Latest / Reformed Thinking / Christ the Fullness: Walk in Him, Refuse Captivity (Colossians 2:6–10)

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Christ the Fullness: Walk in Him, Refuse Captivity (Colossians 2:6–10) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to the Deep Dive, a production of reformed thinking.
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This is the place where we take the sources you give us.
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We try to synthesize the key insights.
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The goal is always to take knowledge.
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They can sometimes feel, well, a little academic or just
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overwhelming, and distill it into something clear and usable
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for the actual challenges you might be facing.
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And today, the source we're taking on is it's a powerful
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one. We're looking at the letter to
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the Colossians, specifically chapter 2, verses 6 through 10.
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We're going to do a deep dive into this particular passage
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because it gets right at the heart of what might be the
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single greatest, most constant struggle the church faces in
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every single age. It was that it's the temptation
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to look for spiritual maturity, or for security, or for fullness
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somewhere outside of Christ alone.
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That core tension. I see what you mean.
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It's the danger of being offered more than Christ.
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You see it everywhere. The kind of spirituality that
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often sounds quite, you know, sophisticated.
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It can feel intellectually appealing.
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Maybe it even promises better results than the simple gospel.
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But it always, always ends up starving the soul.
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And it does that because it subtly tries to push aside the
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absolute sufficiency of Jesus. Every generation of the church
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gets tested on this exact point. Precisely so.
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Our mission in this deep dive is to really grasp the arguments
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Paul is using here. He's giving us a kind of
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blueprint for stability and for spiritual freedom.
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He explains that they're found only and that's the keyword only
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in clinging to Christ's all sufficient person and work.
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We need to walk away from this discussion with some practical
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discernment tools. Tools for what specifically?
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For identifying and then refusing those rival wisdoms,
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all those systems out there that try to add supplements to the
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gospel we've already received. OK, let's unpack this then.
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We can start with the initial instruction in verse 6, which as
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you said, sounds deceptively simple but is absolutely
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critical As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.
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This isn't just, you know, some nice advice.
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Paul is making an assumption here.
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He assumes the Colossians genuinely receive the living
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Christ by faith, Not just a philosophical idea, not just a
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list of ethical teachings, and certainly not just a passing
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religious mood. They received a person.
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And because they received a person, we have to look very
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closely at the full title Paul uses.
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He doesn't just say Jesus, he says Christ Jesus the Lord.
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And that's not accidental. It's not redundant.
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It's a a deliberate layering of titles to capture the full scope
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of the Savior. Why?
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What's the point of that layering?
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Well, it prevents the believer from shrinking him down for
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making him a more manageable size.
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So if we break that title down, what does each part of that
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identity signify for how the believer is then supposed to
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walk? Well, it covers everything.
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It covers his offices, his humanity, and his sovereignty.
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So first, he is Christ. That's God's promised, anointed
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Redeemer. This speaks to the entire Old
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Testament context. He's the fulfillment of all the
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covenant promises. He's the one God designated to
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bring about salvation. OK, so that's the what?
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The office. Right second, he is Jesus, the
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Incarnate Savior who actually entered human history.
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This confirms his true humanity, his specific historical actions,
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his life, death, resurrection. This keeps us from turning him
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into a myth or just some abstract cosmic force.
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He's a real person in a real place.
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A real person. And 3rd, and this is so crucial,
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he is the Lord, the sovereign King who owns our allegiance and
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commands our obedience. This speaks to authority.
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If he is Lord, while then the believer has no independent
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authority. Our life is entirely under his
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jurisdiction. That layering makes the point
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about consistency incredibly strong.
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If we received him at the very beginning as the anointed,
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Incarnate Sovereign King, then he has to remain all of those
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things for the rest of our lives.
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Yes, this sets up a massive principle.
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Then Christianity is not Christ to get in and then something
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else to go on. Christ has to be the door, the
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foundation, the structure, and the roof.
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He's sufficient from the moment of justification all the way
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through to final glorification. Absolutely.
