The Christian’s life is many times referred to as a “walk.” In fact the Apostle Paul will use this metaphorical meaning 32 times in his epistles. “Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” or “walk not as other Gentiles walk” are but two examples of the use of this term in Paul’s epistles (Eph. 4:1,17). The use of “walk” in this way means to “regulate one’s life” or “to conduct one’s self properly.” As Christians, not only do we have the responsibility to watch our walk, but we have the perfect example set before us.
Paul, in the passage cited above, tells the brethren in Colossae that they had “received Christ Jesus the Lord” and that they “had been taught.” In Ephesians 4, after pointing to the ignorance that was in the gentiles who remained outside of Christ, Paul made a grand contrast. “But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him , as the truth is in Jesus” (Eph. 4:20,21). As Christians we can rejoice in the fact that the apostle exalts Jesus Christ and ever sets him before the brethren as the perfect example. In 1 Corinthians 11:1 we read, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” Paul’s exhortation is to follow Christ, just as I am following Christ. Again in Philippians 2 Paul will exhort the brethren to humble themselves and submit themselves in service. Having done that he then writes, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).
Peter will also point to Christ as the great example to be followed. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did not sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (1 Pet. 2:21,22). Even John in the great Revelation in describing the hundred and forty and four thousand said, “These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth” (Rev. 14:4). As if the encouragement of these inspired writers were not enough, we remember the words of Jehovah in Matthew 17:5 and the transfiguration. “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased; hear ye him.” Certainly there is no Christian who would deny this point.
Yet, in Colossians 2:6&7 there is a certain intensity that is embedded in this passage. Paul says that the brethren had been “rooted and built up in him.” Our standing and our sustenance is Christ Jesus. As one Greek scholar puts it “with your roots deeply planted in Him, being continuously built up in Him,” we can see the intensity. Paul would say it on various occasions in different ways. “For me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21), and “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,” (Gal. 2:20), are but two examples of this point. In Colossians we will find many passages which indicate this thought. “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:27), “Ye are complete in Him” (2:10), and “When Christ, who is our life” (3:4) all indicate the concentrated need that we have for Christ, and for the essentiality of our following our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. With Paul we would exhort, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” We would also encourage each one to study their Bibles more and more to have a clear picture of the example of Christ.
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