Add parallel Print Page Options

Error threatening the church

So live in Christ Jesus the Lord in the same way as you received him. Be rooted and built up in him, be established in faith, and overflow with thanksgiving just as you were taught. See to it that nobody enslaves you with philosophy and foolish deception, which conform to human traditions and the way the world thinks and acts rather than Christ. All the fullness of deity lives in Christ’s body. 10 And you have been filled by him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by human hands. The circumcision of Christ is realized in the stripping away of the whole self dominated by sin. 12 You were buried with him through baptism and raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead because of the things you had done wrong and because your body wasn’t circumcised, God made you alive with Christ and forgave all the things you had done wrong. 14 He destroyed the record of the debt we owed, with its requirements that worked against us. He canceled it by nailing it to the cross. 15 When he disarmed the rulers and authorities, he exposed them to public disgrace by leading them in a triumphal parade.

Read full chapter

Spiritual Fullness in Christ

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,(A) continue to live your lives in him, rooted(B) and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught,(C) and overflowing with thankfulness.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,(D) which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world(E) rather than on Christ.

For in Christ all the fullness(F) of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head(G) over every power and authority.(H) 11 In him you were also circumcised(I) with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[b](J) was put off when you were circumcised by[c] Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism,(K) in which you were also raised with him(L) through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.(M)

13 When you were dead in your sins(N) and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[d] alive(O) with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,(P) 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness,(Q) which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.(R) 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities,(S) he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them(T) by the cross.[e]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Colossians 2:8 Or the basic principles; also in verse 20
  2. Colossians 2:11 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verse 13.
  3. Colossians 2:11 Or put off in the circumcision of
  4. Colossians 2:13 Some manuscripts us
  5. Colossians 2:15 Or them in him