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If Christ is fully sufficient for our acceptance with God for
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saving us from sin and death, He must also be fully sufficient
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for the life we're commanded to live after salvation.
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The whole point of Colossians 2 is that you can't just introduce
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some new spiritual mechanism after you've already received
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Christ. And that leads us right into
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that next phrase. So walk in him.
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The walk metaphor is just so fitting for sanctification.
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But I think we often miss why? It's not a Sprint, it's not
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standing still, and it's definitely not some kind of
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ecstatic flight. You've hit on the key
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distinction there. A walk signifies a whole life
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pilgrimage, and it's made-up of steady, ordinary, repeated steps
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all in the same direction. It's about daily fidelity.
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The mundane. Yes, the mundane.
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It means getting out of bed, facing your ordinary duties, and
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carrying out repentance and obedience.
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In the small things, the stress is on duration and direction,
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not on, say, velocity or some dramatic spectacle.
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I find this walk concept is so helpful for checking modern
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spiritual distortions because it pushes back hard on 2 very
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pervasive errors and the first error has to be pragmatism.
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Oh yes, the culture around us is just screaming do what works,
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just get results. And it wants you to measure your
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life by visible influence or tangible outcomes.
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But Christ says walk in me. A different standard entirely.
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A completely different standard. The measure of genuine maturity
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is not mere effectiveness or influence, or even how intense
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your emotions are. It's measured by a life that is
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ordered in Him, and that means a life that is obedient to His
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revealed will, regardless of what the visible results might
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be. If the way you live your life is
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dictated by outcome metrics rather than adherence to Christ,
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you've replaced the walk with a program.
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And the second error it rebukes is this restless mysticism.
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There is this constant spiritual itch, this desire for some
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secret knowledge or private revelation or some spiritual
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high that makes the plain, ordinary gospel feel, well, too
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basic, insufficient for the mature believer.
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That is the defining temptation of the false teachers in
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colisee, the lure of higher knowledge.
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And Paul completely avoids pointing the church to some
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hidden ladder above Christ or some secret technique or
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spiritual hack. Instead, he points them straight
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back to the very Christ they already received.
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He's saying go back to the beginning and continue that way.
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So the Christian life is not Christ followed by.
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Followed by Gnosticism. It's Christ.
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Followed by more of Christ. So if we shift our spiritual
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confidence, even just a little, from the finished work of Jesus,
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from what he has already done, to say, our latest experience,
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or a strict regimen we're following, or some special
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insight we think we've gotten. Or the charisma of a leader.
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Right. Or that then we are not
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advancing. That's the very definition of
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this spiritual drifting Paul is warning against.
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It is the subtle displacement that's the real danger.
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We don't necessarily stop believing in Christ, but we
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start trusting in the supplement.
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We begin to gauge our standing with God by how well we perform
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the supplement, rather than by relying entirely on the Lord
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Christ. And this is where it gets really
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compelling because Paul then expands the picture in verse 7.
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He uses a cluster of of vivid images to describe what this
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daily walk actually looks like, is rooted and built up in him
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and established in the faith, just as you were taught.
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These aren't just decorative phrases, are they?
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They feel like practical checks for spiritual help.
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Oh, they are. Let's analyze those metaphors,
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starting with the first one rooted.
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This is powerful agricultural language.
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The Christian is not supposed to be a cut flower, you know,
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placed in a vase for a week, destined to wilt as soon as the
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novelty wears off or the water runs dry.
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No. We're meant to be a.
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Tree. A tree whose roots go down deep
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into Christ himself. And those roots serve a couple
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of functions. I think we often focus on the
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feeding aspect, but the stability is just as critical,
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especially when we face cultural pressure.
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That's right. Roots perform 2 vital
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simultaneous functions. They hold you.
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They give you stability when the cultural pressure rises, when
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doubts start to whisper, when suffering shakes your
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convictions, and when temptation flatters you and tries to pull
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you out of the ground. And then they feed you.
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And yes, they also feed you. Christ is the nourishment of the
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soul, His person, His promises. His perfect righteousness is
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ongoing intercession. That becomes the very sustenance
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we draw up and that results in life and fruit.
