Walking in Him

Well, good morning. So I have the privilege of starting here in a new section. I actually didn't realize it until I started studying it that starting in verse 4, there's kind of a new section in Colossians. So the title, this is Myles' chart, which I really like. Jesus is Enough. And this section I've entitled, Walking in Him. Okay, so let's just look at the verses which were read here.

So it starts out, for I Paul, well actually I had Paul in there, for I Paul want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are Laodicea. Now in reading this you realize that he's writing this to Colossae, but Laodicea is kind of close and I don't know my full Geometry, but they're they're somewhat close That their hearts may be encouraged having been knit together in love attained to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding and So here's the understanding Resulting in the true knowledge of God's mystery That is Christ himself notice. There's a lot of italics there so really it's The mystery, you can say it several ways, the mystery is Christ. And that kind of goes along with chapter one, we talked about that, Myles' favorite seven words, talked about that. This is kind of related, it seems like, the more I look at it. The mystery is Christ. And that was the truth, you know, mystery in the Bible is the idea that it's not mystery, mystery. It's the idea of being something that wasn't known in the Old Testament, but now has been revealed. So that's what the...

And it's wonderful this message about Christ being revealed is what we put our faith in. In whom, in Christ, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So now Paul's going to explain why is it so important that we understand that Christ is this treasure of wisdom and knowledge. Why is that so important?

And he's going to explain that. He's kind of talked about that before, but he's going to explain it even more so. Okay, so now for today's verses. So as I mentioned before, this starts a new section in verse 4. And what we're going to see is kind of two lines of thought going through these, the next, you know, from 2.4 to 3.4, and probably beyond that. We see two lines of reasoning.

He's going to talk about the false teaching, the Gnostics, and all their wily ways, I'll talk about that. And then he's going to talk about, this is Paul's answer to that. You know, he doesn't say, let's learn about all the wily ways of the Gnostics, let's try to defeat them by out-thinking them in terms of Gnosticism. He says, no, what I want you to know is about basically who you are in Christ, your union with Christ, your wonderful position in Christ.

And we see that in phrases like, Him or in Christ that's that's how Paul will teach us about what we need to know That will assure us that we won't be carried away by these false teachers so verse 4 starts Based upon that I think I say this so that so now the purpose That no one will delude you with persuasive arguments For even though I am absent in the body nevertheless.

I am with you in spirit rejoicing to see your good discipline and and the stability of your faith in Christ. Notice the in Christ. You could say, whenever you see in Christ or in Him, you could say, in my union with Christ, in my relationship with Christ. It's describing something that every believer has, this relationship with our Savior.

And then the next part, six and seven are actually one sentence in the original, and you can see that by the punctuation. Therefore as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him Having been firmly rooted in and now being built up in him and established in your faith Just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude Really, that's just you know boy verse 6.

I've used that so much in I've used that I'm gonna find kind of a little bit out of context I'm gonna try to walk you through that a little bit. It's a beautiful verse it describes a It describes the Christian life in many ways. Okay, so let's go on.

So here's kind of the overview looking at these two strains of thought. So we first have, here's the obstacle, at least in these first, in 4 through 7, the obstacle that Paul points out now, that they were deluding them with persuasive arguments. That's his big, that's what's happening to the church at Colossus, deluding you with these persuasive arguments. And he says, you know, you as a believer can be deceived. And I was kind of thinking about this. Think about our current state of the church, of Christianity.

You know, you go to many churches, and many churches, they talk about salvation pretty well, but they really don't tell you all you need to know to live the Christian life. They tell you maybe you can get saved there possibly. Hopefully you can. Hopefully the churches are saving people. But I don't think they tell you the whole, you know, what they need to tell you, the rest of it. So what Paul's going to do is, as I mentioned before, his approach will teach you about your union with Christ and your walk. He says that's the way to combat these false teachers. That's the way to combat these persuasive arguments.

Not by being smart about all their supposed knowledge, agnostic knowledge, right? They had the idea that Christ was less than deity, right? Brian's chart from last week, he had these little bubbles, and Christ didn't quite make it to God, right? According to their thought process, he had to be a little bit less than God because he was a man. And you can't be a man and obviously not God, and obviously man does sin, and so something's wrong here. So he had Christ less than God. Well, Paul's going to totally counteract that by saying, no, Christ is absolutely God. He's absolutely God's Son. He's absolutely deity. Fully deity as much as fully man and fully God.

So that's Paul's approach. So that's kind of the overview of where we're headed here. So now we get into the first verse. I say this so that no one will delude you. I say this, again, just kind of refreshing what we just said. And what he's saying his, what he wants to point out, that it's the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which is in Christ himself. And he says, so that, this is the purpose, I say this, so that, or the purpose that, no one, not even one, will delude you.

