Col 2:10-12 | KingComments | STEP | The enemy is tirelessly busy attacking the nature of believers, namely, the nature of their faith. He wants to damage their trust in God – that is the meaning of believing – as much as possible. He will try to make you doubt certain truths of the faith. For example, he tries to persuade you that God did not mean all that. If you reject his arguments and repel his attacks, he will try a different way. When he does not succeed in taking away something from you he will try to add something to your faith. He offers some appealing motivation. Do you want to believe more and better, and deepen your faith? Then he has the exact solution for it. . To avoid yielding to this danger, the enrichment by additions to your faith, Paul takes you back to the beginning. You have received Christ and accepted Him. Is there anything else that you accepted besides Christ? Indeed, you were not saved – nor were the Colossians – by Jewish or Greek wisdom or by Christ plus additional wisdom. It is clear and must be strongly emphasized that Christ is sufficient for your salvation. He is also sufficient for your walk as a Christian. All that is required for salvation comes from Him. Further you have accepted Him as “the Lord”. You have accepted Him as the absolute sovereign Ruler of your life. There were no negotiations. As it was when you first accepted Him, it should be so even today. “So walk in Him” is a commandment and that means other ways of walk are forbidden. Walk in Him means that you put into practice what you know of Him and that you are doing His will in your life. . You draw your life force from Him, and not from any philosophy because you are “rooted … in Him”. That way you are standing firm like a tree that withstands the storms. Rooted in Him reminds you of what happened at your conversion. Christ is presented here as the soil in which you were rooted at your conversion. From then on you get your entire food from Him. Therefore it is important to be firmly rooted and your roots penetrate deeper and deeper in Him. “Built up in Him” makes us think of a house. Here you see Christ as the corner stone on which you build your life’s house. The structure of the house is dependent on Him; the construction is done in Him. Therefore you must align yourself with Him so that He can show you the plan and process of building. When you are deeply rooted in Him, orientating yourself to Him for the building up of your faith life, you will be strengthened in the faith. Faith is the truth of faith that you believe. Faith finds its center in Christ. Faith affects Him. Confirmed in faith means to be confirmed in Christ. You can see that it is all about Him. Even in your life of faith all things are from Him, through Him and for Him. These were not new things for the Colossians. They had already been taught them. I wonder if it is so with you too. In any case you have the touchstone in your hand to test the teachings that you received at your conversion and thereafter. You might discover some things in your life that need to be changed, also your view of things. You will also have the desire to apply them and do them as it is said here. After you have received the right teachings and accepted them you will surely overflow with gratitude. There is much reason for thanksgiving if you let work in you what you have become and received in Christ, considering how this is perfectly enough for now and forever. Thankfulness to God is at the same time a protection against temptation to doubt the faith delivered to the saints once and for all. When your heart is full of the wonderful truths of the gospel your thanksgiving will ascend to God. Thanksgiving is an effective antidote to the poison of false teachers. . “See to it” Paul insists. Do not think you are immune to the wiles of the enemy. He prowls around and considers every believer a prey. He plans even to carry you away as loot from the Lord Jesus. Two means he uses are philosophy and empty deception. Philosophy is as old as the world, but it has never saved a man from misery and sorrow caused by sin. The reason is the world’s philosophy ignores sin and pretends sin doesn’t exist. That is the reason every solution philosophy offers is empty deception. This cannot be otherwise because philosophy is a product of the tradition of men and connects seamlessly with the elementary principles of the world. The elementary principles of the world are all the individual parts that make up the world’s system. God has no place in this system. If the tradition of men besides Christ gains any value over the knowledge of God, it is in contradiction to the Scripture ( ). If you begin to favor the traditions instead of the Bible, it means that doubt replaces assurance. Traditions are from men and not from God. Where traditions get room, the door to the elementary principles of the world is opened. In many ways they have crept into the service to God. You recognize traditions where outward appearance is the measure of the spiritual level of the service. The Spirit of God is supplanted by an order that is made by men. For example consider situations where only qualified, eloquent people should preach, and where altar, cloth, music and icons decorate the whole event. Paul sets the whole system aside with one stroke of the brush or better with one name: Christ. The twofold danger, philosophy and human tradition, is contrary to Christ. He who has Him has everything. . What do you need more than that you have Him, in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily? This is almost the same expression that we find in chapter 1 ( ). There he refers to the time when Christ was on earth to fulfill the counsels of God. Today ( ) He is in heaven as the result of the finished work of redemption. In both the expressions you can see what Christ was when He came to earth and what He still is and will remain forever. He took a body then and has always had a body since, although now He has a glorified body. He became Man in order to remain so forever. The dwelling of the fullness of the Godhead in Him is a present and an ongoing dwelling of the fullness of the Godhead in the glorified Son of God at the right hand of God. It is not that only certain aspects of the Godhead dwell in Christ, but the totality of all God’s attributes, for He is God Himself. He does not share His Divine power and majesty with any single creature. The body He has taken is imperishable forever. . The conclusion Paul draws from this, of course is breath-taking. He says that you are in Him, in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, and in Him you have been made complete. You lack nothing. In Him you are perfect before God. On the one hand you see that God is presented in Him in all His fullness ( ); on the other hand you possess in Him the completion and perfection of God. You lack nothing in terms of your position before God. There is nothing and no one who can take place between you and Christ, because you are in Him. Philosophy and tradition can add nothing to this perfect position. On the contrary anything you take from them will drive you far from God. Do you want that? And remember that He is beyond not only all men, but also beyond all angelic powers created by Him. In that Person you have been made complete. What more do you want? Now read Colossians 2:6-10 again. Reflection: What contrasts do you find in these verses?

