Every Believer Receives Jesus as the Savior and the Lord (Colossians 2:5-6).

Class Outline:

Wednesday November 11, 2026

 

Point 1: Rejoicing to see your order and stability of faith in Christ. 

 

Colossae is not a weak church. Paul knows how frail a church always is.

 

Church order (taxis): having the right people in the right places [pastor, deacons, elders, secretaries, spiritual gifts - and all in obedience to authority].

 

Order will stiffen into routine if there is not something deeper - steadfastness (stereoma) of faith in Christ.

 

The order is the outward discipline and the stability of your faith is the inward strength of the church. A church needs both: Colossae has them.

 

Every church has to be aware of both and the false ideas that may weaken them. (Paul knows how fast) You play your part in both realms for you are a part of the organization and possessor of your own stability of faith in Christ.

 

JAM 1:22

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

 

Point 2: Let Christ - and no other for He is Lord - establish your values, guide your thinking, and direct your conduct.

 

This paragraph is the heart of Colossians. It serves as a hinge between the first major section of the letter and the second.

 

The very long and complex introduction in this letter (COL 1:3-2:5) Paul has spotlighted the person of Christ:

 

Body of the letter COL 2:6-4:6

 

COL 2:6

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord

 

“received” (aorist; paralambano).

 

COL 2:6

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

 

The second clause then summarizes the response to this truth of our current position we are to continue to live in him.

 

This is the first imperative in the letter and provides one of the clearest examples of the indicative - imperative sequence that is widely found in the NT letters.

 

The imperative is “walk” and it is the second time we have seen it, COL 1:9-12.

 

What does Paul mean by, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord?”

 

They and we know that receiving him is by faith. But what does it mean to receive Him? The key to answering this question is the unique sequence of names and articles that we find here.

 

“[the] Christ Jesus the Lord” - definite article (“the”) before Christ and Lord. This is the only occurrence  of the three names in this form.

Three key names are found together 74 times in the NT.

[the] our Lord Jesus Christ (35)

Lord Jesus Christ (16)

[the] Lord Jesus Christ (8)

Christ Jesus [the] our/you/my Lord (7)

Jesus Christ [the] our Lord (5)

Jesus Christ Lord (1) [we add “the” Lord]

[the] Christ Jesus [the] our Lord (1).

 

The last one is closest ours and not coincidentally is in EPH 3:11.

 

“the Christ” indicates the title of the person Jesus who is “the Lord.” The definite article in front of Christ and the definite article in front of Lord indicate that we have received the Savior and the Master.

 

“the Messiah, Jesus the Lord” or “the Christ, even Jesus the Lord”

 

Most Christians have an easy time with the Savior title.

 

It is “the Lord” that becomes the struggle between our pride and His absolute authority.

 

When you receive Jesus through faith you received Him as your Savior and as your Lord.

 

The failure to accept who is the Savior has been disastrous on the human race.

 

The failure to accept who is the Lord has been disastrous on the church.

 

Don't let history, either in the secular world or in the church, be repeated in your own life.

 

But faith and grace does not permit the subject of Jesus the Lord to be disobedient or rebellious against Him (ROM 6:1-2).

 

The opportunity to follow Him, to have a cross to bear, to be able to know commandments and have the power to obey them out of love for Him is all by grace through faith.

 

ROM 10:9

if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord

 

1CO 12:3

no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

 

2CO 4:5

For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord

 

PHI 2:11

and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

It is this central confession, with all its varied and far-reaching implications, to which the Colossians need to maintain in order to ward off the threat of the false teaching.

 

This is further evidenced by the commandment given in the second clause of verse 6:

 

“walk” (peripateo, present imperative): to conduct one’s life, comport oneself, behave, live.

 

The aorist indicative: you received, is followed by a present imperative: continue to live your lives in Him.

 

Why? Well, He is Lord and by faith, He is your Lord!

 

And in the polemical context in which Paul writes justifies an expanded look at this commandment as: let Christ - and no other for He is Lord - establish your values, guide your thinking, and direct your conduct.

 

Conclusion:

 

COL 2:6 expanded: As you received the Messiah Jesus the Lord (by faith through grace), so let Christ - no other, for He is Lord - establish your values, guide your thinking, and direct your conduct.

 

Paul reminded the Colossians that they had responded to the message of the Lord Jesus Christ who is Lord, Creator, the image of the invisible God, their Redeemer and Reconciler.

 

Now they see their first imperative, but not the last. The focus of the letter turns to their response; to continue their lives in Him by faith through grace by living every day with Jesus Christ as Lord.

 

This is their only defense against the falsehood.

 

Application: We all must be careful that we do not coast, or at least try to coast in our Christian lives; neglecting study, prayer, alertness to the work God has for us today and how He wants us to conduct it.

 

Due to the fact that we have grown over the years, or that our faith is currently strong and our knowledge high, is no protection against slipping into worldly thinking and drying up.

 

Our strong faith in Christ today must be protected and it must increase.