Colossians 1:21b-23

You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

New Living Translation

Through Jesus's death, we were reconciled with God. All our sins were forgiven, and now we are blameless. We can stand before Him without a single fault.

Paul states clearly in other passages that believing in this - the essence of the Gospel - is how we are saved. In this passage, He warns us that we have to continue to believe it. We have to stand firm in this belief. He warns us not to drift away from this assurance. It isn't enough to believe it in the moment of our salvation. We have to live our lives on a daily basis with the assurance of this complete release from sin.

Why did Paul have to give such a warning? In my own experience, it is because I am still aware of all my faults. I do stupid, selfish things sometimes. It is so hard to see all my failures, and still believe that I am holy and blameless, and I can stand before Jesus without a single fault.

I need to remember the reality of the situation. First of all, Jesus knew long before I was saved not only the sins I had already committed, but also the ones I would commit right up to the end of my life. They are all completely forgiven. They may be present and active in some way to me, but to Jesus even the sins not yet acted out are already covered by His blood.

There is also a part of this that is hard for me to fully grasp, yet it is the source of my hope. The concept of entire sanctification is the promise that not only did Jesus forgive my sins, but He is also changing me from the inside out. He isn't just forgiving what I do, or will do. He is also fulfilling the promise given in the Old Testament that He will write His laws on our hearts.

What this means is that instead of abandoning myself to my sins and not caring, I can't do something wrong without feeling miserable. He is changing how I think, how I feel. And little by little I'm giving up sins because they just are not worth it anymore. I'd rather please Jesus than please myself.

Looking back over the past few years, I can see amazing evidence of this transformation. Jesus is so faithful and amazing!