Live in Christ

Live in Christ

Colossians 2:6-23

Pastor Miles

2/1/2015

1. How to live in Christ:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, (‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬ NIV)

A. You live in Christ by faith.

B. You live in Christ by following Him as Lord of your life.

C. You live in Christ by abiding in Him.

rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. (‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭7-8‬ NIV)

Don't be captivated by any worldly philosophy or world view, but be captivated by Christ instead.

We are surrounded by false world views that threatened to distract us from following Christ.

E.g. Materialism, fame, self-glory, etc.

2. Remember all that you have in Christ:

A. In Christ you have fullness.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. (‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭9-10‬ NIV)

We have all the resources needed to live our lives in Him.

B. In Christ you have been freed.

In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. (‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭11-12‬ NIV)

We have been freed by our old nature because we have been spiritually circumcised in Christ.

Our old self has been crucified and buried, and we have new (resurrected) life in Him.

C. In Christ you were made alive.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. (‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭13-14‬ NIV)

3. Since you have everything you need in Christ.

A. Don't let anyone judge you.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. (‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭16-17‬ NIV)

B. Don't let anyone disqualify you.

Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. (‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭18-19‬ NIV)

We are fully qualified in Christ.

C. Don't let anyone enslave you.

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. (‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭20-23‬ NIV)

All that we need and have is found in Him.

Let us learn to live in Christ by faith, trusting in Him daily.

Submit to Him, abide in Him, being nurtured and fulfilled in Him daily.