In Colossians 2:3 Paul says that in Christ all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. In writing Colossians Paul was fighting against the Gnostic philosophy by declaring that Christ, as the totality of all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, is far better, higher, and more profound than the Gnostic philosophy. According to history, the influence of Gnostic teaching, which is a mixture of Jewish religion and Greek philosophy, invaded the Gentile churches in Paul’s time. Those who were influenced by such teaching considered themselves as having much wisdom and knowledge, but they spoke many things concerning God and Christ that were not according to the truth. Hence, Paul told the Colossian believers that all the treasures of genuine wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. This is the spiritual wisdom and knowledge of the divine economy concerning Christ and the church. Wisdom is related to our spirit, and knowledge is related to our mind (Eph. 1:8, 17).
Moreover, wisdom and knowledge refer to all the “stories” of God. All the stories of God are wisdom and knowledge. All the wisdom and knowledge pertaining to God’s stories are hidden in this Christ who is the mystery of God. Therefore, Colossians 2:6-7 indicates that we who have received Christ Jesus the Lord should walk in Him and be rooted and built up in Him and should not listen to the empty words of philosophy and philosophical doctrines of the Gnostics.
God is the unique source of wisdom and knowledge. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in the Christ who is the mystery of God. Because the church in Colossae had been invaded by pagan philosophy, Paul was helping the Colossians to trace wisdom and knowledge to their true source in God. Christ is the mystery of God, who alone is the source of all wisdom and knowledge.
The fact that wisdom and knowledge are embodied in Christ is proved by His spoken words, especially those recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and John. In these books, the Lord spoke about the kingdom and about life. The Lord’s words recorded in these books contain the highest philosophy. None of the teachings of the philosophers, including the ethical teachings of Confucius, compare to them. The concept in the Lord’s words is deep and profound. Anyone who makes a thorough study of philosophy will have to admit that the highest philosophy is that found in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Truly all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Him. Since wisdom and knowledge are stored up in Christ as a treasure, we cannot have wisdom and knowledge unless we have Christ.
If we exercise our being to contact the Lord, Christ as the life-giving Spirit will saturate our spirit and our mind. Then we also will have in our experience the wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in Christ. In this way we will experience Him as the mystery of God. We should not be like the Colossians, who allowed pagan philosophy to defraud them of the wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ.
In 2:6-7 Paul says, “As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, having been rooted and being built up in Him.” We, the saints, having believed in Christ and having received Him, now walk in Him. Here to “walk in Him” means to live, to behave, to speak, and to have our being in the wonderful, all-inclusive Christ. We walk, having been rooted in Him as a plant in soil and being built up in Him as a building on a foundation (1 Cor. 3:9, 11). Christ is not only the soil in which we have been rooted but also the foundation on which we are being built up. We are both planted and built up in Christ; this indicates that we are altogether in Christ.
In Colossians 2:6 Paul says that we “have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord.” Christ is the portion of the saints (1:12) for our enjoyment. To believe in Him is to receive Him. As the all-inclusive Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17), He enters into us and dwells in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22) to be everything to us.
Once we have received Christ Jesus, we need not receive Him again. But we should apply what we have received. We need to daily practice to apply the living Christ in a practical way. To employ a common term, we need to “use” Christ. This is difficult because by birth it is not natural for us to use Christ, nor does our training condition us to use Him. The hardest lesson for us to learn as Christians is to apply Christ and to use Him. In our daily living we spontaneously use the self instead of Christ. There is no need for us to try to use the self; we use it automatically and spontaneously. In the matter of applying Christ, we certainly need to watch and pray; that is, we need to be on the alert.
Although we have all received the Lord Jesus, we are short in using Him. If we fail to apply Him, then practically in our daily living there is little significance to having received Him. Our experience of Christ should not be superficial, and we should not take so many things for granted. We are thankful for God’s salvation in Christ, and we are grateful that we have received Him. But now we must go on to apply the One whom we have received.