Deeper Commentary

CHAPTER 2

2:1- see on Rom. 9:3.

For I would have you know how greatly I strive for you and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh- This striving for others is in the power of the Lord’s spirit, as explained in the preceding verse (1:29). His mental effort for those he had never met was and is inspirational. Paul's conflict or struggle was in prayer; for true prayer is a struggle, not a mental muttering of a few thoughts as we drift off to sleep at night, just as Jacob's struggle with the Angel is interpreted as a wrestling with God in prayer (Hos. 12:4). Paul's attitude in prayer spread to Epaphras, who did the same (Col. 4:12)- attitudes to prayer are catching, just as the disciples asked to be taught to pray after observing the Lord Jesus in prayer. But the idea of striving in prayer is continuing the figure of Col. 1:29, where Paul says he strives "according to His working which works in me mightily". This explains why at times we feel moved to pray for situations; we can of course refuse to allow God's work to work in us, but if we are in touch with Him, walking in step with the Spirit, then we will be open to His promptings to pray for situations.

Appreciating that prayer is so much "in the spirit", we can better grasp why prayer is portrayed as a struggle. Moab would pray in the time of his judgment; "but he shall not prevail" (Is. 16:12), as if the prayer process was a struggle. Jacob, by contrast, struggled with the Angel in prayer and prevailed (Hos. 12:2-4). The Romans were to strive together with Paul in prayer (Rom. 15:30); the Lord's prayers in Gethsemane were a resisting / struggling unto the point of sweating blood (Heb. 12:2). "I would that ye knew what great conflict I have [RV ‘how greatly I strive / struggle’] for you... that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding" is parallel to "We do not cease to pray for you... that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Col. 2:1 cp. 1:9,10). Paul's conflict / struggle for them was his prayer for them. Epaphras likewise was “always striving for you in his prayers” (Col. 4:12 RV).

2:2 That their hearts may be comforted- The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, can operate in human hearts- but we must allow this to happen. Hence throughout Ephesians and Colossians, Paul prays that the potential activity of the Spirit will be realized in his readership.

They being knit together in love- He who fears the Lord, “him shall he teach in the way that he [God] shall choose” (Ps. 25:12). The Father opens up new ways of understanding for us each, of His choosing and according to our individual needs, in response to our living a God-fearing life. If our hearts are knit together in brotherly love, the more we will understand- for true understanding is, in the end, to fathom the depths of God’s love (Col. 2:2).

And to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God as it is in Christ- It is true that the deeper we understand, the easier some things are to cope with. But the understanding in view here is of the "mystery", which we saw in chapter 1 refers to the simple fact that those who truly believe in Christ's death and resurrection shall indeed be saved. This is what gives assurance; whereas correct theology of itself gives no assurance when faced with the inevitable demise and death which all men face.

2:3- see on Mt. 13:46.

In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge- "The wisdom of God was in the midst of him" (1 Kings 3:28 AVmg.) is alluded to here in Col. 2:3- clearly seeing Solomon as a type of Christ.

The idea of being hidden is an allusion to the Colossian heresy of incipient Gnosticism, the idea that truth is hidden in secret writings, known only to the chosen few. The true wisdom is indeed hidden, but hidden in Christ.

2:4 This I say, so that no one deludes you with persuasive speech- AV "beguile", s.w. LXX Josh. 9:22 of the Gibeonites deceiving Joshua with their words. The implication may be that even false teachers and infiltrators of the flock still have the possibility of salvation, for by all accounts the Gibeonites appear to have repented and to have become fully assimilated into God's people, serving Him with distinction above many Israelites. Clearly the community Paul wrote to were threatened by false teachers whose ideas were attractive- it was "enticing" (AV). 

2:5 For though I am absent in the flesh, I am still with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ- Perhaps Paul had some Spirit gift of knowledge which enabled him to know their spiritual position. A similar passage in 1 Cor. 5:4,5 seems to also imply a supernatural ability to be present with an ecclesia: "I truly, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him that has done this thing, I command you that in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are gathered together (and my spirit is present with you when you do), with the power of our Lord Jesus...". But the ideas of flesh as opposed to spirit would more suggest that he was mentally, spiritually 'with' them.

2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord- walk in him- Gk. The Christ... the Lord- all the emphasis upon Christ's greatness is in the context of warning us to let nothing whatsoever distract us from our focus upon Him as a person. In our generation those distractions may not be arguments of Gnostics and Judaizers- although there are those who fall to such- but rather the host of selfish, laziness-enabling, egocentric distractions of modern culture.

