1. REMAINING FAITHFUL

2. Col. 2:6-9, “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.  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.   For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”  

3. I. FOUR ESSENTIALS

4. 1. Walk
Psa. 78:10, “They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law.”
Acts 14:16, “Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.”

5. 1 Cor. 3:3, “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”
Psa. 86:11, “Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.”

6. 2 Cor. 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
WALKING BY FAITH
2 Cor. 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Prov. 2:20, “That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.”

7. WALK IN THE LIGHT
John 11:9, 10, “Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.”

8. WALK AFTER THE SPIRIT
Rom. 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

9. 2. Rooted
Eph. 3:17, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.”

10. THE FRUIT OF THE RIGHTEOUS
Prov. 12:3, “A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.”
Prov. 12:12, “The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.”

11. THE BRANCH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Rom. 11:16, 17, “For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree.”

12. 3. Built
Psa. 127:1, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”

13. Eph. 2:20, “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.”
1 Pet. 2:5, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

14. 4. Stablished
A) A Minister’s Duty: 1 Thess. 3:1, 2, “Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone; And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith.”

15. B) The Word: The only way to establish and keep one’s faith is by the word!
Psa. 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

16. II. FOUR SPOILERS

17. The Greek word used here means to spoil in the sense of plunder, rob, as when plunder is taken in war.

18. 1. Philosophy
The word philosophy literally means “love of wisdom.” It was used by the Greek writers for either zeal for or skill in any art or science, or any branch of knowledge. (Thayer). Philosophy refers to any moral system. We could speak of the philosophy of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, the Greeks, etc. Here is Colossians philosophy seems to refer to the theology (or theosophy) which concerned itself with Jewish rituals, and honoring angels, and rules about self-denial of the body. Paul calls all of these things vain deceit (or empty, fruitless deceit). (College Press).

19.  ”Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (Eph. 5:6).

20. 2) Vain Deceit
The word is used here to speak of that which is empty. It may be anything from words to actions.
Psa. 119:113, “I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.”

21. 3) Traditions of Men
Gal. 1:14, “And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.”
2 Thess. 2:15, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.”

22. 4) Rudiments of the World
Col. 2:20, “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances.”
Gal. 4:3, “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.”

23. 1 Jn. 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

24. III. ONE SAVIOR

25. “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”  

26. The whole plenitude of our Lord’s Divine-human person and powers, as the complete Christ, was definitively constituted when, in the exercise of his kingly prerogative, "he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." "From henceforth" that fulness evermore resides in him.