detours offered by opponents, which would divert them from their sole allegiance to Christ and mire them in spiritual quicksand, Paul returns in 3:1–4:6 to directions on how believers should live. In 2:7, Paul lists four characteristics of what it means “to live in [the Lord]” (2:6), each expressed with a participle. The first participle (“rooted”) appears in the perfect tense (expressing the continuing results of an action completed in the past); the next three (“built up,” “strengthened,” and “overflowing”)