Colossians 1:21 21And although you were previously alienated and hostile in thinking in the words of evil,
Paul now connects the awesome Lord Jesus Christ and the redemption he brought through the cross to the situation of the Colossians. This is emphasized with the direct object you plural that comes at the beginning of the verse. The focus shifts back to Colossians, which implies that the words about Christ are not simply theological insights but given on purpose to address the spiritual needs of the Colossians. Paul reminds them of what their old life was like.
This is made clear in the concessive participle although you were alienated (apēllotriōmenous). They were separated from the life and light of God (verse 13). They were enemies (echthrous) because of their rebellion against God’s prevenient working in their minds. They lived to please the flesh and were bound in slavery to sin. Paul summarizes all this in the phrase hostile in thinking in the words of evil. Their thinking needed to fundamentally change from doing works of evil to doing “every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (verse 10). They needed to input godly teaching into their minds and not let the pull of the world pollute their thinking.
This verse has a timeless truth that gets to the heart of the human problem. Alienation is the opposite of the reconciliation of verse 20. It is helpful for us to remember the misery of our old life and how it caused many heartaches. But we should not think too much about the old life because we may become blinded, deceived, and enticed by our old evil practices. Our thought must be, “I never want to go back to that way of thinking.” We also must never let the old thinking creep back in. The answer is in growing in our knowledge of God through the study of his word. We must fill our minds with good things so that there is no room left for bad things.
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