As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
The church at Colossae was threatened spiritually by false teaching that would, unless they were vigilant, delude them by plausible arguments and enslave them to manmade ideas and customs (Col 2.4, 8). And though the circumstances and heresies de jour differ in our case, we are also vulnerable to being misled.
Paul’s epistle to the Colossians is therefore immensely relevant to us. In our text today, he characterizes the Christian life in a way that transcends all circumstantial differences and promotes our salvation.
It Is a Walk in the Lord
Paul uses the term “walk” figuratively here as one’s habitual manner of life. Everyone “walks” in this sense, but we Christians (“ye,” all of us) are called, in important ways, to conduct ourselves distinctively. There is such a thing as “the Christian life” which stands out in the world. Here it is more exactly defined by a prepositional phrase, “in Him” (i.e., “the Lord,” viz. “Christ Jesus”), “the sphere in which we live or ought to live, so as to be characterized by that sphere” (BDAG, περιπατέω). While the phrase has vast implications, it means, briefly, “Live consistently with your identity as one in Christ, that is, in a manner fitting for one who confesses Jesus as Lord.” Above all others, we are called to love and obey Him devotedly, supremely, and extensively (Luke 6.46; John 14.15, 21–24).
That means being truly and thoroughly biblical in our beliefs and lifestyle. Convictional thinking and living regulated by Scripture is so rare in the world and diametrically-opposed to the status quo that it stands out by contrast, like stars in the night sky (Phil 2.14–15).
It Is a Walk by Faith
Paul makes two comparisons in this text. The first is between our walk in the Lord and our past conversion. “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him” (ESV). The second comparison also looks back to the believer’s past experience, “as ye have been taught,” or, “just as you were taught” (ESV).
The Christian faith is an objective body of truth in the form of sound words proclaimed by the Church, especially by its public preachers and teachers. Its essence and core is Christ’s person and work, “the gospel.” Christ commissions us to broadcast this gospel to unbelievers, calling them to faith with the conditional promise of eternal life. We become Christians when we receive (i.e., believe upon) Christ, trusting that the gospel message is true (John 1.11–13). We were converted by faith.
We must now conduct ourselves by that same faith in Christ. Proverbs 3.5–6 describes a manner of life that is a habitual repudiation of my own natural thoughts and inclinations and a lifestyle reception of the Lord’s guidance instead. As Christians, we must be exercising faith in Christ—continually counting on Christ, learning from Christ, and following Christ. The authentic Christian life is perpetual feast of fellowship with Christ (Prov 15.15), and because we are on spiritual pilgrimage, it is a perpetual pursuit of perfect fellowship with Christ (Phil 3.10 14).
It Is a Walk with Progress
To the metaphor of the Christian life as a distinctive pathway, Paul adds two more, namely, a plant and a building. We are to be “rooted and built up in [Christ].” The roots of a tree and the foundation of a building are but the beginning. The tree extends to trunk and branches and fruit; the building rises to include walls and a roof. Even so there is to be progress in the Christian life.
New converts must “leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment” (Heb 6.1–2 ESV). We must all “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love” (2 Pet 1.5–7 ESV). This is what it means to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3.18). Just as a gospel minister must immerse himself in his special ministry “so that all may see your progress” (1 Tim 4.15 ESV), so all Christians must apply themselves with the aim of making progress. In your understanding of the faith and your practice of it, you should be further along now than ever, becoming more and more “established in the faith” (cf. 2 Pet 1.8–11).
It Is a Walk in Gratitude
With this progress in mind, Paul wrote, “abounding therein with thanksgiving.” My expression of gratitude is expected to grow ever greater throughout the Christian life, and with good reason. First, each and every day as a Christian, I am receiving more and more gracious blessing from God, and so more praise is due Him. Second, His sanctifying grace is rendering me more and more capable as His grateful worshiper, with more knowledge and skill and love to prepare me for my ministry among the redeemed in glory whose ardent, incessant praises resound in heaven. All this is the calling and destiny of every Christian. Ω