Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Colossians 2:6

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him:

6. As ye have therefore &c.] As if to say, “I see with joy your present stedfast faith and consequent holy union; therefore I entreat you at once to stay there and to grow there, for you will be tempted towards a very different region otherwise.”

“ Have received ” : somewhat better, did receive, at their conversion. The Greek word rendered “ receive ” is frequently used of the reception of teaching, learning; and no doubt the reference is mainly to their “reception” from their missionary (Col 1:7) of the revealed truth. See further just below. But Ellicott well says that “the object [Christ] is so emphatically specified” as to imply that “they received Christ Himself, in Himself the sum and substance of all teaching.” Cp. Joh 1:12; 1Jn 5:11-12.

Christ Jesus the Lord ] Lightfoot punctuates and renders, the Christ, even Jesus the Lord; taking the reference to be to their having learned and welcomed as the true Christ (Messiah) not the speculative “Christ” of the heretics but the historic Jesus of the Incarnation and the Cross. This rendering (in view of the Greek) strongly commends itself to us, though R.V. retains A.V. In any case, however, the solemn emphasis of the whole phrase points in the direction of thought indicated by Lightfoot.

“ The Lord ” : doubtless in the highest sense of the word. Cp. Php 2:11.

walk ye in him ] “Let your actual life as believers be guarded and guided by this Lord thus received.” He warns them of the danger, amidst heretical surroundings, of an unapplied orthodoxy. If they would be both firm and vigorous they must put truth into life. On the word “ walk ” see above on Col 1:10. It occurs often in these Epistles of the Captivity; eight times in Eph., four times in Col., twice in Phil.

“ In Him ” : see on Col 1:2 above.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord – Have received him by faith as your Saviour, or as you were instructed respecting his rank, character, and work. The object here is to induce them not to swerve from the views which they had of Christ when he was made known to them. They had at first probably received their ideas of the Saviour from the apostle himself (see the Introduction); and, at any rate, the apostle designs to assure them that the views which they had when they received him, were founded in truth.

So walk in him – Continue in those views of Christ; live in the maintenance of them; let them regulate your whole conduct. The word walk, in the Scriptures, is used to denote the manner of life; and the sense here is, that they should live and act wholly under the influence of the conceptions which they had of the Saviour when they first embraced him. The particle so is supplied by our translators, and rather weakens the sense. No stress should be laid on it, as is often done. The meaning is, simply, Since you have received Christ as your Lord, as he was preached to you, hold fast the doctrine which you have received, and do not permit yourselves to be turned aside by any Jewish teachers, or teachers of philosophy.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Col 2:6-7

As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in Him.

Christian activity the safeguard of the Church

This letter was written under opposite feelings–feelings that never seem absent from the apostle–the most intense faith in the gospel and the most intense fear for it. No shadow of doubt crossed his mind that it was Gods gospel, and that the whole power of God went with it; and yet he was filled with fear for it and its success in the world. This seems a strange contradiction, but it was no difficulty of St. Pauls day, it is the difficulty of all times. We believe in the gospel, and yet we are constantly seeking to preserve it. Why? We are afraid for the gospel not because it is not Divine, but because it is. The world may be trusted to provide for its own. Its products grow naturally, as weeds grow. But the Divine gift comes from another clime, and because it will not thrive without care and culture we fear. It is because it is the ark of God we carry that we tremble as we put our hands to it. The ark will never perish, but the hands that bear it may falter, and for a time let it fall into the hands of its enemies. The Church shall never perish, but there is no promise that the living branch shall not be scathed by unbelief or godlessness. Because of the preciousness of the treasure we hold in earthen vessels, we rejoice and tremble as we receive it in trust from God. As we send out new missionaries, and as the faith of Christ passes into new recepticles, we think of how the faith shall be preserved. We know of the Divine Word which is a light to our path, and the creeds and sacraments; but our text speaks of another safeguard. If the Colossians were to be rooted and built up and preserved from the corruptions of the world, philosophy, and vain deceits, it was not to be by the possession of the Word, creeds, and sacraments, but in addition by walking in Christ as they had received Him. Activity in Christian life and work serves to defend and preserve the faith.

I. Because it is perpetually proving it. Christianity is a science, the knowledge of God; but it is an applied science, and the application of the science of the knowledge of God is walking with God. Astronomy is a science; navigation is astronomy applied to practice. Every time the sailor unfolds his map at sea, and is enabled to mark the very spot where his ship is, he has a fresh proof that astronomy is true. There is many a captain who carries his vessel into port who is quite sure that his nautical tables are true, who cannot astronomically prove them; but he has practical proofs, and the oftener he avails himself of that, the surer he is.

1. So it is with our faith. The Trinity, Incarnation, Atonement, are mysterious things; but we prove them as we find this to be true, that the faith which makes us know Him makes us know ourselves, and brings us into a nearer, living, and deeper communion with Him.

2. Prayer is a mystery. Who can prove to us how and why it is answered? But who knows that prayer is answered? He who has gone down upon his knees and has risen with new light and strength. So walk in Christ, so carry and work the mysteries of faith into your life, and then you will have continued proofs of the truth of your faith.

II. Because use is a means of safety. That which we possess, however precious, we are more likely to lose if we lock it up than if we use it daily. It may be stolen long before we get to know it. But what we constantly use we miss directly it is gone. So with the Christian faith. It is those portions that we live by and in, that as we daily use them it becomes impossible to lose. But let there be any part of your creed that is not woven into daily life, and the adversary may be stealing it before you wist.

III. Because it tends to the sanctification of the soul, If the mystery of the faith is to be held in a pure conscience, then as the conscience grows purer will be the surer grasp of the mystery of faith. It is in the light of the single eye that Gods truth reveals itself. If the treasure be held in earthen vessels, then it depends upon the purity of the vessel whether its contents be preserved in sweetness. And among purifying methods activity is one of the most effective. An article in constant use often keeps itself clean. (Bishop Magee.)

The Christian life

I. The great blessing. Ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord.

1. Acceptance of Christ. A voluntary act.

2. Possession of Christ. Having received Him He is ours, and we share all His acts.

(1) Christ died: we die with Him (Gal 2:20), and so are free from the penalty of sin in the eyes of the law.

(2) Christ was buried (verse 12) and we with Him, and so became dead to our former life (Rom 6:4).

(3) Christ rose, and we rise with Him into newness of life (verse 13).

(4) Christ is at the right hand of God, and we ascend with Him into the honours and safety of the heavenly life (Col 3:1-3).

II. The urgent duty.

1. Walk, implying–

(1) Progress, not only motion. There may be motion in the sap of a plant, but the plant is fixed; and in a ball struck by a bat, but that is forced, not voluntary; but 8 walk implies personal activity. So in the Christian walk.

(a) We must not stay at the starting-point.

(b) We must not loiter, Forgetting the things behind.

(c) We must not walk as in a circle, laying again the foundation of repentance, etc.

(2) Change of scene, in a walk our eyes are ever dwelling on something fresh. So we must ever be finding something new in Christ.

(3) Our walk is to be in Him. He is to be seen in us. Others are to know our Master by our life.

2. Rooted in Him.

(1) The root gives stability to the tree. Those trees are most stable whose roots take the largest and deepest hold.

(2) The life of a tree depends upon its rootedness; uproot it and you destroy it. So we die if not rooted in Christ our Life.

3. Built up in Him.

(1) Constant additions.

(2) Growing solidity.

(3) Ultimate perfection.

(4) Exhibition of the Architects skill, patience, and power.

4. Stablished in the faith. We must have Christ in us or we shall be overthrown. We are not to be a vane turning at every breath of wind, nor a plant taking such slight hold that some stronger blast will overthrow; but like an oak or a house on a rock, so stablished that no power can move. This is necessary in view of the various influences to which Christian life is exposed.

III. The strong motive.

1. The obligation–As. Having received Christ we are bound to walk in Him.

2. The appeal–Ye. Think of what you were and what Christ has made you. Show your gratitude by walking in Him. (J. Gill.)

Suggestive features of the Christian life

I. The Christian life begins in a personal reception of Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord. Religion is the receiving of a Divine gift. It is the growth and development of the supernatural in man. Christ is received–

1. As the Christ. The Colossian heresy aimed at subverting the true idea of the Anointed One, commissioned by the Father to effect the reconciliation of the world to Himself; it interposed a series of angelic mediators. To receive the Son of God effectually is to receive Him in all that He claimed to be, and to do, as the Divine, specially-anointed Son, who is the only mediator between man and God. It is of unspeakable importance to catch the true idea of the character and office of Christ at the beginning of the Christian life.

2. As Jesus the Lord. Our reception of Christ does not place us beyond the reach of law, but creates in us the capacity for rendering an intelligent and cheerful obedience.

3. By an act of faith. To receive Christ is to believe in Him.

II. The Christian life is governed by the law of Christ, To walk in Christ implies–

1. A recognition of Him in all things. In everything that constitutes our daily life–business, home, society, friendships, pleasures, cares, etc., we may trace the presence of Christ and recognize His rule.

2. A complete consecration to Him.

3. A continual approximation to the highest fife in Him.

III. The Christian life is supported and established by faith in fully declared truth,

IV. The Christian life has its most appropriate outflow in thanksgiving. This is the end of all human conduct. Thanksgiving should be expressed in every word and appear in every action. (G. Barlow.)

The threefold growth

I. The Christians downward growth. Rooted in Him. All of strength and fruitfulness there is in us depends on the depth with which we strike down into the life and love of God. Measuring and grasping the love of God, Paul begins downward. Rooted and grounded. We can only reach loftily upward, and broadly outward, as we strike deeply downward. For as the height of a tree is generally in proportion to its depth, the outreaching of its branches according to the down-striking of its roots, so a Christian cannot fail of attaining to a lofty lily, if only he can first attain to a lowly life. We can see at a glance how much depends on this being rooted in Christ.

1. Our fruitfulness. A fruitfulness that continues in spite of surrounding drought, and barrenness, and death–how shall it be maintained? I recently witnessed the effects of long continued drought. The growing corn stood parched and earless. The reason is not simply the long absence of rain in summer, but also the superabundance of rain in spring–that on this account the roots of the corn and wheat ran along on the surface without striking down into the bottom soil. The plants had such prosperous rains in spring that they made no provision for a dry time by going down into the rich depths.

2. Our strength. You have seen the oak smitten by the whirlwind, and how with its giant arms it has caught the tempest in its embrace, and hurled it back, defeated, while itself stood firm and unmoved in its rooted strength. It is pitiful to see a godless man trying to be steadfast in affliction. He has no hidden hold on God by faith and prayer; he has not been sinking his faith deeper and deeper into the heart of Christ as the years rolled on. And now, when the shock comes, he has nothing to hold him. His friends try to prop him up with prudential maxims. But props can never take the place of roots.

3. Purity. Consider the lily how it grows. It is in the stream, but not of it. Down deep into the rich and nourishing earth it strikes its roots, and so grows on the nutriment of the hidden soil. If you can reach down into God, and feed altogether on Him, you may present the beautiful spectacle.

II. The Christians upward growth. Rooted and built up in Him.

1. Not built up as the house is built, with materials gathered here and there, and wrought together from without. The tree builds itself from the heart, and so does the Christian. Morality seeks to overlay men with good works. Its office is to get them to take on goodness in successive layers, by contact with good men and good books. Here is organic growth as against mechanical, vital increase as against artificial.

2. The duty of habitual aspiration after the highest attainments in grace is here urged. It has been said that no man can gaze on the marble statue of the Apollo Belvidere without standing more erect, and dilating his form in unconscious imitation. If the perfect physical form produces such impression, how much more the man who is perfect in spiritual stature and in moral greatness–the man Christ Jesus?

III. The Christians outward growth. Abounding therein with thanksgiving. This is the branching out into all service, and fruitfulness, and praise.

1. The one significant fact concerning the gifts of God to us is their exceeding abundance. The grace of God which bringeth salvation was exceeding abundant. The mercy of God is abundant mercy. The Holy Ghost is shed forth abundantly. It is our God who will abundantly pardon. An entrance be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of God. And as though to sum up all, the apostle writes of Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

2. What is the abundance bestowed for except that it may flow out in abounding blessings to others? (A. J. Gordon, D. D.)

Retrospection the basis of progress

I. Christian consciousness in its apprehension of Christ. Ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord.

1. There are two opposing theories as to the Person of Christ–the rationalistic, which rules out His Godhead; the revealed, which is the basis of the catholic faith. The one holds to Him as the perfection of humanity, the other as the incarnation of Deity.

2. Two systems of theology widely distinct are dependent on these theories. The one puts man at the centre, and is wholly human; the other enthrones God, and is essentially Divine. Two of the widest extremes of religious life flow from these systems. The first is a religion of self-development, and depends on personal culture. In the second, regeneration is a supernatural birth superinduced by a power coming directly from God. The one has its type in education, the other in faith.

3. There is only one Christ. He is not a variable or divisible quantity. His personality is definite, His claims absolute, His work specific.

4. It is within the one or the other of these systems that we must posit our decisions. We cannot accept of both. If the one is true the other is false. We must be for Christ or against Him.

II. Christian consciousness in its reception of Christ. Ye have received.

1. There is agreement with some shades of difference in the terms receiving, believing, trusting, Christ. He who intelligently believes the testimony, trusts in the promise and receives the gift. To as many as received Him, etc. Here are two things implied.

(1) Faith receives the whole Christ. All that we see of the incarnate Word in His acts, teaching, death, etc., Christian faith accepts. And then a supernatural person necessitates a supernatural mission; and also the system being given, we should expect to find what we do find, a supernatural person its central figure. Christ and His system are co-ordinate and identical. Accept of Christ, and you must receive His truth. Receive the record, and you must accept His person. Faith thus makes all the truth a welcome guest to the Christian heart.

