As preached by Timothy O'Day.
True spiritual life and maturity come through Christ alone, so...
1) Abide in Christ (6-7).
2) Don't be duped by counterfeit spirituality (8, 16-23).
3) Be captivated by the fullness of Christ and his work (9-15).
Spiritual Life and Maturity in Christ Alone
Colossians 2:6-23
April 7, 2024
FOMO, Social and Spiritual
I had a friend in college who was perpetually noncommittal. You probably had one as well, or you were the friend because this kind of behavior isn’t rare. When he was invited to something, he would reply, “Yeah, maybe.” Such a response sounds innocent enough, but it hardly ever deviated. He was the perpetual maybe. He struggled to commit because if he said yes to one thing, then he would be obligated to attend. The problem with this obligation was the fact that something he wanted to do more might come up, which was likely during college life. Things happen spontaneously.
I believe the hip people call this phenomenon “FOMO,” fear of missing out. While annoying, FOMO is innocent enough socially, but it is absolutely deadly spiritually. Spiritual FOMO looks like saying maybe to everything because you want to collect a little bit of everything. Another word for this is syncretism. Syncretism takes a little bit from one belief and a little bit from another and mixes them together to get the benefits of all the sources. It is spiritual FOMO, and Colossians 2:6-23 addresses it head-on.
Spiritual FOMO in Colossae
As we’ve talked about, in this epistle the apostle Paul is addressing a church he does not personally know, but he does know that they face the threat of false teaching. One of his coworkers, Epaphras, made the gospel known in Colossae and told Paul of their faith, love, and hope, but also about the false teaching that threatened the church. Paul labored in Chapter 1 to communicate the superiority of the Son and all of the benefits that we have in him. In light of these realities, in Colossians 2:6-23, Paul gives an exhortation followed by warnings with an explanation against the false teaching in Colossae. The exact nature of the false teaching is hard to detect, but it appears to be a kind of syncretism that blends aspects of Judaism (notice Sabbaths, festivals, and food laws) with Pagan systems (praying to angels for protection, insisting on asceticism, moving beyond mere initiation in Christ).
The basic idea of this section is this: true spiritual life and maturity come through Christ alone, so…
Abide in Christ (6-7)
While Paul will give warnings in this passage, he begins on a positive note in verse 6, telling us what we are to do before warning us about what to avoid.
What are you to do in light of all that he has said about Christ in Colossians 1:15-2:5? Dig deeper into Christ as you received him.
“Received” is a keyword in verse 6. At times it seems to have a technical meaning in Paul’s writings, referring to accepting something officially given, like tradition passed on from him or the gospel itself. Here, “Christ” is the one who is received, but they received him in a particular way: as Christ and Lord. These two terms that modify Jesus look back at what Paul has already communicated.
Jesus is the Christ, meaning he is the one who was promised in the Old Testament and the one who makes all of the promises of God make sense. It is through Christ that God really can forgive sin. It is in Christ that God’s people experience the true Exodus. It is in Christ that the Gentiles can be brought in, and on and on. All of the promises of God are Yes in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).
And Jesus is Lord, meaning that he is the Creator and sustainer of the universe; moreover, he is the redeemer and, as God-man, the King of the Kingdom of God in the new creation. He has all authority in heaven and on earth. Obedience to him, then, is not optional. He does not give suggestions or advice; he gives commands.
This is the one in whom Christians are to “walk,” meaning live our lives. We are to live in light of the fact that Jesus is Messiah, bringing all of God’s promises, and he is Lord, the master of our lives. Life in Christ is life learning and growing in what it means to enjoy and submit to his Lordship and promises.
We are to dig deeper into who he is, what he has done, and all of the benefits we have in him.
How to Abide
Verse 7 lays out four statements on how we are to do that. These statements seem to come in pairs.
