I preached this sermon on 08/29/2010. This is another key passage for Christian growth. It plays a strategic role in Colossians. Col. 2:6-7, which connects to Col. 2:8-15 as a heading, hinges the reality of our salvation in Christ and the commands of living out the salvation through Christ.
“It serves as the hinge between the first major section of the letter (1:3-2:5) and the second (2:16-4:6). The first clause succinctly restates the key theological argument of the letter to this point: Jesus Christ is the Lord, and we have entered into his Lordship. The second clause then summarizes the specific commands and warnings that follow: we are to continue to live in him, to work out just what it means in both our thinking and our acting to live under the Lordship of Christ.” [Douglas J. Moo, The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Nottingham: Apollos, 2008), p. 177.]
Paul usually uses the indicative-imperative rhetoric to exhort Christians to live out the gospel. As I wrote in An Approach to Paul’s Life and Theology (If I don’t quote it, no one will.), “In Paul’s writings and thought, the relation between indicative and imperative needs to be considered if we want to understand Paul’s ethical implications. Indicative refers to the fact that God has already done for the people of God in Christ; imperative means that God expects the redeemed people of God to live in a way that is worthy of the calling” (p. 146). Thus, Col. 2:6a points backward; Col. 2:6b, forward. And, Col. 2:7 helps us move forward with guidance and instruction.
This passage is a useful text for Christian education. It is one of the most important areas in the church that we usually fail to pay attention to. Paul said, “Being established in the Faith as you were taught.” It’s in the passive voice. (So do the other two participles, being rooted and being built.) For sure, God is the one who makes us grow (1 Cor. 3:6). It’s a divine action. Besides that, it implies human interaction in a community setting. Not only do we establish and teach ourselves in the Faith, but also being established and taught by others in a Christian community. If we teach, there is no guarantee that people grow. If we don’t teach, we can guarantee no growth.
The Faith is not only our personal faith, but also the ecumenical Faith that all Christians believe as recorded in the Bible and grounded in the person of Jesus Christ. In The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), Michael Horton notes,
“From the Latin credo (‘I believe’), a creed is simply a summary of the church’s faith. Sometimes faith is used in Scripture to refer to the faith that is believed (1 Cor. 16:13; 2 Cor. 13:5; Eph. 4:5, 13; Col. 1:23; 2:7; 1 Tim. 4:1; 6:12; 2 Tim. 3:8; 4:7; 2 Pet. 1:1; Jude 3), while elsewhere it refers to the personal act of believing—the faith by which we believe. In its essence, faith is not a subjective experience or decision but a knowledgeable assent to and belief in Jesus Christ as he gives himself to us in the gospel” (p. 215).
We are entrusted with and responsible for the Faith. We pass it on by teaching and learning. We also pass it on by living, embodying, and incarnating it. “Dear friends, I’ve dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting—begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish” (Jude 3 The Message).
Scripture: Colossians 2:6-7
Topic: Continue to be grounded in the Faith
I came to the church in the year of 1994. I started to attend Sunday service. From time to time, I also attended fellowship. Christianity was foreign to me at the time. But some of the messages got me interested in it. But I didn’t believe right away. I thought (and I still think) that it was easy to believe. But it wasn’t easy to commit to what I was about to believe. I said to myself, “I either believe it with total commitment or I don’t believe it at all. If I accept that Christ died on the cross to rescue me and commanded me to live a new life, I must take it seriously.” Either believe with total commitment or don’t believe at all. So, it took me about one year and half to search and believe.
You have your journeys. There and then, you struggled to make a decision to believe. But you finally made a decision to accept and follow Christ. Here and now, you are searching for Christ. For those who’ve already accepted Christ or those who are searching for Christ, one thing, for sure, is for all of us: we either believe with total commitment or don’t believe it all. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matt. 6:24). Either this or that. This is not my demand. This is His demand on those who believe and follow him and those who want to believe and follow him.
We have to think about what we receive. What we receive is not a toy that we can keep at home or a purse that we can use once in a while. What we receive demands from what we think and do. In other words, not only are we blessed by what we receive, but we’re also expected to do something about what we receive.
Paul likes to use indicative-imperative rhetoric. “Just as you received Christ” is in indicative mood (Col. 2:6a). What it means is that it’s a reality. It’s a fact. It’s non-negotiable. There is no room for argument. No one forces us to receive Christ. God certainly won’t do such a thing. We receive Christ and believe in Christ because we voluntarily make a conscious decision to do so. After laying out such a fact, Paul then talks about what believers are ethically expected to do about what we receive (Col. 2:6b). In other words, the indicative refers to what God has done for believers in Christ, while the imperative calls on believers to live in a way that honors God. Indicative precedes imperative; ethical demands are grounded in what God has first done for us in Christ. “Continue to live/walk in Him” is such an ethical demand.
This demand is general. Paul then elaborates it and makes it more particular. Paul uses four participles (Col. 2:7) — being rooted, being built up, being strengthened, and abounding in thanksgiving—to describe the imperative: Continue to walk/live in Him.
- Being Rooted and Built in Him.
