Walk and Watch

Song:
We will feast (chorus)

Call to Worship:
Psalm 1

Apostles’ Creed

Song:
See the Destined Day Arise

Confession & Pardon

Song:
Doxology

Song:
King of Kings

Colossians 2.6-15

Introduction 

In 2019 Bethany and I celebrated our 10th anniversary with a road trip to California - Clark Griswold family vacation style. At the time we had 5 kids 8 years old and under and Bethany was pregnant with Lena our 6th baby. We hopped on Route 66 and one of our stops was the Grand Canyon. There are a lot of things that I didn’t know about the Grand Canyon until I got there, one of them was that there is basically nothing standing between the path and the opening of the canyon. There is a small wooden fence but if someone wanted to get past this fence they would have no trouble at all.

This, of course, wouldn’t be a concern for most adults who travel to the Grand Canyon but as I mentioned we had 5 kids 8 and under at the time so the stress level was as high as we were from the bottom of the Canyon. We had to balance walking along the canyon, enjoying the beauty of God’s creation, with also watching out to make sure that one of our kids did not fall into God’s beautiful creation. We had to walk and we had to watch. This is what Paul is telling the Colossian church in our pericope this morning: they must walk and they must watch. They must walk in Christ and they must watch out for the world, the flesh, and the devil.

But before we jump into the text, let’s find our hermeneutical bearings. In real estate they say the most important thing is location, location, location. Well, in interpreting Scripture the most important thing is context, context, context. Two weeks ago Pastor Kevin preached the great Christological hymn of Colossians 1.15-23. Our sermon last week was Paul’s contention that his ministry was built on Christ. Now we get to the reason why Paul wrote the letter. Colossian 2.6-4.6 is Paul’s argument against the heresy that had invaded their church. Our text this morning begins his argument and it is governed by two imperatives: (1) in verse 6: walk and (2) in verse 8: see to it, which can also be translated as watch out. 

Walk

Let’s start with Paul’s command to walk. Look again at verses 6-7:

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Paul once again reminds them that they’ve received the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the epistle has been about from the beginning. Colossians is probably the most explicitly Christological book in the Bible. 

Christianity can be summed up in the confession: Jesus is Lord. This was the credo of the early church. To declare the Jesus is Lord is to declare that Caesar, or the American government, or you yourself are not Lord. Everything that Paul has written so far in this letter has been a declaration of the Lordship of Christ and our need to live in light of that reality. Because we received the Lord Jesus Christ, we must walk in him.

And these two verses really are the heading for the entire section of Colossians 2.6-4.6. The false teachers were asserting that salvation was not in Christ alone, but a syncretism of Christianity, Judaism, and paganism. Paul says, no. They have received Christ, all of Christ. All they need to do is continue to walk in Christ.

Walk is the first imperative in this pericope. It is the Greek word, περιπατεῖτε, which is a euphemism referring to how you live your life. It means live your life like the gospel of Jesus is true. Live your life like Christ is reigning at the right hand of God, he’s in control of all things, and he will return one day where you will stand before him in judgment. 

The verb is a 2nd person plural imperative. An imperative is a command and this command is 2nd person plural, which means it is for the whole church. This is not an individual command, though it works itself out this way, but it is a plural command. He’s saying, “y’all walk in Christ,” or “you guys walk in Christ,” or “the entire church must walk in Christ.”

The first point of application here is that you cannot faithfully walk in Christ apart from the local church. This is a 2nd person plural command. You cannot walk in Christ if you are not a member of a local church, if you never come to church, if you don’t submit yourself to the ministry of the Word and the sacraments. There is no “lone ranger” Christianity; Christianity is and always has been a communal religion. Christians are those who are not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Heb 10.25).

Paul expands on what it means to walk in Christ with four participles: (1) rooted, (2) built up, (3) established, and (4) abounding. He uses a horticultural metaphor, an architectural metaphor, a legal metaphor, and a sacramental metaphor. The first metaphor is horticultural: in verse 7 he uses the word rooted. This is the only perfect participle; the others are present participles. The perfect tense of the verb indicates a past action that has an ongoing reality. For example, on May 16, 2009 Bethany and I were married, but that wasn’t just a one-day reality. We have continued to be married since.

The text says we have been rooted in Christ. The day that we believed the gospel we became rooted in Christ and have been so ever since that day. It’s important to note also that the first three participles – rooted, built up, and established – are passive. Grammatically they are referred to as a divine passive. That means that we did not actively root ourselves, God did. When a sinner believes the gospel it is because God has already changed his or her heart. 

