Colossians 2:6-15
We need a solid foundation if we are to grow in our faith
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7, NLT)
Your faith has a
“Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. … You must be born again.” (John 3:6-7, NLT)
But there’s more: you must constantly
Four ways to think about continual growth
“If you’re green you’re growing, if you’re ripe you’re rotting.”
There are many
Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. (Colossians 2:8, NLT)
1st C. faulty foundations
So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. (Colossians 2:16-17, NLT)
“Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) (Mark 7:18-19, NIV)
Rule: If an Old Testament law is fulfilled in Jesus, it is
Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. (Colossians 2:18-19, NLT)
Rule: Beware of people flaunting
21st century faulty foundations
•
•
•
•
You have a false teaching and faulty foundation anytime Jesus is
There is only one
Your
For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. (Colossians 2:9-10, NLT)
“You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” (Augustine)
Your
For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ… (Colossians 2:12-13a, NLT)
What does God see when he sees you? He sees you
Your
He cancelled our
… for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. (Col 2:13b-14, NLT)He defeated the evil
In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. (Col 2:15, NLT)