SERIES: The Book of Colossians
TEXT: Colossians 2:6–23
MESSAGE: “Growing in Jesus”

“Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.” — Jerry Bridges

“There were seasons early on when I believed: I have been changed into a new creature. I am fused with Jesus. He loves me and enjoys me all the time. He is maturing me in His way, in His time. I can trust and receive love. Most of the rest of my time I’ve believed: I changed in a legal sense, but not really. He is usually disappointed with me. He expects me to at least try to fix myself. I can’t be trusted or trust anyone else.” ― John Lynch

TEXT: Colossians 2:6-23

“…he shows that ‘receiving Christ’ is not the end but the beginning of life; that foundations exist not for themselves, but to be built upon…At the same time Paul is equally plain in his teaching that all growth and progress in the Christian life must be entirely consistent with its beginnings. We shall need to take this to heart if we want a spirituality that is genuinely Christian, brings glory to God, and no disillusionment to us.” — Dick Lucas

“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.” — Colossians 2:6-7

How does real growth actually happen? Paul gives us three points to hold onto in this passage: (1) Avoid being deceived (2) Alive in Christ (3) A Growth from God

1. Avoid Being Deceived (v. 8, 20-23)

8 “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…20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

“…the appeal of the new teachers owed more to human than divine wisdom. Paul’s sharp verdict is that this much-acclaimed ‘teaching’ is empty of content. Their claims are misleading and untrue. Despite convincing testimony to the contrary…” — Dick Lucas

“Our addiction to control comes out in various ways..It’s the planner who schedules everything… the free spirit who refuses to be bound…the parent trying to control outcomes…We long to be free from the constraints of our past—to exert control over our lives…to not be dependent on anyone or anything else for flourishing.” — Will Ryan

“There was already a deep black wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin.” — Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood

“In times of adversity Satan will seek to plant the thought in our minds that God is angry with us and is disciplining us out of wrath. Here is another instance when we need to preach the gospel to ourselves. It is the gospel that will reassure that the penalty for our sins has been paid, that God’s justice has been fully satisfied. It is the gospel that supplies a good part of the armor of God with which we are to stand against the accusing attacks of the Devil (see Ephesians 6:13-17).” ― Jerry Bridges

2. Alive in Christ (v. 9-15)

“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 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, 12 having 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. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

“Fixing sin is like trying to fix a crimped Slinky…no matter how long you sit, when you get up, it springs right back…neither does sin straighten out by external pressure.” — John Lynch

3. A Growth from God (v. 16-19)
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.”

“This life in Christ is not about what I can do to make myself worthy of His acceptance, but about daily trusting what He has done to make me worthy of His acceptance.” — John Lynch

“God has given us the DNA of righteousness. We are saints. Nothing we do will make us more righteous than we already are. Nothing we do will alter this reality. God knows our DNA. He knows that we are “Christ in me.” And now He is asking us to join Him in what He knows is true!” — John Lynch

TAKEAWAYS: How do we grow? Start by asking yourself:

• Where are you still trying to earn what Christ has already freely given?
• Is something shaping your view of growth more than Jesus—rules, expectations, people, or pressure?
• What would change this week if you truly believed you were already alive in Christ?

“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” — Colossians 2:15