seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Colossians 2:1 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[b] was put off when you were circumcised by[c] Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[d] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.[e]
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
a. Colossians 2:8 Or the basic principles; also in verse 20
b. Colossians 2:11 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verse 13.
c. Colossians 2:11 Or put off in the circumcision of
d. Colossians 2:13 Some manuscripts us
e. Colossians 2:15 Or them in him
The title on the NIV Bible site I use... said today's chapter was about Spiritual Fullness and Freedom from Rules. How vague! This commentary is from the easy English site.
In this chapter, Paul refers to particular things that the false teachers taught. Also, he explains why Christ is superior.
Laodicea was a town about 16 kilometres (10 miles) west of Colossae. Paul wrote to the Christians who lived in each of these towns. You can read Jesus’ warning to the church that was at Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22.
When a person knows the truth, he will recognise lies. And he will recognise anything that is false. The false teachers were clever in the way that they discussed things. They could reason well. They wanted to persuade people. They wanted people to believe them. Therefore, the Christians at Colossae had to know more truth about Christ. Then they could recognise what was false.
‘Philosophy’ refers to human wisdom and thinking. But wisdom without Christ is false wisdom. People’s traditions may seem to be good and wise. But they often have power to control people. Traditions depend on human ideas and human wisdom. They do not depend on God’s wisdom. The ‘basic principles of this world’ refers to evil spirits. People believed that spirits ruled the world. So people worshipped them.
‘Evil powers and authorities’ refers to Satan and all his wicked angels. Christ never obeyed Satan. Christ never sinned. He completely obeyed God and he lived a holy life. Christ was a holy man when he died. So Satan could not accuse Christ that he had sinned. Therefore, Satan had no power over Christ. Instead, God had power over Satan.
In the past, the Old Testament laws reminded the Jews that God is holy. The laws showed them how to live in the right way. But these laws did not give the Jews the power to live a holy life. However, every Christian in the world can live a holy life. This is because of Christ. The laws were good. But Christ is superior to the laws. The laws only showed people how to live in God’s way. But Christ actually lived in God’s way. And Christ gives his power to everyone who trusts him. Christians do not need the laws; they only need Christ.
In Exodus 20, God gave the 10 main laws. We call them ‘the 10 commandments’. The first two laws say that people should not worship anyone or anything except God. But some people in Colossae worshipped angels. They also said that they had special spiritual experiences. They thought that they were better than other people were.
This is from enduringword.com.
Lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words: Those who told the Colossians to find wisdom and knowledge apart from the simplicity of Jesus were very persuasive. The lure of “hidden” and “deep” wisdom and knowledge can be both strong and deceptive.
Lest anyone should deceive you: Paul did not say that they had already been deceived, but he clearly saw the danger and warned them about it.
It might sound simple, but deceivers are deceivers. They won’t announce their false doctrine as false doctrine, and it will often be similar enough to the truth to be dangerous.
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy: The false teaching among the Colossians was marked by an emphasis on philosophy and empty deceit. Most of all, it was according to the tradition of men. It had the stamp of man on it, not God.
By the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism: Paul says these Gentile Christians find their true circumcision in their baptism. Christians don’t need to be circumcised, they need to be baptized.
Taking delight in false humility and worship of angels: These aspects of false humility and the worship of angels were parts of the false teaching troubling the Colossian Christians. That is why Paul touches back on these themes throughout the letter of Colossians. The antidote for both of these false teachings is simply more of Jesus, exalting Him above angels, and realizing that because of His finished work there is nothing to take pride in.
Intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head: This describes the spiritual arrogance of these false teachers and those who believed what they taught. There are few things more dangerous among Christians than spiritual pride and arrogance.
Yesterday I thought this chapter was going to be more about circumcision and food. Surprise! It's about philosophy and traditions and how they can be used to destroy faith.
Why is it.... humans always know as much or more than God? They claimed they could live in society... and then they sold their own brother into slavery [Joseph... coat of many colors] which took the descendants of Jacob [Israel] to Egypt where God had to rescue them. So God saved Moses from one of those baby killing sprees that Pharaoh went on [trying to pare down the number of Jews in the world]. Then God made Pharaoh Let the Jews go. When God rescued the Jews from Pharaoh.... they didn't have anyone to guide them... they weren't ruled by anyone... so God gave them the 10 Commandments to keep them civil to one another.....
Of course... the Jews... being the "chosen" ones.... thought they were as big as God. They figured they could figure it all out by themselves and they could do a better job of making the rules....
God only gave them 10 Commandments... but they said "we can top that" and they came up with thousands of little rules and traditions. They toppled under the weight of all those rules and traditions.... but they insisted these were the keys to life.
Then Jesus came along. Jesus didn't need 10 Commandments.... Jesus didn't need a rule or tradition. Jesus said "yes" whenever He could and Jesus said "no" when He had to. Jesus never broke a commandment. Jesus then pared the 10 Commandments down to 2. Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul... and Love one another. Jesus knew if we simply applied those two commandments to their daily dilemmas then they would be just fine. The Sprit [what I call a conscience] will help them figure out if they are following those two commandments.
So... today's chapter isn't about cutting the penis or burning meat. It's not about exclusion. It's about how a fake preacher can twist the words of the gospel to make some money. It's about how some greedy men smiled to the right person.... stroked the right ego... and collected the little coins they so desired... their own personal idols... packed down.... doubled up..... just what they wanted... "give give give... Jesus said"...... while their own pockets bulged and the people still went hungry.
There are few things more dangerous among Christians than spiritual pride and arrogance. In the end... Revelation tells us that these churches were so blah.... Jesus said He wanted to spit them out....
Back in the days when this letter was written... there were big headed preachers who were stealing from the Believers... they were twisting the Gospel to line their own pockets... the stole the warmth out of the church with just enough of the Gospel sprinkled in to keep the ignorant in line. In other words... they quoted the one line in the Bible.... out of context... to get what they wanted..... and they are still doing it today.
Big Headed.... pocket lining.... greedy.... preachers were faking it all up.
