Rooted in Christ

Growing in Maturity

Colossians 2:6–15 ESV

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. 8 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. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 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. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Paul moves to a practical gem and a hard one as well. He reminds us to continue in our walk of faith and not to be distracted by new fancy teachings and philosophies. The Christian life continues as it commenced: just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him. Paul gave the same kind of exhortation to others (cf. 2 Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6). Since their faith initially laid hold decisively on the apostolic gospel, Paul exhorted them not to forsake its divine authority for any human sophistry. For with these divine roots (rooted … in Him) that began in the past they can be continually built up (edified) and strengthened in the faith. If they did so they would not be blown to and fro with every wind of doctrine (Eph. 4:14). As believers are “built up” in Christ, they become more grateful and are overflowing with thankfulness (cf. Col. 1:12).

Being Rooted! what does this mean?

Verse 6-7

Colossians and Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary A. Introduction: Continue in Christ (2:6–7)

A. Introduction: continue in Christ (2:6–7)

6–7. These two verses sum up neatly the message of the entire letter. In them Paul draws together the awesome Christology of the introduction and the practical teaching that is to be based on it: So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him. The emphasis, in the light of the letter’s long introduction, must be: it is this Christ (God’s Image, God’s Wisdom, God’s Mystery) that you have ‘received’ in becoming Christians. Moreover, this Christ is none other than the crucified and risen Jesus, now exalted as Lord. Each of the three parts of the phrase ‘Christ Jesus … Lord’ is thus to be given its proper weight.

But what does Paul mean by ‘receiving’ Christ? Here we must guard against anachronism. In popular language today the phrase ‘to receive Christ’ often expresses that conception of becoming a Christian which focuses on the new believer’s invitation to Jesus Christ to enter into his or her heart and life. Such an idea is powerful and evocative, and relates closely to the Pauline doctrine of Christ dwelling in the hearts of his people (Rom. 8:9–10; Eph. 3:17). The difficulty here is that Paul’s phrase ‘to receive Christ’ almost certainly carries quite different overtones. The verb ‘receive’ (paralambanō) is sometimes used in a technical sense, taken over from Judaism, referring to the transmission of teaching from one person or generation to another: compare ‘just as you were taught’ in the next verse. There are, in addition, several hints in the passage to suggest that he has the moment, and significance, of baptism in mind. The phrase ‘Christ Jesus the Lord’ corresponds closely to the early confessional formula ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ (Phil. 2:11; cf. Rom. 10:9; 1 Cor. 12:3), which converts would profess at their baptism. Paul mentions baptism explicitly in verse 12, and various related ideas occur elsewhere in this passage (see below). All this points to the probability that by ‘receiving Christ Jesus as Lord’ Paul here refers to the Colossian Christians’ acceptance of the proclamation of Jesus the Lord, to their consequent confession of faith, and to their new status as members of Christ’s body (see 2:19). All of these became theirs when (greatly daring in their pagan context) they took their stand of faith and submitted to Christian initiation.

Those who have (in this technical sense) ‘received Christ Jesus as Lord’ must continue to live in him: NIV thus brings out well the continuous force of the present imperative. The English word ‘live’ is ambiguous: it could mean life itself or ethical behaviour. Here, however, Paul’s meaning is clear. Literally, the word means ‘walk’, which, in Jewish thought (see on 1:10, above) was and is the standard term for ethical conduct. Here the emphasis is on the sort of conduct appropriate for one who claims Jesus as Lord. This, the ultimate goal of Paul’s argument, will be spelt out (3:1–4:6) after he has warned against a road which turns out to be a blind alley.

The new sort of behaviour has become a possibility for those who, having received Christ Jesus as Lord, are rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. How many of these metaphors were still ‘live’ for Paul it is hard to say. Even he must have had difficulty imagining Christians ‘walking’ in Christ by being well rooted like a tree, solidly built like a house, confirmed and settled like a legal document, and overflowing like a jug full of wine. Each of the images, nevertheless, has its own point to make. It is particularly worth noting that, whereas ‘rooted’ is an aorist, indicating a once-for-all planting of the Christian ‘in’ Christ, ‘built up’ is in the present, suggesting continual growth—an important theme in this letter to a very young church. It is grammatically uncertain whether, by ‘strengthened in the faith’, Paul means that their faith should itself become stronger, or that they should become stronger (in other respects) by means of their faith, or that they should become stronger in their grasp of ‘the faith’, i.e. Christianity as a whole. Paul could have said any of these: the immediate reference to the teaching they had received indicates that the last is probably correct. Thankfulness, filling the church so full that it constantly spills over, is placed in this letter at the centre of Christian living (see 1:2ff.; 3:15, 17; 4:2). As we saw above, gratitude to God is to be the main characteristic of God’s people, ‘a sign that they are indeed living in the new age’. The church that learns truly to worship God is a church growing to full maturity. Paul has already given the Colossians plenty of reasons why they should thank God, and will shortly give them still more.