Colossians 2:7
“Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
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This verse completes the thought of verse 6, describing the steady, grateful growth that flows from walking in Christ, just before Paul warns against philosophy and tradition that would unsettle the faith.
What Does Colossians 2:7 Mean?
Paul describes what a healthy life in Christ looks like, stacking up images of stability and growth that all overflow into gratitude. Having told the Colossians to walk in Christ, he now shows what that walk produces. The first picture is agricultural: "rooted" in Him, like a tree whose roots go down deep into rich soil, drawing life and standing firm against the storm. The second is architectural: "built up" in Him, like a structure rising course by course on a solid foundation. Together they say that Christ is both the source from which we draw and the foundation on which we are constructed.
Paul adds that believers are "stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught" -- made firm and settled in the truth they had already learned, not carried off by novel teachings. The verse climaxes in an unexpected note: "abounding therein with thanksgiving." A maturing faith is not anxious or grasping but overflowing with gratitude. Thankfulness is the natural fruit of a life that knows how much it has received in Christ. Notice the quiet momentum of the verse -- rooted, built up, established, abounding. The Christian life is meant to deepen, rise, settle, and overflow, all of it grounded in the Lord and crowned with thanks.
In the Original Language
Paul mixes metaphors: "errizōmenoi" (rooted) is from gardening, a perfect tense picturing a settled, abiding rootedness, while "epoikodomoumenoi" (built up) is from building. "Bebaioumenoi" (stablished) means to be made firm or confirmed.
Cross References
“For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”
- Jeremiah 17:8
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,”
- Ephesians 3:17
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
- 1 Peter 2:5
Application
Sink your roots deep into Christ and let your growing faith overflow into a habit of thanksgiving rather than anxiety or restlessness.