IMPORTANT NOTE: On Sunday Mornings from December 1 through December 22, Walk of Grace Chapel will be moving our Sunday Morning Service to 9:00 AM. The service will conclude by 10:30 AM. We are hoping to share our Christmas worship and Christmas messages with people who might already attend other churches, but would like to include more Christmas activities into their holiday season! We hope to see you there

COLOSSIANS
Chapter 2, Verses 7-23
Walking Out the Christian Walk! Part2
(10–9-16)

 

Review: “Walking Out the Christian Walk!”  

NOTE: Last week we talked about vs. 1-6 of Chapter 2. In review we are going to look at vs. 6.

Colossians 2:6) [KJV] As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

NOTE: Most commentators tell us that Paul is simply stating to his readers that since they have placed their trust in Christ they should walk out their new faith. I see more to it than that. Notice the following passage:

Galatians 3:2-3) [KJV] This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

3) Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

QUESTION: How is vs. 2 related to vs. 3 in the above passage from Galatians?

  • The “works of the law” of vs. 2 is connected to “by the flesh” of vs. 3.
  • The “hearing of faith” of vs. 2 is connected to “in the Spirit” of vs. 3.

NOTE: We grow in our Christian experience the same way we become Christians; we grow by the “hearing of faith,” in other words, believing His promises. We don’t grow by trying harder to keep “the works of the law.

NOTE: We find ourselves living the Christian life/walking as Jesus walked when we believe the amazing things the N.T. tells us about ourselves as believers.

QUESTION: What does the N.T. tell us about ourselves?

  • We are new creatures in Christ [2 Cor. 5:17]. 
  • Sin shall not have dominion over us because we are under the power of God’s grace [Romans 6:14]. 
  • We are partakers of God’s nature [2 Peter 1:4]. 
  • God destroyed the power of sin in my flesh [Romans 8:3] {Amplified}. 

 

This Week’s Lesson: “Walking Out the Christian Walk!”  

Colossians 2:7-23) [KJV] Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

(ERV) You must depend on Christ only, drawing life and strength from him. Just as you were taught the truth, continue to grow stronger in your understanding of it. And never stop giving thanks to God.

QUESTION: Why was Paul exhorting his readers to be “established in the faith”?

ANSWER: The Gnostic teachings in Colossae were a threat to their Christian experience. He encourages them to ignore such vain reasoning. There have always been, since the Church began, and will always be, until the Church Age ends, those who introduce false doctrine into the mix. We must be careful to cling to the Truth of God’s Word.

“rooted and built up in him” – “As a tree strikes its roots deep in the earth, so our faith should strike deep into the doctrine respecting the Saviour” [Barnes]. 

“stablished in the faith, as ye been taught” – “To wit, by the founders of the church, and by those faithful ministers who had succeeded them” [Barnes]. 

NOTE: As this verse pertains to us: the “faith” we are to be “established” in is the faith that those who wrote the Scriptures by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit taught us. We must constantly search the Scriptures [John 5:39] to make certain that we are rightly dividing it [2 Timothy 2:15]. 

“‘He does not receive his qualities and attributes [of holiness] as things apart from the Lord Jesus; but receiving Him, he obtains them. The holy man is he who has learned the art of receiving Jesus.’ (Meyer) ” [as quoted by Guzik] 

“abounding therein with thanksgiving” – “Expressing overflowing thanks to God that you have been made acquainted with truths so precious and glorious. If there is any thing for which we ought to be thankful, it is for the knowledge of the great truths respecting our Lord and Saviour” [Barnes]. 

NOTE: We must develop a deep appreciation for the like-changing truths that are taught in the New Testament. We must crave those truths the way we crave food. After all, it is food, the very food that feeds our souls.

8) Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

(ERV) Be sure you are not led away by the teaching of those who have nothing worth saying and only plan to deceive you. That teaching is not from Christ. It is only human tradition and comes from the powers that influence this world.

“spoil” – “1) to carry off booty; 1a) to carry one off as a captive (and slave); 1b) to lead away from the truth and subject to one’s sway” [Thayer]. 

QUESTION: What was Paul warning his readers about?

ANSWER: There are plenty of supposedly smart individuals who hate the Gospel and will try to get you to abandon it for some theory they have. If they can’t get you to totally abandon the Gospel they will try to get you to merge the Gospel with their theories.

NOTE: When you merge the Gospel with the theories of man, in our case politically correct theories, you have, in fact, abandoned the Gospel! You can’t mix truth with lies; when you try the whole becomes a lie! 

Hebrews 3:13-14) [KJV] But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

14) For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

QUESTION: How does the above passage from Hebrews tie in with our lesson today?

ANSWER: We are to constantly encourage one another in the faith, the faith that we have as we believe the rightly divided Word of God.

Isaiah 5:20) [KJV] Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

NOTE: It doesn’t matter what politicians say is good or bad; it matters what God Almighty says!

Colossians 2:3) [KJV] In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

9) For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

(ISV) because all the essence of deity inhabits him in bodily form.

QUESTION: What was Paul doing in vs. 3 and vs. 9?

ANSWER: He reminding us that everything that is really important lies in the person of Christ. He is our wisdom; He is our knowledge; He is the very “fullness of God Himself. Our full attention belongs on Him.

10) And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

(ERV) And because you belong to Christ you are complete, having everything you need. Christ is ruler over every other power and authority.

QUESTION: How is the Apostle framing his argument regarding false teaching?

ANSWER: We don’t need to grab hold of some so-called enlightenment to discover what is right and wrong; we need to keep a firm grip on the truth of the New Testament message. God Almighty gets to decide what is right and what is wrong; and He has decided.

NOTE: Christ is the sum total of all we need to become all we can be; i.e., to become conformed to His image.

QUESTION: What is the Good News of this morning’s lesson?

  • We have a foundation and a strong building in Christ [vs. 7]. 
  • We have become established in our faith in Christ through His Word [vs. 7]. 
  • In our relationship with Christ we have everything we need to discover wisdom and knowledge [vs. 3].
  • Absolutely all that is God dwells in the Jesus we love and serve [vs. 9].
  • We are absolutely complete in Him; we don’t need anything additional to be found totally acceptable to God Almighty [vs. 10].