Colossians 2 - In Him You Have Been Made Complete

1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,

how great a struggle I have on your behalf -- This struggle refers back to

Colossians 1:28

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

all those who have not personally seen my face -- Apparently Paul wanted to spend time with them in person so he could explain more fully who they were in Christ.

Romans 1:11

For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;

2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself,

that their hearts may be encouraged -- That they may be encouraged that God loves them no matter what.

having been knit together in love -- What a beautiful image! Love is the yarn that knits us together into the earthly representation of the Father and Son loving one another. This visible love between believers encourages each of us to trust in the invisible Father's love for us.

attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding -- This wealth is being assured of God's love for us. What greater treasure could there be!

resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself -- This secret is that Christ is the fulfillment of all that is hinted in the Law and the prophets. All of the Old Testament is the dark backdrop of man's failure against which shines the truth of God's love for mankind as demonstrated in the sacrifice of Christ in our place.

3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

in whom are hidden -- Only to be found in the Spirit's revelation of the Son and still hidden to those who focus on the Old Covenant or look anywhere other than Christ.

all the treasures -- All the treasures are found in Christ. There is nothing outside of Christ.

wisdom and knowledge -- This wisdom and knowledge is the truth of God's love that was obscured by the unbearable demands of the Law.

4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.

I say this -- That all the answers are found Christ.

delude you with persuasive argument -- Some would argue that we should add to the complete expression of God's will as found in Christ.

Galatians 3:1,2

You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.

I am with you in spirit -- In spirit just means he is thinking of them. Spirit often simply means mind or thought.

rejoicing to see your good discipline -- The Greek word translated "good discipline" is a military word that calls to mind an army holding its position in the face of the enemy's onslaught. I think of the command to not shoot until you see the whites of their eyes. Just think how hard it would have been to stand your ground with the enemy running at you and firing into your position. This is the picture Paul has in mind as he rejoices that the Colossian saints are not being frightened away from resting in God's love for them.

the stability of your faith in Christ -- Their faith in Christ was unwavering. They did not go back and forth between the works of the Law of Moses and resting in the work of Christ.

6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

Therefore -- Paul refers back to the stability of their faith.

as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord -- They had received Christ Jesus the Lord by faith.

so walk in Him -- The Colossians are to walk in Christ by faith. That is, they are live their lives in the constant awareness of God's love for them.

Galatians 3:3

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

having been firmly rooted -- Faith in Christ is the foundation that keeps us from being uprooted by those who would deceive us.

now being built up in Him -- Faith in Christ is also the material used to build His new living temple on Earth.

established in your faith -- Faith in Christ is also the buttress that supports the building as it grows.

just as you were instructed -- Paul wants the Colossians to remain true to his teaching and not listen to those who would delude them.

overflowing with gratitude -- Gratitude is the attitude of one focused on God's acceptance as a gift received and not an achievement earned.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

takes you captive -- In Christ we have been set free from slavery to the Law.

Galatians 5:1

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

through philosophy and empty deception -- Here is the first of three ways Paul describes the Law of Moses, philosophy which is empty deception, the traditions of men, and the elementary principles of the world. The wisdom of men deceives us by turning the Law, which was merely a guide to Christ, into a way to approach God, a way to earn His approval. The Law is empty because it is a mere shadow of the fullness of Christ. It deceives by making us think that we must earn God's approval.

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

The people of Israel, with good reason, thought that the Law of Moses was the way, and the truth, and the life.

according to the tradition of men -- The tradition of men is that we must obey the Law of Moses in order to be accepted by God. God has told us that, in Christ, we are free from the Law but men try to put us back into bondage to the Law. Once we have come to Christ there is no more need for the Law of Moses.

the elementary principles of the world -- "Elementary principles" is a translation of the Greek word "stoichea". The word is used four other times by Paul.

Galatians 4:3

So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.

Galatians 4:9

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?

Colossians 2:20

If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as

Hebrews 5:12

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

In each instance stoichea refers to the Law of Moses whose purpose was to lead us to Christ and then become obsolete.

Galatians 3:19

Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

Galatians 3:23-25

But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

Hebrews 8:13

When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

The entire Jewish world system disappeared with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in the first century.

according to Christ -- According the the truth about God's grace revealed through Christ as opposed to the veiled shadows of the Law which held us captive, unable to experience the freedom we now have in Christ.

John 1:17

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

For -- Because...why we should listen to Christ instead of the Law.

in Him -- Because everything that the Law pointed toward was fulfilled in Christ.

all the fullness of Deity -- The Law was an imperfect expression of God's character. Christ is the perfect, complete, and full expression of God's character.

dwells in bodily form -- Before God dwelt in a temple where the Law was kept. All who wanted to know of God could go to the temple in Jerusalem. Now God dwells in His new temple, Jesus Christ and His body, the church. All who now want to know of God can see Him expressed in His new living temple, the church.

