Introduction
It was Easter Sunday in 1976.
I attended an Easter Sunday Evening Worship Service at St. John’s Methodist Church in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
During that worship service, I heard the good news about God’s grace, found only in Jesus Christ.
I knew myself to be a sinner and destined for hell for eternity.
During the sermon, the preacher, the Rev. George Irvine, pointed me to Jesus Christ.
Jesus paid the penalty for all my sins.
He credited me with his perfect righteousness.
I believed in Jesus and received him, his love, and his forgiveness.
I walked out of that sanctuary that night a new creation in Christ.
My life was changed, and I have never been the same since that wonderful night.
Just as I received Christ Jesus into my life, he has grown me in him.
That was almost 50 years ago, and I am still growing in Christ.
The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians.
They were relatively new Christians.
False teachers were showing up in Colossae and tempting these new Christians with spiritual add-ons, religious upgrades, and mystical enhancements.
They were being told that it was fine to begin with Christ.
But they needed more.
Paul’s answer is simple and stunning: You never graduate from Christ!
The Christ who saves you is the Christ who sustains you.
The Christ who justifies you is the Christ who sanctifies you.
The Christ you receive is the Christ who grows you.
Scripture
Let’s read Colossians 2:6-7:
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.
Lesson
Colossians 2:6-7 shows us how believers grow in Christ.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. Continue in the Christ You Received (2:6)
2. Cultivate the Walk Christ Gives (2:7)
I. Continue in the Christ You Received (2:6)
First, believers grow by continuing in the Christ they have received.
Paul writes in verse 6, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.”
Verses 6-7 occupy a central place in Paul’s letter to the Colossians.
They serve as a hinge between what has already been written and provide the basis for the attack on the false teaching that is coming (8-23).
Paul begins with the foundation of the Christian life: “You received Christ Jesus the Lord.”
That is justification.
The sovereign Father takes hold of sinners and unites them to Christ.
You did not receive Christ by your own wisdom, willpower, or wisdom.
The Apostle John says you were born “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).
Paul says in Ephesians 2:8–9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
The reason you are a Christian is because of God’s grace.
You are the recipient of God’s pure, undeserved, and sovereign grace.
Augustine of Hippo’s justification illustrates the grace of God.
Augustine was not seeking Christ.
Rather, Christ was seeking Augustine.
Augustine was tormented by his sins, particularly his sexual sins, and so he went out into his garden in Milan, Italy, in the summer of 386 AD.
There he heard a child's voice say, “Tolle, lege!” which means, “Take up and read!"
He took a Bible, the pages fell open to Romans 13:13-14, and the gospel of Christ pierced him.
There he read, “ Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
Years later, Augustine wrote of Christ, "You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness."
Augustine received Christ because Christ first received Augustine.
Paul’s logic is beautiful, as he continued to write: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.”
The way in is the way on.
The Jesus who saves is the Jesus who grows you.
Remember that Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Paul sternly rebuked the Galatians for forgetting this truth when he said in Galatians 3:3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
My dear Christian, when you were justified by faith, you were united to Christ.
You are in Christ.
And it is only in Christ that you grow as a Christian.
That is why Paul encouraged the Philippians when he said of Christ, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Philippians 1:6).
The Christian life is not self-improvement; it is Christ-empowered transformation.
John Newton, the former slave trader turned pastor and also the author of “Amazing Grace,” kept a simple motto above the desk in his study: “Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable.”
Newton believed that the Christian life was lived by constantly looking to the grace that saves.
He once said, “I am not what I will be, and I am not what I ought to be, but by the grace of God I am not what I used to be.”
Newton walked in Christ the same way he received Christ—by grace.
So the Christian life begins with Christ.
And the Christian life continues in Christ.
II. Cultivate the Walk Christ Gives (2:7)
And second, believers grow by cultivating the walk Christ gives.
Paul writes in verse 7, “rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
Paul now describes what Christ is doing in those who walk in him.
He does so by using four participles that give us four different images.
These are not four tasks that we perform.
Rather, there are four works that Christ performs in us.
And yet they shape how we live.
Let us look at each in turn.
A. Rooted in Him (2:7a)
First, believers walk in Christ by being rooted in him.
Paul writes in verse 7a, “…rooted…in him.”
This is agricultural imagery.
The verb is passive.
