1 For I want you to know how greatly I am struggling y for you, for those in Laodicea, z and for all who have not seen me in person. 2 I want their hearts to be encouraged a and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of complete understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery b—Christ. ,c 3 In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom d and knowledge. e
Christ versus the Colossian Heresy
4 I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable. 5 For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, f rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.
6 So then, just as you have received g Christ Jesus as Lord, h continue to live in him, 7 being rooted and built up in him i and established in the faith, just as you were taught, j and overflowing with gratitude.
8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, k based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ. l 9 For the entire fullness m of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by him, who is the head n over every ruler and authority. 11 You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, o in the circumcision of Christ, p 12 when you were buried with him q in baptism, in which you were also raised with him r through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. s 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. t 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him. ,u
16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge v you in regard to food and drink w or in the matter of a festival or a new moon x or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow y of what was to come; z the substance is Christ. a 18 Let no one condemn you b by delighting in ascetic practices c and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm. Such people are inflated d by empty notions of their unspiritual mind. 19 He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, e nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, grows with growth from God.
20 If you died with Christ f to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: 21 “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? 22 All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrines. 23 Although these have a reputation for wisdom g by promoting self-made religion, false humility, and severe treatment of the body, they are not of any value in curbing self-indulgence. ,h
2:6–7. The final two verses in this section summarize in more detail what Paul has in mind in encouraging them to full maturity (1:28). Paul speaks of the Colossians having “received” this truth (2:6), the verb here carrying a technical sense of tradition being passed on by a qualified teacher. Paul uses the same language in 1 Co 11:23, when speaking about the Eucharist, and in 1 Co 15:1, 3, when he summarizes the gospel message. Paul enjoins them to gain a better understanding of their faith that they might live strong and with joyous thankfulness (2:7; cf. 1:12; 3:15). So armed, they will be well prepared to face down the “philosophy” that threatens (2:8).
B. Christ is over every power and authority (2:8–15). 2:8. This “philosophy” encouraged Gentiles to take up the Mosaic law in addition to their faith in Christ for full attainment of the Christian life. Paul warns the Colossians of this potential threat. The dangerous teaching, which has yet to infect the community, is characterized by human tradition, not the wisdom of God. Moreover, it relies on the stoicheia (elemental forces, basic principles of the world, or the gods of this world; see also 2:20; Gl 4:3, 8–9) rather than Christ, who represents the fullness of God (2:9). (On the identity of this “philosophy” and the implications of stoicheia, see “Purpose and Content” in the introduction to Colossians.)
2:9–13. Arguing against the philosophy, Paul stresses the fullness of God in Christ (2:9). Paul provides a strong defense for the incarnation: in Jesus Christ’s life and death we see the fullness of God. This fullness lives on in the community because Christ has been raised and is alive and has made believers alive in him (2:13). The insistence that Christ is head over all powers and authorities (2:10) anticipates Paul’s later charge that though the philosophy seeks visions (access to or control over powers of the cosmos, perhaps), such pursuit severs them from Christ, the head (2:18–19).
2:14–15. Through the cross of Christ, God defeated sin, disarmed powers, and gave believers life. Through Christ’s death, God blotted off the page, so to speak, the condemning verdict (2:14). In canceling the debt of sin, God in Christ thereby rendered impotent those powers and authorities (2:15). When Paul speaks of these powers being made a public spectacle, he likely draws on the image of a triumphant general who has returned from battle displaying his conquered captives.
C. Reject false teachings (2:16–23). 2:16–17. Having established the forgiven status of the believer in Christ and having shown Christ’s triumph over the powers and authorities, Paul warns the Colossians to resist the philosophy’s condemning influence (2:16, 18). In describing the discrete components of the philosophy, Paul highlights its Jewish character, including focus on Sabbath, new moon celebrations, and food laws (2:16).
2:18–19. Paul speaks about the philosophy’s “worship of angels” (2:18), a difficult phrase to interpret. The phrase probably refers to worship with angels, suggesting that the worshipers are taken up (perhaps in an ecstatic state) into the heavens and there worship God along with the angels. This interpretation is supported by Paul’s claim in the next sentence that these people describe their visions in detail. Such bragging further condemns them (see also 1 Co 4:6, 18–19; 5:2; 8:1; 13:4). Paul declares that the philosophy’s detailed visions and ascetic practices fail to bring its followers close to God. Paul condemns them as disconnected from Christ, the head of the body, the church (2:19).
2:20–22. Paul has no patience for such teachings—he enjoins the Colossians to resist. The Colossians must own their true selves: they have died to this world and now live in Christ (2:20; see also Rm 6:8–11; 7:4–6; Gl 2:19). The world’s traditions and expectations need no longer control them because they have entered into Christ’s new life through baptism (2:12–15).
2:23. Paul labels their behavior as false humility (2:23), although the term “false” is not found in the Greek; it must be added to communicate the context. The description implies ascetic behavior, especially fasting (cf. 2:18). In both Judaism and paganism, fasting was often linked to obtaining visions. For Paul, the philosophy’s regulations fail to deliver a holy life.