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Returning your Bibles to Colossians 
chapter 2. Colossians 2, as we return to 
our exposition of this epistle of Paul, that he wrote while 
he was in his first imprisonment in Rome, somewhere between the 
years A.D. 60 and 62. He wrote this along 
with Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon, the prison epistles. Just by way of review, after 
an introductory greeting in chapter one, he then expresses his thankfulness 
for the church, for the Colossians. In verses three to eight of chapter 
one, he then highlights or he indicates his intercession on 
behalf of the Colossians in verses nine to fourteen. And then in 
chapter one at verse fifteen, he highlights the work of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. up until verse 23. And then from 
chapter 1, verse 24, to chapter 2, verse 5, he indicates the 
nature of his ministry on their behalf. He underwent sufferings, 
he saw his ministry as a stewardship, he described his preaching, and 
then he expresses his conflict and his concern for the disciples 
to whom he ministers. And then chapter 2 verse 6 begins 
the body of the epistle, the main portion of the letter, from 
2.6 to 4.6. And if that is the body, then 
verses 6 and 7 are the body there, the heart, the essence, the sum 
and substance of the entire book of Colossians. What he does is 
he gives a specific command in verse 6, deals with heresy, or 
the false teaching that was plaguing Colossae, and the remedy necessary, 
and then he illustrates what walking in Christ looks like 
in the life of the believer, beginning in chapter 3 at verse 
1. So that's a bit of an overview to refresh us. to review so that 
we can enter in and consider specifically the command to walk 
in Christ in verses six and seven, but I'll just pick up reading 
in verse six. As you therefore have received 
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in 
Him and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding 
in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you 
through philosophy and empty deceit. according to the tradition 
of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and 
not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness 
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him, who is the 
head of all principality and power. In Him you are also circumcised, 
with the circumcision made without hands. by putting off the body 
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried 
with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him 
through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the 
dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses 
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together 
with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses. having wiped 
out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was 
contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed 
it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities 
and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing 
over them in it. So let no one judge you in food 
or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which 
are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 
Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false 
humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which 
he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not 
holding fast to the head, from whom all the body, nourished 
and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase 
that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ, 
from the basic principles of the world, Why, as though living 
in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations, do 
not touch, do not taste, do not handle, which all concern things 
which perish with the using, according to the commandments 
and doctrines of men? These things, indeed, have an 
appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility and 
neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence 
of the flesh. Well, as I said, we're going 
to focus primarily on verses 6 and 7, God willing, this evening, 
under the consideration of the Apostles' command to the Colossians. specifically to walk in Him, 
to walk in Christ. And as we consider this command, 
there are three particulars. The first thing we need to notice 
is the basis for the command. Secondly, the command itself. 
And thirdly, the attendant circumstances. Paul not only says to walk in 
Him, but he describes how to do that. God not only calls us 
to do something, but He tells us the manner in which we are 
to engage in obedience to the particular command. But notice 
the basis. Paul says, as you therefore have 
received Christ Jesus, the Lord. As you therefore have received 
Christ Jesus, the Lord. We cannot walk in Christ if we 
have not received Christ. We cannot walk in Christ if we 
have not believed the gospel. This is a command that only a 
Christian can obey. This is a command that must have, 
as its glorious, gracious context, the gospel of free and sovereign 
grace. What you find in the epistles, 
what you find in the Bible, is what is called the indicative 
and the imperative. Now, I don't want to bore you 
with grammatical discussion, but those two words are very 
important. They are grammar. It's like English 
grammar. An indicative is a statement 
that is real, that is based in reality. It is something that 
is true. It is something that has occurred. 
That's what Paul is referring to here. As you have, therefore, 
received Christ Jesus, the Lord. This is true of you. You have 
been blessed, you have been saved, you have been graciously conquered 
by Jesus and his gospel. That's the foundation upon which 
the imperative then comes. The imperative is the command, 
so walk in him. Every other religious system 
begins with the imperative. It says, do this and then you 
will have the benefit. The gospel is contrary to those 
systems. The gospel is about God graciously 
saving us through the power and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. freeing us from that bondage 
to sin, propitiating His wrath from over us, removing our guilt, 
dealing graciously with us, bringing us into that saving union. God's 
accomplishment, the indicative, and it's on that foundation that 
He commands us to walk in obedience. This is the thrust of many of 
Paul's letters. In Romans chapter 1-11 it talks 
about the gospel and how God has saved us graciously. And 
then in Romans 12 comes the therefore. This is how you are to live. 
