Scripture Reading: Col. 2:6-8, 16-17
The central and underlying thought of the book of Colossians is that, according to God’s ordination, Christ should replace all the elements and factors of our natural human life with Himself. These elements and factors may be summed up in one word — culture. Our human living is constituted of the various aspects of our culture, which is composed of a number of factors and elements. We have seen that the book of Colossians deals with these factors, elements, components, constituents, of our human living. This book reveals the extensive Christ who is the replacement for all these elements in our human living.
In 2:8 Paul says, “Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.” Philosophy is a primary factor in culture. Furthermore, culture cannot exist without tradition. The terms culture and tradition are almost synonymous. The elements of the world spoken of in 2:8 are the elementary principles, the elementary teachings. Philosophy, tradition, and the elements of the world are all components of culture. All these things are versus Christ. This verse indicates that Christ has come to replace philosophy, tradition, and the elements of the world. Hence, this verse presents a vivid contrast between Christ and philosophy, tradition, and the elements of the world. If a person does not have Christ, he will surely have these three cultural elements. But once we receive Christ, these things should be replaced by Christ.
In 2:16 and 17 Paul goes on to say, “Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.” In verse 16 Paul mentions four items as illustrations: eating and drinking, feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths. These items represent everything in our human living. In particular, the items mentioned are all related to Judaism, with its regulations about eating and drinking, about the observing of days and new moons, and about the Sabbaths. Hence, verse 16 speaks of various observances which were components of Jewish life. But as Paul says in the following verse, all these things “are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.” Therefore, in these verses we have another contrast, the contrast between the shadows and Christ.
In verses 20 and 21 Paul continues, “If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why as living in the world do you subject yourself to ordinances: do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.” In Romans Paul says that in Christ we are dead to sin, whereas here in Colossians he says that we have died with Christ from the elements of the world, that is, from the factors of our natural human life. Here Paul is telling us that we have died with Christ from our culture. Then he goes on to ask, since this is the case, why we still subject ourselves to ordinances about handling, tasting, and touching. In these verses we have yet another contrast — the contrast between the Christ with whom we have died and the ordinances, which are components of our culture.
In 3:10 Paul speaks of the new man and then in verse 11, referring to the new man, he says, “Where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all and in all.” Here we have the contrast once again between culture and Christ. Paul’s use of the terms barbarian and Scythian indicates that this verse is dealing with the different cultural distinctions. Christ is versus all such distinctions.
Christ has come in to replace all the aspects of culture mentioned in 2:8, 16-17, 20-21; and 3:11. Christ must come into our human living to replace philosophy, tradition, and the elements of the world. He must replace eating, drinking, feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths. He must replace the ordinances and all the cultural distinctions. When all these things have been fully replaced by Christ, only Christ will remain. This clearly reveals that in Colossians Christ is the replacement for all cultural factors and elements. He must come into our living to replace everything with Himself. This is the divine revelation in the holy Word. Oh, may our eyes be opened to see that every factor, element, and aspect of our natural human life is versus Christ. In God’s economy the extensive Christ must come in to replace all these elements, factors, and aspects. Eventually, for eternity, only Christ will remain.
Christ is the basic factor in the composition of the Bible. We can truly say, therefore, that the Bible is written with Christ. The letters of the alphabet are symbols of Christ. For this reason in the Bible Christ says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega” (Rev. 22:13). If He is the first letter and the last, He must also be all the other letters. In our human living, Christ should be the entire alphabet. If He is our alphabet, He will automatically become every word, sentence, paragraph, and chapter, and ultimately, the whole book. God’s economy is that our entire human living be written, composed, with Christ as the unique factor. For this reason, the book of Colossians unfolds the extensive Christ, the Christ who comes in to fill every part of our living. Therefore, the dictionary of our Christian life should have just one word: Christ. But at the bottom of the page there should be a small footnote saying, “and the church.” This is the revelation in the book of Colossians.