As we received Christ Jesus as Lord at baptism, so we live daily in Him; our baptism experience is lived out throughout daily life (Col. 2:6). Thus Paul spoke of how he died daily so that he might share in the Lord's resurrection life (1 Cor. 15:31). We always bear about in our body the spirit of the Lord Jesus in His time of dying, so that His life might be made manifest in our mortal flesh even now (the use of "mortal flesh" indicates that this is not a reference to the future resurrection). In this way the process of dying to the flesh works life in us (2 Cor. 4:10-12). See on Gal. 3:27; 1 Pet. 1:23.

2:7- see on Lk. 6:48.

Rooted and up built in him and established in your faith, even as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving- Rooting, as of a tree, and being built up, as a building, are two metaphors which occur together in Eph. 3:17, where we are taught that we are to be rooted and grounded "in love", whereas here we are to be rooted and grounded in Christ personally. A Christ-focused life leads to love. The source of a loving life isn't therefore to be found in psychological gymnastics within our minds, but rather by a focus upon Him personally. And we all, surely, want the answer to the question: 'How can I be more loving?'.

2:8 - see on Mt. 24:4.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit- The Greek for “spoil” means literally to lead away as booty. There were clearly false teachers eager to lead off the Christian converts through deceitful philosophy; and their origin was clearly Jewish.

After the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ-
“The tradition” is perhaps a reference to the Jewish Kabbala, 'the received tradition'; “the world” is the Jewish world.

2:9 For in him, in a bodily form, dwells all the fullness of all that God stands for- Colossians and Ephesians emphasize the reconciling of both Christians and Angels through the death of Christ, perhaps due to the cross taking away the Angel-coordinated Mosaic system which separated man from God and the Angels. "Having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things (a phrase which elsewhere includes Angels- e. g. Heb. 2:8) unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in Heaven" (Col. 1:20). What are the things in earth and Heaven if they are not Christians and Angels? In Christ "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9)- the fulness of Gentiles, Jews and Angels. "And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power (i.e. Angels- Col. 2:15)"- 2:10. As Christ is the head of the Angels, so if we are in the body of Christ, He is our head too, and we are therefore with the Angels in the same body. There is thus no need to worship them, nor the Mosaic ordinances they instituted. This seems to be a major theme in Col. 2 "Let no man beguile you of your reward in… worshipping of Angels... and not holding the Head (Christ), from which all the body (both Christians and Angels, whose head is Christ, v. 10,15) by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together (Angels and Christians!) increaseth (both of us growing in knowledge of God) with the increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the elements of the (Mosaic/ Angelic) world, are ye subject to (Mosaic/ Angelic) ordinances... ?" (v. 18-20). The evident  similarities between Colossians and Ephesians invite us to interpret Ephesians 1 in the same way: "In the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth (Angels and Christians, Jews and Gentiles)… in whom we also (as well as Angels- it is hard to understand why Paul, being a Jew, should speak like this about Gentiles also, as well as Jews, obtaining an inheritance) have obtained an inheritance… (God) raised (Christ) from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the Heavenly places, far above all principality and power (i.e. Angels- Col. 2:15), and might, and dominion (Angels- Jude 8,9), and every name that is named (Christ "hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name" than Angels- Heb. 1:4), not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things (literally all things- including Angels) under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:10,11,20-23). The reference in Eph. 3:15 to "the whole family in Heaven and earth" probably refers to the Angelic and human parts of the family of God in Heaven and earth respectively being united by the sacrifice of Christ. Christ's parables of the lost coin and lost sheep lend support to this. The woman and the shepherd on one level represent Jesus searching for the lost saint, calling together the friends to rejoice on finding him (Lk. 15:9,29). These friends represent Angels, we are told (v. 10). However, those in the ecclesia are also members of God's household; Christ laid down His life for us His friends; "Ye are My friends... I have called you friends" (Jn. 15:13-15). The parables of Luke 15 were initially directed at the Pharisees, implying that they as the shepherds of the ecclesia should be mixing with the weak of the flock to win them back (Lk. 15:2-4; n. b. "which man of you..."). Thus Jesus also expected the woman, shepherd and friends to refer to members of the ecclesia on earth. Yet He also specifically says that they have reference to the Angelic household in Heaven. Thus both Angels and earthly believers are part of the same "family in Heaven and earth" of Eph. 3:15. See on Jude 6; Heb. 9:23.

