Colossians 2:1–10

 My two daughters and 7 grandchildren left for Hawaii yesterday. Thank you God for delivering them safely. I am so humbled and grateful for the family that  You have placed in my life!

We love because He first loved us. 

in Christ, we can fulfill Gods’ command to love Him above all and others as ourselves!!

Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,

Colossians 2:1–10

2 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, 2 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, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4 Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. 5 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.

6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

8 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. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Paul begins this chapter by assuring the Colossians that Christ reveals the full truth of God.

In mystery cults,  a mystery was a secret ritual that supposedly established a relationship with a god and resulted in perceived benefits such as immortality. The Colossians likely knew of such teachings from their culture. Paul uses the term “mystery” to refer to Christ, who reveals and fulfills God’s plan of salvation. Jewish traditions prized wisdom,  and mystery cults valued knowledge. Paul affirms Christ as the true source of both. Since the believers of Colossae have Christ, they have no need for the wisdom and knowledge offered by false teachers.

Ancient philosophers used lofty arguments to persuade their audiences. Paul warns the Colossians that such teachings may appear logical, but their conclusions are false. 

Because Christ represents the full revelation of God, and because believers are united with Christ, the Colossians can be confident of their salvation and the defeat of worldly powers.

The Greek word used here, paralambanō, can refer to the reception of a tradition —in this case, the message of the gospel handed down from the apostles. Paul urges the Colossians to continue in this tradition, which contrasts with the human traditions of false teachers. 

The fundamental problem Paul identifies is that human rules and traditions are being recommended as necessary supplements to Christ. However, it is also possible that Paul is not correcting a particular false teaching. Instead, Paul could be concerned with the immaturity and ignorance of the Colossian believers. 

The Greek word for philosophy,  philosophia, literally means “love of wisdom.” Philosophy originated in Greece during the sixth century bc as the systematic and logical investigation of a subject. By the first century, “philosophy” broadly referred to any moral or religious belief system. The Jewish historian Josephus applied the term to the various Jewish groups—the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. Paul encountered two schools of philosophy in his travels—the Epicureans and the Stoics. In contrast, the gospel message has its origin in God. The very nature of God is fully present in Christ. False teachers may have asserted that Christ was one of many divine beings or that God’s fullness was distributed throughout supernatural beings, not just Christ—claims that Paul rejects. Faithlife Bible.

Though the false teachers at Colosse spoke of initiating people into a superior knowledge, Paul tells his readers that they can understand the mystery of God without this false philosophy. The Gnostics sought knowledge as an end in itself, but Paul reminds the Colossians that true knowledge will demonstrate itself by bringing people together in Christian love in the church. Note how Paul joins the Father and Christ together, emphasizing their common deity and unity. The Gnostics would view Jesus only as an emanation from the Father, sharing a portion of the attributes of deity. Paul not only emphasizes Jesus’ deity, but also explains that He possesses all wisdom and knowledge. The Gnostics thought only certain “knowledgeable” people could join their elite group; Paul teaches that every believer has access to complete wisdom found in Christ.

Just as the Colossian believers had begun with Christ, so Paul encourages them to continue in their walk with Him. Paul uses four words to describe the Colossians’ walk with Christ. The tense of the word translated rooted denotes a complete action; the believers have been rooted in Christ. The next three words, built up, established, and abounding, are in the present tense, showing the continual growth that should characterize every Christian’s walk with Christ.

This verse has been used at times to teach that Christians should not study or read philosophy. This is not Paul’s meaning. Paul himself was adept at philosophy, evidenced by his interaction with the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers in Athens. Paul was warning the believers not to be taken in by any philosophy that does not conform to a proper knowledge of Christ. The false teachers at Colosse had combined worldly philosophies with the gospel. These philosophies are spoken of by Paul as the basic principles of the world, which some have interpreted as “spirits” or “angels” who supposedly control a person’s life. It seems more likely that the term principles refers to the elementary rules and regulations that certain teachers were seeking to impose on believers according to the dictates of human philosophies. Paul’s strongest indictment against the heretics was that their teaching was not according to Christ, and thus they were not walking with Christ.

Paul clearly proclaims the Incarnation, the fact the God became a man bodily. This contradicts the Gnostic idea of the inherent evil of physical bodies and the claim that Jesus is merely a spirit. The Gnostics thought the fullness of God had been divided among a number of angelic beings, the last creating the material world. In contrast, Paul says that the fullness of God exists in Christ.

Paul illustrates the adequacy of Christ by demonstrating how the Colossian believers are complete. In Christ, the Colossians have put off the power of sin and the flesh, have received new life, have been forgiven, have been delivered from requirements laid down by human traditions, and have been freed from the powers of spirit beings. There is nothing that the Christian needs to add to what was received in Christ at the time of conversion. Paul emphasizes the sufficiency of Christ in order to refute the Gnostics and the Judaizers who respectively believed that special knowledge or works were necessary to make a Christian complete. NKJ Bible.

By this one word “complete,” is shown that we have in Christ whatever is required. “In him,” not when we look to Christ, as though he were distant from us, but we are in him, when, by the power of the Spirit, we have faith wrought in our hearts by the Spirit, and we are united to our Head. The circumcision of the heart, the crucifixion of the flesh, the death and burial to sin and to the world, and the resurrection to newness of life, set forth in baptism, and by faith wrought in our hearts, prove that our sins are forgiven, and that we are fully delivered from the curse of the law. Through Christ, we, who were dead in sins, are quickened. Christ’s death was the death of our sins; Christ’s resurrection is the quickening of our souls. Matthew Henry Commentary.