‏ Colossians 2:10-12

Brought to Fullness in Christ

The enemy is tirelessly busy attacking the nature of believers, namely, the nature of their faith. He wants to damage their trust in God – that is the meaning of believing – as much as possible. He will try to make you doubt certain truths of the faith. For example, he tries to persuade you that God did not mean all that. If you reject his arguments and repel his attacks, he will try a different way. When he does not succeed in taking away something from you he will try to add something to your faith. He offers some appealing motivation. Do you want to believe more and better, and deepen your faith? Then he has the exact solution for it.

Col 2:6. To avoid yielding to this danger, the enrichment by additions to your faith, Paul takes you back to the beginning. You have received Christ and accepted Him. Is there anything else that you accepted besides Christ? Indeed, you were not saved – nor were the Colossians – by Jewish or Greek wisdom or by Christ plus additional wisdom. It is clear and must be strongly emphasized that Christ is sufficient for your salvation. He is also sufficient for your walk as a Christian. All that is required for salvation comes from Him.

Further you have accepted Him as “the Lord”. You have accepted Him as the absolute sovereign Ruler of your life. There were no negotiations. As it was when you first accepted Him, it should be so even today.

“So walk in Him” is a commandment and that means other ways of walk are forbidden. Walk in Him means that you put into practice what you know of Him and that you are doing His will in your life.

Col 2:7. You draw your life force from Him, and not from any philosophy because you are “rooted … in Him”. That way you are standing firm like a tree that withstands the storms. Rooted in Him reminds you of what happened at your conversion. Christ is presented here as the soil in which you were rooted at your conversion. From then on you get your entire food from Him. Therefore it is important to be firmly rooted and your roots penetrate deeper and deeper in Him.

“Built up in Him” makes us think of a house. Here you see Christ as the corner stone on which you build your life’s house. The structure of the house is dependent on Him; the construction is done in Him. Therefore you must align yourself with Him so that He can show you the plan and process of building.

When you are deeply rooted in Him, orientating yourself to Him for the building up of your faith life, you will be strengthened in the faith. Faith is the truth of faith that you believe. Faith finds its center in Christ. Faith affects Him. Confirmed in faith means to be confirmed in Christ. You can see that it is all about Him. Even in your life of faith all things are from Him, through Him and for Him.

These were not new things for the Colossians. They had already been taught them. I wonder if it is so with you too. In any case you have the touchstone in your hand to test the teachings that you received at your conversion and thereafter. You might discover some things in your life that need to be changed, also your view of things. You will also have the desire to apply them and do them as it is said here. After you have received the right teachings and accepted them you will surely overflow with gratitude.

There is much reason for thanksgiving if you let work in you what you have become and received in Christ, considering how this is perfectly enough for now and forever. Thankfulness to God is at the same time a protection against temptation to doubt the faith delivered to the saints once and for all. When your heart is full of the wonderful truths of the gospel your thanksgiving will ascend to God. Thanksgiving is an effective antidote to the poison of false teachers.

Col 2:8. “See to it” Paul insists. Do not think you are immune to the wiles of the enemy. He prowls around and considers every believer a prey. He plans even to carry you away as loot from the Lord Jesus. Two means he uses are philosophy and empty deception.