First, we are to be rooted and built up in Christ. This is a mixture of agricultural and construction metaphors. To be rooted in Christ carries this image of our roots going deeper into the soil that is Christ. To mix in even more metaphors, in Christ, we are like trees planted by the stream of living water, shooting our roots deeper into the life that he gives. This is similar to what Jesus tells us in John 15, which we read earlier. There Jesus tells us that we have life in him; he is the vine, and we are the branches. We have life because we are connected to him, and we have life only as we are connected to him. Growth happens as we remain with him.
“Built up in him,” turns to a construction analogy. It is another way of visualizing being rooted in Christ. As stones are used to build a house, they are laid on a foundation. For the church, Christ is that foundation. As we come to him, we are built on the foundation of Christ. God is building the church into something beautiful, a place of worship and a place to reflect his glory. But this only happens as we depend and remain with Christ.
Second, we are to be established in the faith just as we were taught and abound in thanksgiving. Being rooted and built up in Christ also leads to being established—firmed up—in the faith. By digging our roots deep into Christ—as he is presented through the preaching of the apostles, which we have in the Bible—then our faith is firmed up. You will know what you believe and be strengthened in your faith in Christ.
Likewise, you will abound in thanksgiving as you are rooted and built up in him. Why is this the case? When you focus on Jesus Christ, digging deeper into him, depending on him, you will think of him all the time. And when you think of him, you will necessarily meditate on his work, the good news of the gospel. And in reflecting on the gospel, you will be confronted anew with the fact that you are a sinner who once delighted to rebel against God. You were his enemy, but while his enemy, he gave his Son to die the death you deserve so that even though you deserve hell, you will never experience it. Eternal life and joy await you, not because you deserve it, but because God, in his kindness, desired to give it to you.
Since that is the case, how could you not abound with thanksgiving even on the hardest of days? When you walk in Christ as you receive him, then:
“When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say
“It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
Dig Into Christ and You will Show Christ
Christian maturity is growing into the likeness of Christ. God is maturing those who are in Christ, and he does so by conforming us into the image of our Creator, meaning God the Son (Col 3:10). That’s what maturity looks like, Christ.
And you will come to imitate those you are around and those that you admire. So set your focus on Christ. One way we do this is by digging deeper into Christ as we receive him in the Bible. Meditate on Christ and delight in Christ, his person and his work.
But also notice that all of these calls (be rooted, built up, established, and abounding in thanksgiving), are plurals in form. These are not things that you are merely to do; we are supposed to do them together. Our roots are to go deep together; we are being built up together into God’s spiritual house; our faith is established together; and we are to abound in thanksgiving together.
So, brothers and sisters, let’s walk in Christ together and dig deeper together.
My the words of Patrick, the missionary to Ireland, be our words:
“Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.”
This happens by digging deep into Christ. But there is a real threat to our doing so, which is our second point:
Don’t Be Duped By Counterfeit Spirituality (8, 16-23)
Verse 8 brings us to the first of 3 warnings. The call-in verse 8 is to “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.” This is a general version of the warning that comes up in more specific form in verses 16 and 18, in which the specifics about the false teachers are stated.
The language in verse 8 should catch our attention. Most likely, you do not consider your thinking as something that can be captured because we think that we have a tight grip on what influences our thinking, but in reality, we do not. You are deeply influenced by your surroundings, what people around you desire and admire, and the cultural trends of your particular moment.
This fact can be discerned as you think about the issue of slavery. Most people today in the United States would probably say that if they were alive in the early 1800s, they would have been abolitionists. But in the early 1800s, it is estimated that only 2% of Northerners identified as abolitionists. There were perhaps more people who did not like slavery, but they were not willing to stand up for its demise. It was simply unpopular and countercultural to do so.
Yet, today, we would all agree that American chattel slavery was an absolute tragedy. We are more susceptible to outside influences than we care to admit.
Our thinking can be captured, so we must beware of the capturing of our minds to think in ways that do not accord with Christ.
What is Empty Philosophy?