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If your root system is shallow, you will collapse when the wind
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picks up. Then we shift to the next image
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build up. This changes the metaphor to
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something architectural. Trees grow, you could say
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organically, but buildings are raised deliberately, stone upon
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stone, according to a blueprint. That's the key contrast.
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Paul's point is that Christian growth is structured and
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deliberate. It's not random or haphazard.
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And this structure happens through what we call the means
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of grace. Growth is not magic, it's
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methodical. How does that deliberate
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structure look in the context of the daily walk?
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It looks like this truth is learned and wrestled with
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through faithful study of Scripture.
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Prayer is practice not just as an emergency tactic, but as
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essential communion. Obedience is repeated even when
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it's hard. Sin is actively put to death,
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not just passively tolerated. Worship is prioritized above
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convenience and fellowship with the body of Christ is embraced.
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These are the stones. These are the stones being laid
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one upon the other, resulting in a robust structure.
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It guards against this idea that spiritual growth is just
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spontaneous or accidental. And the third image established.
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This suggests firmness confirmation.
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The believer becomes resistant to persuasion.
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That's the outcome of the 1st 2A believer who is rooted and built
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up becomes firm, not easily fickle.
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They become anchored, not easily impressed, by persuasive or
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clever speech that sounds wise but has no real substance, which
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is the very thing the Colossians were facing.
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There's a comfort in that. There is, and the comfort here
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is that God is at work and His people in this process.
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While sanctification is commanded effort, it is a walk.
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It is fundamentally not self salvation.
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Our confidence remains in Christ's sustaining grace
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through the entire process of growth.
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Now Paul ties all this stability directly back to specific
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content, he says, just as you were taught.
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This suggests that spiritual stability is impossible without
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clear, specific doctrine. It absolutely does.
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Maturity is not measured by how many new cutting edge ideas you
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can collect. It's measured by how firmly you
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are grounded in the received Apostolic doctrine.
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The content has to be the gospel that was entrusted to the
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Church, the objectively revealed truth, not just subjective
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sincerity or good intentions. I think we need to linger here
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for a second. This requirement for specific
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taught doctrine. It immediately exposes all those
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systems that are trying to smuggle in their necessary
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supplements. Yes, because they always begin
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by saying the initial teaching was incomplete, whether it's
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legalism trying to introduce man made rules as necessary badges
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of holiness, or some system of addition ISM that functionally
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places other authorities, tradition, inner voices, modern
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prophets alongside Christ's word.
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Or even something like therapeutic moralism.
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Or a modern therapeutic moralism that replaces redemption with
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self improvement and self esteem.
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The effect is the same. It shifts the believers footing
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away from the single source of truth and stability, which is
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Christ alone, to something unreliable.
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And Paul provides this powerful spiritual diagnostic that
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reveals where our footing truly lies, he says, abounding in
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Thanksgiving. Why does he pinpoint gratitude
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specifically as the spiritual diagnostic here?
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That seems a bit counterintuitive if the stress
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is on walking and working. That connection is just so
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significant, and it's essential to reformed thought.
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Gratitude isn't decorative, it is actively protective against
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error. A heart that genuinely abounds
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in Thanksgiving is confessionally stating that
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Christ is already sufficient. It's a statement of faith.
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It is, it says I have received the fullness of God in Christ,
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therefore I am content. A thankful Christian is
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exceptionally difficult to recruit into any Christ Plus
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scheme because they acknowledge they already have everything
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they need right now. So ingratitude is really just
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restlessness dressed up. Exactly.
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If the believer is restless, if they're bored with the ordinary
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gospel, dissatisfied with the ordinary means of grace, if
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they're impatient with the slow, ordinary steps of growth, that
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ingratitude is the first crack in the foundation.
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Spiritual restlessness makes us extremely vulnerable to the lure
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of the new, the spectacular, or the demanding.
