Continue in Christ - Colossians 2:6-7

1:17Well, in the past few weeks in Colossians, we'll be in Colossians chapter 2. In the past few weeks, we've seen that Paul is struggling and toiling for the Colossian church and for the church across the world because he wants to be a church. Wants them to grow in maturity. That's the big thing he's been saying. He wants them to grow in maturity. And Paul had a special commission, if you remember, to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. And now he's struggling and toiling so that they would mature and become sound in the faith. Last week, we are able to see what that maturity looks like. Love and knowledge, these different aspects, faith, order in the church, of what maturity looks like, what Christian maturity looks like. But today, we're going to see two commands from Paul on how we can keep walking in that maturity. Two commands. And the first one, in Colossians 2, verse 6. The first command is to stay on track. Stay on track. Look at verse 6. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Stay on track. Keep it up. Just as you received him, keep walking in this way.

2:51You can see in your Bibles in verse 6 that there's this past event and a present command, right? You can see that in. Verse 6. They have in the past received Christ, and now Paul is telling them to keep on right now, keep progressing in this, keep walking with him daily. Now, the word for received, therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, that's not like how we normally use the word received. A lot of times in America, we say things like, we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, right? That's not quite how he's using the word here. Here, he's using it like traditions that are being passed on, teachings that are being passed on. They received the teachings. He uses this in a familiar passage, 1 Corinthians 15, verses 3 through 4. Paul says, For I delivered to you, that's the same word, kind of a passing on, for I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received. Same word, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. And so the teaching is kind of viewed like a baton, right? Paul has received this and then he passed it on to the Corinthian church. And in our text today, Paul is saying that the Colossians, the same thing happened with them, right? They received those teachings. They received the baton of the gospel and they accepted it.

4:30And now they're expected to live accordingly. So, what is this teaching? And have you received it? What is this baton that has been handed to them? We don't know what it all was, right? We don't know what the entirety of it was. But if you look over at chapter 1, verse 5, Colossians 1, verse 5, we can see that it at least included the gospel, right? Of this, this is the middle of verse 5, of this you have heard before in the word of truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing. So he's saying that the gospel has come to them, and probably just like the Corinthian passage that we read, that tradition, that teaching that's been passed to them, includes the truths about who Jesus is, that he died on the cross, that he was buried, that he rose again.

5:29But from Colossians 2:6, we also see that it included two more things. Look carefully at the beginning of chapter 2, verse 6. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord. Christ Jesus the Lord. It might be better there to say, as you received the Christ, the Messiah, Jesus, comma, the Lord. So he's telling them that they have received. Two things about who Jesus is. He's the Messiah, He's the Christ, and He's the Lord. Remember that Jesus Christ is not just a full name. If you're a new believer and you've heard Jesus Christ over and over and over again in your life, it's not like we use names. Jesus wasn't his first name and Christ his last name. It's not how it's working, right? Jesus is his name, but Christ is his title, and it means the Messiah, this chosen one, the one promised in the Old Testament to be this special servant who is going to come, anointed to be the Messiah, to come and deliver God's people and set up a future glorious kingdom. That's what he's saying when he says Christ. So they've already accepted him as Christ. The Jews were looking forward to this Messiah, this anointed one, and the Colossians have accepted the fact that this is Jesus. This Messiah is Jesus. Paul also says that they received the teaching that Jesus was Lord, the Lord, our Master, the person we serve and obey. And the person who, as he'll say in a moment, is above all rule and authority. He's the Lord.

7:24So, so far, we've seen that the Colossians have accepted teachings about Jesus. And it included the gospel, and it included the fact that he's the Messiah, it included the fact that he's the Lord. But now, Paul is telling them that they need to stick with this truth, they need to continue in this. And he tells them what it's going to look like. Look at verse 7. This is what it looks like to walk in him. Verse 7, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. That's what it looks like to walk in the Lord. That's what it looks like to stay on track. We've already seen most of these things in chapter 1, verse 9. Look over at verse 9.