(2) On the side of faith Christ asks and gets the whole of man. The full integrity of the mental and moral life goes over in this act of faith to Christ. Thus there is a virtual exchange of two individual persons, a mutual transfer of relations and interests, out of which comes the sublime unity of a new and indivisible life. I am crucified with Christ, etc.

2. The life of faith, as embodied in the moralities of Christian living, is thus provided for, and follows this consecrating act. Rooted and built up and stablished.

(1) Life has its genesis in a root–faith in Christ. All life is a feeding thing. From the flower in the wall up to the brain and soul all things live by what they feed upon. In all life there is that into which life strikes its root.

(2) Growth is a result of manifold processes. It is not a mechanical product. You can fabricate material structures: growth is an organic creation. To make an atom or a world or to destroy them may require no more than the instant volition of God. To grow a grain of wheat He employs the grandest forces in the universe; and these are yoked by a thousand subtle laws kept at work by His personal will. How much more grand are the agencies with which He originates, feeds, and glorifies life in the soul of man is seen in this, that in the one service He harnesses law, and in the other He incarnates Himself. He is our life.

(3) In the fervid enunciation of figures the apostle appears for a moment to get into a complication of incongruous similitudes–walking implying action, rooted demanding rest; and yet there is consistency. Progress upward in the corn, e.g., comes out of fixedness of root. Unroot it, and you kill its growth. So we grow up in all things into Christ only as we rest in the fixedness of faith.

III. Christian consciousness in its subjection to Christ,

1. The emphasis is on the word Lord. What is this sovereign headship of Christ?

(1) In the Church mediatorially, He is the head of the body; administratively, He is Lord of all; virtually, and in fact, He is our life.

(2) Higher up in the ranges of spiritual life in all things He has the pre-eminence. God has highly exalted Him. All the angels of God worship Him.

(3) In the material worlds He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. They are what He makes them and where He places them. They get their use and glory as He employs them. All agencies, influences, events, ages, are tributary to Christ.

(4) So in the future of the worlds history He must reign. Mans proud intellect, his enterprise, wealth, art, science, etc., are coming, and must finally come, to serve Him.

2. But there is a more close and vital relation in the faith that gives to Christ the lordship over His people. What, then, is the dominion under which we voluntarily place ourselves in our surrender to Christ?

(1) Its sphere is specific. The kingdom of God is within you–where the personality of the man is.

(2) Its claim is absolute. Ye are not your own. Christ claims to be monarch absolute over mind, body, etc., because all has been bought with a price.

(3) And the mind is free and unconstrained in its surrender. Mans will is free; and yet how man may exert that freedom, on what objects, for what ends, and with what results, is to be determined by the authority of the Lord Christ. One is your Master. (J. Burton.)

Faith is receiving Christ

Suppose that you should go to a bakers window, and stand there for an hour, and stare at the bread, I do not think that the sight would fill you much. No, you must eat, or else there might be tons of bread within reach, and yet you would die of famine. You might be buried in a grave of bread, and it would be of no use to you. Even manna would not nourish you unless you ate it. You must receive food into yourself, or it is not food to you. The Saviour Himself, if you do not receive Him by faith, will be no Saviour to you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

As and So

There is great safety in going back to first principles. To make sure of being in the right way, it is good to look back at the entrance. Well begun is half done. The Colossians have commenced well; let them go on as they have begun.

I. The fact stated. Sincere believers have received Christ. This is the old gospel word. Here is no evolution from within, but a gift from without heartily accepted by the soul. This is free grace language; received, not earned or purchased. Not received Christs words–though that is true, for we prize every precept and doctrine–but received Christ. Observe–

1. The personality of Him whom they received. Christ Jesus the Lord, His person, Godhead, humanity, Himself into their

(1) knowledge;

(2) understanding;

(3) affections;

(4) trust;

(5) as their life at their new birth, for when they received Him He gave them power to become the sons of God.

2. The threefold character in which they received Him..

(1) As Christ anointed and commissioned of God;

(2) as Jesus, the Saviour to redeem and sanctify them;

(3) as the Lord to reign and rule over them with undivided sway.

3. The looking away from self in this saving act of reception. It is not said, as ye have fought for Jesus and won Him; or, studied the truth and discovered Christ Jesus; but, as ye have received Him. This strips us of everything like boasting, for all we do is to receive.

4. The blessed certainty of the experience of those to whom Paul wrote: As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord. They had really received Jesus; they had found the blessing to be real: no doubt remained as to their possession of it.

II. THE COUNSEL GIVES: So walk ye in Him. There are four things suggested by walk.

1. Life.

2. Continuance.

3. Activity.

4. Progress.

III. The model which is presented to us. We are to walk in Christ Jesus the Lord as we received Him. And how was that? We received Him–

1. Gratefully.

2. Humbly.

3. Joyfully.

4. Effectually.

5. Unreservedly.

Thus we should continue to walk in Him, evermore in our daily life excelling in all these points. Alas, some have never received Jesus! Our closing words must be addressed to such. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Receiving Christ and walking in Him

It was quite in accordance with Pauls logical mind that he should often place what he is teaching in a proposition: As ye have received, so walk. All true religion lies in that analogy.

I. The reception.

1. As what?

(1) As Christ, the anointed of God;

(2) as Jesus, your Divine Saviour;

(3) as Lord, the King of your heart.

2. How? By an act of faith. Faith was the hand that took the inestimable gift.

3. Whither? Into your hearts.

4. With what consequence? He became united to your very being, and is now your own.

II. The walk.

1. As the reception was an act of faith, so the walk must be a walk of faith.

2. As we received pardon for sin, so we must walk in liberty, free from the bondage of sin and fear.

3. As we received Christ Jesus as Lord, so we must walk in the path of His commandments. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

The life and walk of faith

We shall deal with the text–

I. By way of exposition.

1. The life of faith is represented as

(1) receiving. This implies

(a) the opposite of anything like merit.

(b) A sense of realization making the matter a reality. One cannot receive a shadow or a phantom, but only something substantial. While we are without faith Christ is a name or a history merely. By the act of faith Christ becomes a real person in our consciousness.

(c) Grasping it. What I receive becomes my own, so by faith Christ becomes my Christ. Look at some of the senses in which the word is used in Scripture, such as–

(d) Taking–we take Christ into us as the empty vessel takes in water.

(e) Holding–what we take in. A seive does not receive water. The life of faith consists in holding Christ within us the hope of glory. Believing. He came to His own, and His own received Him not.

(f) Entertaining. Thus the barbarous people at Melita received Paul. After we have found Christ we entreat Him to come in and sup with us.

(g) Enjoying. We read of receiving the crown of life, which means enjoying heaven and being satisfied with its bliss; and so when we receive Christ we enjoy Him.

(2) Receiving Christ. Salvation may be described as the blind receiving sight, the dead life, etc.; but we have not only received these things, we have received Christ, both as Saviour and Lord, in His Divinity and humanity.

(3) This is a matter of certainty; and the apostle goes on to argue from it. It is not a supposition or a hope, or a trust, but a fact. Ye have.

2. The walk of faith.

(1) Walk implies

(a) action. The reception of Christ is not to be made a mere thing of thought for the chamber. We must not sit down in indolence, but carry into practical effect what we believe.

(b) Perseverance; not only being in Christ to-day, but all our life.

(c) Habit. A mans walk is the constant tenor of his life.

(d) Continuance. It is not to be suspended. How many people think that in the morning and evening they ought to come into the company of Christ, and then they may be in the world all day.

(2) Christ is to be the element in which we are to walk. If a man has to cross a river, he fords it quickly, but just as we walk in the air are we to walk in Christ.

(a) As Christ was when we received Him the only ground of our faith, so long as we live we are to stand to the same point.

(b) We received Christ as the substance of our faith, and just as you then no more doubted the reality of Christ than your own existence, so walk ye in Him.

(c) Then Christ was the joy of your souls; let Him always be so.

(d) He was then the object of your love, and must be for ever.

II. By way of advocacy. Suppose that having been so far saved by Christ we should begin to walk in some one else, what then?

1. What a dishonour to our Lord.

2. What reason is there for the change?

(1) Has Christ proved Himself insufficient?

(2) Can philosophy and vain deceit offer you a wisdom such as His?

(3) Do ceremonies tempt you? You have all that you can require in Christ.

3. What can your heart desire beyond God? Having Christ, you have God, and having God, you have everything.

III. By way of application.

1. To those who complain of a want of communion. If it were worth your while to come to Him at first, it is worth while for you always to keep to Him.

2. To those who complain of a want of comfort. No wonder, if you do not live near the source of consolation.

3. To the inconsistent. When a man walks in Christ, he acts as Christ would act. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Christly character

In this statement of fact Pauls argument culminates. He appeals to their experience. They had received the doctrine of Christ from Epaphras, and He Himself had entered their hearts.

I. The ORIGIN of the Christly character. Received Christ. which means to accept Him–

1. As the supreme object of the souls love.

2. As the imperial guide of the souls activities.

3. As the only Physician of the souls diseases. This is the reception–not merely the reception of His doctrines into the intellect, but Himself into the heart as its moral monarch.

II. Its progress. Walk in Him. This implies–

1. A most vital connection with Him. In Him. In His ideas, spirit, aims, character.

2. A possibility of walking out of Him. Peter did so. Mans liberty as a responsible being and the Word of God show this.

3. A real personal exertion. No one can walk for us. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Christ is the believers foundation

The lighthouse tower, that stands among the tumbling waves, seems to have nothing but them to rest on, yet there, stately and stable, it stands, beautiful in the calm, and calm in the wintry tempest, guiding the sailor on to his desired haven, past the rolling reef, through the gloom of the darkest night, and the waters of the gloomiest sea. Why is it stable? You see nothing but the waves, but beneath the waves, down below the rolling, tumbling billows, its foundation is the solid rock. And what that tower is to the house on yon sand-bank Christs righteousness is to mine, Christs works to my best ones. (T. Guthrie.)

Progress is gradual

Gradual ascent is as necessary to the mind in order to its reaching a great idea, as it is to the body in order to its reaching a great height. We cannot ascend to the pinnacle of a cathedral, which towers aloft in air, without either steps or an inclined plane. We cannot reach the summit of a mountain without first toiling up its base, then traversing its breast, and then successively crossing the limits where verdure passes into crag, and crag into a wilderness of snow. Even when we have gained the highest point, we are still, it is true, at an infinite distance from the blue vault of the firmament which stretches above our heads. Still we have a better and more exalted view of what that firmament is: we have at least risen above the fogs and mists which obscure its glory; and the air which encompasses us is transparent to the eye, and invigorating to the frame. Now, the law of mans bodily progress is also the law of his mental progress. Both must be gradual. No grand idea can be realized except by successive steps and stages, which the mind must use as landing-places in its ascent. (Dr. Goulburn.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 6. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus] Many persons lay a certain stress on the words as and so, and make various fine heads of discourses from them; viz. As ye received Christ in a spirit of humility, so walk in him; as ye received him in a spirit of faith, so walk in him, c., &c. This may be all proper in itself but nothing of the kind was intended by the apostle. His meaning is simply this: Seeing ye have embraced the doctrine of Christ, continue to hold it fast, and not permit yourselves to be turned aside by sophistical or Judaizing teachers.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Having cautioned them against sophistical seducers, and commended them for that order and sound faith he understood to be amongst them, he here infers an exhortation to continuance in both, especially in the latter, with respect to the person of Christ, according as he had before described him: for he doth not say: As ye have received the doctrine of Christ, or concerning Christ, but:

As ye have received Christ himself, as Joh 1:11,12; 1Jo 5:11,12, in whom is all treasured up for salvation. He adds not only Jesus, ( who came to save his people from their sins), but the Lord, intimating they should not therefore suffer any rules of faith or life to be imposed upon them by any other whatsoever, but should be persuaded to abide

in him, whom they had embraced, and order their conversation according to his mind, 1Th 4:1, knowing that he is the way, the truth, and the life, Joh 14:6; being led by his Spirit, and deriving virtue to go on in this orderly walk and persevere in the faith.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

6. “As therefore yereceived (once for all; the aorist tense; from Epaphras) Jesus theChrist as your Lord (compare 1Co 12:3;2Co 4:5; Phi 3:8),so walk in Him.” He says not merely, “Ye received” thedoctrine of Christ, but “Jesus” Himself; this is theessence of faith (Joh 14:21;Joh 14:23; Gal 1:16).Ye have received once for all the Spirit of life in Christ;carry into practice that life in your walk (Ga5:25). This is the main scope of the Epistle.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,…. Receiving Christ is believing in him: faith is the eye of the soul, that sees the beauty, glory, fulness, and suitableness of Christ; the foot that goes to him, and the hand that takes hold on him, and the arm that receives and embraces him; so that this is not a receiving him into the head by notion, but into the heart by faith; and not in part only, but in whole: faith receives a whole Christ, his person as God and man; him in all his offices, as prophet, priest, and King; particularly as a Saviour and Redeemer, he being under that character so exceeding suitable to the case of a sensible sinner; and it receives all blessings of grace along with him, from him, and through him; as a justifying righteousness, remission of sins, adoption of children, grace for grace, and an inheritance among all them that are sanctified; and both Christ and them, as the free grace gifts of God; which men are altogether undeserving of, and cannot possibly give any valuable consideration for: so these Colossians had received Christ gladly, joyfully, willingly, and with all readiness; and especially as “the Lord”, on which there is a peculiar emphasis in the text; they had received him and believed in him, as the one and only Lord and head of the church; as the one and only Mediator between God and man, to the exclusion of angels, the worship of which the false teachers were introducing; they had received the doctrines of Christ, and not the laws of Moses, which judaizing preachers were desirous of joining with them; they had heard and obeyed the Son, and not the servant; they had submitted to the authority of Christ as King of saints, and had been subject to his ordinances; wherefore the apostle exhorts them to continue and go on, believing in him, and holding to him the head:

[so] walk ye in him; not only in imitation of him as he walked, in the exercise of grace, as love, patience, humility, and meekness, and in the discharge of duty; but by faith in him, going on in a way of believing in him, always looking to him, leaning on him, and deriving grace and strength from him: to walk in Christ, is to walk in and after the Spirit of Christ, under his influence, by his direction, and through his assistance; and to walk in the doctrine of Christ, abiding by it, and increasing in the knowledge of it; and to walk in the ordinances of Christ, which with ills presence and spirit, are ways of pleasantness and paths of peace: particularly here it may signify, to make use of Christ, and walk on in him, as the way, truth, and the life; as the only way of access to God, and acceptance with him; as the way of salvation, as the only true way to eternal life and happiness, in opposition to every creature, angels, or men; the worshipping of the one, or works done by the other.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

As therefore ye received ( ). Second aorist active indicative of in same sense as in 1Thess 4:1; Phil 4:9 (both and ) that is like , to learn (1:7), from Epaphras and others.

