The New Testament with Commentary Colossians 2

A wealth of confident understanding

1 I want you to know how great is my concern for you and those in Laodicea, even all who have not met me personally,* 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being united in love and into a great wealth of confident understanding,† into a real knowledge of the mystery of the God and Father and of the Christ,‡ 3 in whom all the treasures of the wisdom and the knowledge are hidden.§

4 Now I say this so that no one may deceive you with specious arguments. 5 For although in fact I am physically absent, yet my spirit is with you, rejoicing as I observe* your orderliness and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Christian responsibility

6 So then, keep on walking in the Christ, Jesus the Sovereign, just as you received Him, 7 having been rooted and being built up in Him† and being established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Christ VS ‘the world’

8 Be careful that no one captures you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ.‡ 9 Because all the Fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him in bodily form, 10 and you are complete in Him who is the head over all rule and authority.§ 11 In Him you were also ‘circumcised’ by the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, not with a circumcision done by hands but with the circumcision of the Christ, 12 having been buried with Him in the baptism.* In Him you were also raised together through your faith in the productive power of the God who raised Him from among the dead.†

13 Yes you, though being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh—He has made you alive together with Him; having forgiven us all our trespasses;‡ 14 having wiped out the written record about us that was against us (based on the ordinances),§ indeed He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross; 15 having stripped the principalities and the authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, having triumphed over them by it [the cross].*

Don't be disqualified!

16 So do not let anyone judge you about food or drink, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or Sabbaths, 17 which things are but a shadow of those to come, while the body is Christ's. 18 Nor let anyone disqualify you,† taking pleasure in a subservience and devotion to the angels, ‘taking possession’ of things that he has not‡ seen, being puffed up by his carnal mind to no useful purpose, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, supported and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

20 Now then, since you died with Christ away from the basic principles of the world, why, as though still living in it, are you subjecting yourselves§ to regulations 21 —Don't handle! Don't taste! Don't touch!— 22 (all of which result in corruption through overuse)* according to the commands and teachings of men? 23 Such things do indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and subservience and asceticism, but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.†

* 2:1 Paul plainly states that he has yet to visit Colosse and Laodicea. † 2:2 To have a confident understanding of God's Truth is indeed a great treasure (but it is not for the lazy). ‡ 2:2 Some 3% of the Greek manuscripts omit “and Father and of the” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). § 2:3 As the primary agent in the creation of our world, the Son is the Source of all true wisdom and knowledge relative to life on this planet. * 2:5 The basic meaning of the verb rendered ‘observe’ is to observe with the physical eye, which implies being within range and with no obstacles. But Paul obviously was not there as he wrote, in fact had never been there. He affirms that it is his spirit that is doing the seeing and rejoicing. The Protestant Reformation was a result, in part, of the Renaissance, with its emphasis on reason, so Protestants in general have had trouble understanding the spirit world. So the tendency of commentators has been to ‘spiritualize’ Paul's statement, rather than take it literally. Of course they have done the same with 2 Kings 5:26 (where Elisha says his spirit went with Gehazi) and 6:12 (where Elisha listens in on the king of Syria), not to mention John 1:48 (where the Lord Himself saw Nathanael when not physically present). Here in Brazil we have many former Spiritists and Satanists who have been converted and they affirm that they used to project their spirits outside their bodies and go all over the place—several of my former students, now genuinely converted, have told me they used to do it—but they could do so only with the assistance of a fallen angel (demon). Satan's ‘thing’ is to be like the Most High, so he is always trying to imitate Him; perhaps God's servants used to know how to do this, only without such assistance [I have heard of a few in our day who still do]. † 2:7 “Having been rooted” refers to what has already happened; “being built up” refers to the ongoing process. ‡ 2:8 The “basic principles of the world”, including the academic community (and the media, and commerce, etc.), are controlled by Satan, and are contrary to the values of Christ's Kingdom. Unfortunately very few churches give adequate teaching on this subject. § 2:10 Wow! There is a human body (glorified) seated at the Father's right, and anyone who is in Christ is there too (Ephesians 2:6). * 2:12 I find it curious that Paul, writing to non-Jews, uses a very Jewish figure, which the non-Jews probably would not understand without instruction on the subject (although there would be converted Jews in the congregation). I am in doubt as to the precise identity of “the baptism” here, but it has to do with genuine conversion. † 2:12 Without the resurrection there is no Gospel of Christ, and hence no hope for us. It is the resurrection that guarantees our future. ‡ 2:13 This paragraph is made up of a series of participial phrases wherein Paul switches from the 2nd person, in the independent clause, to the 1st person, making inclusive statements. § 2:14 The “written record” has generally been understood to refer to the Law in some way, but I believe it makes better sense to take it as the record of what each of us has done (remember ‘the books’ in Revelation 20:12), which of course is negative. Having been forgiven, the record is nailed to the cross, and that is very good news. * 2:15 This verse gives an important aspect of Christ's victory by the cross and resurrection. Jehovah the Son took on human form in order to destroy Satan (Hebrews 2:14), and He succeeded. A victorious Roman general would bring back a certain number of the conquered soldiers and parade them, naked and in chains, before the Roman populace—total humiliation. Colossians 2:15 says that Christ did something similar to Satan and the high ranking angels that fell with him. † 2:18 If you release your hold on “the Head” to get involved in the sorts of things mentioned, you will be disqualified. An athlete who is disqualified does not win. Have you ever heard teaching on the subject of ‘taking possession’? Be careful! ‡ 2:18 Some 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “not” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). § 2:20 They are doing this voluntarily, but they shouldn't. * 2:22 Actually, there are things that it is better not to taste or handle, but the overuse of such restrictions will give negative results. † 2:23 “The flesh” is used to refer to our ‘old man’ or sin nature, not the meat on our bones. Asceticism and legalism tend to make people feel self-righteous, which the ‘old man’ loves.