8:13Chapter 1, verse 9. Paul says, And so from the day we've heard, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father. So he mentions all of those things in his opening prayer for the Colossians, that they'll be strengthened, that they'll be established, that they will give thanks. But now he's incorporating it into the command.

8:59He's saying, That just as you received Christ, keep walking in Him, and here's how you do it: you need to be rooted, you need to be built up, you need to be established in the faith, and you need to give thanks. So, the first two, he uses two different metaphors, right? Rooted and built up. That's like plants are rooted, right? And buildings are built up. And he kind of combines them. And both of them give you this idea of stability, right? Growing in the faith and being stable in the gospel. Just like a plant has strong roots, so the believer should firmly plant their roots in the gospel as they continue to grow. And just as a building is gradually built up, so the believer should continue to grow solidly in Christ.

9:49But the key to both of these, to being rooted and built up, is the little phrase that follows it. Look at verse 7: rooted and built up in him. In him, in Christ. And we're going to see that this is a key in Colossians. Over the next months that we study this letter, for the whole rest of this chapter, he's going to keep repeating this idea: in him. Stay in Christ. This is how we make sure that we're grounded and growing, is that we stick to the teachings of Jesus Christ. We live in Christ. So the next thing that he mentions. Rooted, built up in him. The next component is established in the faith. Established in the faith, just as you were taught. And you get that same idea, right, of stability and permanency, established in the faith. Now, remember, the word faith can be used to talk about our faith, like I believe in something, but it can also be used to talk about the content of our faith. Have you guys heard that before? Just like the word believe, right? You can say, I believe in something, or if I told you to believe, I'm telling you to do something. But if I use the word belief with an F, then you know I'm talking about the content, right? Beliefs. And faith can be used in the same way, right? You can have faith, you can believe something, but then sometimes the Bible says the faith. And when it says the faith, it usually means the content, the set of teachings. And so when he says established in the faith, he's not commanding us to have faith. He just did that a few verses ago. What he's saying is be established in the teaching. Know the doctrines. Know about Jesus Christ. Be established in the faith. Stick to the teachings. And all the while, at the end of verse 7, abounding in thanksgiving.

12:01Abounding in thanksgiving. This is a repeated command that Paul is going to slip in kind of here and there across this whole letter. Keep giving thanks. Don't let yourself forget that. Keep giving thanks. That is part of how you stay on track. So, what about you? Are you staying on track? Are you following this command? We've seen what it looks like to be established in the faith, to be rooted and built up in the gospel, to constantly be giving thanks. Is that what you're doing?

12:40You know, sometimes as believers, often as believers, we need to be spurred on to remember to get back to the basics, right? To remember the gospel, to constantly stay there and be rooted, remember what Jesus did on the cross. And so, if that's you, if you need that spurring on today, then let this be your challenge. Stay close to Christ as you get back to the basics and you remember the gospel. Constantly remember who Jesus is.

13:13Stay close to the Word. And all the while, give thanks, right? Remember that everything we've believed, everything we've received as Christians, eternal life and all the blessings, all of that is grace that's undeserved. And so we can give thanks. So that was the first command. Stay on track. As you've received Christ, keep on going. Keep walking in him. And this is what it looks like. Be established. Give thanks. The other command that we see in this passage is stay alert. Stay on track and stay alert. Look at verse 8. See to it. That's the command. See to it. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. See to it that no one takes you captive. Watch yourself. Watch those around you. Make sure you're not being taken captive. There are men, we've found out slowly as we've gone through this letter, there are men who are trying to deceive the Colossian church. They've come, they're sneaky, they're trying to mix in truths of Christianity with lies that they've received from other places. And Paul is saying, keep watch, right? Be alert.

14:58See to it that this doesn't happen. Happen. It's kind of like the Colossians are on a night watch at a fort or something like that, and they are having to watch for enemy forces who are trying to deceive them and come in the night, and they need to stay alert. They need to keep watching and see to it that the city isn't captured. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit. The word philosophy there is just a transliteration of the Greek word philosophy. And it means the same thing: the love of knowledge, the love of knowledge. But we need to be careful because it's actually easy for us to misread this. It's easy for us to misread the word philosophy and the dangers that are accompanying it.

