HOW TO WALK WELL
Col. 2:6-10
Faced with religious people proclaiming: “We can do it ourselves,” like the Judaizers’, Paul demonstrates that we can’t do it ourselves.
If our salvation depended on us, we’d be left without hope.
Even now, having trusted Christ for our salvation, we still couldn’t do enough to please God and earn our own basis for fellowship with God.
We’re just not good enough to stand in the presence of a holy God on our own.
Paul warns us not to be led astray by false teachers with a different message wrapped in logical, appealing arguments. 2:1-5
The Colossians began well.
They demonstrated a logically consistent, stable trust in Christ.
Therefore, Paul encourages them to keep going in the same path.
They shouldn’t be paying attention to world religions, cults, or even teachers from their own church, if they come with a message of trying to earn your way.
From beginning to end, the process, both for salvation and for daily living, depends on the work Christ completed on the cross.
We can’t add anything to it.
We’re looking at one of the key passages in N.T., and the core of Colossians.
We looked ahead to these verses at the beginning of our study.
But we’ve had a long break.
Today we’re going to examine them closely.
Later we’re going to look back at them, . . .
Because, we just don’t get it!!! Not really. We still keep trying to do it ourselves.
Peter says he keeps going over the same truth because we need to remember!
Review is the key to learning.
So, though it sounds repetitive, we must focus on this message.
PAUL'S MINISTRY TO PAGAN GENTILES 1:24-4:6
Approaches doctrinal argument from perspective of his own call to ministry.
He’s called to proclaim the good news of the provision God made in Christ.
He’s grateful God chose him for this role.
He has privilege of announcing to pagans like us that we have part in God's program.
● Revelation of the mystery concerning Gentiles 1:24-27
Christ in US is now the hope of Gentiles also.
● Proclamation of Christ to all 1:28-29
He proclaims this message to everyone, so he might present everyone perfect in Christ.
● Struggle to keep us from being misled 2:1-5
He struggles to keep us from being deceived by persuasive arguments.
CONCLUSION: WALK BY TRUSTING IN CHRIST 2:6-7
His message: Just as we received Christ by faith, the Christian life is to be lived by faith in Him.
FIRST PRINCIPLE FOR ACHIEVING TRUE SPIRITUALITY:
SPIRITUALITY IS THE RESULT OF FAITH, NOT WORKS.
Basis for living Christian life is the same the basis of our salvation.
We began by faith–that's how we received Him.
Now we’re to go on walking by faith.
Christian life is a walk of faith--not works.
It's hard to believe that God offers salvation as a gift!
It’s even harder to believe the Christian life is lived the same way!
W. Y. Fullerton: "One Sunday morning I made up my mind to be a Christian, never doubting that I knew what to do.
I thought I must leave off this evil thing and that wicked habit and do only things that are good.
I must read my Bible more, pray more, repent, and weep. So I began.
On Sunday I prospered, on Monday and Tuesday I almost succeeded, but on Wednesday and Thursday I made some serious slips. On Friday I gave up in disgust.
The next Sunday I began the same process again.
I thought I knew now where I’d gone wrong, so I increased my devotions, prayed more, and was careful to restrain my evil habits.
Still I didn’t find peace.
Then our new minister spoke.
I only remember one sentence: All you have to do to be saved is take God's gift and say, 'Thank You!'
I had been trying to get the Lord to take my gift and make that worthy of His acceptance.
Now I saw I had to do the taking; Christ was the One I must receive.
My heart turned to Him in gratitude.
I took the Gift and have been saying'Thank you' ever since!"
That’s what the Christian life is about.
It’s our saying “Thank you!” to the One Who already gave us the gift.
Larry Christenson tells a parable:
"A young man received a beautiful bright red car as a gift from his Father.
He was delighted with his gift.
"'I did nothing to earn it,' the young man exulted.
'He just gave it to me.
Why, I couldn't have saved enough money to buy a car like this if I'd worked for years!
It was a gift–a sheer gift!'
"He polished his car every day.
He took pictures of it to send to friends and relatives.
He looked it over from front to back.
He crawled underneath to admire its workmanship.
He never tired of telling, 'My Father gave it to me–a free gift!'
Some days later the young man was out on the highway, pushing his bright red car.
A man came up and asked if he might help.
‘No thank you,' the young man said, panting a little. 'I'm doing fine!
I had a little trouble at first because the bumper kept cutting into my hands--especially on the hills.
But a wonderful man, showed me how you can mount little rubber cushions on the underside of the bumper--and then you can push for hours without even a blister!'
'I can see those rubber cushions would help.'
