¹² having been buried with him in baptism,^(A) in which you were also raised with him^(B) through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.^(C)

¹³ When you were dead in your sins^(D) and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you^[a] alive^(E) with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,^{(F) 14} having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness,^(G) which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.^{(H) 15} And having disarmed the powers and authorities,^(I) he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them^(J) by the cross.^[b]

Freedom From Human Rules

¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you^(K) by what you eat or drink,^(L) or with regard to a religious festival,^(M) a New Moon celebration^(N) or a Sabbath day.^{(O) 17} These are a shadow of the things that were to come;^(P) the reality, however, is found in Christ. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone who delights in false humility^(Q) and the worship of angels disqualify you.^(R) Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. ¹⁹ They have lost connection with the head,^(S) from whom the whole body,^(T) supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.^(U)

²⁰ Since you died with Christ^(V) to the elemental spiritual forces of this world,^(W) why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:^{(X) 21} “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? ²² These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish^(Y) with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.^(Z)

⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead,^(A) he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.^{(B) 10} The death he died, he died to sin^(C) once for all;^(D) but the life he lives, he lives to God.

²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one;^(A) he entered heaven itself,^(B) now to appear for us in God’s presence.^{(C) 25} Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place^(D) every year with blood that is not his own.^{(E) 26} Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world.^(F) But he has appeared^(G) once for all^(H) at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.^{(I) 27} Just as people are destined to die once,^(J) and after that to face judgment,^{(K) 28} so Christ was sacrificed once^(L) to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time,^(M) not to bear sin,^(N) but to bring salvation^(O) to those who are waiting for him.^(P)

⁴ But because of his great love for us,^(A) God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions^(B)—it is by grace you have been saved.^{(C) 6} And God raised us up with Christ^(D) and seated us with him^(E) in the heavenly realms^(F) in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,^(G) expressed in his kindness^(H) to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace^(I) you have been saved,^(J) through faith^(K)—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works,^(L) so that no one can boast.^(M)