Colossians 2
BSASBPaul wants the Colossians to be rooted in Christ, in whom all God’s fullness and all true wisdom are found. He warns them against clever teaching that would add rules, rituals and mystical experiences to Christ. Because they have died and risen with Him, and their debt is cancelled, they need nothing more.
Colossians 2:1
Paul tells them how hard he is working in prayer and concern for them, for Laodicea nearby, and for believers he has never met. His care reaches beyond his own visits. He carries the whole church on his heart.
BSA: struggling (“exerting myself, working hard”): Paul’s concern is real labor, like an athlete straining, not mild interest.
Greek: ἀγῶνα (agōna, G73) — “contest, struggle.” This is the word behind our ‘agony.’ Paul pictures his prayer and care as a hard-fought contest on their behalf.
See also: Colossians 4:12-13.
Colossians 2:2
Paul’s goal is that their hearts be strengthened, their fellowship be bound together by love, and their understanding be rich. All of it leads to knowing God’s once-hidden secret, which is a person: Christ.
BSA: knit together (“united, joined”): Believers are meant to be tied firmly to one another, as one body held by love. mystery (“hidden truth, secret”): It is something God kept hidden for ages and has now openly revealed in Christ.
See also: Ephesians 3:4-6.
Colossians 2:3
Every treasure of wisdom and knowledge is in Christ. We do not need to look for deeper secrets elsewhere. To know Him is to find what the wise of every age have been searching for.
BSA: hidden (“concealed, stored up”): The treasures are stored safely in Christ, waiting to be found by those who come to Him.
See also: 1 Corinthians 1:30.
Colossians 2:4
Paul gives this warning so that no one will lead them astray with persuasive talk. A false idea can sound very reasonable and attractive, so believers must test it against Christ.
BSA: rhetoric (“speech, words, plausible but false reasoning”): The danger is arguments that sound convincing but are false.
Colossians 2:5
Though Paul is far away, he is with them in spirit. He rejoices to see their good order and steady faith in Christ, as a soldier might admire a line standing firm.
BSA: firm (“stable, unshakeable”): Their trust in Christ is solid, like a wall that holds under pressure.
Greek: τάξιν (taxin, G5010) — “order, orderly arrangement.” This is a word used of military ranks. Paul sees the church as holding its place and standing together.
Colossians 2:6
They began by receiving Christ Jesus as Lord, and they should go on the same way. The Christian life is not a new start after conversion. It is a daily walk with the same Lord we first trusted.
BSA: walk (“live, follow”): Walking means everyday conduct, step by step, in the way of Christ.
See also: Galatians 5:25.
Colossians 2:7
Paul mixes pictures: a tree with roots, a house on a foundation, and a heart full of thanks. Christ is the soil and the foundation. Steady teaching keeps believers firm, and gratitude is the fruit.
BSA: rooted (“firmly established, deeply grounded”): Their life draws its nourishment from Christ, deep and unseen. overflowing (“abounding, superabounding”): Thankfulness should spill over, not trickle.
See also: Psalm 1:3; Ephesians 3:17.
Colossians 2:8
Paul warns that some teaching can carry a person off like a prisoner of war. It rests on human tradition and the world’s basic ways of thinking, not on Christ. Christ is the test of every teaching.
BSA: captive (“as spoil, leads you astray”): False teaching steals people away, as plunder is carried off. spiritual forces (“elemental principles, worldly powers”): These are the world’s basic, elementary ways of thinking and religion, set against Christ.
Greek: συλαγωγῶν (sylagōgōn, G4812) — “carrying off as plunder.” The word pictures someone kidnapping a person and leading him away as loot. The danger is real, not just a matter of opinion.
Colossians 2:9
All of God’s fullness lives in Christ, in a real human body. Jesus is not a partial glimpse of God or one spirit among many. In Him God Himself is present.
BSA: fullness (“completion, entirety”): Nothing of God is lacking in Christ. He is God in full. dwells (“resides, makes His home”): God’s fullness is at home in Him permanently.
Greek: σωματικῶς (sōmatikōs, G4985) — “bodily, in bodily form.” God’s fullness lives in Christ in a real body. God did not just seem to be human.
See also: John 1:14; Colossians 1:19.
Colossians 2:10
Since the full God is in Christ, and you are in Christ, you share in that completeness. Nothing needs to be added. Christ also rules over every power, so no spiritual force can threaten those who are His.
BSA: complete (“fulfilled, satisfied”): In Christ the believer lacks nothing needed for standing before God.
See also: Ephesians 1:21-22.
Colossians 2:11
Paul speaks of a spiritual circumcision. Christ has cut away the old sinful self from our lives. This is God’s work in the heart and no human hand does it, so no ritual needs to be added.