They are closely related. The participle root points downward—a planted being rooted in soil—go deeper. When I was a kid, I always walked by a tall tree in my village. One day after a hurricane, I saw a tree from a distance, and the tree was bent toward one side. When I walked closer to the tree, the root of the tree came out of the ground. Different circumstances emerge from life, maybe a new transition, an exam, a relationship, job relocation, etc… they are like hurricanes sometimes. They show how deep the root of the tree is. These life circumstances tell us whether our faith is on the shallow ground or being firmly rooted in the soil. These life circumstances tell us that we need to be continuously rooted in him. Otherwise, we grow tall and yet with no deep root.
“Being built” implies that believers are still under construction and not yet a finished product. I have been living in my place for three years. at the corner of my block, right across Keyfood, it was an empty spot. After I moved into the neighborhood, they started to build a condo. If I remember correctly, they spent about 1 year and half to dig the hole and build the foundation. Since then, they have been building up the building on top of the foundation. Now the building is for sale. It's a finished product. For us, one day we will also be a finished product when we see him.
The hymn I Know Who Holds the Future, it said, “I know who holds the future and I know He holds my hand; with God don’t just happen everything by him is planned. So as I face tomorrow with its problems large and small, I’ll trust the God of miracles, Give to him my all!” This is not blind faith. Rather, it’s faith that is grounded in the knowledge of God. This is faith with conviction. The hymn reflects the composer’s theology and conviction. Because he experienced God in the past, he knew that he could anticipate God in the future. Even though we are not so sure in the present, his works in the past are the foundation of our future hope. Our faith is built in Him and his works. I Know Who Holds the Future is a theological statement, a statement of faith, not just a song title.
- Being Established in the Faith as You were Taught
After we received, we need to continue to live/walk in him, which is, to be established in Him. Paul said that “being established in the Faith as you were taught.” Someone said, “True Christian growth must—and actually only can—occur within the Faith of the Gospel…Having begun our journey in the Gospel we must move on, and indeed can move on, only in that same Gospel” [J. I. Packer and Gray A. Parrett, Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way (Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, 2010), pp. 140-141.].
The gospel is the center of the Faith; the Faith is all about Christ Jesus the Lord and its implications. The Faith needs to be taught, and we need to teach the Faith. What we believe has a boundary. What we believe is an objective truth because Jesus Christ the Lord is a historical figure who was born and died on the cross in the first century. He is not a myth. Rather, it’s the visible Christ who made the invisible God visible. God made Himself to be known. Thus, the revelation of God in Christ Jesus the Lord can be taught because He is willing to make Himself known. That’s the purpose of incarnation. We receive this Faith, and we teach this Faith.
We need to learn and be embedded in the Faith. The Faith needs to be taught. In order to continue to live in Him, we must be established in the Faith as we are being taught. In the process of being established in the Faith, you and I only have two roles: We are either teachers or students. If the church doesn’t offer any Sunday school classes, that’s the problem of the church. If the church offers Sunday school classes, you are either responsible for teaching or responsible for your own learning.
Every week, we absorb a lot of information through different media. I dare to say that 95% of the information has nothing to do with the Faith. What it means is that 95% of the information doesn’t help us understand who God is, what the Faith is all about, and how we should live in light of it. I call this “the process of deconstruction.” Every week the only time, for the majority of us, to learn who God is, what the Faith is, and what we should do with it, is in fellowship, Sunday worship, and Sunday school.
Technically speaking, the only time we can learn together is on Sunday. If we’re not teachers on Sunday, we’re learners on Sunday. If we think that our teachers suck, perhaps it’s time for you to pick up the responsibility to teach. It’s time for you to show others how things should be done. I always think that Christian education in the church should be done in certain ways. And I’ve tried to demonstrate it in my Sunday school: how teaching materials should be organized, and how the Faith should be articulated. Teaching and learning is the process of reconstruction: reconstruction of our vision of God and our Faith.
- Abounding in Thanksgiving
In Newsweek magazine, there is a wine company advertisement. It said, “The earth gives us wonderful grapes. The grapes give us wonderful wine. The wine wins us lots of new friends. Thank you, earth.” The point of the advertisement is to give credit to the real source of all our blessings. We sometimes give credit to something or someone. But they are not the real source of all blessings.
I spent one year in BMCC. That’s where I learned how to write. I met a good English professor there. She taught me well. I am thankful for the professor who taught me the basic, yet fundamental stuff. One of the reasons why my parents wanted me to come to the U.S. was to receive education. It was no way for me to study in Hong Kong. And my parents and I were able to come because my aunt came here like 35 years ago. I was able to learn how to write English from the professor at BMCC because God brought my aunt to the United States 35 years ago. I am thankful for the real source of all blessings.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the heaven… He has made everything beautiful in its time…” (Eccl. 3:1, 11) “Beautiful” means “appropriate” or “good.” It doesn’t mean it looks good. In God’s timing, it’s always appropriate. One theologian said, “God may delay, but he is never too late.”
We can be thankful because we know that he is the God of miracles in between. According to his divine guidance and sovereignty, he has made everything appropriate in our lives. We are able to give thanks to God because we admit and accept that life is mingled with happiness and sadness, good and bad. For everything, there is a season and reason even though we may not fully understand it at the time. We still give thanks to the Giver of all blessings because of our vision of who God is and our understanding of His divine guidance and care. “Look at the birds. They don’t need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable for him than they are” (Matt. 6:26).
We who received Christ Jesus the Lord, we must put the four participles—being rooted, being built, being established, and abounding in love— into consideration and action. This is how God defines what it means to walk/live in Him.
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