Delude is this word, paralogizami, it means to reason off to the side. Sounds a little bit clumsy, to beguile is another possibility. The idea is kind of, Don't, and I'm going to use a current term here in a second, but the way I'm going to delude you is by telling you something that's not really on the point. It's off the topic, but it's going to sound like it's on the topic kind of idea. Deceived by false reasoning. Deceived by leading you astray by false reasoning.

It's used, at least in the New Testament, in James, but prove yourselves to be doers of the word, not merely hearers of the word. It's also used in the Old Testament. You know what's kind of cool is if you realize that the Hebrews, because the language was Greek when the Hebrew community translated the Old Testament into Greek, because that was the language that was spoken, so we can find many of the words in the New Testament in the Old Testament. And this word shows up in the Old Testament with Joshua. Remember Joshua and the Gibeonites?

They came with all these ragged clothing. They were pretending to be something they were not. And he basically tells them, you've deluded us. You're not really far off. You're actually our neighbors and you made this agreement. That's a long story, but they deluded, the Gibeonites deluded Joshua and the Israelites. That's how it's used in the Old Testament. So we're going to find out the next part of that, which is the rest of the verse. They delude them with persuasive arguments. Persuasive arguments is basically two words together. It's the idea of to persuade with word or with a word. It's speech, altered to persuade. It's speech, false discourse leading to error.

And Macaulay says it's manipulating words so the truth will not be seen. I was thinking of a popular saying, and I think it applies to both camps, the conservative and the liberals. Both sides claim each other has fake news. They go to great lengths to prove each other are doing false. They say, well, that's false. That can't be true. That can't be true. And that's what this is, what Paul's word, warning them about. These are manipulating words to present a scenario that's not truthful.

Then in Romans it says, for such men, these are the men that were dissenters or caused dissension, for such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites, by their smooth and flattering speech, that's kind of the idea, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. So Paul first comes to us in verse 4, he tells us about these deluders who are going to delude you with persuasive arguments, but then he kind of takes an interlude.

He goes into verse 5, and in verse 5, actually he's going to tell us in verse 5 why he thinks Colossae is just... they've done an incredible job. They have trusted the Lord, they have walked with the Lord. He's going to talk about their stability, of that church.

And it's kind of like in the midst of all this instability, he's going to say, this Colossae church, you guys got it together. But he's not going to say that's enough. He's going to say, you know, you still need to go back to the basics. You still need to go back to who you are in Christ, that you're in Christ, you're in union with your Savior. So let's look at the positive here about the Church of Colossae. So first of all, he identifies himself. He says, you know, and maybe you can relate to this, If you have a close friend and you have somebody that you really know well. And what's interesting, from what I can tell, Paul actually never visited Colossae. He never actually went there in person.

But he says, I'm with you in spirit. And he said that several other times. A couple of verses in Corinthians, where he was with the Corinthian church also. He had been to the Corinthian church, but he wasn't there at this time period when they were having problems with this person who had sinned. So he talks about the fact that, though I'm absent in the body, but present in spirit, have already judged him, who had committed this, as though I were present. So he's there with them in spirit, but as if he's there.

And then verse 4 says, in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, they're going to assemble and meet with this person they were going to condemn. I'm with you in spirit, in the power of our Lord Jesus. So Paul, even though he was never in Colossae, had this great fellowship with them and understanding of where they're at, and he felt he was part of them. So let's go on.

He says, I'm absent in the body, nevertheless I'm with you in spirit, rejoicing to see, or rejoicing and beholding, he's delighted at the sight, And he's going to tell you why is he delighted at this, rejoicing in what's happening, even though he's absent. And this is why he's excited. This is why he's joyous. First of all, he says there are two things.

First is this thing called good discipline. And we're going to see both these words are kind of military terms. So this talks about the orderly arrangement of soldiers. It talks about how And actually Merriman kind of ties it back to the local church, how the pastors and teachers, they kind of lined up, they supported the pastors and the teachers in that church, closing ranks under the pastor-teacher colosseum. And then Constable kind of points out the fact that he describes it as a picture of a well-disciplined soldier standing at attention. And that isn't enough. Good discipline is one word that's kind of a military phraseology. Then he goes on to this word stability, which is an idea for strength or steadfastness.

And actually it has this, if you guys had been here back when Verne Peterman was teaching, he always presented this little picture of this Roman, it's a Roman, Gathering or it's a fighting formation if you will of soldiers They would get in that particular formation with their shields above their heads and their shields in front of them kind of in lockstep together So they were in this This steadfast and they and they couldn't I guess that they could bang into people or resist things they couldn't be moved They were steadfast So he says you're good discipline and stability of your faith in Christ Jesus back to our who we are in Christ, we're in Christ, your good discipline and stability of your faith in Christ Jesus. So he only has positive things to say about the Colossae church. In contrast to the church at Laodicea, if you remember what Paul didn't say, but John said it, Laodicea was kind of a lukewarm church. Colossae is the opposite of that. They're solid, together, They're strengthened, stable in Christ, but he still needs to teach them something, and that's going to be the next verses.

