Rooted and Established

“Believer Beware!” Colossians 2:6-15

I want to read a portion of a piece written by Tim Challies- Online blogger, describes a tour he took and the national bank of Canada— to learn more about how people are trained to identify counterfeit currency.

You may have heard this analogy before— but it actually is true!

Training in identifying counterfeit currency begins with studying genuine money.

There are certain identifying characteristics that are added to each bill printed.. These characteristics are necessarily difficult to reproduce. Some are intended to stump the casual counterfeiter, armed with no more than a scanner and color laser printer, and some will stump the more serious counterfeiter, even if armed with expensive, high-tech equipment. My tour guide summarized the approach to distinguishing a genuine bill from a fake with the phrase, “touch, tilt, look at, look through.”

The first step then, is to touch the bill. Because currency is printed on unique cotton-based paper, a false bill will often feel false. She described the most common reaction to the feel of a counterfeit bill as “waxy.” A person may not quite be able to describe it, but it just feels wrong. There are also two areas on a bill where raised print provides a tactile clue to a genuine bill.

Having touched the bill, my guide then described the “tilt” features. First she pointed out the holographic stripe which is remarkably difficult to accurately reproduce. When the bill is tilted, this holograph will show all the colors of the rainbow. And, when studied closely, tiny numbers identifying the denomination of the bill will appear in the background of this stripe.

The third step is to look through the money. By holding a bill to the light, several features appear. There is a small, ghost-like watermark image of the bill’s main portrait. Another of these “look through” features is a gold thread woven through the bill that will appear solid when held up against a light source, but often broken or staggered if counterfeited.

The final step is to look at. “Look at” features include fine-line printing within the bill’s portrait and certain background patterns. These lines and patterns are so fine that they cannot be adequately reproduced by the casual counterfeiter.

After trainees are taught these distinguishing factors and techniques, they can almost always spot the counterfeit with ease.

Our series has come to a section of Colossians where the Apostle Paul will urge the Colossian believers, and us, to remember and “study” the authentic “real” faith in Christ alone— and train ourselves to identify and reject anything that is NOT THAT.

Earlier in the letter Paul explains how he specifically prays for the Colossians, he emphasizes the supremacy of Jesus over everything, and last week Nick did a great job to preach through the section where Paul speaks of this “mystery” which is Christ in us— the Hope of Glory! If you have your bibles...

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.

We have come to the fourth main section in Paul’s letter to the Colossians (2:6-15). In this part of the letter, Paul begins to address the false teachings and cultural pressures that are attempting to infiltrate the church and lead the Colossian Christians away from their core belief in Jesus. There are “counterfeiters” out there— proposing and teaching something other than Jesus.

With all that we too are facing in our world today, this is as relevant to us today as it was to the Colossian Christians back then!

There is one main point to be understood:

Jesus has victory over the powers of darkness that seek to deceive the Colossians, and Christians today.

In moving forward through the letter, Paul warns the church to not be led astray by the false teachers (2:6-23) and then teaches them what it looks like to live as a new creation in Christ (3:1-4:6). Paul has been constantly proclaiming Jesus throughout the letter and will continue to do so until its end.

Break it Down: Verse-by-Verse (ESV)

Colossians 2:6–7 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.

This is the section of scripture where our series title comes from: Rooted and Established in faith!

The direction for our series here in Colossians was actually confirmed by what happen to this poor tree out here next to our sanctuary. Some of you may remember— in December we had a pretty strong wind storm, and it blew that tree right over onto the building. Just laid it down. Most of the time, a tree has roots that drive down deep— but this one hadn’t developed roots deep enough to withstand that pressure. That’s just like us, isn’t it? It also made me realize that our church is definitely “rooted, and established” in Christ— and we are so blessed by God in these 160 years of history— being rooted, built up and established in him.

Verses 6 and 7 summarize the main point of Paul’s argument: The main concern of those who have received Christ is to walk in Him.

You have Jesus now; stick with him.

Living our lives in Christ leads to transformation and spiritual growth. It requires that we pay attention— perhaps most to those little details. Paul uses several different metaphors to describe the process of Christian growth. This process is often referred to in the New Testament and Christian tradition as sanctification (becoming holy).

Sanctification: “the action of making or declaring something holy”

definition from Oxford Languages

Let us learn from these verses that transformation starts on the inside and works its way out. It starts when we receive Christ in our hearts through faith and is a lifelong journey that we must continue to walk in Him.

Notice: rooted, built up, and established are all passive verbs. This is because we do not fight the good fight alone; God does the work within us and will see it through to the end (Philippians 1:6).

This concept is found in Paul’s prayer for the church in Thessalonica:

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 ESV

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

It’a not at all something that we can “DO”— we certainly partner with God, but as the scripture promises, He will do it.

The key concept here for me is that this process of

Sanctification happens from the inside out— not the other way around.

Colossians 2:8 ESV

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.

Paul is not condemning philosophy as a whole; Paul himself is a brilliant philosopher, as were many of the leaders of the early church. Rather, Paul is condemning the kind of philosophy that presents itself as profound truth but is in truth empty and deceptive. This kind of philosophy attempts to take its hearers captive and make them slaves of the false thinking— the wrong thinking of the world.

Paul also mentions

Human tradition: “this is the way we have always done it.”

Some of you have heard the parable of “grandma’s ham”— I think it’s worth repeating here:

A husband and his wife were in their kitchen. The husband was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper while his wife was preparing a ham for dinner. The husband watched the wife cut off about one inch from either end of the ham. He asked why she cut the end off, proclaiming “that’s a waste of good ham!” She said “that’s the way my mom prepared the ham.” The husband asked “why did your mom cut the ends off?” The wife didn’t know.