Christ Jesus the Lord ( ). This peculiar phrase occurs nowhere else by Paul. We have often (the Christ or Messiah) as in Php 1:15, (Jesus Christ), (Christ Jesus), (the Lord Jesus, very often), but nowhere else and . Hence it is plain that Paul here meets the two forms of Gnostic heresy about the Person of Christ (the recognition of the historical Jesus in his actual humanity against the Docetic Gnostics, the identity of the Christ or Messiah with this historical Jesus against the Cerinthian Gnostics, and the acknowledgment of him as Lord). “As therefore ye received the Christ (the Messiah), Jesus the Lord.” Ye were taught right.

Walk in him ( ). “Go on walking in him” (present active indicative of ). Stick to your first lessons in Christ.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Ye received [] . By transmission from [] your teachers.

Christ Jesus the Lord [ ] . The Christ, specially defined by the following words, thus emphasizing the personal Christ rather than the Gospel, because the true doctrine of Christ ‘s person was perverted by the Colossian teachers. The Christ, even Jesus, the Lord.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord” (hos oun parelabete ton Christon lesoun ton kurion) “as therefore you all received Jesus Christ the Lord.” Power to receive Jesus Christ as ones personal Saviour is given of God, by the Holy Spirit through faith, Joh 1:12; Joh 3:15-16; Joh 3:18; Joh 3:36.

2) “So walk ye in him” (en auto peripateite) “walk ye in him in his pattern of doctrine and behavior, Php_1:27; 1Th 4:1; Col 1:10.

“FORCE OF EXAMPLE”

A young infidel was one night in bed, contemplating questionable facts. First, my mother is greatly afflicted in circumstances, body and mind; and I see that she cheerfully bears -up under all by the support she derives from constantly retiring to her closet and her Bible Secondly, that she has a secret spring of comfort of which I know nothing; while 1, who give an unbounded loose to my appetites, and seek pleasure by every means, seldom or never find it If, however, there is any such secret in religion, why may not I attain to it as well as my mother? I will immediately seek it of God.” Thus the influence of Christianity, exhibited in its beauty by a living example before him,- led Richard Cecil to know Christ Himself, and to glorify Him by a life of most successful devotion to His service.

–Morse

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

6. As ye have received. To commendation he adds exhortation, in which he teaches them that their having once received Christ will be of no advantage to them, unless they remain in him. Farther, as the false apostles held forth Christ’s name with a view to deceive, he obviates this danger twice, by exhorting them to go on as they had been taught, and as they had received Christ. For in these words he admonishes them, that they must adhere to the doctrine which they had embraced, as delivered to them by Epaphras, with so much constancy, as to be on their guard against every other doctrine and faith, in accordance with what Isaiah said,

This is the way, walk ye in it. (Isa 30:21.)

And, unquestionbly, we must act in such a manner, that the truth of the gospel, after it has been manifested to us, may be to us as a brazen wall (353) for keeping back all impostures. (354)

Now he intimates by three metaphors what steadfastness of faith he requires from them. The first is in the word walk. For he compares the pure doctrine of the gospel, as they had learned it, to a way that is sure, so that if any one will but keep it he will be beyond all danger of mistake. He exhorts them, accordingly, if they would not go astray, not to turn aside from the course on which they have entered.

The second is taken from trees. For as a tree that has struck its roots deep has a sufficiency of support for withstanding all the assaults of winds and storms, so, if any one is deeply and thoroughly fixed in Christ, as in a firm root, it will not be possible for him to be thrown down from his proper position by any machinations of Satan. On the other hand, if any one has not fixed his roots in Christ, (355) he will easily be

carried about with every wind of doctrine, (Eph 4:14,)

just as a tree that is not supported by any root. (356)

The third metaphor is that of a foundation, for a house that is not supported by a foundation quickly falls to ruins. The case is the same with those who lean on any other foundation than Christ, or at least are not securely founded on him, but have the building of their faith suspended, as it were, in the air, in consequence of their weakness and levity.

These two things are to be observed in the Apostle’s words — that the stability of those who rely upon Christ is immovable, and their course is not at all wavering, or liable to error, (and this is an admirable commendation of faith from its effect;) and, secondly, that we must make progress in Christ aye and until we have taken deep root in him. From this we may readily gather, that those who do not know Christ only wander into bypaths, and are tossed about in disquietude.

(353) Murus aheneus . Our author has probably in his eye the celebrated sentiment of Horace — “ Hic murus aheneus esto — nil conscire sibi;” — “Let this be the brazen wall — to be conscious to one’s self of no crime.” — (Hor. Ep. I. 1:60, 61.) See also Hor. Od. III. 3, 65. — Ed.

(354) “ Toutes fallaces et astutes;” — “All fallacies and wiles.”

(355) “ Si quelque vn n’ha la racine de son cœur plantee et fichee en Christ;” — “If any one has not the root of his heart planted and fixed in Christ.”

(356) “ Que n’ha point les racines profondes;” — “That has not deep roots.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

Col. 2:7. Rooted and built up.St. Paul passes over rapidly from one conception to another of quite a different kind. We cannot call it mixed metaphor. We commonly speak of a new town planted or a house planted.

Col. 2:8. Beware lest any man spoil you.R.V. maketh spoil of you. The word for spoil means to lead away as booty, as the Sabeans swooped down on the oxen and asses of Job and carried them away as their own property. Through philosophy and vain deceit.We are reminded of the saying, It is the privilege of a philosopher to depreciate philosophy. And then men say, How well hes read to reason against reading! St. Paul speaks here of philosophy falsely so called. The love of wisdom can never be a dangerous thing to men whose Master said, Be wise as serpents; only it must be the wisdom which cometh from above. St. Pauls alias for what they call philosophy is empty fallacy, a hollow pretence; or what George Herbert might name nothing between two dishes. After the tradition of men.Something passed over from one to another, as the deep secrets of the esoteric religions were whispered into the ears of the perfect. That a matter has been believed always, everywhere, and by all is no guarantee of its truth, as Galileo knew.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Col. 2:6-7

Suggestive Features of the Christian Life.

The Christian life is essentially progressive. The law that governs its existence involves perpetual, active increase; if it did not grow, it would cease to live. Unlike the principle of growth in the natural world, we cannot conceive a point in the religious life where it necessarily becomes stationary, and then begins to decline, on the other hand, every provision is made for its unceasing expansion in the highest moral excellencies.
I. The Christian life begins in a personal reception of Christ.As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord (Col. 2:6). Religion is not a self-development of innate human goodness, as many in the present day believe and teach. The soul of man is infected with the virulent poison of sin; no part has escaped the destructive moral taint. The utmost exercise of the unsanctified powers of the soul can therefore tend only towards the development of its own inborn corruption. As the vinegar plant reproduces itself with great rapidity, and impregnates every branch and fibre with its own essential acid, so the evil reigning in man reproduces itself with marvellous rapidity, and permeates the whole soul with its debasing poison. Religion is a receivingthe receiving of a gift, and that a divine gift. It is the growth and development of the supernatural in man. Christ in you the hope of glory.

1. Christ is received as THE CHRIST.The Colossian heresy aimed at subverting the true idea of the Christ, the Anointed One, commissioned by the Father to effect the reconciliation of the world to Himself; it interposed a graduated series of angelic mediators, and thus thought to discredit the sole and absolute mediatorship of Christ. To receive the Son of God effectually is to receive Him in all that He claimed to be, and all that He came to do, as the divine, specially anointed Son, who alone and fully manifested the Father, and who is the only mediator between sinful man and God. It is of unspeakable importance to catch the true idea of the character and office of Christ at the beginning of the Christian life.

2. Christ is received as Jesus the Lord.Jesus is the name by which He was known among men, and points out how completely He has identified Himself with humanity as the Saviour. It behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. He is also Lord, the supreme Governor in all spheres, in nature, providence, and grace. To receive Jesus aright, He must be trusted as the Saviour, able to save to the uttermost, acknowledged as the Sovereign and universal Ruler, and homage and obedience rendered to His rightful authority. Our reception of Christ does not place us beyond the reach of law, but creates in us the capacity for rendering an intelligent and cheerful obedience to its holy requirements.

3. Christ is received by an act of faith.To receive Christ is to believe in Him; and faith in Christ is simply the reception of Christ: the only way of receiving Him into the soul is by faith. The soul accepts, not only the testimony concerning Christ, whether furnished by Himself or by His witnesses, but accepts Christ Himself. The great, final object of faith that saves is Christ, and all testimony is valuable only as it brings us to Him. The sin-tossed spirit finds rest and peace only as it reposes, not in an abstract truth, but in a personnot in love as the law of the moral universe, but in a person who is Himself love.

II. The Christian life is governed by the law of Christ.So walk ye in Him (Col. 2:6). The word walk expresses the general conduct of man and the process of progression in the formation of individual character. The will of Christ, as indicated in His character, words, spirit, and example, is the ruling principle in the life of the believer.

1. To walk in Christ implies a recognition of Him in all things.In everything that constitutes our daily lifebusiness, domestic relations, social engagements, friendships, pleasures, cares, and trialswe may trace the presence of Christ and recognise His rule. Everywhere, on road, or rail, or seain all seasons of distress or joy, of poverty or wealth, of disturbance or restwe may be conscious of the encompassing and regulating presence of Christ Jesus the Lord.

2. To walk in Christ implies a complete consecration to Him.He has the supreme claim upon our devotion and service: We are not our own; we are bought with a price. Our life consists in serving Him: Whether we live, we live unto the Lord. The best of everything we possess should be cheerfully offered to Him. Carpeaux, the celebrated French sculptor, was kept in comparative retirement for some time before his death by a long and painful illness. One Sunday, as he was being drawn to church, he was accosted by a certain prince, who exclaimed, Carpeaux, I have good news for you! You have been advanced in the Legion of Honour. Here is the rosette dofficier. The emaciated sculptor smiled and replied, Thank you, my dear friend. It is the good God who shall first have the noble gift. Saying which, he approached the altar, put the rosette in his button-hole, and reverentially knelt down to pray.

3. To walk in Christ implies a continual approximation to the highest life in Him.The Christian can rise no higher than to be most like Christ. The highest ambition of the apostle was to be found in Him. Life in Him is a perpetual progress in personal purity and ever-deepening felicity. Our interest in the vast future is intensified by the Christ-inspired hope that we shall be for ever virtually united to Him, that we shall delight in ever-changing visions of His matchless glory, that we shall be like Him, and reflect and illustrate the splendour of His all-perfect character. Every triumph over sin is a substantial advance towards this glorious future destiny.

III. The Christian life is supported and established by faith in fully declared truth.

1. There is the idea of stability. The believer is rooted in Christ, as a tree planted in firm, immovable soil; he is built up in Christ, as an edifice on a sure foundation; and in both senses, as a tree and as a building, he must be established in the truth which has been demonstrated to him as divine and all-authoritative. It is not enough to preserve the appearance of an external walk in Christ; but the roots of our faith must be worked into Him, and the superstructure of holiness rest on Him as the only foundation laid in Zion. The soul thus firmly established will survive the heaviest storms of adversity and the most furious assaults of error.

2. There is the idea of progress.Walking implies a continual advance to a given destination; a tree is planted in order to grow; the building, after the foundation is laid, rises to completion. The word built is in the present tense, and describes a work in actual process. So the believer, having become attached to the only foundation that is laid, which is Christ Jesus, is ever rising in conformity with the foundation and with the outlines of that grand spiritual edifice of which Christ is the pattern and glory. Faith is the cement that fastens one part of the building to the other; but faith as a living, active principle also admits of increase. With respect to every individual effort after a higher spiritual life, according to our faith it is done unto us.

IV. The Christian life has its most appropriate outflow in thanksgiving.Abounding therein with thanksgiving (Col. 2:7). The end of all human conduct is thanksgiving. It should be expressed in every word, and appear in every action. Life should be a ceaseless, ever-abounding outflow of gratitude. We should never forget the magnitude of the blessings we have received, the wealth of morcies now offered to us, and the source whence they all issue. A thankful remembrance of past benefits cheers and strengthens the heart under difficulties, and disposes the bounteous Donor to confer further benefits. There is nothing in which Christians are more deficient than in a devout and heartily expressed gratitude. Gratitude expands our sympathies for the race. What a triumph of disinterested thankfulness was that of the invalid who, though confined to his room, thanked God for the sunshine for others to enjoy! The spirit of Christian progress is one of unceasing thanksgiving.

Lessons.

1. The Christian life is divinely bestowed.

2. The Christian life is divinely sustained.

3. The reality of the Christian life is evidenced by effusive and practical gratitude.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

Col. 2:6-7. Retrospection the Basis of Progress.

I. The Christian consciousness in its apprehension of Christ.

1. There are two opposing theories prevalent on the person of Christthe rationalistic and the revealed. The one rules out His Godhead; the other is the basis of the Christian faith.

2. Two systems of theology, widely distinct from each other, are dependent on these theories. The one puts man at its centre, and is wholly human; the other enthrones God, and is essentially divine.

