March through Colossians - 2:6-7

Paul has just told the Colossians about how much he struggles for them in order that they might grow in the knowledge of Christ instead of being deluded by the plausible arguments of the false teachers. He doesn't want them to drift from Christ. He wants to see their good order and the firmness of their faith in Christ.

The "therefore" of v. 6 serves as a way of connecting Paul's desires for the Colossians (that they would stay firm in their faith in Christ) with Paul's directives to the Colossians (about how they can stay firm in their faith in Christ). As those who have already received Christ Jesus the Lord they are to:

-Walk in Christ (like the "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord" in 1:10).
-Be rooted in Christ (O'Brien: "the readers have been firmly rooted in Christ and they are to conduct their lives according to this beginning").
-Be built up in Christ (O'Brien: the rooted and built up metaphors "are joined so as to describe the solid foundation upon which believers' lives are to be based").
-Be established in the faith just as they were taught (like the continuing in the faith stable and steadfast in 1:23).
-Abound in thanksgiving (like the thanksgiving in 1:12: "giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light").

O'Brien is careful to point out how central God is in all this: "Whatever responsibilities to Christ the readers had, and these were many, they were not to lose sight of the fact that God had been at work in their midst. It was he who had rooted them in Christ and was presently building them up in him, thereby consolidating [establishing] them in the faith."

These are spot-on directives for us who are in Christ as well, who know how easy it is to drift from Christ and who long to walk in Him.

2:8-12 tomorrow.