Verse 7 concludes with the words, “Being established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” The words “in the faith” here mean in our faith, the subjective faith by which we believe. If we are distracted from Christ and turn our attention to things that replace Him, our faith will be weakened, perhaps even shaken. But if we remain in Christ and are built up in the church, our faith will be strengthened.
Those who become dissenting and forsake the church life experience a weakening of their faith. Outwardly they may proclaim to have sweet fellowship with the Lord, but inwardly their faith has waned. When they are alone, they may wonder what is happening inside them. They are troubled by doubts, and they know deep within that they have lost their fellowship with the Lord. Because they have so many doubts and questions, they cannot be established in their faith. By contrast, those who remain in Christ and the church have strong faith and firm assurance.
We have pointed out that “the faith” in verse 7 refers to our faith, the subjective faith. Why does Paul say “the faith” when he is actually speaking of our faith? The answer is that he regards the faith as our faith, and our faith as the faith. We cannot be established in someone else’s faith; we must be established in our own faith. This means that our faith must become the faith and that the faith must be ours. We are established in our faith, which is the faith.
The way to be established in the faith is by abounding in thanksgiving. When we are right with the Lord and in fellowship with Him, we are filled with thanksgiving. But when we are not right with the Lord, we are not able to give thanks. If you ask the dissenting ones if they are abounding with thanksgiving, their mouths will be stopped. If we claim to have good fellowship with the Lord but cannot render thanks to Him, then our claim is false.
According to this verse, the words “abounding in thanksgiving” are related to “being established in the faith.” This indicates that whether or not we have been established in the faith depends on whether or not we are abounding in thanksgiving. If we do a certain thing in fellowship with the Lord, we shall be filled with thanksgiving. However, if we do anything that is apart from Him, we shall not be able to give thanks. For example, are you able to thank the Lord when you participate in a particular form of worldly entertainment? You may claim to be happy, but you cannot honestly thank the Lord. Sometimes it seems that we can thank the Lord for a certain thing, but after a little while we repent of the very thing for which we have given thanks. We must not deceive ourselves. Instead, we should check if we are abounding in thanksgiving. If we are, then we are being established in the faith.
Another way to experience Christ as the mystery of God is to “walk in Him” (2:6). As we have received Christ, we should walk in Him. To walk is to live, to act, to behave, and to have our being. We should walk, live, and act in Christ so that we may enjoy His riches, just as the children of Israel lived in the good land and enjoyed all its rich produce.
In our experience Christ should be the good land in which we live and walk. This should not merely be a doctrine to us. We need to pray, “Lord, I want to live and walk in You. Lord, I pray that You will be the good land to me in my experience, and that every aspect of my living may be in You.”
In 2:4 Paul says, “This I say that no one may delude you with persuasive speech.” In verse 8 he goes on to say, “Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.” If we would experience Christ as the mystery of God, we must take care not to be deluded or carried off from Him. We should not be led away to anything that replaces Christ. We need to remain in Him. As long as we remain in Christ, we shall also remain in the church. Christ must be our only base, our only ground and standing.
In the past few years some were distracted by certain things which they took as their ground instead of Christ. The issue is not whether these things were right or wrong. It is that they were used as a standing in place of Christ. Christ should be our unique focus. We should not allow anything, even the most correct and scriptural things, to replace Him. If we care for anything instead of Christ, we shall be deluded and carried off from Him and thereby become present-day Colossians. Any who have been deluded and carried away from Christ need to receive Paul’s word in this book and return to the all-inclusive Christ. May we all experience Him as the mystery of God!