Within Romans, you see in Romans 6-11, consider yourselves dead 
to sin and alive to Christ. Consider the reality of what's 
taken place in your Christian life. I fear that oftentimes 
we struggle against sin because we don't use our minds. We don't 
consider what God has done. We don't consider the reality 
of the gospel and the power and efficacy of it. The idea is that 
we reckon ourselves dead to sin, and based on that fact, therefore, 
do not let sin reign in your mortal members. present your 
bodies as living sacrifices unto God. Why? Because Jesus has saved 
you from your sins. And notice that Paul uses the 
full title of Christ here, as you therefore have received Christ 
Jesus the Lord. I believe that encapsulates everything 
that the Apostle has said up to this point concerning the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ as Lord is a succinct 
way of saying that he is the image of the invisible God, as 
he's already set forth in chapter 1 verse 15, that he is the firstborn 
over all creation, that he is the head of the body, the church, 
he is the mystery of God, and he is the repository of all wisdom 
and knowledge. It is this central confession, 
with all its buried and far-reaching implications, to which the Colossians 
need to return in order to ward off the threat of false teaching. It is that full-bodied confession 
that you and I need to turn to when it comes to walking in Christ, 
when it comes to understanding what it is we have received in 
terms of our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have 
to get this. We cannot walk in Christ if we 
have not received Christ. I want everybody here tonight 
to walk in Christ. If you have not up to this point 
received Him, the message is very simple and very clear. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved. When you believe the Gospel, 
you receive the Christ of the Gospel. When you believe the 
truth, you are saved, you are set free. Jesus said in John 
8, if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. And so receiving Christ by faith, 
understanding the implications of that, dealing with the reality 
of it, then comes the command, and Paul says, so walk in Him. So walk in Him. Go back to chapter 
1 verse 10 for just a moment. Remember, this is Paul's prayer 
for the Colossians, Paul's intercession for the Colossians. He says that 
you may walk worthy of the Lord. Paul prays for them and then 
he exhorts them. Paul prays for them and then 
he commands them. One man, O'Brien, says his pastoral 
activity of praying did not remove the necessity for exhortation. Indeed, the latter, the exhortation, 
may well have been one of the means used by God to bring about 
the answers to Paul's prayers. So he's in the closet, praying 
for the Colossians that they would walk worthy of the Lord. 
He comes to take pen to paper, and he writes to the Colossians. 
He wants them to be guarded against the heresy that is surrounding 
them, and he wants them to be holy. He wants them to be righteous. 
So he gives them this very full command to walk in him. Walk 
in Christ. And what does it mean to walk? 
It means to conduct oneself. It doesn't mean just our walk. You all know that. I hope and 
I trust. Walk in the Bible doesn't just 
mean putting your right foot in front of your left and then 
your left foot and then your right foot and sort of doing that thing 
to get from point A to point B. Walking in Christ means to 
conduct oneself in Christ. It is used many, many times in 
the Bible. We've already seen it here in 
Colossians 1, verse 10. It comes up again in Colossians 
4, verse 5. Walk in wisdom toward those who 
are outside, redeeming the time. Walk in wisdom means to conduct 
yourself in wisdom. Over in Ephesians 4, verse 1. 
Ephesians, which in many respects is parallel or very similar to 
what we find in Colossians. In Ephesians chapter 4 verse 
1, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk 
worthy of the calling with which you were called. And then he 
describes it, "...with all loneliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, 
bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity 
of the Spirit in the bond of peace." 417, "...this I say therefore 
and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as 
the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind." 
