Series from Paul's Letter to the Church at Colossae

1. Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ
Grace Bible Baptist Church
Adult Sunday School Class
Room 204
Teacher: Pastor Chuck Brooks
Week 21

2. Week 21
“For though I be absent in the flesh, yet
am I with you in the spirit, joying and
beholding your order, and the
steadfastness of your faith in Christ”.
(Col. 2:5)
•“Order/Good discipline” – taxis – refers to a line of soldiers drawn up
for battle
•“Steadfastness/Stability” - stereōma – refers to the solidity of a
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

3. Week 21
“Satan may let up, but he doesn’t give up”
Luke records that Satan departed from Jesus “for a season” (Luke 4:13).
This doesn’t mean that Satan left Jesus alone and that Jesus could now let
His guard down. The Greek lets us know that Satan departed from our
Lord until a more opportune, favorable time, when our Lord would be more
susceptible to temptation, when Satan could work more effectively.
The word “departed” is from the Greek word aphistēmi af-is'-tay-mee that
literally means “to stand off from.”
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

4. Week 21
“Therefore as you have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him”. (Col. 2:6)
“Received” - Expositors says; “paralambanō is practically equivalent to
manthanō, ‘to receive by instruction,’ rather than received into the heart.”
Paul is speaking of the doctrines regarding the Person and Work of the Lord
Jesus, rather than of (receiving) Him personally, for the former were
involved in the Colossian heresy.
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

5. Week 21
In the survey, while virtually all of Americans with evangelical beliefs
agreed that there is one true God in three persons (97%), that he is perfect
(97%), and that he answers prayer (94%), respondents stumbled over the
nature of Jesus. Seven out of 10 said he was the first and greatest being
created by God (71%).
The survey reports that about 56% said that “the Holy Spirit is a divine
force but not a personal being,” and 28% believe “the Holy Spirit is a
divine being, but is not equal with God the Father or Jesus.
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

6. Week 21
“Therefore as you have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him”. (Col. 2:6)
“Christ Jesus the Lord” - The emphasis is on the true doctrine of Christ’s
Person which was perverted by the Colossian teachers.
The Colossians were to remember the nature and content of their faith at
the time of their salvation, and that was to guide them throughout their
Christian lives as well.
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

7. Week 21
“Therefore as you have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him”. (Col. 2:6)
John Gill writes, “not only in imitation of Him as He walked, in the exercise of
grace, as love, patience, humility, and meekness, and in the discharge of duty; but
by faith in Him, going on in a way of believing in Him, always looking to Him,
leaning on Him, and deriving grace and strength from Him: to walk in Christ, is
to walk in and after the Spirit of Christ, under His influence, by His direction, and
through His assistance; and to walk in the doctrine of Christ, abiding by it, and
increasing in the knowledge of it…”
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

8. Week 21
“…rooted and built up in Him, and
established in the faith, as you have been
taught, abounding in it with
thanksgiving”. (Col. 2:7)
“rooted” – is a perfect participle in the Greek text expressing an abiding
result, “having been rooted with the present result that you are firmly
anchored”.
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

9. Week 21
“…rooted and built up in Him, and
established in the faith, as you have been
taught, abounding in it with
thanksgiving”. (Col. 2:7)
“built up” – is a present participle, speaking of continuous action, “being
constantly built up.” Vincent says; “Note the changing metaphor from the
solidity of military array to walking, rooting of a tree, and then to building.”
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

10. Week 21
The deeper the root, the more secure
the building:
Before lifting a single steel beam for
the Shanghai Tower skyscraper,
engineers drove 980 foundation piles
into the ground as deep as 282 feet.
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

11. Week 21
“…rooted and built up in Him, and
established in the faith, as you have been
taught, abounding in it with
thanksgiving”. (Col. 2:7)
“in Him” – In Him” is en autōi (ἐν αὐτωι). “Rather than upon Him, as
might have been expected. In this and in the Ephesian epistle, Christ is
represented as the sphere within which the building goes on.
The whole upbuilding of the Church proceeds within the compass of
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

12. Week 21
“…rooted and built up in Him, and
established in the faith, as you have been
taught, abounding in it with
thanksgiving”. (Col. 2:7)
“established” – is bebaioō (βεβαιοω), a present participle, emphasizing
continuous action, it refers to a process going on, “constantly being made
firm or stable…constantly being established.”
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

13. Week 21
“…rooted and built up in Him, and
established in the faith, as you have been
taught, abounding in it with
thanksgiving”. (Col. 2:7)
“in the faith” – is tēi pistei (τηι πιστει), “Paul did not mean the experience
of faith, or “personal faith,” even though the Colossians’ personal faith was
strong. The attack was against “the faith,” the system of Christian truth and
its ramifications in life. The church was commended for its growing
strength in Christian truth”.
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

14. Week 21
“…rooted and built up in Him, and
established in the faith, as you have been
taught, abounding in it with
thanksgiving”. (Col. 2:7)
“abounding in it” – is perisseuō (περισσευω), “to be in abundance.” As the
Colossians were established in their faith, they would have more of it (faith)
in abundance. Because of abundant faith, they would overflow with
thanksgiving.
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ

15. Week 21
“See to it that no one takes you
captive by philosophy and empty
deceit, according to human
tradition, according to the
elemental spirits of the world,
and not according to Christ. For in
him the whole fullness of deity
dwells bodily, . (Col. 2:8-9)
Colossians
The Supremacy and Sufficiency
of Jesus Christ