15:48First, we can misread it by thinking of our modern idea of secular philosophy, the kind of philosophy that we learn in college or in high school or whenever you learn philosophy, kind of atheistic philosophy about our existence. This isn't what Paul has in mind. He's using the term more generally. And today, usually philosophy is just talking about logic or something like that. Back then, it included that, but it also included all kinds of other things, like superstitions and angelic visions and things like that. It's just a general love for knowledge and trying to persuade people of things.

16:30So, the first way we can misread this is to think that he's kind of wholesale condemning any idea of philosophy that we might have today. But I don't think that's what he's doing. The second way to misread this is to assume that he's condemning knowledge in general, right? If philosophy is the love of knowledge, then people say that knowledge itself, growing in knowledge itself, is dangerous. We should avoid that. But of course, that goes against everything we've already seen in this letter, right? One of Paul's main points in this letter, maybe the main point, is that the Colossians need to grow in knowledge so that they are not taken captive. They need to grow. They need to have this knowledge about who God is.

17:18So, if we know he isn't talking about our idea of modern philosophy, and we know he isn't just completely condemning knowledge in general, then what does he mean? What is he talking about when he says, see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit? Well, he tells us three characteristics of what that looks like, of what that philosophy looks like: according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. That's the description he gives of this philosophy and empty. Empty deceit. According to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. So the first dangerous thing about the philosophy, the deceit that the Colossians have encountered is that it's not from the Bible. It's not from God's word. God did not tell them this. Instead, they came from human tradition, according to human tradition. So these are practices and thoughts that men made up. That's what the Colossians are being exposed to. These men made these up and are pretending like it's true and necessary. And this is a tendency for all of us, right? We all tend to make up traditions and institutes and add them to our life and then think that God has told us to do that. You see that throughout all of history.

18:58I heard Russell McGee tell the story just last week of an elderly man in a church that he was a part of who had gotten caught up in his own traditions. And the pastor had confronted him on this, and his response was really this. I know this is unbelievable, but his response was, I don't care what the Bible says. This is the way we've always done it. And that was in a church, right? And so I think the temptation is just as strong for us today to. Consider human traditions over what the Bible says, over what God has given us. I don't think that any of us would be as blatant as that man, right? We know better than to speak like that. But I do think that we can fall prey to the same kind of thinking, that we can forget to keep watch and not let ourselves be taken captive by this way of thinking. So, verse 8: according to human tradition, and then the second way, or the second characteristic of this bad philosophy, is that it is according to the elemental spirits of the world. According to the elemental spirits of the world. And now we're starting to step in to a little bit more of what the Colossians were exposed to. Later in the letter, we'll find out a lot more about these angels and visions and things like that that these men are claiming. But here we get introduced to the idea that part of the false teaching that was coming to the Colossians was false teaching that was allegedly given to them by elemental spirits. And we don't know about exactly what they mean by that, elemental spirits. We know that there are some traditions, even in Jewish circles of that day, that there were angelic beings that were kind of associated with the elements, like earth and fire and water, those kind of things. And so maybe there's a. Angel of fire or an angel of the earth or something like that. We don't know if that's what he's talking about. But whatever this false teaching was, it did claim to have Jewish roots and it did claim to have some sort of content about these angelic beings. And so Paul in this letter is going to mention angels more than once. He's going to mention that Jesus Christ is above the angels. He's going to mention that Jesus Christ is the reality that these angels are trying to pretend to be.

21:38But whatever this content is, whatever these angelic visions are, whatever this human tradition is, what Paul makes clear with the next phrase is that it is not according to what God has said. Look at the end of verse 8. Not according to Christ. Not according to Christ. So if they fall for these traditions, then they're not continuing to walk, just like he commanded a moment ago, right? They're not continuing to walk in the way they had first heard about Christ. They've left Christ for these human traditions and these elemental spirits.