Philosophy is as old as the world, but it has never saved a man from misery and sorrow caused by sin. The reason is the world’s philosophy ignores sin and pretends sin doesn’t exist. That is the reason every solution philosophy offers is empty deception. This cannot be otherwise because philosophy is a product of the tradition of men and connects seamlessly with the elementary principles of the world. The elementary principles of the world are all the individual parts that make up the world’s system. God has no place in this system.

If the tradition of men besides Christ gains any value over the knowledge of God, it is in contradiction to the Scripture (Mt 15:3-9). If you begin to favor the traditions instead of the Bible, it means that doubt replaces assurance. Traditions are from men and not from God. Where traditions get room, the door to the elementary principles of the world is opened.

In many ways they have crept into the service to God. You recognize traditions where outward appearance is the measure of the spiritual level of the service. The Spirit of God is supplanted by an order that is made by men. For example consider situations where only qualified, eloquent people should preach, and where altar, cloth, music and icons decorate the whole event.

Paul sets the whole system aside with one stroke of the brush or better with one name: Christ. The twofold danger, philosophy and human tradition, is contrary to Christ. He who has Him has everything.

Col 2:9. What do you need more than that you have Him, in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily? This is almost the same expression that we find in chapter 1 (Col 1:19). There he refers to the time when Christ was on earth to fulfill the counsels of God. Today (Col 2:9) He is in heaven as the result of the finished work of redemption.

In both the expressions you can see what Christ was when He came to earth and what He still is and will remain forever. He took a body then and has always had a body since, although now He has a glorified body. He became Man in order to remain so forever. The dwelling of the fullness of the Godhead in Him is a present and an ongoing dwelling of the fullness of the Godhead in the glorified Son of God at the right hand of God.

It is not that only certain aspects of the Godhead dwell in Christ, but the totality of all God’s attributes, for He is God Himself. He does not share His Divine power and majesty with any single creature. The body He has taken is imperishable forever.

Col 2:10. The conclusion Paul draws from this, of course is breath-taking. He says that you are in Him, in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, and in Him you have been made complete. You lack nothing. In Him you are perfect before God.

On the one hand you see that God is presented in Him in all His fullness (Col 2:9); on the other hand you possess in Him the completion and perfection of God. You lack nothing in terms of your position before God. There is nothing and no one who can take place between you and Christ, because you are in Him. Philosophy and tradition can add nothing to this perfect position. On the contrary anything you take from them will drive you far from God. Do you want that? And remember that He is beyond not only all men, but also beyond all angelic powers created by Him.

In that Person you have been made complete. What more do you want?

Now read Colossians 2:6-10 again.

Reflection: What contrasts do you find in these verses?

In Him, With Him

Col 2:11. It is really amazing that you have been made complete in Him. Now therefore it is understandable that the question arises: ‘How did I come in Him?’ Paul explains this in the verses we have before us now. You have become one with the Lord Jesus in His death and resurrection. By faith you must know that what happened to Him when He died and rose again has happened at the same moment with you too.

The word “circumcision” refers to a practice of the people of Israel in the Old Testament. God placed this as the sign of the covenant He made with Abraham and his descendants (Gen 17:9-14 ; 23-27). What happened then does not happen here again literally, “made without hands”, but it has a spiritual meaning. This circumcision took place "in the removal of the body of the flesh" and indeed at the very moment when “the circumcision of Christ” took place.

Circumcision means that something is cut off thoroughly. For the people of Israel that was the cutting away of the foreskin. Spiritually it means the body – a generic term for all that serves the sinful flesh to express itself – is totally cut off. This cutting away happened through the judgment the Lord Jesus suffered on the cross.

Of course “the circumcision of Christ” has absolutely nothing to do with the literal circumcision that happened with Him on the eighth day after His birth (Lk 2:21). That circumcision happened with hands indeed. But the spiritual significance of circumcision is the judgment of the flesh. In Christ God condemned sin in the flesh (Rom 8:3).

You are circumcised in Him. In the judgment that struck Him, you see the judgment that struck you. That He bore this judgment in your stead does not change the fact that it was executed on you. Only, when God judged you, you were in Him.

Col 2:12. Your being one with Him does not stop with that. Death is followed by burial. Burial is the confirmation and the validation of death. Your burial in fact is the signature which certifies this statement. When you are baptized you publicly declare the truth that Christ bore the judgment for you. You show outwardly what happened in you inwardly. You draw the full consequences of your being one with Him by breaking all ties with the world at the very moment of your baptism. One cannot think of a more radical break with the world than being dead and buried. When you think of it, it will keep you from returning to the world and from its influences.

