Colossians 2 Study Guide

Thanks for joining us this weekend for week three of our study through the Book of Colossians titled, “Unrivaled.” In this message, Pastor Doug shared from Colossians 2.

Dive deeper into this teaching on your own, with your family, or in your group! Check out expanded notes and summaries from the teaching, small group questions, and get informed on some of the great resources available to you.

Click here to watch this past weekend’s message in its entirety.


DISCUSSION POINTS AND QUESTIONS

Below you’ll find a recap of the key discussion points from Pastor Doug’s message and a few questions to reflect on and consider with your family, your circle of friends, or in your group.

Ice-Breakers: 

What’s one topic you would consider yourself an expert on, one you’ve studied in-depth and gone deep into?

What’s one topic or area you’ve always wanted to learn more about? What interests you about it?

This weekend, we continued making our way through the Book of Colossians as Pastor Doug shared a powerful word from Colossians 2. In this message, we discovered what it means to go deeper and grow stronger in our faith as we cling to the true gospel message.

Key Verses: Colossians 2:1–8
Main Thoughts: If You Want to Go Deep, Go Deep with Jesus (Colossians 2:1–5)
Jesus Will Help You Grow Up (Colossians 2:6–8)

Discussion Point: Have you ever seen a really deep tree root system? It’s pretty impressive! Studies have found numerous trees with growing roots of over 33 feet, and one report cited a tree with roots to 174 feet deep. That’s more than half the length of a football field! I think it’s safe to say that it’s almost impossible touproot a tree that’s planted that firmly and deeply into the earth. And the same is true of our lives when we’re rooted deeply in Christ! The deeper our roots go, the stronger our faith will grow. On the flipside, if we’re not rooted in Christ, we’re always in danger of being uprooted.

In order to remain strong in our faith, to weather the storms of life, to stand tall in the face of doubt or persuasive words and well-crafted arguments (Colossians 2:1–5), to discern the truth about God from the fake news that’s been circulating since the beginning of time, and in order to experience the fullness in life and feel complete through our union with Christ, we need to be firmly rooted in the truth and power of the gospel, which declares that Christ Jesus is Lord!

In light of this, the message from Paul is clear: Root yourself in Christ, abide in the vine (John 15:1–5). Christians who develop deep intimacy and a strong relationship with Jesus through real, genuine prayer and reflection, through the study and meditation of His Word, and through worship and repentance will be able to stand strong in the face of storms, trials, hardships, and the winds of empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense. The more intimately we know Him, the deeper our grow roots will grow.

Discussion Question 1: How is a Christian built up?

Discussion Question 2: What are you doing to root yourself deeper and deeper in Christ? 

Key Verses: Colossians 2:9–15
Main Thought: Focus on the Real Thing                                                           

Discussion Point: Don’t dumb down the gospel by adding anything to it or taking anything away from it. Jesus is fully human and divine—100% man and 100% God! Paul tells us that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15 NIV). The Greek word for image (eikon) essentially tells us that Jesus is the supreme expression of the Godhead expressed to humanity. In other words, Jesus is God in the flesh—the literal embodiment of God’s heart, mind, character, nature, and will. And He’s also Immanuel (“God with us”).

In the early church, there were false teachers seeking to distort the gospel and draw people away from the truth. There were Judaizers, who preached Jesus plus Jewish tradition, and the Gnostics, who claimed to have a secret knowledge from God. Then there was Arianism a few centuries later that claimed Jesus was a created being, acknowledging His humanity but denying His divinity. There’s even a view called Adoptionism, which says Jesus was a man who became divine at His baptism or resurrection. On the flipside, there’s another doctrine called Docetism, claiming Jesus was a spirit but didn’t actually have a real, physical body. He was fully divine, but not fully human.

Here’s the problem: If Jesus was not God for a single moment, He couldn’t be God ever. Thus, He must be fully divine. And if He had no physical body, then He couldn’t have given His life for the remission of sins, which means we’d still be dead in our sins. Thus, He must be fully human. He must be both in order to be Savior and for this to be true: “In Christ you have been brought to fullness” (Colossians 2:10 NIV).

He is all-supreme and all-sufficient. In Him, we are saved, and In Him we are sustained.

Discussion Question 3: What are some ways we can we guard ourselves from false doctrines and false views of Jesus?

Key Verses: Colossians 2:16–23
Main Thought: Don’t Tolerate People Who Try to Run Your Life

Discussion Point: The Colossians were in danger of losing sight of the truth of the gospel, of being deceived by the influencers of their day to abandon the gospel. They were allowing these people to impact their faith and affect their relationship with God.

So, what Paul warned against, and what we as believers must remember and be on guard for at all times, is that any ideology that adds something to the grace of God or takes anything away from the message that Jesus is Lord is rooted in a framework of distortion and deception meant to keep us from true freedom and the life God has for us.

As believers in Christ, we’re connected to Him. He’s our Head, our source of life, and it’s vital to our spiritual lives that we see this. Otherwise, we’ll open ourselves to the false influences of legalism, hedonism, fatalism, or any other “ism” out there that’s not of Christ. Let’s live according to the One who gives us life and not be swayed by false doctrines and by influencers who try to come in and draw us away from the true gospel message.

Discussion Question 4: How can we help each other remain firm in the truth and grow up in the faith? 

WALK IT OUT

Ponder: What does it mean to be set apart unto God?

Practice: This week, ask the Lord to help you—by the voice and power of the Spirit—discern the messages that seek to deceive and take you away from the true gospel of Jesus.

Pray: Spend time this week praying for your church family and the overall Church of Christ, that we may be rooted firmly in the truth, be built up individually and collectively, and that we may be used in the world—in this season and climate—to help the gospel take root in the hearts and lives of those who don’t yet know Jesus!


QUESTIONS FOR FAMILIES

Parents, here are a few questions to go over with your kids around the dinner table or during dedicated family times.

1. Can you think of a time you were encouraged for doing the right thing? Did it make you want to do the right thing again?

2. Share a few things you can do to get to know Jesus as a better friend?

3. Some people tell lies about Jesus. What are some ways to keep from believing those lies? Would reading the Bible help?

4. What are some ways you can grow closer to God? How can you help others do the same thing?


COLOSSIANS DEVOTIONAL READING PLAN

Go deeper as you follow along with our six-week Colossians series by subscribing to our verse-by-verse commentary and devotional plan on the YouVersion Bible app. To subscribe, click here.


A LOOK AHEAD

Join us online this Wednesday for a special night of prayer and worship. Then on the weekend, we’ll continue our “Unrivaled” series as Pastor Doug shares from Colossians 3:1–17. In this message, we’ll discover what our new life in Christ is all about and what it looks like practically.

We look forward to spending another awesome week with you!


If you aren’t already, follow us on social media!

About the Author

Danny Saavedra

Danny Saavedra is a licensed minister who has served on staff at Calvary since 2012, managing the Calvary Devotional and digital discipleship resources. He has a Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling and Master of Divinity in Pastoral Ministry from Liberty Theological Seminary. His wife Stephanie, son Jude, and daughter Zoe share a love of Star Wars, good food, having friends over for dinner, and studying the Word together as a family.