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Guest (Female): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we're passionate about helping you understand God's word and apply it to your everyday life through clear, practical Bible teaching. That's why we invite you to sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional. You'll receive biblical encouragement, ministry updates, and exclusive ministry content, all delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick, easy, and completely free. Visit connectwithskip.com today. That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: First of all, he wants their hearts knit together. There's nothing better than a church that is unified. Nothing worse than a church that is divided. But there's nothing better when Christians get together, love one another sincerely, authentically, helping one another out. And the reports I hear from so many people in the community including Love Day and the things that we do throughout the year is the love that is apparent through this flock. Nothing better.

So he says that their hearts would be knit together in love, but attaining to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both the Father and of Christ. Now, we've already told you what a mystery is. A mystery is something that was hidden in the Old Testament but revealed in the New Testament. And we've already covered what that is. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. And it is the fact that Jew and Gentile would be in the same family. No walls, no divisions. That's the mystery.

This was a word that group, that mystical, legalistic, pre-Gnostic group used to use a lot. "We'll teach you the mysteries of God. We'll initiate you into certain practices and give you a certain knowledge you couldn't get anywhere else." Paul basically is saying baloney, because he says in Christ, verse three, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

The Gnostics were saying you need wisdom, you need knowledge, we can give you those things. Jesus was a good start. He's a good stepping stone to maturity, but you need more, and we will give you more. Paul said, actually, if you have Jesus, you have all that you need because in Jesus Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

If you were to look at Jesus in the flesh, you'd think he's just another Jewish man. He didn't look any different than anybody else. He didn't have a halo, he didn't glow, he didn't hover over the ground. He was God, but he was veiled by human flesh. So the treasures of wisdom and knowledge were in him, but it was hidden. He has no form or comeliness that when we look at him, we should desire him, Isaiah the prophet said.

But hang around him a little bit. Get close to him. Listen to him, and then you'll figure it out. Like the times he knew exactly what people were thinking. It says, "And Jesus knowing their thoughts." He had all knowledge. He was omniscient. He had all wisdom. He knew exactly what to say. They marveled at his answers because he spoke so much with incredible wisdom. "Never a man spoke like he spoke," they said. In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Now, this I say, verse four, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. Who would that be? These Gnostics, these false teachers that have come into their congregation. Lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words, for though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Now let's unravel that just a little bit. As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, verse six, so walk in him. When Paul uses the word "walk" like this, he's referring to living your life, living a lifestyle. A walk is a lifestyle. The Christian walk is a lifestyle. It's not just coming forward, raising a hand, acknowledging you were raised in a certain kind of church with a certain kind of belief system. A walk is a daily manner of life. That's how Paul uses the word.

So go back to chapter one and look at verse 10 of chapter one, part of his prayer for the Colossians. In verse 10, "that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him and being fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God." That's a lifestyle. Then he mentions it again here in chapter two, "As you have received Christ," chapter two, verse four, "Jesus the Lord, so walk in him." Then look over at chapter three, verse six, "Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience in which you also once walked when you lived in them." You see, a walk is a lifestyle.

And then in chapter four, we'll close with this last little verse—not close the Bible study, close the thought—verse five of chapter four, "Walk in wisdom," that is, let your life be filled with wisdom and live a wise life. "Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time." So, the Christian walk. A lot of people start really well, but then something happens. They stop. They stop coming to church, they stop reading their Bible, they stop hanging out with Christian friends. They had a good start, but then they stop.

So he says, "You've received Jesus Christ as your Lord." By the way, I think that is a good description of a person coming to Christ. I like this language better than "Have you accepted Christ as your savior?" I'm not a fan of that terminology. I'd rather say "Have you received Jesus Christ as savior?" because you don't actually accept him. The truth is he accepts you. He's doing the accepting, you're doing the receiving. It's the free gift, you receive it. As you have received Christ, now walk in him, rooted and built up in him, verse seven, established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

A couple of things to make a note of. The word "walk" is in the present tense. It denotes a continuation of activity. It's not like, "Yeah, I used to walk with Christ," or "I made a decision for Christ." It's a present reality. So here's the first little point. If you want to have a successful walk, keep moving forward. If you stop going forward, you're going to slide backward. The Christian life is like riding a bicycle uphill. As soon as you stop pedaling, you go backwards. Keep moving forward or you're going to slide backward.

