Sermon for Pilgrim Church 15/8/21

6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

The word “received” in verse 6 is one which is used in regard to passing down of tradition.  It is found in several other passages that use it in this sense.  Some of these are possibly quite familiar.  With regard to communion, Paul reminded the Corinthian church, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread” (1 Cor. 11:23 ESV) etc.  He was passing down the tradition he had been taught with regard to the Lord’s Supper, a tradition which comes from the stories in the Gospels about the Last Supper on the night of Passover.  Later in the same letter Paul passed on the tradition regarding the gospel.  “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3 ESV) etc.  In both these cases (and also in Gal 1:9; Phil 4:9 and 2 Thess 3:6), this is a tradition handed down from the apostles to the churches.  Paul regards these as good traditions.

Tradition is a neutral word.  Some traditions are good and some are bad.  A few verses later in Colossians (2:8), Paul stands against the traditions of men.  Jesus also opposed the tradition of men (Mark 7:8).  It is not tradition per se that is bad, but traditions which are opposed to the gospel of Christ.  I won’t go into bad traditions here, because that is for another day.  I am just pointing out that in saying that the Colossians had received Christ as Lord, Paul is talking about the fact that they had happily received the apostolic tradition about Jesus.  We might say that Christ was the tradition they accepted.  That tradition is good.  Paul is setting up a contrast here between what they had received and what they should avoid, that is, the traditions of men.  The Colossian church had rightly received the traditions that were passed onto them regarding Jesus, who he is and what he did.

The passing down of the apostolic tradition about Jesus is obviously very important to counter the traditions of men.  How is this done?  Clearly, the apostles are not still wandering around teaching us this, but it is written down in the Bible, where we can read it.  But God has not just given us the Bible.  The Bible is a large book and needs interpretation.  That is why we have pastors and teachers to explain and teach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) and rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).  The Colossians did not have what we have in that they did not have 2000 years of theological reflection on the apostolic tradition.  But, like them, we do have to contend with false teachers who try to make Christianity about something other than Jesus.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord” indicates the particular tradition that was passed on to the Colossians.  It matters who we think Jesus actually is.  It matters if the tradition which has been handed down to us by those who preached to us is not right in some respect.  Before the Colossians heard the gospel, they were idol worshippers.  In the city of Colossae, various gods were worshipped: Ephesian Artemis, the Laodicean Zeus, Men (moon god), Selene, Demeter, Hygieia (goddess of health), Helios, Athena, Tyche, Boule and the Egyptian gods Isis and Serapis.  The gospel proclaims that Jesus is not like these gods, not a divine hero, or a lessor household god, or a member of a pantheon of lords.  He is the Lord.  He alone is Lord.  The word kyrios can mean master, but Paul likely means more than this when he calls Jesus Lord.  Jews do not say the name of God and instead they say Adonai in place of YHWH.  The Greek word to translate this is kyrios.  Effectively, to call Jesus Lord is to call him the God who created everything, the God of Israel, the God over all.  He is therefore far above all the minor Greek and Egyptian deities that the Colossians were used to worshipping as pagans.

But it not just that they received Christ Jesus the Lord, as if having right doctrine or right tradition is enough.  They are told “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,”.  Belief has to work itself out in behaviour or it is useless.  This truth is repeated elsewhere.  “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9 ESV).  “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us” (2 Thess. 3:6 ESV).  Living out of the truth that Jesus is Lord has implication for what we do and not do.  Everything we do we do in Christ.  Even people who are not Christians understand this.  They have expectations about what is appropriate behaviour for Christians and what is inappropriate.

The exhortation to walk in Christ is followed in verse 7 by four metaphors pertaining to walking in him.  Each of these describes how to walk in Christ.  The first three (rooted, built up, and established) are passive, suggesting the work of God in the Christian as against what we do.  God does these things in and through us.  Yet, these very things are things which Paul prayed for in the church.  Compare Paul’s prayer in 1:10b-12 to 2:7.

Paul was not passive about the sanctification of the church, even if these are things which God does.  He constantly prayed about these things.  It makes sense that we also would not be passive about our growth in Christ.

