your food with thanksgiving. Enjoy life with praise. Ascetism (denying yourself things to impress God) is ungodly. Only Christ impresses God. Trying to impress God without Christ or outside of Christ is trying to impress God with sins!

Dear friends, Jesus is all that matters. Do we proclaim Jesus in the way that we live, eat, entertain, do church? Or do we proclaim Satanic lies? Where have we been guilty of saying to people “you need to do this and that and then Jesus will accept you” – perhaps not with our words but just with our actions. Is our church open to everyone?
Where do we put ourselves in the centre – our own efforts - instead of Jesus? It’s easy to slip into a DIY Christianity, where we’re judging our salvation by our performance, and comparing ourselves to others.

This is the mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.

Colossians 1:15-23 Christ, our all in all

Colossians 1:15-23

What is the most important thing in the world to you?
What is it, or who is it, that you cannot live without. That the thought of losing that person, that part of your life, that thing, fills you with dread. Perhaps it’s your husband or wife, your children, or parents? Maybe it’s your house or car. Or your health, your mind, your special skill or ability which defines you.

What’s the most important thing in the world to you?

Take a moment to think about that. Write down the answer, if you can.

Now look at your answer (or think about it). If your answer to “what is the most important thing in the world to you” was anything other than our Lord Jesus Christ…. Well, then we have some work to do on our hearts, on our attitudes, on the deep places of our souls. For this passage calls us to adoration, adulation, praise and worship of our great Lord and Saviour, our Christ, our Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth the Son of God. This morning we are to fill our minds with him, to let our hearts overflow with thanksgiving, with praise, with joy at knowing him. Let us rejoice! For he is our all in all. This morning as we are gathered together let us raise Christ up in our hearts to his rightful place. He is not just our Lord, our Saviour, our rescuer, our Brother, our guide to life, our Redeemer – he is more than that. He is our very life. Everything we are is found in him. We are expressed most fully in him. We are alive only truly in him.

Christ is supreme.

He is our life.

Now this passage is so tightly packed with awesome truth that we won’t be able to gets to grips with everything today. V15-22 are basically saying that Christ is supreme in everything. Short and to the point v23-24 then call us to respond: Believe it!

Today we’re going to focus in on just v15-17, and two aspects of Jesus:

1. Christ is our all in all, because he is God.

2. Christ is our all in all, because he is human

We’re going to spend time working through each verse basically because there is so much to absorb in each verse! We need to spend a bit of time chewing over each statement, understanding it, making it part of our thinking, our worldview, before we move on.

1. Christ is our all in all, because he is God.

So let’s get started, and what better place to start than our opening verse, v15: Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

It seems that Paul in vv15-20 is quoting a creed or a hymn used in the early church. There’s some indication of this in the original Greek texts, and that’s why our Bibles have shown this by formatting it in a sort of “poetic” way. This is what they believed – those who knew Jesus, who were eyewitnesses to his resurrection. It’s good to know, because there’s many people wandering about calling themselves Christians but denying the supremacy of Christ – they either say he was not fully human, and therefore lacking in some way as our representative, or, that he is not God, and therefore unworthy of our worship.

The first problem of whether Jesus was fully human was a problem the early church faced, particularly with the rise of Gnosticism (“secret knowledge”) and their ideas that physical matter was evil, but the spirit was good. The second denial: that Jesus isn’t really God, was a later problem, starting with Arius around 300AD. Arianism accepts Jesus as a god-type figure, but not God himself. It states that he was created by God the Father, and is not equal with him. With the rise of materialism in the last 200-300 years, Jesus has been reduced to a mere charismatic human teacher, not divine in any way. This modern lie, is particularly found in the theological faculty at most secular universities, among many Western “ministers” today who deny the Virgin birth (Jesus was just a man) and even deny the resurrection – why are you a minister then??
Many “Christian” groups turned back to the Arian heresy under the influence of Materialism: groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Way International, Mormons, and the Church of Christ (Iglesia ni Cristo) – all who started within the last two hundred years and yet claim to hold to the original teachings of the early church. So for over 1800 years the church was in error? Big claims. Let’s see what the Bible says.

V15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

He is the visible image of God. To see Christ is to see God. They are one and the same. v19 confirms this For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ. The very nature and character of God have been perfectly revealed in him; in him the invisible has become visible. Arius was wrong. The secular theologians are wrong. Jesus is the very representation of God. He is God. V15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God

He is the “invisible God”: Both Old and New Testaments make it clear that “no one has ever seen God.”. For example John 1:18: No one has ever seen God. But it doesn’t stop there. It continues But the unique One [Jesus], who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.
In 1 Cor 4:4,6 it says understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God… God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
In Heb 1:3 we read that The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God.

That utterly knocks on its head the lie that Jesus is not God. He is not only God, he is the visible image of God, and indeed the fullness of God.
And therefore we need nothing else.

The reason for these groups wanting to diminish Christ in some way is so that they can put something else in between God. Felix Manalo claimed to be the Final Prophet and was the final authority in all things for the Church of Christ. Jehovah’s Witnesses obey everything the Watchtower organisation tells them to do. In many churches the minister has become a “Prophet” or “Apostle” or “Priest” – and demands that people look to him for spiritual wisdom, or guidance, or healing, or blessing, or forgiveness of sins. No, look to Christ. There is nothing lacking in him, for he IS the fullness of Christ. 2:3 In [Christ] lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

There is nothing lacking in Christ. We’re not missing out if we are consumed with him, and only him. Many will come claiming secret knowledge, a new experience, a deeper understanding. Do not be moved from Christ, for to know him is to know the Father (John 14:9). He is our all in all.
2:8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. 9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.

