What Does It Mean To Be Rooted And Established In Your Faith? Defining Colossians 2:6-7
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One of the things I love to do in my quiet time with the Father is look up the definition of words in the Bible in their original language. It always makes scripture more clear and brings out elements I didn’t know were there.
I wanted to share one of those moments with you here. This post is laid out differently than my usual ones, but I hope you enjoy it.
Colossians 2:6-7 NASB
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord:
This isn’t a half-hearted, “oh thanks for the thoughtless gift,” kind of receiving.
Received:
In the Greek, received means to aggressively take, take (receive) by showing strong personal initiative. We receive by CHOOSING Him. Not half-heartedly, but with everything in us.
This receiving also includes, actively taking what belongs to you in Christ because of His finished work on the cross as a part of our walk with Christ (Eph. 1:17-23).
So walk in Him:
Walk in the Greek means to walk around in a complete circuit. It has an emphasis added to it that says to keep on doing this as an ongoing lifestyle.
Continually, daily, as part of your everyday life, walk in a complete circuit with Jesus. You started in faith, love, and grace; finish in faith, love, and grace. You started your walk by receiving Christ as a gift (Eph. 2:8). Finish your walk knowing everything He’s given you because of His finished work is a gift (Gal. 3:1-3). Everything we have is a gift.
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Having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him:
Rooted:
Rooted means to cause to take root. The emphasis asks you to imagine the ongoing result of the finished action.
Our root is our foundation. It’s what everything else is built on. Deep roots will give us a strong foundation to withstand the elements, the trials, and challenges of life. A weak root will be pulled out when the simplest of problems arise.
Our foundation is Christ. It’s the finished work of Christ. It’s the belief in what He did. It’s understanding the love of the Father (Eph. 3:17-19). It’s knowing we are in Him and He is in us (1 John 4:13). It’s grasping nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:31-39). It’s understanding we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:21). All the works are a fruit of our relationship with our Savior, our Father and the Spirit of God (Gal 5:16-26).
Built-up:
Emphasizes close conformity between what is built and its specified foundation
What we build on top of the foundation needs to closely conform to what the foundation is built of. We started with faith, love, and grace, we build with faith, love, and grace. The finished product will be full of faith, love, and grace.
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Established in your faith:
Established:
Properly, to walk on what is solid (reliable, guaranteed); emphasizes what is "for sure" (can be completely relied upon). The Lord confirms what He wants believers to rely on through faith. This relates to God confirming to believers what is for sure and hence where He wants them to "walk with all their weight down."
You have matured to the point that your trust in your Father is so sure you can put your full weight on Him knowing He won’t let you down (Matt. 11:28-30). He is true to His word.
Overflowing with Gratitude:
Overflowing:
Exceed, beyond the expected measure
Gratitude:
Literally, "the giving of thanks for God's grace."
Overflowing with gratitude is giving God excessive thanks for His grace (Eph. 2:8-9! Thanking Him beyond what is expected because He went beyond what was expected to bring you His grace (Heb. 12:2 ; Eph. 3:20)!!
Summary:
To sum it all up, we receive by purposefully choosing Christ and taking what He’s provided for us. Continue in this walk daily. Our walk is a circuit, we started in faith, love, and grace; finish the circuit of our lives in faith, love, and grace.
Jesus Christ is our foundation, it all starts with His faith, love, and grace, the finished work of the cross. This foundation will help our roots go down deep so we can withstand the elements or storms of life. Once our foundation is established, now we can build our lives from the same material our foundation is built from–His faith, love, and grace.
With a solid foundation and our lives built on His faith, love, and grace, we can mature to the point that we trust our Heavenly Father fully. So fully, in fact, that we rest the entire weight of our lives on Him, trusting He won’t let us down.
Now it’s time to profusely thank Him for His grace that saves us, sustains us and renews us.