Col. 2:8,9 reasons that because in Christ dwells all the fullness of God, so far is He exalted, that we therefore should not follow men. A man or woman who is truly awed by the height of the Lord's exaltation simply will not allow themselves to get caught up in personality cults based around individuals, even if they are within the brotherhood.
Many of the 'difficult passages' in the New Testament are only difficult because they are alluding to, and even quoting phrases from, popular contemporary ideas and writings and seeking to deconstruct them. This technique is found throughout the Bible, especially with respect to false yet popular ideas about evil. To take an example: Valentinus taught in the second century that there was a pleroma, a "fullness of the Godhead", comprised of 30 aeons of time. Like most thinkers, he was drawing on ideas that had circulated a century before him, and so it's reasonable to think that the philosophical idea of a "fullness of the Godhead" was around in the first century. And Paul uses just this phrase when explaining how the entire fullness of the Godhead was to be found in the person of Jesus Christ (Col. 2:9). No need for philosophy and wild guesses at the structure of God. The fullness of the Godhead was and is in the personality of Jesus. However, this isn't Paul's only allusion to this idea. The lowest of the 30 aeons, Sophia, "yielded to an ungovernable desire to apprehend [God's] nature". And Paul alludes to this in Phil. 2:6,7, saying that Jesus by contrast didn't even consider apprehending God's nature, but instead made Himself a servant of all. As more and more is known of the literature and ideas which were extant in the first century, it becomes the more evident that Paul's writings are full of allusions to it- allusions which seek to deconstruct these ideas, replacing them with the true; and by doing so, presenting the Truth of the Gospel in the terms and language of the day, just as we seek to.

The fullness of God dwells in the body of Christ- and Paul often uses this idea with reference to the body of baptized believers. Within us and amongst us, over time and space, there will have dwelt (by the time of Christ's return) all the fullness of God's moral perfection and characteristics; one may have His love and grace, another His judgment, etc. This is confirmed by 2:10.

2:10 And in him you are made complete. He is the head of all principality and power- “Complete” is Gk. 'made full'. As God dwelt fully in Christ, so He fully dwells in us, the entire body of Christ. However the principalities and powers were perceived, be their hierarchies of Angels or not, the Lord Jesus was the head.

2:11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ- Through baptism, we enter the "in Christ" status, and our flesh is as it were cut off, by status we are in Him and not in the flesh. This is repeated in Paul's argument in Romans 1-8, although there he stresses that our flesh still remains; but from God's perspective, it is cut off. It takes faith to believe this- faith in God's operation, that the circumcision operation was really performed by Him (2:12). Baptism is the means by which we become "in Christ" and in spiritual terms cease to be uncircumcised (2:13).

2:12 Having been buried with him in baptism, by which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead- AV "the operation of God". See on 2:11. Baptism is effective because we are to believe that God will now work in us to allow the life of the risen Lord to break forth in our mortal flesh. The faith required before baptism is therefore not merely an understanding of past events, but more importantly a belief that God's energeia, His energy, will operate in the transforming of our hearts and lives. The act of baptism alone doesn't save; it saves through our faith in God's operation to save us. Tit. 3:5 speaks of baptism as "the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit"; but we have to believe in that "working of God" as Paul here puts it in Colossians. Baptism is paralleled with circumcision, which was a cutting off of the flesh. Our flesh, the mind of the flesh, will be cut off by God, as an ongoing process, once we make the connection with Christ in baptism. The parallel in Ephesians is Eph. 1:19,20, which speak of how the same unbounded power which raised the dead body of Jesus from the dead will likewise work in the hearts of us who believe.

2:13 And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses- This change from the second to the first person, or, vice versa, is common in Paul's writings. He like a truly good teacher admits his own need for forgiveness, and wishes to share his personal experience with us his readers.

Baptism is to be associated with the ancient rite of circumcision. The Lord Jesus Himself as it were circumcises men at their baptism, cutting off the flesh of their past lives, and thereby inviting them to live in a manner appropriate to what He has done for them (Col. 2:11-13).

2:14 In the context of baptism and warning believers not to return to the Law, Paul argues “If ye be dead with Christ (in baptism) from the rudiments of the (Jewish) world, why, as though living in the (Jewish) world, (i.e. under the Law) are ye subject to (Mosaic) ordinances...?” (:20). The Law was “against us... contrary to us” (Col. 2:14) – hence it being called an adversary/Satan. The natural Jews under the Mosaic Law, as opposed to the Abrahamic covenant regarding Christ, are called “the children of the flesh” (Rom. 9:8). Similarly those under the Law are paralleled with the son of the bondwoman “born after the flesh” (Gal. 4:23). Paul reasons: “Are you now made perfect by the flesh?... received you the Spirit by the works of the Law?” (Gal. 3:2,3) – as if “by the flesh” is equivalent to “by the law”. Now we can understand why Heb. 7:16–18 speaks of “The Law of a carnal commandment... The weakness and unprofitableness thereof”. Not only is the word “carnal” used with distinctly fleshly overtones elsewhere, but the law being described as “weak” invites connection with phrases like “the flesh is weak” (Mt. 26:41). Rom. 8:3 therefore describes the Law as “weak through the flesh”. See on Rom. 8:3.