'And I've been trying something which they’re using in England,' he continued with enthusiasm. You put your back against the car, flex your knees, and then lift at a 45-degree angle.
It works like a charm, especially on muddy roads.'
'Yes, I can see how that would help.
Have you pushed the car quite a ways?'
'Oh, yes, more than 200 miles since I got it,' the young man said proudly.
'It's a beautiful car,'
The young man's eyes lit up. 'It was a gift, you know. My Father gave it to me–a free gift.'
After a while the man said, 'It must be quite tiring, pushing a big car like this.'
'Yes, it is,' the young man admitted.
'But, then, it's a wonderful thing to get tired for, isn't it?
A free gift from my Father–the least I can do is push it!'
The man opened the right door of the bright red car and said, 'Won't you get in and sit down?'
The young man drew back uncertainly.
He glanced into the car.
It seemed a little presumptuous to get inside the car.
He knew that there was an inside, but certainly you would never get anywhere if you used it.
After a moment's hesitation, he decided that perhaps it would be all right to just sit in it.
He slid into the seat, holding himself erect, not quite daring to relax.
The man walked around, opened the other door, and slid behind the steering wheel.
He touched the starter button, and moments later they were speeding down the highway.
The young man was shocked.
He found the ride pleasant--even a bit exciting!
But it seemed unorthodox, somehow.
He knew you must have a red Sedan to be admitted through the gate at the end of the highway.
But getting it there, well, that was his responsibility, wasn't it?
An ocean liner encountered a severe storm while crossing the Atlantic.
One of the sailors was washed into the sea.
The cry went up, "Man overboard!"
One of the crew grabbed a rope, and threw it over.
In a few moments he felt a tug on the line.
Peering into the darkness, he shouted to the man in the water, "Have you got the rope?"
A faint reply came back, "No, but the rope has me!"
The exhausted sailor had slipped the loop over his shoulders and under his arms, realizing he didn't have enough strength to hold on.
It wasn't long until he was rescued by the men on board.
2:7 affirms HOW we’re able to walk by faith.
We have already “Put down our roots” in Him–by faith.
The foundation is firmly in place.
The roots are planted in Him, not in ourselves.
Now we can enjoy the results of that work.
We are presently "built up" in Him.
We are strengthened by faith.
We’re "fortified" or confirmed by faith.
The process is still going on; it’s continuous.
We will never stop, as long as we go on living.
We have firm roots, our foundation is in place, based on faith in Christ,
Now God wants us to continue to build daily on that same foundation--faith.
It’s a life of continual strengthening as He does His work in us.
As we experience more of what He is accomplishing in us, our ability to trust Him also grows.
=> We are overflowing with gratitude.
This kind of lifestyle produces the appropriate response: gratitude and thanksgiving.
We have earned nothing. He has given it all to us in Christ.
We will never be appropriately grateful until we realize how bad off our state was,
and how great His grace to us has been.
Paul’s theological perspective isn’t all that hard to explain,
The problem comes when we try to live this way.
What’s the difference in practice between these two lifestyles?
How do people live when they try to live according to law, or good works, today?
How do people live when they live by faith in Christ?
WARNING: DON’T BE TAKEN CAPTIVE 2:8
Contrasts directly with principle the world follows: “WE CAN DO IT!”
We earn our way by obeying rules and doing good works.
This philosophy deceives and enslaves.
Paul warns us about the bondage the popular view produces.
It neither saves, nor gives victorious life. It enslaves.
How does that take us captive?
TWO TOOLS TAKE US CAPTIVE:
We’re taken captive by means of human philosophy–search for human wisdom.
It seems logical to believe we have to do something to earn salvation.
The gospel and human philosophy don’t go together.
They have a fundamental disagreement.
The gospel seems foolish to the human way of thinking (1 Cor. 1:18-31).
We’re taken captive by means of “empty deception.”
—Something empty or meaningless, but able to deceive and lead us astray.
People look for something satisfying; good works are presented as way to contentment.
We end up empty when we discover it’s impossible to do enough to reach God’s standard.
Contrary to what we hoped, we find no satisfaction, but rather slavery.
WHAT ARE THE BASES OF THIS ENSLAVING SYSTEM?
It’s according to human traditions
Judaizers based ideas on Pharisaic tradition.
Our Lord addressed this issue, noting conflict between God’s word and human tradition.
Jews rejected truth of God to follow their own rules (Mark 7:1-13; Gal. 1:13-17).
Christ told them, “You have invalidated God’s commands with your traditions. . . your heart is far from me, since you honor me in vain, teaching as doctrine, the commandments of men.” (Matt. 15:6-9).
