CHRISTIAN PROGRESS

          ‘As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord,
          so walk in Him, rooted and builded up in
          Him.’–COL. ii. 6, 7 (R.V.).
It is characteristic of Paul that he should here use three figures
incongruous with each other to express the same idea, the figures of
walking, being rooted, and built up. They, however, have in common that
they all suggest an initial act by which we are brought into connection
with Christ, and a subsequent process flowing from and following on it.
Receiving Christ, being rooted in Him, being founded on Him, stand for
the first; walking in Him, growing up from the root in Him, being built
up on Him as foundation, stand for the second. Fully expressed then, the
text would run, ‘As ye have received Christ, so walk in Him; as ye have
been rooted in Him, so grow up in Him; as ye have been founded on Him,
so be builded up.’ These three clauses present the one idea in slightly
different forms. The first expresses Christian progress as the
manifestation before the world of an inward possession, the exhibition
in the outward life of a treasure hid in the heart. The second expresses
the same progress as the development by its own vital energy of the life
of Christ in the soul. The third expresses the progress as the addition,
by conscious efforts, of portion after portion to the character, which
is manifestly incomplete until the headstone crowns the structure. We
may then take the passage before us as exhibiting the principles of
Christian progress.
I. The origin of all, or how Christian progress begins.
These three figures, receiving, rooted, founded, all express a great
deal more than merely accepting certain truths about Him. The acceptance
of truths is the means by which we come to what is more than any belief
of truths. We possess Christ when we believe with a true faith in Him.
We are rooted in Him. His life flows into us. We draw nourishment from
that soil. We are built on Him, and in our compact union find a real
support to a life which is otherwise baseless and blown about like
thistledown by every breath. The union which all these metaphors
presupposes is a vital connection; the possession which is the first
step in the Christian life is a real possession.
There is no progress without that initial step. Our own experience tells
us but too plainly and loudly that we need the impartation of a new
life, and to be set on a new foundation, if we are ever to be anything
else than failures and blots.
There is sure to be progress if the initial step has been taken. If
Christ has been received, the life possessed will certainly manifest
itself. It will go on to perfection. The union effected will work on
through the whole character and nature. It is the beginning of all; it
is only the beginning.
II. The manner of Christian progress or in what it consists.
It consists in a more complete possession of Him, in a more constant
approximation to Him, and a more entire appropriation of Him. Christian
progress is not a growing up from Christ as starting-point, but into
Christ as goal. All is contained in the first act by which He is first
received; the remainder is but the working out of that. All our growth
in knowledge and wisdom consists in our knowing what we have when we
receive Christ. We grow in proportion as we learn to see in Him the
centre of all truth, as the Revealer of God, as the Teacher of man, as
the Interpreter of nature, as the meaning and end of history, as the
Lord of life and death. Morals, politics, and philosophy flow from Him.
His lips and His life and death proclaim all truth, human and divine.
As in wisdom so in character, all progress consists in coming closer to
Jesus and receiving more and more of His many-sided grace. He is the
pattern of all excellence, the living ideal of whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report, virtue incarnate, praise embodied. He is the power by which we
become gradually and growingly moulded into His likeness. Every part of
our nature finds its best stimulus in Jesus for individuals and for
societies. Christ and growth into Him is progress, and the only way by
which men can be presented perfect, is that they shall be presented
‘perfect in Christ,’ whereunto every man must labour who would that his
labour should not be in vain. That progress must follow the threefold
direction in the text. There must first be the progressive manifestation
in act and life of the Christ already possessed, ‘As ye received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.’ There must also be the completer growth
in the soul of the new life already received. As the leaf grows green
and broad, so a Christlike character must grow not altogether by effort.
And there must be a continual being builded up in Him by constant
additions to the fabric of graces set on that foundation.
III. The means, or how it is accomplished.
The first words of our text tell us that ‘Ye have received Christ Jesus
as Lord,’ and all depends on keeping the channels of communication open
so that the reception may be continuous and progressive. We must live
near and ever nearer to the Lord, and seek that our communion with Him
may be strengthened. On the other hand, it is not only by the
spontaneous development of the implanted life, but by conscious and
continuous efforts which sometimes involve vigorous repression of the
old self that progress is realised. The two metaphors of our text have
to be united in our experience. Neither the effortless growth of the
tree nor the toilsome work of the builder suffice to represent the whole
truth. The two sides of deep and still communion, and of strenuous
effort based on that communion, must be found in the experience of every
Christian who has received Christ, and is advancing through the
imperfect manifestations of earth to the perfect union with, and perfect
assimilation to, the Lord.
To all men who are ready to despair of themselves, here is the way to
realise the grandest hopes. Nothing is too great to be attained by one
who, having received Christ Jesus as Lord, walks in Him, rooted and
builded up in Him, ‘a holy temple to the Lord.’

World English Bible

Bible Verses About love – Corinthians-2 2:4
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.