What are you to avoid? It is termed in verse 8 as “philosophy and empty deceit,” but this most likely refers to one thing and not two as one article governs both of these things in Greek. So it is referring to a system of thinking that is built on deception, not philosophy in general. The reason this philosophy is empty and deceitful is because it is in accord with human tradition, meaning it finds its origin in the human mind and in the worldly system that is opposed to God. Likewise, it is in accord with the elemental spirits of the world, which is a strange phrase.
This was a common phrase during the time of Paul, however, and it referred to the fundamental components of the universe, like air, water, fire, and earth. But these elements, in Pagan thinking, were associated with spiritual powers because they tended to make material objects into divine figures.
Just consider how Israel was warned about not doing this in Deuteronomy 4:19:
“Beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allowed to all the peoples under the whole heaven.”
God had to give this warning because people in the ancient world were tempted to give spiritual significance to material objects. And, as you see in verse 20, noting that the false teachers tell people not to eat certain things because they equate a spiritual significance to these material objects.
The Real Danger
While not expressly laid out in verse 8, when looking at this warning and the description of the false teachers in verses 16-23, what is of note is that they did not expressly reject Christ. They just taught that you needed some additional teaching to be spiritually fulfilled and wise.
It is easy to spot lies that outright reject Christ. It is harder to spot lies that simply tell you Jesus is wonderful, but you need to add something a little bit more.
Why is this so tempting? Verses 16-23 help us understand why by detailing what the false teachers did and why they did it.
Verses 16 and 18 tell us what they were saying and implying. They were judging people and condemning them for not adhering to certain spiritual practices. Verse 16 shows us that if you did not abstain from certain foods or practice certain holy days, then these false teachers would judge you.
They did this because, as verse 17 notes, they confused good ordinances in the Old Testament, like food laws and festivals, as things that needed to continue in practice to be right with God. But in reality, these things pointed to Christ, so now that he has come, they need no longer do such practices.
But they insisted on these things, as verse 18 makes clear, disqualifying anyone who did not do as they did. They would practice asceticism, thinking that having a strict and disciplined diet and lifestyle made them more spiritual and mature. This asceticism most likely included fasting, which would be used by them to have visions that they most likely used in their teaching. They would venerate and worship angels in the hopes that these angels would ward off dark spiritual powers.
And the end of all of this was pride, as the end of verse 18 notes, for in practicing these things and thinking that they made one more spiritual and holy, they looked down, judged, and disqualified anyone who did not copy them, puffed up without reason by the sensuous mind, meaning a mind focused on the things of this world.
But in taking on these practices, these people left Christ, for they no longer depended on him for spiritual life. They thought they found it in their own practices apart from him. But verse 19 reminds us that true maturity comes as we are connected to Christ and in the community of the church. Christ is the one who animates and brings maturity by union and dependence on him, and the church is the primary means he uses to do it. It is a growth that comes from God, but only as the body is nourished and knit together.
This leads to the final words of this passage. In light of what Christ has done, if one is really in Christ, Paul has a final question in verse 20, “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations?” Regulations that, as verses 21-22 make clear, are grounded in human tradition and teaching.
And then verse 23 gives us a warning and helps us understand why this could be so tempting: these things have the appearance of wisdom. Why? Because they promote “self-made” religion, not meaning made-up religion but self-chosen religion. That is to say, it is religious practice that is severe on the body but chosen by the adherent. It looks wise because it looks disciplined.
But these practices have no real value because they do not stop the indulgence of the flesh. It appears disciplined, but it isn’t. It appears holy, but it isn’t. The heart must be changed if one is to be holy, and only Christ can change your heart.
The promise of the false teachers seems to be that if you follow them, then you can overcome temptation and become more spiritual than others. But the reality is this: if you lose focus on Christ, you may grow in discipline, but you will not grow in holiness. You will only grow in self-reliant pride.
This brings us back to why this way of thinking can be so captivating: it makes us feel better about ourselves by making us appear better than we are. We can even make it sound holy, “Christ has already done so much for me. I am really finally going to get my act together to honor him as he deserves,” but instead of digging deeper into Christ, we look elsewhere for tips on discipline. We dive deeper into self-effort, not Christ. And when self-effort is the key to holiness, the self receives your glory and praise.