And then the second thing to make a note of in verse seven is if you want to grow up, you first need to grow down. Rooted in him, verse seven. Put roots down, deep roots. Why do you need roots? Because winds come, storms blow, and if you don't have deep roots, you'll become a Christian tumbleweed. I've met a lot of Christian tumbleweeds, haven't you? Just sort of blowing around from place to place, experience to experience. They're not rooted.

The fruit of any tree is directly related to the root of that tree. If you want fruit, you need root. So get rooted in him, go down deep in him, and then the fruit's going to come, the fruit's going to abound. To grow up, you first need to grow down. So you've received Christ, that's awesome. Now live a life, walk in him, rooted, built up in him, established—that's the good root system—as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Here's the warning: Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. Philosophy is a good word. There's nothing wrong with philosophy as long as it's rooted in the right place. Philosophy comes from two words, phileo or philos, and then sophia. It just means to love wisdom. Nothing wrong with that word, loving wisdom.

But if you are seeking for wisdom in every place but Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, you're going to end up in idolatry. I remember my first few weeks of college. I had just become a Christian. And now all these professors are dazzling me with their knowledge and their philosophies, and I was taken by it. It wasn't exactly what I had just come to believe is true. In fact, they were in some cases trying to dismantle my belief system. But they were impressing their students.

And so Paul knows this is going to happen. He just gives out the warning. Beware lest anyone cheat you. The word "cheat" means to take you captive. Or here's a better translation: Beware of those who would kidnap you spiritually. Spiritual human traffickers. There are people who come into churches for the purpose of finding the weak and vulnerable believers that they can sway into their system. They're not out evangelizing, leading people to Christ, heathens to Christ, pagans to Christ. They want to find Christians in churches who are just struggling.

Beware, he writes. That's part of the warning, warning every man back in chapter one. Beware lest anyone cheat you, take you captive, hijack your faith through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. This always bothered Paul. When Paul went to Ephesus for the last time, he was on the way to Jerusalem. He had spent three years there, he left, and then he went back.

Actually, he went to Miletus and the Ephesian elders came to meet him in Miletus. Paul was on the way to Jerusalem, as I said. He gathered the elders together and he said, "You know, for three years I've warned you day and night with tears. I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in, not sparing the flock. Even from among your own selves, men will rise up, stealing away disciples after themselves." He saw that coming. He warned them then, and he said, "I warned you for years day and night." Now he's warning the church at Colossae of the same thing.

But back to Christ in verse nine, for in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, or in bodily form. In him, in Jesus Christ, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And here's the great verse: "You are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power." Verse nine is one of the strongest and clearest affirmations of the deity of Jesus Christ. The Bible doesn't say Jesus is God. Really? Which Bible are you reading? Jesus never claimed to be God. Really? Just read the red letters. You can't escape that claim. It's everywhere.

And Paul knew it, and he said, "In Jesus Christ dwells all the pleroma." Remember that word from last week? You may or may not remember it. The word "fullness" is pleroma. That was a favorite word of these Gnostic heretics. The pleroma was all the fullness of the Godhead. But, said the Gnostics, the pleroma of God has been distributed to all the many emanations that went out from God. Jesus is one of those emanations. He has part of that glory and part of that shadowing.

But the fullness of God has been distributed among all these different emanations and Jesus is only one. Paul says, "Actually, you're wrong. In Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of God in a human body. And if you have him, he's all you need. You are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power." So the Gnostics were saying Jesus is a good start, we want to complete you. Paul says, slap! If you have Jesus, you are complete.

I love how a born-again Jewish person describes his or her experience. They call themselves completed Jews so often. I'm complete. I've come into the awareness of the messianic promises on a personal basis. I'm a completed Jew. And I am a completed Gentile. And so are most of you. You might some of you might be Jewish, but you're complete in him. You have him, you have all you need.