Ephesians chapter 5, verse 2, "...and walk in love, as Christ 
also has loved us and given Himself for us." Ephesians 5.8, walk 
in light, walk as children of light. And then in Ephesians 
5.15, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, 
but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. So 
to walk means to conduct oneself, to live one's life in obedience 
to Christ's commands. And we are to walk in Him by 
faith. That's how we received Christ 
Jesus, isn't it? We believe the gospel. So it's 
by faith that we are to conduct this walk. Paul develops this 
in Galatians 2, in verse 20. He doesn't use the language of 
walk, he uses the synonymous language of live. The life that 
I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who 
loved me and who gave himself for me. So when Paul says to 
walk in him, it doesn't simply mean to just through some outward 
obedience, some outward externalism. No, it's by faith, by virtue 
of our union with Christ, that we are to conduct ourselves in 
the manner for which the Lord has saved us. In Christ is a 
repeated theme in the Apostle Paul. We looked at a couple of 
places it is replete. Also 1st John, 1st and 2nd and 
3rd John, he uses that idea of walking. One man, O'Brien, says, 
for Paul there is no hiatus between believing and behaving. Christology and ethics are intimately 
conjoined. As you have received Christ Jesus 
the Lord, so walk in him. You say you believe, if you say 
you own Christ, your walk better reflect it. You don't walk like 
the devil. You don't walk like Satan. You 
don't walk like the pagans. That's what Paul says in Ephesians 
4, 17. No longer walk like the rest of the Gentiles. You don't 
walk like one who is godless. one that is a heathen, one that 
is an idolater. If you have received Christ Jesus 
the Lord, you better walk in a certain way. There had better 
be some obvious proof that you are a believer in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And then that brings us to consider 
the attendant circumstances. Notice again in chapter 1 verse 
10. Chapter 1, verse 10, "...so that you may walk worthy of the 
Lord." And then he describes that walking worthy of the Lord. 
"...fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, 
and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all 
might according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering 
with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to 
be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light." 
You see that? He tells him how to walk, and 
then he develops that, or he fleshes that out. or he illustrates 
what it looks like. He does the same thing here in 
chapter 2, verse 6. As you therefore have received 
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. And then notice, he says, 
rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith as you 
have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Rooted 
with Christ, or rooted in Christ. He uses rooting and building. 
We wonder about the mix of botany and construction. God does that. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, we find 
botany and construction. Asians, we find botany and construction. 
Colossians, we find botany and construction. But notice when 
he says this, rooted in him. Who does that? God does that. We don't root ourselves. See, here again is another time 
we need to think. To fear too much of our Christianity 
is not intellectual. I'm not saying all of our Christianity 
needs to be intellectual, but we need to employ our noggins. 
We didn't get these fine specimens on the top of our shoulders just 
so everybody can say how lovely we look. We have them for a purpose. We're to use them. What's Paul 
saying? So walk in him. Considering the 
fact you're rooted in Him. Who did this rooting? God did. 
Who's empowering you to walk in Him? God is. Who's on your 
side when it comes to walking in Him? God. See, He's not just 
giving you a bare command and saying, look, work it out. It's 
similar to what we saw in Haggai this morning. They obeyed, they 
feared, God stirred them up. Same thing here. They have received 
Christ, they are being commanded to walk in Christ, they are told 
to reflect on the fact that they have been rooted in Christ. a 
gracious act of Most High God. It is what's called a passive 
verb and it indicates the divine power involved in the initial 
rooting and the divine power necessary for this walk. You cannot walk in Him by your 
own strength. You cannot walk in Him apart 
from divine assistance. Too often we try to live our 
Christian lives by ourselves. God never intended that. God 
has always purposed to be with us. God has always promised to 