Later, the wife called her mom to find out why she cut the ends of the ham off. Her mom said “because that was the way my mom prepared ham.”

The wife’s grandma passed away several years earlier, but her Grandpa was still living. She called her Grandpa and asked “Grandpa, why did Grandma cut the ends off of the ham?” He was silent as he thought for a moment. Then he replied, “so the ham could fit in the baking pan.”

Circumstances do change. Grandma purchased hams that were bigger than her pan. “That’s the way we’ve always done it” needs to be continually evaluated and justified— considered and even reconsidered— for it’s validity and truthfulness for today. . I would say that if your ham fits in your pan, then you probably don’t need to cut the ends off— and you need to just enjoy the ham.

There were obviously certain “ways” that worship had happened before these believers met and began following Jesus. There is one particular aspect of the Jewish faith that we will speak about in a moment that Paul uses as THE object lesson to drive home his point. We’ll get to that in a moment.

Astrology: “the elemental spirits of this world”

Paul also lists philosophy based on the “elemental spirits of the world”. Scholars generally agree that this is most likely referring to the field of “astrology”. The idea that the stars and planets have some cosmic affect on us. Even today, I did a quick search and found that a 2018 Pew report survey lists that 24% of Protestant Christians believe in astrology, and consult a horoscope on a regular basis to make decisions about life. This number decreases a bit to 18% when we look specifically at Evangelical Christians. That’s still almost 2 out of 10.

Friends— bear with me here for a moment. I think we can get our heads around this— 2 out of 10 professing followers of Christ state that they do believe that the star you were born under— or how the stars and planets were aligned when you were born—should come to bear in how you live your life today? NO. I’m sorry, I find that to be ridiculous. I don’t know about you, but I happen to know and walk in fellowship with Jesus Christ, my living saviour who created all those stars and planets. They were created through him, for him, and everything is held together by him!

We certainly don’t need astrology— or any other empty, man-centered logic to live by!

I came across a wonderful description of the earliest Anabaptists. It was written originally in a document called the Hutterian Chronicle, translated in 1923 by Rudolf Walkan. This was recorded during the extremely brutal persecutions of Anabaptists in the years 1527-1560. This is taken from a description of an event where 2,173 Anabaptist Christians were executed at the order of Berthold Aichele:

“No human being was able to take away out of their hearts what they had experienced, such zealous lovers of God they were. Many were talked to in wonderful ways, often day and night. They were argued with, with great cunning and cleverness, with many sweet and smooth words, by monks and priests, by doctors of theology, with much false testimony, with threats and scolding and mockery, yea, with lies and grievous slander against the brotherhood, but none of these things moved them or made them falter. They were so drawn to God that they knew nothing, sought nothing, desired nothing, loved nothing but God alone. They had more patience with in their suffering than their enemies in tormenting them.”

Colossians 2:9–10 ESV

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.

The whole fullness of the one true God is found in Jesus.

Jesus + Nothing = Everything! Therefore, we have no reason to seek spiritual truth or meaning anywhere else. Paul keeps making this point over-and-over again: Jesus is all we need. The philosophies of the world are empty and their benefits are fleeting. We have been filled in him who is eternal.

Colossians 2:11 ESV

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,

Colossians 2:11 NLT

11 When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.

A new understanding of circumcision.

There were many false teachers in the early church that taught that Gentile Christians must obey the Jewish laws of the Torah, especially circumcision. The circumcision controversy appears several times in the New Testament and most believe that this is the main reason Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians.

Once again, Paul is reminding us that our faith and our sanctification is from the inside out. Not the outside in. This is one of the most difficult truths we wrestle with. But ultimately it is not about what we DO— it’s about what Jesus DID.

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The ultimate purpose of the Law of God was not to provide a means of salvation. The Law will not rescue us from our sin, but reveals our sinfulness to us and convicts us that we need a saviour. This promised Savior has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Col 2:12

Colossians 2:12 ESV

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.

In baptism, the Christian publically states that he/she is united with the One who has defeated death.

Romans 6:4 ESV

4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Old circumcision: Physical

Jesus’ circumcision: Spiritual

Colossians 2:13–15 ESV

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.

We were spiritually dead because of sin; God made us alive with Christ.

We were guilty before a holy Judge because of our sins; God nailed them all to the cross, that we might be forgiven.

We were subject to the rulers and authorities; Jesus has taken away all of their power and made a public spectacle of them through his work on the cross.

I want to help us decipher the pronouns here in these verses… Paul often uses He here to refer to God the Father— and he uses HIM to refer to God the SON.

Catch that especially in verse 15— He (Father) disarmed the rulers and authorities of this world (the Devil)— by triumphing over them in HIM (Jesus).

As we take time to reflect on this truth, we are liberated from the tyranny of sin as we realize that through Jesus we have been given everything we need to live godly lives (2 Peter 1:3). Let us walk in the light of this glorious truth.

Reflection Questions

1. How has God changed my heart since I believed in him? In what ways do I want God to sanctify me now?

2. What are the counterfeit philosophies in our culture that claim to be profound truths but are actually empty lies?

3. How can I help others learn to become free in Christ?

~Father, we thank you for doing the work of growth and sanctification within us that we can’t do ourselves. We ask that you would continue to transform us into the image of your Son so that we can bring you glory in everything we do, just like he did.

The times are confusing and it is hard to discern between truth and falsehood. Help us discern. Help us be on our guard against the hollow and deceptive philosophies of the world. Help us to study and know you Jesus, the authentic and true God, so well, that we would be able to recognize and reject anything that isn’t your truth. We pray that you would continue to remind us that you have already defeated our foes and that nothing can come between us and your soul-transforming, all-consuming love. Amen.