Through your conversion and baptism, and through your death and burial, you no longer exist for the world. This marks the end of your old life and at the same time the beginning of a new life in a new world. You have entered into this new world “through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead”. The fact that God raised the Lord Jesus from the dead is proof that the work is done perfectly.

Everything is in order. Whether you feel it now or not the fact remains the same. The question now is not whether you feel it, but whether you believe it. As good as you see your own judgment in His judgment you may see your raising up in His raising up by God. Are you aware of how far reaching the consequences of your own connection with Christ are?

Col 2:13. Well, you now know how you came to be in Him. But how does it look now with all the things that you were, with all the sins you have committed before this time? Can they be held against you again? There is a sufficient answer to this question. That answer silences everything that opposes your perfection in Christ.

You fully agree that you were “dead in your transgressions”. Dead in this instance means the total absence of any movement toward God. There is also nothing in this death to which the benevolent desire of God could be directed. You were dead to God and thereby you were not concerned about God’s commandments, but you transgressed them. That was because you were dead in the uncircumcision of your flesh. You followed the affections of your sinful, unjudged flesh (Rom 8:6-7).

Into that state of death and the evil lifestyle and mindset that comes with it, God has brought life by connecting you to His Son. God found perfect satisfaction in His work. He proved that by raising the Lord Jesus from the dead. His resurrection and the fact that you have been made alive with Him is the assurance of the forgiveness of your sins. All sins are forgiven without exception.

The life of the Son and your life in Him give no room for a single question that can be raised regarding any sin that you ever committed. If you are made alive with Him all your sins are forgiven. Possession of life proves that sin is put away because it is resurrection life. Sin cannot enter the area of resurrection.

Col 2:14. At the end of Col 2:13 Paul changes from ‘you’ to ‘us’. He now says something that is primarily purposed for the Jews. It does not mean that it is not written for you. You will see that you received freedom in addition to life and forgiveness. But to understand the power of his words, it is important to bear in mind whereof he speaks in the first place.

The “certificate of debt” is an acknowledgment of debt whereby a person by his signature undertakes to satisfy its contents. That is exactly what Israel had done. When the Lord gave them the law, here called “decrees”, on Mount Sinai they declared: “All that the LORD has spoken we will do” (Exo 19:8 ; Exo 24:3 ; 7). Soon this declaration became their adversary. Very quickly it became clear that the conduct of their life was completely contrary to the statutes of which they had said they would keep them. The law was an unbearable yoke (Acts 15:10). Their debt grew larger and larger, prohibitively large.

Then Christ came. He paid the debt and took it out of the way. He canceled out the certificate of debt, He tore it up. One takes something out of the way which hinders his pathway or his work. This literally means to make something disappear completely so it doesn’t matter anymore. This is what happened on the cross. There you see that it did not happen by nailing something to the cross but by nailing Someone to the cross. The same word “nail” is found in the imprint of the nails which was visible in His hands after His resurrection (Jn 20:25).

It must be clear to every Jew who believes in Christ that the death of Christ made the very requirement of the law powerless. How easier it is for him to breath now! The threat that comes from the law is over. He is made alive with Christ and therefore he should know by experience what kind of life he has received in Him – the kind of life that can be received in no other way.

What foolishness it would be to give it up by wanting to put oneself under the law again. If you are not a Jew you never were under the law. But it is applicable to you also. What a folly it would be if you subject yourself again to what has been taken out of the way by Christ, even if the intention behind it could be out of gratitude!

Col 2:15. You are freed from the law because you are dead. You are saved from death because you have been made alive with Christ. And you are also saved from the power of satan and all his demons because the cross is the victory over the forces of evil. Life, liberty and victory are your portion in Christ. It was precisely by going into death that He disarmed the one who had the power of death (Heb 2:14). He achieved victory before all eyes. The enemy is not only eliminated, he also is humiliated. There is not a single reason to give him any tribute.

All honor belongs only to Him Who was crucified in weakness and overcame in this way. What is weaker and more humiliating than to hang on a cross? But thus He gained complete victory. The triumph is complete.

Now read Colossians 2:11-15 again.

Reflection: Count everything by which you are made one with Christ and what He has done for you. Thank Him for it.