“He's a man of firm convictions.
This manifests itself as soon as he knows what everyone else thinks about a subject. “
We don’t find people walking the streets of our towns preaching the same Pharisaic teachings, at least not in a literal sense.
What human traditions are proclaimed in our circles today that might detour people and lead them away from a life of trusting Christ?
It’s according to the basic principles of this world (cp. Gal. 4:3)
“Basic principles” aren’t “worldly” practices, many think of.
Paul wasn’t thinking about that kind of “worldliness.”
Based on his explanation, he’s talking about the world’s concept that affirms, “I can do it!”
Basic principles of world’s philosophy expressed in many different ways:
“God helps those who help themselves!”
“God will love us more if we are good.”
“Christ is the best of all good men—an example for us to imitate.”
“Our worth is determined by our productivity. or by our performance.”
In Galatians Paul teaches that these same “rudiments” were enslaving us until Christ came and gave us new life.
Jews were enslaved under law;
pagan Gentiles were enslaved to gods.
But both were equally enslaved, under basic principles the world lives by.
Legalism doesn’t help us find fellowship with God; it makes us slaves. Gal. 4:1-11
Throughout Bible there’s a contrast between the world’s principles and God’s principles.
World wants us to believe salvation is based on law and works (Col. 2:20-21).
If it were, we could do it all ourselves.
Our own effort would give us victory.
Then we wouldn’t need Christ’s death.
God’s plan based on different principles: salvation by faith alone, plus nothing
Modern religions deny these principles,
They employ same tactics as the Judaizers, based on same principles.
It’s NOT according to Christ.
If this isn’t what Christ came to confirm, then what are principles “according to Christ?”
Pleasing God by works isn’t His way; it's man's way.
Christ came to present a different way.
He IS the way, the truth and the life.
No one can come to God, except by Him. He’s the ONLY way! John 14:6
[What is the “fundamental principle” Christ upholds?]
COMPLETE PROVISION IN CHRIST 2:9-15 2:9-10
SECOND PRINCIPLE FOR ACHIEVING TRUE SPIRITUALITY:
SPIRITUALITY IS THE RESULT OF CHRIST’S WORK
He has provided EVERYTHING we need!
Basis of confidence clarified in TWO related THEOLOGICAL PREMISES.
Root words repeated shows relationship between two truths. 2:9
1. The totality of God was in Christ
Key word here is fullness.
“Complete”, the full measure, the totality of what’s mentioned.
He underlines concept by affirming “all of the totality,” of GOD, lives in Him in bodily form.
What people saw when they looked at our Lord lacked nothing, not the slightest detail, of being all that God is. He was 100% God!
Jesus is God Himself.
[2nd premise develops out of our relationship with Christ.] 2:10
2. When we are in Him, WE ARE COMPLETE.
We too have reached a “full measure.”
When Christ lives in us, the totality of God is in us as well– not that we become GOD!.
=> We lack NOTHING!
Christ has provided everything we need to walk with God–live Christian life. (2:10-15).
Peter says, God “has given us everything we need for life and godliness” 2 Pet. 1:3
Concept is developed in following vss, as he points out what we have in Him.
Principle is established in the beginning: WE ARE COMPLETE IN CHRIST.
When faced with people who want to enslave us under yoke of law and works, Paul assures us Christ has already provided EVERYTHING we need
God sees us in HIS perfection.
He confirms what he said from the beginning: the spiritual life is a life of faith.
It’s life in Christ.
It’s believing what God says is already true.
It isn’t about legalistic living; playing by the rules!
Nothing is left for us to handle.
Christ did it all.
God sees us in His perfection.
WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL THIS TRUTH MAKE IN OUR DAILY LIVING?
People who want to live by this world’s philosophy, trusting our ability to please God, are never going to make it.
We will NEVER satisfy God’s demands.
Full provision is in Christ
He is God! He provides everything we need–for all of us.
We can’t add anything to what He has already done!
In spite of the fact that this is the essence of the gospel,
There’s confusion everywhere—People trying to help God out.
People trying to score points with God.
We will NEVER be good enough to score points with God.
He’s already given us the only score we will EVER be able to achieve–in Christ.
He has given us ALL the score we need!
We serve Him—NOT to gain points, but as an act of Thanksgiving.
–expressing our gratitude to Him for what He has done for us.
Let’s get off the treadmill!
Let’s enjoy what we already have!
Paul’ message is summed up in the song writer’s words:
Thou, O Christ, art all I want
More than all in Thee I find.