Grounded And Settled

September 2026

““If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.”

—Colossians. 1:23

As I have stated in previous articles, the church of Colossae had been infiltrated by false teaching that, if accepted, would have resulted in great harm to the spiritual life of those believers,including a possible loss of their salvation. We must never forget that all false doctrine that is accepted never leaves a person in a neutral state. Instead, everyone who leaves truth and begins to follow that which is false will be negatively affected—even to the possible loss of their souls. 

With that in mind, we should understand why the apostle deals with these things in such a strong and negative light.

Paul begins in verse 23 with the admonition, “If ye continue in the faith.” To properly understand the implications of this statement, let’s look at the following:

1. By this statement, we must know that it is possible to “not continue” in the faith. If this were not so, the apostle would have used different wording.

2. One must fully understand what kind of faith Paul is speaking of.

All Christians have faith, but the question is, what do they have their faith in? Most answers would be, “in God,” “in the Lord,” or “in the Word.” All of those sound good but are actually not quite good enough. 

When Paul speaks of faith, he is speaking of the faith, which is faith in Christ and Him crucified (I Cor. 2:2). Christ is the source, and the cross is the means. 

So Paul is here reminding those in the church at Colossae—and us today—that we are never to allow ourselves to be moved away from the “true faith.” 

Then Paul states that we are to be “grounded and settled.” This statement refers to the foundation of faith. These Colossians had been placed on the foundation of the finished work of Christ, resulting in them being grounded and settled. These two words paint a picture of a house or a building resting on a proper and firm foundation. Grounded means to be firmly established, and settled means that which is stable, secure, and immovable.

As believers, unless we are grounded and settled in our faith, we can be shaken and uprooted when storms come.

We are never to forget that trials, tribulations, and storms are going to happen. Satan does this for our faith to be shaken and abandoned, and the Lord allows these things for our faith to grow and dependence upon Him to be strengthened.

We must also understand how one remains grounded and settled. There is only one way and that is our daily study and prayer and proper faith. The Word instructs and prayer brings fellowship and community. Proper faith is when our faith is only in Christ and Him crucified.

Then the apostle states, “and be not moved away,” which, once again, reinforces the fact that it is possible to be moved away from that which is truth to that which is false. The reason this happens to some is that they are not “grounded and settled” in their faith. 

There are those in Christianity who will say that if one is “moved away” then they were never saved to begin with. However, how can one be moved away from something that they never hadin the first place? If their argument is true, then why did Paul write this?

Think about this, Paul was the most learned man in Israel. He was to be the next great teacher of the law after Gamaliel. After his conversion, Paul—and Paul alone—was divinely chosen to receive the meaning of the new covenant. So it stands to reason that he would know more and understand more since the revelation of the new covenant was taught to him by the Lord Himself, and the Holy Spirit moved upon him to write what he wrote. So I think it stands to reason that it means exactly what it says.

The phrase “from the hope of the gospel” points us to that which is to come—eternal life—which will take place at the coming resurrection. The word hope doesn’t mean that there is a doubt about the fulfillment, but rather that we don’t know the exact moment the resurrection will occur. As well, “the gospel” is actually the same thing as “the faith,” which tells us that there is only one faith and one gospel, which is Christ and Him crucified. 

Then Paul states, “which ye have heard,” which means that the Colossian Christians had heard the right message. Let me ask you a very personal question—what are you hearing at your church? If it’s not what I have been presenting in this article, then your church is not preaching the true gospel.

Then Paul says, “and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven.” Paul is not saying here that the gospel has been preached to every person on earth, but that wherever preaching is being done it’s the same message. Paul is here stating that all ministers of the gospel should be preaching the same message.

In closing, Paul says, “whereof I Paul am made a minister,” which means that the gospel he preached had been given to him by the Lord, therefore what he says is true.”

Let us be faithful followers of Christ and be grounded and settled.