2 Colossians Chapter Two

Colossians 2:1-5 - Paul's Agony

"For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ."

Paul's conflict/struggle is hardly comparable to anything that we face today - it's not about issues within himself or with people, but rather stems from a longing for all the believers in Colosse, in Laodicea and other believers who have not seen him in person. He longs that they may be encouraged and united strongly in love. It's only true love that unites people together - any thing else produces anything but unity. He also wants them to have complete assurance that they understand the mystery of God the Father and the Son, as it's only in knowing the Father and the Son that one can have access to the treasures of true wisdom and knowledge. So much emphasis is laid today on worldly wisdom and knowledge which contribute nothing to the saving of one's soul from eternal destruction; but possessing the wisdom and knowledge of God has an impact on one's identity, purpose, lifestyle, and more so the salvation on one's soul.

Paul goes on to say that his reason for telling them all this was so they would not be misled by anyone's convincing false teaching. Convincing false teaching won't save anyone - it'll only deceive one and lead them away from the truth. He assures them that though he be absent from them physically, his heart is with them, He goes on to tell them that he rejoices in their good behaviour and in their strong faith in Jesus. What an encouraging leader - there's a dearth today for encouragement, especially from leaders and mentrors. Praise God for those leaders who take the time to encourage those they lead - there's no telling what impact it can have on their morale and their behaviour. 

Colossians 2:6-7 - Paul's advice

"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

Paul reminds them that receiving Christ was just the beginning of their journey, and what they needed to do next was to continue to walk in obedience to Jesus. He uses the analogy of a growing plant when he encourages them to grow deep and get firmly rooted in their faith in Jesus; and to grow up to be strong in the faith in which they were taught. He then says that this kind of faith would result in a heart that is filled with thankfulness. Very often, faith in Jesus is seen as a very shallow thing that develops in isolation and has no bearing on one's life and lifestyle, when in fact, faith was meant to be evident in every area of one's life. As one grows in their walk with God, their hearts are filled with gratitude to the Lord for all that He does in and through them. 

Colossians 2:8 - Paul's Caution

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."

He then cautions them to not be led astray by those who profess worldly wisdom and thereby be deceived by the emptiness that comes from traditions and superstitions of this world. Once one gets led astray from the teachings of Christ, it's only a matter of time before they get caught up in worldly philosophies and superstitions that are contrary to Christ's teaching.

Colossians 2:9-15 - Paul's Reminder of Christ's work in us

"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

Since Jesus was fully God in human form and since He has saved us, we have been made complete (been endowed with the Righteousness of God) in Him, who is above every ruler and authority. When we came to believe in Jesus, we did not undergo a physical circumcision, but a spiritual one - meaning, our sinful nature was cut off from our lives when our old way of life was buried with Christ. We were baptized and were raised to live a new life because we trusted in the power of Almight God, who raised Christ from the dead. Earlier we were spiritually dead (though we appeared to be alive), because we were being led by our sinful nature, which was not yet dealt with. Then God raised us up with to a new life with Christ when He forgave us of all our sins. He cancelled and removed all the accusations of the law that were against us because of our sins, when He died in our place on the cross. In doing so, he removed all the righteous requirements of the law that we could not keep, and that thus enslaved us to sin. All the power and authority of the Jewish ecclesiastical rulers who laid down numerous rules and ceremonies, were now stripped off them and were put on public display when Jesus died on the cross, and defeated them, since now faith in His death was the only requirement of God to enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

Colossians 2:16-23 - Paul's warning against powerless legalism

“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—  “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

Since we've been saved by faith, he warns us to not let anyone judge us by legalistic righteous standards, like religious festivals, new moons, sabbaths etc. All these were pointing to Jesus, who fulfilled the law to the last dot. He warns against being side tracked by people who believe in false humility (a facade that stems from self-righteousness), the worshipping of angels - such people he says, venture into areas they are ignorant of, and that stem from hyper-imaginations of the carnal, proud, selfish mind. He says that such people have lost connection with Jesus, who as the Head of the Body of Christ, feeds and connects the members of the body with one another, as it were by joints and ligaments, so that the entire body grows with the help of God. He seems to say that such people don't fellowship with other believers and therefore have a false understanding of themselves and don't really belong to the Body of Christ. Those that are connected with the Body, help and are helped by one another and stand less chance of going astray in their beliefs. 

When we came to trust in Jesus, we died to all the earthly, man-made rules and regulations that we were enslaved to, but when we realised that these rules had no ability to to give us life, we now consider ourselves dead to them. So Paul seems to ask, "If you are dead to them, why do you still find yourselves giving life to these rules - "Don't handle, don't taste, don't touch?" These rules are man-made concerning things that deteriorate with use, so why give such importance to them? Yes, these sound like rules of the wise because they require commitment, self-denial and strong discipline to follow them, but the problem is that following these rules does not help one overcome his sinful, selfish desires that one is controlled by.

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Michael Collins