Colossians 2:6-23
Summary for Col 2:6-15: 2:6-15 a In the face of the false teachers’ enticing arguments, Paul exhorts the Colossians to stand firm in their faith in Christ, for in Christ lives all the fullness of God, and their spiritual experience is complete in him.2:8 b The Greek word philosophia referred to everything from the metaphysics of Plato to the religious teaching of cults. Paul does not condemn philosophy per se, but only empty philosophical speculation that stands opposed to the Good News.
• the spiritual powers of this world: or the spiritual principles of the world; also in 2:20 c): This phrase may refer to elementary teaching that is characteristic of this world (see Heb 5:12 d), or to spiritual beings who were thought to have a decisive influence on the course of events (see also Col 2:15 e, 20 f; Gal 4:3 g).
2:11 h Christ performed a spiritual circumcision: Spiritual conversion to Christ is the Christian counterpart to physical circumcision.
• the cutting away of your sinful nature (literally the cutting away of the body of the flesh): Just as Jewish boys have the flesh of their foreskin cut off to mark their initiation into the people of God, so believers have metaphorical flesh (translated sinful nature) cut off when they come to Christ.
2:12 i you were buried with Christ when you were baptized: As in a roughly parallel passage (Rom 6:3-6 j), Paul assumes a strong identity between believers and Christ. In God’s sight, we really were with Christ when he was buried and raised, so we experience the benefits of what Christ did for us. Paul can link that identification with Christ to baptism because water baptism was so closely related to conversion in the early church.
2:14 k the record of the charges against us: The Greek phrase suggests an IOU that we have all signed. Since we are unable to pay what we owe, it stands against us. The law of God required obedience that people are unable to give, but God has forgiven our debt through the work of Christ (2:13 l).
2:15 m He shamed them publicly by his victory (literally he led [them] in triumphal procession): The Roman army would celebrate a great victory with a triumphal procession. The victorious Roman general would lead the humiliated captives from his campaign into the conquered city. The image vividly captures the glorious victory that God, through the cross of Christ, has won over all hostile spiritual powers (see also Eph 4:7-11 n).
Summary for Col 2:16-23: 2:16-23 o Paul repudiates the false teachers and their demands, explaining why their appeal comes from human teachings (see 2:8 p). They advocated various rules of conduct that had no basis in Christ. 2:16 q what you eat or drink: Religious teachings that prohibited certain kinds of food and drink were widespread in the ancient world. The Old Testament does not prohibit drinking alcohol, but many pious Jews who lived in pagan cultures did abstain (cp. Dan 1:8-16 r).
• Many ancient religious groups, including the Jews, celebrated the new moon with various ceremonies (see Num 10:10 s; Ps 81:3 t; Isa 1:13 u).
• Jewish Sabbaths were set forth in the law of Moses and celebrated by Jews as an essential part of their religion. Christians could continue to observe the Sabbath if they wanted to, but Paul asserts that Christians have liberty on this matter (see Rom 14:5 v) and that it is wrong for anyone to insist on Sabbath observance as a necessary expression of Christian piety.
2:17 w The reality of Christ was anticipated by the Old Testament rituals, which Paul calls shadows (see also Heb 10:1 x).
2:18 y the worship of angels: People in the first century were fascinated with spiritual beings. Some Jews believed that angels were present during their times of worship, and some might even have worshiped them.
• The false teachers were evidently saying they had had visions that established certain rituals as requirements for the community.
2:20 z You have died with Christ: Christ’s death on the cross marked his victory over the spiritual powers (2:15 aa), so we who participate in his death have likewise been set free from the evil spiritual powers of this world (see 2:8 ab).
2:23 ac they provide no help: Not only are such rules rooted in the world rather than in Christ (2:19 ad), they are also ineffective in conquering a person’s evil desires.
Colossians 3:1-11
Summary for Col 3:1-11: 3:1-11 ae Paul summons the Colossians to a new way of thinking that results in a new lifestyle. 3:1 af set your sights on the realities of heaven: Christians live on earth, but because they have been raised with Christ, their true being is oriented to the spiritual realm over which Christ rules. In contrast, the rules and regulations of the false teachers focused on the earthly realm (2:22 ag).Summary for Col 3:3-4: 3:3-4 ah you died to this life: See 2:20 ai.
• What is now hidden will one day be revealed (cp. 1:26 aj). We cannot now see that Christ is enthroned at the right hand of God and that we have been raised to new life with Christ. But by faith in the Good News, we know that these things are true. When Christ returns in glory, his supremacy will be evident to all and our relationship to him will be a direct experience.
3:5 ak So put to death: Our death to this life (3:3 al) must be made real in the way that we live day by day.
• a greedy person is an idolater: Greedy people pursue the objects of their greed—money, sex, power, possessions—in the place of God, with the hope of finding satisfaction in those things.
3:6 am coming: Some manuscripts read coming on all who disobey him. In the Greek text, these words occur verbatim in Eph 5:6 an, so it is possible that an early scribe added them here, either intentionally or accidentally.
3:8 ao get rid of (literally take off): Taking off clothes is a metaphor for ridding our lives of practices that interfere with our walk with the Lord (see Rom 13:12 ap; Eph 4:22 aq, 25 ar; Heb 12:1 as; Jas 1:21 at; 1 Pet 2:1 au).
Summary for Col 3:9-10: 3:9-10 av your old sinful nature ... your new nature: Paul contrasts old and new identities (see also Rom 5:12-21 aw; 6:6 ax; Eph 4:22-24 ay). Believers strip off their old life and put on Christ’s new life, allowing him to be Lord and to guide the way they live.
3:11 az barbaric, uncivilized: Literally Barbarian, Scythian. The Greeks mocked people from other cultures for their inability to speak Greek well, claiming they could only say “bar bar” (hence the word barbarian). The Scythians were tribes that had settled on the north coast of the Black Sea and were widely viewed as fierce and crude (see Josephus, Against Apion 2.38). All such distinctions do not matter in our relationship with God through Christ.
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