To Stand in Christ

Introduction

After telling the church of his suffering for the gospel () and what God has revealed in Christ which was hidden for ages (). The warnings and teachings concerning Christ and his coming () and the struggle he has had for them () that their hearts may be encouraged and knit together in Christ.

He tells them to Walk in Christ as they have received him. To “walk” is the first IMPERATIVE in the text. It is the first OUGHT after the IS. The first command given to the churches. It comes after Paul had highlighted the things Christ has done for the people and the people had done in Christ. The command to do follows instructions on what has been done already. Instructions and commands don’t just come; they are issued after some other things have been done. Usually most commands or imperatives come after the author has passed on the teaching and doctrine but in this case, in Chapter 2 he issues four commands as part of the instruction. There many more commands in Chapters 3 & 4 as those are the "application" sections of the letter.

This morning we will be looking at the text of Colossian chapter 2 focusing on verses 6 to 19 but we will read the text of that chapter to take in the fragrance of the word of the Lord.

In light of the problem that Church was facing dealing with the heresy working around them, the simplest thing they could do was to walk in Christ as they had received him. He gave them pictures of what he meant. He wanted them to be ROOTED as in the roots of a tree to the ground and soil; he wanted them to be BUILT UP as the house is built upon a solid foundation and he wanted them ESTABLISHED in the faith as a foundation for a great building is established. These are all expressions saying similar things with emphasis; let your walk in, and the person of Christ be solid and secured based on what you were taught and growing thanksgiving. The Psalmist said in “I have stored your word in my heart that I may not sin against you”. The only way to really know Christ more is to read about Christ more and appreciate what he is doing in the life of his church more. We can’t grow in Christ outside of Christ. We can’t grow in Christ without growing in his word, and we can’t know the real Christ if we have been introduced to another Christ. Paul sends this message and makes this comment to ensure that he is speaking of the Christ he taught about which Epaphras heard about and taught to the Colossians. The Christ Jesus the Lord. He speaks of his divine nature, his mission to save people from their sin and his stature as the special servant of God that Isaiah spoke about in . This Jesus is the one they have to be grounded in just as they were taught. Our walk in Christ and our growth in Christ cannot happen independently of the teaching that is found in the Lord. When it works the way the Lord has designed it, our Thanksgiving is natural, it is not induced, it is spontaneous, and when we obey his commands, it will be grounded in thankfulness.

The Letter to the Colossian was written by Paul to Apostle to a church he did not found but heard about the challenge they were facing with respect to the things the had heard of Christ and how those things were being challenged by some strange teachings. Colossae was a city placed by the Lycus river a city of Phrygia in the present day Turkey. It is about 1500km away from Rome.

Epaphras who founded the church seems to have communicated with Paul on the situation he and the church were contending with.The text of the bible to not spell out the specific heresy that was bothering threatening the church at Colossae but from Paul’s response in this letter we can observe that it had something to do with someJewish religious observations, coupled with some roman-graeco mysticism mixed with some idea of angel worship. Paul wrote the letter and asked them to share the material with the church at Laodicea that they may learn from it. This makes sense as Laodicea was about 17km away from Colossae [just like this church here is about 17km away from the Akwa Ibom State University Ikot Akpaden]. Another reason for this is because of the proximity, whatever is in vogue here will not take too long to get there even the means of transportation is by foot. By my calculations using the google maps, it should take the average walker about 4 hours to move from this Church to the location. So it was a church distance that could be made in a day.

Paul aware of this geographical situation encouraged the Colossian church to share their letter with their brethren at the other Church in the other city.

The apostle did not waste time to get to the heart of the matter. He taught about the person of Christ, his position, what God has done through him, How every thing is in him. After the doctrinal part of the letter as is common with his letters, he went into application in the individual and then in the church body as a whole. We are going to focus on Colossians chapter 2 which is the second chapter out of four chapters with our emphasis on verses 6 -19. In this chapter 2 using the ESV version, Christ is referenced SEVEN times more than any other word that is not required to allow the discussion to flow. The passage will be reviewed under 3 sections, Walk in Christ as received , Live as those in Christ and Stand as those in Christ .

Walk in Christ

Colossians 2:6–7 ESV

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.

After telling the church of his suffering for the gospel () and what God has revealed in Christ which was hidden for ages (). The warnings and teachings concerning Christ and his coming () and the struggle he has had for them () that their hearts may be encouraged and knit together in Christ.