be on our side. The resources are available. We need to apply to them, or 
we need to apply them to ourselves. They were rooted in Christ by 
the powerful grace of God at regeneration. He then says, built 
up in Christ. or being built up. Again, this 
is the divine work of God in the life of the believer. See, 
it's easy for us to mistake this. We can look at our failures, 
we can look at our falling short, we can look at the many times 
that we sin, and we can just begin to think, oh man, I'm a 
wretch, I'm a loser, I'm a this, I'm a that. Well, God isn't working 
you. You need to step back for a moment 
and praise Him for that. You know, as many times as we 
fall, as many times as we sin, as many times as we blow it, 
as many times as we do foolish things, consider how much worse 
it would be if God was not building you up. Imagine if you were left 
to yourself. Imagine if there was no remorse. There was no guilt, there was 
no shame, there was no pang of conscience when you sinned. Imagine 
if God just took off His hand altogether and you were able 
to sin in unrestrained, unconvicted, reckless abandon. Paul says that's 
not the case. You are to walk in Him reflecting 
on the fact that you are rooted in Christ and you are being built 
up in Christ. It may not always appear to be 
the case, but God has His purposes. God has His plan. In 1 Corinthians 
1.30, He says, But of Him, of God, you are in Christ Jesus, 
who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, 
and redemption. We underestimate the power of 
God in us. We look at other believers and 
we say, wow, look at what they have. Almost as if to say, we 
don't have that. We've been gypped. We've been 
shorted. When God predestined us to be 
conformed to the image of his son, he didn't really know how 
to carry that out. You see, what Paul is telling 
them is that they are to engage in a militant, earnest, zealous 
Christian walk. And in order to do that, you 
need to consider your position. You're rooted in Christ. Okay, 
I'm rooted in Him, I'm not going to fall away. That's a given. 
Not for presumption, not so that I can say, what an excellent 
specimen of a human being. But so that I don't begin to 
reason ungodly things. I need to consider that I'm rooted 
in Him. I need to realize that I'm being built up in Him. It 
may not be as perceptible as I'd like it to be, I may not 
be where I want to be, but praise God I'm not where I once was. 
I love that confession, I love that statement by Newton. I'm 
not what I will be, I'm not what I want to be, but by the grace 
of God I'm not what I once was. That's a good Christian disposition. You see, what can happen is we 
can get so focused on us. Oh I sin, rye this, rye that. It's still selfishness. We can 
get so caught up with ourselves, even when we're confessing sin. 
Even when we're showing how holy and pious we are. Even when we're 
demonstrating our great humility. It's all selfishness. Paul says 
that in order to walk in him, you need to think outside the 
box. You need to think in terms of 
God. You're rooted in Christ. You're being built up in Christ. 
And now, he says, established in the faith as you have been 
taught. Being established in the faith 
as you have been taught. The Christian who has been rooted 
and is being built up should evidence such by further establishment 
in the truth of the gospel. This is not our subjective faith 
growing in strength and power. It is our appreciation of the 
objective truth of God's gospel. I love this statement. Look at 
this. Established in the faith as you have been taught. What have they been taught? They've 
been taught the gospel. What do we need in order to walk 
in Christ? We need the gospel. Paul's not anti more knowledge. He's not against the Colossians 
learning more theology or going to Bible study or listening to 
more preaching. But he says, with the gospel 
you have the resources necessary to carry out the command. With the appreciation of the 
empty tomb, the risen Savior, the glorified Lord, blood atonement, 
substitutionary curse bearing, with that knowledge you have 
everything you need in order to walk the way God has called 
you to. Established in the faith as you 
have been taught. It is not through continual acquisition 
of new information, though that is good. I'm not against that. I believe in continual acquisition 
of new information. But it's constant reference to 
received information. That's how we're established. 
We live in light of the gospel. We prize and value Jesus. If I were to ask you, or I were 
to give you a paper and a pen and say, OK, what was the date 
that Haggai wrote? We just covered it this morning. 
