The fullness of our salvation, Colossians 2:9-15

Some of you here this morning are on vacation.  And one of the interesting things to experience after your vacation is unpacking your car and your suitcases when you get home. And if you’re like most people, in addition to the musty towels and bathing suits, there are a few souvenirs from your trip at the beach.  Maybe a box of Fisher’s popcorn.  Maybe a few sea shells. And probably a lot of sand that you didn’t really want to bring home.  Well, in a similar way, there is a lot to unpack today in this passage.  But I am happy to say that it is all good stuff.  Nothing bad is in there.  In fact, what Paul is presenting here are souvenirs of our salvation by which we can remember what Christ has accomplished in our salvation.

But first, as a reminder of the general context of this epistle so far,  Paul is writing  to the Colossians attempting to turn them away from deceptive “higher knowledge” which had infiltrated the church.  And of particular note in chapter one he had given a liturgy of sorts of Christology, the doctrine of Christ. And he does so because this those false teachers pushing this “higher knowledge”  were teaching that Christ alone was not sufficient.  That Christ was just one of an order of angelic beings that they could learn about God from, but there were also other angelic beings, and other philosophies and wisdoms and mysteries that could give a person a higher knowledge. And you really needed that higher knowledge in order to be complete.

And this false teaching was pervasive in all the Gentile churches in that region. That’s why Paul said in Gal 1:8 “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!”  It’s interesting to note that the Koran was supposedly dictated by the angel Gabriel.  And the Book of Mormon was supposedly given to Joseph Smith by an angel named Moroni. 

So Paul is presenting an argument to the Colossians that Christ alone is sufficient, and in Christ alone is our salvation, and from Christ alone is our source of knowledge and wisdom.  So in vs 9 he reiterates that doctrine by saying, “For in Him (that is in Christ) all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”  Now we should really thank God that Paul felt the need to restate that principle.  Because if there is one constant source of demonic attack it is on the deity of Jesus Christ. If there is one common denominator of most of the cults and false religions of the world it is on this point of Christ’s deity. 

Now this is not the only place in scripture that attests to Christ’s deity, of course, but it is a very solid one.  But Christ also made the claim that He was God saying, “I and the Father are One.” And, “if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Such claims were either the claim of a madman, or the God/man.  No one can be a  good man, and make such a claim, unless He was also God in the flesh.

The Koran by the way says about Jesus,  “He was a servant of Allah, a true prophet, blessed in the gifts of prayer and charity.  But no more than a man, to call him the son of Allah is to derogate from Allah’s majesty.”  But Jesus cannot be a good prophet and claim to be One with God.

Now there are a number of scriptures that make the claim of Christ’s deity, not the least of which is chapter one vs 19 of this epistle, which says, “For it was the [Father's] good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.”  That statement is expounded for us in chp. 2 vs 9, “In Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” They both say virtually the same thing, chapter one just shortens it.

But I would also point out Hebrews 1:1-4 which says, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,  in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.  And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,  having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”  Now that statement at the end of vs4 answers the question of the Colossians about angels that possessed some sort of mystical insight about God, had the Colossians had access to that book at that time, which they did not.

But to go back to our text, Paul says that Jesus is fully God, or completely God.  And Jesus Himself said that He was the manifestation of God, which is directly correlated by Hebrews 1 which says that He is the exact representation of God’s nature.  Now that is a tremendously important doctrine.  Because if Jesus is not God, then Jesus cannot save.  The death of Jesus as just a man could never atone for the sins of the world. No matter how good a person it is who dies, their goodness cannot possibly be enough to extend to save another person, much less the world.  Only God could atone for the sins of the world.

Now to that doctrine of the sufficiency of Christ Paul adds a number of qualifying statements or illustrations. And all of these statements are designed to illustrate the sufficiency of our salvation in Christ.  Paul uses another word though instead of sufficiency.  He uses the word complete.  He says, in vs 10, “and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.”

So as Christ is the fullness of God in bodily form, we are made full, or complete in Him.  Now what does that mean, “ in Him?”  If you notice in our text, Paul uses that phrase “in Him” in vs 9, 10 and 11.  Then notice that he changes the phase to “with Him” in vs 12 and 13, and then in vs 15 he changes it again to “through Him.” Now I hope to deal with each of these phrases in order.