3. There is only one Christ, one faith, one salvation.

4. It is within the one or the other of these two systems that we must posit our decisions.

II. The Christian consciousness in its reception of Christ.

1. Faith receives the whole Christ.

2. Christ asks and gets the whole man.

3. The life of faith, as embodied in the moralities of Christian living, is thus provided for and follows this consecrating act.

III. The Christian consciousness in its subjection to Christ.

1. The sphere of the lordship of Christ is the human mind.

2. The claim of this lordship is absolute.

3. The mind is free and unconstrained in its surrender to the authority of Christ.John Burton.

Col. 2:6. Moral Imitation.

I. The text assumes that man possesses the faculty of imitation.

II. He requires an example to imitate, and that example is Christ.

III. A model must be seen to be imitated, so Christ has presented Himself to us for that purpose.W. Frazer.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF Col. 2:8

The Marks of a False Philosophy.

Philosophy plays an important part in the investigation and discovery of truth. The use of the word arose out of the humility of Pythagoras, who called himself a lover of wisdom. The noblest intellects of all ages have been devoted to the pursuit of the same coveted prize. Philosophy represents the highest effort of the human intellect in its search after knowledge. It explores and tests phenomena in the realm of physics and of morals, and discovers the subtle laws by which those phenomena are governed. It elevates man to his true rank in creation, and teaches that he must be estimated, not by his physical relation to the outward world, but by the sublime endowments of his mind, into which it is the special function of philosophy to inquire. The philosophic mood never reaches its highest development till it is Christianised. The apostle does not stigmatise all philosophy as in vain; he knew the value of a true philosophy, and in his estimation the Christian religion was the embodiment of the highest philosophy. But he warned the Colossians against a false philosophy that was deceptive in its pretentions and deadly in its influence.
I. A false philosophy is known by its profitless speculations.The absence of both preposition and article in the second clause shows that vain deceit describes and qualifies philosophy. A celebrated Roman sophist summed up his deliberate judgment on the efforts of the learned in the painful search after wisdom in these words: The human mind wanders in a diseased delirium, and it is therefore not surprising that there is no possible folly which philosophers, at one time or another, have propounded as a lesson of wisdom. When the most highly cultured intellects have been gravely occupied with tricks of magic, the casting of nativities, the random guesses of soothsaying, and the pretended marvels of a mystic astrology; when the best of life has been spent in discussing transcendental questions as to the eternity of matter, fate, the mortality of the soul, the worship of angels and their mature endowments and habits, and in definitional hair-splitting as to what constitutes the chief good of man; when the truest and best discoveries of human reason are used to disparage divine revelation and discredit the absolute authority of saving truththen philosophy falsifies its name, frustrates its lofty mission, and degenerates into vain, empty, profitless speculations. The student of the theories and contradictions of certain philosophic schools may begin with extravagant expectations, only to end in chagrin and despondency. The errors which assailed the Colossian Church were a mixture of the Oriental system of Zoroaster with Judaism, and with the crude, half-comprehended truths of Christianity. It was a mongrel system of philosophy, containing the germs of what afterwards developed into an advanced Gnosticism, and became the prolific source of many forms of heresy. Its abettors became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened; professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.

II. A false philosophy is known by its purely human origin.After the tradition of men.

1. The human mind is limited.The stream can never rise higher than its source; so the wisdom that comes from man is necessarily bounded by the range of his mental powers. The human mind cannot penetrate far into any subject without discovering there is a point beyond which all is darkness and uncertainty. It is impossible for the circumscribed and unaided mind of man to construct a philosophy that shall be universally true and beneficial. Tillotson has said: Philosophy has given us several plausible rules for attaining peace and tranquillity of mind, but they fall very much short in bringing men to it.

2. All human knowledge is imperfect.If any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. The traditions of men are the accumulation of mere human theories transmitted from age to age until they have assumed the pretensions of a philosophy, imposing a number of uninspired and unauthorised observances and austerities. The imperfection of human knowledge is not obliterated but aggravated by its antiquity. A philosophy that builds solely on man is baseless and full of danger.

III. A false philosophy is known by its undue exaltation of elementary principles.After the rudiments of the world. The source of the false teaching against which the apostle warned was found in human tradition, and its subject-matter was made up of the rudiments of the worldthe most elementary instruction conveyed by external and material objects, suited only to mans infancy in the world. The legal rights and ceremonies instituted by Moses are evidently referred to here; they were the first rough elements of an introductory religion fit only for childrenshadows at best of great and deeper truths to which they were intended to lead, and yet, by the tendency of the soul to cling to the outward, gendering to bondage. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements [rudiments] of the world. But now, after that ye have known God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements? (Gal. 4:3-10). The apostle shows the Colossians that, in Christ, they had been exalted into the sphere of the Spirit, and that it would be a sad retrogression to plunge again into the midst of the sensuous and ceremonial. A true philosophy, while starting necessarily with elementary principles, conducts its votaries into a pathway of increasing knowledge and of spiritual exaltation and liberty. A false philosophy fetters the mind by exaggerating the importance of first principles and insisting on their eternal obligation.

IV. A false philosophy is known by its Christlessness.And not after Christ. Christ is neither the author nor the substance of its teaching; not the author, for its advocates rely on human traditions; not the substance, for they ignore Christ by the substitution of external ceremonies and angelic mediators. Such a method of philosophising may be after the Jewish fanatics, after the Pythagoreans or Platonists, after Moses and his abrogated legalism; but it is not after Christ. There is no affinity between Christ and their inventions; the substances cannot amalgamate. As it is impossible, by any process, to convert a baser metal into gold, so is it impossible to elevate a vain philosophy into Christianity. All true saving knowledge must be afteri.e. according toChrist. It is in Him alone the deepest wants of mans nature can be met and satisfied. Any philosophy, though championed by the most brilliant intellects, that tends to lure the soul from Christ, that puts anything in the place of Him, or depreciates in any way our estimate of His glorious character, is false and full of peril.

V. A false philosophy is known by its destructive influence.Lest any man spoil you. The meaning of the word spoil is very full and significant: it is not simply to despoilto strip offbut to carry away as spoil, just as the four kings, after the battle in the vale of Siddim, plundered the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and bore away as spoil the people and all their property and victuals (Gen. 14:12-16). The Colossians had been rescued from the bondage of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of light; they were settled there as free and happy citizens; and now there was danger lest they should be tampered with by some crafty marauder, seized and carried away as booty, and fall into a worse state than their former slavery. There are worse losses than loss of property, or even of children: man is never so grievously spoiled as when his soul is debased and robbed by the errors of wicked seducers. Men who have contemptuously given up the Bible as a book of fables, lost their peace of mind, wrecked their moral character, and blasted their prospects for ever, began their downward career by embracing the apparently harmless ideas of a false philosophy. The thief cometh not, saith Jesus, but to steal, to kill, and to destroy; Ithe infallible Teacher, the incorruptible Guardian, the inexhaustible Life-giveram come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

VI. Against a false philosophy the Church must be faithfully warned.Beware.

1. Because it is seductive in its pretensions.It seeks to refine and elevate the plain gospel by a show of lofty intellectualism; it dignifies some particular religious rite into an unjustifiable importance; it elaborates a ritual marvellous for spectacular display and musical effect; it flatters the pride and ministers to the corruption of the human heart; and, stealing through the avenue of the charmed senses, gains an imperious mastery over the whole man.

2. Because it is baneful in its effect.It not only misrepresents and distorts the truth, but injures the faculties of the soul by which truth is obtained and kept. It darkens the understanding, pollutes the conscience, and weakens the will. It robs man of his dearest treasure, and offers in exchange a beggarly system of crude, unsatisfying speculations. The soul is goaded into a restless search after rest, and cursed with its non-attainment.

Lessons.

1. Human philosophy is essentially defective.

2. The true philosophy is the highest knowledge of Christ.

3. All philosophy that weans the soul from Christ is false, and should be shunned.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Outline of 2:623

D.

CHRISTThe antidote for false doctrine; Col. 2:6-23

1.

Walk in Christ as you received him; Col. 2:6-7

a.

Rooted and builded up.

b.

Established in your faith.

c.

Abounding in thanksgiving.

2.

Reasons to beware of mens traditions and hold to Christ; Col. 2:8-15

a.

Philosophy is vain; Col. 2:8

(1)

After the traditions of men.

(2)

After the rudiments of the world.

b.

Christ has perfect God-hood; Col. 2:9

c.

Christ gives perfect completeness; Col. 2:10 a

d.

Christ has perfect authority; Col. 2:10 b

e.

Christ gives perfect circumcision; Col. 2:11-12

(1)

A circumcision not done by hands; Col. 2:11

(2)

Done in baptism; Col. 2:12

f.

Christ gives perfect life; Col. 2:13-14

(1)

Done in forgiving our trespasses; Col. 2:13

(2)

Done by blotting out the written ordinances; Col. 2:14

g.

Christ has perfectly triumphed; Col. 2:15

3.

Things to let no one do to you; Col. 2:16-19

a.

Judge you concerning rituals; Col. 2:16-17

(1)

Rituals are shadows.

(2)

The body is Christs.

b.

Rob you of your prize; Col. 2:18-19

(1)

By voluntary humility and angel-worship; Col. 2:18

(2)

By not holding to Christ the Head; Col. 2:19

4.

Reasons for rejecting ordinances of men; Col. 2:20-23

a.

Ye died with Christ from worldly rudiments; Col. 2:20

b.

All ordinances are to perish; Col. 2:21-22

c.

Ordinances have no value against fleshly indulgences; Col. 2:23

6. As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. 7. rooted and builded up in him, and established in your faith, even as ye were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Translation and Paraphrase

6. In the same manner as you (pl.) received Christ Jesus (as) the Lord, be (thus) walking in him,

7. (being) rooted (like a tree), and (constantly being) builded up in him (as a building under construction), and (being) made (more and more) firm in the faith (of Christ), just as you were taught; and (be) overflowing in thanksgiving,

Notes

1.

Col. 2:6-7 is a bridge which leads us from the discussion of Pauls ministry into the discussion of false doctrines that are opposed to Christ. These verses may be construed either as a close to the preceding discussion of Pauls ministry, or as the opening words of the discussion of Christ vs. false doctrines. In our outline we treat them as the opening words of the new section.

2.

As children of God we all once received Christ as our Lord and savior. This is necessary and glorious. But having done this, we must then walk in Christ in the same sincere obedient manner as we once received Christ. A faithful walk is as necessary as a good beginning Eph. 4:17.

3.

Christ Jesus is LORD. If he is not the Lord of our lives, he is probably not the savior of our souls.

4.

The walk, or daily conduct, of the Christian must be deep-rooted and builded up. Eph. 3:17. Trees grow well only when they have a good root system. Transplanted pine trees with their close-trimmed roots do not thrive until a new root system has developed. How deeply is your life rooted in Christ? How much do you love him and think about him? How much have you studied the gospels to learn about Christs words and deeds? These are necessary things if we are to be rooted in Christ.

Being built up (Gr. epoikodomeo) describes us as if we were buildings. A big building has piles driven deeply in the ground beneath it, or strong footings. It rises solidly with strong walls. Our Christian walk is grounded upon unchanging principles in Gods word, and is built up by solid deeds of goodness, that never have to be removed as undesirable stones. Jud. 1:20; Eph. 2:20-22.

5.

Rooted is a perfect participle, indicating a past action with present effects. Build up and established (or stablished) are present participles, indicating continuous action.

6.

We are built up not upon Christ, but in Christ. It is not a physical act of building, but a spiritual development. We are established (or made firm) in our faith (or by our faith.)

7.

The increasing firmness that we should gain as we are established in the faith, must match up with the way we were taught at the beginning of our Christian experience. We dare not abandon the basic truths by which we were saved as we increase in knowledge. Too many in our generation have left their earlier child-like faith when they went to some seminary or university for advanced learning. This is a curse to a mans soul. We cannot outgrow the true faith; we may, however, be deceived into departing from it.

8.

One mark of a faithful church is that it is abounding in thanksgiving. To abound is to have overmuch, to overflow, to have excess. Does your thanksgiving overflow?

9.

All of these thoughts about walking in Christ and being rooted in him are a necessary consideration as we go into the discussion about false doctrines that immediately follows. If we do not have the solid foundation of Christ to stand on, we have no criterion for judging false doctrine, nor any alternative to it.

Study and Review

1.

What is the topic of Col. 2:6-23 in the outline?

2.

How are we to walk in Christ? (Col. 2:6)

3.

By what title is Christ Jesus called in Col. 2:6?

4.

What does walk mean in Col. 2:6?

5.

To what do the expressions rooted and built up compare Christians? (Col. 2:7)

6.

Explain established (or stablished) in the phrase established in your faith.

7.

In what are we to abound?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(6) As ye have therefore received.Comp. the more emphatic language of Col. 1:5-7; Col. 1:23. As in the case of the Corinthians and Galatians (2Co. 11:4 and Gal. 1:6), he entreats them not to be turned aside to another Jesus, or another gospel, which is not another.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

a. Conclusion based upon their experience of salvation.

6. Ye received Christ Jesus the Lord In this statement of fact the argument culminates. It appeals to their experience. They received the doctrine of Christ from Epaphras, they received Christ himself into their hearts by faith, and it was that Christ the Lord, Creator, and Saviour, who is so fully described in the preceding chapter. They had therein found their soul’s salvation. Their experience verified the doctrine, and furnished a firm basis for the exhortation to walk in him. Continue the life you have begun.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith (or ‘your faith’), even as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.’

