Colossians 2 - Rooted in Christ
The world changes by the minute, so you need to deepen your roots to stand firm on God's truth.
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Colossians 2 (ESV)
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have
for you
and for those at Laodicea
and for all who have not seen me face to face,
2 that
their hearts may be encouraged,
being knit together in love,
to reach
all the riches of full assurance of understanding
and the knowledge of God’s mystery,
which is Christ,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.
5 For though I am absent in body,
yet I am with you in spirit,
rejoicing to see
your good order
and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk in him,
7 rooted and built up in him
and established in the faith,
just as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive
by philosophy and empty deceit,
according to human tradition,
according to the elemental spirits of the world,
and not according to Christ.
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
10 and you have been filled in him,
who is the head of all rule and authority.
11 In him also
you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 And you,
who were dead
in your trespasses
and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
God made alive
together with him,
having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.
This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you
in questions of food and drink,
or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
17 These
are a shadow of the things to come,
but the substance belongs to Christ.
18 Let no one disqualify you,
insisting on asceticism and worship of angels,
going on in detail about visions,
puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,
19 and not holding fast to the Head,
from whom the whole body,
nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
20 If with Christ
you died to the elemental spirits of the world,
why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—
21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”
22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—
according to human precepts and teachings?
23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body,
but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
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Colossians 2 Summary
Christianity requires intellectual sharpness. Often times we're told the complete opposite of this. Those opposed to Christ accuse us of being ignorant and unscientific. Unfortunately even many Christians emphasize feelings rather than doctrine. But look at all of the ways this chapter demonstrates that knowing Christ must sharpen your thinking:
v2-3:
You are to have a complete understanding
You must use that understanding to know the mystery of God that is Christ
Christ contains all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
v4 & 8:
Don't be deceived by deceptive words
Don't be taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophy
v18:
Don't be puffed up by an unspiritual mind.
What are you doing to sharpen your thinking according to these commands?
Dig Deeper
It's not just the pagan world that's after you, trying to separate you from Christ, but there's also a threat from people who masquerade as being super religious.
Two thousand years ago when Paul wrote this letter, the church was threatened by people who wanted to add religious rituals and rules (both Jewish and pagan) to Christianity.
Today the threat comes more from those who want to pull your focus away from Christ and His atoning blood by forcing acceptance of ungodly sexual lifestyles and contrived racial categories.
Although the specifics of these threats change and morph over time, your response must remain steady: stand firm on the gospel presented in the unchanging Word of God.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God has made you alive in Christ and has forgiven your sins (v13)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to strengthen you in your Spiritual Disciplines so that you can stand against all the forces trying to pull you away from Christ (v5).
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
