KEEP WALKING! – Colossians 2:6-10
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 13, 2013 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group; March 13, 2013
Colossians 2:6-10
Theme: Our experience of Christ’s sufficiency depends on our faithfulness to ‘walk’ in Him continually.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
Many people who have prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior think that is all that’s required of them. They fail to cultivate an ongoing, growing dependency on Christ in their lives; and unwittingly allow other things into their lives that compromise that dependency. And so, while Jesus alone is truly sufficient to make them everything God wants them to be, they live with a frustrating sense of incompleteness and unfulfillment—as if the Christian faith is nothing more than a mere ‘religion’ that, somehow, isn’t working for them.
Paul’s words in this morning’s passage teach us what we must do to experience the full blessing of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ in our lives. Working backwards through this passage . . .
I. WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT JESUS CHRIST ALONE IS SUFFICIENT TO MAKE US COMPLETE BEFORE GOD (vv. 9-10).
A. Paul says, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (vv. 9-10). Paul here stresses that all the fullness of the Godhead (or “of the Deity”, as it is in the NIV) dwells in the Person of Jesus Christ. All that we can have of the triune God is found in Him (Colossians 1:15-17). All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him; not merely a part of it (1:19).
B. What’s more, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him “bodily”. The eternal Son of God took human flesh upon Himself and walked among men; so that all the fullness of the Godhead could dwell in someone who was also fully human (see John 1:1-3), so He could reach down to where we are—in all our lostness and helplessness (John 1:14). Jesus Christ alone, then, is sufficient to make us into everything that God wants us to be; because all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him who is fully human—and thus fully accessible to us (1 John 1:1-4). When we have fellowship with the risen and glorified “God/Man”, Jesus Christ, we have fellowship with the triune Godhead in all fullness in a Person who relates to our humanness..
C. Paul not only affirms the deity of the Lord Jesus, but also His supremacy. He says that He is “the head of all principality and power”. There is no authority or power that is higher or greater than His (Colossians 1:16-17). He is sufficient to make us complete in the eyes of God His Father, because—having died for us on the cross—He has completely taken away anything that any other power or authority can ever hold against us (2:15). There is no higher court that can ever be appealed to in order to overturn our justification in Him; and there exists no power that can ever impede the sufficiency of His grace to save us (see Romans 8:33-34).
D. Finally, Paul affirms the sufficiency of a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn’t merely say, “You are greatly improved in Him”; or “You’re almost perfect in Him”; or “You’re on the right track in Him—well on your way toward getting better.” He says it unambiguously: “You are complete in Him.” In the original language, the tense of the verb indicates a once-for-all, completed act. If we are in Christ, then—as far as God is concerned—we are already made complete! It may be that we have a lot of growing to do; but it’s as people made complete in Christ already. There’s no longer a need to search about for anything else to make you complete in God’s eyes. Our completion has already been accomplished for us—and all “in Him”.
II. OUR EXPERIENCE OF CHRIST’S SUFFICIENCY DEPENDS ON OUR FAITHFULNESS TO KEEP WALKING IN HIM (vv. 6-7).
A. We won’t enjoy the experience of the complete sufficiency of Jesus for us if we don’t “remain” in Him after we’ve “received” Him in actual practice. Paul says we must continually live in total dependence on Jesus; “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him . . .” Our “walk” refers to the whole course of our life-style practice—how we live, and what sort of practical behaviors we engage in through the course of our every-day lives. We are to “walk” in Jesus Christ—that is, conduct ourselves, in the whole course of our daily life, as if “in Him”. We do this in the same way that we first received Him—that is, by faith. We are to go about our daily life with the confidence and joyful attitude of mind that, by faith, Jesus goes with us—turning to Him in the making of daily decisions, trusting in His help in trials, depending upon the Lord Jesus by faith in every area of our life.
B. Paul tells us how to do that through a chain of four “participles” linked together; “—ing” words in the original language that define how we’re to cultivate that ongoing, dependent walk in Christ:
1. In the confidence of our “being rooted” in Christ. Think of a tree. It has to be planted somewhere; and once it’s planted, it sinks its roots down deeply into the earth, and draws up its nourishment from the place in which it has been planted. Similarly, we aren’t meant to live independently; but to be “rooted” once and for all in Christ—never to roam from Him; forever to draw our life and nourishment up from Him and Him alone. It is God Himself who “plants” us in Christ; and as a “once-for-all” action (see Galatians 2:20).