If you could get the year, could you get the months? Could you 
get the days of the month? Because we said all that. Could 
you tell me when Cyrus issued his edict? And in what chapters 
of the Bible we can see that edict? Could you tell me where 
in Ezra spoke of the opposition against this building plan, and 
the fact that they took a 16-year hiatus? If you could not tell 
me any of those things, you can still obey this command, based 
on the knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord. You see, that's his 
point. He wants the Colossians to learn 
more. He wants the Colossians to grow 
more. See, the more theology and the 
more Bible you fill your head and heart with, the less room 
there is for garbage. Isn't that Paul's point in Romans 
12? Do not be conformed to this world, but rather be what? Transformed 
by the renewing of your mind. The idea is that the more Bible 
and theology you get in you, the less space the world has 
to affect you. So Paul is not answering more 
knowledge, but he is saying that for a Christian walk that accurately 
reflects the glory of Jesus Christ, that honors God, you have the 
information already. So the issue is, you cannot say, 
well, I just didn't know. Oh, yes, you did. You did. You know. Jesus has saved you. Jesus has 
purchased you. Jesus has crown rights over your 
body. Jesus has crown rights over your 
eyes. Jesus has crown rights over your ears. Jesus has crown 
rights in your home. You know that it's wicked to 
be evil to your brother, or to your sister, or to your husband, 
or to your wife. See, at this point, at this particular 
time, the issue is not a lack of knowledge. You see, this is 
how the statist government wants to fix everything. We need more 
education. If we educate people, they will 
get better. Not necessarily. It may be like 
putting a sword in the hands of a madman. But with the Christian, 
when it comes to this walking in Christ, Paul says, being established 
in the faith as you have been taught. You have the gospel. You have the goods. You have 
the resources available so that you may carry out this command. 
So whether or not you know what the months were when Haggai wrote, 
you better know Calvary. You better understand the cross. 
You better be very familiar with 1 Corinthians 15, the first eight 
verses, where Paul gives an encapsulated summary of gospel truth according 
to the Scriptures. Christ died, Christ was buried, 
Christ rose again according to the Scriptures. If you don't 
have that knowledge, if you have not come to grips with that truth, 
you need to believe it afresh or believe it for the first time 
and then move on. As you, therefore, have received 
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. You need to know the 
Gospel. You need to know it, and you 
need to live in light of it. And then notice, fourthly, the 
attendant circumstances. He says, rooted and built up 
in him and established in the faith as you have been taught, 
abounding in it with thanksgiving. A walk worthy of the Lord will 
be marked by thankfulness to God. That comes up a lot in Colossians. Colossians 1, verse 12. We already 
saw it. Giving thanks to the Father who 
has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints 
in the land. Here in Colossians 2, 7. Again 
in Colossians 3, verse 15. Colossians 3, verse 15. And let 
the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you also were 
called in one body, and be thankful. Colossians 3, 17. And whatever you do in word or 
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to 
God the Father through Him. And Colossians chapter 4, verse 
2. Continue earnestly in prayer, 
being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. You see, being a thankful Christian, 
engaging in a thankful walk, As we saw in Colossians 1-2, 
thankfulness on the part of God's people is a constant reminder 
of the grace character of God's dealings with us. Thankless people 
think they did it themselves. Thankless people think that they 
are swell. Thankful people recognize it's 
by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone that I 
stand." Paul says that your walk in the Lord better be, he doesn't 
say better be, but based on the fact that he repeats it several 
times in Colossians, I think we can say it better be, marked 
by thankfulness. True gratitude for God's grace 
is an important offensive measure against the false teaching, Douglas 
Moo says. Paul's going to deal with false 
teaching. A thankful disposition? Gratitude for God can be a nice 
shelter against the false teaching that surrounds us? Yes. Thankfulness ought to punctuate 
our Christian law. Thankfulness in the Christian 
life is absolutely crucial. You cannot walk in Him without You cannot walk in Him with acknowledging 
the grace that He has given to you. I believe in many respects, 
in verses 6 and 7, the normal Christian life is spelled out 
right here. As you have received Christ Jesus 
Lord, so walk in Him. When you walk in Him, reflect 
on these truths. You have been rooted in Him. You are being built up in Him. 
It may not always be obvious to you that God is doing His 
work in your life. You are being established in 
the faith according to the teaching you've already received. And 
as a result, be faithful. Be faithful. That's the stuff 
of Christian worship right there. Well, brethren, I want to close 
with an observation from C. H. Spurgeon. He breaks down this 
text in his morning and evening very well. Not that he needs 
me to say he did a good job, but he summarizes it very beautifully. As you have therefore received 
Christ Jesus the Lord, we've received him by faith, so this 
walking in him is by faith. You may wonder, what does it 
mean to walk by faith? Does that mean I hum? Does it 
mean I chant? Does it mean I empty my mind? No, it means just the opposite. 
