Colossians 2

The Mystery of God Revealed Colossians 2:3–5

³Verse 3. in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden. ⁴Verse 4. Now this I say that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech. ⁵Verse 5. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

Walking in Christ Colossians 2:6–7

⁶Verse 6. As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him, ⁷Verse 7. rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving.

Warning Against Deceptive Philosophy Colossians 2:8–10

⁸Verse 8. Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ. ⁹Verse 9. For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰Verse 10. and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power;

Spiritual Circumcision and Forgiveness Colossians 2:11–15

¹¹Verse 11. in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; ¹²Verse 12. having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³Verse 13. You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴Verse 14. wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;

¹⁵Verse 15. having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Freedom from Judgments and Regulations Colossians 2:16–19

¹⁶Verse 16. Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, ¹⁷Verse 17. which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s. ¹⁸Verse 18. Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshiping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, ¹⁹Verse 19. and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth.

The Futility of Human Regulations Colossians 2:20–23

²⁰Verse 20. If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances, ²¹Verse 21. “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch” ²²Verse 22. (all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men? ²³Verse 23. Which things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.