If you are a believer, God has rooted you in Christ.
Your life draws nourishment, stability, and identity from Christ.
Psalm 1:3 speaks of the believer as “a tree planted by streams of water.”
In Brickworth, England, stands an ancient oak tree near All Saints Church, over a thousand years old.
It has endured storms, wars, droughts, and centuries of change.
Its secret to its longevity is not in its branches but in its roots—deep, unseen, and anchored.
So it is with the believer.
Your stability in life lies not in your own grit, determination, or performance, but in your union with Christ.
Storms may batter you, but they cannot uproot you.
Why?
Because you are rooted in Christ.
You are drawing your strength and nourishment from him.
You are learning from him through the ministry of his word.
You are speaking with him in prayer.
You are communing with him in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
You are finding that the ordinary means of grace are an incredible source of nourishment for you.
That is how Christ helps you with every trial, storm, and difficulty that comes your way.
B. Built Up in Him (2:7b)
Second, believers walk in Christ by being built up in him.
Paul writes in verse 7b, “…built up in him.”
Now Paul shifts to architectural imagery.
The verb is present passive: God is building you up.
You are a construction project under divine supervision.
Paul told the Corinthians that Christ is the foundation of the building (1 Corinthians 3:11).
He also told the Ephesians that the church is “being built together into a dwelling place for God” (Ephesians 2:21-22).
You are aware that we would like to expand our building.
We are running out of space in both our sanctuary and our classrooms.
And we have no gathering place or fellowship hall.
We want to add a gathering place or fellowship hall.
And some of us are rightly concerned that it might take many years before we have sufficient funds to build an extension.
Do you know how long it took to build cathedrals in the Middle Ages?
Medieval cathedrals often took centuries to build.
Generations worked on them, some laying foundations, others raising walls, others carving windows.
No one saw the whole project, but each stone mattered.
A man once walked past a building site and saw three stone masons, sweating over their work in the hot sun.
He asked the first, “What are you doing?”
“Laying bricks,” came the reply.
He asked the second stone mason, “And what are you doing?”
“Building a wall,” came the reply.
Then he asked the third mason, “And what is it you are doing?”
“I am building a cathedral to the glory of God.”
Sanctification is like that.
Slow.
Steady.
Beautiful.
Christ is building something glorious in you.
Don't lose sight of what Christ is doing in you as he builds you into a beautiful building for his glory.
C. Established in the Faith (2:7c)
Third, believers walk in Christ by being established in the faith.
Paul writes in verse 7c, “…established in the faith.”
This is structural reinforcement.
The verb is a present passive: Christ is establishing you in faith in him.
The Greek word for “established” (bebaioo) means “confirmed,” “strengthened,” or “stabilized.”
We have a beautiful picture of the first-century church in Acts 2:42, where we learn that “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.”
Believers were attending to the means of grace that God had provided for their growth in Christ.
They were reading, studying, memorizing, and applying the word of God to their daily lives.
Paul urged Timothy to “follow the pattern of the sound words” (2 Timothy 1:13).
He was to study the word of God and make sure he rightly understood, interpreted, and applied it to his life and teaching.
Doctrine is not dry; it is stabilizing.
Truth is not optional; it is structural.
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge spanned the Tacoma Narrows Strait of Puget Sound in Pierce County, Washington.
At the time of its construction in 1940, it was the third-longest suspension bridge in the world.
It was a beautiful bridge that opened on July 1, 1940.
However, just over four months later, the bridge collapsed.
The bridge collapsed because it lacked proper reinforcement.
Engineers learned that beauty without stability is disaster.
A beautiful structure must be strengthened with stabilizers.
So must the Christian.
Emotional zeal, without doctrinal depth, collapses under pressure.
Christ establishes believers in the faith.
D. Abounding in Thanksgiving (2:7d)
And finally, believers walk in Christ by abounding in thanksgiving.
Paul writes in verse 7d, “…abounding in thanksgiving.”
This is the only active participle: we respond by abounding in thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is the appropriate response to the overflow of God’s grace in our lives.
Paul told the Thessalonians to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
And the Psalmist proclaims in Psalm 136:1a, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.”
Paul reminded the Colossians that God has firmly “rooted” them in Christ, and that he is continuing to build them up in him (see 1 Corinthians 3:6-11) and strengthening them in the faith they were taught.