Being rooted by God in Christ leads to the architectural metaphor, we are built up in Christ. This also is a divine passive. God builds us up. The third metaphor is the legal metaphor; we’ve been established in the faith. We have been legally counted as righteous. This third divine passive is also the work of God alone. When a believer is built up and established in their faith it is because the Holy Spirit is working sanctification in them.

Verse 7 gives us the final participle, which is the sacramental metaphor: abounding in thanksgiving. The word abounding can also be translated overflowing and the word thanksgiving is the word εὐχαριστίᾳ, which is where we get the word Eucharist for the Lord’s Supper. Abounding is not a passive verb, but an active verb. When God roots, builds, and establishes us, we will have thankful hearts. Like the wine that is overflowing at the Eucharist, our hearts must overflow with thankfulness for Christ. And so in these first two verses we feel the tension of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. God is the one who roots us in Christ, he builds us up and establishes us, and yet we are also called to walk in the Christ we have received with thankfulness. 

And so the Word calls us this morning to doxology; we must walk in Christ with thanksgiving. Be thankful for your salvation. Come to church every week to hear the Word preached and to take the sacrament and do so with thanksgiving. Be faithful to and thankful for your marriage. Be thankful for your kids and raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Be thankful that God has provided food, clothing, and shelter for you and work hard in whatever vocation he provides. Confess your sins and thankfully receive the pardon of the gospel. Give of your time, treasure, and talents for the Kingdom of Christ. Walk in Christ!

Watch

The second imperative in this text is in verse 8:

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ

The phrase see to it in the ESV is the Greek imperative, βλέπετε, which means, “to beware of, to watch out, to pay attention to.” What are they supposed to watch out for? That no one takes them captive by philosophy and empty deceit.

This is a good time to note that Christians in the past have used this verse to argue that the study of philosophy is bad in and of itself. Tertullian once woefully said, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” Meaning, what does philosophy have to do with the gospel? I feel like I have to come to the defense of my brother, Pastor Brett, who did his undergrad in philosophy. There have been plenty of great pastors who have a background in philosophy who have used it to teach the Bible faithfully. I mentioned our own Pastor of Member Care, Brett, but also men like RC Sproul and Tim Keller helpfully engage philosophical ideas in their preaching. CS Lewis wrote, “Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.” 

Paul is not talking about the study of philosophy in general; he’s warning of worldviews that are antithetical to the gospel of Christ. NT Wright notes that the word and – philosophy and empty deceit –, which is the Greek word καὶ, is epexegetical, which means the second phrase is explaining the first. The philosophy he’s talking about is not general; the word philosophy literally means, “the love of wisdom.” No, the specific philosophy he’s warning against is empty deceit. 

Paul evokes the unholy trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil as the reasons behind the empty deceit that has invaded the Colossian church. This false teaching is according to human tradition…the elemental spirits of the world. Sinful men and demons that spread worldly philosophy are the fuel to the fire of this heresy. This Jewish/Pagan/Christian syncretism that had invaded their church was not from Christ, but from the world, the flesh, and the devil.

They must watch out for error because it is not according to Christ. Look at verse 9. In Christ the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Notice Paul contrast their empty deceit with the fullness of God in Christ. There is probably no more clear statement on the hypostatic union in all of Scripture than Colossians 2.9. Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man. 

He is the eternal 2nd person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God. He is the eternal Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1.14). This is why it is essential that we confess historic orthodox truth like we did earlier in the Apostle’s Creed. Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.” He is truly God and truly man; in him the whole fullness of deity dwells.

The Colossian heretics may have been teaching that Jesus wasn’t the Christ, or that he was some form of created being. Whatever the specific heresy was, Paul leaves no room for heresy here. Jesus Christ is God incarnate; he is truly God and truly man. Jesus was not merely a good teacher or an example of love. In Christ we see the whole fullness of deity dwelling bodily.

Paul then reminds us of all of the beautiful realities that come with faith in Christ. In verse 10 he plays off of what he just said about the fullness of God being in Christ by adding that we are filled with Christ. When you repent of your sin and trust in Christ alone the Father gives you the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit points you to Christ, so when God saves you, you are filled with Christ.

