The word god is common currency. People swear by "god"; politicians invoke the deity as an expedient strategy in getting votes; the garage marquee announces that "In God we trust; all others pay cash." People in my church, even, periodically want to re-imagine God.

Who do I listen to when it comes to knowing God? Who can I trust to care for my soul through spiritual teaching--the Bible teacher, the preacher, the seminary professor? Which word concerning God is faithful?

Truth is a difficult concept for many people today. Some want to recast God in language more congenial to their experiences and political convictions. Others assert the legitimacy of a diversity of approaches to knowing God--God has many names (Allah, Krishna, etc.). They say people come to God by many routes (many religions). In response, Colossians has clarity of perspective that meets head-on the concerns for spiritual trustworthiness in the context of teachers who come proclaiming an alternative doctrine to the one set forth by Paul. It sets out a basic Christianity that should serve as the test that any person purporting to teach in church should be expected to pass with flying colors.

The author of the letter to the Colossians is concerned with truth, the truth they were taught (2:7). Some teachers have come into the congregation with new ideas about God and faith, reflecting the need for practices that lead to a special knowledge necessary for the proper worship of God. Paul decries this "philosophy and empty deceit" (2:8). Special observances and pious practices have no merit. Christ alone is sufficient! He is the true and only mediator, who takes us to the Father. He is the image of the invisible God and the first born of creation (1:15). All things (a chorus-like phrase that repeats through the Christ-hymn) have been created through and for him (1:16). In him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (1:19). And through him God reconciled all things on earth and in heaven (1:20).

Colossians rightly gives pride of place to the all-sufficient Lord Christ. As such, Colossians has the "highest" doctrine concerning Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

The word of truth is made specific in three ways.

1. Paul insists that Christ is all-sufficient for knowledge of and relationship with God. Nothing and no one else is required.

2. That which has separated us from God, the debt of our trespasses, has been paid off in full, nailed to the cross (2:14).

3. Any alien powers--spiritual forces at war with God--have been disarmed, and their shame paraded in public (2:15). In Christ, and in Christ alone, is the fullness of salvation. The believer can thus be presented to God holy, and blameless, and free from accusation (1:22).

At the beginning of the letter, and throughout, Paul makes reference to the universal aspect of faith in Christ. The word of truth is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world (1:6). It has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven (1:23). The goal is to present everyone mature in Christ (1:29). And people of far nations, even barbarians and Scythians, are included (3:11).

Faith in God and a true knowledge of God has, in Christ, broken the boundaries of racial, national, and religious exclusivism. The gospel is for everybody! It is not the preserve of a few. It comes to faithful expression in every language under heaven.

Practically speaking, Colossians teaches that we must be rooted and grounded in Christ (2:7). Thus we come to the fullness of relationship with and service of God. Colossians 2:6-7 offer a pithy summary of the Christian life (a good couple of verses to memorize!). These verses recall Psalm 1:3, where the exiles in Babylon have before them the two ways, scoffing at God or being rooted in the soil of the word of God. Those who chose the latter are like trees blooming in the desert, full of fruitfulness that does not decline (note Jeremiah 17:8).

Likewise, Christians are to be rooted and built up in the Word, who is Christ. "In Christ" is one of Paul's favorite designations of being Christian (some form of this is used 164 times by him), implying an intimate relationship with the Lord. Rooted and grounded in Christ, Christians are a maturing people (1:28) who grow into the fullness of being pleasing to the Lord (1:10).

Christians' growth is protected and nurtured by the apostolic teaching that has been taught to them. Contrary teaching means spiritual death.

The result is spectacular! The Colossians abound in thanksgiving. To abound (in the Greek text) means to overflow. The Christian's response is not a trickle, but a gushing forth of joyous gratitude. Often the Christian life has been cast in terms of guilt and duty. This leads to joyless and gloomy faith and vocation stripped of energy. Colossians holds out a different prospect. The driving energy force behind the Christian life is gratitude or thanksgiving. They make up the rhythm of Christian identity and practice.

Colossians says, in effect, trust all teaching in accordance with what you read here, and reject everything else.

Andrew Purves is professor of Pastoral Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.