Colossians 2:6 tells believers that the way they began their life with Christ is the same way they should keep living it. Paul is saying that because they accepted Jesus as Lord, they should now conduct their daily lives in a manner that fits that relationship. The apostle Paul wrote this to the church in Colossae, a city in what is now western Turkey, and to believers who were being pressed by teachers offering ideas that sounded deeper than the simple gospel they had first heard.
As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him…
Colossians 2:6 (WEB)
What Colossians 2:6 Means
The verse begins with “As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord.” The word “therefore” points backward. Paul is drawing a conclusion from what he has just said about Christ holding all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The Colossians did not need to add anything to what they had already received when they first put their trust in Jesus. The starting point was a real reception of a person, not a set of ideas to be updated.
The main command is “walk in him.” In the Bible, walking is a common picture for how a person lives day to day, the pattern of choices and habits that shapes a life. Paul is asking the Colossians to let their ordinary conduct, their work, their words, their relationships, be shaped by their union with Christ. The phrase “in him” matters here: the walk is not self-generated discipline detached from Christ, but a life lived within him.
The verse does not promise that following Christ will feel easy or that every question will be answered. It describes a direction and a relationship. It also does not suggest that believers earn their standing by walking well. Paul’s logic runs the other way: the walk flows from a relationship already established by God’s grace.
The Context of Colossians 2:6
Colossians is one of the letters traditionally attributed to Paul, written while he was in prison, probably in the early 60s AD. Paul had not personally founded the church at Colossae, but he cared deeply for its members and wrote to strengthen them against false teaching. The letter as a whole is a sustained argument for the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ, and the surrounding verses make clear what the threat was: a mix of philosophy, ritual rules and claims to special spiritual knowledge that seemed to offer something beyond Christ.
Read in that setting, Colossians 2:6 is a summary of Paul’s counter-argument. Verse 3 says that all the treasures of wisdom are hidden in Christ, verse 8 warns against being robbed by empty philosophy, and verse 9 says the fullness of God dwells bodily in him. Because Christ is complete, the believer does not need to look elsewhere for a fuller life. The call to walk in him in verse 6 is therefore a call to stay where they already are, rooted in the one who is sufficient.
Key Phrases in Colossians 2:6
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
(WEB)
This passage describes salvation as God’s gift received through faith, followed by the good works he prepared for us to walk in. It shows the same pattern as Colossians 2:6: the relationship comes first, and the daily life grows out of it.
Galatians 5:25
If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.
(WEB)
Paul’s short command to keep in step with the Spirit echoes the idea of walking as a response to life received. Both verses tie ongoing conduct to a foundation already given, which helps readers see that Christian living is a continued response, not a self-driven effort to win favor.
A Short Prayer From Colossians 2:6
Lord, thank you that I did not come to you by my own cleverness but by your grace, received through the good news about Jesus. Remind me daily that he is my Lord and that I belong to him. When other voices offer shortcuts or deeper-sounding answers, keep me rooted in what I first learned to trust. Help me to walk in him today, one honest decision and one faithful step at a time. Amen.