Paul’s usual term for Jesus Christ in Colossians is ‘Christ’. In Col 1:1 he opened by calling Him ‘Christ Jesus’, followed by ‘Christ’ (Col 1:2), ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Col 1:3) and ‘Christ Jesus’ in Col 1:4. These have established identification and position. Then there are references to Him as ‘the Lord’ in Col 1:10 and ‘the Son’ in Col 1:13. But otherwise (until Col 3:17) He is ‘Christ’ (Col 1:2; Col 1:7; Col 1:24; Col 1:27-28; Col 2:2; Col 2:5; Col 2:8; Col 2:11; Col 2:17; Col 2:20; Col 3:1; Col 3:3-4; Col 3:11). This means that the change here to ‘the Christ, Jesus the Lord’ is intended to be significant. He is saying, “consider Who it is that you have received, it is THE CHRIST, JESUS, THE LORD, the One Whose glory is above the heavens and who is pre-eminent over all things”.

‘As — you received.’ The word for ‘received’ is regularly used for the receiving of tradition and teaching (consider the reference to tradition in Col 3:8). Compare 1Co 15:1; 1Co 15:3; Gal 1:9; Php 4:9; 1Th 2:13 ; 1Th 4:1-2; 2Th 3:6. Thus he is stressing that rather than receiving a body of tradition they have received the living Lord along with all that He is (compare Eph 4:20 – ‘you did not so learn Christ’). He is ‘in them’ (Col 1:27), and in Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). Thus they are to ‘go on walking in Him’ (present imperative), concentrating their attention on Him, rooted in Him and built up in Him in accordance with what they have been taught. Let them look to Him with joyful thanksgiving. They need look nowhere else. They need no one else and nothing else. ‘Christ Jesus the Lord’ is totally sufficient.

‘The Christ, Jesus the Lord.’ Here ‘Christon’ has the article. Elsewhere in Colossians, apart from in Col 3:1-4 where every use has the article, Christos is used without the article except when in the genitive. In Col 3:1-4 the reference is to Christ as risen and exalted. It would seem then that the article is being used to further draw attention to His exalted state. (See on Col 1:3 a for the significance of the full name, but there Christos is without the article and not so prominent). With the article the title is unique in the New Testament apart from its use in Eph 3:11 with ‘our’, where it speaks of ‘the Christ Jesus our Lord’ when speaking of God’s eternal purpose in Him. The inclusion of the personal name Jesus (contrast Eph 4:24) stresses the true humanity of ‘the Christ, the Lord’.

‘Walk in Him.’ In their daily walk they are to be totally taken up with Him. He is to be the sphere in which they life their lives.

‘Rooted and being built up in Him.’ Compare Eph 3:17 ‘rooted and grounded in love’. There the emphasis is on the love of Christ which is the sphere in which the church flourishes. Here the emphasis is more on the person of Christ. The metaphors are mixed, ‘rooted’ referring to being firmly planted and growing strongly, ‘built up’ referring to the building of a firm structure. ‘Rooted’ is in the perfect tense, something done in the past the benefit of which continues, ‘built up’ is in the present, a continuing process.

‘Being established in your faith.’ Again in the present, a continuing process. The idea of the Greek word used is being ‘established, strengthened, confirmed’ in the faith that they have been taught. We could translate ‘in (or by) your faith’ referring to the strengthening of their personal faith (compare the use of the dative in Heb 13:9), but ‘even as you were taught suggests an emphasis on the taught faith.

‘Abounding in thanksgiving.’ Thanksgiving (eucharistia) is a theme of Colossians. See Col 1:12 ‘giving thanks’, Col 3:15 ‘be thankful’, Col 3:17 ‘giving thanks’, Col 4:2 ‘with thanksgiving’. Continual gratitude of heart towards God should be expressed in words, and should abound, for so we reveal our true attitude of heart and are built up and strengthened. Doctrine when rightly taught should be personalised and should produce worship.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The apostle now builds up his admonition on this tactful premise:

v. 6. As ye have, therefore, received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him;

v. 7. rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding there in with thanksgiving.

v. 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

This admonition tended to be all the more effective, since the apostle had so cheerfully acknowledged the attitude taken by the Colossians. The fact of his appreciation could not fail to arouse in them the most eager determination to prove themselves worthy of the apostle’s trust. Paul, moreover, always places the most important fact first: As, then, you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, it is in Him that you must walk. The Phrygian Christians had through faith accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, Him who had been promised of old and had been revealed in His incarnation in the fullness of time. They stood in the most intimate fellowship of faith with this Savior. In Him, therefore, they should lead their lives, in His fellowship they should continue, Joh 15:1-6; 1Jn 2:4-6; 1Jn 3:24. in the daily realization of our sinfulness and unworthiness, in the daily acceptance of the grace which His atonement has brought to us, in the daily endeavor to walk before Him to all His good pleasure, the Christian life consists according to His will.

This blessed condition of the Christians is further characterized by the apostle: Rooted and built up in Him and being firmly established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. As the tree sends down its roots into the richest soil, in order to draw the purest and strongest nourishment from the bosom of the earth; as every wind and every storm causes the tree to cling with greater tenacity to its hold in the earth, so shall we be rooted in Christ, drawing all our spiritual power from Him and clinging all the more tenaciously to Him as the storms of tribulation sweep over us. As the stability if any building depends upon the firmness of its foundation, so our faith, having Christ Jesus as its basis and His Word as its stay, is safe against all the storms of adversity, because it rests in the heart, in the mounds of Jesus. The true Christians are not looking for some new doctrine that may tickle their fancy, for some new leader to show them a new way to heaven; they abide by the old doctrine of sin and grace, as they have been taught. The revelation of the gracious will of God as we have it in the Bible is sufficient for all our needs. “New revelations,” “new light,” “keys to the Scriptures,” all these have no right to exist; our faith rests upon Jesus, and that is sufficient for us. In Him we can and shall abound in the faith with thanksgiving, Php_1:9 ; Rom 15:13. We should excel in gratitude and thankfulness; these should fill our whole hearts. Lost and condemned sinners as we are in ourselves, the pure and boundless mercy of God in Christ Jesus has brought us salvation, has made us partakers of salvation through faith. So a Christian has reasons always to be happy, always to be thankful.

But this thankfulness demands also a continual watchfulness: Take heed lest there be any one that makes you his spoil through the philosophy and vain fraud according to the tradition of men, according to the precepts of the world and not according to Christ. Christians must be vigilant always, they must always have their eyes open, they must always be on their guard. For there are men that are determined to seduce them, to lead them away as a prey, as a spoil. This they attempt to do through philosophy, through a system of doctrine that wants to explain the reason and object of being on the basis of reason only. Other deceivers attempt to gain their end through empty fraud after the traditions of men, by offering explanations of divine things according to the ideas generally held by men and almost invariably opposed to the divine revelation. Or, in other words, they attempt to deceive according to the precepts and rules as laid down by the children of this world in general. See Gal 4:3. Every person by nature expects to find some ways and means of becoming righteous before God by his own wisdom and ability, and thousands of false teachers make use of this tendency by proclaiming a way of salvation through works, by following certain precepts of behavior which are supposed to set a standard for the whole world. But these precepts and rules, this doctrine concerning man’s own ability to be justified before God, is a vain deceit and not according to Christ and His doctrine of salvation. In these last days of the world no other error is working such fierce havoc in the Church as this precept after the tradition of men.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Col 2:6 f. From the warning given in Col 2:4 and having its ground assigned in Col 2:5 , follows ( ) the positive obligation to make Christ, as He had been communicated to them through the instruction which they had received, the element in which ( ) their conduct of the inner and outer life moves ( ), whereupon the more precise modal definitions are subjoined by . . .

] according as . Observe that in the protasis and in the apodosis (not , as Hofmann thinks) have the emphasis, in which case the addition of an was not necessary. Their walk in Christ is to be in harmony with the instruction , by means of which they have through Epaphras received Christ.

] have received (Col 1:7 ; Eph 4:20 ), comp. Gal 1:9 ; Gal 1:12 ; 1Th 2:13 ; 1Th 4:1 ; 2Th 3:6 ; 1Co 11:23 . Christ was communicated to them as the element of life . [84] The rendering: have accepted (Luther, Bhr, Bhmer, Huther, Hofmann), is not contrary to Pauline usage (de Wette; but see on Phi 4:9 ; 1Co 15:1 ); but it is opposed to the context, in which after Col 2:4 (see especially Col 2:7 : , and Col 2:8 : . ) the contrast between true and false Christian instruction as regulative of the walk, and not the contrast between entrance into the fellowship of Christ and the walk therewith given (Hofmann), predominates. [85]

. . ] A solemnly complete designation, a summary of the whole confession (1Co 12:3 ; Phi 2:11 ), in which , conformably with its position and the entire connection, is to be taken in the sense: as the Lord , consequently attributively , not as a mere apposition (de Wette, Bleek, Ellicott, and others), in which Hofmann includes also , a view which is not warranted by Eph 3:1 .

Col 2:7 . . . . ] introduces the ethical habitus in the case of the required . But the vivid conception, in the urgency of properly exhausting the important point, combines very dissimilar elements; for the two figures, of a plant and of a building, are inconsistent as such both with and with one another. Comp. Eph 3:17 f. By beginning a new sentence with . . . , and thus construing it in connection with Col 2:8 (Schenkel, Hofmann), we should gain nothing in symmetry, and should only lose without sufficient reason in simplicity of construction; while we should leave the in Col 2:6 in a disproportionately bald and isolated position. This conjunction, moreover, of heterogeneous figures might quite as legitimately have been made by the apostle himself as by an interpolator, whose hand Holtzmann thinks that he here discovers.

Observe further the difference in time of the two participles, whereby the stedfastness of the (figuratively represented by . ) is denoted as a subsistent state , which must be present in the case of the , while the further development of the Christian condition (figuratively represented by .) is set forth as a continuing process of training; comp. Act 20:32 .

. ] becoming built up , in which exhibits the building rising on the foundation . Comp. 1Co 3:10 ; 1Co 3:12 ; Eph 2:20 ; Xen. Anab . iii. 4. 11; Plat. Legg . v. p. 736 E. The building up may in itself be also regarded as an act accomplished (through conversion), as in Eph 2:20 : , which, however, as modal definition of . , would not have suited here. The progress and finishing of the building (de Wette, following Act 20:32 , where, however, the simple form . should be read) are conveyed by the present, not by . in itself (comp. Eph 2:22 ). Nor does the latter represent the readers as stones , which are built up on the top of those already laid (Hofmann); on the contrary, they are in their aggregate as a church (comp. on Eph. l.c .) represented as an in the course of being built ( i.e . of a more and more full development of their Christian common life), in regard to which the in . presupposes the foundation laid by Epaphras, namely, Christ (1Co 3:11 ); and the building materials , including the stones, are not the persons, but the doctrines , by means of which the builders accomplish their work (see on 1Co 3:12 ).

] belongs to both participles, so that Christ is to be conceived doubtless as the soil for the roots striking downwards (Eph 3:17 ), and as the foundation (1Co 3:11 ) for the building extending upwards; but the expression is determined by the conception of the thing signified, namely, the , as in . , and not by the figures; hence Paul has not written (1Co 3:12 ), or (Eph 2:20 ), which would have been in harmony with the latter participle, but he exhibits Christ as the Person, in whom that which is meant by the being rooted and becoming built up has its specific being and nature, and consequently the condition of endurance and growth. [86] Comp. on Eph 2:21 .

. .] And to this being rooted and becoming built up there is to be added the being stablished by the faith , as the development of quality in the case, in order that no loose rooting may take place, nor any slack building be formed. The dative (see the critical remarks) is to be taken as instrumental , not: with respect to (in opposition to de Wette), since the following modal definition . specifies, not how they are to be stablished in respect of the faith, but how they are to be stablished by it, by the fact, namely, that they are rich in faith; poverty in faith would not be sufficient to bring about that establishment. In like manner we should have to take the reading . , which Hofmann defends. He, however, joins this . not with . , but with the following , a connection which is excluded by the genuineness of , but which is, even apart from this, to be rejected, because Paul would, in order to be fairly intelligible, have inserted the only after , to which it would also refer.

. ] namely, to become stablished by the faith . For this they have received (from Epaphras, Col 1:7 ) the instructions which are to guide them.

. . .] is subordinate to the . , and that as specifying the measure of the faith, which must be found in them in order that they may be stablished through faith; while at the same time the requisite vital expression, consecrated to God, of the piety of the believing heart is brought out by .: while ye are abounding in the same amidst thanksgiving, i.e . while ye are truly rich in faith, and at the same time giving thanks to God for this blessing of fulness of faith. The emphasis is upon ., in which lies the more precisely defining element; is nothing else than the usual abundare aliqua re, to have abundance of something (Rom 15:13 ; 1Co 8:7 ; Phi 1:9 , et al .), and . indicates an accompanying circumstance in the case , the ethical consecration of grateful piety, with which the richness in faith must be combined; comp. Col 3:17 , Col 1:12 . It is well explained, in substance, by Theophylact: , , , . Rightly also by Oecumenius, who takes . as equivalent to . Comp. Castalio, Erasmus, Beza, Calvin, Estius, Cornelius a Lapide, Bhr, Steiger, Olshausen, Baumgarten-Crusius, Dalmer, Hofmann, and others. Others, however, regard . as belonging to . Such is the view not only of the majority who reject on critical grounds (as Ewald), but also of Luther, Michaelis, Storr, Flatt, Huther (that the Colossians in their faith towards God are to show themselves abundantly grateful ). De Wette favours this rendering on the ground that the clause is not attached by , which, however, is quite in keeping with the circumstance that . . . is subordinate to the . . . . In opposition to the combination . . there may be urged, first, the arrangement of the words in itself; secondly, the fact that would be superfluous; and thirdly, that all the other elements of the verse refer to the nature of faith , and hence the latter, in harmony with the context, is to be regarded also in the last participial clause as the object of the discourse, whereas . is to be treated as a relation associated with the faith.

[84] To this conception refers subsequently. Chrysostom and his followers take this so, that Christ is regarded as the way. But this Johannine conception nowhere occurs in Paul’s writings; nor does it accord with , with which, however, the extremely common Pauline idea of the is in harmony.