Bible Verses About love – Song-of-Solomon 2:4
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me [was] love.

Bible Scriptures – Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Bible Favorites

Bible Verses About love – Corinthians-2 12:15
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.

Bible Verses About love – Song-of-Solomon 8:6
Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love [is] strong as death; jealousy [is] cruel as the grave: the coals thereof [are] coals of fire, [which hath a] most vehement flame.

Bible Verses About ahilud – Kings-1 4:12
Baana the son of Ahilud; [to him pertained] Taanach and Megiddo, and all Bethshean, which [is] by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, [even] unto [the place that is] beyond Jokneam:

Bible Verses About harvest – Jeremiah 9:22
Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather [them].

Bible Verses About nethinim – Nehemiah 7:73
So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and [some] of the people, and the Nethinims, and all Israel, dwelt in their cities; and when the seventh month came, the children of Israel [were] in their cities.

Bible Verses About follow – Luke 9:57
And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain [man] said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

Bible Verses About profaned – Malachi 2:11
Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

Bible Verses About needy – Psalms 9:18
For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall [not] perish for ever.

Bible Verses About pay – Exodus 21:22
If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart [from her], and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges [determine].

Bible Verses About accusation – Peter-2 2:11
Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.

Bible Verses About doer – Psalms 119:115
Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.

Bible Verses About hezro – Joshua 15:3
And it went out to the south side to Maalehacrabbim, and passed along to Zin, and ascended up on the south side unto Kadeshbarnea, and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar, and fetched a compass to Karkaa:

Bible Verses About drawn – Isaiah 28:9
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts.

Bible Verses About harden – Exodus 14:4
And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I [am] the LORD. And they did so.

Bible Verses About praying – Acts 11:5
I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

Bible Verses About happy – Psalms 137:8
O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy [shall he be], that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

Bible Verses About staff – Ezekiel 29:6
And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I [am] the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

Bible Verses About rebelled – Deuteronomy 1:26
Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:

Bible Verses About branch – Isaiah 18:5
For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away [and] cut down the branches.

Bible Verses About soldiers – Acts 21:32
Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.

Bible Verses About hanoch – Exodus 6:14
These [be] the heads of their fathers' houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these [be] the families of Reuben.

Bible Verses About shaking – Isaiah 17:6
Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two [or] three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four [or] five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the LORD God of Israel.

Bible Verses About anger – Mark 3:5
And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched [it] out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

Bible Verses About goodness – Psalms 25:7
Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.

Bible Verses About fear – Proverbs 14:16
A wise [man] feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

Bible Verses About friend – Luke 23:12
And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.

Bible Verses About poor – Judges 6:15
And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family [is] poor in Manasseh, and I [am] the least in my father's house.

Bible Verses About forgive – Psalms 25:18
Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.

Bible Verses About tithes – Numbers 18:26
Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, [even] a tenth [part] of the tithe.

Bible Verses About water – Samuel-1 26:16
This thing [is] not good that thou hast done. [As] the LORD liveth, ye [are] worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the LORD'S anointed. And now see where the king's spear [is], and the cruse of water that [was] at his bolster.

Bible Verses About prayer – Isaiah 26:16
LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer [when] thy chastening [was] upon them.

Bible Verses About fathers – Jeremiah 11:5
That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as [it is] this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.

Bible Verses About dreams – Samuel-1 28:6
And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.

Bible Verses About trust – Jeremiah 12:5
If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and [if] in the land of peace, [wherein] thou trustedst, [they wearied thee], then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?

Bible Verses About wisdom – Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Bible Verses About jealousy – Psalms 78:58
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

Bible Verses About peace – Ephesians 2:14
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition [between us];

Bible Verses About love – Corinthians-2 9:7
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Bible Verses About strength – Isaiah 33:23
Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

Bible Verses About women – Titus 2:3
The aged women likewise, that [they be] in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

Bible Verses About grace – Exodus 33:16
For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? [is it] not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that [are] upon the face of the earth.

Bible Verses About salvation – Psalms 116:13
I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

Bible in Basic English

Bible Verses About birth – Genesis 38:28
And while she was in the act of giving birth, one of them put out his hand; and the woman who was with her put a red thread round his hand, saying, This one came out first.

Bible Verses About friend – Judges 14:20
But Samson's wife was given to the friend who had been his best man.

Bible Verses About mothers – Mark 13:12
And brother will give up brother to death, and the father his child; and children will go against their fathers and mothers, and put them to death.

Bible Verses About water – Leviticus 14:50
And put one of the birds to death in a vessel of earth over flowing water;

Bible Verses About anger – 2-Kings 14:10
It is true that you have overcome Edom and your heart is uplifted; let that glory be enough for you, and keep in your country; why do you make causes of trouble, putting yourself, and Judah with you, in danger of downfall?