With this revelation as our basis, we come to the crucial matter of walking in Christ (2:6). Verses 6 and 7 do not say “walk in Him, and be rooted and be built up in Him.” On the contrary, these verses say “walk in Him, having been rooted and being built up in Him.” “Having been rooted” and “being built up” are, respectively, perfect and present participles which describe how we should walk. We can walk in Christ because we have been rooted in Him and because we are being built up in Him. These two conditions must be fulfilled if we are to walk in Christ. Our walk in Christ is based on two conditions: that we have been rooted in Him and that we are being built up in Him.
The wording of these two verses is simple; however, we may take these verses for granted and not truly understand them. In these verses there are three basic words: walk, rooted, and built.
In Colossians Paul covers the matters of the objective revelation of what Christ is and the subjective ministry by which Christ is dispensed into the believers. The objective revelation of Christ and the subjective ministry of Christ together give us the practical experience of Christ. In this message and in the messages to follow we are particularly concerned with the practical experience of Christ. The objective revelation of the Bible unfolds the extensive and all-inclusive Christ, and the subjective ministry dispenses this very Christ into us to become the replacement for every element of our natural human living. If we see this, we shall then be able to understand what it means to walk in Christ.
The Greek word for walk means to live, act, move, and have our being. It implies everything in our daily living. To walk in Christ is to live, move, act, and have our being in Christ. We should not live, walk, move, act, or have our being in anything other than Christ. For example, when a sister goes shopping, she should do so in Christ. However, not many sisters go shopping in Christ. Instead, they may decide apart from Christ to go shopping or to purchase certain items. Hence, in the matter of shopping, many sisters do not live and move in Christ. The same may be true of brothers when they get a haircut. In the practical matter of getting a haircut, the brothers may not live and move in Christ.
A certain brother may testify that he loves the Lord and the church and that he is wholly for the Lord’s recovery. However, in many matters he may not behave in Christ, but may behave in his disposition, preference, or choice. For example, a brother may pretend that, as the head of his family, he has everything in order. He may try to give the impression that he exercises his kingship at home. Whenever a brother performs in such a way, he is not walking in Christ. This is an illustration of the fact that in many ways we in the local churches do not actually walk in Christ, although we surely love the Lord and His recovery.
To walk in Christ means not to have any substitute for Christ. Because of man’s fall, culture replaces God in man’s life. Man was made for God and needs God to be his life, his enjoyment, and everything to him. But because man lost God, he invented culture as a substitute for God. Now in His economy God has ordained that Christ, His Son, should accomplish redemption, bring man back to God, and then replace all the substitutes with Himself. We have seen that the various factors and elements of our human life are all replacements for Christ. But the factors and elements that have become substitutes for God must now be replaced by Christ. In order for this to be our experience, we need to walk in Christ.
In the matter of shopping we should simply live Christ and not care for anything other than Christ. Do not consider what items are on sale or how much you have in your checking account. Instead, simply live Christ and care for Christ. If a brother lives in oneness with the Lord, he will walk in Christ whenever he gets a haircut. Spontaneously he will know how his hair should be cut. Christ is not only the sphere, the realm, in which we walk, but He is also every factor and element of our human life. To have Christ in this way in our experience is to walk in Him.
I appreciate the fact that so many brothers love Christ and the church and are absolute for the Lord’s recovery. Nevertheless, instead of walking in Christ, they walk in their dignity. They may condemn pride, but they treasure their dignity. A brother who is a leading one in the church life may enjoy acting dignified. Even young brothers, those recently married, may behave according to their own sense of dignity instead of walking in Christ. With their wives, they may exercise themselves to maintain their dignity as husbands. They may become very unhappy should their wives do anything to dishonor their dignity. They may regard such behavior as an insult to their headship and a lack of respect for their dignity. Their attitude is that God has ordained them to be the head over their wives and that their wives should respect them and honor them. Therefore, instead of walking in Christ, they walk in their dignity.
Instead of walking in Christ, others walk according to the tide of their emotions. When the tide is low, they are cold, silent, and unconcerned for the needs of others. But when the tide is high, they become active and very talkative. They talk according to their mood, not according to Christ. Many saints walk in their moods instead of in Christ. If they feel happy, they are willing to help others. But if they do not feel happy, they become withdrawn and disinterested, unconcerned about those around them. This indicates that, although these saints may love Christ and the church, they do not walk in Christ.
