Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Colossians 1:22

"yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him:" — Colossians 1:22 (ASV)

God reconciled the Colossians “by Christ’s physical body through death.” The phrase “physical body” seems to emphasize (in contradiction to the views of the heretics) the reality of Christ’s human body. To the errorists, reconciliation could be accomplished only by spiritual (angelic) beings; they attached little or no value to the work of Christ in a physical body. In opposition to this, Paul stressed the importance of Christ’s body.

The result of Christ’s reconciling work is the presentation of the Colossians as “holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” Both the present and the future seem to be in view here. In reconciling believers, God brought them into his presence, no longer as stained by sin and bearing the burden of guilt, but as “holy” and “without blemish and free from accusation.” That is their standing at the time of and by the death of Christ. But on the day of Christ’s return, they will be officially presented as perfected in glory. In the meantime, they are progressing in holiness wrought in them by the Spirit of God.

“Holy” suggests consecration and dedication (see comment on v.2).

“Without blemish” (GK 320), which translates a technical sacrificial term (Leviticus 22:21), was used of animals that were without flaw and therefore worthy of being offered to God. The use of this word gives support to the view that in this statement Paul was not thinking about our personal conduct but about our position in Christ. There has never been, nor will there ever be, a Christian life that is without blemish in actual conduct. But Christians’ identification with Christ is such that his righteousness and his standing before God are theirs (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“Free from accusation” likewise expresses a condition possible only because people are in Christ, covered by and sharing in the benefits of his death for them.