He tells them to Walk in Christ as they have received him. To “walk” is the first IMPERATIVE in the text. It is the first OUGHT after the IS. The first command given to the churches. It comes after Paul had highlighted the things Christ has done for the people and the people had done in Christ. The command to do follows instructions on what has been done already. Instructions and commands don’t just come; they are issued after some other things have been done. Usually most commands or imperatives come after the author has passed on the teaching and doctrine but in this case, in Chapter 2 he issues four commands as part of the instruction. There many more commands in Chapters 3 & 4 as those are the "application" sections of the letter.

He tells them to Walk in Christ as they have received him. To “walk” is the first IMPERATIVE in the text. It is the first OUGHT after the IS. The first command given to the churches. It comes after Paul had highlighted the things Christ has done for the people and the people had done in Christ. The command to do follows instructions on what has been done already. Instructions and commands don’t just come, they are issued after some other things have been done. Usually most commands or imperatives come after the author has passed on the teaching and doctrine but in this case, in Chapter 2 he issues four commands as part of the instruction. There many more commands in Chapters 3 & 4 as those are the application sections of the letter.

In light of the problem that Church was facing dealing with the heresy working around them, the simplest thing they could do was to walk in Christ as they had received him. He gave them pictures of what he meant. He wanted them to be ROOTED as in the roots of a tree to the ground and soil; he wanted them to be BUILT UP as the house is built upon a solid foundation and he wanted them ESTABLISHED in the faith as a foundation for a great building is established. These are all expressions saying similar things with emphasis; let your walk in, and the person of Christ be solid and secured based on what you were taught and growing thanksgiving. The Psalmist said in “I have stored your word in my heart that I may not sin against you”. The only way to really know Christ more is to read about Christ more and appreciate what he is doing in the life of his church more. We can’t grow in Christ outside of Christ. We can’t grow in Christ without growing in his word, and we can’t know the real Christ if we have been introduced to another Christ. Paul sends this message and makes this comment to ensure that he is speaking of the Christ he taught about which Epaphras heard about and taught to the Colossians. The Christ Jesus the Lord. He speaks of his divine nature, his mission to save people from their sin and his stature as the special servant of God that Isaiah spoke about in . This Jesus is the one they have to be grounded in just as they were taught. Our walk in Christ and our growth in Christ cannot happen independently of the teaching that is found in the Lord. When it works the way the Lord has designed it, our Thanksgiving is natural, it is not induced, it is spontaneous, and when we obey his commands, it will be grounded in thankfulness.

In light of the problem that Church was facing dealing with the heresy working around them, the simplest thing they could do was to walk in Christ as they had received him. He gave them pictures of what he meant. He wanted them to be ROOTED as in the roots of a tree to the ground and soil, he wanted them to be BUILT UP as the house is built upon a solid foundation and he wanted them ESTABLISHED in the faith as a foundation for a great building is established. These are all expressions saying similar things with emphasis; let your walk in and the person of Christ be solid and secured based on what you were taught and growing thanksgiving. The Psalmist said in “I have stored your word in my heart that I may not sin against you”. The only way to really know Christ more is to read about Christ more and appreciate what he is doing in the life of his church more. We can’t grow in Christ outside of Christ. We can’t grow in Christ without growing in his word and we can’t know the real Christ if we have been introduced to another Christ. Paul sends this message and makes this comment to ensure that he is speaking of the Christ he taught about which Epaphras heard about and taught to the Colossians. The Christ Jesus the Lord. He speaks of his divine nature, his mission to save people from their sin and his stature as the special servant of God that Isaiah spoke about in . This Jesus is the one they have to be grounded in just as they were taught. Our walk in Christ and our growth in Christ cannot happen independently of the teaching that is found in the Lord. When it work the way the Lord has designed it, our thanksgiving is natural, it is not induced, it is spontaneous and when we obey his commands, it will be grounded in thankfulness.

Live as in Christ

Colossians 2:8–15 ESV

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. 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, 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. 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, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Col 2:8-15

In this next section, the instruction comprehensive and it starts with another OUGHT or IMPERATIVE which is to “See to It”. “To see to it “could mean “to not allow” or “be careful”. The message is very clear, there was a requirement to the church that effort should be expended with adequate care so that the church is not taken captive. This ought to be done; it requires being watchful, watching carefully, observing, directing one’s attention the reality that there are people who want to take the church captive in the area of the mind.

