-The simple point here is that Paul wants these folks who have put their faith in Christ for their salvation to continue to do so for their sanctification. Man cannot achieve salvation and forgiveness of sins on his own, it is something which is impossible apart from the grace and work of God. He is similarly unable to effect any subsequent development of godliness or Christ-likeness on his own. Every inch of spiritual progress towards heaven must gained by faith - trusting in Christ Jesus the Lord to do the heavy lifting. It's all by faith, 100%.
-Now, at a deeper level it is possible to peel away and peer into some layers of what is involved in receiving Christ that also applies to continually walking with Him. Yes, there is faith (Colossians 1.4). And there is the Word of truth (Colossians 1.5) - saving faith comes through hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10.17), but there can be no good progress in walking after Christ without continued hearing of and trusting in God’s Word (we’ll see this addressed further in Colossians 2.20-23 and 3.16). There is hope in heaven (Colossians 1.5) - a transfer and shifting of desires and expectations from the things of earth, the temporary goals and passing pleasures of this life, and setting them on the things of heaven, on the pleasures and goals of those things which will outstrip and outlast our brief sojourn on a broken planet. There is also the understanding of grace (Colossians 1.6) - again, this realization that there is nothing I can do to earn favor with God or make progress towards any spiritual goal, neither as it relates to securing a place in eternity nor as it relates to experiencing and manifesting more of the eternal in this life. Anything that comes to me of a divine spiritual nature is a undeserved gift from God. All of it, 100%. We are saved by grace through faith, and we continue in that same vein. We walk with Christ each day, moment by moment, by grace through faith. And as much as anything else there is also Lordship involved in both receiving and walking with Christ, a surrendering to Jesus as King and Lord and Master. Ours is no mere easy-believism which takes hold of an offer of salvation without a transfer of life-ownership, without a shifting of goals and desires and focus, without a surrender of my wants and desires to those of my new Owner. To have faith in Christ is to be owned by Him. I have been set free, yes, but I have been bought with a price, with His precious blood, and I am no longer master of my domain. I belong to Him, and I live for Him, this One Who died for me and rose again for me, each and every day, more and more as I walk by faith, get to know Him and increasingly hope in heaven. I am free indeed, free to be a slave of Jesus Christ every day, and increasingly I live to do what He wants.
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