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For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it;(A) and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.(B)

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18 [a]And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation,

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Footnotes

  1. 5:18–21 Paul attempts to explain the meaning of God’s action by a variety of different categories; his attention keeps moving rapidly back and forth from God’s act to his own ministry as well. Who has reconciled us to himself: i.e., he has brought all into oneness. Not counting their trespasses: the reconciliation is described as an act of justification (cf. “righteousness,” 2 Cor 5:21); this contrasts with the covenant that condemned (2 Cor 3:8). The ministry of reconciliation: Paul’s role in the wider picture is described: entrusted with the message of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:19), he is Christ’s ambassador, through whom God appeals (2 Cor 5:20a). In v 20b Paul acts in the capacity just described.

21 [a]And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds(A) 22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him,

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Footnotes

  1. 1:21–23 Paul, in applying this hymn to the Colossians, reminds them that they have experienced the reconciling effect of Christ’s death. He sees the effects of the cross in the redemption of human beings, not of cosmic powers such as those referred to in Col 1:16, 20 (all things). Paul also urges adherence to Christ in faith and begins to point to his own role as minister (Col 1:23), sufferer (Col 1:24), and proclaimer (Col 1:27–28) of this gospel.