Rooted in Christ Against Deceptive Philosophy
Study note
Paul reveals his deep concern for the Colossians and the nearby Laodiceans, many of whom have never met him personally. His goal is that they be united in love and attain full assurance of understanding the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. This directly counters the false teachers' claim to offer superior knowledge beyond the gospel. Paul urges the believers to continue walking in Christ as they received him, rooted, built up, established in faith, and overflowing with thanksgiving. The warning against 'hollow philosophy and empty deceit' based on human tradition rather than Christ is the letter's central admonition.
1 I want you to know how hard I am fighting for you. I fight for the believers in Laodicea too, and for everyone who has never met me face to face. For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
2 I am fighting so that your hearts will be filled with courage. I want you to be held together by love, and I want you to experience the full and complete understanding of God's secret, which is Christ himself. That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
3 Hidden inside Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I am telling you this so nobody will trick you with smooth-sounding arguments. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
5 Even though I am not there with you physically, I am with you in spirit. And I am happy to see your orderly lives and the solid faith you have in Christ. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
6 You received Christ Jesus as your Lord, so keep living your life in him. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Sink your roots deep into him and let your life be built on him. Grow stronger in the faith you were taught, and let thankfulness overflow from your life. Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Watch out that nobody captures your mind with empty philosophy and worthless lies. Those ideas come from human traditions and from the basic rules of this world, not from Christ. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
The Fullness of God in Christ and the Triumph of the Cross
Study note
Paul makes the strongest possible claim for Christ's deity: all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him in bodily form, and believers are made complete in him who is the head of every power and authority. Through spiritual circumcision (putting off the sinful nature) and baptism (burial and resurrection with Christ), believers have already received everything they need. The imagery shifts to a legal courtroom and then to a military triumph: the record of debt that condemned us has been nailed to the cross and canceled, and the spiritual powers that once held sway have been publicly disarmed and defeated. This passage demolishes any suggestion that additional spiritual practices or intermediaries are necessary.
9 All of God -- everything that makes God who he is -- lives in Christ in a real, physical body. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And because you are connected to Christ, you have been made complete. He is the one with authority over every ruler and power that exists. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 Through your connection to him, you received a circumcision that was not performed by human hands. It happened when the power of your sinful nature was stripped away by the circumcision that Christ provides. In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ. And in that same baptism, you were raised back to life with him because you trusted in the power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature had not been dealt with. But God brought you to life together with Christ. He forgave every one of your sins. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 He wiped out the list of charges that stood against us -- all those rules we had broken. He destroyed it by nailing it to the cross of Christ. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15 At the cross, God stripped the evil rulers and powers of all their weapons. He put them on public display and led them away as defeated prisoners in a victory parade. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Freedom from Human Regulations and False Worship
Study note
Building on the triumph of the cross, Paul declares that dietary laws, holy days, new moon celebrations, and sabbath regulations are merely shadows of the reality that has now come in Christ. He warns against those who try to disqualify believers through demands of false humility, angel worship, and claims of special visions. Such people have lost connection with Christ, the Head, from whom the whole body receives its nourishment and growth. The chapter concludes by exposing the futility of human-made rules ('Do not touch, taste, handle'): they may appear wise with their self-imposed disciplines, but they have no power to restrain sinful desires. Only Christ can do that.
16 So do not let anyone judge you about what you eat or drink. Do not let them judge you about holidays, new moon feasts, or Sabbath days. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Those things were only a shadow of what was coming. The real thing -- the substance that casts the shadow -- is Christ. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
18 Do not let anyone cheat you out of your reward. Some people insist on fake humility and worshiping angels. They talk on and on about visions they say they had. They are puffed up with pride because they think with their sinful minds. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 They have disconnected themselves from Christ, who is the Head. The Head is what feeds the whole body and holds it together through its joints and connecting tissues. The body grows because God makes it grow. And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
20 You died with Christ and were set free from the basic rules of this world. So why do you act like you still belong to this world? Why do you keep following its regulations? Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
21 Rules that say, "Do not touch this! Do not taste that! Do not pick that up!" (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22 All these things are meant to be used up and thrown away. They are based on rules that people invented. Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 These rules might look wise, with their special worship practices, their fake humility, and their harsh treatment of the body. But they are worthless when it comes to controlling sinful desires. Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.