Book of Common Prayer

Don’t Be Taken Captive By Human Thinking, Because All God’s Fullness Is In Christ

⁸ Be watching-out that there will not be anyone taking you captive through philosophy and empty deception according-to^[a] the tradition of humans, according to the elemental things^[b] of the world, and not according to Christ, ⁹ because in Him dwells all the fullness of the Deity^[c] bodily^[d].

You Are Complete In Christ, With Whom You Have Been Buried And Raised Up

¹⁰ And in Him you are complete^[e], Who is the head of all rule^[f] and authority, ¹¹ in Whom you also were circumcised with a circumcision not-done-by-human-hands, in^[g] the taking-off ^[h] of the body^[i] of the flesh in the circumcision of ^[j] Christ— ¹² having been buried-with Him in baptism, in which^[k] you also were raised-with Him through faith in the working of God, the One having raised Him from the dead.

Indeed, God Made Us Alive With Christ, Having Forgiven All Our Trespasses

¹³ Indeed, you being dead in the trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh— He made you alive-together with Him, having forgiven us all the trespasses, ¹⁴ having wiped-out^[l] the written-document^[m] against us with^[n] its decrees, which was opposed to us. Indeed, He has taken it out of the middle, having nailed it to the cross! ¹⁵ Having stripped^[o] the rulers and the authorities, He exposed them in public, having celebrated-a-triumph-over^[p] them in Him^[q]!

Let No One Judge Your Behavior By False Standards

¹⁶ Therefore let no one judge you in eating and in drinking, or in respect to a feast or new-moon or Sabbath, ¹⁷ which are a shadow of the coming things, but the body^[r] is Christ’s. ¹⁸ Let no one decide-against you while delighting^[s] in humility^[t] and worship of ^[u] angels, dwelling-upon^[v] things which he has seen, being puffed-up in-vain by the mind of ^[w] his flesh, ¹⁹ and not holding-on-to^[x] the head— from Whom the whole body, being supplied^[y] and held-together by the joints and ligaments, is growing the growth of ^[z] God.

Since You Died With Christ, Do Not Submit To Human Decrees

²⁰ If you died with Christ from^[aa] the elemental^[ab] things of the world, why, as-though living in the world, do you submit-to-decrees (²¹ “Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch”; ²² Things which^[ac] are all for^[ad] perishing^[ae] in the use^[af]!) according-to the commandments and teachings of humans?— ²³ which are indeed having the talk^[ag] of wisdom in-connection-with will-worship^[ah] and humility^[ai] and harsh-treatment^[aj] of the body, not^[ak] in-connection-with any [real] value against the indulgence of the flesh.

I Am The Door of The Sheep. All Who Enter Through Me Will Be Saved

⁷ Then Jesus said again, “Truly, truly, I say to you that I am the door of ^[a] the sheep. ⁸ All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen-to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. And he will go in and go out, and he will find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief does not come except that he may steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have abundance^[b].

I Am The Good Shepherd. All My Sheep Know Me. I Give My Life For Them

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays-down His life for the sheep. ¹² The one being a hired one and not a shepherd, of whom the sheep are not his own— he sees the wolf coming and leaves^[c] the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them, ¹³ because he is a hired one, and he is not concerned about the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. And I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. And I lay-down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold^[d]. I must bring those also. And they^[e] will hear My voice. And they will become one flock, [with] one Shepherd. ¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves Me— because I lay down My life so that I may take it up again.