CHAPTER 2

(A.D. 64)

THE CHURCH

¹For I would that you knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea (deep concern as it regards false doctrine), and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh (those in Colosse and Laodicea were not personally acquainted with Paul, as many others in the Churches were, due to the fact that he didnt plant these particular Churches in Colosse and Laodicea);

²That their hearts might be comforted (doesnt concern the physical organ, but rather the hypothetical seat of the emotions; in effect, the soul and the spirit), being knit together in love (proclaims the only manner in which true unity can be obtained), and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding (the idea is that we know the Truth about all things concerning the Word of God), to the acknowledgment of the Mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ (presents Christ as that Mystery);

³In Whom (Christ) are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge. (This presents a direct rebuttal to the Gnostics, which claimed otherwise. The Gnostics over-humanized Christ and deified themselves.)

FALSE TEACHING

⁴And this I say (points directly to the false teachers), lest any man should beguile you with enticing words (refers to being deceived by subtle reasoning).

⁵For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit (refers to Pauls human spirit), joying and beholding your or der, and the stedfastness of your Faith in Christ (speaks of holding rank, and refers to maintaining ones Faith in the Cross).

⁶As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord (refers to the manner of ones Salvation, which is Christ and Him Crucified), so walk ye in Him (behavior is to be ordered in the sphere of Christ and the Cross):

⁷Rooted and built up in Him (pertains to a proper foundation), and stablished in the Faith (in Christ and the Cross), as you have been taught (refers to the Colossians coming in the right way, but some of them considering the false message of the Gnostics), abounding there in with thanksgiving. (This refers to the fact that the Gospel of the Cross, which had brought them to Christ, had also brought them untold benefits.)

⁸Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit (anything that pulls the Believer away from the Cross is not of God), after the tradition of men (anything that is not of the Cross is of men), after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (If its truly after Christ, then its after the Cross.)

⁹For in Him (Christ) dwells all the ful ness of the Godhead bodily. (This is Godhead as to essence. Christ is the completion and the fullness of Deity, and in Him the Believer is complete.)

¹⁰And you are complete in Him (the satisfaction of every spiritual want is found in Christ, made possible by the Cross), which is the Head of all principality and power (His Headship extends not only over the Church, which voluntarily serves Him, but over all forces that are opposed to Him as well [Phil. 2:10-11]):

¹¹In Whom also you are circumcised with the Circumcision made without hands (that which is brought about by the Cross [Rom. 6:3-5]), in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the Circumcision of Christ (refers to the old carnal nature that is defeated by the Believer placing his Faith totally in the Cross, which gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work):

¹²Buried with Him in Baptism (does not refer to Water Baptism, but rather to the Believer baptized into the death of Christ, which refers to the Crucifixion and Christ as our substitute [Rom. 6:3-4]), wherein also you are risen with Him through the Faith of the operation of God, Who has raised Him from the dead. (This does not refer to our future physical Resurrection, but to that spiritual Resurrection from a sinful state into Divine Life. We died with Him, we are buried with Him, and we rose with Him [Rom. 6:3-5], and herein lies the secret to all Spiritual Victory.)

¹³And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh (speaks of spiritual death [i.e., separation from God], which sin does!), has He quickened together with Him (refers to being made spiritually alive, which is done through being Born-Again), having forgiven you all trespasses (the Cross made it possible for all manner of sins to be forgiven and taken away);

¹⁴Blotting out the handwriting of Ordinances that was against us (pertains to the Law of Moses, which was Gods Standard of Righteousness that man could not reach), which was contrary to us (Law is against us, simply because we are unable to keep its precepts, no matter how hard we try), and took it out of the way (refers to the penalty of the Law being removed), nailing it to His Cross (the Law with its decrees was abolished in Christs Death, as if Crucified with Him);

¹⁵And having spoiled principalities and powers (Satan and all of his henchmen were defeated at the Cross by Christ Atoning for all sin; sin was the legal right Satan had to hold man in captivity; with all sin atoned, he has no more legal right to hold anyone in bondage), He (Christ) made a show of them openly (what Jesus did at the Cross was in the face of the whole universe), triumphing over them in it. (The triumph is complete and it was all done for us, meaning we can walk in power and perpetual Victory due to the Cross.)

¹⁶Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath Days(the moment we add any rule or regulation to the Finished Work of Christ, we have just abrogated the Grace of God):

¹⁷Which are a shadow of things to come (the Law, with all of its observances, was only meant to point to the One Who was to come, Namely Christ); but the Body (Church)is of Christ (refers to substance and reality, as opposed to shadow).

¹⁸Let no man beguile you of your reward (concerns false doctrine) in a voluntary humility (refers to self-abasement) and worshipping of Angels (pertained to the Gnostic teaching; this false teaching claimed man could not go directly to God through Jesus Christ, but rather must reach after God through successive grades of intermediate beings, i.e., Angels!), intruding into those things which he has not seen (refers to going outside the revealed Word of God), vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind (mind of the flesh, which means its not the Mind of God),

¹⁹And not holding the Head (failure to look totally to Christ and the Cross will ultimately lead to destruction), from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered (Christ is the source of all nourishment, which comes by the means of the Cross), and knit together, increases with the increase of God (proper Faith in the Cross guarantees spiritual increase).

²⁰Wherefore if you be dead with Christ (actually says, in view of the fact that you died with Christ) from the rudiments of the world (the way of the world), why, as though living in the world, are you subject to Ordinances (refers to trusting something other than Christ and the Cross for Salvation and Victory),

²¹(Touch not; taste not; handle not (there is no Salvation or Victory in rules and regulations);

²²Which all are to perish with the using;) (This refers to the fact that they dont work because they are of human origin. Therefore, new ones are made that work no better than the old, which is the way of man.) after the commandments and doctrines of men? (This means it is not of God, and must be avoided at all cost.)

²³Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship (refers to worship devised and prescribed by man, which characterizes most of the modern Church), and humility (false humility), and neglecting of the body (speaks of the human body); not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. (All ascetic observances, while they appeal to men as indications of superior wisdom and piety, have no value as remedies against sensual indulgence. That can be handled only at the Cross.)