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Well, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, by contrast,
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confirms that I stand in a righteousness that is not my
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own, and from that settled gratitude flows patient
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endurance. That strong foundation in
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walking doctrine and Thanksgiving sets us up for
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Paul's second, equally urgent imperative in verse 8, which is
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the command to watch. See to it that no one takes you
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captive. The urgency of vigilance is just
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so clear. Paul uses very strong language
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here. The Christian life is never a
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leisurely stroll through neutral territory.
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It is a pilgrimage through contested ground, requiring
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active watchfulness every single step of the way.
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And the term takes you captive is not mild language.
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This is plunder terminology. It is.
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It means kidnapping or carrying off as spoiled, or being LED
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away as a prisoner of war. This clarifies the true nature
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of false teaching. It's not simply an alternative
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opinion to be sampled or tolerated in the name of being
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open minded. False teaching is a spiritual
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cage. It locks the soul back up.
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It robs it of the liberty that Christ purchased.
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And that command see to it requires active discernment from
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everyone. This isn't just the elders Job.
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No, it's a corporate responsibility.
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Elders must guard the flock, teachers have to test every idea
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against Scripture, and individual believers must
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motivate personal wisdom. The tragedy we often see today
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is not that people are too zealous for truth, but that they
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are far too casual with error, too easily impressed by
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charisma, too slow to ask whether a teaching is truly
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according to Christ. They confuse complexity with
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depth. Or popularity with.
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Depth. Paul when immediately names the
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instrument of captivity, philosophy, and empty deceit.
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He's clearly not condemning careful, legitimate thought or
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the proper use of human reason. What specifically is he
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condemning here? He is condemning a system of
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thought that is fundamentally empty, deceitful.
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It's hollow at the center because it's system does not
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deliver Christ Himself. Any worldview or spiritual
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structure that tries to answer the big questions of life and
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death, purpose and standing with God without the crucified and
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resurrected Lord at its center is in the end, hollow.
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So there's a huge contrast here. True wisdom, the kind we see in
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the rest of Scripture, begins with reverence for the Lord, and
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it bows before revelation. Right.
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But counterfeit wisdom, which Paul identifies here, begins and
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ends with man. It edits revelation to fit what
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seems plausible or attractive or convenient to the human mind.
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And the common denominator for all these errors, regardless of
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what mask they wear, is that they promise some form of
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fullness or stability while at the same time cutting the soul
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off from the only source of true saving, fullness.
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They are selling a remedy they do not possess.
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Let's unmask the sources Paul sites for this deception.
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Source A is according to human tradition.
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We need to clarify this because churches have to have
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traditions. How they do communion when they
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meet, What songs they sing? When does a helpful tradition
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become deadly spiritual deception?
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That's the critical dividing line.
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Human tradition becomes spiritually deadly when man made
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rules are promoted from mere preference or from practical
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order to spiritual necessity. They cross the line when they
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are treated as actual marks of holiness or as benchmarks of
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true acceptance with God. This is the seedbed of legalism.
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Can you give us an example of how merit is subtly smuggled
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back in through that Ave. It happens every time a person
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measures their own spiritual standing or the standing of
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others by externals. For example, dictating specific
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rules about clothing, or demanding adherence to cultural
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taboos, or creating elaborate standards for diet or leisure
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time that go beyond the clear moral law of God.
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People begin boasting in their adherence to these man made
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standards, these spiritual badges, or they start looking
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down on others who don't adhere. So they're using the rules to
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quiet their conscience. Yes, often unconsciously,
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they're trying to quiet a conscience that only Christ's
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perfect righteousness can truly satisfy.
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Tradition becomes additionism when it's treated as having
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equal authority with the Word of God.
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And source B. According to the elemental
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principles of the world, the Greek word is stoichia.
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This is a term that really needs careful explanation for the
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modern listener. What exactly are the stoichiya?
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This is one of the densest Greek words in the passage.
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It literally means basic elements or ABC's.
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In Paul's context, it referred partly to elemental spirits that
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were believed to govern the physical world, and also to the
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basic human invented ABC's of religion and moral control.
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You can think of them as systems designed to make spirituality
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predictable and manageable by human effort.