In verse 11 he says that we don’t need to be circumcised like God’s people did in the old covenant because we have all been circumcised with a circumcision without hands. When we believe the gospel it is proof that the Holy Spirit has already circumcised our hearts. This is displayed through the sacrament of baptism. Circumcision was a sign of the old covenant; baptism is a sign of the new covenant. Baptism is a tangible expression of the gospel wherein we identify with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. When we’re immersed in the water, we are declaring that we have died with Christ and we have been buried with Christ. When we come out of the water we are declaring that we have been raised with Christ.

Our baptism pictures the spiritual reality that has already taken place. Look at the end of verse 12 and the beginning of verse 13. In baptism we are figuratively raise from the dead because it pictures what God did when he powerfully raised Christ from the dead. And we were spiritually dead too. In Genesis 2 YHWH told Adam that if he ate of the tree he would surely die (Gen 2.17). Adam sinned and death spread to all men because all have sinned (Rom 5.12). 

The wages of sin is death (Rom 6.23). So we are spiritually dead in our trespasses and our uncircumcised hearts (cf. Eph 2.1). But God made us alive together with Christ. This is what baptism means. It is our entrance into the local church. If you have confessed Christ but haven’t been baptized, the Word beckons you to do so. It is your first act of obedience as a Christian. Come see me, or Pastor Kevin, or Pastor Brett if you’d like to learn more about baptism.

Paul then ends this pericope with some of the most beautiful and powerful imagery of the gospel in all of Scripture. Look again at the middle of verse 13:

God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

God cancelled the record of debt that stood against us by nailing it to the cross. Brothers and sisters, this is the glory of the gospel. Jesus of Nazareth, who is truly God and truly man, lived without sin. He died on the cross, the spotless Lamb of God. And on the cross God poured out all of the wrath he had for the sins of the elect. Every sin in word, though, and deed, for what we have done and what we have left undone, Jesus bore all of the hell and judgment that we deserve.

Every sinful thought you’ve ever had, every sinful word you’ve ever said, every sinful thing you’ve ever done, was placed on Jesus on the cross if your faith is in him. He experienced the guilt and shame of every sin of every believer who will ever live. As Christ was nailed to the cross it’s as if God nailed our record of sin to the cross because Jesus became our sin on the cross. This is what theologians call the great exchange, that on the cross Jesus took our sin and by faith God imputes to us his righteousness.

This is how God can forgive our trespasses and cancel our record of debt. God can’t just sweep sin under the rug. If he did he would not be holy. But God justly dealt with sin as his righteous Son voluntarily took our sin on himself and bore the just wrath that sin deserved. The wages of sin is death; “he was crucified, dead, and buried.”

Through his death God cancelled our record of debt. The word cancel is actually a little soft. It’s the word, ἐξαλείφω, which means, “to obliterate or destroy.” When Christ died on the cross God obliterated the record of sin for everyone who has faith in Christ. Like Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg, God nailed our debt to the cross.

And it gets better! In so doing God disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. The imagery is of an ancient Near Eastern king who conquered a city in battle. The king would then parade the opposing soldiers back to the capitol and the last chained captive would be the enemy king, who would be stripped naked and ceremoniously executed. This was to put enemies to shame and to celebrate their victory.

The irony is that God has put his enemies to shame through the cross. Jesus was stripped naked and ceremoniously executed on a Roman cross, but what appears to be weakness is actually wisdom. Because through the death and resurrection of Christ God has put Satan and his seed to shame. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ the head of the serpent has been crushed; Satan has been bound. It’s as if God has chained Satan and all of his demons up to show them the victory of his Son.

You might ask, but aren’t Satan and his demons still active in the world today? Yes they are. And they want nothing more than to destroy God’s church. A free lion is dangerous but a chained, wounded lion is even more dangerous if you’re near him. That’s what Satan is now. He is a chained, wounded animal.

And he knows that Jesus is victorious over him. Satan cannot do anything without Jesus’ permission. And he knows that Jesus is going to return to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new. And on that day Christ will throw him and all of his demons in hell where they will endure eternal, conscious punishment.

Conclusion

Because God has nailed our debt to the cross we must walk in him and watch out for false teaching. This is an individual thing – it’s your responsibility to walk in Christ and to watch out for heresy – but it is not merely an individual responsibility. We must walk with each other and watch out for each other. This is why God gave us the church. Like parents watching their kids at the Grand Canyon to make sure they don’t fall in, we must walk with each other through sin and suffering. We must watch out for false teaching or unrepentant sin. For the glory of God and for the good of your neighbor, walk and watch.

Song:
The Power of the Cross

Eucharist

Benediction