2. By “being built up” in Him. A tree not only draws life and nourishment from the place in which it’s planted, but also grows and flourishes; becoming more and more of what it was planted in that spot to become. Likewise, the man or woman who has been “rooted” in Christ is also to be “built up” in Him. A man or woman who has been “rooted” in Christ, and who draws up daily life and daily nourishment from Him, will increasingly become more and more like Him in daily practice and life-style (see Ephesians 4:13; Romans 8:29). While the verb “rooted” is in a form that indicates a “once-for-all” act, the verb “built up” is in a form that indicates an on-going, progressive act—daily being “built up” in Him.
3. By “being established” in the faith—“as you have been taught”. The “faith” Paul speaks of here is in reference to the truths of the gospel message as taught by the apostles (see Colossians 1:6-7). Paul was urging them to do was to become “established” in the faith—that is, strengthened and confirmed in a consistent, unwavering way in the doctrines of the faith (see Ephesians 4:12-15). This, again, is worded in such a way as to be a ‘work in progress’. We’re to be exposing ourselves continually to the teaching and instruction of the word of God, and to be continually growing in our understanding and conviction of the truths of the faith. And as we do, we will be growing in a continual dependency on the Christ whom the faith proclaims.
4. Through “abounding in it with thanksgiving”. A continual attitude of thankfulness toward God is essential to experiencing a full sense of completeness in our walk with Christ. In fact, it’s an essential aspect of a Christianity that’s “relational” rather than merely “religious”. “Thankfulness”, by its very nature, implies and acknowledges a personal, dependent relationship with the one being “thanked”. Such thankfulness involves taking all the blessings God gives to us in Christ and all the things He does for us through Him, acknowledging those blessings to be gifts of God’s free and unmerited grace, and bringing them back to Him full circle for His own glory (see Colossians 1:12-14). The verb Paul uses to describe our thankfulness to God means “to be over and above” or “to be superfluous”; and the form of the verb once again describes an ongoing, progressive action. We are to be rich, and abundant, and “over and above” in our thanksgiving to God; and we’re to do so as an ongoing, unending, ever-growing life-style characteristic.
III. OUR FAITHFULNESS TO WALK IN CHRIST REQUIRES THAT WE BEWARE OF BEING LUIRED AWAY (v. 8).
A. It’s not enough that we build these things into our lives. We must also be on guard against the things that would distract us from a total dependency on Christ, and that would thus hinder our sense of completeness in Him. And so, Paul goes on to tell us; “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (v. 8). We’re to beware of: philosophy. “Philosophy” is a word that comes from two Greek words put together: “philos”, which means “love”; and “sophos”, which means “wisdom”. Philosophy, then, is the love of and the pursuit of wisdom; and in and of itself, such a thing is certainly not wrong (see Proverbs 4:5-7). But the sort of “wisdom” that Paul warns against is dangerous because it concerns a so-called “wisdom” that’s not from God—the dangers of which is demonstrated in that it’s associated with “empty deceit”. Two phrases are being used; but only one thing is being described by them—a kind of love for a “wisdom” that amounts to nothing more than “empty deceit” that fools people into justifying and rationalizing sin in their lives (see Ephesians 5:5-7).
B. The nature of this soul-harming “philosophy” is shown in that . . .
1. It’s “according to the traditions of men”. It comes from the imagination and reasoning of fallen human beings and, in the end, can’t rise any higher than its source. Often, it has its beginning point in an intentional rejection of what God has said in His word—driven by the sort of sinful pride that says, “I have all the answers of true wisdom within me, and I don’t need to turn to God for any help” (see 2:28).
2. It’s “according to the basic principles of the world”. It proposes the idea that true happiness and fulfillment are found in a proper relationship—not with God, but with ‘things’; and that “completeness” can be experienced through a set of humanly-developed rules that regulate our contact with the basic things of this world (see Colossians 2:20-23).
3. Finally—and most importantly—it’s “not according to Christ. For—as we’ve already seen in this passage—”in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (vv. 9-10).
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God wants us to enjoy a sense of total fulfillment before Him; and He has provided that fulfillment through a relationship of dependency on Christ. But it’s up to us to do what we’re supposed to do to cultivate and protect that dependency. We must remember what Jesus Himself said; “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