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So the Stoichiyas are essentially the self help
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program of religion. How do they fundamentally
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conflict with the gospel? They conflict because they are
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systems that teach. You can earn or attain your
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standing by following precise, manageable steps.
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They say keep these rules, master this technique, follow
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the specific regimen, and you will achieve spiritual fullness
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or control. And the conflict with the gospel
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is absolute. How so?
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The world of Stotia says earn your standing by following the
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steps. Christ says receive my standing
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by grace. The world says climb the ladder
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through method. Christ says abide in me.
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The world says you must pay your entrance fee.
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Christ says it is finished. The Church is always tempted to
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trade the offense of grace for the pride and predictability of
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a spiritual program, and that is precisely where captivity
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begins. This brings us to the clear,
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simple and ruthless standard Paul gives us, which is designed
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to cut through all that complexity.
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Is it according to Christ or not?
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That has to be the definitive test for all spiritual claims,
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whether they come from a pulpit or a bestseller list.
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It is the ultimate litmus test, a Christ less wisdom, even if
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it's packaged religiously, always without fail relocate,
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saving trust away from the person and finished work of
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Christ. It inevitably preaches morality
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without the necessity of atonement, or it promises
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spiritual transformation that is separated from union with
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Christ. The commonality is that the
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cross is no longer the decisive element.
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And we need to give some concrete examples of how this
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crisis wisdom shows up in our context today.
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It's not just about historical Gnosticism.
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Absolutely not. One manifestation is
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sophisticated academic skepticism.
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This often treats core biblical truths, miracles, the virgin
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birth, the bodily resurrection as embarrassing fables.
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They try to reduce Jesus down to a good moral teacher, discarding
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the Lord and the Christ. This fulfills the philosophy
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part of Paul's warning. It sounds smart, but it's empty.
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And on the other hand, you have the mystical trend, which sounds
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very spiritual, but it does the same thing.
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It relocates trust. It does.
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Mystical Christianity hunts for private revelations, ecstatic
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experiences, or altered states, often suggesting that the Holy
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Spirit's chief job is to grant them access to a higher
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experience than what is available through the Word and
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sacraments. This shifts attention from the
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objective, external work of Christ revealed in the
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Scriptures to the subjective, internal experience of the
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believer. It creates a spiritual caste
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system based on who has the deepest experience.
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Then there is the ever present temptation of pragmatism in
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ministry, which asks does it work instead of is it faithful?
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This is a massive threat today. Pragmatism judges truth or value
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by visible results, the size of the crowd, the volume of the
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budget, the cultural approval rating.
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It replaces the required question, Is the strategy true
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and faithful to Christ in his revealed way, with a much easier
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question, Is the strategy effective and attracting people?
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And when effectiveness becomes the driver, the methods used
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inevitably drift away from fidelity to the gospel.
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They become not according to Christ.
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And we have to include the therapeutic moralism that has
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just seeped into so much of popular Christianity.
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Therapeutic moralism is the ultimate feel good counterfeit.
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It's a system that basically baptizes self esteem and self
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improvement. It replaces the biblical
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concepts of repentance, justification, and holiness with
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personal well-being, feeling good about yourself, and
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relational health. Christ becomes less a Redeemer
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from sin and more a life coach whose purpose is to help me
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achieve my human potential. Different masks, same core
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emptiness. Same core emptiness they are
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not, according to Christ. So if we synthesize this, the
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critical questions for believers to constantly ask to relist the
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spiritual kidnapping are just so necessary.
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First, is the doctrine magnify the sufficiency of Christ, or
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does it try to smuggle in necessary supplements?
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That's the first question. The second is does this teaching
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lead me toward deep genuine repentance and reliant faith in
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the Savior or does it foster self trust, pride in comparison
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with others based on my performance?
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And finally, does it produce settled Thanksgiving, genuine
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humility, recognizable holiness, and sincere love?