22:16And unless we think we're past this idea as well, you know, we might think, you know, that was 2,000 years ago. Surely today, people aren't swayed by angelic visions. Or claims of angelic visions or something like that. That's not true, right? Certainly, this is still a big issue today. A huge issue. There are entire religions that are based off of Christianity that are either steeped in human tradition or steeped in angelic identity. You know, there are churches across the world where people in the church have never read or been taught a passage of scripture, and yet they can tell you every single detail of a mass or of a church service or something like that. And of course, that's not every liturgical church that that's true of, but it's a lot of them. I've seen them firsthand. There are churches that people have stopped paying attention to what the Bible says, even though they know exactly what to do in a church service or something like that. There are also Christian traditions that claim to have received extra angelic visions, right? Many of you have heard that Mormonism is largely based off of teaching that Joseph Smith apparently got from the angel Moroney.

23:49And they're adding to Scripture through these angelic visions. But even in denominations like ours, we can be tempted to things like this. Getting stuck in human traditions, getting caught up in angelic visions. Last year, I was getting a haircut in North Carolina, and my hairstylist found out that I was attending seminary. And she, once she found that out, once she found that out, she was so excited to tell me about this angelic vision that she had had. And she went on and on and was so excited to tell me the angel or maybe Jesus had come through the window at night and told her how precious she is and how much God loves her. And so I listened. And later, when I tried to speak to her about the Bible, she had almost no interest, right? She didn't care about what the Bible said. The only thing that was important to her was that she had this vision, that she saw this angel, and she didn't care about what God had said in the Bible. And my own extended family has done this kind of thing before. I remember when my grandparents passed away, it was really common in our extended family for people to start claiming they had seen angels, telling them about how my grandparents are in heaven or something like that. Even in the animals outside their house, they would start to say that the animals were angels or something like that, coming to give them comfort or something like that. But again, when When you tried to confront them and tell them things from Scripture, they weren't interested. They weren't interested in what the Bible said. They had only become fascinated in what the angels had said to them. And so I think that we might think that this is an issue for 2,000 years ago, but that's not true, right? I think that this is an issue even for us today. And Paul is saying we need to stay alert. We don't want to be taken captive by human tradition. We don't want to be taken captive by alleged angelic visions or interventions. Instead, we want to stay in Christ. We need to have discernment.

26:12And in verse 9 and 10, he's going to tell us why this is such a big deal. Not according to Christ. Verse 9. For in him, in Christ, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. So in Christ, we have something totally different, right? In Christ, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. We looked at this a few months ago and considered, you know, what does this mean for Christ as a man, for the whole fullness of deity to dwell in him bodily. But I think that what he's emphasizing here is that we don't. Don't need to dabble in these other things. We don't need to dabble in human tradition. We don't need to dabble in the angelic realm because we've got the real deal, right? We've got the full and perfect and complete revelation of who God is in Jesus Christ. That's what we have as Christians. These other teachers were coming into the Colossian church, trying to take them captive with fake and deceptive ideas. And Paul is saying, No, we've got the real deal. You just stay in Christ. You continue on, just like you started in the gospel. They've already been filled. Look at verse 10. You have been filled in him. They don't need anything else. And who are they filled with? You have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. So in Christ, they've been filled, and Christ is the head of all rule and authority. He's above earthly kings, he's above any human who would make a tradition. He's above any angelic rule and authority. He's above any angel. Christ is above all. That's who they have as Christians. Let's pause for just a moment and look over at chapter 1, verse 15. We read this several months ago, but it just gives you the idea of how silly it is for them to be dabbling in these other things because they've got the real deal. Look at Chapter 1, verse 15.

28:33He, Christ, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him and for him, and he is before all things. And in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent, he might be first.

29:09Verse 19, for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. This is the Christ that the Colossian church has believed in, right? The one who is first over everything, the one who is made peace by the blood of his cross. This is the one they've believed in and all that they need. They don't need these other teachings.