BSA: circumcised (“spiritually, in a non-physical sense”): The circumcision Paul means is inward and spiritual, not a physical rite.
See also: Romans 2:28-29; Deuteronomy 30:6.
Colossians 2:12
Baptism pictures going down into death with Christ and rising with Him to new life. The power is God’s, who raised Jesus, and it is received by faith. Christians understand the role of baptism in different ways, but all agree on this union with Christ.
BSA: buried (“united with Him in death”): Burial shows that the old life really ended, as Christ’s did. power (“active energy, divine ability”): It is God’s working power, the same that raised Jesus, that raises believers.
See also: Romans 6:4.
Colossians 2:13
We were spiritually dead, cut off from God by our sins. God did not merely improve us. He gave us life together with Christ and forgave every trespass. The change is complete.
BSA: made you alive (“quickened, gave spiritual life”): God Himself gives life where there was none. forgave (“pardon, showed mercy to”): The word points to a free gift of grace, not something we earn.
See also: Ephesians 2:1-5.
Colossians 2:14
Our sins were like a signed record of debt, and God’s law stood against us. God wiped it clean and nailed it to the cross. The debt was paid by Christ, so nothing is owed.
BSA: canceled (“blotted out, wiped away”): The record was erased so that nothing remains to be charged. debt (“record of our debts, handwriting of ordinances”): It was a written, signed record of what we owed God.
Greek: χειρόγραφον (cheirographon, G5498) — “handwritten certificate of debt.” This was an IOU written by hand and signed by the debtor. Paul says ours was nailed to the cross and thereby cancelled.
Colossians 2:15
At the cross Christ stripped the hostile spiritual powers of their weapons and showed them defeated, like a conquering general leading captives in a victory parade. What looked like defeat was His triumph.
BSA: disarmed (“stripped away, despoiled”): The powers lost their weapons, especially their accusation against us. triumphing (“celebrating victory”): The cross is the scene of Christ’s victory, not His defeat.
Greek: θριαμβεύσας (thriambeusas, G2358) — “leading in triumphal procession.” It pictures a Roman victory march in which the conquered enemies are paraded in public.
See also: Genesis 3:15; Hebrews 2:14.
Colossians 2:16
Because of what Christ has done, no one should condemn you over food, drink or special days. These were matters of the old law. Paul says the believer is free from such judging.
BSA: judge (“not a single person, anyone”): The warning covers anyone at all who would set himself up as judge of your standing before God.
See also: Romans 14:1-6.
Colossians 2:17
The food laws and holy days were only a shadow, pointing ahead to something real. Christ is that reality. Once the substance has come, we should not cling to the shadow.
BSA: shadow (“an image”): A shadow shows the shape of something but has no substance of its own.
See also: Hebrews 10:1.
Colossians 2:18
Paul warns against anyone who claims special visions and a show of humility, even worshiping angels, and who thereby takes away your prize. Such a person is proud though he looks humble, because he is led by human thinking, not by Christ.
BSA: false humility (“pretended, self-imposed”): It looks modest but is really a way of showing off. puffed up (“inflated, proud”): Such a person is swollen with pride about his supposed spiritual experiences.
Greek: καταβραβευέτω (katabrabeuetō, G2603) — “rule against, disqualify, rob of the prize.” It pictures an umpire ruling a runner out of a race, so that the prize is lost.
Colossians 2:19
The one who follows such teaching has let go of Christ, the Head. Only from Him does the whole church receive nourishment and unity, and it grows by God’s own working. Growth comes from staying connected to Christ.
BSA: head (“Christ, the source of spiritual life”): The Head is not only the ruler but the source from whom life flows to the body. knit together (“united, joined”): Believers are held together as the parts of a body are, each supplying the rest.
See also: Ephesians 4:15-16.
Colossians 2:20-21
If you died with Christ to the world’s basic ways, why live under its rules as if you still belonged to it? Rules like ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch’ belong to the old life you have left.
BSA: submit (“subject yourselves, decree”): Believers are choosing to place themselves under rules that Christ has already freed them from.
See also: Galatians 4:9-10.
Colossians 2:22
These rules concern things that are used up and pass away, like food. They come from human commands, not from God, and so they cannot give lasting spiritual life.
BSA: perish (“be destroyed, come to an end”): The things these rules govern are temporary and will be used up.
See also: Mark 7:6-8.
Colossians 2:23
Such rules look wise, with strict self-chosen worship, humility and harsh treatment of the body. But they cannot cure the real trouble, which is the desire for sin within us. Only being joined to Christ changes the heart.
BSA: restrictions (“self-imposed rules, human-made regulations”): They are rules people invent and place on themselves, not commands from God. no value (“useless, unprofitable”): For all their strictness, they bring no real power over sin.
See also: Romans 8:3-4.