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Or does it inflate pride, breed fear, stir up division, and keep
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the conscious perpetually restless, always searching for
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the next fix? The Church must truly repent
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where we have been casual and tolerant, careless and what we
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give a platform to, careless and what we tolerate in the name of
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civility or unity, careless and what we share on social media,
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and careless and what we call deep or cutting edge.
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The moment we tolerate error, we risk putting chains back on
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souls that Christ died to set free.
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We do not need new chains, however shiny they might look.
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We need the liberty of the old gospel.
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Paul now grounds his commands to walk and to watch.
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In the bedrock of theology. He shifts from practical warning
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to this glorious Christology he uses the Word for in verse 9,
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connecting the entire imperative to the very nature of Christ.
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The error is intolerable because Christ is incomparable.
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He defines this Christology in verse 9 with massive clarity,
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for in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.
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This is the anchor of the entire passage.
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The false teachers offered fullness by addition.
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They were suggesting their methods or rules would bring you
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to completeness. And Paul answers with absolute
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finality. All fullness already dwells in
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Christ, not as a borrowed deposit, but as his native
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inherent and permanent reality. This completely shuts the door
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on any reductionist view of Christ.
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If Christ is fully God, then adding supplements is not just
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unnecessary, it is an insult. It counters every heresy that
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tries to lower the sun. It counters Arianism, which
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suggested Jesus was a great created being but not eternal
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God. It counters every spirituality
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that treats Jesus as only a good moral teacher.
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And it counters any system that treats him as just one rung on a
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ladder to something higher or more sophisticated.
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If Christ possesses the whole fullness of deity, then he lacks
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nothing, and he can impart everything.
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And Paul adds one specific word that makes both the incarnation
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and the sufficiency of Christ undeniable.
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Bodily. The fullness of Deity dwells
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bodily in Christ. For our listener who may not be
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steeped in church history. Why is that specific term bodily
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so crucial that Paul includes it?
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Because it protects the Gospel from 2 powerful opposing errors
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that were prevalent then and persist now.
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On one hand, bodily denies the ancient error known as dosatism.
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And what did Dosatism teach? Dosatism was a proto gnostic
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idea that spiritual reality was good, but matter, flesh, the
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physical world was inherently evil or low.
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So they argued that Christ only seemed to have a physical body.
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He only appeared to suffer and die.
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Paul's emphatic use of bodily in the flesh counters this.
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Immediately God entered the real physical world.
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The gospel is God coming to us in the flesh, bearing our true
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human nature, rising in bodily triumph, and remaining the God
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man forever. And what's the second era that
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bodily exposes? It exposes the false piety that
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hunts for God beyond and above the concrete, revealed Christ we
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find in the Scriptures. It confronts the relentless
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Mystic impulse, the hunger for divine fullness through abstract
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inner experiences seeking to bypass the physical, historical
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Jesus. It seeks A spirituality divorced
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from the historical, visible reality of the Son of God.
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Paul's logic here is devastatingly plain.
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Men, if God's entire fullness dwells bottling Christ, then you
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do not ascend to God by spiritual techniques, secret
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knowledge, or philosophical systems.
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You come to God by coming to the Incarnate Christ.
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The Incarnation is the absolute end of all ladders for human
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approach to God. So any system, system offering a
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different access point, ecstatic achievements, ritual attainment,
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spiritual mediators, private revelations, is fundamentally
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rejecting the means God himself established.
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It is inherently not according to Christ.
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Paul then shifts the focus from Christ's sufficient identity to
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the believer secured status in verse 10, and you have been
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filled in him. The false teachers promised
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fullness as a future attainment, something only possible if you
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follow their rules. But Paul declares fullness a
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present possession. This is the massive comfort and
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the massive command. It means that united to Christ,
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believers lack nothing necessary for acceptance with God and for
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true spiritual life. You are not half saved
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perpetually waiting for some second tier of spiritual capital
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to be purchased by your performance, your disciplines,
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or your experiences. What does that decisive
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completeness look like in reality then?
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It means that by union with Christ, his righteousness covers
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us. That's justification.
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His death cancels our debt. That's propitiation.
