Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (2:6-7)
After expressing his desire for the Colossians to be encouraged, knit together in love, and grounded in the full assurance of their faith in Christ (Col. 2:1-5), Paul exhorts the church to walk in Christ. This echoes statements in his other epistles that encouraged believers to “walk in a manner worthy” of their faith (Eph 4:1), purposely living a life that reflects their belief, gratitude, and obedience to Christ as Lord, following the teaching they received from the apostles and the early church leaders.
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (2:8)
Paul now goes back addressing concerns in the church which he touched on in Col. 2:4, issues likely brought to him by Epaphras. It appears the church had been influenced to some degree by Gnosticism and other false teaching that went against the true gospel of Christ. Such doctrines insisted on works of the flesh, obedience to tradition, and even abuse of the body to please God, none of which are prescribed by Christ or His apostles’ teaching.
It’s easy for people to abandon the raw simplicity of the gospel, which requires only belief, repentance, and loving God and others, in exchange for a physical, experiential religion loosely wrapped in Christianity. It’s tempting to performs works, duties, and observances that give a sense of self-righteousness, yet go completely against what Christ requires of His true disciples. Paul asserts such things are deceitful and rob the gospel of its power to save.
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. (2:9-10)
Here, Paul steps back and expounds on what he stated in Col. 1:18, that Christ is God in human flesh and has supreme authority, refuting the false teachers who dared to claim that Christ was not fully divine nor sent from God.
The foundation of our faith is that Christ is the only begotten of the Father and is holy, blameless, and therefore worthy to take away our sins. And because of His holiness and obedience to the Father, the Father was pleased to have His Spirit dwell fully in Christ (Col 1:19). And ultimately, as Paul says here, the Father gave Christ all authority over creation, both in the heavens and on earth (Col. 1:15-18). Therefore, Christ is considered equal with God the Father and is to be adored and worshipped as much as we would the Father (Phil 2:6-11, Heb. 1:6).
In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. (2:11-12)
Paul hones in on specific religious acts being pushed by some in the Colossian church, expressly the act of circumcision. While God required the Jews to be circumcised as an outward sign of their faith and obedience to His covenant (Gen. 17), this requirement was never extended to Gentile believers or anyone who puts their faith in Christ. In Romans 2 Paul explained in great detail how circumcision is a matter of the heart, not a physical cutting/scarring of the body, which echoed God’s sentiment in Deuteronomy 30:6.
Instead, we were given the outward expression of baptism to identify with Christ and the new covenant. Baptism imitates the death and resurrection of Christ, the washing away of our sins, and the hope we have in a future bodily resurrection from the dead. Paul states that believers are made complete in Christ, having been spiritually circumcised and raised to new life through faith.
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (2:13-15)
Truly an amazing and freeing statement by Paul. As he told the Ephesians, we were once dead in sin, but now we are alive in Christ! All our sins forgiven, and the ledger of debt has been erased. Gone forever, praise God!
He did this by putting all our sin and the due punishment on His Son, nailing it to our Savior’s cross, once and for all. In doing so, God stripped the power of His enemies, putting them to shame through the obedient and fulfilling work of Christ.