It means you fill your mind. You can chant psalms if you like. 
You can chant scriptures if you like. It means getting the stuff 
of God's Word in you and walking by faith in that. It means having 
that ready resource available so that you can burn up your 
mind. Sometimes we falter and sometimes 
we sin because we have no fortification. We don't have any resources to 
fill our minds and hearts with. We have a particular bent, a 
particular temptation, a particular area of sin. Memorize scripture 
to help with that. I'm all for you remembering those 
four dates that are mentioned in the book of Haggai. But if 
you struggle with sexual sin, I think there's some other verses 
you should learn first. I'm all for you learning that 
Haggai and Zechariah are mentioned in the book of Ezra. But if you're 
a wretch that needs to tame his tongue, there's some other passages 
you need to memorize first. Peter says, we're to escape from 
fleshly lusts which war against the soul. The way we do that 
is to fill our minds and our hearts with scripture. So we 
are to walk by faith. He goes on to say walking implies 
action. Remember, it's not just a right 
foot in front of the left and just sort of moving like that. 
It means the conduct. It means your life. It means 
your action. So walk in him. You're not going to lay on the 
couch or lay on the chair and just, you know, be a Christian. No. You need to let your actions 
reflect this walk. He says that walking signifies 
progress. Or as you say in Canada, progress. You must be going forward. Take 
the analogy of walking. You want to get from point A 
to point B. You don't go backwards. You go 
forwards. You make progress. If you're 
not making progress, you stop and you say, what's going on 
here? Perhaps it's the resistance that I meet with the wind. Perhaps 
it's the fact that I'm standing in quicksand. Perhaps it's some 
sort of obstacle that I need to overcome. Why am I not making 
progress? Some of us need to take stock 
of our Christian lives and ask the same question. Why am I not 
any more holy? Why am I not killing sin any 
more earnestly? Why do I not care about the Lord 
Jesus any more? Why is public worship such a 
drag? Why is private worship such a drag? Why isn't there 
progress? The walk implies progress. He says that it implies continuance. There's never a time when you're 
not supposed to walk. There's never a time when you 
can just sort of tune out, turn off, and do your own thing. No, you've been bought with a 
price. Therefore, glorify God with your 
body and with your soul. It is to be continual. It is 
to be in earnest. It is to be constant. And then 
he says it implies a habit. A habit. Sometimes we shrink 
back from that word. Oh, it bespeaks or feels like 
egoism. Habits are good if they're godly. Habits are really good. If they 
help us to walk in Him. We've got this idea that it must 
all be spontaneous, it must be all feeling oriented. No. Get up. Read your Bible. Pray. But it doesn't feel too 
holy. Do it and see where you'll be 
in ten years. Try the other way, when you only 
read your Bible or pray, when you feel like it. After ten years, 
if you've done it ten times, I'll be impressed. It's a habit. What does Paul tell Timothy? 
Discipline yourself for the purpose of Godliness. Why? literally do gymnastics for the 
purpose of godliness. Push your body. Push your spirit. How does Paul like it in his 
own Christian race in 1 Corinthians 9? Here's how I fight. Here's how I run. I do it to 
win. I'm not in this to lose. I'm 
not in this to come in last. I'm not in this to be disqualified. I'm not a shadow boxer. If I'm 
going to throw blows, I'm going to land them. When I get in that 
race, I run the win. And that's the way the Christian 
is supposed to do it. It is to be habitual. It is to 
be continual. It is to be progressive. It is 
to be filled with action. It is to be, by grace, through 
faith, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Father, we thank 
you for this command and we pray that you would cause us to see 
the beauty of it and cause us to see the fact that you have 
rooted us in Christ, that you are building us up in Him, that 
you have established us and that you, God, deserve all of our 
thanks and all of our gratitude and our blessing and our praising 
of you for your glorious work. We ask that you would go with 
us now and that you would watch over each one of us that you 
would protect us and cause us to walk in a manner that is consistent 
with the Word of Truth. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen.