Colossians 2:6-8

Joy in the Lord gives us the strength to live out our lives in His mercy and grace. As we lift Him up for others to see they too will be drawn to His compassion in salvation. He died so that we could live!

We have been saved, not in the legalism of men but in the grace of God, in Christ Jesus.

The Greek word used here, paralambanō, can refer to the reception of a tradition—in this case, the message of the gospel handed down from the apostles. Paul urges the Colossians to continue in this tradition, which contrasts with the human traditions of false teachers. Faithlife Bible.

Just as the Colossian believers had begun with Christ, so Paul encourages them to continue in their walk with Him. Paul uses four words to describe the Colossians’ walk with Christ. The tense of the word translated rooted denotes a complete action; the believers have been rooted in Christ. The next three words, built up, established, and abounding, are in the present tense, showing the continual growth that should characterize every Christian’s walk with Christ.

This verse has been used at times to teach that Christians should not study or read philosophy. This is not Paul’s meaning. Paul himself was adept at philosophy, evidenced by his interaction with the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers in Athens. Paul was warning the believers not to be taken in by any philosophy that does not conform to a proper knowledge of Christ. The false teachers at Colosse had combined worldly philosophies with the gospel. It seems likely that the term principles refers to the elementary rules and regulations that certain teachers were seeking to impose on believers according to the dictates of human philosophies. Paul’s strongest indictment against the heretics was that their teaching was not according to Christ, and thus they were not walking with Christ. NKJ Bible.

Colossians 2:6–8 (NKJV)

⁶ As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷ rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

⁸ 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. ⁹ For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; ¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Romans 6:4 (NKJV)

⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Ephesians 2:16 (NKJV)

¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.