Colossians 2
Paul warns against deceptive philosophy and human tradition. In Christ, the fullness of deity dwells bodily. Christ has canceled the record of debt against us, nailing it to the cross, disarming spiritual powers.
ColossiansChapter 2 of 423 versesBerean Standard Bible
In this passage: JesusLaodicea
If God speaks to you through Colossians 2, record what He said in Doxa and come back to it.
For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face,
that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.
For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ.
Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him,
rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.
Heavens cannot contain God — in Christ the fullness of deity dwells bodily
“But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.”
Read 1 Kings 8:27›And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.
Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 29: Abram Becomes Abraham: A New Name at Ninety-Nine (Genesis 17)
Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 29: How does Abraham's covenant point to Christ?
Circumcision — in Christ you were circumcised with a circumcision not done by hands
“This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, which you are to keep: Every male among you must be circumcised.”
Read Genesis 17:10›And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.
When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,
having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind.
He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.
If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations:
“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”?
These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
Read next
How to Hear God’s Voice: A Practical Guide for BelieversScripture is the record of a God who speaks. This guide covers how to hear Him today and keep what He says.Cross-references for Colossians 2
“so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,”
“Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.”
“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,”
“O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid irreverent, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of so-called “knowledge,””
“Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,”
Cross-references from OpenBible.info, licensed CC BY.
Colossians 2 on Doxa
- Abram Becomes Abraham: A New Name at Ninety-Nine (Genesis 17) · Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 29
- El Shaddai and the Letter God Hid in a New Name (Genesis 17) · Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 29
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If God speaks to you through Colossians 2
Doxa is where you record what God has said to you, in the words it came in, weigh it against Scripture with people you trust, and come back to it in the years that follow.