But first, what does it mean to be “in Him?”.  Let me give you a bad analogy, but perhaps a pertinent one since we are in an election season. It’s like saying you are in the Republican party, or the Democrat party, and you have a representative of that party who is your   candidate.  You are in effect, represented in that candidate.  You derive your benefits from that candidate.  He is your representative, and what he does in  that capacity directly benefits you.

Now thankfully, being “in Christ” is a lot more beneficial than we can expect from the elected candidate.  Not the least of which is that our benefit of being in Christ is eternal, whereas the best we might get from our elected official is only temporary.

What Paul is saying here though is that by being in Him, we are made complete.  We receive the fullness of salvation.  There is nothing more that can be gained through any other person or entity. There is no need for a secondary experience where we can get more from God. There is no need or benefit to seeking another intermediary or from some other source of higher knowledge.  He is above or the head of all rule and authority.  That speaks of not only earthly dignitaries and government officials and so forth, but also, and maybe primarily, that He is over angelic principalities.  If we are in Christ, then He is superior to any other source, any other power, be it angelic or spiritual or of this world.  

For those of you who have come out of Catholicism, there is no benefit to going through an intermediary, be it Mary, or the Pope, or a priest, or a dead saint.  To use the analogy of politics again, if you have direct access to the office of the President, then what added benefit could there be to going to a lower ranked administration official?  We have complete, full access to God through Christ because He is fully God.

The second benefit of being “in Him” comes in vs 11, “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.”  Now what’s interesting is that Paul is speaking here to a predominately Gentile community.  They did not practice circumcision. And yet he says that in Christ they are circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands.  

So first of all, we must understand that he is not talking about physical circumcision, but spiritual circumcision.  Even though physical circumcision was a rite performed under the law by the Jews, yet there are multiple references in the scriptures to a more necessary circumcision of the heart.  That cut made in the flesh was just a symbol of the cutting away of the sin nature that has to occur in the heart.  As Moses wrote in Deut. 30:6  "Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.”

And also in the NT Paul wrote about spiritual circumcision in Rom 2:29 saying, “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”  So the benefit of circumcision was to be a sign of God’s covenant people.  However, if we are in Christ, even though we are not physically circumcised, we are still circumcised in Christ’s circumcision.  What He has done, has been done also in us as our representative man.

Paul speaks of this circumcision of Christ being applied on our behalf, so that there is “the removal of the body of the flesh.”  In physical circumcision, the flesh was cut away which symbolized the sin nature which was passed on from generation to generation.  But in spiritual circumcision, the sin nature is cut off so that we might live in the newness of the spirit.  

I was speaking to someone not long ago who was talking about their previous life of addiction.  And they said when they surrendered to Christ, then they discovered that Christ had removed the old nature, the old desire for that sin.  They had a new nature.  But that didn’t mean that it was impossible to go back to that old life.  It was still there, they just no longer were enslaved to it.  

Though you have a new nature, you still live in your old body.  And as long as we are in the body there is still the possibility that we might go back to it.  So it’s necessary to die daily, to consider it as dead.  It’s necessary to constantly put off the old man, and put on the new man.  To walk in the spirit, and not in the flesh. There has been a spiritual operation in which the old nature has been cut off, and we’re given a new nature. New desires. Old things have passed away, all things become new.  That’s spiritual circumcision.

There is another benefit to our salvation, in how we have been made complete, and that is found in vs 12.  And now Paul changes that phrase from “in Him” to “with Him.”  So “in Him” being something that Christ does for us as our representative, “with Him” signifies something we do in conjunction with Him.  He does it, and we do it as well.   Let’s read what that benefit is in vs 12.  

Vs 12, “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” This rite of baptism is something that we do with Christ.  We that are saved are physically baptized in solidarity with Him.  

But like the rite of circumcision, Paul is saying that there is a spiritual component which is more important than the physical aspect of being immersed in water.  Being immersed and then raised out of the water signifies a spiritual death and resurrection with Christ.  In baptism, we identify with the death of Christ by dying to sin, and being raised from the water we signify that we are raised with Him to walk in newness of life.  