We never move beyond Christ. Christian maturity is going deeper into Christ, not moving on from him, as if he is the starting point, and then our good works are the end goal. No, he is the end goal – as it says at the end of v16 Everything was created through him and for him. He is our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and end, the ultimate goal and end point of our lives.

This is why the Holy Spirit, through Paul, is giving us this amazing song of praise to Jesus Christ, the Son. It is not just head knowledge, not just so we can sit back and nod our heads and stroke our beards and go, hmmm. No, this is why: 2:6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

He is our all in all. We are to be consumed with him. He is our delight and our joy.

My Dad told us a few weeks ago how he has to smack his tomatoes. In order to make them strong and healthy plants, you need to smack them! Because when you do, they go deeper in to the soil, putting down roots, strong secure. That is what we must do. Let us “smack our tomatoes” so that we are rooted and fixed in Christ.

Where have you been tempted to look to something or someone other than Christ? Perhaps you’ve been trusting in your own good works, a form of your own righteousness – how am I living, how am I performing, will God still love me if I mess up. Guilt or pride are the marks of that kind of living. Repent and embrace the forgiveness of Christ. We are reconciled to him, declared holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault (v22).

Perhaps you’ve been tempted to try to get your significance and security from your relationships: particularly your husband, or maybe your friends. Repent. Christ is your all in all. Be satisfied in him. Draw your significance from him, and then you will be able to be the wife and friend you should be. Same for you husbands – delight in the Lord, draw your joy and strength from him that you may love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave up his life for her.

Or perhaps it’s your job – that defines you. No, it is Christ who defines you. He is your life. He is first in everything: first in your heart, first in your passions, first in your desires, first in your dreams for the future, first in your family, in your time, first in your monthly spending. He is first. Our all in all.

Christ is our all in all, because he is God.
Christ is our all in all, because he is our God.

2. Christ is our all in all, because he is human

Now we need to go back to v15 and spend a bit longer on it. Because it addresses not only the lie that Jesus is not God, but also the lie that he is not human. For as 1:15 says Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He is the image-bearer of God – which is what we are. Or at least, were created to be.

Remember Gen 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

We were created to reflect the glory of God. But we exchanged the glory of God for a lie, and chose to become utter fools. (Rom 1:21) Christ, then, is the second Adam, the true image-bearer, the true Human Being, the firstborn among many brothers. (Rom 5 and 8:29) In Col 2:9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. Fully God, fully man. That is our Lord Jesus. He is the first, the only, true human. The rest of us turned from that path long ago.

That is why we become who we are born to be only in him. In Christ we discover our humanity. In Christ we give up our lives – only to gain them. It is not like Eastern philosophies where you are absorbed into some Consciousness like the Force. No, you become you, only brighter, more intense - you, fully realised.
Become who you were born to be. Embrace Christ in all his fullness. Abandon yourself to him – and you will find yourself.

A bit of a silly example, and I think a little embarrassing, but, oh well: when I was 19 I really wanted to be the type of person that people could share their secrets with. Not because I was particularly interested in their secrets – I’m an introvert! - but because that was a character trait I wanted. I wanted to be seen as trustworthy, reliable, safe. An honourable man.
But no-one did share their secrets with me.
Until Christ got hold of me and I gave up my life to him. And all of a sudden people left right and centre were committing to me their deep thoughts and secrets. I gave up my life, only to gain it.

A silly story, but there’s a kernel of truth in it. In Christ we become who we are born to be. He is the image of God, like we are meant to be – and in Him we too can reflect the glory of God.

Christ is our all in all, because he is human. He is the first to rise from the dead – the first of the new man, raised imperishable, eternal. And he is supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything (v18).

I’m going to end by telling you a story, a story of a man who was consumed by Christ. Christ was his life. He was his all in all.

In Piccadilly Circus in London there is a famous statue commonly known as Eros (although it’s actually called the Angel of Christian Charity). It was erected in honour of Lord Shaftesbury. He was led to faith in Christ by his maid as a child, and his adult life was described like this by one of his biographers, Georgina Battiscombe: "No man has in fact ever done more to lessen the extent of human misery or to add to the sum total of human happiness".

For example, his works in Parliament: He pioneered the Lunacy Act, which provided that the mentally disabled be treated like human beings instead of being made to sleep naked on hay in cages and fed food not fit for human consumption; the Ten hour working day act, which prohibited children under the age of nine from being made to work in the factory, and under eighteens to work more than ten hours. He pioneered Ragged Schools and the Education bill for all children in Britain, so that even the poor could learn to read and write. The Colliery bill which removed women and children from the mines; the Chimney Sweeps Act which stopped young boys being used as chimney sweeps (they were sent into the chimney pipes and developed all sorts of health problems as a result); and much, much more. All things we take for granted now – but all things Lord Shaftesbury had to fight for because he was convinced of the inherent dignity of people made in God’s image.

What would Britain, and indeed Norway and the rest of the world, look like today without that man’s influence? It is staggering.

His private life matched his public life. He is described as having an “abnormally happy” marriage, and had 10 children.

At his funeral the streets were packed with poor people, costermongers, flower-girls, boot-blacks, crossing-sweepers, factory-hands and similar workers who waited for hours to see Shaftesbury's coffin as it passed by. Shaftesbury was known as the "Poor Man's Earl".

He also founded multiple charities, children’s homes, the Church Pastoral Aid society, and on and on it goes.
Why did he live like this? Well, these are his words “I do not think that in the last 40 years I have lived one conscious hour that was not influenced by our Lord’s return.”

His life was a life given up to Christ. He was consumed with Christ – he was his all in all – and his life reflected that. May we follow in the footsteps of men like Lord Shaftesbury.

19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. 21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it.