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His life secures our future. That's glorification and his
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spirit indwells us. That's regeneration and the
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guarantee of sanctification. This is why Paul can command
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believers to walk in him without turning sanctification into self
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salvation. So we walk from fullness and
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security, not toward it. We obey from acceptance, not to
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earn it. That confirms why gratitude is
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such a fitting mark of maturity. What happens when the soul truly
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believes it is already filled in him and no longer needs to chase
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spiritual legitimacy somewhere else?
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And Paul seals the entire argument by exalting Christ's
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absolute supremacy. He is the head of all rule and
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authority. What are the practical
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implications of Christ's headship over all rule and
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authority for the listener today?
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It means the Church need not fear the intimidation of the
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age. We need not tremble before
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cultural philosophies, political powers, or the architecture of
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worldly religion because they are all beneath the feet of
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Christ, who is our head. The Lordship of grace is our
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protection. And it means we need no other
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mediators. Precisely.
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We don't need special priests, interceding Saints or complex
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rituals to bridge the gap to God.
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Any system seeking fullness through technique or earthly
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gain or man made rules collapses entirely under Paul's twofold
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statement. Christ is fully God and we are
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completely united to Him. This theology provides such
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powerful medicine against the errors Paul was warning about.
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Let's dedicate some time now to applying this to the modern
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counterfeits we've been talking about, starting with Legalism
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and Tradition Edition. Legalism is the impulse to bind
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consciences with rules God has not commanded and then treating
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them as spiritual currency. The legalist accepts Christ but
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insists Christ is good. But I must secure my standing by
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observable strictness, visible measures and adherence to my
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group's standards. We see this so often in what
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gets termed purity culture. When it goes beyond biblical
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standards, it creates extra biblical metrics of spiritual
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acceptability based on external appearance or entertainment
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choices or social boundaries. That's a perfect example and the
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antidote is verse 10. You have been filled in him.
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If a believer is already complete in Christ, then man
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made standards are not just harmless additions, they
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function as rival foundations. They suggest Christ's holiness
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needs human support. This passage is medicine against
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measuring spirituality by externals that generate pride
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and division. What you eat, what holidays you
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keep, or specific clothing requirements.
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The remedy isn't lawlessness, but what you might call gospel
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driven holiness. A holiness that grows from union
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with Christ, not one fueled by self-righteous comparison with
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others. The legalist lives with a
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restless conscience because they are trying to pay a debt that
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has already been cancelled. The gospel believer rests in the
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finished work and obeys out of love and gratitude.
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OK, next let's tackle mysticism and experience edition.
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This is the yearning for secret insight, inner voices, or
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elevated spiritual encounters, and it's fueled by the idea that
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the plain Christ of Scripture is somehow insufficient for the
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mature life. This is a perennial problem
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because the heart craves the spectacular.
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The antidote is the concrete fact that the fullness of Deity
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dwells bodily in Christ. From verse 9, God does not
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invite us to find fullness by rising above the ordinary means
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of grace, Scripture reading, faithful preaching, prayer, and
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the sacraments. He gives us fullness in the
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Incarnate Sun, received by faith.
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So the warning here is against perpetually chasing novelty,
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yes? If the heart is perpetually
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dissatisfied, constantly hunting the next high, the next secret
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cure, the next prophetic utterance, or the next major
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spiritual conference that promises access to deeper
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levels, it suggests that the believer is treating Christ as a
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mere starting point rather than as the sufficient permanent
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fullness. The Holy Spirit's role is to
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glorify the Son, not compete with Him by distracting us from
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the Word He inspired. True depth is found in sinking
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roofs into the Christ you already received.
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Now let's move to pragmatism and Technique edition.
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This is the mindset prevalent in so many modern ministries that
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judges really just truth by what works.
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It measures maturity by ministry, outcomes platforms or
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simple hacks to guarantee growth.
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This is a devastating error because it masks itself as
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efficiency and stewardship. The question shifts from is it
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biblical to is it scalable? But the test remains firmly in
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verse 8. Not effectiveness, but
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allegiance is the method according to Christ.