10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

in Him you have been made complete -- In Christ we have been made complete. The Law has nothing to add to our perfection.

Hebrews 7:19

(for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

He is the head over all rule and authority -- Christ is head over Satan and Satan can no longer charge us with violating the demands of the Law of Moses.

John 5:45

"Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.

Revelation 12:10

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.

Ephesians 3:10

so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

in Him you were also circumcised -- This circumcision took place in the past when, in Christ, we were circumcised on the cross.

with a circumcision made without hands -- This was not a circumcision made by human hands, but by God Himself. Our salvation is not by anything we can do but solely by what God has done.

in the removal of the body of the flesh -- This circumcision removes not just the foreskin but the entire body of the flesh.

Romans 7:24,25a

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

by the circumcision of Christ -- The removal of Christ's body of flesh at the cross was also our spiritual circumcision. Our body of flesh was removed at the cross also, in Him.

12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

having been buried with Him -- When Christ was sealed in the tomb, so were we.

in baptism -- The physical ceremony of water baptism is a visual representation of the spiritual reality of our identification with the sacrifice of Christ in our place. This ceremony is to teach us and remind us of all that we are in Christ.

in which you were also raised up with Him -- Just as Christ was not left in the tomb, so also we were raised up with Him into the heaven to be with God.

John 14:2,3

"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

through faith in the working of God -- We do not know of our heavenly position by our earthly senses. We can not physically sense God's work in raising us from the dead. In fact, our senses tell us otherwise. Our knowledge comes through believing what God has told us in His word.

who raised Him from the dead -- God raised Christ from the dead to demonstrate that the condemnation which results in death had been overcome by the righteousness of Christ.

13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

When you were dead -- Dead means separated from fellowship with God.

in your transgressions -- Our transgressions of the Law kept us from fellowship with God.

the uncircumcision of your flesh -- Because of their transgressions their circumcision had become uncircumcision and they were cut off from fellowship with God.

Romans 2:25

For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

He made you alive together with Him -- We were made alive, restored to fellowship with the Father, when Christ was raised from the dead.

having forgiven us all our transgressions -- Christ being raised from the dead was a visual sign of the spiritual truth that God had accepted Christ's sacrifice in our place and that we had been forgiven.

14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us -- The certificate of debt is the list of charges against us, our violations of the Law. This is the list that Satan uses to accuse us before God.

He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross -- God has taken the list from Satan and nailed it to the cross. This refers to the Roman custom of nailing the list of charges against a criminal to the post above his head. Once the criminal has been crucified the charges are no longer in effect.

The charge against Jesus was that He claimed to be King of the Jews.

John 19:19

Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, "JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS."

15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities -- By taking away the list of charges that he was accusing us of. Satan's weapons are the fiery darts of accusation that God is not pleased with us.

He made a public display of them -- This public display was the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:5-7

and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;

having triumphed over them -- This is a scene right out of Roman history. After defeating an enemy in battle the Romans would disarm the rulers and lead them in a public procession through the streets of Rome to show the Roman people that their enemy had been defeated and disgraced.

1 Peter 3:22

who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

through Him -- Our victory has been won through Christ, not through anything we do.

16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--

Therefore -- Because the demands of the Law were completely satisfied on the cross.

no one is to act as your judge -- The trial has been dismissed because the evidence was nailed to the cross!

to food or drink -- This refers to the dietary laws of Israel as well as to meat sacrificed to idols which was considered to be participating in idolotry.

Leviticus 11:46,47

This is the law regarding the animal and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.

The first 45 verses detail the vast structure of dietary law that Israel was bound to obey.

a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day -- These refer to the special days which were foreshadows of the work of Christ. Why continue to observe the shadows when the reality is present with us?

1 Chronicles 23:31

and to offer all burnt offerings to the LORD, on the sabbaths, the new moons and the fixed festivals in the number set by the ordinance concerning them, continually before the LORD.

Hebrews 10:1,10

For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of hings, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.

By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

a mere shadow -- The shadow represents the relationship between our heavenly Father and His people on Earth. The sacrificial system, which was founded on the transgressions of the Law, represented the cleansing of the relationship between God and man. God desires to dwell among His people but first our sin must be overcome.

Hebrews 8:5a

who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things

Hebrews 9:23

Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

of what is to come -- Now that sin has been overcome, God does dwell among His people.

the substance belongs to Christ -- God became man and lived with us as Jesus Christ and now lives among man as the church which is the body of Christ, those who believe in His Son.

18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,

keep defrauding you of your prize -- The prize is our heavenly position in seated with Christ beside God the Father. The defrauders were trying to get the Colossians to focus on their earthly position and ignore the wealth of their heavenly position.

