Introduction
Today we have the fourth in our series of ten sermons from Paul's letter to the Colossians. The sermons are expository, meaning that their content is determined by the text rather than using the text as a pretext for saying something else. I do not include all the verses in the epistle, choosing instead to pay more attention to key passages. However, each time the key passage is examined, it is understood in its context. It will help me if you read the text for the sermon beforehand. You will help yourselves, and fill in the gaps, if you take time to read the whole epistle in one go - in about 20 minutes. While waiting in line - at the bank, or the dentist? Today we focus on only two verses - but how rich they are! Colossians 2:6,7.

As you started, continue
The Christian life is a continuation of our first response to Christ when we were converted. "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him…". In the same way that you first responded to Christ, continue to do so every day for the rest of your life. "Live in him" is literally "walk in him." Ordinary, daily life is what Paul means. Sleeping and waking, eating and washing, going to school or to the office, working or studying, taking the bus or the jeepney, buying fish and groceries, taking care of children, interacting with people - family and friends, neighbors and relatives, colleagues and classmates - spending money, watching TV, and so on. Whatever constitutes our usual day. In all these circumstances and relationships we walk with Jesus, we live in him. "Walking with Jesus…"

You received Christ Jesus as Lord
Did you notice that Paul does not say "you received Christ as your personal Savior," the common expression evangelicals use? Paul uses almost the same words as here in 2 Cor. 4:5, referring to apostolic preaching: "For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake." Receiving Christ as Savior and receiving Christ as Lord: what's the difference? In 1959 a Christian magazine called Eternity published a debate on the question: "Must Christ be Lord to be Savior?" One side said No. The writer said that the response of faith is to trust Jesus as Savior. We are saved by grace and we must ensure that grace is understood as free! To insist on the lordship of Christ at conversion is to allow through the backdoor a doctrine of salvation by works. The other side said Yes. The response of faith trusts Jesus as Savior but also yields to him as Lord. Jesus himself warned would-be disciples to count the cost of commitment (Mark 10:17-22; Luke 9:57-62). Conversion includes both faith and repentance. These are two sides of the same coin. "Repent!" said Peter on the Day of Pentecost and those who received his word are called believers (Acts 2:38; 2:44). To turn from sin (repentance), and to embrace the Savior (faith), are the same movement. We turn 180 degrees, from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18). How can we be saved from sin if we don't let go of our sin? I am categorically on the Yes side of the debate. That is what our passage says. We received Christ Jesus as Lord.

Saying Yes to Jesus is like marriage
The best illustration I know to explain the response of faith, what it means to receive Christ as both Savior and Lord is marriage. Since the husband-wife relationship is used of Christ's relationship to the church (Ephesians 5:21-33), we may understand every believer's response to Christ as the response of a bride to her groom. First, she must be convinced he is true, particularly that he is single! Second, she must be willing to trust him - to believe his promises, to take him at his word. Third, she must entrust herself to him, commit her life and future into his hands. Mind, heart, and will are all involved. This does not mean she understands all the implications of her commitment. After all, love is blind and marriage is an eye-opener! But there should be no question about her commitment being wholehearted and sincere. And it is for life. The big Yes of the Wedding Day is followed by daily yeses for the rest of her life. Like receiving Christ Jesus as Lord…and affirming that commitment every day.

Yes to Jesus means No to false teaching
Saying Yes to Jesus means saying No to sin. It also means No to false teaching, to the Colossian heresy. We say No to the hollow, deceptive and man-made philosophy of the Colossian heretics and their modern counterparts. We reject their understanding of pleroma as the totality of spiritual beings that mediate between the holy God and the material universe. The pleroma, the fullness of deity dwells in Christ in bodily form (Col. 2:9). This Christ disarmed all the powers and authorities when he died on the cross; he triumphed over all of them, making a public spectacle of them (Col. 2:15). We say No to ascetic practices, New Moon festivals, and Sabbath regulations that have an appearance of wisdom but lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence (Col. 2:16-23).

Three metaphors
When we faithfully, every day, continue to live in Christ (walk with him) our faith will become steadfast, strong, and stable. Paul uses three metaphors to describe such faith. First, we are rooted in Christ. Second, we are built up in him. Third, we are strengthened (or established, RSV) in the faith. Paul mixes his metaphors and each of them speaks of strong stable faith. Together, the picture is even more powerful.

The Christian life is like the work of three professionals. The farmer or horticulturist. Do we have one here? The builder or engineer. Do we also have one here? The lawyer or Attorney-at-law. Do we also have a lawyer? Solid, steadfast, strong faith is like a mango tree with deep roots in one place. It cannot be uprooted even by Typhoon Yoling or an ordinary earthquake. When the storms of life come, the believer who is rooted in Christ will remain steadfast and strong. Such faith is also like a building made of steel and concrete. It is not yet finished (the tense is present progressive in contrast to rooted which is once-for-all) but it will also withstand typhoons and earthquakes. What building should we think of to be faithful to our picture? The DBC building! Such faith is also like a legal document, a contract signed by two parties and confirmed by a legal luminary, Atty. Jovito Salonga. Strengthened, says NIV; established, says RSV; confirmed, ratified, or sealed is what Paul means. Strengthened in the faith makes reference to instruction in the faith, probably given at baptism (cp. V. 12). Our initial response to Christ is linked to baptism, which is also a good occasion to clarify that response. I ask three questions of people I baptize. Q1: Do you confess having received Jesus as Savior and Lord? Q2: Do you understand that in baptism you are united to Christ in his death and resurrection? Q3: Do you promise henceforth to die to sin and walk in newness of life daily, by the power of the Holy Spirit? If we daily trust and obey, we will be rooted in Christ, be built up in him, and established in the faith. One wonderful consequence follows.

We overflow with thanksgiving
When we continue in what God has started, and walk with Jesus our Savior and Lord everyday, we become stable in our faith. Not like a roller coaster, but like a steady marathon runner. We are like a tree with deep roots, a solid unshakeable building, and a legal document ratified by a lawyer. We will also overflow in thanksgiving. Stable faith is not a matter of grim determination and dogged perseverance, or of boundless optimism. We do not root ourselves in Jesus, or build ourselves up in the faith, or confirm the legal document ourselves. Ours is but response to God's initiative. He is the God of all grace. Our confidence is not in ourselves; it is not in our faith. Our faith is in God who chose us even before the world began. Here is a lovely picture from 63:8. "I cling to you," says the psalmist, "Your right hand upholds me." "Underneath are the everlasting arms," said Moses (Deut. 33:27). Let us rejoice in the God of all grace. Let us overflow with thanksgiving!