[85] Eph 3:17 f., by comparing which Holtzmann discovers in our passage the hand of the interpolator, is both as regards contents and form too diverse for that purpose.

[86] Hofmann inappropriately, since in the case of . at any rate we have to think of the foundation, takes in the sense that Christ surrounds the building.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 2175
THE CHARACTER OF CHRISTIANS

Col 2:6-7. 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 greatest joy of a faithful minister is to see his people flourish. The Apostles were eminent examples to us in this respect [Note: St. Paul was no less comforted with the piety of some, 2Co 7:4. than he was grieved with the want of it in others, Rom 9:2. Gal 4:19. See also 3 John, ver. 4.]. St. Paul was as solicitous for the welfare of those whom he had only heard of by report, as for those who had been converted by his ministry [Note: ver. 1, 5.]. Hence he took occasion from what they had attained to urge them on to increasing watchfulness and assiduity. Mark here,

I.

The Christians character

Christ is the gift of God to man [Note: Joh 4:10.]. That gift the Christian has received

[He has felt his need of it; he has implored of God to bestow it on him, and has received it for all the ends and purposes for which it has been conferred on sinful man He has received Christ in all his offices, as Christ Jesus, the Lord.]
He is the only person in the universe that has received it
[Others regard it not: yea, they rather refuse it, and pour contempt upon it. They would rather earn salvation by some efforts of their own, than stand indebted for it to the free gift of God in Christ Jesus But the Christian values nothing in comparison of it; and, in obtaining it, considers himself richer, than if the whole world were conferred upon him Let him only be able to say, My Beloved is mine, and I am his, and he desires no more. In possessing Christ, he possesses all things [Note: 1Co 3:22-23.].]

In connexion however with this gift we must notice,

II.

His duty

Privilege and duty are inseparable. Though we receive all from God as a free gift, we yet have duties to perform. If we have received Christ, we must walk in him:

1.

In dependence on him

[In Christ is every thing treasured up for us: and we must receive every thing out of his fulness. There must be no dependence whatever upon ourselves, but an entire reliance on him for wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Our whole life must be one continued act of faith in the Son of God, who loved us, and gave himself for us [Note: Gal 2:20.].]

2.

In conformity to him

[As he is to us a source of all spiritual blessings, so is he unto us an example to which we must be conformed. His zeal for God must be transfused into our souls, and his love to man be copied in the whole of our intercourse with mankind [Note: Joh 4:34. 1Jn 3:16.]. If we profess to abide in him, we must walk in all things as he walked [Note: 1Jn 2:6].]

But this duty is, in fact,

III.

His privilege

The diversity of metaphors in this passage greatly enriches the subject, without at all distracting our minds. Our duty and our privilege are to walk in Christ,

1.

Firmly

[The use of a root is, not only to convey nourishment to the branches, but to keep the tree steadfast amidst all the storms and tempests by which it may be assailed. And we, so far from being cast down by all the storms that may assault us, must take occasion from them to shoot our roots more deeply into this divine soil, and to take more firm hold of him by whom alone we can be upheld.]

2.

Progressively

[The idea of walking necessarily imports progress, as does that of building also. Now, no man is content with laying a foundation: he will go on to build upon it a superstructure, till at last he has completed the edifice. Thus must we also do when we receive Christ into our souls: we must build upon him all our hopes, and never cease to increase in love to him, till we have attained that complete form and size, which the all-gracious Architect has ordained [Note: Eph 2:20-22.].]

3.

Triumphantly

[Grounds for sorrow we shall have, no doubt, whilst this great work is carrying forward; but we shall have abundant cause also for praise and thanksgiving. Be it so; our trials are great both from within and from without. But can we reflect on the gift bestowed upon us, and not be thankful? or can we contemplate the blessings attached to that gift, and not be thankful? I say then, that thanksgiving and the voice of melody should be heard from us, every step we take, from the beginning of our course even to the end [Note: Isa 51:3.].]

Application

To you, even to every one amongst you, is offered this inestimable gift
[They who have received this gift were once as destitute and unworthy as any of you: and there is not any one amongst you, however destitute and unworthy, but may be enriched with it, if only you cry unto your God, and seek the Saviour with your whole hearts [Note: Isa 55:1-3.] ]

If you possess it, see that you labour to walk worthy of it
[Never imagine that privilege either is, or can be, unconnected with duty. Nor ever imagine your course of duly closed, till you shall have attained the full measure of that piety, which your union with Christ was ordained to convey.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

Ver. 6. So walk ye in him ] Continue well affected, as ye were at your first conversion; fall not from your own stedfastness, 2Pe 3:17 . Happy is he that can say in a spiritual sense (as it was said of Moses), that after long profession of religion his sight is not waxed dim nor his natural strength abated.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

6 .] As then (he has described his conflict and his joy on their behalf he now exhorts them to justify such anxiety and approval by consistency with their first faith) ye received (from Epaphras and your first teachers) Jesus the Christ the Lord (it is necessary, in order to express the full sense of . . ., to give something of a predicative force both to . and to .: see 1Co 12:3 (but hardly so strong as “for your Lord,” as rendered in my earlier editions: see Ellicott here).

The expression . . . occurs only here: the nearest approach to it is in 2Co 4:5 , . : where also . is a predicate: but this is even more emphatic and solemn. Cf. also Phi 3:8 , . . . On the sense, Bisping says well: “Notice that Paul here says, , and not . . True faith is a spiritual communion: for in faith we receive not only the doctrine of Christ, but Himself, into us: in faith He Himself dwells in us: we cannot separate Christ, as Eternal Truth, and His doctrine”), in Him walk (carry on your life of faith and practice), rooted (see Eph 3:18 ) and being continually built up in Him (as both the soil and the foundation in both cases the conditional element. It is to be noticed 1) how the fervid style of St. Paul, disdaining the nice proprieties of rhetoric, sets forth the point in hand by inconsistent similitudes: the walking implying motion, the rooting and building, rest; 2) that the rooting, answering to the first elementary grounding in Him, is in the past: the being built up, answering to the continual increase in Him, is present. See Eph 2:20 , where this latter is set forth as a fact in the past) and confirmed in the (or, your) faith (dat. of reference: it seems hardly natural with Mey. to take it instrumental, as there is no question of instrumental means in this passage), as ye were taught, abounding in it (reff.) in thanksgiving (the field of operation, or element, in which that abundance is manifested. “Non solum volo vos esse confirmatos in fide, verum etiam in ea proficere et proficiendo abundare per pleniorem mysteriorum Christi cognitionem: idque cum gratiarum actione erga Deum, ut auctorem hujus totius boni.” Est.).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Col 2:6 . . Oltramare translates “since,” and interprets, “since ye have received Christ it is in Him you must walk”. But probably the usual interpretation “as” is right, meaning the form in which they had received (= , Col 1:7 ). The sense is, in that case, live in accordance with what you received, and the emphasis is on ., not on . is practically equivalent to , received by instruction, rather than received into the heart. . This is frequently translated “the Christ, even Jesus the Lord” (Hofm., Lightf., Sod., Haupt, Abb.). In favour of this is the fact that . . is not a Pauline expression, but neither is . . A further argument in its favour is that is very frequent in this Epistle, and especially prominent in this section of it. If this is so we must suppose that Paul has chosen the form of words to meet some false view at Coloss. A reference to a Judaistic conception of the Messiah, held by the false teachers, which failed to rise to the Christian conception of His Person as Lord, is supposed by Haupt to be intended. This is possible, but the other possible view “ye received Christ Jesus as Lord” is no more inconsistent with Pauline usage, and emphasises still more the Lordship of Christ, which it was the chief aim of the Apostle to assert. There seems to be no hint that the Messiahship of Jesus was challenged; at most there was the question what Messiahship involved. More probably there is no reference to the Messiahship at all.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Colossians

CHRISTIAN PROGRESS

Col 2:6-7 R.V..

It is characteristic of Paul that he should here use three figures incongruous with each other to express the same idea, the figures of walking, being rooted, and built up. They, however, have in common that they all suggest an initial act by which we are brought into connection with Christ, and a subsequent process flowing from and following on it. Receiving Christ, being rooted in Him, being founded on Him, stand for the first; walking in Him, growing up from the root in Him, being built up on Him as foundation, stand for the second. Fully expressed then, the text would run, ‘As ye have received Christ, so walk in Him; as ye have been rooted in Him, so grow up in Him; as ye have been founded on Him, so be builded up.’ These three clauses present the one idea in slightly different forms. The first expresses Christian progress as the manifestation before the world of an inward possession, the exhibition in the outward life of a treasure hid in the heart. The second expresses the same progress as the development by its own vital energy of the life of Christ in the soul. The third expresses the progress as the addition, by conscious efforts, of portion after portion to the character, which is manifestly incomplete until the headstone crowns the structure. We may then take the passage before us as exhibiting the principles of Christian progress.

I. The origin of all, or how Christian progress begins.

These three figures, receiving, rooted, founded, all express a great deal more than merely accepting certain truths about Him. The acceptance of truths is the means by which we come to what is more than any belief of truths. We possess Christ when we believe with a true faith in Him. We are rooted in Him. His life flows into us. We draw nourishment from that soil. We are built on Him, and in our compact union find a real support to a life which is otherwise baseless and blown about like thistledown by every breath. The union which all these metaphors presupposes is a vital connection; the possession which is the first step in the Christian life is a real possession.

There is no progress without that initial step. Our own experience tells us but too plainly and loudly that we need the impartation of a new life, and to be set on a new foundation, if we are ever to be anything else than failures and blots.

There is sure to be progress if the initial step has been taken. If Christ has been received, the life possessed will certainly manifest itself. It will go on to perfection. The union effected will work on through the whole character and nature. It is the beginning of all; it is only the beginning.

II. The manner of Christian progress or in what it consists.

It consists in a more complete possession of Him, in a more constant approximation to Him, and a more entire appropriation of Him. Christian progress is not a growing up from Christ as starting-point, but into Christ as goal. All is contained in the first act by which He is first received; the remainder is but the working out of that. All our growth in knowledge and wisdom consists in our knowing what we have when we receive Christ. We grow in proportion as we learn to see in Him the centre of all truth, as the Revealer of God, as the Teacher of man, as the Interpreter of nature, as the meaning and end of history, as the Lord of life and death. Morals, politics, and philosophy flow from Him. His lips and His life and death proclaim all truth, human and divine.

As in wisdom so in character, all progress consists in coming closer to Jesus and receiving more and more of His many-sided grace. He is the pattern of all excellence, the living ideal of whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, virtue incarnate, praise embodied. He is the power by which we become gradually and growingly moulded into His likeness. Every part of our nature finds its best stimulus in Jesus for individuals and for societies. Christ and growth into Him is progress, and the only way by which men can be presented perfect, is that they shall be presented ‘perfect in Christ,’ whereunto every man must labour who would that his labour should not be in vain. That progress must follow the threefold direction in the text. There must first be the progressive manifestation in act and life of the Christ already possessed, ‘As ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.’ There must also be the completer growth in the soul of the new life already received. As the leaf grows green and broad, so a Christlike character must grow not altogether by effort. And there must be a continual being builded up in Him by constant additions to the fabric of graces set on that foundation.

III. The means, or how it is accomplished.

The first words of our text tell us that ‘Ye have received Christ Jesus as Lord,’ and all depends on keeping the channels of communication open so that the reception may be continuous and progressive. We must live near and ever nearer to the Lord, and seek that our communion with Him may be strengthened. On the other hand, it is not only by the spontaneous development of the implanted life, but by conscious and continuous efforts which sometimes involve vigorous repression of the old self that progress is realised. The two metaphors of our text have to be united in our experience. Neither the effortless growth of the tree nor the toilsome work of the builder suffice to represent the whole truth. The two sides of deep and still communion, and of strenuous effort based on that communion, must be found in the experience of every Christian who has received Christ, and is advancing through the imperfect manifestations of earth to the perfect union with, and perfect assimilation to, the Lord.

To all men who are ready to despair of themselves, here is the way to realise the grandest hopes. Nothing is too great to be attained by one who, having received Christ Jesus as Lord, walks in Him, rooted and builded up in Him, ‘a holy temple to the Lord.’

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Col 2:6-7

6Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Col 2:6 “as you therefore have received Christ” The verb used here (paralamban, aorist active indicative) has two connotations.

1. the welcoming of a person (cf. Mat 1:20; Joh 1:11; Joh 14:3

2. the receiving of “tradition” (cf. 1Co 11:23; 1Co 15:1; 1Co 15:3; Gal 1:9; Gal 1:12; Php 4:9; 1Th 2:13; 1Th 4:1; 2Th 3:6)

The Colossians heard the content of the gospel through Epaphras’ preaching; then they personally welcomed the Person of the gospel (Joh 1:12). Biblical faith is a covenant. God sets the agenda and makes the first contact (cf. Joh 6:44; Joh 6:65), but individuals must respond by repentance, faith, obedience, and perseverance (Col 2:6)! The false teachers’ message distorted the theology of both the content and the Person of the gospel.

“Christ Jesus the Lord” “Jesus is Lord” was the early church’s public profession of faith at baptism (cf. Rom 10:9-13; 1Co 12:3; 2Co 4:5; Php 2:11). It was an affirmation that Jesus of Nazareth is the OT Messiah and incarnation of Deity (cf. Php 2:6-11).

“so walk in Him” This is a present active imperative. Christianity is not a theological creed only; it is also a lifestyle of faith (“walk” cf. Col 1:10; Eph 4:1; Eph 4:17; Eph 5:2; Eph 5:15). Salvation is not a product believers possess but a person who possesses them! Paul here focuses on the personal aspect of the Christian faith as does the Gospel of John (cf. Joh 1:12; Joh 3:16; Joh 6:40; Joh 11:25-26).

Col 2:7 This verse contains four participles (used as imperatives) which describe the worthy walk (cf. Col 2:6):

1. “having been firmly rooted” This is perfect passive which is an accomplished state of being produced by God. This agricultural metaphorical expression was unique to Col. and Eph.(cf. Col 3:17).