What baptism indicates then is that the power of God to give life to the dead is employed on our behalf as we identify with Christ by faith, so that we have the power of God to walk in newness of life. We haven’t got the power to walk in this new life unless God gives it to us. We cannot walk in sanctification unless God gives us the power to do so. And as God had the power to raise the dead and give life to Christ so that same power is available to us as well.  Our identification with Christ provides the power of God in our lives to live the life that He has given us. As Phil. 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Now Paul expands upon that principle in vs 12 and 13, explaining how that process happens.  He says “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,  having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

The premise of our salvation is that before Christ we were spiritually dead. Paul echoes this passage in Ephesians, detailing the deadness due to our sin, and the means by which we received new life.  He says in Eph 2:1-7 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,  in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus,  so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” 

Now Paul says that is illustrated in baptism which we participate in with Christ.  Signifying that we were dead in sin, buried with Him indicating our old nature was done away with, and then raised up with Him, so that we are positionally already seated with Him spiritually, and we live in the new life which God has given us, and empowered us to live.  What tremendous benefits are given by our salvation, not the least of which is that we have been forgiven.  All the things that we have done, all the laws that we have broken, all the people we have wronged, all the sins that we have committed, God has forgiven us.  Forgiven is a concept that we should contemplate more than we do.  Quite a bit of our mental anguish in life comes as a result of guilt.  But in Christ we are forgiven.  God has punished Jesus Christ for our sins.  So that we might be forgiven.  He has cast them as far as the east from the west and they will not be remembered any more.

We may talk about forgiving someone, but we can’t ever forget, can we?  We may want others to think we forgive and forget, but deep down we don’t forget. But the Bible says that God forgets our sin.  Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”  And Isaiah 43:25 says, “I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”

Paul says back in our text that He has cancelled out the certificate of debt against us.  That means that whatever sins we have been charged with have been cancelled.  Forgiven.  Expunged.  Forgotten. He says God nailed them to the cross, and Jesus paid for them.  There is a legal term called double jeopardy, which means that you cannot be charged twice for the same crime.  And that is true in the justice of God as well. If Jesus was charged for our sin and paid the penalty for our sin, then it would be unjust for God to charge it to our account as well.  And God is not unjust.  His justice requires that the penalty for sin has to be paid, but His mercy caused His stripes to fall upon Jesus, so that we might be set free.

Then finally, let’s look at the last illustration of the benefits of our salvation and that is found in vs 15. “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

As I indicated earlier, when Paul speaks of the rulers and authorities, he is not talking here about earthly dignitaries, but he is talking about spiritual rulers and authorities. Now he just referenced that Jesus was nailed to the cross to pay the penalty of our sin, but what is amazing about His death that is that though it appeared at the time to be a defeat for Christ, it was actually a victory for the kingdom of heaven. 

In Ephesians 4:9 Paul speaks of Jesus upon His death descending into the lower parts of the earth, that is Hades. Hades is the abode of the dead, which according to Jesus has an upper and lower compartment divided by a great chasm which no one can cross.  Jesus Himself said in Matthew that the Son of Man must go into the lower part of the earth for three days even as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days.  He furthermore said to the thief on the cross that today you will be with Me in Paradise.  Paradise refers to the upper chamber of Hades.

Peter elaborates on what Christ accomplished in Hades in 1 Peter 3:18-22 saying, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, [the] just for [the] unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;  in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits [now] in prison,  who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through [the] water.  Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”

It’s interesting that Peter also alludes to the rite of baptism in that passage as an illustration of our salvation.  But the main point I want to emphasize that is made in this passage is the last phrase; “after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”  Peter is speaking of those fallen angels and principalities and powers of the realm of darkness.  Satan is called the accuser of the brethren.  But our accuser and his satanic hosts have been defeated at the cross.  Jesus broke the power of Satan.  Because the power of Satan is death.

Hebrews 2:14 says “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” 

This victory is the tremendous blessing of our salvation that Christ has accomplished for us, and Paul says that He did so through the cross.  Through His death, He rendered powerless Satan, our enemy.  Paul goes on to refer to the triumph that Christ has accomplished. 

Vs 15, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”  A triumph in Roman times was something like  a victory parade in our country.  But what was unique about a triumph was that they also paraded their enemies as captives in their train.  And so the conquering victors would parade into the city in triumph, In a parade of sorts, with their defeated enemies held captive in the rear, subject to the mocking jeers of the citizens.

That imagery is  what Paul alludes to in this passage, showing Jesus Christ as the victorious general leading His army in a victory parade, and those fallen angels and principalities who are our enemies, our accusers, who went about like a roaring lion seeking to devour us, those same foes are already defeated, their power being broken, awaiting their final day of punishment. 