According to the extensive revelation of Christ in the book of Colossians, we should not walk in anything other than Christ. This means we should not walk in philosophy, in tradition, or in the elements of the world. Neither should we walk in certain observances or ordinances.
It is also easy to walk in our habits instead of in Christ. By nature, we all live, walk, and have our being in our habit, not in Christ. During times of prayer, we may pray ourselves into the spirit and, at those times, have our being in Christ. But as soon as prayer is ended, we turn back to living and walking in our habit. Thus, instead of walking in Christ, we walk in our culture.
How much have you walked in Christ today? How much of your talk, actions, and attitudes have been in something other than Christ? We must admit that instead of walking in Christ, we walk in many other factors or elements of our living that are replacements for Christ. But according to the book of Colossians, we should walk in the extensive Christ, in the Christ who is universally vast and who is everything to us. We do not need philosophy — Christ is our philosophy. We do not need tradition — Christ is the best heritage. We do not need the elementary principles — Christ is every principle to us. What we need to do is to take Christ as everything and walk in Him.
We have to admit that even in the local churches nearly all of us walk in something other than Christ. We love the Lord and His recovery, but we live, walk, and have our being in things that are not Christ Himself. Because a certain brother walks in his timidity, not in Christ, he is not willing to speak the truth to others frankly in love. However, this illustration should not be taken to mean that we should walk in boldness instead of timidity. The point is that we should walk in Christ. Very few saints among us walk in things that are sinful. But a great many walk in things that are good, moral, and ethical. They walk according to their own manner of life. If we truly walk in Christ, there will be times when we shall boldly rebuke others. According to Galatians 2, Paul openly rebuked Peter when Peter withdrew from eating with the Gentiles. The point here is not that we should go around rebuking others. It is that all our behavior should be in Christ.
We need to live and act in Christ. The young people should not say that they cannot help being young, and the old ones should not say that they cannot keep from being old. Whether we are young or old, we all must live and act in Christ. In the church there are no young ones or old ones, no timid ones or bold ones. There is only Christ, who is all the members of the new man and in all the members. Therefore, we all should walk in Christ and not live according to any element of culture. I repeat, not only should Christ be our sphere, the extensive realm in which we walk; He should also become all the elements and factors of our daily living.
We admit that it is not easy to walk in Christ. After charging us to walk in Christ, Paul immediately adds the words, “having been rooted and being built up in Him.” If we would walk in Christ, we must fulfill the conditions of having been rooted in Him and being built up in Him. Our basis for walking in Christ is that we have been rooted in Christ. On the one hand, we have already been rooted in Christ; on the other hand, we are in the process of being built up in Him. The rooting, which has been accomplished, is one condition for walking in Christ. Being built up, which is taking place, is another condition. For being rooted, Paul uses the illustration of plants rooted deeply in the soil. As an illustration of our being built up in Christ, Paul uses the example of stones.
No matter how old or young we may be, we all have been deeply rooted in our culture with the many factors and elements which make up our daily living. Just as we have been rooted in our culture, we should now be rooted in Christ. Being rooted is a matter of life. For a plant to be rooted in the soil involves an organic process. Apart from such a process, no plant can become rooted. The deeper a plant’s roots extend into the earth, the more far-reaching is the organic process. As a plant’s root system develops, the life of the plant spreads and develops. To be rooted in Christ is to experience such a development, spreading, and activity of life.
Using once again the illustration of grafting, we may say that we, branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted into Christ as the cultivated olive tree. Grafting also involves the process of organic growth. Without such a process, the two trees cannot grow together. Through grafting, the trees are knit together and their lives are mingled. This mingling produces organic growth. In this growth the grafted branch, the branch from the wild olive tree, becomes deeply rooted in the cultivated olive tree.
The principle is the same with both grafting and planting. In order to transplant a tree successfully, there must be room in the soil for the tree’s roots to grow and develop. If the roots are watered and have room to grow, they will spread deep into the earth. The principle is the same in our relationship with Christ. On the one hand, we have been grafted into Christ; on the other hand, we have been planted into Christ, even transplanted into Him. Whether we speak from the standpoint of grafting or planting, there is the need for growth that is inward and downward. The downward growth of the roots may take place very slowly, whereas the upward growth may occur quickly. Some saints grow like mushrooms. A great deal appears above the earth. However, they lack the downward growth of the roots beneath the soil.
