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2:1 For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for
them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and
unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the
acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
2:3 In whom are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge.
2:4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit,
joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in
Christ.
2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in
him:
2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have
been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after
Christ.
2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and
power:
2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision
of Christ:
2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him
through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath he
quickened together with him, having forgiven you all
trespasses;
2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which
was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them
openly, triumphing over them in it.
2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of
an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
2:18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and
worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen,
vainly puffed up by his
fleshly mind,
2:19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands
having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the
increase of God.
2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with
Christ from the rudiments of the world,
why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
2:21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
2:22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and
doctrines of men?
2:23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and
humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying
of the flesh.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to:
Colossians
Book: Colossians
Chapter: 2
Overview:
The
Apostle expresses his
Love to, and joy in believers.
(1-7)
He cautions against the errors of
Heathen philosophy; also
against Jewish traditions, and rites which had been fulfilled in
Christ.
(8-17) Against worshipping angels; and against legal
ordinances.
(18-23)
1-7 The soul prospers when we have clear knowledge of the
Truth
as it is in
Jesus. When we not only believe with the
Heart, but
are ready, when called, to make
Confession with the mouth.
Knowledge and
Faith make a soul rich. The stronger our
Faith,
and the warmer our
Love, the more will our comfort be. The
treasures of
Wisdom are hid, not from us, but for us, in
Christ.
These were hid from proud unbelievers, but displayed in the
person and
Redemption of
Christ. See the danger of enticing
words; how many are ruined
By the false disguises and fair
appearances of evil principles and wicked practices! Be aware
and afraid of those who would entice to any evil; for they aim
to spoil you. All Christians have, in profession at least,
received
Jesus Christ the
Lord, consented to him, and taken him
for theirs. We cannot be built up in
Christ, or grow in him,
unless we are first rooted in him, or founded upon him. Being
established in the
Faith, we must abound therein, and improve in
it more and more.
God justly withdraws this benefit from those
who do not receive it with thanksgiving; and gratitude for his
mercies is justly required
By God.
8-17 There is a philosophy which rightly exercises our
reasonable faculties; a study of the
Works of
God, which leads
us to the knowledge of
God, and confirms our
Faith in him. But
there is a philosophy which is vain and deceitful; and while it
pleases men's fancies, hinders their
Faith: such are curious
speculations about things above us, or
No concern to us. Those
who walk in the way of the world, are turned from following
Christ. We have in Him the substance of all the shadows of the
ceremonial
Law. All the defects of it are made up in the
Gospel
of
Christ,
By his complete
Sacrifice for
Sin, and
By the
Revelation of the will of
God. To be complete, is to be
furnished with all things necessary for
Salvation.
By this one
Word "complete," is shown that we have in
Christ whatever is
required. "In him," not when we look to
Christ, as though he
were distant from us, but we are in him, when,
By the power of
the
Spirit, we have
Faith wrought in our hearts
By the
Spirit,
and we are united to our Head. The
Circumcision of the
Heart,
the
Crucifixion of the
Flesh, the
Death and
Burial to
Sin and to
the world, and the resurrection to newness of
Life, set forth in
Baptism, and
By Faith wrought in our hearts, prove that our sins
are forgiven, and that we are fully delivered from the
Curse of
the
Law. Through
Christ, we, who were dead in sins, are
quickened.
Christ's
Death was the
Death of our sins;
Christ's
resurrection is the quickening of our souls. The
Law of
ordinances, which was a
Yoke to the Jews, and a partition-
Wall
to the
Gentiles, the
Lord Jesus took out of the way. When the
substance was come, the shadows fled. Since every mortal
Man is,
through the
Hand-
Writing of the
Law, guilty of
Death, how very
dreadful is the condition of the ungodly and unholy, who trample
under foot that
Blood of the
Son of God, whereby alone this
deadly
Hand-
Writing can be blotted out! Let not any be troubled
about bigoted judgments which related to meats, or the Jewish
solemnities. The setting apart a portion of our time for the
Worship and service of
God, is a moral and unchangeable duty,
but had
No necessary dependence upon the seventh
Day of the
Week, the
Sabbath of the Jews. The first
Day of the
Week, or the
Lord's Day, is the time kept holy
By Christians, in remembrance
of
Christ's resurrection. All the Jewish rites were shadows of
Gospel blessings.
18-23 It looked like
Humility to apply to angels, as if men
were conscious of their unworthiness to speak directly to
God.
But it is not warrantable; it is taking that honour which is due
to
Christ only, and giving it to a
Creature. There really was
pride in this seeming
Humility. Those who
Worship angels,
disclaim
Christ, who is the only
Mediator between
God and
Man.
It is an insult to
Christ, who is the Head of the
Church, to use
any intercessors but him. When men let go their
Hold of
Christ,
they catch at what will stand them in
No stead. The body of
Christ is a growing body. And true believers cannot live in the
fashions of the world. True
Wisdom is, to keep close to the
appointments of the
Gospel; in entire subjection to
Christ, who
is the only Head of his
Church. Self-imposed sufferings and
fastings, might have a show of uncommon spirituality and
willingness for suffering, but this was not "in any honour" to
God. The whole tended, in a wrong manner, to satisfy the
Carnal
mind,
By gratifying self-will, self-
Wisdom, self-
Righteousness,
and contempt of others. The things being such as carry not with
them
So much as the show of
Wisdom; or
So faint a show that they
do the soul
No good, and provide not for the satisfying of the
Flesh. What the
Lord has left indifferent, let us regard as
such, and leave others to the like
Freedom; and remembering the
passing nature of earthly things, let us seek to
Glorify God in
the use of them.