Colossians 1:21-22

Colossians 1:21-22

[21] And  sometime  alienated  and  enemies  in your mind  by  wicked  works,  [22] In  the body  of his  flesh  through  death,  to present  holy  and  unblameable  and  unreproveable  in his  sight: 

What does Colossians 1:21-22 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The church at Colosse was predominantly a Gentile congregation as is evident from Paul"s description of his readers" pre-conversion condition. Paul"s reference to Christ"s "fleshly body" may have helped him distinguish it from His spiritual body, the church ( Colossians 1:18). He may also have mentioned it to contradict the false idea that Christ did not have a genuine physical body. [1] One of the heresies of the early church was Docetism. Docetists taught that Jesus only appeared to have a physical body. They based this view on the incorrect notion that physical flesh is inherently evil.
". . . such an emphasis would have been a bulwark against any Gnostic tendencies that attempted to question the reality of Christ"s death: the firstborn of all creation attained his status as firstborn from the dead by experiencing the full reality of physical death." [2]
"Holy" means set apart from sin. "Blameless" means without blemish or defect. "Beyond reproach" means totally without occasion for criticism. Paul was not speaking about the Christian"s personal conduct but about his or her position in Christ.