This is the philosophy behind every false religion. It is easy to spot examples of discipline and apparent wisdom in every religion. Perhaps you even look at people in Islam, Mormonism, Judaism, and the like and think, “They are such good people.” They have the appearance of wisdom, but it is only on the service. Real spiritual wholeness and maturity come only in Christ because he is the only one who can change our hearts.
Leaving, augmenting, or denying the foundation of Christ does not strengthen you. It only weakens you. You need to go deeper into Christ, and you do this by seeing who he is and what he has done, which is where verse 9 takes us to our next point.
Be Captivated by the Fullness of Christ and His Work
The only way you can evade capture from empty philosophy is to be captivated by truth. And this consists of thinking in accord with who Jesus is, what he has done, and what that means for us. Let's look at each in turn:
Who Jesus Is
Verse 9 lays out the reason you should see to it that you aren’t taken captive:
“For in him,” that is Christ, “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Notice the totality in that statement. “The whole fullness.” Colossians 1:15-17 stresses the reality that God the Son is the creator and sustainer of the universe, meaning that he himself is by nature God. Then 1:19 stated that in Christ “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” Paul reiterates the statement here to say that if you want to have a full spiritual experience, you need not look anywhere else other than Christ.
In Christ, God himself has come to us. There is no room for improvement or authority. And, if you are in Christ, then you are filled in him as verse 10 says. Not that it does not say that you will be filled or that you are being filled. You have been filled.
And filled with what? Christ himself, by his Holy Spirit, and he is the head of all rule and authority, meaning that he is the authority of authorities; the King of kings; the Lord of lords.
You’re like a cup submerged in the ocean; that is who Christ fills you. All that he is fills you, yet he remains so much more than you.
What does that mean for you? Simply this: if anyone comes to you and says that you need something besides Christ in order to have spiritual fullness, you should laugh in his or her face. False teachers will say, “You’re missing out on real spiritual fullness.” They may say that you need to speak in tongues if you are really going to be spiritually mature. Or they will tell you that you need to listen to the modern prophet if you want to fully have Christ; or that you need another Testament, a particular diet, a fasting regimen, or to know your enneagram number, or a Sabbath style that pleases God.
But the logic of verses 9-10 declares over us that if you have Christ, then you have spiritual fullness and life.
What Jesus Has Done
But how do you have this fulness? Verses 11-15 lay it out for us by describing the work of Christ for his people. The phrase that is repeated in this section, “in him,” refers to what is true of a person when they are “in Christ,” that is united to him by faith. When you place your trust in Christ, you receive his Spirit and are counted as united with him. Thus, what is true of him is true of you.
Since this is the case, the work of Christ is not some abstract teaching that we need to memorize. It is what Christ accomplishes but then imputes to us. Christ does it, but we gain it. These verses tell us what we gain and show us that there really is nothing lacking in us anymore. In fact, in Christ we are dead to sin and the powers of the earthly realm and instead fully alive with Christ in God. There are several images that this death and life are communicated in verses 11-15.
First, circumcision is used to communicate that Christians have new desires. This is what is meant by verse 11, “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.”
In the Old Testament, circumcision was what marked Israel as belonging to God. Yet the Old Testament also used circumcision as a metaphor for what really needed to happen to God’s people. They did not need mere circumcision, but a circumcision of the heart (Deut 10:16; 30:6), meaning that what they really needed was a change in their sinful hearts. They needed their hearts of stone to be turned into hearts of flesh. By saying that in Christ, this happens. In Christ, we are circumcised, but not the kind of circumcision that happens with human hands; instead, it is circumcision that is spiritual, without hands. And in this circumcision, the body of flesh is put off—meaning the desires of sinful flesh. This is what is called the circumcision of Christ. When Christ gave himself up on the cross, he established the New Covenant by his blood. The promise of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
By the work of Christ, those in Christ have sinful desires cut from them and the law of God written on the heart. This does not mean that there is no temptation to sin and no desire for sin, but a shift takes place. In Christ, we desire to obey and actually can obey.
