God Elects Those in Christ (Colossians

https://thenarrowpath.com | Channel not run by Steve Gregg | In this engaging exposition of Colossians 1:21-29, Steve Gregg emphasizes God's initiative in reconciling humanity from enmity and alienation through Christ's sacrificial death, aiming to present believers—both Jew and Gentile—as holy, blameless, and irreproachable before Him, conditional upon persevering in faith. He robustly defends a corporate view of election, drawing parallels from Ephesians 1, 5, and Romans 9 to argue that God elects the church (those in Christ) for holiness, not individuals unconditionally for salvation, critiquing Calvinist interpretations of predestination and eternal security as unbiblical and assurance-robbing. Gregg then explores Paul's joyful sufferings as completing Christ's ongoing afflictions for the church's propagation, his stewardship to reveal the "mystery" of Gentiles as fellow heirs with equal access to the hope of glory through Christ indwelling their midst, and his apostolic goal of preaching, warning, and teaching every person to maturity in Christ, underscoring synergism between divine empowerment and human obedience. | Outline: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EKZG... | Transcript: https://opentheo.org/i/54043195528462...

Colossians 1:21-29
New King James Version
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the [a]stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 the [b]mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: [c]which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

Footnotes
Colossians 1:25 dispensation or administration
Colossians 1:26 secret or hidden truth
Colossians 1:27 M who

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