2. “being built up in Him” This is present passive which is an ongoing process produced by God. Paul often used this construction metaphor to describe the people of God (cf. 1Co 3:5; Eph 2:20; Eph 2:22). It might refer to the saints as a temple (individually, 1Co 6:19 and corporately, 1Co 3:16).

3. “established in your faith” This is another present passive which is an ongoing process produced by God. The noun (“confirmation”) is found in Php 1:7; and Heb 6:16. The verb implies “to confirm” (cf. 1Co 1:6; 1Co 1:8; 2Co 1:21), “to strengthen,” and “to verify” often by argument (cf. Rom 15:8, 1Co 1:8).

The phrase “in your faith” can be understood as (1) subjective faith, trusting in Christ or (2) objective faith, the doctrines about Christ (cf. Jud 1:3; Jud 1:20).

4. “overflowing with gratitude” This is a present active which is an ongoing process produced by God. The Christian life is a life of thanksgiving to God for His grace in Christ. This is expressed by joyful obedience and perseverance! To know the gospel is to rejoice with inexpressible joy (cf. Col 1:12) and to live appropriately (cf. Col 1:10-11) with thanksgiving (cf. Col 3:17). See Special Topic: Abound (Perisseu) at Eph 1:8.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Christ Jesus. App-08.

Lord. App-98. For this full title see Rom 6:23.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

6.] As then (he has described his conflict and his joy on their behalf-he now exhorts them to justify such anxiety and approval by consistency with their first faith) ye received (from Epaphras and your first teachers) Jesus the Christ the Lord (it is necessary, in order to express the full sense of . . ., to give something of a predicative force both to . and to .: see 1Co 12:3 (but hardly so strong as for your Lord, as rendered in my earlier editions: see Ellicott here).

The expression . . . occurs only here: the nearest approach to it is in 2Co 4:5, . : where also . is a predicate: but this is even more emphatic and solemn. Cf. also Php 3:8, . . . On the sense, Bisping says well: Notice that Paul here says, , and not . . True faith is a spiritual communion: for in faith we receive not only the doctrine of Christ, but Himself, into us: in faith He Himself dwells in us: we cannot separate Christ, as Eternal Truth, and His doctrine), in Him walk (carry on your life of faith and practice), rooted (see Eph 3:18) and being continually built up in Him (as both the soil and the foundation-in both cases the conditional element. It is to be noticed 1) how the fervid style of St. Paul, disdaining the nice proprieties of rhetoric, sets forth the point in hand by inconsistent similitudes: the walking implying motion, the rooting and building, rest; 2) that the rooting, answering to the first elementary grounding in Him, is in the past: the being built up, answering to the continual increase in Him, is present. See Eph 2:20, where this latter is set forth as a fact in the past) and confirmed in the (or, your) faith (dat. of reference: it seems hardly natural with Mey. to take it instrumental, as there is no question of instrumental means in this passage), as ye were taught, abounding in it (reff.) in thanksgiving (the field of operation, or element, in which that abundance is manifested. Non solum volo vos esse confirmatos in fide, verum etiam in ea proficere et proficiendo abundare per pleniorem mysteriorum Christi cognitionem: idque cum gratiarum actione erga Deum, ut auctorem hujus totius boni. Est.).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Col 2:6. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

Do not go away from him. You have received him; keep to him. Whatever he was to you at first, let him be that to you to the very last. Do not begin with Christ, and then go back to self; let it be all Christ from first to last.

Col 2:7. Rooted and built up in him,

Growing in him. Have your very life, like a tree, rooted in Christ; and like a temple, built up in Christ.

Col 2:7. And stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein, with thanksgiving.

Do not forget what you have been taught; do not reject it; keep to it. He who should learn one system of philosophy, and then unlearn it, and begin another, and then unlearn that, and begin another, would be more likely to turn out a fool than a philosopher; and he who begins to learn the faith in one way, and then tries to learn it in another way, and then attempts to learn it in yet another way, is more likely to be a skeptic than to be a saint.

Col 2:8. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Plenty of people would spoil you in this way, by teaching you their profound thoughts, their grand inventions, their bright ideas. Beware of all of them.

Col 2:9. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Everything, then, must be in Christ if all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him. Why do you want to go anywhere else for wisdom? What can you find by going elsewhere? For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Col 2:10. And ye are complete in him,

You are like vessels filled up to the brim. You are like warriors thoroughly furnished, fully armed for the fight: Ye are complete in him.

Col 2:10-11. Which is the head of all principality and power: in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

All that the Jew ever had you have in Christ, only you have the real purification of which his rite was but a symbol.

Col 2:12. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

It is only as you are one with Christ that baptism will be to you what he intended; but buried with him in baptism, you are dead to all beside, and all your life lies in him.

Col 2:13. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision, of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him,

All your life is in Christ; you are quickened together with him.

Col 2:13. Having forgiven you all trespasses;

Your pardon is given to you in Christ. Oh, how full and how free is that forgiveness that comes to you through Christ Jesus!

Col 2:14-15. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

His cross was his triumph. Then he led captivity captive. What more do you want? Your enemy is vanquished, your sins blotted out, your death changed to life, your necessities all supplied. Will you not stay at home with Christ? Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? Canst thou have a better lover than thy Lord, a dearer husband than the heavenly Bridegroom? Oh, love the Lord, ye his saints; cling to him, and make much of him; let him be all in all to you!

Col 2:16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

Do not let anybody come in, and tell you that it is necessary for your salvation that you should abstain from this meat or that drink, that there is a merit in fasting for forty days in Lent, or that you cannot be saved without observing such and such a holy day. Your salvation is in Christ. Keep you to that, and add nothing to this one foundation which is once for all laid in him.

Col 2:17. Which are a shadow of things to come;

That is all that they are: a shadow of things to come.

Col 2:17. But the body is of Christ.

Christ is the real one thing needful. Mind that you have the substance, for then you can let the shadows go. May God bless to us all this brief reading of his Word!

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Col 2:6. , the Lord) The article shows that they had received Christ as the Lord.- , walk ye in Him) This is the scope of the epistle. We give the following summary:-

I.The Inscription, Col 1:1-2.

II.The Doctrine, by which the apostle pathetically explains the mystery of Christ, in the way of thanksgiving for the Colossians, ver. 3 seq., and prayer for the same, Col 1:9-10; Col 1:12-13; Col 1:15-16; Col 1:21-22 :

Along with a declaration of his affection for them, Col 1:24-25; Col 2:1-2.

III.The Exhortation.

1)General, by which he stirs them up to perseverance in Christ, Col 2:6-7 :

And admonishes them not to be deceived, Col 2:8.

Here again he describes the mystery of Christ, in order, Col 2:9-10 :

And in the same order derives his admonitions from Christ, the Head, Col 2:16 :

And from His death, Col 2:20, et seqq.:

And from His exaltation, Col 3:1-4.

2)Special.

1.That vices should be avoided, Col 3:5-9 :

And virtues practised, Col 3:10-11 :

Especially love, Col 3:12-13 :

And the study of the word of Christ, Col 3:16-17.

2.That they should do their duty.

1.Wives and husbands, Col 3:18-19.

2.Children and parents, Col 3:20-21.

3.Servants and masters, Col 3:22-23; Col 4:1.

3)Final, To prayer, Col 4:2-3.

To spiritual wisdom, Col 4:5-6.

IV.Conclusion, Col 4:7-8; Col 4:10-11; Col 4:15-16; Col 4:18.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Col 2:6

Col 2:6

As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord,-[They who welcomed the good news of salvation through Christ Jesus thereby receive Christ himself to be their Lord and their life. Where the message of his love is welcomed, he himself comes in spiritual and real presence, and dwells in the spirit.]

so walk in him,-Live your life, regulate your whole conduct in accordance with the way you learned Christ, and in union with him.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

received: Mat 10:40, Joh 1:12, Joh 1:13, Joh 13:20, 1Co 1:30, Heb 3:14, 1Jo 5:11, 1Jo 5:12, 1Jo 5:20, 2Jo 1:8, 2Jo 1:9, Jud 1:3

walk: Col 3:17, Isa 2:5, Mic 4:2, Joh 14:6, 2Co 5:7, Gal 2:20, Eph 4:1, Eph 5:1, Eph 5:2, Phi 1:27, 1Th 4:1, 1Jo 2:6

Reciprocal: Gen 48:15 – did walk Num 28:11 – in the beginnings Psa 139:24 – the way Jer 6:16 – and walk Eze 36:27 – cause Mic 4:5 – and we Zec 10:12 – walk Luk 2:11 – the Lord Joh 10:5 – General Joh 15:4 – Abide Act 16:5 – so Rom 5:11 – by whom Phi 3:16 – let us walk Col 1:10 – ye Col 2:19 – not 1Th 2:12 – walk 1Ti 1:3 – charge 1Jo 2:27 – ye shall

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

IN HIM

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.

Col 2:6-7

There is a wonderful unity in Gospel truth; it all leads up to the one central Person.

I. All revelation testifies of Christ, proceeds from Christ, reverts to Christ, finds in Christ its centre, guides us in the last resort to Him. Poor may our ministry be, yet let it only be true to its central object, which is Christ the Lord, then the preacher may not quite miss the mark. How thankfully will he efface himself, and forget in the end his own poverty as an instrument in the supreme resultsouls lovingly joined to the living Lord of life and light.

II. In the face of such a Gospel, what becomes for each of us the one foremost necessity and duty of our life?Why, that we unite ourselves to Him, that we surrender into His hands the supreme direction of our conduct and rely on Him alone.

III. Union with Christ makes Christians independent of every one else for spiritual life and welfare. Complete in Him, whatever instruments and agents He may use by whom to bless His people, they are Christs simply, given, withdrawn at His will. To Christ alone let our eyes be raised.

Illustration

This Epistle is full of the glory of Christ and His pre-eminence over every creature, because the Colossians were in danger of forgetting Him, and turning to lower and less beings for aid, e.g. to angels; and to engraft upon this Gospel Mosaic ceremonies and ascetic practices, as if He were insufficient.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

(Col 2:6.) , – As then ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him. The particle turns us to the preceding verse, and to the fact of their order and stedfast faith. Calvin rightly says – laudi attexit exhortationem. He has commended them for their order and stedfast faith, and he now adds a word of warning and counsel. Gradually does he approach the main end of his writing. Ever as he comes near it does he utter some sentiment which delays his full admonition. He wishes by his previous allusions and warnings to prepare their minds for the final and thorough exposure and condemnation. And thus he has intimated-what thanks he offers for them, what prayers he presents for their deeper illumination and persistency in the truth-what sufferings he has endured for them, and what sympathies he has with them-what joy he felt in being mentally present with them, and surveying their good order and unswerving faith. And he has eulogized that gospel which they had received-as the truth-as a fruit-bearing principle-as a disclosure of the Divine person, exalted dignity, and saving work of the Son of God; and as a mystery long hidden, but at length revealed, and comprising in it the deep and inexhaustible treasures of all spiritual science. Since, therefore, they had received Christ Jesus, the Lord, the giver and subject of that gospel, it surely became them to walk in Him.

The verb , signifying to take to oneself, is used emphatically to appropriate wisdom or instruction-much as in Scotland the faculty of acquiring knowledge is termed uptake. 1Co 11:23; 1Co 15:1; 1Co 15:3; Gal 1:9; Gal 1:12; Php 4:9; 1Th 2:13. They had received him, in the way of being taught about Him-verse 7. They had been instructed, and they had apprehended the lesson. It is a superficial exegesis on the part of Theophylact, Grotius, and others, to make the proper name . . mean merely the doctrine of Christ. For it was Christ Himself whom they had received-the sum and life of all evangelical instruction. Nay, more, the repetition and structure of the sentence show that the full meaning is-ye have received Christ Jesus as the Lord. In the character of Lord they had accepted Him. This was the testing element of their reception. The Anointed Jesus is now Lord of all, and to acknowledge His Lordship is to own the success of His atoning work as well as to bow to His sovereign authority. Thus we understand the apostle when he says, 1Co 12:3, Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. On the special meaning and use of the terms see Eph 1:2. The form of error introduced among them, which would rob the Saviour of His dignity, led to the denial of the Messiahship in its true sense; and in its spiritualism, it would, at the same time, explain away His humanity.

These expressive terms are thus the symbols of a vast amount of instruction. Whatever men receive in the gospel, it is Christ. He is the soul of doctrine-for prophets foretold Him, and apostles preached Him; and the oracles of the one and the sermons of the other had no splendour but from Him, and no vitality but in Him. Ethical teaching has as close a connection with Him, for it expounds His law, defers to His authority, and exhibits the means of obedience and fertility in His imparted Spirit and strength. Promise is based upon His veracity, and sealed in His blood, and suffering looks for sympathy to Him who bled and wept. The great mystery of the Divine government is solved in Him, and in Him alone is the enigma of man’s history and destiny comprehended. Spiritual life has its root in Him-the growth of the Divine image, and the repose of the soul in the bosom of Him who made it. In believing the gospel, men receive no impersonal abstraction, but Christ Himself-light, safety, love, pattern, power, and life. And they receive Him as the Lord. He won the Lordship by His death. He rose from the sepulchre to the throne. To Him the universe bends in awful homage, and the church worships Him in grateful allegiance. The Colossians had received Him as the Lord, and surely no seduction would ever lead them to discrown Him, and transfer their fealty to one of the crowded and spectral myriads which composed the celestial hierarchy-one of a dim and cloudy mass which was indistinct from its very number, surrounding the throne, but never daring to depute any of its members to ascend it.

