Colossians 2
2
1I want you to know how hard I'm working for you, and for those at Laodicea—in fact for all those who haven't met me personally— 2so that you may be encouraged. May you be bound together in love, experiencing the great benefit of being completely sure in your understanding, for this is what the true knowledge of God brings. May you know the revealed mystery of God, which is Christ! 3In him you can discover all the rich wisdom and knowledge of God.
4I'm telling you this so that no one will fool you by spinning you a tale.#2:4. Literally, “false arguments.” 5Even though I'm not physically there with you, I'm with you in spirit. I'm so happy to see the way you stick together and how firm you are in your trust in Christ. 6Just as you accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, go on following him, 7grounded in him and built up by him. May your trust in him continue to grow strong, following what you were taught, full of gratitude to God.
8Watch out that nobody enslaves you through their philosophy and worthless delusions, following human traditions and concepts of this world, and not following Christ. 9For the fullness of God's divine nature lives in Christ in bodily form, 10and you have been made full#2:10. Or “complete,” “whole.” in him. He is supreme over every ruler and authority.
11You were “circumcised” in him but not by human hands. You have been set free from sinful human nature by the “circumcision” Christ performed.#2:11. Clearly this is not talking about physical circumcision but what it was supposed to mean spiritually. 12You were buried with him in baptism, and you were raised with him through your trust in what God did by raising him from the dead. 13And even though you were dead because of your sins and being physically “uncircumcised,” he brought you to life together with him. He has forgiven us all our sins. 14He wiped out the record of our debts according to the Law that was written down against us; he took away this barrier#2:14. Note that the barrier is on our side, not God's. by nailing it to the cross. 15He stripped away the power of spiritual rulers and authorities,#2:15. Clearly speaking about evil spiritual agencies. and having publicly revealed what they were truly like, he led them captive behind him in victory.
16So don't let anyone criticize you for what you eat or what you drink, or regarding which religious festival, new moon ritual, or ceremonial sabbaths you choose to observe.#2:16. In this context Paul is referring to the various yearly festival days of the Jewish ceremonial system. 17These are just a shadow of what was to come, for the physical reality is Christ. 18Don't let anyone cheat you out of your prize by insisting you have to beat yourself,#2:18. Self-mortification; the phrase could also be translated “false humility.” or worship angels. They think they are better than anyone else because of visions they say they've had, and become ridiculously conceited in their sinful minds. 19Such people are not connected to the head that directs the body, nourished and joined together through the body's sinews and muscles. As the body is united together it grows the way God wants it to grow.
20If you died with Christ to the religious demands that this world insists upon,#2:20. Probably referring both to Jewish religious regulations and to pagan ceremonies and taboos. why would you make yourself subject to such demands as if you were still part of this world? 21Things like: don't handle that, don't taste that, don't touch that! 22These commands refer to things that don't last since they're used up,#2:22. This tends to indicate that the rules are about food and drink which will of course be consumed and then “used up.” and they're based on man-made requirements and teachings. 23Such rules may make some kind of sense to those who practice self-centered piety, who are so proud of being humble, and who “mortify the body;” but in reality they don't help at all in dealing with sinful desires.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Colossians 2
2
1I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. 2I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. 3In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. 5For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.
Freedom from Rules and New Life in Christ
6And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
8Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers#2:8 Or the spiritual principles; also in 2:20. of this world, rather than from Christ. 9For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.#2:9 Or in him dwells all the completeness of the Godhead bodily. 10So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
11When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.#2:11 Greek the cutting away of the body of the flesh. 12For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
13You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15In this way, he disarmed#2:15 Or he stripped off. the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
16So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. 17For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. 18Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels,#2:18 Or or worshiping with angels. saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, 19and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.
20You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, 21“Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? 22Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. 23These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.
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