What tremendous benefits we see illustrated there of our salvation.  And in all these examples, we see that Christ has fully completed our salvation.  We participate, we benefit through faith in what He has done.  But He is the One who has conquered sin and death and given us life.  By faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord we are the benefactors.  We are His citizens.  He is our King, our Victor, our Conqueror. And we as His citizens receive all the blessings of being in His kingdom through His salvation.  In Him, with Him, and through Him.  We have peace with God.  We have the blessing of God. We have life in Him.  

Jude 1:24-25 “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”

Gratitude, Colossians 2:6-8

I suppose they are called influencers.  You tube self help gurus that make millions telling us how we can get fit like them, or successful like they are, or financially independent, or whatever aspect of living that they purport to know better than we do.  I’ve watched a number of them that tell us how you should get up and get going in the morning.  A common theme seems to be walk outdoors barefoot so you can get grounded. Then sit facing the sun with your eyes wide open, no sunglasses on for about 10-15 minutes.  There are a lot of other things that they say you need to do to be like them, but another common theme is to have a time of gratitude. I’m not sure what or to whom you are to show gratitude.  I suppose you just have gratitude towards yourself for being such a cool hipster.

But while I think that type of gratitude is just a form self aggrandizing, I do think there is a Christian virtue of gratitude that we should be striving for in our daily lives. But our gratitude as a Christian is not directed inward, but towards God. Our gratitude towards God for what He has done for us should produce praise, thanksgiving, and a desire to please Him. And so I think in this passage we see Paul stressing that our walk with the Lord is effected by an attitude of gratitude.

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

What I think Paul is referring to is an attitude of gratitude for our salvation.  Gratitude, or overflowing with gratitude, should be the appropriate response of our salvation.  “We love, because He first loved us.”  We respond in gratitude by serving the Lord, and being obedient to the Lord, because of His grace towards us, and because of the life which He gave us.

It’s obvious that our gratitude is to be towards God for our salvation by the context of verse 6, which precedes the admonition for thanksgiving, by saying, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk in Him.”  Receiving Christ speaks of salvation.  As John 1:12 states; “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, [even] to those who believe in His name.” 

Notice that John equates receiving to believing.  And back in our text, actually in vs 5, Paul equates receiving as faith in Christ.  And we know that faith is the means of justification, and justification is the beginning of our salvation.  Ephesians 2:8,9; “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.”

We all know that verse so well, many of us by heart.  But it’s important to also know the next verse, Eph. 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  That echoes what Paul is saying here in Colossians 2:6. “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”

The emphasis in both cases is that salvation is evidenced by your walk. In other words, justification produces a new birth, which results in a new life.  And this new life is spoken of as a walk. So that we walk by faith and not by sight.  We walk in newness of life.  We walk in the good works of God.

The point that Paul is emphasizing here is that justification is not the destination.  It’s the beginning, it’s new birth.  The destination of our salvation is glorification, when we are completed, perfected with a new body and a new spirit in the presence of God.  And the path which leads from justification to glorification is sanctification. Sanctification is our walk.

Another frequently used analogy of salvation is that of the word of God which is compared to a seed, which finds root in us - that’s the believing unto salvation part -then God causes it to grow, springing up into new life, and the life brings forth fruit.  But Jesus said in a parable of the fruit tree, in Matt. 7:19-20  "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”  So salvation is not just indicated by believing, but growing and bearing fruit.

That metaphor of a tree is one that Paul employs here in Colossians 2. He speaks of the need to be rooted in your faith.  Vs 7, “having been firmly rooted [and now] being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, [and] overflowing with gratitude.”

I’m not sure if Paul is mixing metaphors here or if the translators are, but there seems to be in my version at least a transition of metaphors from a tree to a house, “being firmly rooted and being built up and established.”  But if we were to look at it from the perspective of a tree, then it would indicate that there needs to be deep roots if the tree is going to grow up and become mature, to be able to stand, and then to bear fruit.

But if you looked at it from the perspective of a building, it would seem the emphasis is on a firm foundation, from which a temple is built, and established, from which emanates an overflowing of gratitude to God.  And that gratitude we have already indicated results in doing the works of God.

In either illustration, our faith then must be firmly rooted, grounded, a strong foundation from which to build, to grow, to bear fruit.  So what is this foundation of our faith comprised of? Well, the text makes it clear that it is knowing Christ.  In vs 2 it’s “the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”  Christ is the truth of God. He is the manifestation of God.  He is the salvation of God, the Savior of the world.  He is the Lord God.  Faith is believing in the gospel of Christ; in who He is and what He came to do,  what He accomplished, and what He has promised He will do.

