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If we are to presented "holy", it will not be through any sanctification of our own, or
because we have brought forth the fruits of the spirit; it will be "in the body of His flesh
through death" (Col. 1: 22). If the church is to be presented "without spot, or wrinkle or
any such thing; holy and without blemish", it is because the Lord Himself "loved the
church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it" (Eph. 5: 25-27).
Not one word of what we have here quoted can possibly excuse sin in the believer. All
who have such a high and holy calling are exhorted to "walk worthy", but no amount of
walking worthy will ever make the believer more fully a "saint" than he is already in
Christ. If this had been held firmly by the Colossians, that false and negative sanctity of
abstention could never have found a place with them. Holiness is not comprised in what
we abstain from ("Touch not, taste not, handle not"), but in what we are in Christ. In
Him we have died, been buried, and have risen again, and in that blessed identification
we find our holiness, meetness and acceptance.
The third feature, "The hope", cannot be dealt with here, but must be reserved for
another article. Let us pray for fuller and deeper insight into the meaning of "faith in
Christ Jesus" and "that love which is unto all the saint".
#3.
The hope laid up in heaven (1: 5).
pp. 164 - 169
Having spoken of faith and love parenthetically, the apostle reveals the great object of
his prayer, namely, hope. Col. 1: 5 commences with dia = because, but it is not that the
Colossians had love unto all the saints because of the hope, but that hope is the reason for
the apostle's prayer:--
"Praying always for you (Since we heard of your faith . . . . . and love . . . . .), because
of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven" (Col. 1: 3-5).
Reserved and preserved.
In I Pet. 1: 4 we read of "an inheritance . . . . . reserved in heaven for you", while in
Col. 1: 5 we read of "the hope which is laid up for you in heaven". Do these passages
speak of the same thing?
Let us first of all see the actual words used. Peter uses tereo, "reserved". Paul uses
apokeimai, "laid up". There is not a great difference between "reserved" and "laid up",
and if these two renderings stand we must accept their testimony. We can, however, test
the accuracy of translation by comparison with other passages where the word occurs.
Associated with eis, "unto", we find the rendering "reserved unto" in II Pet. 2: 4, 9, 17,
and 3: 7. In Jude 1 we have the word translated "preserved", and in Jude 6 & 21
both "kept" and "keep", while in Jude 6 and 13 associated with eis, "unto", it is
translated "reserve". While "reserve" appears satisfactory in some cases, it is not so in
others. For example, we could not say of the angels that "they reserved not their first