Colossians 2
2
Christ, the Mystery of God
1 For I want you to understand how intensely I am laboring on behalf of you and those in Laodicea and all who have not met me personally,
2 so that their hearts would be strengthened, being united together in love, and that they would reach the complete wealth that comes from full conviction of understanding, resulting in the knowledge of God’s mystery—which is Christ—
3 in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge lie concealed.
4 I am telling you this so that no one will mislead you with persuasive arguments.
5 For although I am physically absent, I am nevertheless with you in spirit, finding joy as I observe your disciplined manner of life and the solid foundation of your faith in Christ.
The Fullness of the Deity Dwelling in Christ
6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue living in union with Him,
7 having been rooted and being continually built up in Him and strengthened in the faith just as you were instructed, overflowing in thanksgiving.
8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and deceptive emptiness based on human tradition, based on the elementary principles that govern the world, rather than based on Christ.
9 For in Him the complete fullness of deity resides in bodily form.
10 And you have been brought to completion in Him, who is the supreme head over every ruler and authority.
11 In Him you also received a circumcision performed without human hands, through the removal of the body dominated by the flesh, through the circumcision that belongs to Christ.
12 You were buried with Him in baptism, through which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from death.
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcised state of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.
14 He erased the written record of indebtedness that consisted of regulations that stood against us and were hostile to us, and He removed it completely by nailing it to the cross.
15 After disarming the rulers and authorities, He displayed them publicly as conquered, having triumphed over them through Him.
Holding Fast to Christ
16 Therefore, do not allow anyone to pass judgment on you regarding food or drink, or concerning a feast or new moon celebration or Sabbath observance.
17 These are merely a shadow of what was coming, but the substance belongs to Christ.
18 Let no one declare you disqualified by insisting on false humility and angel worship, dwelling on visions he claims to have seen, being groundlessly arrogant because of his unspiritual mindset,
19 and failing to maintain connection with the Head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together through its joints and ligaments, experiences the growth that comes from God.
20 If you died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why do you live as though you still belonged to the world by submitting to regulations:
21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch”
22 (all these prohibitions refer to things destined to perish with use)—based on human commands and teachings?
23 These regulations have an outward appearance of wisdom through self-directed religious practices and false humility and severe treatment of the body, but they possess no value in restraining indulgence of the flesh.
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Colossians 2: AFINTEXP
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).