Paul says in vs 5, he was “rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.”  There it is again, this emphasis on a stable foundation of who Christ is and what He has accomplished and what He will accomplish. Christ has accomplished our justification and He will one day accomplish our glorification when He comes again as the returning King to claim His kingdom. This knowledge, this faith in Christ is the foundation for our life.  This knowledge and faith in Christ is the root system that produces growth and maturity and fruit in our lives.

And notice that Paul brings all the fullness of the deity of Christ to bear in His name and titles given in vs6. “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”  Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. So Christ as a title encompasses the full doctrine of the Messiah. The Messiah was foretold way back in the Garden of Eden, as the one who will come from the seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent. He was the One promised to be the seed of Abraham by whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. He is the Anointed One promised by the prophets who would be a great light to the nations, and to whom all people would come.  The Messiah is the Savior of the world, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. I don’t have the time this morning to expound the doctrine of the Messiah in all it’s fullness.

But a summary of the Messiah is revealed in Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.  There will be no end to the increase of [His] government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

That prophecy includes another title which Paul gives us here in Col. 2vs 6, which is the Lord. Christ Jesus the Lord.  The Lord is a reference to His kingdom, to the Prince of Peace.  There will be no end to His government. He will sit on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice  and righteousness from then on and forevermore.  The Lord Jesus is king over all the universe and it is an eternal kingdom that has no end.

Paul said in Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”  Our salvation is not only faith in Jesus as our Savior, but confession of Jesus as our Lord. We bow to His authority over our lives.  He is our Government.  He is our King.  He is our Sovereign, and we bow our will to Him, we live our lives for Him, we serve Him as our King.  

Now that constitutes a firmly rooted faith, rooted “in true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”  This is the start of our salvation, the start of our new life.  Knowing Him.  Knowing Christ. That’s what it means to believe in Christ. We are justified by faith in Christ.

Notice something else that is important in vs 7.  “having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed. “ I want to emphasize that phrase “just as you were instructed.”  Just as you were taught.  The foundation of our faith, our walk in faith, and the produce of faith, all are contingent upon the instruction in our faith.  That’s why it’s so important to preach the gospel.  That’s why it’s so important to preach Christ.  Not to preach a social gospel, or a prosperity gospel, or a philosophical or psychological gospel.  But to preach the pure word of God, unmixed, unfiltered, not watered down. Because the deeper our roots go, the greater our fruit grows.

Some time ago I decided to dig a pond and I planned to make a little fountain and raise some koi fish. It will be easy, they said.  It will be fun, they said.  Little did I realize when I started digging that I had planned the pond too close to a large tree in my back yard.  I think I ended up cutting roots more than I dug dirt.

Sometime later I was explaining how difficult that whole process  was to a lady in the church, and she told me that the root system of a tree mirrored the scope of the branches in the tree.  So if I wanted to see how extensive the roots were, I only had to look up and see how expansive the branches were. I had never heard that before.  But I think that is sort of what Paul is indicating here.  As our roots go down deep in our faith, our branches grow up and out resulting in an abundant life of fruitfulness.

Notice that this instruction that we are given results in our faith being established.  Established means to make sure, to confirm.  It means to prove it’s truth.  Being established then indicates giving heed to instruction, which informs our faith, assures us of our faith, and confirms our faith.  Faith is not just wishful thinking.  Faith is not wanting something to be true and so you just imagine it is possible, and hold onto it, and somehow if you believe it enough it will come true.  No, faith is believing in the promises of God.  So when we preach, we preach not some fanciful imaginative thing that we want to believe will come true, but we preach the truth of God, the word of God, and very importantly, the promises of God.  Our faith is founded on the promises of God.  And so it’s important that we preach and teach the promises of God.  And as Peter said, the promises of God are written down for us that they may be a more sure word.

2Peter 1:19 “[So] we have the prophetic word [made] more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”  Paul warns against unfounded promises in vs 18 which we will get to next week, but I reference now as a contrast to the sure promises of God. Vs 18 “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on [visions] he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.” 

