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 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 was put off when you were circumcised by 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 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.
Well, let's go to those who are in the right paygrade.
Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge: This is an important idea in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. With this, Paul refuted some of the bad teaching troubling the Colossian Christians. They were influenced by teachers who told them to seek the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, but not to seek them in Jesus. Paul wrote, “You will only find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Jesus. He has them all.” It’s not wrong to seek after wisdom and knowledge; but we must seek it all in Jesus.
When Paul said this wisdom is hidden in Christ, he used the ancient Greek word apokruphos. “His very use of that word is a blow aimed at the Gnostics… Gnostics believed that a great mass of elaborate knowledge was necessary for salvation. That knowledge they set down in their books which they called apokruphos because they were barred to the ordinary man.” (Barclay) Paul wanted all to know that real wisdom was not hidden in secret books, but deposited in Jesus Christ so that all can access it.
As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him: This is a wonderful rule for Christian living. We cannot perfect in the flesh what was begun in the Spirit; therefore just as you received Jesus, walk in Him in the same way. The simple things of the Christian life provide continual and reliable spiritual fuel for growth. We always have to be reminded of the things we have been taught.
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.
According to the tradition of men: The Colossian heresy promoted itself as traditional. It could trace some or many of its ideas back to traditions among the Jews or the Greek philosophers or both. Paul here warned that the tradition of men has no equal authority to the word of God.
According to the basic principles of the world: The ancient Greek word translated basic principles is stoicheia. It is a word that can mean several different things based on their context, and Paul may have used such a broad word to cover a variety of meanings.
Sam Spade gets a gold star! Paul is preaching against Gnostics! Boy those Gentiles really had a rough row to hoe. First, they had to battle whether or not they had to get their thingy cut, in order to be a Christian. Then, if they managed to avoid that Rabi and his knife, they had to worry about what they ate! Bacon was no longer on the diet, if you wanted to join the Christians back in the days of Paul. Now... they were told "You'll never be learned enough to be a Christian!"!
Geeze....
It seems to me... we suffer from ramped Gnosticism today.
I'm thinking of a deacon, holding a Bible [upside down], way above his head, saying to a crowd of yearning humans, "Oh no... you'll never understand what's written in this book. It takes a learned man to unlock the truth for you. It takes a deacon, a priest, a rabi, preacher, or appointed teacher. [Not a woman either] You are not allowed to read it for yourself. You are not learned enough to understand.".
Good thing I'm a Baptist. Along with believing Jesus was dunked, not sprinkled, Baptists believe the Holy Spirit is there to clarify the Bible for us. We Believe God wants us to know what's in the book. He wants us to learn from Him.... not a "wannabehim".
I didn't see the Gnostics in chapter 1. Sam Spade pointed them out.
I believe the Spirit told Sam to straighten me out! Good on you, Sam! Thanks!
Sam was right!
