Colossians 1:21-23
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
23 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;
The Grace New Testament Commentary - Colossians 1:21-23
1:21-22 Effective discipleship cannot take place without a proper understanding not only of who Christ is but also of who believers are in relation to Him. Motivation to live the Christian life comes from the realization that although believers, like the Colossians, once were alienated and enemies of God by both their thoughts and their actions, they have now been reconciled in the body of His flesh through death. This reconciliation could come only through the body of Christ and not through anything else. Perhaps the false teachers, like some Greek philosophers, were telling the Colossians that all flesh is evil. If so, Paul takes great care to show that God Himself sent His Son to be born in the body of His flesh so He could die physically. The purpose of this reconciliation is not simply to grant people access into heaven. It is much more than that.
Paul's goal for the Colossians is the same as Christ's goal for all believers: to present them holy, and blameless, and irreproachable. While all believers are considered holy (hagios) in their positional standing the moment they believe in Christ (Heb 3:1; Rev 20:6), only through faithfulness in their day-to-day lives are believers holy in their conditional standing or experience (Rom 12:1; Eph 5:27: 1 Pet 1:15-16: 2 Pet 3:11). The fact that believers have to be told to be holy and blameless and irreproachable testifies that it is not automatic, but must be sought after.
The phrase in His sight refers to one's standing before the Judgment Seat of Christ, the place all believers will stand to be recompensed for how they lived the Christian life (Rom 14:12: 2 Cor 5:10). This will not decide whether believers get into the kingdom, since that is decided the moment a person places his faith in Jesus Christ for eternal life (John 3:16-18; 5:24). Only believers will be present at this event, and the purpose is for each believer to be rewarded for their level of faithfulness to God. Some will be rewarded richly (Luke 6:35: 1 Cor 3:14; Col 3:24; Heb 10:35) while others may suffer loss and regret (Matt 25:24-30; Luke 19:20-26). A believer's goal should be to live and finish well so that he might hear those beloved words of Matt 25:23, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
1:23 Being accepted and rewarded at the Bēma is conditional. It depends on whether the believer continues in the faith, grounded and steadfast. This points to the need not only to keep believing the right things, but also to act on them as well. Finishing the race with excellence was never guaranteed, even for the apostle Paul (1 Cor 9:27; cf. 2 Pet 3:17). Those who insist that all true believers finish well both with their doctrine and with their behavior fail to take into account the numerous scriptural warnings that such perseverance is never automatic (Luke 8:11-15; Gal 1:6; 2:4, 14; 4:9; 5:1, 4; Eph 4:14; 6:10-11; Col 2:4, 8: 1 Thess 3:2, 5, 8: 1 Tim 1:19; 4:1; 6:10: 2 Tim 2:12, 17, 25; 4:4; Titus 1:9, 13, 15). Not all saints persevere, and so Paul reminds the Colossians of this fact so that they would not be moved away from the hope of the gospel. The good news of Jesus Christ was preached to every creature under heaven, that is, without discrimination.
Charles Bing - Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship - If You Continue, Colossians 1:21-23
(Salvation) Interpretation: People are reconciled to God in salvation if they continue to believe or adhere to the Christian faith.
(Discipleship) Interpretation: Christians will have a good presentation to the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ if they continue in the faith.
This passage is very often understood as (pertaining to Salvation), but in several differing ways. Some think it teaches that people will only be saved if they continue toward Christian truth. Others think it teaches that only those who persevere in their faith to the end of their lives are truly saved. Still others interpret this as a warning that if Christians do not continue steadfastly in their faith, they will lose their salvation, a position we have dismissed as contrary to clear biblical teaching.
First, we should establish whether the warning is written from the perspective that salvation is a future possibility or a past event for these readers. The evidence shows that the readers had an unquestionable salvation experience. Paul calls them "saints and faithful brethren in Christ" (Colossians 1:2) who have a reputation for faith in God (v. 3). Positionally, they have been transferred into the kingdom of Christ (v. 13), are redeemed (v. 14), and are reconciled to God (v. 21). Their present position of reconciliation is contrasted to their previous position as those alienated from God and His enemies (v. 21).
So at the outset, it contradicts Paul's statements about the readers' saved position if their reconciliation is made conditional by what he says in verse 23: "if you continue in the faith." These readers are not on their way to faith, but are "in" the faith. If they are not yet saved, then "in the faith" cannot refer to their personal faith, nor can it refer to objective Christian truth because the starting point for that is a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Some who take this warning as (Discipleship-related) think that reconciliation with God is in view in the conditional warning, but argue that the construction of the conditional clause has the meaning "since" as in "If you continue, and you certainly will." But this construction (first class condition in the Greek) does not necessarily express certainty of fact, only certainty for the sake of argument. Statements of first class condition can be purely hypothetical and even contrary to fact (see Gal. 3:4).
There is a better (Discipleship) interpretation. To continue "in the faith" (note that Paul doesn't say "your faith") must mean to continue on the path of Christian truth first encountered by coming to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. This is foundational truth for Christian living and sanctification. Since reconciliation is a present reality to the readers, the conditional "if you continue in the faith" must look forward to something in the future. In the text, that would be the prospect of the readers' presentation in holiness and blamelessness in God's sight (1:22). This presentation to God is found elsewhere in the New Testament (2 Cor. 4:14; 11:2; Eph. 5:27: 1 Thess. 5:23; Jude 1:24) and as used in Romans 14:10, is a clear reference to the believer's appearance before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ where one's life, not one's salvation, is judged (cf. 1 Cor. 3:13: 2 Cor. 5:10). The terms "holy, blameless, and irreproachable" are not used positionally but qualitatively for the degree of sanctification attained by the believer (cf. Eph. 5:27: 1 Tim 3:2; Tit. 1:6-7). It was Paul's goal to "present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Colossians 1:28). Every believer will be presented to the Lord in that Day, but not all will be presented with equal honor.
The attainment of these qualities and a favorable presentation are conditioned on their steadfast continuance in the faith that they had learned and experienced in the gospel, but it is also conditioned on them not moving "away from the hope of the gospel" which they had heard. Hope is similar to faith because it is the expectation of a future event. Paul reminds these readers of "the hope which is laid up for you in heaven" which they heard through the gospel of grace he preached to them (Colossians 1:5-6). A key to interpreting Colossians 1:21-23 is the relationship between hope and its fruit as described by Paul in Colossians 1:4-6: Their hope resulted in an on-going faith in Jesus Christ and love for other believers (Colossians 1:4). In other words, the confidence they had in their future because of the gospel (their hope), had a sanctifying effect on their lives (the sanctifying effect of hope is seen in other New Testament passages as well: Rom. 5:2; 12:12: 2 Cor. 3:12; Heb. 7:19: 1 John 3:3). If the readers move away from this confident hope, the fruit of hope will be impaired and consequently their favorable presentation to the Lord compromised.
The difference between the (Salvation) Interpretation and the (Discipleship) Interpretation is quite profound. If salvation depends on perseverance in faith or faithfulness, assurance of salvation is lost. Without the sure hope of eternal life, motives to trust God and love others are subverted. Without these sanctifying qualities, a favorable evaluation at the Judgment Seat of Christ is jeopardized or lost. In short, believers cannot grow fully in an environment of doubt and uncertainty. Confident hope and assurance of salvation give both the motive and the freedom to trust God and love others. Such hope and assurance must be based on the gospel of God's grace, not human performance.