Got Roots?

Many Christians are saved by the gospel of grace (1Co 15:1-4, Rom 3:20-26), but are easily led astray by false doctrine, the wisdom of the world, or simply don’t know how to walk. Some think that once they are saved freely by God’s grace, they now have to do good works to stay in God’s good favor. They put themselves back under the law because their flesh feels good in religiosity and piety (Gal 3:1-3).

The Apostle Paul tells us this mindset and behavior is entangling yourself back into the “yoke of bondage” that brings condemnation and shame because you will always fall short of God’s perfect standard (Gal 5:1-5).

We are informed in Colossians how to walk after we have been saved, and the beautiful part is, we have all we need to do it!

“[6] As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: [7] Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” – Col 2:6-7

We received Christ by grace through faith in the gospel, and that’s also how we walk (Gal 3:2-3, Eph 2:8-9, Rom 5:1-2, Rom 4:23-25)!

Faith in the gospel is not only the message of salvation, it’s the tool for our service as saints. Our heavenly position, blessings, and identity are given by the gospel (Eph 1:3, 2:6). Our pattern for forgiveness, love, and hope is found in the gospel (Eph 4:32, Rom 5:1-10). Christ is our sufficiency in all things, which ultimately is found in His grace (2Co 9:8)!

We need to be rooted and grounded in the hope of the gospel, so that we are not easily swayed by the winds of false doctrine that bombard us every single day in the world around us. Weak roots won’t hold steady when adversity or altering beliefs come.

Being rooted implies a deep understanding of not only what the gospel is, but the depth of what it accomplished, who we are by it, and the love displayed through it. Walking by faith in the gospel will stabilize your faith and allow you to grow up in Him correctly (Col 1:23, 2:7, Eph 3:14-21, Eph 4:3, 14-15).

To walk by faith in Christ today, we need to be so deeply rooted in our complete position in Christ by the gospel, that when someone tries to burden us with religious chains, we can stand fast in the liberty that Christ paid for with his own blood (Col 2:10, Gal 5:1).