Colossians 1:21 And although you were (PAPMPA) formerly alienated (RPPMPA) and hostile in mind engaged in evil deeds (NASB: Lockman)

AND ALTHOUGH YOU WERE FORMERLY ALIENATED: Kai humas pote ontas (PAPMPA) apellotriomenous (RPPMPA): (Col 2:13, Eph 2:1 2:12, 4:18  Ro 8:7,8 1Co 6:9-10,11 Titus 3:3-4,5-6,7) 

Were (5607) (on) is the present tense of eimi which means our continuous state was alienated from God.

Alienated (526) (apallotrioo from apó = marker of dissociation implying rupture of former association -- emphasizes idea of separation + allotrióo = alienate) means to alienate entirely, be alien or estranged. Webster adds that alienate means to  to make unfriendly, hostile, or indifferent where attachment formerly existed.

Apallotrioo is in the perfect tense and passive voice and indicates that something happened to all men in the past to cause them to be estranged (cf Ps 51:5 - Spurgeon's note, Romans 5:12) from God and that condition has persisted (perfect tense). All men were born "little sinners" and persist in that condition because -- perfect tense speaks of permanence.

In other words we were in a continual state of separation, alienation and estrangement from God because of the "sin virus" we inherited from Adam. Paul explained how we contracted the "fatal" disease writing that...

just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (see note Romans 5:12)

Now believers have been transferred to another owner.

Apallotrioo is used only two other times, both also by Paul...

Ephesians 2:12 (note) remember that you were at that time (as Gentiles, heathens, before you became believers) separate from Christ, excluded (utterly alienated - apallotrioo) from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world" An alien is one who does not “belong.” He is a stranger and foreigner, without the rights and privileges of citizenship. As far as the community of Israel was concerned, the Gentiles were on the outside, looking in.

Ephesians 4:18 (note) being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart

Belonging to the race of Adam, we are born alienated from God. Then as individuals, we each choose to accept and embrace that alienation with our wicked works.

Apallotrioo is used in the Septuagint (LXX) where David explains that

The wicked are estranged (apallotrioo) from the womb. These who speak lies go astray from birth." (Ps 58:3 - Spurgeon's note)

David's point is that their corruption is not a development of later life but can be traced back to their birth - they were alienated and estranged from birth. Their lawlessness and rebellion are inborn, so that as men begin to talk, they begin to lie! They don't have to be taught!

In Ezekiel God says that

the hearts of the house of Israel...are estranged (apallotrioo) from Me through all their idols. (see note Ezekiel 14:5)

Formerly (4218) (pote) means once or formerly. Once we were all alienated. Now that we are in Jesus, we are no longer alienated. The difference between a believer and a non-believer isn't merely forgiveness, but includes a complete change of status of the relationship between God and man.

AND HOSTILE IN MIND: kai echthrous te dianoia: (Ro 5:10, Js 4:4 Titus 1:15,16)

Before we were saved by grace through faith...

(We were) enemies (echthros) (and) we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (see note Romans 5:10)

(We had our) mind set on the flesh (which) is hostile (echthra) toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so (see note Romans 8:7)

(We were friends) with the world (which) is hostility (echthra) toward God. Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

Hostile (2190) (echthros from échthos = hatred, enmity - [see also echthra = enmity]) means (in the active sense) to be hateful, hostile toward, at enmity with or adversary of someone. In the passive sense echthros pertains to being subjected to hostility, to be hated or to be regarded as an enemy. An enemy is one that is antagonistic to another; especially seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound the opponent. Scripture often uses echthros as a noun  describing "the adversary",  Satan! Like father like son!

Jesus used echthros in the parable of the tares writing that

the enemy (echthros) who sowed them (referring to the "tares" --Satan has a counterfeit for every divine reality and sows the world with those who look, talk and act like disciples but who are not genuine followers of the King) is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age (referring to the end of this present age and precedes the next age, the 1000 year reign of Messiah) and the reapers are angels." (Mt 13:28)

Mind (1271) (dianoia from  from dianoéomai = to agitate in mind in turn from dia = separation + noeo = to think over  from nous = the faculty of thinking) refers to the understanding or the the mind activated and refers to the higher intellectual nature, especially on the ethical side. It means thinking through something, meditating, reflecting. It refers to the intellect, moral understanding or the way of thinking. It is the faculty of thinking, comprehending, and reasoning. Dianoia is the seat of perception and thinking, the faculty of understanding, feeling, desiring. In the Septuagint dianoia is often used to translate heart. Cremer defines dianoia as "the faculty of moral reflection."

Paul uses this same noun dianoia to describe unbelievers in Ephesians writing that...