As ye have received Him, walk in Him. The particle denotes something more than a reason, for it indicates manner-according as. Mat 8:13; Luk 14:22; 1Co 3:5; Tit 1:5. The demonstrative adverb which follows , in sense, is here as often omitted. -Walk in Him. The verb is often used to describe manner of life, or visible conduct; and that life is to be enjoyed in union with Christ. If reception of Christ the Lord refer to inner life, then this walk refers to its outer manifestation. It was to be no inert or latent principle. Christ was not merely a theme to be idly contemplated or admired in a supine and listless reverie; nor a creed to be carelessly laid up as in a distant and inaccessible deposit; nor an impulse which might produce a passing and periodical vibration, and then sink into abeyance and exhaustion; but a power, which, in diffusing itself over mind and heart, provided for its own palpable manifestation and recognition in the daily life. For there could be no walking in Him, without the previous reception of Him. The outer life is but the expression of the inner. Ability to walk is the result of communicated animation. Nay, more, if they received Him, they could not but walk in Him. The reception of such truth necessitates a change of heart. It is a belief which, from its very nature, produces immediate results. In Him, and in Him according to the character in which they had received Him, were they to walk. And they would not walk in Him as they received Him, if they were tempted to reject His functions and qualifications as the Christ, or in any form, or on any pretext, to modify, depreciate, or set aside His claims; or if they were prompted to deny or explain away His true humanity as Jesus-taking from His life its reality, and from His death its atoning value; or if they were induced to wit hhold their allegiance from Him as Lord, the one rightful governor, proprietor, and judge. There must therefore be faith in Him as the Christ, the consciousness of a near and living relation to Him as Jesus, the kinsman, the brother-man; and deep and loyal obedience to Him as Lord. He is thy Lord, worship thou Him. In Him presupposes the reception of Him; and to walk in Him, is to have life in Him and from Him, with thought and emotion shaped and inspired by His presence. The hallowed sphere of walk is in Him, but beyond this barrier are sin and danger, false philosophies, and mazy entanglements. If they walked in Christ, they would be fortified against those doubts which the pernicious teachings of error, with their show of wisdom, were so apt to superinduce.

Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians

Col 2:6. As is used in the sense of “since” since ye have received, etc. Having received or accepted Christ as the Lord (which means Ruler), to be consistent, they should also walk or conduct their life in Him. That can be done only by doing His will.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Col 2:6. As then (in view of this order and stedfastness) ye received, i.e., by instruction from your teachers, not, as ye accepted.

Christ etui the Lord. He was the object in which the instruction centred; the emphasis resting, as the full phrase shows, upon His Person. They had been taught Him; comp. Eph 4:20.

walk in him. He is the element of your life; let the life correspond with the teachings you have received,

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

This is, “As you have received the doctrine of Christ Jesus, the Lord, by the preaching of Epaphras, and therein have embraced Christ by faith, so do you constantly adhere to that doctrine, conforming you lives thereunto; and seeing you are thus implanted into Christ, be like trees, well and deeply rooted in him, or like a house, firmly built upon him, as the only sure and abiding foundation.”

Learn, That such as have received the grace of God in truth, ought, to labour after stability in grace and establishment in the true religion, that they may stand like a rock, immoveable in assaults, and unshaken amidst all the batteries that may be made upon their faith by heretics and seducers.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

The good news had been transmitted by God for man’s benefit. Those who recognized Jesus Christ as Lord, by yielding to Him in obedience, received that transmission. Those who had so yielded to Christ’s Lordship should continue by allowing His will to direct every action of their lives. When a Christian receives Jesus, it is as if he is planted in Him. To properly grow, one must take root. Those who remain in Christ will constantly be built up and strengthened, or established, in Him. The banks of their lives will also overflow with thankfulness ( Col 2:6-7 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Col 2:6-7. As, or since, ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord Have acknowledged Jesus of Nazareth to be the true Messiah promised to the Jews, and consequently a divinely-commissioned Teacher, Mediator, Saviour, and Lawgiver; yea, the great Prophet, Priest, and King of his church, and therefore your sovereign Lord, and the final Judge of men and angels; so walk ye in him Let your spirit and conduct, your dispositions, words, and actions, be in perfect consistency with this acknowledgment; walk in the same faith, love, and holiness, in which you received him, steadily believing his doctrines, obeying his precepts, relying on his promises, revering his threatenings, and imitating his example; rooted In him, as trees in a good soil, or as the graft is rooted in the stock; and built Upon him, the only sure foundation of your confidence and hope for time and eternity; and established in the faith In your persuasion of the truth and importance of the gospel in all its parts; as ye have been taught By those that have preached it to you; abounding therein Making continual progress in your acquaintance with it and conformity to it; with thanksgiving To God, for having made you partakers of so great a blessing.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

ARGUMENT 9

SANCTIFIED AS CONVERTED

6. Therefore as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him. You received him by faith and by faith alone when a poor sinner, and he converted your soul. Now do not plunge into the heresy of the popular pulpits, and conclude that you are to be sanctified by growth or byi.e., worksbut remember that you are sanctified precisely as you are converted; i.e. by faith, and by faith alone.

7. Having been rooted and grounded in Him, and confirmed in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in thanksgiving. The Bible contains but a few primal truths, which are enforced by a vast diversity of imagery deduced by the Holy Ghost from every ramification of human life and employment and every department of the material world. The great truth revealed in the Bible is the compound problem of sin and its remedy. Here Paul gives us a grand double metaphor, illustrating entire sanctification by a tree and a house. The lateral roots of the tree represent the justified experience, while the long, powerful, trunky tap-root penetrating far down into the deep interior of the earth, coiling around the eternal strata and holding the tree steadfast amid the storms of centuries, beautifully symbolizes entire sanctification. The tree without a tap-root flourishes amid calm and sunshine, but is ruthlessly torn out by the roots when caught in the Briarean arms of the cyclone. So the unsanctified Christian is all right when skies are clear and seas are calm, but hopelessly wrecked in the raging storm. The other metaphor is that of the house whose foundation is laid deep down on the everlasting foundation of the earth, and solidly built up into a magnificent superstructure. The winds blow and the floods come down, but it stands unshaken like a rock in midocean, defiant of every storm. Conversion is a real experience, but it is superficial, neither descending down to the bottom rock nor ascending up to Pisgahs delectable summit.

8. See that no one shall be leading you through philosophy and empty delusion, according to thecommandment of men, according to learning of the world, and not according to Christ. Pauls prophetic eye is wide open in all of this epistle, contemplating in vivid panorama the delusive humanisms of the present day. The Bible is the only authority in this world, and the only guide to heaven. How few people are free! Spiritual and mental chains and slavery everywhere abound. Science and philosophy out of harmony with the Bible are all false.

9. Because in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In the body of Christ on earth and in heaven actually dwelleth the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Hence, we have in our Jesus all of the divinity and humanity, all salvation, authority, and power in the whole universe, temporal and spiritual. O what a wonderful Savior we have! We need nothing else. In him we have everything pertaining to this life and that which is to come. Away with all humanisms! When they come, the devil always avails himself of the door ajar.

10. Ye are complete in him who is the head of all government and authority. Give up all of your human delusions, and take Jesus only for everything you need in time and eternity.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him:”

Wuest translates it this way. “In the same manner, therefore, as you received the Christ, Jesus, the Lord, in Him be constantly ordering your behavior”

When you get it together via salvation, keep it together by walking as you ought.

A dear Saint we used to know once said that many people want to clean up their act and then turn themselves over to the Lord, but God would rather that they turn themselves over to the Lord and let Him clean them up. There is a lot of truth there.

7. “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

Rooted, built up, and stablished – how – by teaching! There I go again, education and learning seem to be in Paul’s vocabulary.

Rooted or grounded – or attached to a good foundation, then built up as if a building being built for a purpose, and built or stablished in a way that it will stand firm on the foundation.

Where do we become rooted and built up? In Bible studies and lessons/sermons at the church – in Bible studies on your own, as well as with other well grounded believers. It can even come from Scriptural fellowship – the sharing in the things of the Lord – not the news, weather, and sports but in sharing from the word and speaking of what God is doing in your life.

WALK IN HIM

How do we walk in Christ.

1. Be in fellowship. Scriptural fellowship can be a tremendous resource of learning, as well as a source of accountability.

2. I get the picture of Christ being the driving/steering force within my life. As I walk along He is guiding my decisions and ordering my steps. This will require our keeping in close contact with Him so that we know where He is going.

ROOTED IN HIM

How are we rooted in Him?

1. Roots draw nourishment from the ground both moisture and nutrients.

We can only be nourished as we feed on the Word of God and commune with Him.

2. Roots hold the plant or tree upright so that it can grow properly.

In Oregon we used to drive past large farms full of Filbert trees. Due to the high moisture content of the soil in Oregon the trees never were required to take deep root for moisture. They received all they needed from the surface. As a result in the very damp weather some of the trees would fall over because the top was too heavy for the simple root system to hold up.

RESULT: a dead tree.

If we aren’t deeply rooted then we may fall as well. This is the point of what Paul has said in these verses. The next verse he begins to warn of false doctrines.

BUILT UP IN HIM

How are we built up in Him?

1. Let us turn to Eph 4:11-16 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, [even] Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love”

Notice the similarity in the texts. Both are speaking of being complete or mature or rooted in the Lord and proper doctrine.

Eph 4:1-32 tells us that these things come to pass through the ministry of the local church. The pastors and teachers are to building up or edifying the people that they might be sound in doctrine – AND – “for the work of the ministry”.

The whole purpose of all of this is that the new convert that is taken into the church is to be trained so that he can be going out and leading others to Christ and become part of the ministering part of the church.

The verse goes on to say “established in your faith”

What is meant by this phrase? Strong indicates it is “to confirm” as in one that validates or assures you of the truth of something.

2. Being confident in your salvation. Sure that your trust in Jesus is all that is needed.

3. Being confident in your security. Knowing in your own heart that you can never lose that which God has given to you through Jesus Christ.

WALK IN HIM.

The commentator Lenski mentions concerning this phrase. “Keep on holding fast to Christ, keep on believing in Him, and then, of course, also keep on obeying Him in good works.”

Walk in newness of life. Rom 6:4

Walk after the Spirit. Rom 8:4

Walk in honesty Rom 13:13

Walk by faith. 2Co 5:7

Walk in good works. Eph 2:10

Walk in love. Eph 5:2

Walk in wisdom. Col 4:5

Walk in truth. 2Jn 1:4

Walk after the commandments of the Lord. Col 2:6

Walk not after the flesh. Rom 8:4

Walk not after the manner of men. 1Co 3:3

Walk not in craftiness. 2Co 4:2

Walk not by sight. 2Co 5:7

Walk not in the vanity of mind. Eph 4:17

Walk not disorderly. 2Th 3:6

I would like to illustrate this unity of purpose by telling you of a church of lost people. A Roman Catholic church in Limerick Ireland. This congregation was truly united and steadfast in their purpose. The point – IF LOST PEOPLE CAN BE THIS UNITED WITHOUT GOD, surely we believers can get together with the Lord’s help and guidance.

In the northwest part of the city there was a new housing development and the people were purchasing their land and building their new homes. The people met to define their community to come and determined that they would have two community buildings, one a community center and the other a Cathedral.

As I listened to the man describing the work that the people were involved with, you could just see the excitement and pride and the enthusiasm within. The unity of this people was so great toward their project that some of them stopped working on their homes and assisted with the cathedral. They had a priority of having that building up before their homes were finished.

It is a shame that lost people can out do the believers – In Ezra Nehemiahs time the people left the temple to last. Indeed, in many churches across America the church comes dead last.

Anyway this community of lost people saw to it that their desire was met and it was met due to their unity of purpose.

This is the kind of unity that Paul wanted to come to pass at Colosse.

May we as individual churches find ourselves united in our effort to reach the lost and see them rooted in the Word and always be abounding in thanksgiving for what God is doing in our personal and corporate lives.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

2:6 As ye have therefore {h} received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him:

(h) So then Christ does not depend upon men’s traditions.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

2. Paul’s exhortation 2:6-7

"Verses 6 and 7 occupy a pivotal position in the letter. They serve as the basis of Paul’s interaction with the Colossian heresy (Col 2:8-23) having summarized much of what has already been written in the epistle." [Note: O’Brien, Colossians . . ., p. 108. For further discussion of the Colossian heresy, see Barclay, pp. 115-18.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

In particular, Paul encouraged his readers to continue following Christ in harmony with the sound teaching that had resulted in their conversion. [Note: See H. Wayne House, "The Christian Life according to Colossians," Bibliotheca Sacra 151:604 (October-December 1994):440-54.] His point was not that as the Colossians had become Christians by faith in Christ they should continue to walk by faith. This is clear from Paul’s word translated "received." It usually refers to the reception of truth through transmission (cf. Col 4:6; 1Co 11:23; 1Co 15:1; 1Co 15:3; Gal 1:9; Gal 1:12). It is also clear from the expression "as you were instructed" (Col 2:7) and the context (Col 2:4-5; Col 2:8).

"Christ Jesus the Lord," a phrase that Paul used nowhere else, counteracts three false conceptions of the Savior. These are His deity ("Christ") that Judaism denied, His humanity ("Jesus") that Docetists denied, and His sovereignty ("Lord") that many varieties of false teaching denied.

". . . Paul here meets the two forms of Gnostic heresy about the Person of Christ (the recognition of the historical Jesus in his actual humanity against the Docetic Gnostics, the identity of the Christ or Messiah with this historical Jesus against the Cerinthian Gnostics, and the acknowledgment of him as Lord)." [Note: A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, 4:489.]

 

"Since the basic sense of kurios ["lord"] is that of superior to inferior (master to slave; king to subject; god to worshiper), with formally acknowledged rights of the former to command or dispose of the latter (see also Col 3:22 and Col 4:1), all would have recognized that acceptance of Christ Jesus as Lord included within it submission of the believer to this Christ and unconditional readiness to act in obedience to him." [Note: Dunn, p. 140. ]

Advocates of "lordship salvation" get into trouble when they go beyond this statement. Their position is that unless a person consistently obeys-they never specify how consistent one must be-he or she never truly accepted Christ.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)