No to Gnosticism

These folks want to be able to completely manipulate a person so they can completely control and simply take them captive. In this case, they wanted to do it by “philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition”. Philosophy normally speaks of human wisdom and system of beliefs, but here Paul speaks of erroneous teaching, false philosophy. Linking it with empty deceit or “high-sounding nonsense” (NLT). Paul is very clear about what he wanted the people to be careful about, teachings that are error-ridden and high-sounding nonsense according to human tradition. In that place, the error these people were peddling was the “gnosticism” which says Jesus was not really human but more of spirit because anything that has to do with the flesh is bad. These folks are similar to the people who import things into the church in the name of tradition and African beliefs that they try to mix with the unadulterated word of God, they speak of the tradition of their fathers, but these things are not from Christ. They make references to elemental principles, spirits, heavenly bodies, and diverse concepts as the source of their special knowledge. Paul’s answer to these people is very clear “In Christ lives ALL the FULNESS of God [Deity] dwells BODILY” and the people have been filled in him who is the head of ALL rule and authority. To live in Christ, one must eschew high-sounding nonsense that people peddle and dwell in the knowledge that Christ is fully God and he is 100% man and 100 % God and he is Lord over ALL.

No to Legalism 1

In verse 11, The issue of circumcision as a requirement for the Colossian Christians was shot down. The true circumcision which is of the heart and not made with hands had been done by Christ even the circumcision of Christ in the burial in baptism and raised in him through faith, which pictures the immersion into the water and the rising from the water during baptism. This was the powerful working of God.

This God did by putting off the body of flesh which speaks of totally doing away with something in this case our flesh. When we put off our clothes to have a bath, it is totally away from us and this happens at the moment of salvation.

The purpose here is to let the people see why they could not be subjected to the demands of this error-peddlers. The fact that they were dead in their trespasses before God and in the uncircumcision of their flesh did not prevent God from making them and us alive. This is Good news. God did the work, he made us alive and has forgiven us all our trespasses.

He did this by the cross. He cancelled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demand. If anyone here wants to buy a business, he is required to pay for not just the assets and the income of the business, he is required to also assume the debt of the company. If he cannot take on the debt, he cannot buy the company. When Christ died on the cross, he forgave our sins he WROTE OFF every single thing that he held against us that was written against us.

This God did by putting off the body of flesh which speaks of totally doing away with something in this case our flesh. When we put off our clothes to have a bath, it is totally away from us and this happens at the moment of salvation.

in the same transaction, the Lord disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, this delivers believers from the evil powers that want judge on what you eat or drink because Christians are free from the Law’s legalistic requirements over food.

Stand as in Christ

The purpose here is to let the people see why they could not be subjected to the demands of this error-peddlers. The fact that they were dead in their trespasses before God and in the uncircumcision of their flesh did not prevent God from making them and us alive. This is Good news. God did the work, he made us alive and has forgiven us all our trespasses.

He did this by the cross. He canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demand. If anyone here wants to buy a business, he is required to pay for not just the assets and the income of the business, he is required to also assume the debt of the company. If he cannot take on the debt, he cannot buy the company. When Christ died on the cross, he forgave our sins he WROTE OFF every single thing that he held against us that was written against us.

This section has only one goal to encourage us all to live as those in Christ and not outside Christ.

In the same transaction, the Lord disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame; this delivers believers from the evil powers that want to judge you on what you eat or drink because Christians are free from the Law’s legalistic requirements over food.

This section has only one goal to encourage us all to live as those in Christ and not outside Christ.

Stand as in Christ

Colossians 2:16–19 ESV

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Paul takes his time to address this issues that originate from the Jewish laws to ensure the Christians are not confused in any way. He concluded them as a shadow of the things to come while the substance is in Christ. Why grapple at the shadow when you have the real thing?

No to Legalism 2

In verse 16 - 17, to pass judgment on Sabbath, food, and drink, festivals or a new moon, Paul instructs the Colossian not to let anyone pass judgment on them. We may know some people who have a mostly identifiable belief that says you must honor the Sabbath, this text says, even people like that, let no one pass judgment on you. Christ rose on Sunday (, ), the church met on Sundays (; ) There is no obligation to keep the Sabbath on the part of Christians. In Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection is the substance of the plan of God. To turn people away from this is to disqualify them from their spiritual rewards.

No to Mysticism

There are a few things of interest in this section from verse 18 to 19. Let no one disqualify you another command in the words “let no one disqualify you” insisting on asceticism or voluntary humility or false humility. False humility can never be pleasing to God, These people insist on the worship of angel which is clearly forbidding in . They go on in details about visions in line with their legalism They are puffed in their unspiritual mindfully aided by their pride in their visions. In these things, they do not hold fast unto the Head from whom the rest of the body is nourished and grows with the growth that comes from God.

Conclusion

That we have been saved is a privilege. There are many who seek out our freedom and want to enslave us by dragging us into things that will disconnect us from the nourishment and growth found in Christ alone.

We pray that the Lord with continue to bless us with his word and his gift to the body and we may grow even as we mutual encourage one another in the thing of grace.

We pray that the Lord with continue to bless us with his word and his gift to the body and we may grow even as we mutual encourage one another in the thing of grace.