How can we be proven holy and righteous before God?

A series of devotions from Colossians

“For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister….” Colossians 1:19-23

It was the plan of God the Father to send His only-begotten Son into the world, a true man, to establish peace between God and man by shedding His holy and precious blood upon the cross for the sins of the whole world. And that is what Jesus has done through His death and resurrection. He took the sins of all mankind upon Himself and paid in full the just punishment, atoning for the sins of all, that we might be reconciled to God. His resurrection is proof that God accepted His sacrifice as full payment for mankind’s sin.

The people of Colosse, as well as you and I, were at one time separated from God and alienated from Him in our minds because of wicked works. Instead of loving God and gladly and willingly seeking His perfect will, we were in rebellion against Him and went our own way, desiring and doing what we deemed to be pleasing and best for us.

But even while we were yet in rebellion against our God and Maker, He gave His Son to redeem us, pay the price for our sins and win our reconciliation (cf. Rom. 5:6-11). The Colossians — and all believers today — are reconciled only “in the body of His flesh through death.”

And why did Jesus die for our sins, and the sins of the world? Why did He pay the price for our reconciliation and the reconciliation of all mankind? That He might present us “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.”

Jesus died on the cross and paid the just punishment for your sins and mine — indeed, for the sins of the whole world — that He might present us to Himself without sin, unblameable and unreproveable in His sight! Jesus paid the penalty for your sins and mine that God might pardon and forgive us and that we might be presented to the Father free of all sin and guilt.

How are we reconciled and forgiven? How can we be presented holy and righteous and unblameable in His sight? Through faith in Jesus! This pardon and forgiveness, this reconciliation won for us by Christ Jesus, becomes our own simply by believing the Word of God which promises to us reconciliation and forgiveness through Jesus’ blood shed for us on the cross! That is how the believers in Colosse were reconciled and became saints in God’s eyes, and that is how you and I can be reconciled and presented holy and righteous before our heavenly Father.

It is as Paul says: “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven.” The Holy Spirit worked faith in the Colossian believers’ hearts and He continues to call us to faith in Jesus yet today. It is “faith of the operation of God” (Col. 2:12) because it is God the Holy Spirit who creates such faith in our hearts through the preaching of the Gospel.

Jesus, God the Son in human flesh, atoned for the sins of all by His innocent sufferings and death in our stead. He reconciled the

Colossians, and He reconciles you and me, by paying in full upon the cross and then bringing us to trust in Him for pardon and forgiveness. In Jesus, there is reconciliation and forgiveness. Through faith in Jesus, we can be presented before God the Father holy and without blame.

Trust in Jesus — He has done it all and we are complete in Him! Believe what God tells you in His Word. By the working of God’s Spirit, trust that through faith in Jesus, no matter how great your sins have been, you have forgiveness and life in God’s eternal kingdom.

Trust that in Jesus you are indeed counted by God as “holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.”

O Jesus precious Savior, thank You for going to the cross and shedding Your holy and precious blood to redeem me and make me acceptable and righteous in

Your sight. Grant me faith to trust in You for pardon and forgiveness, and preserve me in that faith unto life everlasting. Amen.

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Editor’s note: Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.