Walk in Christ
Notes
Transcript
Reading: Colossians 2:6-7
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Pray
If God merely wanted us to accept his Son as our Savior, God would have called us home as soon as we prayed to him and asked for forgiveness. There would be no point of leaving us here if his goal was merely to save you and me from our sins.
As believers in Christ, it is imperative that we walk in him. In fact, the word “walk” is a command! We must live out biblical faith day-by-day. It’s not enough to pledge our allegiance to him - we must demonstrate our allegiance to Christ through our actions, our attitudes, and our affections.
That’s what Paul told the Colossian church here in chapter 2, and his words have just as much importance for us today. How do we walk in Christ, and what does that look like?
As you Received Christ Jesus the Lord
First, consider the way we should approach this walk with Christ:
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
Paul tells us to walk with Jesus in the same way that we received him. And how did we receive Christ? Think back to the time you received Jesus. Where you young, or old? How did you hear? What was your life like before Christ? Did it sound like this:
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
Or maybe like this:
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Or perhaps it looked more like this:
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
That is what your life and my life looked like before Jesus. We were completely wicked, unable to pull off any righteous deed whatsoever. And even when we did something good, it was with terrible motives. We were, to quote the classic rock prophet George Thorogood, “Bad to the Bone.”
But with Christ, things are totally changed. In Colossians 1:21, we were alienated from God and hostile to him, but in Colossians 1:22:
22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
In Ephesians 2:1-3, we were dead in our trespasses and sins, but in Ephesians 2:4-7:
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
And in Romans 3:10-18, we were completely opposed to God, but in Romans 3:21-24:
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Have you been changed like that? Have you gone from being alienated to being reconciled? Have you moved from death to life? Has your heart changed from being totally unrighteous before God to having the righteousness of God?
If not, why not today? Before he bids you to come with him, Christ calls you to come to him in repentance of sin. Your journey with Christ starts at the foot of Calvary’s cross. Receive Christ the Lord.
But if you have received Jesus Christ the Lord, then walk with him. If you have been changed by the work of the Holy Spirit transforming you from God’s enemy into his child, then live your life side-by-side with the Master. Take up your cross and follow him.
Paul tells these believers to walk in Christ in the same way that they have received Christ. How was that? By faith through the preaching of the Word of God. Watch this church: the primary method by which God acts within the heart of the believer is through his inerrant, inspired Word. If you do not hear and read the Scriptures, you cannot walk with Christ. He is the living, breathing, incarnated Word of God, and you meet him right here in the Book.
No other endeavor that we engage in as believers has the power of God attached to it like the careful study and application of the Word of God. If you want to walk with Christ, you MUST devote yourself to reading and living out the Word of God. That’s how you came to faith - through the Word. That’s how you’ll continue in faith - through the Word. That’s how you’ll be complete in faith - through the Word.
It’s that same Word of God that fulfills verse 7 - the “how to” of walking with Christ:
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
If you’re going to go walking, you’ve got to have a destination. You can walk around in circles if you want, but you won’t get anywhere.
The destination for our walk with Christ is godly maturity. As we put faith in Christ, he directs our steps. He shows us this maturity with three phrases:
Rooted in Him
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
I grew up in Mobile, where there are two prevalent types of trees: pines and oaks. They couldn’t be much more different. Pines shoot up quickly, but oaks grow much slower. Pines are thin and tall with almost no branches except way up high, but oaks grow much thicker trunks with strong, thick, and lower branches. Pines have tiny root systems that stay close to the surface, but oaks have massive roots that go deep and wide.
So when storms come, guess what trees have a better survival rate. When Paul says that we should be rooted in Christ, he’s telling us to be planted firmly in Christ - to grow our roots deeply in him. Don’t be a spiritual pine tree, with small and shallow roots. You may grow fast, but you won’t last in the hurricanes of life. Be an oak - grow good, strong, deep roots in Christ. That’s the mark of mature godliness.
Built Up in Him
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Not only should we have firm roots in Christ, but we are to continue growing in Christ. The building here isn’t about constructing a building, but developing a group of people. This word is plural: it’s about the church corporately, not each Christian individually.
It’s also a word with an ongoing feel - the church is to constantly growing, constantly developing into the mold of Christ. You wouldn’t want your doctor to stop learning better ways to treat his patients, nor would you want your tax accountant to stop learning about the tax code. Don’t be a Christian who stops learning from the Master. Let him keep working on you - on all y’all - together.
Established in the Faith
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Establishment can mean being started or placed somewhere - some businesses have an “Established 19__” on their logo or branding. I’ve seen it used with decor for families as well. You can be established (i.e. set) in a certain location by certain people. That’s not the meaning here.
Establishment can also refer to confirmation or proving. Scholars say an theory is established when it is proven to be true. People can be established (or “strengthened”) as they are made more sure and firm in a commitment. That’s “established in the faith” means: it means that we are “sured-up” in the faith. And not just in the past: just like the phrase “built up,” the word for “established” is also ongoing. We are to continually be established in the faith.
What faith? The faith that we have been taught: the same faith that we received as we heard the gospel, and the same faith to which we responded in obedient surrender to God. You never grow too old spiritually for faith. We are to be daily strengthened in, confirmed in, and fixed in faith in Christ so that we will not waver or falter or be shaken from that faith.
Do you see the picture of maturity? This church was to be firmly planted, constantly being built-up together, and continually being established in faith.
Abounding in Thanksgiving
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Living a life like this - walking with Christ toward spiritual maturity - has an effect on you. It changes the way you look at the world. It makes you, well, thankful. That’s why the very end of this verse refers to those who walk with Jesus as “abounding in thanksgiving.”
And no wonder - when you consider everything that the Lord has done for you, how can you not be thankful? Sure, walking with Jesus is sometimes hard. He doesn’t often take the easy road. In Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan pictures Christian travelling through the valley of Humiliation. It is a hard journey, full of quagmires and narrow passages, with many traps and dangers. But it’s through the valley that Christian learns how God is also with him:
“O world of wonders, (I can say no less,)
That I should be preserved in that distress
That I have met with here! O blessed be
That hand that from it hath delivered me!
Dangers in darkness, devils, hell, and sin,
Did compass me, while I this vale was in;
Yea, snares, and pits, and traps, and nets did lie
My path about, that worthless, silly I
Might have been catch’d, entangled, and cast down;
But since I live, let Jesus wear the crown.”
When you walk with Jesus through the difficulties of life, you learn to be thankful for his many blessings. You learn to abound in thanksgiving because you realize just how good God has been to you. You see first-hand how faithful Christ remains in your weakness. You experience forgiveness that does not run out and love that does not dry up. Walking with Jesus makes all the difference.
Just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord,
So Walk in Him.