So as a counterpoint to the sound instruction that informs and confirms our faith, Paul gives a necessary caution.  He cautions against false promises, empty promises, man made wisdom, which may have the appearance of spirituality, but it lacks substance because it is not founded on the truth of God’s word, but it’s founded on man’s philosophy and the devil’s lies.  If our lives depend upon our faith being true, then it’s paramount that we are discerning as to what is true, what is promised by God, and what is not true, or what is promised by man.

Imagine if you wanted to prepare for your retirement someday, and you were able to set aside a certain amount of money each week for that fund.  And so you asked around for a good investment advisor who could invest your money for you so that you would have enough money to retire someday.  How important do you think it should be for you to investigate that financial advisor thoroughly? How important would it be to make sure you had certain guarantees in writing, and know that the firm you were entrusting your future to were trustworthy? You would be a fool to just blindly trust some guy and hand over your money to someone you randomly found on the internet and not do your research.  And the same is true for your eternal security.  There are a lot of deceivers out there that promise you the moon, claim all sorts of spiritual blessings, and yet scripture does not validate what they say.

So Paul waves a yellow flag in vs 8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”  

Jesus told a parable about wheat and tares which illustrate this principle. In Matt. 13:24-30, “Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.  'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”'"

Now there is a lot in that parable which I cannot take the time to expound upon this morning, but one thing that should be clear is the importance of bearing fruit.  The wheat is the fruit of the good seed which was sown in the field.  Jesus said in another parable that the seed was the word of God, and I see no reason not to interpret that the same here as well.

But what I want you to notice is that He said the enemy came into the field and sowed takes among the wheat while his men were sleeping.  The tares looked like wheat.  His men were not able to discern the wheat from the tares until it came time to reap, which is when the fruit comes to it’s fullness. 

So if the good seed is the word of God, and the seed of the tares is sown by the enemy, then it stands to reason that the seed of the tares is what Paul refers to in Colossians 2 as man’s philosophy and empty deception.  Empty deception is another way of saying empty promises.

Notice that Paul warns about being taken captive by one who teaches this false doctrine.  Satan’s goal is to capture as many people as he can by his lies and deception.  Promising them freedom but they end up being captured and enslaved.  Peter speaks of this type of false teacher in 2Peter 2:18-19 “For speaking out arrogant [words] of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.”  

So our fruitfulness can be hindered by false teaching if we succumb to it.  In fact, false teaching can even provide a false salvation. It looks like the real thing, just like the tares looked like wheat, but the evidence is in the fruit.  So a foundation must be founded on the truth, otherwise, it is a false foundation, and the entire structure is threatened with ruin. I’m not a builder, but from what I know of it if you are off on your foundation, then the whole house will be off, and in fact nothing will work as it should and the structure can end up being condemned.

I’m afraid that is the devil’s strategy in the church.  To mislead, deceive on the basis of empty deception, empty promises that do not give the freedom that they promised, but instead leave you enslaved to sin by a corrupted, false doctrine.

Notice Paul says their false doctrine is “according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”  When I hear that phrase, “according to the tradition of men” I cannot help but think of the Roman Catholic church.  The Catholic church claims to teach  a lot of the same truth that we believe.  But they have added traditions of men in such a way that it overshadows the truth, it conceals the truth, and as a result many people in it may be sincere, they may be zealous, they may be very religious, and yet still be totally lost.  

And unfortunately it happens in evangelical churches as well. It’s possible to water down the gospel and add to the gospel a lot of things that sound good, and are what we want to hear, what we want to believe is true, and yet miss the mark of saving faith.  It’s important that as Paul says, our faith is according to Christ.  According to His word.  According to His gospel.

And the gospel of Christ is simply this; that every man and woman is a sinner, and condemned to eternal death as a result of their sin.  But Christ Jesus the Lord came to save sinners, to give them eternal life by offering Himself as our substitute in death, that by faith in HIs atoning work we might be justified and given the righteousness of Jesus Christ, who is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and who is coming again to take His people to be with Him forever in His Kingdom of righteousness.  

If you believe that gospel, if you receive that gospel, if you have believed in Jesus as your Savior, and confess Him as your Lord, your King, then so walk in Him, walk in His righteousness, walk in obedience to Him, walk in His teaching,  having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, from a heart overflowing with gratitude.  Walk in Him. Bear the fruit of righteousness in gratitude as your response for what He has done for you.  

Hebrews 12:28-29 says, “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;  for our God is a consuming fire.”   Let us close in prayer.