Ephesians 4:18 (note) being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

It is a tragedy to see men created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27, 9:6) use their minds actively against God. There was a time when all of us who are now Christians were alienated from God. We did not have any use for God. We did not take Him into our reckoning. We did not consider Him important. We started and ended each day without a thought of Him. We went about our own plans, lived for ourselves, and did what we felt like doing, never giving a thought to God. Or if we did think of Him, we regarded Him as merely a remote Being on the horizon of life, but we never expected anything from Him. Because we cut Him out of our thinking---even though He was sustaining our very life---we ended up, as Paul describes, "enemies in our minds," hostile toward God. We did not want anything to do with Him. You remember how that felt, don't you? We avoided God. We thought He would interfere with our plans or that He was a cosmic killjoy out to make us live uneventful and unhappy lives. We were not open to Him in any degree whatsoever. We were enemies of God, and as a result we expressed that enmity in evil deeds.

IN EVIL DEEDS: en tois ergois tois ponêrois:  (John 3:19-20, Ro 1:21-32 Torrey's Topic)

Were...engaged in evil deeds - Literally we were continually in evil deeds. The verb engaged is added by the translators for amplification.

Evil (4190) (poneros from ponos = labor, sorrow, pain) (see related word poneria) describes evil in active opposition to good and that which corrupts others. It means actively harmful, hurtful, evil in effect or influence.

That sounds as though evil behavior is the cause of inner alienation and hostility toward God. But it is quite the other way around. It is inner alienation, estrangement from God and hostility toward Him, that causes evil behavior. That is what the Greek text clearly states.

In short, Paul is indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known. Hostile purpose finds natural expression in evil deeds with a malicious intent! Satan is the Evil One (tou ponerou - see note Ephesians 6:16). And since we were in his family prior to being in Christ...like father, like son! We were only doing what ''pleased'' our father, so to speak, realizing that the flesh by itself has quite enough lust (epithumia) to carry out active evil (poneros) even w/o the Devil (see notes Revelation 20:8; 20:9; 20:10 regarding Gog and Magog)

In the parable of sower, Jesus used the word poneros to describe Satan, the evil one [who] comes and snatches away the good seed of the Word that is sown in the heart of a hearer (Mt 13:19)

Colossians 1:22 yet He has now reconciled (3SAAI) you in His fleshly body through death in order to present (AAN) you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: nuni de apokatellaxen (3SAAI) en to somati tes sarkos autou dia tou thanatou, parastesai (AAN) humas Hagious kai amomous kai anegkletous katenopion autou, 
Amplified: Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father’s] presence. (Amplified Bible - Lockman)

KJV: (Versification different than most modern translations) 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight
NLT: yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.  (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips:  He has now reconciled through the death of his body on the cross, so that he might welcome you to his presence clean and pure, without blame or reproach. (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest:  yet now He reconciled in the body of His flesh through His death, in order that He might present you holy and without blemish and unchargeable before His searching and penetrating gaze (Erdmans) 
Weymouth: He has now, in His human body, reconciled to God by His death, to bring you, holy and faultless and irreproachable, into His presence;
Young's Literal: in the body of his flesh through the death, to present you holy, and unblemished, and unblameable before himself,

YET HE HAS NOW RECONCILED IN HIS FLESHLY BODY THROUGH (the) DEATH: nuni de apokatellaxen (3SAAI) en to somati tes sarkos autou dia tou thanatou:  (Col 2:11, Ro 5:10,Eph 2:15-16, 1Pe 3:18)

In a Parallel passage in Romans Paul writes...

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. (See discussion of reconciliation in Romans 5:10, 5:11)

Yet...now - introduces a sharp contrast with the previous description.

He has reconciled - God has carried out this transaction.

He has reconciled (604) (apokatallasso from apó = from, state to be left behind + katallasso =  reconcile <> katá = an intensifier + allásso = change) pictures the complete change or alteration of state. It means to exchange hostility for friendship. In context this "exchange" occurred on the Cross where the burden of my sin was rolled away (aorist tense = past completed action, historical event) for “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (1 Cor.5:19). God did this, not us. It was a miracle of grace. Hallelujah!

It is imperative that all of us be reconciled to Christ. Without reconciliation we will remain adrift on the cold seas — alienated from God, from creation, and from others, though we may wish otherwise. God wants to reconcile us. He enjoys reconciling. His Son endured the Cross “for the joy set before him” (see note Hebrews 12:2). What God has in mind for us is the greatest vision ever conceived for any mortal. There is only one thing to do, and that is to say yes. The result of reconciliation is the restoration of peace (see note Romans 5:1) which had been disturbed (see note Ephesians 2:16; Col 1:20, Ge 3:11,24).

Through Christ's propitiatory sacrifice (see notes Romans 3:24; 3:25), God is reconciled because His demand for justice has been satisfied at Calvary. Sinful man is reconciled in that his attitude of enmity toward God is changed to one of friendship.

