Alive with Christ

Paul urges the Colossians to continue walking in Christ Jesus the Lord, rooted and built up in him and overflowing with thanksgiving. They must not be taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition and worldly powers, for all the fullness of deity dwells bodily in Christ and they have been made complete in him, who is head over every ruler and authority.

T⁶herefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him, ⁷rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. ⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ. ⁹For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form. ¹⁰And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

In Christ, Paul says, believers have received a circumcision made without hands, have been buried and raised with him through faith, and have been made alive together with him while all trespasses are forgiven. The written debt against them has been canceled at the cross, and the rulers and authorities have been disarmed and publicly triumphed over in Christ.

¹¹In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands. ¹²And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead. ¹³When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, ¹⁴having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! ¹⁵And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Therefore no one is to judge them by food, drink, festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths, because these are only a shadow while the substance belongs to Christ. Nor are they to let false humility, angel worship, and visionary pride disqualify them, since such teachers have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body grows as God gives growth.

¹⁶Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath. ¹⁷These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ. ¹⁸Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you with speculation about what he has seen. Such a person is puffed up without basis by his unspiritual mind. ¹⁹He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.

Because the Colossians have died with Christ to the elemental powers of the world, Paul asks why they submit to worldly regulations such as prohibitions about handling, tasting, and touching. Such rules are based on human commands and may have an appearance of wisdom through self-made religion and severity, but they have no real power against fleshly indulgence.

²⁰If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations: ²¹“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”? ²²These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. ²³Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.