So now we start into the really special, for me this is a really special verse. I've used this verse a lot, a lot in trying to tell people about the wonderful life of our Savior. So it starts out, and it's kind of good to remember that it's one sentence, And you have received is actually the subject and verb of the sentence. You have received this. You have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. But the question comes up about the, you can think I'm kind of picky here, about the word as. I've been talking about as for 20 minutes, right? Okay, it's actually a little more interesting than that. But as is, it's a comparison.

So he says, Therefore as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him, so what's he talking about here, so I'm gonna give you the The usual teaching this is usually I taught this exactly this is what I usually teach I say well as refers To the principle upon which you were saved so what's the principle on how you were saved you were saved by faith, right? You trusted Christ as your Savior, so this is what I would say. I want to teach and You receive Christ Jesus by the principle of faith. And what are you to do? So now walk by the same principle. Faith. Faith was your entrance into the Christian life. Faith is to be your means of maintaining the Christian life. And that's all good. I'm not saying that I should ever change that. I don't want to change that.

But there's another picture, I think, in view here. The other picture is And if you're a real estate guy, like our brother Mike was, you know it's all about location. Location, location, location. Well, if you're a Bible student, you can't have location, location, location. You gotta have context, context, context. And what I mean by context is, you read enough of the passage to say, how does my verse fit into the overall flow of what's being said?

And while this is a wonderful statement about the principle of faith, which I think is true, there's another thing you need to think about here. As probably, you know, Paul's defending, remember? He's defending, not defending, he is showing that these false teachers have a problem. I mean, these false teachers are teaching you error.

And your response to that is to realize who Jesus Christ is. So what the point is here is, you receive Christ as deity, as God's only Son, now walk in Him, counting upon Him being fully deity. So I thought it was important, and then here's kind of the, this is from Macaulay here, so the obstacle here was that false teachers were attacking the deity of Christ, the authority, the authority of Christ, and the Colossians need to be, to stand firm in their Conviction concerning him so it So I'm not going to say I'm not going to throw out the baby with the bathwater I'm going to I want to keep my usual teaching But I think the contextual teaching tells us a whole lot it puts it in context right it says, okay? Christ being fully God is exactly what those nasik needed they didn't need to put Christ just a little bit below God He's fully God.

So that's what that's what the contextual using as, I hope I haven't made this confusing. Okay, with that in mind, I'm going to do the usual teaching, I'm going to carry on. I have one more slide in the usual teaching, I love this passage. So here's my, one of my favorite ways to do it.

You receive Christ Jesus by the principle of faith. You believe in the gospel, you believe that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose in the third day, and hopefully Many people respond to that. If you have not responded to that, that's what you need to hear. That's what you need to do. Respond to the gospel, the good news. When you respond to the gospel, what happens?

You're saved, and maybe you won't realize, you're saved from the penalty of sin. Those sins are no longer, they're not, they're not, you know, anyway, they've been paid for. You can realize Christ died for me. Christ is my substitute. Christ is a propitiation for my sins. Christ's payment for sins, plural, is the issue.

But then we go on to the additional part of this. This is Holly Hill's verse. This classical interpretation is Holly Hill's. Then part two of this, and Miles did this, and when you get the new website up, you'll see this. In the Christian life, you'll see part two of this, part two.

So now walk by the principle of faith. We're to walk by this wonderful principle of faith, okay? Trusting in the Lord Jesus. But what do we have to realize now? We've realized Him for our salvation from the penalty of sin, but there's more to the story, right? You now realize the following. I died with Christ. I'm separated from my sin nature. I'm being saved from the power of sin. Christ is my life.

It's a process. It's a walk. So that's why I just love this verse, because it allows me to present the full picture. Now, you might argue, say, well, Roger, you've taken a verse, maybe out of context, and made it fit Romans 6 and others. But I don't know. The more I look at it, I think, I'm not sure, Lord. So anyway, let me know what you think about that. That's a classic view.

So now here's the other piece of information, contextual, that is really, I think, taught as well. OK, so Paul describes this form of Christ Jesus, or who is Christ Jesus? He's deity, right? Miles covered these verses in chapter 1. He is the image of the invisible God. All these verses talk about who is Jesus Christ. This is what the Colossians needed not to forget. They had to maintain that. They believed it for salvation. They needed to believe it for the Christian walk.

He is the image of the invisible God. All things were created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body of the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. He himself, so that he himself will come to first place in everything.

So in this view, we're looking at the context and saying, brother, this, or sister, this is what you need to remember at Colossae. And this is what we remember today. Who is Jesus Christ? He's fully God. Don't get some other weirdo teaching that makes him less than God. That's not going to, you know, that's going to be destructive to your Christian life.