Philippians 3:8-14

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

delighting in self-abasement -- The word for self-abasement is a Greek compound word combining thinking and close to the ground. Instead of focusing our minds on our heavenly calling as Paul did, the defrauders are trying to get the Colossians to look down to their earthy situation.

the worship of the angels -- I relate this back to the Law which was given by the angels. Worshiping the angels is similar to worshiping the Law of Moses.

Hebrews 1:4

having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

This connection between the Law and the angels is so important to understand that the author of Hebrews spends the first two chapters demonstrating that Christ is superior to the angels.

Acts 7:38,53

"This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you.

you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it."

Galatians 3:19

Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

Hebrews 2:2

For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty,

taking his stand on visions he has seen -- The defrauders even claimed that they had seen visions of angels preaching the false gospel of law-keeping.

Galatians 1:8

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

inflated without cause by his fleshly mind -- The defrauders felt proud that they were pleasing God by keeping the Law of Moses, proud but wrong.

19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

not holding fast to the head -- They weren't listening to the words of Christ but were relying on their own wisdom.

from whom the entire body -- All believers together make up the visible expression of God's character on the earth.

Ephesians 1:22,23

And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

being supplied -- Christ's body is nourished by the loving connection of believers for one another.

held together by the joints and ligaments -- The individual members of the body are described as connective tissue because, as they love one another, they hold the body together in unity.

Ephesians 4:14-16

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

grows with a growth which is from God -- As we lovingly connect with one another we cause the entire body to grow in the knowledge of God's love for us. The entire growth process originates in God because our love is a reflection of His love for us.

1 John 4:19

We love, because He first loved us.

20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,

If you have died -- Those who believe in Christ believe that He was the demonstration of God's unconditional love and that they have died with Him to the conditional demands of the Law. Salvation is deliverance from slavery to the Law of Moses and accepting God's love into our hearts.

with Christ -- Christ died as our champion just as David was the champion for Israel against the Philistine champion Goliath. When David defeated Goliath, all of Israel was saved from the threat of the Philistines. Only David fought and still everyone enjoyed the benefits of his victory. All they had to do was believe that the threat had been taken care of. Otherwise they would still live in slavery to fear of the Philistines.

Luke 1:67-79

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant--as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old--salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, and FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US; to show mercy toward our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham our father, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS; to give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Romans 8:15

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

Hebrews 2:14,15

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

the elementary principles of the world -- Here, again, is the word "stoichea" which refers to the elementary school ABCs of the Jewish age which were to lead us to salvation in Christ. With Christ on the cross we have died to the unconditional demands of the Jewish world. Now we are called to glorify Christ by resting in His finished work of demonstrating God's unconditional love.

as if you were living in the world -- The defrauders want the Colossians to go back to living in the Jewish world from which they have been set free.

do you submit yourself to decrees -- Why submit yourself to the demands of the Mosaic world?

21 "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!"

Do not handle -- Handle has the connotation of clinging to or grasping something.

do not taste -- Notice that Paul doesn't include "do not drink" which has been mentioned above in verse

do not touch -- This is a much more difficult command than do not handle. The idea is to not even touch something.

So the question is, why does Paul use these three commands to summarize the Mosaic Law? Why doesn't he include a command about drinking?

I think that Paul is alluding to Eve in the garden of Eden.

Notice how Eve distorts God's commandment.

Genesis 2:16,17

The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."

Genesis 3:2,3

The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'"

Eve took the commandment of God, "you shall not eat" and added to it, "or touch it". I think that Paul is saying that Israel had turned God's commandments which were to lead to Christ's righteousness into the teachings of men which lead to self righteousness. They had done the opposite of what Eve had done. Eve had altered the commandment and made it harder than it was so that Satan made it sound foolish. The Israelites changed the commandments of God and made them easier so that they could feel like they had met their requirements.

Instead of leading to the death of themselves and to life in Christ, the new commandments and teachings of men led to life in themselves and no need for salvation in Christ.

22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)--in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?

things destined to perish with use -- Perhaps I'm reading too much into this but it's interesting that Eve perished with the use of the fruit in the garden of Eden.

Here Paul is contrasting the New Covenant which is concerned with focusing our minds on the eternal heavenly things with the Old Covenant which is concerned with focusing our minds on the earthly things destined to perish with use.

the commandments and teachings of men -- The Law of Moses made less severe so that it is attainable by man in his pursuit of righteousness before God becomes the commandments and teachings of men.

23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

the appearance of wisdom -- Keeping the Law of Moses seems to be the right thing to do, but it is now considered falling away from the grace of Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:12

For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.

self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body -- It seems like controlling one's behavior is what would please God. But that is the way of the world. All religions of the world have the same method. Control your fleshly appetites and you will be pleasing to God.

but are of no value against fleshly indulgence -- Okay, great, so what is of value????

I guess we have to wait for Colossians three.