Having blotted out the bond written in ordinances- Gk. 'to wash out', an allusion to baptism. The same word is used about the blotting out of our sins (Acts 3:19), of our tears (our lament for our sins, Rev. 7:17; 21:4). Our sins are blotted out in that the law itself has been blotted out. We are saved through being "in Christ", counted as Him- and not on the basis of any legal obedience to any law. This is Paul's argument in Romans; not simply the Law of Moses, but any legal code which is against us has now been taken away. 'Law' in the sense of 'legality', and not only the law of Moses, has been replaced by salvation by faith in grace. But the reality of salvation by such pure grace is not lawlessness and indulgence in sin, but rather being utterly bound by the principle or law of being "in Christ". Our response to such grace will make us in fact more self controlled and consciously obedient to Divine principles than any system of binding laws, resulting in our being judged according to our obedience or disobedience.

That was against us, which was contrary to us, Christ did away with it by nailing it to the cross- Legal terms, reminiscent of the argument in Romans, that the Law stands in court accusing and condemning us by our failure to obey it; but in Christ we are declared in the right. Paul says here that this Law has been taken away, or as he says in Romans, where is now our accuser? He has fled the court room, there is none to accuse us if we are in Christ. Hence "took it out of the way" means literally in Greek to take away from the midst, away from the foreground- from the middle of the courtroom.

2:15- see on Lk. 11:22.

Having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it- S.w. Heb. 6:6 about the "open shame" of the crucified Christ. One reason for the cross was to publicly declare that all the laws which we break, our sins, are once and for all publicly declared in all their shame- and rendered powerless, lead away in Christ's triumph (2 Cor. 2:14). Disarmed [NIV]- an allusion to 1 Sam. 17:51.

The binding of the strong man in the parable was done by the death of Christ. One of the spoils we have taken from his house is the fact we don't need to keep the Mosaic Law (Mt. 12:29 = Col. 2:15).

2:16 Let no one therefore judge you in food, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day- But people do judge us. We can only not allow them to judge us by not letting their judgments affect us. This is a valuable principle; for the judgment of others seriously impacts upon our emotional and spiritual state. We are not to allow the judgments of others to do this, because we believe that there is only one final judge. Believing that God and His Son are our only judges is therefore of immense practical import. A similar situation is to be found in 1 Tim. 4:12 (cp. 1 Cor. 16:11), where Timothy is told to let nobody despise him. People did despise him- but he is told to disallow them from doing so by not taking it to heart, holding on to his value before God. And Paul tells Titus the same (Tit. 2:15). Likewise in 1 Jn. 3:7 we are told to let no man deceive us- although they will try, for as John notes, there are many deceivers in the world. Here in Col. 2:18, the same is taught- the Colossians were not to let anyone deceive them.

2:17 They were a shadow of the things to come, but the real object is Christ- Bible students have long recognized a 'prophetic perfect' tense in Hebrew, whereby the future is spoken of as having already happened. This not only reflects the utter certainty of God's words coming true, it also reflects God's way of looking at issues without time, in the sense that God is beyond time. Thus when He told Abraham that He had made him (not 'will make you') a great nation, this reflected the way that God already saw Abraham as a father of many. Things which don't yet exist for us do actually exist for God (Rom. 4:17). The Law was a shadow of Christ (Col. 2:17) even when Christ didn't physically exist. Yet a shadow implies the real existence of the object. The Law reflected God's knowledge of the Lord Jesus; to Him, the Lord did in that sense pre-exist, although we know that literally He didn't. Likewise Levi was seen by God as paying tithes whilst he was still as it were within Abraham's body (Heb. 7:9,10), and the dead believers are likened to spectators in a stadium, cheering us on as we race the race of this life (Heb. 12:1).

Paul’s statement that God has made public display for ridicule (edeigmatisen en parrêsia) of the “rulers and authorities” is alluding to a phrase which occurs in the Jewish writings about the supposed Satanic rulers of this present world. But Paul says that God displays them for what they are and thereby holds them up to ridicule (Col. 2:17), rather like Elijah mocking the non-existence of Baal. In Col 2:8,20 and Gal 4:3, 8–10, Paul says that believers are no longer subject to the “elements of the cosmos” (ta stoicheia tou kosmou) – again, a term the Jews used to describe supposed sinful Angels ruling the cosmos. He’s deconstructing these ideas rather than supporting them.