Reconciliation takes someone who is hostile towards someone else, and changes that into a friendly relationship. Unsaved man is hostile toward God and Jesus places us into a friendly relationship. Apokatallasso is stronger term for reconcile, then katallasso (set up a relationship of peace not existing before), in that apokatallasso is the restoration of a relationship of peace which has been disturbed.

Something has happened within us. It occurred when we saw that the death of Jesus was for us, that somehow he had done something to set aside our estrangement, our brokenness and hurt, and that if we came to him in faith he would deliver us. So we came. Something happened then to our inner attitude. We were changed in the way we thought. We no longer saw God as an enemy and a Judge, but as a loving Father. We recognized that the cross was not a symbol of failure in the life of a religious fanatic, but it was a moment when the great enemies all men face were conquered; when death was overcome and all the evil powers against mankind were set at naught. Thus our whole life was changed.

Illustration of "Reconcile all things to Himself" - In the closing scene in the motion picture, Ben Hur. The movie camera takes a long shot of three crosses rising out of a distant hill. Then the camera moves in close, closer, to the figure stretched out on the center cross. Lightning reveals a man squirming in silent agony to the rhythm of the flashes. It is raining hard. With each flash of light, the pool of rain water at the foot of the cross grows larger. Suddenly a single drop of blood drips into the pool and scatters. Then another drop falls. And then another. The pool is now tinted light red. The rain comes harder and the pool overflows into another pool immediately below it. The second pool reddens and enlarges, overflowing into still another pool which, in turn, overflows into a small stream. The blood-stained stream flows into a larger stream which meets a river which flows into an ocean.

A T Robertson reminds us that...

The reconciliation was accomplished by means of Christ’s death on the cross and not just by the Incarnation (the body of His flesh) in which the death took place.

Although not all commentators agree, some feel Paul combines both soma and sarx to make plain the actual humanity of Jesus in order to counter the heresy of Docetism, which says yes Christ was deity but that He was not really humanity but only appeared to be humanity, thus denying the incarnation. Docetism (from Greek dokeo = to seem or appear) taught that Jesus was fully God but only "seemed" or "appeared"  to have a human body and by extension He only "seemed" to suffer and die on the Cross. You can see the importance of this "small point" lest one preach another "gospel" and another "Jesus", neither of which are the truth and neither of which have the inherent saving power of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Calvin writes that...

 the body of His flesh means that human body, which the Son of God had in common with us. He meant, therefore, to intimate, that the Son of God had put on the same nature with us, that he took upon him this vile earthly body, subject to many infirmities, that he might be our Mediator. When he adds, by death, he again calls us back to sacrifice. For it was necessary that the Son of God should become man, and be a partaker of our flesh, that he might be our brother: it was necessary that he should by dying become a sacrifice, that he might make his Father propitious to us.

Through death - The means by which God was able to bring about reconciliation was through His death, through the blood of His cross.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
by Charles Wesley
Click to play hymn

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’ incarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.

Now display Thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.

Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.

IN ORDER TO PRESENT YOU BEFORE HIM: parastesai (AAN)  katenopion autou: (Col 1:28, 2Co 4:14 11:2)

Paul now describes the ultimate purpose of the reconciliation.

Present (3936) (paristemi from para = near + histemi = place) literally means to place beside with the idea of yielding to the disposal of another. In the Greek translation of the Hebrew (Septuagint) this verb is often used as a technical term for a priest’s placing an offering on the altar with the idea of surrendering or yielding up. (Meditate on that thought.) The only acceptable worship under the New Covenant is the offering of oneself to God. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise” (Ps 51:17, cp note 1 Peter 2:5).

Paristemi is in the aorist tense which signifies completed action at some time, past, present or future.

Wayne Barber's thought is that the aorist tense here signifies that in each and every situation of my life I will be found alongside Him, set apart for His use, absolutely blameless and beyond reproach. Jesus Christ is the supreme Lord of my life. This is the reason for our having been reconciled.

Writing to the saints at Corinth Paul declared...

that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present (paristemi) us with you. (2Co 4:14)

There is a future presentation when the Bride is presented by Himself to Himself...

Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; 26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. (See notes Ephesians 5:25; 26; 27)

Note that the church is described with the same phrase holy and blameless. That is our position in Christ, but in the meantime we need to ''make ourselves ready'' for the marriage of the Lamb.

Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. (see note Revelation 19:7)

In a parallel passage Paul writes to the saints at Corinth that...

I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present (paristemi) you as a pure virgin. (2 Cor 11:2)

Paul uses paristemi again in Colossians 1 writing that one of the great purposes of His ministry to the saints was to...

proclaim Him (Christ in us the hope of glory), admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present (paristemi) every man complete in Christ. (see note Colossians 1:28)

Before (2714) (katenopion from kata = down + en = in + ops = face, eye, the combination giving the picture of the saints holy/blameless) means right down in the eye of (God). The Latin term Coram Deo ("Before the face of God&quo