Okay, so that's both views. So, appreciate your comments. Okay, so now, verse 7 actually connects with the interview, because it's going to tell us more information about you have received. It's going to tell us the details. That's my little bubble here. This verse tells us more about how we received Jesus Christ. What's the process in receiving Jesus Christ? This is somewhat the Christian life again, but described in some other terms here.

Okay, so first of all, first point, In your past, in the past experience, the word firmly rooted is this perfect participle, which is a little bit too much information maybe. You have been firmly rooted in Him. Okay? You were firmly rooted and this passive participle means it was caused, you've been caused to take root. You didn't do that. You were rooted in Him when you were saved.

And that's what's called a past completed action. That happened to every single believer, whether you realize it or not, you were rooted and grounded in Christ Jesus the moment you believed. It's all finished, it's done. All He asks us to do is to believe that. So you believe that I've been firmly rooted and grounded, okay? And then there's a verse that kind of speaks to that.

Ephesians 3.17, So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you having been, it should be, being rooted and grounded in love.

Past completed action there. So now we go on to the present. So in the present view of our Christian life, we're now being built up in Him and established in your faith. So we have these two words here, being built up and established. They're present tense words. You're now being built up in Him, and that's the idea of being continuously built up.

Continues being built up in him and here's a here's a verse that speaks to that I now I now come in to the word of his grace Which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified and the secondly you're being established in your faith and It's going to be this word that we see now and then we see the word faith a lot But it's going to have the article in front of it.

It's going to have the faith so you You are to understand that the faith is this body of truth, is what the apostles delivered. It says that it was handed down to the saints once for all. It's this body of truth about the Christian life and it's taught in Paul and all the New Testament. It's called the faith. So you have the being firmly rooted, now being built up and established. So we're marching through the Christian life, if you will.

And then it kind of backtracks for a second. He talks about how did this rooting come about? Did you just get, you know, rooted over and it just happened? He's going to explain how it happens. Okay. He says, just as you were instructed. So he's going to say instruction is the key here. In the sense of a tutor being put in your mind. The root of your stability is all based upon you having been instructed. So it's going to be our instruction. That's what we find that how do you get firmly established? Hopefully you come to a place like Holly Hills and you learn line upon line, verse by verse, about who you are in Christ and your Christian life.

That's how you get, how your stability increases. And Paul, interesting, Paul wasn't their instructor directly. He wrote them this wonderful letter. But apparently Epaphras was their instructor. He was the one that kind of had the boots on the ground, so to speak.

And then lastly, so what's your response? What's your response to all this? Your response is overflowing with gratitude. And gospel kind of shares that. That's one of the marks being grateful. Being grateful about what God has given you is a real mark of a believer. It shows that you understand the source of what's happened. It wasn't just your good fortune, it was something that God had done.

Okay, so that's actually my verses for today. So in closing here, I'd just like to kind of lay the, hopefully I'm going to lay the path for miles here, we'll see. Okay, so we got our two strains of thought, right? We got the false teacher issue and we got who we are in Christ. Okay, so let's look at the first one, the negative first. So according to McGee, J. Verne McGee, there are five errors that endanger the Colossian Church. So here are the five.

Enticing words, or persuading words, as we had in the verse, was a problem in verses 4 through 7. In 8 through 13, we're going to see philosophy was a problem. In 14 through 17, we're going to see that legality was a problem. In 18 to 19, we're going to see that mysticism was a problem. And then we're going to see in 20 through 23 that asceticism was a problem.

So he identified five, these five things. And to be truthful, I did not, Miles, this is your job, if you choose to accept it, I did not verify what he said. So you're welcome to correct me next week. I believe, you know, and I trust J. Vern McGee. I believe that's, I know flaw, I read the verse already, I know that for sure, but anyway. The rest of them are there.

So this is the one line of thought, one line of teaching that Paul is doing. Then he comes along with the other part, the truths about our union with Christ. So rather than try to give you a long paragraph, I just decided to give you some verses. I'm just going to point out the verses that talk about our union with Christ. And the first two we just had today, Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, So walk in Him, in union with Him, in fellowship with Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him, in union with Him, establishing your faith just as you were instructed, overflowing with gratitude.

But there's more wonderful verses to come. And in Him you have been made complete. He is the head over all rule and authority. And in Him you also were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. in the removal of the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ. And then lastly, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up through the faith and the working of God, who raised him from the dead. So just once again, you know, interesting that Paul, and I think that's, you know, we learn that from Scripture.

God's approach to all of false teaching and error is never to become an expert in the false teaching. It's always to become an expert on who God is, who Christ is, and who you are in relationship to that. It's never to go and be an expert on the error of... It's always to be focused on the truth of what God has taught us. All right, so let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord. We thank you for your The blessings we have, Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for its clarity. In Christ's name, amen.