2:18 Let no one rob you of your prize by a false humility and worshiping of the angels, keeping on about all the things which he has supposedly seen in visions, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind- If we let ourselves act against our conscience, we are now condemned (Rom. 14:23). If we judge another, "thou condemnest [present tense] thyself" (Rom. 2:1). We must not let false teachers "judge against you" (Col. 2:18 AVmg.) in the sense that by following them we can let them as it were pass the verdict of condemnation upon us, here and now.

Seeking to cut off the flesh by steel willed obedience to laws is in fact fleshly. Likewise in 2:23 Paul argues that obedience to laws isn't any benefit in cutting off the flesh; this is done by God in Christ through our baptism into Him and being counted as Him.

2:19 And not holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, increases with the increase of God- The Lord Jesus, as the Head, ministers nourishment to the body (Col. 2:19). But how? The same word is used in the parallel Eph. 4:16: every joint of the body supplies (s.w.) the rest of the body with nourishment. The Lord’s work of ministering to us is articulated through us His servants. This is why faith can die in individuals and ecclesias, simply because brethren and sisters are not ministering strength to others. We should seriously consider our words, spoken and written, our motivation, whether or not we challenge a brother or sister over something, the direction of our conversations... for we can obstruct the grace and nourishment of Christ by our raising of that which pulls down rather than builds up. Likewise Col. 2:19 says that God gives increase to the body; but Eph. 4:16 uses the same Greek in saying how the body makes increase of itself in love. It occurs again in Eph. 2:21: “all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple”. This is all so weighty in its implication. Our duty is not merely to retain a correct understanding of certain propositional truths, and ourselves live a reasonable life. The welfare of all others in the body has been delegated to us. Their salvation and perhaps their eternal rejection lays in our hands, to some extent. See on Eph. 4:16.

2:20 If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances?- The aorist tense of “you died” refers to a one time event, surely our baptisms into Christ's death. Likewise 3:1 refers to our one time rising with Christ in baptism. They were ‘subjecting themselves’ to the Jewish ordinances, the legalities of Judaism, “as though” they were living in the [Jewish] world. Submission to Judaism was inappropriate for those who had died with Christ in baptism. The salvation by faith through grace experienced in Him meant that they had died not only to sin, but to the law which brought about sin.

2:21 Handle not, nor taste, nor touch- These legal concerns were about external contamination. But the focus of Colossians has been that the gift of the Spirit affects the human spirit, the mind, the heart. This is the focus of true Christianity. Contamination of the heart cannot occur through eating or touching ritually unclean things. “Touch” in Greek can mean simply ‘association’, having ‘to do with’ someone. In this case, Paul is categorically condemning the whole concept of ‘guilt by association’ which has been the root cause of so much division between believers. Not handling [touching] nor tasting is alluding to Eve’s perception that she was not to touch nor taste the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:3). Eve had put a fence around the command not to eat of the fruit; she had added ‘neither shall you touch it’. And it had not saved her from sin; indeed, her primitive legalism was not mixed with faith in God’s grace, and it led her to spiritual catastrophe. The Judaist legalism and fences around the law were leading them in just the same way.

 

2:22 (All things that perish with the using), after the precepts and doctrines of men?- The idea may simply be that all external things perish, food is touched, eaten and then perishes; whereas the work of the Spirit is in the heart and is permanent. The food laws concerned things which perished permanently; avoiding them was just a temporary way of avoiding legal infringements, whereas the work of the Spirit had permanent effect upon the heart. And it is the Spirit which will be experienced eternally in God’s Kingdom. And in any case, the ordinances of Judaism in view here were “of men”, and not therefore the law of God. This is a pointed attack on the Jewish idea that the teachings of the Rabbis effectively became Divine law.

 

2:23 Which things have indeed a false appearance of wisdom in worship and humility and severity to the body, but are not of any real value against stopping the indulgence of the flesh- Paul sees the “real value” of any teaching in spiritual terms. The legalism associated with worrying about food legislation was of no value against stopping us indulge the flesh. What is required is the Spirit, working internally; rather than regulations about external defilement. The “worship” in view is that of Angels (:18). Fasting was not demanded by the Mosaic law, apart from at the day of atonement; but fasting was a major part of Judaism. But all this would not stop the flesh but rather encourage it; what was required was the ministry of God’s spirit within the human spirit.