The first word (rooted) is a perfect participle, implying that it is something which has happened in the past and which has implications in the present.  God has rooted the Christian in Christ because of what they have been taught and have received.  It is done.  We have been planted, rooted in Christ through faith in the gospel.  This is reminiscent of Jer 17:7-8 (ESV)—“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”  Roots draw the nourishment up into the plant and because we are rooted in Christ, we too will draw nourishment from him.  He is our life (Col 3:3-4), our peace (Col 3:15), our joy (Col 1:11), our strength.

The second two participles are also passive but these are present rather than perfect.  This means that being built up and established in the faith are the ongoing things that God does to sanctify and grow the Christian.  How does this happen?  There is another significant passage about building the church in 1 Cor 3:9-11.

9 For we are God’s fellow workers.  You are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it.  Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 3:9-11 ESV)

I want to make one point here and that is the building which Paul speaks of here is the church, the temple of God.  God’s workers, who according to Eph 4:11 are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, build on the foundation of Christ and grow the church.  Christians leaders have different kinds of ministry but they each serve to mature and grow and build up the church so that it can be mature in the faith.  Being built up and established in the faith, just as you were taught, takes place in the context of church.  God builds up and establishes Christians and he does so in the church.  That is where we receive instruction in the word of God and where we are equipped to serve God and one another.

But it is not just Christian leaders who are active in building up the church.  As we meet together and live together and love one another and encourage one another and put up with one another, we are built up and established in the faith.  A similar word is found in 1 Cor 14:4 “The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church” (1 Cor. 14:4 ESV).  As we come together and use our various different gifts to benefit one another, we build one another up.  1 Cor 14 is about prophecy as compared to tongues, but there are obviously many other gifts and each one functions to build up, mature and grow Christians if used in love for the sake of others.  We each need one another for this to happen.  Again, being built up and established in the faith happens within the life of the church.  This is a good reason to make the effort to meet together.

Believers are “established in the faith”.  Faith is not so much individual faith as “the faith”, the one and only Christian faith.   “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3 ESV).  It is our common faith.  This is why we must be built up and established together.  Each time we meet we are reminded of the apostolic tradition found in the Bible.  In our meetings we sing the faith, teach the faith, encourage one another in the faith, and talk about the faith over lunch.  This sanctifies and keeps us strong.  It is a continuing means of drawing up nourishment from Christ.

The last participle “abounding” is present active, implying that this is an action which we are expected to do, rather than an action which God does for us.  There are plenty of reasons for thanksgiving when rooted in Christ.  Paul gave thanks that his suffering produced fruit in the church and would result in people worshipping in the presence of God in heaven (2 Cor 4:11-15).  He exhorted people to pray with thanksgiving (Phil 4:6), which would include thanks for previous answers to prayer and thanksgiving in advance of new answers to prayer.  Food is good and given by God and is sanctified by thanksgiving (1 Tim 4:3-4).  By extension, it is appropriate to give thanks for all the necessities of life provided by God.  Paul gave thanks for the Christians in the churches he had founded: for their faith (Rom 1:8), for the grace of God they received (1 Cor 1:4), for the fact that they share in the inheritance of the saints (Col 1:12), that they received the gospel as the word of God (1 Thess 2:13), because their faith was growing (2 Thess 1:3).  We are told to give thanks for everything (Eph 5:20) and in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18).

A life filled with thanksgiving is what distinguishes the Christian from the godless person, who does not give thanks to God (Rom 1:21).  Heaven is full of saints and angels giving thanks to God (Rev 4:9; 7:12; 11:17) so it is only fitting that we do that now in anticipation of the glory to come, something which is only ours because of Jesus and faith produced by the gospel.  How does thanksgiving sanctify?  It is the appropriate response to salvation.  It serves to give us the right frame of mind towards God.  It reminds us constantly that God is good and that he is deserving of praise, that he is our source and that he is sovereign.  We give thanks for what has been done for us and this strengthens faith.

Let me sum up the important points of the passage.  We are Christians because we received the apostolic tradition about Jesus.  This leads to a new way of life.  This happens because God has rooted us in Christ, and we draw nourishment from him.  There are two main ongoing means that God uses to grow our lives in Christ: 1) church leaders, who minister the apostolic tradition and 2) the different gifts that each person uses to encourage others as we meet together.  Lastly, we give thanks for all that God has done and is doing.