Colossians 2

1. I wish you could know how bad I feel for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for others in your area who have never seen me before.

The original words here show that Paul was in agony about the situation in Colossae.

Paul knew how to struggle in prayer and by applying what he was reading in the Word. Ephesians 6:17 – 18

See also Revelation 3:17.

2. That you may be encouraged and united together in love, and that you will understand more and more of the fullness of the secrets of God, which are in Christ!

Do not be intimidated by their fake knowledge. If you stand up to them with the true knowledge of Christ, they will leave

This secret is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. Ephesians 3:6

3. In Christ all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.

You have not dug deep enough to find all the hidden treasures of Christ, and so you are tempted to listen to amazing teachings of men which are nothing compared to God's treasure.

4. This is what I mean, do not let anyone lead you off the path with their smooth talking!

Of course the devil makes these things sound very good. These kind of people are very sure of themselves even though have no idea of what they are even talking about.

5. Because even though I am a long way from you in prison, I am there with you in the Spirit. I am sharing in your joy as I see your faithfulness in Christ.

Not a crisis yet, as in Corinth.

6. Keep walking in the same way that you received Christ as Lord, by just trusting Him for everything.

You received Christ by trusting Him, face the problems of life in the same way.

Act like what you believe! Are there things in your life that will give an excuse to the people who are watching you, so that they will not give their lives to Christ?

7. Stay rooted in Him, and built up in Him, with the strong foundation in the faith that you were taught, and keep on being overflowing with thankfulness.

If you use what you were taught, the garbage of the world will have no hold on you

A plant cannot grow unless it is fed from the root. The Japanese cut the main root so that they can create miniature trees. Do not allow your main route to Christ, to be cut or you will be a miniature Christian. The deeper your roots then the higher you will grow. You will be stronger against temptations and your life will be smoother.

What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good?

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Psalm 34:12 – 13

See also Ephesians 3:17.

8. Keep your eyes open so that no one takes you away as a prisoner with empty ideas that sound very intelligent. They are based on men's ideas about the basics of world, and they leave out Christ.

Be careful so that you are not kidnapped! What grade are you in? Are you in First Grade in some areas and High School in other areas?

Notice that these type of people are always spreading their garbage in churches. They seem to know that the rest of the world will not listen to them so they moved from one church to the next only so that they can spread their ideas.

When someone tries to teach you God's truth ask yourself, “Does this teaching put Christ first?”

The demons study us to learn about our weaknesses. Then they create a plan for the best way to attack us. We can protect ourselves by staying away from the philosophy of the world and by discovering things in his word that we did not see before. See also Ephesians 5:6.

9. Because in Jesus, God showed us the complete expression of Himself in an earthly body.

People listen to false teaching because they feel that they need something that Jesus cannot give them.

Jesus was God walking on the earth -how could we believe that He would not supply everything we need?

10. And you have found your completeness in Him who is the ruler over all authorities and powers.

See also Ephesians 3:10.

11. In Jesus you were spiritually circumcised by being set free from the sins of the flesh - this is the kind of circumcision which is of Christ.

Be circumcised without having faith

Why let Moses take the place of Jesus? Why have minor surgery when you need heart surgery?

Baptism in the New Testament, baptism is seen as a kind of spiritual circumcision.

See also Ephesians 2:11.

12. You were part of that circumcision when you showed His death in rising again to new life in baptism, and this happened because you have faith in the power of God, who raised Jesus from the dead.

People are buried in a way that makes them completely hidden from the world, but Christians are risen to live above the world.

13. You were spiritually dead in your sins and not circumcised. God has now made you share in the very life of Christ, and has forgiven you all of your sins.

When someone's body is no longer conscious doctors call this a “flat line” on the computer screen. So if we are no longer conscious of God we are dead while we are living.

See also 1 Timothy 5:6.

14. He has wiped out all the evidence of the commandments which we have broken, and which were written down and hanging over our heads, and has taken it all away by nailing it to the cross.

Our sin And the accusations Of the devil will always create a wall in our daily lives.

The law was only able to show us what we were doing wrong.

15. And then he took away the authority of all demons who were standing against us and exposed them to show us what they really are.

The devil only has one weapon - which is to tell us lies. We have the full armor of God and many weapons. Ephesians 4:8

16. Do not waste your time thinking about whether someone agrees or disagrees with you about food or drink or a holiday or some other day.

Some people have a strong conviction that they have to live a certain way, do not let them control your life with their convictions.

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 2 Corinthians 2:14

See also Romans 14:17, Galatians 4:10.

17. These things are just a shadow of what is coming but your body belongs to Christ.

These things were a shadow to show us what was to come. Who else saw shadows of things to come?

Abraham - John 8:56
Isaiah - John 12:41
Moses - John 5:46

18. Do not let anyone cheat you out of your reward by teaching you that the only way to be spiritual is to imitate the humble way that the angels worship. These ideas come from the imaginations of men who build these ideas on some false visions they think they have seen.

Let no one deny you the prize by saying that you have not shown that you are humble and worship God. The way the Angels do.

This reminds us of the Pharisees complaining that the disciples did not wash their hands or eat some kernels of wheat. Fake humility tries to imitate spiritual humility. Giving up things does not automatically make you become spiritual.

1 Corinthians 8:8

Some false teachers say that we need to approach God through angels or some other person. Jesus said I am the way. John 14:6

There is no record and history of people worshiping angels in Paul's day. Jewish tradition said that the law was given to us by angels. This is a twisting of Deuteronomy 33:2 which may have caused the, Colossians 2 stumble.

See also Galatians 3:19.

19. They do not hold onto the head of the body, which is Christ, who supplies and holds together the bones and muscles, and grows them in a way that can only come from God.