Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Colossians+002

Colossians Chapter 2 (ESV)

⁶ Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰ and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. ¹¹ In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.¹³ And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

¹⁶ Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. ¹⁷ These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

REFLECTION:

• Chapter at a Glance: Understanding life in Christ, and we won’t be taken in by substitutes for true spirituality.
• In verses 8, Paul criticized the Colossian false teaching that was not based on God’s revelation in Christ but the “misleading philosophy and empty deception based on traditions fabricated by mere mortals. These are sourced in the elementary principles originating in this world and not in the Anointed One (so don’t let their talks capture you)”.  (The Voice)
• In this passage, it was clear that the “elemental spirits of this world” refer to the rituals and rules of the Old Testament (vv16-17). The legalistic false teachers were probably advocating obedience to the Law of Moses for justification and sanctification.
• Silently reread verses 9-15, inserting your name every time Paul says you or us. How do these facts affect your view of yourself?
• Consider the fact that we are made complete in Christ. Let your prayer and praise to God arise out of that fact.

PRAYER:

Dear God! Your fullness, in all its richness, dwells bodily in Christ. And in Christ, I also find abundance. He is the head over every ruler and authority. Through Him, I have received a circumcision not performed by human hands—a circumcision that removes the desires of the flesh. I was buried with Him in baptism and raised to new life. My past sins and uncircumcised nature have been forgiven, and the record of debt against me has been wiped out. You nailed it to the cross.

HYMN:

Spirit of Truth – www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5sHIm8YbBQ