Rooted In Christ: Colossians Week 2

H.M. Coker

5 Feb, 2024

Rooted In Christ: Colossians Week 2

Click here for the free printable download of Rooted in Christ: Colossians Week 2 Homework

Week 2, Day 1:

Pray: Dear Lord, You are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You.  Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.  In the day of my trouble I call upon You, for You answer me.  (Psalm 86:5-7)

Read: Today, we are going to learn more about the original recipients of Colossians.

  1. Read Colossians and highlight what you learn about the Colossian church (I use orange).  Only highlight what you learn about them specifically, we will be looking at believers and the church body in general, later in the study.  If you are struggling to determine if a verse teaches you something specific about the Colossians, then the following questions will provide a guide.
  2. According to Colossians 1:2, who was this letter originally written to?
  3. Use a Greek word study concordance to look up the word “saints” as used in 1:2. Write what you learn below.
  4. How does Paul describe the Colossian church in verses 1:4-6, 8 and 2:5
  5. Who shared the gospel with the people at Colossae? (1:7)
  6. What did Paul tell them to do with the letter according to 4:16?

Apply: Read back over your list of how Paul describes the Colossians in verses 1:4-6, 8 and 2:5.  Could you be described this way? Philippians 3:17 says, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”  What do you need to change today so that your life reflects the example you have in the Colossians?

Your memory verse this week is Colossians 1:11-12, “being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”  Write it on a notecard and put it in your pocket.  Read it three times every time you eat.

Week 2, Day 2:

Pray: Dear Lord, “There is none like You among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours.  All the nations you have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.  For You are great and do wondrous things; You alone are God.”  (Psalm 86:8-10)

Read: Why did Paul write this letter?  What was going on with the church in Colossae? 

  1. Read Colossians chapters 1-2 and highlight every reference to “no one.” (I used a red highlighter.)
  2. What does Paul tell the Colossian church to let no one do?  In the first column of the table in the attached printable download, write what you learn from the four mentions of “no one.”
  3. Knowing why we are (or are not) to do something can be a powerful motivator. In the second column of the table at the end of this lesson, write the reason which Paul gives why we are to let no one do each of these things.

Apply:  Has someone ever tried to delude you with plausible arguments?  When Jesus was tempted by the devil to sin Jesus responded with, “It is written…” (Matthew 4).  The next time someone tries to take you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, what will be your response?  Write it below.

Week 2, Day 3:

Pray: Dear Lord, “Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.  I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Your name forever.  For great is Your steadfast love toward me; You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.” (Psalm 86:11-13)

Read: Yesterday we learned what we are to let no one do and why.  But how do we keep from falling into the traps that these four warnings caution us against? 

  1. Read what Paul says in Colossians 2:6-7.  Write it below.
  2. How do we recognize a person who is trying to deceive us?  Paul doesn’t name the person or persons who are trying the deceive the Colossians, but he does give clear descriptions of them.  How is the “no one” specifically described by Paul in 2:18-19?
  3. What is asceticism?  Use a Biblical Greek concordance book or app to do a word study on the word “asceticism.”  Look the verse up in several different translations and see what you can glean from that (I suggest reading 2:18 in the NASB95 translation).  Remember that when doing a word study context is king.  Just because two verses use the same Greek word doesn’t necessarily mean the word is being used in the same way. For example, the Greek word “maerimnao,” is used twenty-four times in the New Testament; and in some contexts it is used in a positive way, such as in Philippians 2:20 when Paul says “I have no one like him [Timothy], who will be genuinely concerned [merimnao] for your welfare” and in 1 Corinthians 12:25 when Paul writes that “there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care [merimnao] for one another.”  Look at how the word asceticism (translated humility in NKJV) is used within the context of the passage; specifically, correlate 2:18 with 2:23. Biblical Greek is a very descriptive language, but all language has limitations so context, context, context.  Write what you learn below.
  4. How did you receive Christ?  Was it by works or by grace?  Read the following verses and write what you learn: Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:4-7
  5. Are you justified by the law or by grace? Read the following verses and write what you learn: Galatians 3:1-14 and Romans 5:1-2, 6-11, 18-21.

Apply: Colossians 2:6-7 says, “as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”  Have you received Christ?  “Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked” (1 John 2:6).  Do you walk in Him?  Spend time in prayer. 

Week 2, Day 4:

Pray: Dear Lord, “You are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”  Thank You, Lord.  (Nehemiah 9:17b)

Read: Today we are going to look at the instructions which Paul gives to believers.

  1. Read Colossians chapter 3-4 and put an “I” in the margin next to any verse which includes an instruction.  Look for action verbs like “seek,” “set,” “put to death,” and “put on.” 
  2. In the attached printable download, you will find a chart labeled “Colossians Instructions.”  List the instructions in the first column of the chart.  Don’t forget to include the reference and use the exact words of Scripture.  Try to list only the instruction and not any additional surrounding text.  I have given you more spaces than you will probably need, in case you see something that I missed.  Leave the right column blank; we will look at it tomorrow. (P.S. We covered the instruction given in 2:6-7 yesterday, but feel free to add it to the list as well).

Apply: Galatians 5:16 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”  Verse 24-25 goes on to say, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”  Read over the list of instructions given to believers in the book of Colossians.  Does your life line up?  Are you keeping in step with the Spirit or are you gratifying the desires of the flesh.  Spend time in prayer and follow the Holy Spirit’s conviction. Remember our Lord is good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon Him.  “Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.  In the day of my trouble I call upon You, for You answer me.”  (Psalm 86:5-7)

Week 2, Day 5:

Pray: “The unfolding of Your Word gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.  I open my mouth and pant, because I long for Your commandments.  Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is Your way with those who love Your name.  Keep steady my steps according to Your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.” (Psalm 119:130-133)

Read:  In the book of Colossians God not only tells us what to do, but also tells us why we are to do it.  Read Colossians chapter 3-4 again and when you get to each instruction look for why we are told to do it.  Look for the answers in the verses before and after each instruction and write them in the right-hand column of your “Colossians Instructions” chart.  The instructions given in Colossians are very explicit and don’t usually need a “how” attached, but if you see one then write it as well. 

Apply: Romans 6:6-12 says, “We know that our old selfwas crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set freefrom sin.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness but present yourself to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.  For sin will not have dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace.”  Did the Holy Spirit convict you yesterday of any of the Colossians instructions which you were not obeying?  You must consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Don’t let sin reign in your mortal body; use the why’s you learned today to live according to His Word. 

*Please share this article with your friends and subscribe to receive notifications of the upcoming releases

*All scriptures are quoted from the ESV translation