Colossians- Week 3

How to Walk in the Spirit

Colossians 2:1–10 (ESV)

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

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.

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.

Paul is saying that there is an incredible treasure for you. Go back to verse 3— he speaks of Jesus, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

In Jesus—it’s all in Jesus. In Him you’re complete. You don’t have to look for anything else. All the treasure is in the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s hidden in Christ.

Why did God hide it? So you and I could have the joy of discovering it. The treasure is available; it’s all for you. But, you may not be aware, because the treasure may be hidden to you. So, what you have to do is to discover your treasure.

I read about a ship that was out in the ocean, off of Brazil, and the ship was without water. And, the people on board the ship, though surrounded with salt water, were dying of thirst. They saw another ship, and they sent a message to the other ship, and said, “Do you have any water? We need water.” The other ship sent a message back, and said, “Let down your buckets where you are.” They said, “No, you don’t understand.” They sent another message, “We need drinking water.” They sent back the message again, “Let down your buckets where you are.” They let down their buckets and came up with fresh water, because they were at the mouth of the mighty Amazon River, and that Amazon River of fresh water was flowing out into the ocean and bringing fresh water, way out into the ocean where they were. Here they were, thinking they were dying of thirst, and surrounded by water to drink. But, they failed to use that which was all around them.

They say that the South African diamond mines were first discovered when somebody noticed little boys playing with beautiful stones. They were using them like marbles. They were diamonds. They had them in their hands—treasure—but they didn’t realize the treasure that they had.

Notice verse 4—Paul said, “I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.” (Colossians 2:4). Look, if you will, in verse 8: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit” (Colossians 2:8).

The devil wants to keep you from

understanding the blessing that you can have in the Lord Jesus Christ. The devil wants you to say, “That’s absurd to say that everything’s in Christ. That’s absurd to say that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ.”

There’s more—that’s exactly the lie that he told in the Garden of Eden.

He said, “Eve, God’s holding out on you. There are other things. You don’t need to be hemmed in by the will of God. You need to get outside the will of God to discover all that you can have and know.” And, there are people today who will teach you that, once you receive the Lord Jesus Christ, now you’ve got to go on and get a second blessing. let me tell you, in Jesus you have everything. “In him,” this scripture says, “you are complete” (Colossians 2:10).

Now, if a person is complete, what else do they need? When you have Jesus, when you’ve said Jesus, you have said it all. Now, the key and the secret of finding everything in the Lord Jesus Christ, and letting everything in the Lord Jesus Christ express itself through your life, and living victoriously, is found in verse 6. Now, remember, I told you that God the Holy Spirit wants to inhabit your human spirit, and your human spirit is to speak to your mind, and your emotion, and your will, which is your soul; and, your mind, emotion, and will are to motivate and drive your body out in this world, as you walk the Christian walk and live the Christian life. Now, look at it again, in verse 6-

Colossians 2:6 ESV

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,

Four things I want to tell you about your walk in the Lord—how to walk in the Spirit. And, first of all, I want you to think of what I’m going to call the circumference of the walk.

I. The Circumference of the Walk

It’s very strange language here. Look at it; look at it carefully. He doesn’t say, “Walk after the Spirit.” He doesn’t say, “Walk with the Spirit.” He says to “walk in the Spirit” (Colossians 2:6). That is, the Spirit is the sphere—the territory—of your walk.

Let me illustrate: If I said to you, “Walk in this building,” where are you to walk? In this building. The parameters of this building are to contain your walk. This building would be the boundaries—the circumference—of your walk.

Now, you’re told to walk in the Spirit. the natural man says, “I don’t like that. I don’t want to be hemmed in. Are you just telling me that this is all there is to it? How dull that would be! are you just telling me that that’s all I can do—is just walk in the Spirit? I want more.”

if you want more, it’s because you don’t understand verses 2 and 3. Look at it again—

Colossians 2:2–3 ESV

that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Now, you are to walk in the Lord Jesus Christ. What I’m trying to say is—;—there is nothing worth having, outside of Jesus—nothing worth having.

You say, “Well, what about my car?” No, no. You can have a house; you can have a car; you can have your clothes; you can have all of these things. But all of these things simply are things that are a subset of knowing the Lord Jesus.

That is, if Jesus allows you to have them, if they’re a gift that He gives to you, that’s fine. But, if you have to go outside of Jesus to get any of these things, if you have to transgress the law of God to have something else, then, friend, you don’t need it; you don’t have to have it. Everything that you need He will supply.

“[He will] supply all of your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). He, Jesus, is the circumference of your walk.

Now, how do you know—how do you know,—when you get out of bounds? Well, go over to the next chapter—Look in chapter 3 and verse 15—I love it:

Colossians 3:15 ESV

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Now, the word rule there means “referee”; it’s a word that means “an arbiter, a referee, a judge.”

Now, let’s suppose that this stage, right here, represents the Christian life. And, the Holy Spirit is the referee. And, I’m to play the game of life on this stage. If I get out of bounds, He blows the whistle. He says, “You’re out of bounds.” (Line judge in tennis, volleyball, etc…)

Well, how do I know when I’m out of bounds? What does the whistle sound like? Well, he says, “Let the peace of God referee in your heart” (Colossians 3:15). Now, if you’ve been walking with the Lord very long, you know exactly when you step out of bounds. You know how? The whistle goes off. What’s the whistle? You lost your peace—that’s all there is to it.

There are times, sometimes, I’ll say something or do something. And the Holy Spirit will make it linger in my mind. And I may try to ignore it, but I don’t have the peace. I have to go and apologize or make it right.

It’s such a simple thing. The circumference of my walk is in the Spirit; and, when I get out of bounds, He’ll blow the whistle.