If we have been rooted in Christ, we shall spontaneously walk in Christ. For example, if a sister becomes deeply rooted in Christ, eventually the way she does her shopping will be affected. But if a sister undergoes a sudden change in her way of shopping, I would not have much confidence in that change. It may indicate a mushrooming type of growth, not the growth which comes from being deeply rooted in Christ and walking in Him. Remember, being rooted in Christ is the condition for walking in Him.
If the saints contact the Lord and spend time in the Word with much prayer, they will become deeply rooted in Christ. If a sister does this for a period of time, her shopping will be done in Christ, not in something other than Christ. I do not have any confidence in a change of behavior which results from making a decision after hearing a message. My confidence is in what issues from becoming deeply rooted in Christ through contacting the Lord and spending time in the Word with much prayer. When we are rooted in Christ, there is no need for us to make up our minds about certain things, for spontaneously we shall walk in Him.
In a previous message we raised the question of how plants can walk. Colossians 2:7 speaks of being rooted. This refers to plants. But 2:6 speaks of walking. This refers to persons. Then are we considered plants or persons? The answer is that for our daily living, we are persons, but for our being rooted in Christ, we are plants. In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul says that we are God’s farm, God’s husbandry (v. 9, Gk.). Furthermore, Paul says that he planted and Apollos watered, but God gives the growth (v. 6, Gk.). Thus, in the matter of growth, we are like plants. But in our daily walk we, of course, are not like plants; we are people. We may say that we are people-plants: people in walking and plants in being rooted in Christ.
The only way to become deeply rooted in Christ as the soil is to contact Him as the soil and to daily absorb the water in the Word. The more we contact the soil and absorb the water, the more we shall grow. First we grow downward, then upward. After we have grown downward for a period of time, we shall automatically cease to walk in things other than Christ. Instead, because we have been deeply rooted in Christ, we shall live, walk, act, and have our being in Christ.
As we walk in Christ, we are built up in Him. We have already been rooted in our culture and built up in it. Even children are deeply rooted in their culture. But as they walk in their culture, something of this culture is built up within them. Everyone is built up in certain things. On the one hand, we are rooted in our culture; on the other hand, we are built up in certain aspects of our culture.
Paul’s concept is that Christ, the all-inclusive and extensive One, must become the replacement for every factor and element in our human living. Therefore, we must walk in Christ. But walking in Him requires that we be rooted in Him. Just as we have been rooted in culture, we must now become rooted in Christ. Having been rooted in Him, we shall spontaneously walk in Him. While we walk in Him, the expression of Christ will be built up in us. Eventually, this expression will become the Body, the corporate church life, the habitation of God in spirit on earth today. If we claim to be walking in Christ but lack the expression of Christ, our claim is false. Walking in Christ requires that we be in the process of being built up in Christ. This means that while we are walking in Him, the expression of Christ must be built up in us.
According to our experience, we know that when we contact the Lord and daily get into the Word with much prayer, we fulfill the condition of walking in Christ, for we are rooted in Him. Then as we walk in Him, daily the expression of Christ is built up in us. This makes it possible for others to see Christ lived out of us. Eventually this living out of Christ will produce the corporate expression of Christ, the church life. This is the proper way to have the Christian life.
Our living should not be according to anything other than Christ. The most subtle substitutes of Christ are the various elements of our culture. Now Christ must come in to replace all these substitutes with Himself. If this is our experience, we shall not have anything other than Christ in our daily living. We shall live, move, act, and have our being in Christ. For this, there are two conditions: being rooted in Christ and being built up in Christ to become the expression of Christ. The expression of Christ, Christ lived out of us, will eventually become corporate. This is the church as the Body and the new man. When the church becomes in reality such a new man, that will be the time for Christ to come back. May the Lord have mercy on us and grant us His grace that we may live Him in the church in this way.
