It appears singular to the reader of St. Paul's Epistles that the apostle in one passage speaks of Christians as perfect, and in another as imperfect. At one time, he describes them in terms that would lead us to infer that they are holy as God is holy; and at another, he speaks of them as full of sin and corruption. In the text, he denominates them “the elect of God, holy and beloved,” and yet immediately proceeds to exhort them to the possession and practice of the most common Christian graces – such as humility and forgiveness. In a preceding paragraph, he tells the Colossians that they “are dead to sin, and their life is hid with Christ in God,” and then goes on to urge them to overcome some of the most gross sins in the whole catalogue – “mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:3-5).