A literal rendering of at one time might very well suggest that on a particular occasion, but not necessarily for any period of time, the believers in Colossae were estranged from God. The meaning here is simply “previously,” or “before you became believers,” or “before you put your trust in Christ.”
Paul begins the sentence with an accusative clause before the main verb (God has made you his friends, in verse 22) in order to emphasize his readers’ previous condition before hearing the gospel. They had been far away from God, that is, estranged or alienated from him. The compound verb apallotrioō is found only here and Eph 2.12, 4.18; it is formed from the adjective allotrios “stranger,” “foreigner” (see Matt 17.25-26, Heb 11.9), and refers to their condition as Gentiles, not part of God’s people, Israel (see the fuller statement of this in Eph 2.11-12). The passive participle simply states their condition, without giving its cause.
A literal translation of you were far away from God may very well be interpreted in a strictly literal sense, since earth is presumably far away from heaven, so the believers in Colossae were obviously far away from God. This estrangement from God must not, however, be expressed as “you were strangers to God” for this would imply that God did not recognize who they were. The responsibility for the estrangement must be expressed in terms of the actions or attitudes of the people, not the attitude of God. Thus it may be better to say “you were estranged from God,” or “you had turned your back on God,” or “you did not want to be friends with God.”
Not only were these believers previously far away from God, but both in thought and actions, they showed themselves to be God’s enemies. This word denotes their hostility toward God (compare Translator’s New Testament “your thinking was all against him”), not his attitude toward them. They had been enemies “in thinking, in evil works.” “Thinking” (Good News Translation you … thought) is the Greek dianoia “mind,” “understanding” (compare Eph 2.3, 4.18, 1 Peter 1.13, 2 Peter 3.1, 1 John 5.20); in the Septuagint it often represents Hebrew lev “heart.” “Evil works” are sinful, wicked action. These phrases are in the dative case, and their precise relationship to enemies is not explicitly stated by any connectives. The meaning is expressed in various ways: Goodspeed “hostile in attitude,” Phillips “his spiritual enemies.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “you whose evil deeds manifested profound hostility.” Good News Translation sees cause as the relationship, because of the evil things (see also Phillips New International Version Translator’s New Testament), but other interpretations are possible: Jerusalem Bible “in the way that you used to think,” Barclay and New English Bible take them as simply descriptive of the estrangement (so Lightfoot), and this may be the best way to handle this phrase; New English Bible “you were his enemies in heart and mind, and your deeds were evil.”
A statement such as “you were his enemies” can be misleading, for it might suggest that God was hostile to the people of Colossae. It may, therefore, be necessary to say “you were fighting against God” or “you made yourselves enemies of God.”
Because of the evil things you did and thought may be better expressed in many instances by indicating means, for example, “you were fighting against God by means of the evil things you did and the evil thoughts that you had.” In some instances, the evil things you did and thought may be rendered as “what you did and thought which was evil.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1977. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .