Colossians 2:6-15

Introduction and Recap

The All-Sufficient Christ

And so as we continue on in the letter this morning in 2:6-15, we will see that Paul begins to move from theology (or thoughts about God/Christ) to exhortation (what we should do with this theology) as seen in the commands and warnings that begin in v7.

And finally, we have seen Paul tell the Colossians what the purpose of his whole letter is, when he tells them in Colossians 2:4 “I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable.

Read Colossians 2:6–15 “So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ. For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, and you have been filled by him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.”

Lord, If you speak to me this morning, I will listen and obey.

So That No One Will Deceive You…

Keeping in mind that Paul’s concern in writing is to help the Colossians to see that all they need they have already gained. That there is no higher philosophy or teaching that they must “learn”. That there is no higher spiritual plane that they must reach, he reminds them to walk in their confession.

1. Walk In Your Confession…He is Lord.

So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught,

When Paul writes “you have received Christ Jesus as Lord”, there is much more than just an acknowledgement of beliefs implied. Paul’s “so then” points back to all he has already said, the theology of God, Christ, and the Gospel.

Christ is Superior and Sufficient. Christ is the fullness of God. Christ has shed His blood on the cross for our sins. Christ has risen from the grave to raise us to new life. Christ contains all that we need to know about God and God’s character within Himself.

Paul is convinced that, if the Colossians see Christ for who He is and what He’s done, then they will have no need to follow after any other teachings. They will not be swayed by “new and better” when they know the best.

So he says walking your confession is to receive Christ first, but then to continue in it, and as you continue you will be ROOTED, BUILT UP, and ESTABLISHED.

Rooted

John 15 ““I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. “This is what I command you: Love one another. “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don’t know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin. The one who hates me also hates my Father. If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled: They hated me for no reason. “When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Built Up

1 Peter 2:1–9 “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame. So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected— this one has become the cornerstone, and A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Established

The rooted and built up are secure in their place.

2. Practice Gratitude…for all that He has done.

and overflowing with gratitude.

Paul sees gratitude as an important means to defeating false teaching

3. Be On Guard…against all things that would take you captive.

Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.

There is nothing IMMORAL about the false teaching. In fact “morality” in itself is a false teaching.

Paul’s wording here implies a forceful pulling away. Essentially, the Colossians can’t sit back and “rest” on

their faith. Or be passive about it. They must be constantly on guard, remembering their confession.

In direct contrast to these descriptions stands the gospel: where the “philosophy” deceives people, the gospel is “true,” “reliable” (1:5); where the “philosophy” is “empty,” “devoid of spiritual value,” the gospel is powerful and transforming (1:6, 23)

How? By Reminding what He has done!

For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, and you have been filled by him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

Paul reminds the church that they are filled by Christ, who is filled by God. Why look to false teachers when you are full?? The hungry look for food, not the satisfied.

God not only cancels the debt, but he takes it away from us. Our sins are nailed on the cross with Christ, buried with Him, and the guilty verdict is LEFT in the grave when He rises! AND SO

4. Remember His Victory…and live in it.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.”

Application/Closing

Church, the application this morning is clear, and you have probably already noticed it throughout the text and sermon. The same thing Paul wants of the Colossian church, the Spirit wants of us. Your pastors desire it for themselves, their families, and for each of you. So what is it?

Confess He is Lord

First, if you have never confessed Jesus as Lord, there is no better day to do that! Colossians has been full of “reasons” to confess He is Lord. From who Christ is - the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of creation, the head of the body - to what God has done through Christ on our behalf - rescued us from the domain of darkness, transferred us into a new Kingdom, revealed Christ and counted His righteousness as ours - to what Christ has done on our behalf - makes peace through his blood on the cross, in his death we are forgiven, in his life we can live!

But all of this is just words. Beautiful, true, words, but only words, if you have never actually confessed He is Lord. So have you confessed it? Do you believe that Jesus truly lived, that He truly died, that He is truly resurrected? Do you believe that? Good! But have you surrendered to His Lordship?

Is your life full of trespasses (to borrow the word from the text)? Are you, even this morning, feeling the weight of your guilt before God? Confess and receive Him as Savior and Lord!

Church, we receive CHRIST JESUS AS LORD, and this simple phrase must mean more than just believing in Him. We don’t receive an idea, a word, a worldview. We receive CHRIST HIMSELF! And everything that the Bible calls us too after that is ROOTED in Him. Have you CONFESSED HIM?

“True conversion must imply a recognition of Christ’s right to be my Saviour (after all, most of us do not very much want to be saved from all our sins, only from their penalty).”

Walk In Your Confession Through The Spirit’s Power

If you have confessed and have surrendered your will to His, then as we saw this morning, we are called to WALK IN IT. That is nothing less that heeding the words of Jesus to DENY YOURSELF, TAKE UP YOUR CROSS, AND FOLLOW.

To deny ourselves, simply put, is to give Christ the first word in our lives, the middle word in our lives, and the last word in our lives. It means that our beliefs, words, actions, etc are being conformed to HIM and the WORD of God that speaks of Him.

It means that when we are confronted with areas of our lives that do not line up with what the Scriptures tell us they should be, that we are the one’s who adjust to HIM and not adjust Him to us.

It means to “be careful that we are not taken captive” and repent of worldly philosophies, half (or even 99 percent) truths, idols like money, power, security, pride, politics, sports, worldly knowledge, and so on, and find our HOPE and PURPOSE in HIM.

And the true beauty in all of this is that YOU cannot do it by yourself.

Just as the Law reminds us that we cannot follow it, and therefore we are condemned, the Gospel reminds us that we cannot follow the Law but He has followed it for us. Jesus reminds us that when we surrender to Him, that the Spirit comes to “write the law of God on our hearts”, “to remind us of our confession”, and to empower us to KNOW the will and wisdom of God.

You CANNOT live the life you are called to live without the Spirit at work in you.

As You Walk, Walk in Victory

Believer, do you live victoriously? Christ has defeated your enemies in his death. God has “paraded” the principalities of this world before the world has defeated and helpless. But do you walk in that victory?

Do you still constantly feel pulled into the things of this world that you don’t want? Your particular brand of sin/idolatry?

Do you constantly feel like you can’t measure up to the Christian life? Do you constantly feel guilty or full of shame? Do you give in to sin simply because you do not feel you can resist it?

If this is you, and you are in Christ, stop for a moment this morning and read v9-15 again.

Colossians 2:9–15 “For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, and you have been filled by him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses.

He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.”

HIS VICTORY IS YOURS! The rulers and authorities of this world are disarmed and defeated and you are NOT SUBJECT to them anymore. They cannot defeat or even compete with the Spirit in you! You have no need to give these powers any of your allegiances. The only power they still have left in this world is the power we allow them to have.

So surrender these things to the Lord and allow the Spirit to shape your life!

As we close this morning, I challenge you to go read Romans 8 today. And then tomorrow. And then the next day.

Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,”

Romans 8:14–17 “For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ”

Romans 8:31–37 “What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Have you believed? Have you confessed? Are you walking in the Spirt’s power? Are you walking in victory?

Let’s worship together!