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A technique may indeed grow a crowd while simultaneously
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shrinking reverence for the holiness of God.
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It may produce emotional heat and excitement while actively
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starving the congregation of doctrinal muscle and gospel
30:00
clarity. We see this when churches adopt
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corporate marketing strategies or secular motivational speaking
30:05
models. They prioritize emotional
30:07
connection and ease of consumption over faithful
30:09
teaching and the difficult call to repentance.
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That is the danger. When the means are not according
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to Christ, the results, even if they are numerically impressive,
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are built on sand. The church must resist the
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tyranny of results driven religion by returning to Paul's
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pattern. Deep roots in Christ,
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edification in Christ, establishment by taught truth,
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and Thanksgiving that confirms Christ is enough even if the
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crowds are small. Where pragmatism says do
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whatever draws, Paul says see to it.
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No one takes you captive. And finally, we turn to Refuting
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Prosperity, Religion and Comfort Edition.
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This subtly relocates Christ, making him a means to an earthly
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end, specifically guaranteed health, wealth, and personal
30:51
control over circumstances. The central correction here is
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that fullness is located in a person in him from verses 9 and
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10, not in our external circumstances.
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If believers are already filled in Christ, then spiritual
31:04
fullness cannot be reduced to earthly ease or material
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comfort. When a trial comes, the person
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chasing prosperity is crushed because their God failed to
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deliver the promised earthly control.
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But the believer who rests in Christ's fullness is different.
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Yes, because they know Christ is the head of all rule and
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authority. Since Christ is sovereign over
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all circumstances, suffering does not mean abandonment or
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spiritual lack. This passage trains the church
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to repent of the idolatry of comfort and to embrace a genuine
31:32
gratitude that survives in tense trials and lacks because the
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greatest treasure, Christ himself, is already possessed.
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These four major errors legalism, mysticism, pragmatism
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and prosperity, religion, they really show us the practical
31:44
uses this passage provides for the Church today.
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Doctrinally, first and foremost, it teaches a high Christology
31:50
that safeguards worship. Christ is truly God, truly
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Incarnate, and truly sufficient in every sense.
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And for reproof it exposes the common sins behind every false
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religion. Pride which wants to contribute
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merit, Fear, which demands control over circumstances,
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restless discontentment which refuses to acknowledge Christ's
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present gifts, and unbelief which acts as though Christ is
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not truly adequate. For correction, it redirects the
32:18
Church back to ordinary, durable Christianity.
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Walk in Christ, be taught the Apostolic faith, be established
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in that truth, and overflow with gratitude for the completeness
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you've already been granted. And for training in
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righteousness, it gives us a simple, durable discernment grid
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for every new trend, system, or slogan that comes down the
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pipeline. Does this magnify Christ's
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fullness and our completeness in Him?
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Or does it market a false more that is not according to Christ?
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Paul places before you, the listener, a simple yet searching
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choice. Will you be captured by the lure
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of more, more rules, more experiences, more results, more
32:52
wealth? Or will you remain completed and
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settled by Christ? This text really presses home
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the truth that the Christian life does not begin with Jesus
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and then graduate into some higher hidden spirituality.
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As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so you must continue
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walking in Him with steady obeyance, sinking deep roots
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into His person, being built up through the truth you are taught
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and overflowing with gratitude. And the great liberating
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conclusion that secures that walk is this.
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We do not walk in Christ in order to become complete.
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We walk because we are already complete in Him, possessing all
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the fullness of God through union with His Son.
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So we'll offer this final provocative thought for you to
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consider. In what specific area of your
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life today are you being tempted by restless discontentment or
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prideful addition? ISM to chase a Christ plus
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spirituality, believing that something outside of Christ's
33:43
finished work is necessary for your security or your
33:46
significance? And how can you immediately turn
33:49
that impulse into simple stabilizing gratitude for the
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fullness you already possess? Thank you for providing these
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sources and allowing us the privilege of this deep dive into
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the sufficiency of Christ. Until then, keep walking in the
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truth.