In him, verse 11, now he's going to deal with some of these rituals. In him, in Christ, you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off of the body of sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in which you were raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. Jewish circumcision happened to the male Jewish infant on the eighth day.

On the eighth day, a male foreskin is circumcised, but it meant it was a sign. It was supposed to be an outward sign of an inward reality. That this family is dedicating this son to God as an affirmation that this person is going to live a spiritual, not a fleshly life. Cutting away of the flesh was a symbol of cutting away of the fleshly life. So Paul says the Gnostics were saying you need to be circumcised. Remember I said it was a combination of Roman polytheism, Greek mysticism, Jewish legalism.

One of the things they said you had to do is to be circumcised, oddly. But they did. Paul says, "If you're in Christ, then you're circumcised." The cutting away has been done and it's been done inwardly, which was, by the way, always, always the meaning of circumcision. You see, Jewish people were getting circumcised, but there came a time where they just saw it as a badge of honor. "I've gone through the ritual of circumcision, so I'm good. I'm good. I'm saved. I'm right with God because I've been circumcised." Just like a person says, "I'm good. I'm right with God because I've been baptized." But the physical sign should point to an inward reality.

So in Deuteronomy chapter 10, even Moses said to the children of Israel, "Circumcise therefore your hearts and be stiff-necked no longer." It's not about outward ritual, it's about inward reality. So in Christ, the reality is you were circumcised. He doesn't say, "I think you should get circumcised." He said, "You already were. You were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by the putting off of the body of sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God who raised him, who raised Jesus from the dead."

Baptism is also an outward sign of an inward change. Baptism is a representation of death and burial and then resurrection. So we take the person, we put them under the water, full immersion. That's the New Testament form of baptism. We don't sprinkle them, we don't get a hose and spray them, though it would be quicker and easier. But we take the person and put them all the way under the water because it's a symbol of death, burial, and then after a minute or two, after a second, we bring them right back up. You died, you were buried, you were raised. That's a symbolism of baptism.

So you've been circumcised, buried with him in baptism, outward sign of an inward change, raised through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. Verse 13, and you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. This is very similar to Ephesians chapter two. "And you has he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world." You were dead, now you're alive. He quickened, he made you alive.

This is an important designation. The unbeliever isn't just spiritually sick, the unbeliever is spiritually dead. And why is that an important designation? Because if he's just sick, then maybe he can do something to get himself better. Maybe some self-help formula, some therapy will help. But if he's dead, well, he can't improve his condition. The only thing that can cure a dead person is a resurrection.

If you went into a funeral home, how odd would it be to try to carry on a conversation with a corpse? There'd be no response. The corpse is insensate, unable to sense anything. Can't hear, can't speak, can't feel, and cannot improve his or her condition. You don't get less dead or more dead or mostly dead. You're dead. You were dead. But you being dead, he has made alive together with him, the one who rose from the dead, having forgiven you all your trespasses.

This is why before you were saved, you would look at this book and you'd go, "I don't get it. I read this book and it's weird. I don't understand it." You're right. You don't understand it. It's spiritually discerned, Paul said to the Corinthians. The natural man does not receive the things of the spirit because they are spiritually discerned. So you were dead, now you're alive. He rose, you rose. He circumcised you, you were buried with him in baptism, and just as Jesus rose from the dead, Paul is saying emblematically and in reality you have a brand new life. New relationship with him, new status.

He describes it further, verse 14, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Guest (Female): Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Now, here's how to pre-order an exciting resource from Pastor Skip that's coming next month. What if you could understand the big picture of the Bible in just a few minutes each day? Well, this brand-new book from Pastor Skip is just what you need. In Soaring Above It All, Pastor Skip Heitzig shares a one-year devotional journey through scripture that's clear, practical, and spiritually encouraging. Pre-order your copy today wherever you buy books.

Before we go, remember, your generosity helps share God's word with people around the world through clear verse-by-verse Bible teaching. And this month, when you give $50 or more, we'll send you Expound Colossians as our thanks. In this five-message study, Pastor Skip explores one of the Bible's clearest pictures of the supremacy of Jesus Christ and shows how being rooted in him changes the way you live every day. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.