29:41So when we hear the command in Colossians 2, verses 8 through 10, to see to it that we aren't taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, we might be tempted to think that that means we need to stop up our ears, right? And just not hear anything the world has to say. But I don't think that's what he's saying. I think what Paul is commanding is that we need to have discernment. That's what he's saying. We need to have discernment. When we hear teaching, we need to be people who can decide between truth and fiction. What is in line with Christ, what is in line with the scriptures, and what is not.

30:27Then we need to reject the false teaching and cling on to the truths about Christ. And as parents, I think the call is the same, right? As we raise children and we think about how we are supposed to nurture them, how are we supposed to protect them? I think the call is not in these verses to never let them hear about these other cults or these other religions or something like that. They're going to hear someday, anyways. I think the goal is to train them up and give them discernment, right? Point them to these verses and see how Paul, from the very beginning, has said, Look, there are two things that are going to try and take you captive: human traditions and spectacular visions and things of that nature. And we can tell children that and tell them that these other religions have done this. They've forgotten to pay attention to these verses. All of us, the young in the faith and the old in the faith, must turn. To the words of God and Scripture and have discernment. That's the call of these verses.

31:36To stay alert. To turn to the very word of God Himself, Jesus Christ, and remember that He is the full and perfect revelation of God. He is the head of all rule and authority. And we can stay alert. You know, some read these verses that we studied today as the theme verse for the entire book of Colossians, the summary of the whole letter. Some claim that that's what we read this morning. Paul has heard the reports from Epaphras, and they're encouraging reports, right, that they have believed, they've taken that initial step, but also that there are the false teachers there. And so Paul is writing to them to say, okay, keep walking just like you received him, and watch out for those false teachers. It's the summary of this whole letter. They need to stick to the basics. They need to remember the gospel and not be taken captive by these other fancy teachings that have crept in. Keep walking.

32:50Before a few months ago, I had never heard of John Rawlins. Maybe you've heard that name before, but I hadn't. But he was a friend of Ulysses S. Grant. And, you know, many would claim that Ulysses S. Grant in the Civil War was the main factor of why the North won the Civil War. Because Grant was such a great general. But there are others who would actually say it's John Rollins because Ulysses S. Grant was a drunkard. And whenever he would drink, he would just become a child. He would be silly and babbling, and he obviously couldn't be a general like that. Well, John Rollins was a friend of his who came alongside him and joined the military and stayed at his side the whole time just to make sure that Grant wouldn't drink. And he signed a pledge at the beginning. He made Grant sign a pledge at the beginning of the war not to do it. And then he stayed there the whole time as a friend and kept reminding him, you know, your entire success is because you've abstained. So keep doing it. Stay on track. Keep doing this, right? Keep going. And in the Bible, we have in the Old Testament example of other friends just like that, right? To the Old Testament kings, there was a friend given, the prophets, who over the history of Judah over and over and over reminded them, stay on track, stay alert for false teaching. Don't go after these idols. Don't go after multiplying your wives. Prophets would tell the kings this over and over, and some of the kings listened, right? And they were righteous kings. Other kings killed the prophets. But I encourage you to let these verses that we studied today be like those friends that are coming alongside you and telling you: stay alert, right? Stay alert. Stay on track. Remember the gospel that you knew when you first became a Christian and stay inside of that. Don't let yourself be taken captive by these other teachings, by traditions or visions. Don't be distracted. Don't lose discernment. Cling to the gospel and to Jesus, the Messiah in the Lord. Let's pray. Father, I pray that you would help us heed the warnings in this passage. I pray that you wouldn't let any of us think that we are above or past these warnings, like they're not for us anymore.

35:32I pray that you would help us remember that every single one of us in this room could be taken captive by traditions or visions, at least for a time. And I pray, Lord, that you would help us heed the call of Paul in this letter to see to it that we're not taken captive, to continue to walk in the way that we first received Christ. And I pray, Lord, that as a church, we would continue to be a church that pleases you in this way. A church that's on guard and a church that sticks to the simple faith, the simple gospel that we received at the very beginning. We thank you, Lord, for our time together this morning. In Jesus' name, amen.