Total Depravity of Man and the Only Solution (Colossians 1:21-23).Wednesday October 7, 2026
Main idea: The only solution to the total depravity of man is the cross of Christ, therefore all of our help for sin and problems must have orientation to Christ as its goal.
Intro:
Paul applies the great Christ hymn to the Colossians and to reveal the incredible magnitude of the invasion of the Son of God into the.
The contrast is sharp and strong. Alienated enemy of evil to reconciled friend and son or daughter of God.
Col 1:21-23 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach — 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
I. Contrast of you then and now:
“And you” - They, we are the goal of reconciliation.
Stark contrast: and you at some time v. but now.
Rom 5:8-11 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Paul knew it first hand:
Gal 1:22-24 I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; 23 but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy." 24 And they were glorifying God because of me.
And, as Paul will expend much of this letter in exhortation, the new life manifests:
Col 3:7-8 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside:
II. Total depravity of man:
Col 1:21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds
Perfect description of the fall.
Eph 4:17-19 [Paul uses same verb: alienated, translated “excluded.”] So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
This parallels, with more detail, what Paul goes on to state - hostile in mind in evil deeds.
Col 1:21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds
The enmity is in their thinking (dianoia).
Heb 10:16 [new covenant] "This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And upon their mind I will write them,"
Paul’s use of dianoia reveals that the enemy of God, fallen, unregenerate man, is without hope in the realm of righteousness, but what God has done through Christ has given us a new heart and mentality (mind).
The result of the enemy mind is “in evil deeds.”
The claim that the unregenerate are totally depraved is resented by many. But they don’t understand its meaning.
The fall: spiritual death and depravity of those who sinned, spiritual death and depravity of the race, and physical death.
Spiritually dead persons may be physically alive.
No other human being than Adam has ever become a sinner by sinning. All others were born sinners.
Many passages clearly press this point:
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive
Rom 3:9-10 all under sin; 10 as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one;
What can man do? He has tried many schemes.
III. But now: the only Savior.
Col 1:22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach -
Reconcile (apokatallasso): exchange hostility for a friendly relationship.
The emphasis, as it is in the hymn (blood of His cross; firstborn from the dead), is on His physical body and death. Paul is emphatic by adding sarx to His soma (fleshly body).
Mat 26:26 "Take, eat; this is My body."
1Pe 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
Heb 10 (body you prepared for Me; one sacrifice, not like animals).
If there is no physical death, He cannot stand in for us completely. Our bodies cannot be taken into eternity, as they are. He, and we, must be resurrected, and that means He, as a human with a sinless body, must enter death and rise from the dead. So spiritual and physical death.
His work for our salvation would be all encompassing, for the NT describes us as going through every stage with Him. He took our place in spiritual death, and physical death; then He was the first of us to lead us through resurrection, ascension and session.
Rom 6 says we died with Him and were raised with Him. Eph 2 says that we were made alive together with Him, raised up together with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenlies.
IV. There is only one solution to depravity and sin: the cross of Christ.
Reconciliation is relationship created from a conflict. An enemy is made a friend in love.
The sin problem, our depravity, is the fracture of relationship with God.
Adam and Eve discovered they were naked. They lost their identity in pure relationship to God. So God clothed them.
Heb 9:22 without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
All help, assistance, encouragement, and rebuke must have Christ as the goal; believer and unbeliever - restored or newly created relationship.
Unbeliever: separation by penalty. Believer: separation by wrong focus.
Bring peace to both by reconciliation: faith and repentance. You have to be at peace with God yourself to be effective. Something about Him or something He has done will lead every person to peace. |