The Epistle to the Colossians

Chapter 2

In chapter 2, the Apostle Paul will attack the Colossian Heresy and why it was so deadly for these immature believers in Colossea. While our basic information regarding this heresy was laid out in our our introduction at the beginning of this teaching, this section of the apostle's letter is where he really begins to address the devastating dangers of this belief system. If you didn't fully comprehend the details of this heresy, hopefully, the commentaries below that are written in this chapter will give you a better understanding.

Why then is it important that we 2000 years later understanding this heresy? The reason being some of these same things are still being practiced in one form or another within Christianity throughout the world. We may touch on a lot of "sacred cows" in this chapter, which makes this chapter very important to the Church - even today. Sadly, there are many churches that have added extra doctrines or rituals that are outside the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ. As a result, Christians around the world fall prey to whatever they have been indoctrinated into or what seems to make sense because they do not fully comprehend the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Again, true Christianity is Jesus - nothing more and nothing less!

Religion is man reaching up to God by his own efforts to please Him.
Relationship with Christ is Christ came down to man to form a relationship with him.

We all need to fully understand the difference between religion and a relationship with Christ. Religion often involves structured beliefs, rituals, and external behavior aimed at pleasing God. A relationship with Christ, however, emphasizes a personal, intimate connection where a believer actively seeks to understand to follow Jesus's teachings, experiencing His presence, and transforming his or her life through faith and love.(1)

The Colossian Heresy

While Gnosticism had its own beginnings, it was added to the advancement of the Colossian Heresy. This heresy became more of a philosophy than a religion centering on mixing various teachings from different religions into Christianity which drew a person away from Christ instead of drawing him to Christ.

Since these immature believers in Colossae were using Gnostic terminology, the Apostle Paul would do the same thing in his attempt to turn their attention away from Gnostic thinking and place it back on Christ where these words belong. 

You will find the apostle using words what we may know as scriptural words, but were common language words within Gnosticism; such as "understanding," "fully knowing," "secret truth, "wisdom," and "knowledge" that gave a different meaning to their understanding.

Colossians 2:1 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.

As the apostle begins this chapter, which to him was simply another section in his continuing letter, he wanted them to know and realize he has agonized over them even though he had not personally met them. He also referred to the church at Laodicea, as he had never been to that church as well, asking them to share this same message to them.

We have no scriptural evidence that the Apostle Paul traveled up into the mountains. Because of Epiphras and possibly others, however, the message of salvation reached the people up into the mountains of the Lycus Valley.

The apostle wanted to encourage these believers and to let them know that his prayers for them were that they know the truths of the mystery of the Gospel so they could be knitted together in love and be able to attain all the riches of the full assurace of understanding, the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, which contained all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

The Main Theme of Gnosticism

Because Gnosticism did not believe in matter (the physical), meaning Jesus only came to earth spiritually, and what was seen was simply a mirage of Him or a figment of one's imagination, Jesus could never have shed His blood "physically" for our sins. Therefore, salvation through the shed blood of Jesus would be an impossibility. So, Gnosticism, as a cult of Christianity, purposed to find another way to obtain salvation, and that was through hidden knowledge. So Gnosticism looked to mankind to find his own eternal salvation.

• Instead of looking to Jesus as the One Who has the keys to all knowledge, understanding and wisdom, they looked to themselves, which was a common practice within Gnosticism as they searched the Scriptures for hidden meanings. They then used those special words such as "knowledge," "understanding," "wisdom," "secrets" and "mysteries."
• For those who would discover these hidden things in scripture, they would be given special favor and privilege with God.
• Added to other requirements, such as Judaism legalism, ascetism, and the worship of angels, they thought their salvation was obtained by works and not by the precious blood of Jesus shed for mankind.That then was their way they obtained their salvation. 

Please note: Someone had to pay the price for the sins of mankind in order for man to come back to God. That someone was Jesus. He came to earth for that very purpose. If Jesus had not shed His physical blood for our sins, mankind would have no way to obtain his salvation - now and throughout eternity. Jesus had to come to earth as a physical man to shed His physical blood for our sins. He paid the price so we wouldn't have to.  

Everything for mankind was laid up in Jesus. Jesus did it all, and all He asks of us is that we receive and believe in Him and all He has done for us. In Christ lie all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In Christ lay the mysteries of God. In Christ lay God's plan for mankind. There is no other Gospel but that in Christ Jesus. 

Ephesians 2:8-9  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

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.

