As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
When we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he did for us, we accepted God’s gracious gift of salvation that is available to all people. We in no way, shape, or form earned it or worked for it, we received Him and His finished work on the cross, knowing that we were entirely devoid of the ability to do anything to earn salvation.
When we received Him we were saved, after that, we have a life to live. In order to “walk in Him” or live our life for Christ, it has to be done the same way we received Him, which is relying on his faithfulness and working in us. If we try to live the “christian life” by our might, we will fail. So knowing that it is by faith in Christ and His working that we can walk in Him, we read verse 7, and notice that this also includes being built up in Him and established in the faith. As the Lord Jesus is also called the Word many places in scripture, it follows that to be rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, is to be rooted, built up, and established in his Word, the Bible. And when we adhere to 2 Timothy 2:15 and rightly divide the word of truth, we can be taught by the Holy Spirit through the entire Word and especially through the writings of God’s appointed teacher to the Gentiles, the apostle Paul, as we see as it says in…
1 Timothy 2:7
Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
When we understand the good news of the grace of God and all that the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us, and when we learn of the mystery that the risen, ascended Lord Jesus committed to Paul, which is Christ in us, which is the our hope of glory. When we know that our faith is not dependent on our faithfulness, but we completely rely on His faithfulness, it produces the thanksgiving that we read about in the end of verse 7.
May we pray to Lord that we might have more of a hunger to read His Word, so that we might follow scripture’s exhortation…
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
In the Lord Jesus Christ,
Derrick
A study of the Sword 