There is nothing worth having outside of Him. I’ll tell you, nothing—absolutely, totally nothing; no possession; no relationship. Anything you can want—if you can’t have it in Jesus, you don’t need it.

II. The Commencement of the Walk

How do you start—how do you—walk? Friend, you begin a walk by taking the first step. Graduation- step up, and step out into a new chapter.

Colossians 2:6 ESV

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,

How do you start the walk? Well, you receive Jesus Christ. Walking begins with a step. Now, that’s profound, isn’t it? But, walking begins with a step. What is the first step to walk in the Spirit? It is to receive Christ Jesus the Lord. You can’t begin the Christian walk until you receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord.

Sometimes we try to start something but we skip a step.

Directions?- you try and just do it and you get half way in and realize you skipped something back at the beginning, start over!

You can’t walk in Him if you haven’t received Him first. Have you received Him?

III. The Character of the Walk

What is walking in the Spirit?

When you walk in the Spirit—you walk in the Lord Jesus Christ—that means that Christ is the Lord. He demands—deserves—absolute control of your life. When you walk in the Lord, you’re under new management.

Lets go back to chapter 1, verse 10

Colossians 1:10 ESV

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;

Now, if I’m walking in the Spirit, my life is to manifest the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. You ought to be able to see Jesus in me. I ought to be able to see Jesus in you. The character of the Lord Jesus Christ is the character of our walk. We walk in the Lord.

that’s what baptism is all about—that’s why we are baptized. Look, if you will—go down a few verses, and see what he says about baptism—in verse 12

Colossians 2:12 ESV

having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

What is baptism all about? When you get saved, we take you up here to this tub, and we plunge you beneath the water. What’s that all about? Friend, that’s a funeral. That baptistry is a liquid tomb. The old person you used to be is dead and buried, buried with Christ by baptism.

According to verse 12, even as Jesus came out of the grave to a new, abundant life, He took your sins and carried your sins to the grave of His forgetfulness, and your sins are buried with Christ in baptism. And then, you are raised to walk, the Bible says, in newness of life.

Now, I’m not asking you whether you tithe. I’m not asking you, even, if you obey the commandments.

I’m asking you: Is the genuine life of the Lord Jesus Christ manifested in you?

When God the Holy Spirit comes , he speaks to your mind, emotion, and will, and motivates your body, you’re going to walk as Jesus Christ walked, and He’s going to be the Lord of your life.

You know, in the New Testament, He’s called Savior 24 times; He’s called Lord 434 times. That ought to tell us something.

IV. The Continuation of the Walk

I want you to notice the continuation of the walk. Now, look again in verse 6—it says, “So walk” (Colossians 2:6). —the word here, walk, literally means “to keep on walking”—“to keep on walking.”

Well, we said that a walk— there must be a commencement, but that’s only one step. You have to keep on walking. Now, you’re not saved because you keep on walking; you keep on walking because you’re saved. There is a continuation of walking in the Lord.

Now, what is walking? It is but a series of steps. Now, if you take one step and don’t take another, you can’t stand. The only thing you can do is put both feet down at the same time, because when you walk, you’re off-balance. You take another step, and you’re off-balance. You take another one, and you’re off-balance. But, as you continue to walk, the balance is maintained. But, you can’t step and stop, unless you stand. Well, if you stand, you’re stuck. What you’re to do is to walk and not stand. And so, one step has to follow another step.

Now, how did you receive Jesus? By repentance and faith. Isn’t that how you received Jesus—by repentance and faith? How do you walk? You walk in repentance and faith. You repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus. Those are your first two steps—repentance and faith. That’s how you receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how do you walk? You walk exactly the way you receive Jesus. The way to live the Christian life is the way you got the Christian life. How did you receive the Christian life? By repentance and faith. How do you walk the Christian life? By repentance and faith. That’s all walking is—just repentance and faith, repentance and faith, repentance and faith, repentance and faith.

Romans 14:1 (LVB)

Receive a brother into the Church, even if he scarcely believes Christ can save him.

The Living Bible paraphrases it this way: “Receive a brother into the Church, even if he scarcely believes Christ can save him.” Now, that paraphrase really squeezes the meaning out of it: “Receive a brother into the Church, even if he scarcely believes that Christ can save him.”

God takes weak faith. You see, it’s not our strong faith that saves us; it’s our strong Savior that saves us. And, you put your faith, whatever it is, in the Lord Jesus Christ, and trust Him, and He’ll save you; and, He’ll start with you where you are.

How did you receive Him? By repentance and faith.

But, I’ll tell you, when I put my repentance toward the Lord Jesus Christ, and my faith in Him, God saved me, and I began a walk. And then, God convicted me of some particular sin, I repented, put my faith in Christ, and He revealed Himself to me, and I repented.

And, you just go through life one step at a time, repenting and trusting, repenting and trusting. I want to give you some news: You’re not going to stop repenting till Jesus comes, if you’re walking in the Spirit.

Have you ever seen a ray of sunshine coming into your house? Beautiful? Well have you ever thought your house was clean and didn’t need dusting, until that sun landed on some furniture? Honey- I thought you dusted the house?! LOL Or you see those little dust particles floating around in the light? Hold your breath!

a person who says, “You know, I don’t need any more repenting,” just tells me they’re not walking in the light. The closer you get to the Lord, the more imperfections you’ll see in your own life.

How do you walk in the Spirit? Repentance and faith. How did you receive Jesus? By repentance and faith. And, if you’ll do that, you will discover the treasures that are in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, repentance is turning from self; faith is turning to Jesus. And, the more you turn from yourself and the more you turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, the more real He will seem to you.