The apostle was precise with his words, as they were powerful persuasive words; however, he so desired that they took those words and use it correctly to point to Jesus instead of searching for special knowledge to gain their own understanding and wisdom. They were already under deception of Satan by the practice of this cult, and being led astray. So, instead, the Apostle Paul was trying to steer them back to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Instead of dwelling of their cultic thinking, he kept pointing to the truths of Jesus instead.

Walk 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.

They were given the Truths of God regarding Christ Jesus, and they accept Jesus as their Lord, so the apostle is encouraging them to continue to follow Christ by walking in the truth as once given to them. Then let your faith grow strong in those truths and you will overflow with thanksgiving. 

The same applies to us today - to continue to follow Christ by walking in the Truths of His Word, for when we do, we will overflow with thanksgiving in our heart.

Empty Philosophies

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.

The Apostle Paul is now calling their belief system that they were falling prey to as empty philosophies filled with deceits that simply were created by human thinking. He re-emphasized that these were not the teachings of Christ. Paul then reminded them that in Christ is the fullness of God in a human form. In other words, Christ came physically to earth and the fullness of God dwells within Him. Those empty ideas and superstitions of spirit beings are not of Christ. Not only do they not need another gospel, all that they have already is complete with their union with Christ. When they came to Christ, all the fullness of Christ came to them because His power extends over everything. Jesus is the head over every ruler and authority.

Legalism is Not of Christ

¹¹ 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, ¹² 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. 

Within Judaism, there were three requirements for a Gentile to become a Jew. (1) Become circumcized, (2) Water baptism into Judaism, (3) Offer sacrifices.

Over time, various forms of these legal requirements attempted to enter into Christianity. 

In Colossae, what became known as the Colossian Heresy entered into the church by insisting that a person be circumcized and live under the legalism of astheticism, hatred of the human body, believing that matter, meaning anything physical, was evil and spiritual was everything. 

The truths of the Gospel is that we are saved by grace through our faith and trust in Christ Jesus. Nothing more - nothing less. There are no other requirements to become a Christian.

• In other words, circumcision is not necessary as a physical procedure for our salvation because Jesus Christ already performed a spiritual circumcision on cross when He paid the price for our sins and broke its power over us. As such, we are a new person, having a new nature. 2 Cor 5:17 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away and all things have become new.
• We were buried with Christ when we were baptized (not water baptized, as some churches insist is a part of being saved), but we were baptized into Christ when we came to believe in Him. The word baptism simply means immersion - nothing more. When we came to believe in Christ, we were immersed in Christ - meaning all of us (spirit, soul, and body) was immersed in Jesus. Water baptism then became a public affirmation to others of what has already taken place within our heart. Symbolically, it means that when one goes under the water, it is the burial of the old life and coming up, we've been raised to a new life in Christ. It was never meant as a means of salvation, but a public sign and proof of our faith and trust in Christ Jesus. As such, we have been raised to a new life because we now believe, which means to trust the mighty power of God who raised Christ from the dead. Because God raised Jesus from the dead, so shall we too be raised from the dead.
• The only sacrifice the New Testament asks of Christians is to offer themselves over to God. Romans 12:1.  I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God to offer you bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  In other words, when we come to believe in Jesus, that means to fully trust in Him for everything in our life. We simply give our life over to the Lord in full trust. There is no mention of any sort of penance or anything we have to do to pay for our sins, but simply, when we sin, ask our Father God for forgiveness.

¹³ 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, ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

The Apostle Paul was very clear here to say that circumcision of the flesh was now useless as a requirement to be saved unto Christ. He literally told the Colossian Church that those who practiced that were dead in their sins. God, however, has made these believers, which includes you and I today as believers in Jesus, alive by Christ Jesus paying the price for the forgiveness of all our sins. 

• As Jesus shed His blood when the nails pierced Him on the cross, He paid the price for our sins.
• No longer were circumcision, baptisms and sacrifices required for man to come to God, Jesus came to us and suffered and died so that we can have forgiveness of our sins. Jesus bore them on the cross and wiped away the offenses against us and we became clean. 

Jesus' death was not a defeat, as Satan had planned, but a victory because Jesus disarmed all of Satan's power when He died on the cross for our sins. In front of all spiritual forces of wickedness, Jesus triumphed over them when He said on the cross that "it was finished." Then three days later, God rose Him from the dead. No longer was man bound in sin in this life and in the grave in the afterlife, because Jesus paid the price for man's sins and God rose Jesus from the dead, so are we raised from the dead to newness of life in this world and newness of eternal life. That is our offer of salvation through Jesus Christ to all who would believe and trust in Him.

