"living Under The Lordship Of Christ"

Verse 6 in this passage gives us some significant instruction, in that we are told that the secret to living the Christian life is the same as the secret to beginning the Christian life.

We begin the Christian life by acknowledging the Lordship of Christ.

“It is vital in this connection to notice how the apostles preached the lordship of Christ. The word ‘Savior’ occurs only twice in the Acts of the Apostles (5:31; 13:23), on the other hand the title ‘Lord’ is mentioned 92 times, “Lord Jesus’ 13 times, and ‘The Lord Jesus Christ’ 6 times in the same book! The gospel is: ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’” - Ernest Reisinger

We continue in the Christian life by learning to live more and more under the Lordship of Christ.

In verse 7, Paul shares with us the characteristics of the believer who is living under Christ’s Lordship.

1. Their life is centered around the person of Christ - “rooted and built up in Him”

The tenses of the two verbs used by Paul here are significant.

“Rooted” is a perfect participle. This conveys the idea of something which took place in the past, but whose effects are still experienced in the present. The idea of the Christian being “rooted” therefore, refers to our initial encounter with the living Christ wherein we trusted Him for our eternal salvation and entered into a personal love

relationship with Him.

The Bible teaches that once a person is saved by acknowledging Christ as Lord of their salvation, they are saved eternally.

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” - John 10:28-29 (NIV)

Since I have believed on Jesus, I am safe in His hands; and over His hand is the Father’s hands; and to even get their to try to pluck me out of the hands of Jesus and the Father, the Devil is going to have to swim through the blood of Jesus by which I have been provided an eternity’s worth of forgiveness. And that’s too great a distance for the Devil to swim!

“Built up” is a present participle. This conveys the idea of something that is being constructed in the present.

This is an obvious reference to our growing in our surrender to every area of life to Christ’s Lordship, which, interestingly enough, is yet another guarantee that once a person is saved, they are saved eternally.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” - Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

2. Their life is growing in the knowledge of Christ - “strengthened in the faith as you were taught”

A. The disciplines of the faith.

Like prayer, confessing sin, yielding to the Spirit, Bible study, hearing God and obeying, worship, service, fellowship, and witnessing.

B. The doctrines of the faith.

In the responses to article appearing on a Facebook post, “Only Half of Kids Raised Southern Baptist Stay Southern Baptist,” one person said, “Churches need to forget doctrine and teach the Bible.” But one cannot learn the Bible and ignore doctrine.

When people repeat sayings like “Christianity is a life, not a doctrine;” or “I don’t need theology. Just give me Jesus;” or “No creed but Christ;” or “Deeds, not creeds;” they’re either buying into a cultural distaste for claims to absolute truth or pushing back on what they see as a dry, academic approach to the Bible. Such statements reveal a misunderstanding of what doctrine is. 

Biblical doctrine defines the parameters of Christian teaching on topics such as God, sin, salvation, etc. You cannot study the Bible and not learn doctrine, nor should you want to. For to study doctrine is to learn truths for the purpose of embracing them in our lives.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine . . .” - 2 Timothy 3:16a (NKJV)

It does matter what you believe.

C. The defense of the faith.

It is not enough to know what you believe, you should know why you believe it. We shouldn’t be afraid to explore the “whys” of our faith. Christianity is a common-sense, reasonable faith. You do not have to check your brains at the door in order to be a Christian.

D. The dynamics of the faith.

Too many Christians are living a compartmentalized faith. They are applying their faith in some areas of their life but not every area. But living under the Lordship of Christ requires that I allow my faith to impact and transform every area of my life.