Even now, God is mightily at work in them so that, under Christ’s lordship, they are to be “abounding in thanksgiving.”
Christ is more than sufficient to meet the dangers that arise from false teaching.
Paul exhorts them to continually conform their thinking and way of life to Christ’s teaching.
Thanksgiving is the atmosphere of the Christian life.
Thanksgiving is the antidote to pride, legalism, and anxiety.
The Puritan, Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661), was imprisoned for his faith.
He wrote letters to friends and family from his prison cell that were so full of joy that Charles Spurgeon called them “the nearest thing to inspiration outside Scripture.”
Rutherford once wrote, "I am drowned in Christ's love. He has no dry wells."
Even in chains, he overflowed with thanksgiving.
A believer who is rooted in Christ, built up in him, and established in the faith cannot help but run over with thanksgiving to Christ.
In a sermon titled “A Consistent Walk for Time to Come,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon gave the following illustration:
There are two children of one parent, and the father says to them, “One day I intend to give you both a toy that has been the object of your ambition for a long time.”
Well, the older of the two boys sits down and calculates that the present will be expensive, and he begins to doubt whether his father can afford to buy it.
He remembers many times when he has offended his parents or broken their commands, and therefore, he doubts whether he shall ever have it, for he feels that he is unworthy.
For this reason, he goes around the house without joy or confidence.
If anybody asks him whether his father will give him this present or not, he says, “Well, I—I hope so. I trust so.”
Now, there is his little brother, and the moment he heard that he was to have this present, he clapped his hands and ran out to his companions, and said, “I am to have such-and-such a thing given to me.”
His brother checked him: “You are too presumptuous to say that.”
“No,” said the little one, “for father said he would give these toys to us.”
“But,” said the other, “remember that you and I have often broken his commands!”
“But he said he would.”
“Oh, but the thing is expensive!”
“But father said he would. And unless you can prove that my father tells lies, I will go and rejoice in the bright hope that he will keep his promise.”
Now, I think that the younger of the two is less presumptuous than his brother, for certainly it is a high presumption for a child to doubt the truthfulness of his parent.
No matter how excellent your reasoning may seem to be, and how clear it may be to the eye of the flesh, it is always pride to doubt God.
And to believe God, though to the carnal mind, which never can understand the bravery of faith, it may look like presumption, is always a badge of the truest and most reverent humility (C. H. Spurgeon, “A Consistent Walk for Time to Come,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 53 [London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1907], 125).
Conclusion
Paul gives us a beautiful picture of the Christian life.
A Christian is planted deep in Christ, progressing upward in Christ, proven steady in the faith, and overflowing with thanksgiving.
This is not a life we manufacture.
It is a life that Christ forms in us as we continue in him.
In 2010, thirty-three miners in Chile were trapped 2,300 feet underground after a catastrophic mine shaft collapse.
For 69 days, they lived in darkness, heat, and uncertainty.
Engineers and rescue teams work tirelessly above the ground, drilling through solid rock to reach them.
It was all over the news, and I remember watching the latest updates frequently.
And then—after weeks of drilling—a rescue capsule finally broke through the rock.
When the time came, each miner was told something profoundly simple:
“There is only one way out. Trust the capsule. Step inside. Don’t try another path.”
They didn’t design the rescue.
They didn’t improve the rescue.
They didn’t supplement the rescue.
Their job was to entrust themselves to the rescue provided and keep following the instructions that brought them safely home.
Friends, that is exactly what Paul is saying in Colossians 2:6–7.
You received Christ Jesus the Lord by faith—helpless, dependent, and trusting in the rescue God provided.
And the way you began is the way you continue.
Walk in him.
Root yourself in him.
Be built up in him.
Be strengthened in the faith you were taught.
Overflow with thanksgiving.
The miners didn’t start by trusting the capsule and then finish by digging their own way out.
And you don’t begin the Christian life by grace only to continue it by self-effort.
Your rescue is Christ.
Your strength is Christ.
Your growth is Christ.
Your stability is Christ.
So as you go into this week, resist the temptation to climb out on your own.
Don’t look for another path.
Don’t try to supplement what Christ has already finished.
Step again—every day—into the rescue that saved you.
Walk in him.
Root yourself in him.
And let your life rise to the surface, overflowing with thanksgiving. Amen.
