Colossians 2:6
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:”
King James Version (KJV)
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Paul writes against teachers urging the Colossians to add philosophy, regulations, and ritual to their faith. Verse 6 turns them back to Christ Himself as the foundation and the way of ongoing life.
What Does Colossians 2:6 Mean?
Paul's point is simple and searching: the way you first came to Christ is the way you must keep living in Him. Believers in Colosse "received" Jesus -- they welcomed Him as Lord through faith, surrendering to His authority. Now Paul tells them that the daily Christian life is not a different method from how it began. The same humble trust and the same submission to Christ's lordship that marked their first step are meant to mark every step that follows.
The word "walk" is a vivid biblical picture of one's whole manner of life -- the steady, ordinary, day-by-day conduct that adds up to a way of living. To "walk in him" is to stay in living union with Christ, drawing from Him, obeying Him, and abiding in Him as the path unfolds. Paul places this verse just before he warns against teachings that would lure the Colossians into rules, philosophy, and ritual as the supposed key to spiritual progress. His correction is to send them back to the beginning: you started with Christ Himself, so do not look elsewhere for maturity. Growth is not adding something to Jesus; it is going deeper into Him. The same Lord you trusted to save you is the Lord you trust to lead you, every day of the journey.
In the Original Language
The Greek "parelabete" (ye have received) refers to welcoming and taking to oneself, as one receives a tradition handed down. "Peripateite" (walk) is a present-tense command picturing continual, ongoing conduct -- one's whole manner of life.
Cross References
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”
- John 15:4
“Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
- Galatians 3:3
“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”
- 1 John 2:6
Application
Keep living the Christian life the same way it began -- by trusting and surrendering to Jesus as Lord -- rather than chasing extra formulas for spiritual growth.