Second, death and resurrection language is used to communicate new life. This is what is meant in verse 12. The circumcised heart comes because one has been “buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Paul is not equating baptism with circumcision in this verse, but he is equating baptism and the circumcision of the heart. In other words, baptism is the act of identification with Christ in his death and resurrection and the outward mark of the inward reality of heart circumcision.
And note what must be operative in this baptism: faith. Let me just simply note that this passage is a wrong argument for credo-baptism, for it is by faith that we are counted as buried and raised with Christ, not merely the act of baptism itself. Baptism, apart from the faith that God powerfully raised Jesus from the dead, is not baptism.
It is faith in the powerful working of God. This is not merely faith that God raised Jesus from the dead, although it is as we see at the end of the verse. But the resurrection of Jesus is just one demonstration of the power of God in which we have faith. Therefore, it is also faith that he is animating new life in me by his Spirit. I do not live in my power. In Christ, I live in the power of God. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now at work in me to propel me toward righteousness.
Third, debt language is used to communicate full forgiveness. This is what we see in verses 13-14, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all of 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.”
Apart from Christ, every single person is spiritually dead because we have no spiritual vitality and life on our own. Neither do we have hope, for we sit under God’s condemnation. This death rests on all humanity because we have all sinned. Therefore, what we need in order to have a new heart and new life is forgiveness, the removal of our debt.
In these verses, Paul pictures our sin as a debt on a ledger. This makes sense because every single one of us was created to glorify God, yet each one of us has gone our own way. In other words, you were made for obedience and, therefore, owe God obedience.
When you sin, you incur debt against God, resulting in eternal death and condemnation. But on the cross, Jesus carried this ledge of debt on his body. He served himself as payment, undergoing God’s wrath in the place of sinful man, and thus, canceling the debt—wiping it clean—with his blood.
Can you imagine this ledger? Just think of what a ledger with a record of all your sin would look like. Every lie, moment of lust, disparaging thought, boastful statement, sexually immoral act—all of it listed on one ledger. You would be ashamed to stand in front of us and read it off.
It is this record that Jesus takes on his body to the cross and wipes clean by placing himself under the legal demand required: God’s wrath.
Every bitter thought, every evil dead
Crowning his blood-stained brow
This the power of the cross
We Stand forgiven at the cross.
Fourth, triumph language is used to speak of the defeat of evil spiritual forces. This is what we see in verse 15. At the cross, God disarmed the demonic rulers and authorities by triumphing over them in Christ. The reason spiritual forces have sway over anyone is because of sin. Outside of Christ, a person’s heart is captured by sin, so demonic forces can have their way regarding temptation. Outside of Christ, a person is subject to fear and guilt because of sin, so death and judgment can be used to torment.
But in Christ, we have new hearts and new power in our lives through the Spirit of God; in Christ, we have full forgiveness, so no claim over us can be intimidating. In Christ, then, we do not have to fret about placating evil spirits. In Christ, we are safe.
None Greater
Do you see, then, that if you have Christ, you are spiritually full? You lack nothing and have all you need in Christ. It is by remaining captivated by his fullness that you are protected from promises of syncretism and leaving Christ
Those in Christ Do Not Miss Out
The world is full of empty promises and empty philosophies. Don’t fall for spiritual FOMO. No one and nothing is greater than Christ, who is the creator, sustainer, and redeemer. In him, you have the fullness of God
As we come to the table this morning, we get to remember that from his fullness we receive grace upon grace. As we take the bread and the cup, we remember that we were alienated from God, rightfully under his wrath, but because of the person and work of Christ, we are given all in him.
And you do not have to miss out on him. He welcomes all who come to him, confessing and renouncing sin, and clinging to him alone for life, forgiveness, and freedom. If you have yet to follow Christ, trust him today. I and any other Christian here would love to talk to you about that. Do not miss out on the gift of himself that he offers you.