Killing Sacred Cows

¹⁶ So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, ¹⁷ which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 

As the Apostle Paul kills more "sacred cows," so to speak, the Colossian Church, and even us today are told not to judge another in what another eats or drinks. None of us are also to judge another if they celebrate certain holy days, new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. Again, none of this is required for salvation, or even a requirement when walking as a Christian, yet some do! 

• Most Jews who came to Christ during the 1st century continued to observe their rituals as a Jew because they were connected with Judaism not only through religion, but through ethnicity. Gentiles, however, were not required to do any of these rituals because, again, to come to Christ meant to simply believe and trust in Jesus. 
• Sadly, there were Judaizers who had come to Christ, who continued in their rituals, but were demanding that any Gentile who came to Christ had to observe all the rituals that the Jews observed in order to become a Christian. This was a serious problem for the Apostle Paul that he faced throughout his ministry. Judaizers continuously followed behind Paul convincing people that he was not an apostle of Jesus and what he spoke was false. For more information here, please go Acts, chapter 15 on the Jerusalem Council on the requirements for both Jewish and Gentile believers. Also, you may want to refer to the study of the Book of Galatians here at believersbibleschool.com.Galatians (Epistle) / Bible Study - Old & New Testament / Believers Bible School

The Apostle Paul, as a Jew, still chose to observe all the Jewish rituals when he was in Jerusalem. When he was among the Gentile Christians, however, he did not observe his Jewish roots. In other words, the old phrase "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" applies here.

Verse 17 throws a twist on what has been spoken of here. For it tells us that these Jewish rituals are a shadow of the reality of what is to come. This then would take us to study in the Book of Revelation, chapter 19 when the One-Thousand reign of Jesus will come in the Millennium Period. Without getting too deep into this, the Jewish believers in Christ will be able to do their sacrificing in the Millennial temple as King David (resurrected) will sit on the throne over the Jews and Jesus sits on His throne over the whole earth. These Jewish rituals will not be for repentance, but for giving glory to Jesus Christ. The whole Millennial Period is all about Jesus and how He will rule and reign for 1000 years.

• For a deeper study on that, the Book of Israel and Ezekiel gives more information on the Millennial Period. As God covenanted with Abraham over 4000 years ago, Jesus has designed that the Jewish heritage will be in operation during the Millennial period of time. It will be during that time when all of what God promised Abraham and his descendants will be fulfilled.
• As Christians, however, whether we come from Jewish or Gentile roots, we will be ruling and reigning with Christ. Exactly how that will be done - Scripture does not give us a lot of details. 

Stern Warning

¹⁸ 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, ¹⁹ 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.

The apostle is warning the Colossian church to not allow anyone who believes in this heresy to attempt to persuade or even force their beliefs on them. The believers in this heresy were insisting that they bow to angels in worship and were seek out visions from them. "They are completely wrong," insisted the apostle. "Their sinful minds have made them proud and they are NOT connected to Christ."

• Jesus, and Jesus alone is the source of life Who has put all things together.
• As believers, they, and we are a new creation in Christ whose very breath and blood flow through us.
• Jesus is the Head and we are His body. We grow healthy in Him as He nourishes us. In other words, we grow healthy in Christ as we feed upon His Word - the Scriptures - especially the Epistles.
  

The Old Testament was written to the Jews before Christ - teaching them how to live before God.
The Gospels were written both Jew and Gentile on Who Jesus is and how we are to treat others.
The Epistles were written to the Church - which gives supremacy to Christ and teaches us how to live.

This is not to say that, as Christians, we only read the Epistles. All of Scripture has been given to us by the inspiration of God. The roots of our Christianity come out of the Old Testament. God has much to say to us in those 39 books that were given to the Jews. The Gospels is the story of Jesus, Who He is and what He has done for us. We need all of the Bible.

2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

²⁰ 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— ²¹ “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” ²² which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? ²³ 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.

Paul was reminding these immature believers that "if" they have accepted Christ - come to believe and trust in Him, they already died to the things of this world because Christ has already set them free. So then he reiterates "don't put yourselves under that kind of bondage. These doctrines, rules, and teachings are man made. They may seem wise because they require such devotion, piety, discipline, and even self-denial; however, they give absolutely no help in living a godly life before God. That kind of lifestyle simply is religion and void of a deep personal relationship with Jesus."

• These same words go for us today as well. There is nothing outside of Christ that we can do to live a godly life before God but simply love and trust in Christ in all that we do. He has already provided for us everything we need in life. He is our source for everything.

Be blessed in the freedom you have in Christ,

(1) https://biblereasons.com › religion-vs-relationship-with-god

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