Bible Verses About poor – Zechariah 7:10
Do not be hard on the widow, or the child without a father, on the man from a strange country, or on the poor; let there be no evil thought in your heart against your brother.

Bible Verses About caring – Deuteronomy 12:19
See that you do not give up caring for the Levite as long as you are living in your land.

Bible Verses About giving – Luke 5:28
And giving up his business, he got up and went after him.

Bible Verses About life – 1-Samuel 7:15
And Samuel was judge of Israel all the days of his life.

Bible Verses About love – Psalms 119:167
My soul has kept your unchanging word; great is my love for it.

Bible Verses About shelf – Ezekiel 43:14
And from the base on the earth level to the lower shelf, the altar is two cubits high and a cubit wide; and from the smaller shelf to the greater shelf it is four cubits high and a cubit wide.

Bible Verses About farther – 2-Corinthians 8:5
And going even farther than our hope, they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us after the purpose of God.

Bible Verses About uprooted – Jeremiah 12:17
But if they will not give ear, then I will have that nation uprooted, and given to destruction, says the Lord.

Bible Verses About manasseh – 2-Chronicles 32:33
So Hezekiah went to rest with his fathers, and they put his body into the higher part of the resting-places of the sons of David: and all Judah and the people of Jerusalem gave him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son became king in his place.

Bible Verses About downfall – Jeremiah 3:25
Let us be stretched on the earth in our downfall, covering ourselves with our shame: for we have been sinners against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our earliest years even till this day: and we have not given ear to the voice of the Lord our God.

Bible Verses About note – Daniel 11:39
And he will make use of the people of a strange god to keep his strongest places; to those whom he takes note of he will give high honour: and he will make them rulers over the mass of the people, and will make division of the land for a price.

Bible Verses About shur – Genesis 25:18
And their country was from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt: they took their place to the east of all their brothers.

Bible Verses About poison – Isaiah 11:8
And the child at the breast will be playing by the hole of the snake, and the older child will put his hand on the bright eye of the poison-snake.

Bible Verses About sailing – Acts 27:13
And when the south wind came softly, being of the opinion that their purpose might be effected, they let the ship go and went sailing down the side of Crete, very near to the land.

Bible Verses About amal – 1-Samuel 15:20
And Saul said, Truly, I have done the orders of the Lord and have gone the way the Lord sent me; I have taken Agag, the king of Amalek, and have given the Amalekites up to destruction.

King James Bible

Bible Verses About confidence – John-1 3:21
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, [then] have we confidence toward God.

Bible Verses About whore – Ezekiel 16:26
Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.

Bible Verses About excellent – Daniel 5:12
Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.

Bible Verses About elijah – Kings-1 18:42
So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,

Bible Verses About honourable – Isaiah 23:8
Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning [city], whose merchants [are] princes, whose traffickers [are] the honourable of the earth?

Bible Verses About rod – Matthew 5:13
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Bible Verses About destruction – Matthew 7:13
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Bible Verses About faithful – Lamentations 3:23
[They are] new every morning: great [is] thy faithfulness.

Bible Verses About fruitful – Isaiah 32:12
They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

Bible Verses About stirred – Daniel 11:10
But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces: and [one] shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through: then shall he return, and be stirred up, [even] to his fortress.

Bible Verses About habitation – Jeremiah 49:19
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who [is] a chosen [man, that] I may appoint over her? for who [is] like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who [is] that shepherd that will stand before me?

Bible Verses About interpretation – Daniel 5:12
Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.

Bible Verses About endure – Psalms 136:14
And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy [endureth] for ever:

Bible Verses About ignorant – Peter-2 3:5
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Bible Verses About recompense – Isaiah 35:4
Say to them [that are] of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come [with] vengeance, [even] God [with] a recompense; he will come and save you.

Bible Verses About remembrance – Lamentations 3:20
My soul hath [them] still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.

Bible Verses About gird – Isaiah 8:9
Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

Bible Verses About graves – Jeremiah 8:1
At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:

Bible Verses About flood – Joshua 24:15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Bible Verses About iniquities – Ezekiel 36:33
Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause [you] to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.

Bible Scriptures About corn – Hosea 2:9
Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax [given] to cover her nakedness.

Bible Scriptures About possess – Numbers 33:53
And ye shall dispossess [the inhabitants] of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

Bible Scriptures About smite – Mark 14:27
And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.

Bible Scriptures About reproach – Psalms 78:66
And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach.

Bible Scriptures About declare – Isaiah 21:10
O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

Bible Scriptures About camp – Kings-2 7:8
And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid [it]; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence [also], and went and hid [it].

Bible Scriptures About covenant – Psalms 78:37
For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.

Bible Scriptures About whoredom – Hosea 6:10
I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there [is] the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.

Bible Scriptures About possession – Genesis 50:13
For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

Bible Scriptures About david – Psalms 144:1
[A Psalm] of David. Blessed [be] the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, [and] my fingers to fight: