Living Our Fullness in Christ (preaching resource for 7/27/25, 7th Sunday after Pentecost)
This post exegetes Colossians 2:4-23, providing context for the Epistle reading on 7/27/25. the seventh Sunday after Pentecost. Insights are drawn from Warren Wiersbe ("Bible Expository Commentary") and Peter T. O’Brien ("New Bible Commentary").
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| Christ—King of Kings (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) |
Introduction
The church at Colosse is falling prey to false teachers and Paul is deeply concerned and so he writes to warn about these “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Acts 20:29)! In Col 2:4-15, Paul gives warning in the form of an admonition to remember the true gospel and reject the esoteric knowledge offered by the false teachers. All we need is Christ, for the fullness of God dwells in him and that fullness is ours because we are in union with Christ. Then in Col 2:16-23, Paul proclaims Jesus to be the fullness of God and declares that we are full in him. In short, Jesus is all we need—we certainly don’t need the esoteric religious system and knowledge offered by false teachers who seek to add to Jesus. Their so-called “higher” spirituality adds nothing. Rather, it robs us of the enjoyment of the fullness we have in Jesus alone.
Go forward with Christ
Colosians 2:4–7
“Go on to maturity!” is the Spirit’s call to us (Heb. 6:1). Lack of spiritual progress makes us a target for deception. Let’s understand…
1. The need for progress (v. 4)
4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
It’s vital that we grow in our knowledge of God’s truth that is in Jesus. Falsehood cloaked in fancy language is prevalent and can be very attractive. We must beware so we don’t get sidetracked. We must continue to move forward with Christ.
2. The nature of progress (vv. 5–7)
5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. 6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Paul here uses several pictures to illustrate the nature of spiritual progress:
• Soldier (v. 5). Paul uses two military terms. Orderly describes the arrangement of an army in ranks, with each soldier in his proper place. Firm pictures soldiers in battle formation, presenting a solid front to the enemy. Christians go forward with Christ when the exercise appropriate discipline and obedience in their “march” if faith with Jesus.
• Pilgrim (v. 6). Continue is a picture of pilgrimage. Paul has already encouraged his readers to “walk worthy of the Lord” (Col 1:10, KJV), and will do so again (Col 3:7; 4:5). In Ephesians, Paul uses the pilgrimage image at least seven times (Eph 2:2, 10; 4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15). We are to walk in Christ the same way we originally received him—by faith. The false teachers wanted to introduce “new truth” that was supposedly necessary for Christian maturity. But Paul disagrees: “You started with Christ and you must continue with Christ; You started with faith and you must continue in that faith. This is the only way to make spiritual progress.”
• Tree (v. 7a). Rooted is an agricultural picture. The Greek word means “once and for all having been rooted.” Christians are not to be tumbleweeds with no roots that are blown about by “every wind of doctrine” (Eph 4:14). Nor are they to be “transplants” that are repeatedly moved from soil to soil. Once we are rooted in the faith of Christ, there is no need to change the soil! The roots draw up the nourishment and the tree grows. And these roots give strength and stability.
• Building (v. 7b). Built up is an architectural picture. It is in the present tense: “being built up.” In Christ, we have a firm foundation on which we grow in grace.
• Student (v. 7c). Strengthened..as you were taught is an educational picture. Through learning the God’s word, we are strengthened in the faith. Epaphras had faithfully taught this truth to the Colossian believers (Col 1:7). But false teachers were undermining their understanding. Christians who study scripture and become established in the truth of the gospel, are hard to deceive.
• River (v. 7d). Overflowing is a picture that suggests a river overflowing its banks. Through the Spirit, we drink, by faith, the water of life which Jesus has put within us (John 4:10–14). And that “river of living water” (John 7:37–39) should grow within us and flow out of us deeper and deeper. The image of the river flowing from the sanctuary (Ezek. 47) getting deeper as it flows, probably is what Paul has in mind here. And a principal fruit produced by this abundant water in a believer’s life is that of thankfulness. When we abound in thanksgiving, we are making spiritual progress with and in Christ.
By reviewing these pictures of going forward with Christ, we see how the growing Christian is protected from the enemy and not led astray. If our spiritual roots are deep in Christ, we will not want any other soil. If Christ is our foundation, we have no need to move. If we are growing in his word, we will not be easily enticed by false teaching. And if our heart is overflowing with thanksgiving, we will not even consider turning from the fullness that is ours already in Christ.
A grounded, growing, grateful believer is not easily led astray—so let us go forward with Christ! And as we do, let us keep our eyes wide open…
Bewaring the enemy
Colossians 2:8–10
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
Paul continues the military image with this warning: “Beware lest any man carry you off as a captive” (literal translation). The false teachers did not reach out with God’s love to the lost—they took captive existing believers (we call this “sheep stealing”). How could believers succumb to this tactic? Because they lost sight of the fullness that is in Jesus Christ. Rather than staying focused on him, they become fascinated by “new truth”—esoteric philosophy that is, in truth, only empty delusion. When a person does not know the doctrines of the Christian faith, they are easy prey to false teaching. This teaching is “hollow and deceptive” (Col 2:8) for two reasons:
• First, their teaching, for all its esoteric attractiveness, is mere “human tradition” and not God’s truth. The word tradition means “that which is handed down.” While there is a true Christian tradition (1Cor 15:3ff; 2Thes 2:15; 3:6; 2Tim 2:2), the issue here is one of origin: Did this teaching come from God or from man? Paul’s answer? “From man.”
• Secondly, their teaching involves, “the basic principles of this world.” The Greek word translated “principles” (“rudiments” in the KJV), basically means “one of a row or series.” It had several meanings attached to it: (1) the elementary sounds or letters, the ABCs; (2) the basic elements of the universe, as in 2Pet 3:10–12; (3) the basic elements of knowledge, the ABCs of some system, as in Heb 5:12. But in ancient Greece, the word also meant “the elemental spirits of the universe, the angels that influenced the heavenly bodies.” It was one of the words in the vocabulary of the religious astrology of that day. The false teachers believed that the angels and heavenly bodies influenced people’s lives. Paul’s warnings to the Colossians about “new moon” and other religious practices determined by the calendar (Col 2:16) may be related to this, though the Jewish people also carefully watched the calendar (Gal 4:10). One thing is certain: such teachings about demons and angels were not a part of true Christian doctrine.
Though the false teachers were not seeking to remove Christ entirely, they were seeking to remove him from his rightful place of preeminence. And Paul offers the sure antidote, which is the true knowledge that all fullness is in Christ, and we have been made full in him. We don’t need anything else!” (see Col 2:9–10). The word “fullness” is pleroma in Greek. It means “the sum total of all that God is, all of his being and attributes.” This word was used by the false teachers, but they did not give it the same meaning as did Paul. To them, the source of pleroma was the multiple spirit “emanations” through which men could come to God. The highest point in their religious system’s experience was sharing in this pleroma. But there are no secret emanations from God yet to be discovered, nor are any needed. The gulf between heaven and earth was bridged fully and already in Jesus. He “Emmanuel, God with us” (Mat 1:23). Jesus, in himself, is God’s fullness toward man—a fullness that dwells continually and permanently in Jesus “in bodily form.”
Again, Paul is refuting the false teacher’s doctrine that matter was evil and that Jesus did not have a human body. Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity, “became flesh” for us (John 1:14)—became one of us (fully), lived for us, died for us, rose victorious for us and ascended (still in the flesh, now glorified) and now, with him (the God-man), we are seated in the “heavenly realms”(Eph 2:6). After his resurrection, Jesus was careful to assure his disciples that he was the same person in the same body; he had not become a ghost or a spirit (see John 20:19–29). Indeed, there is a glorified man in heaven who includes us all in his communion with the Father and the Spirit, and continues to dwell with us on earth through his Spirit. This God-man, Jesus Christ, embodies the fullness of God!
And the remarkable truth is this: Jesus shares this fullness with us all by grace: “you have been given fullness in Christ” (Col 2:10). The tense of the Greek verb indicates a permanent experience. In union with Jesus, we have all we need. And our progress in the faith is not a matter of addition, but of nutrition. As we “feed” on Christ’s fullness, we are “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:19, TNIV). What more do we need?
The “acid test” of any religious teaching is this: “Where does it put the person and the work of Jesus?” Does it rob him of his preeminence—his fullness? Does it deny either his deity or his full and continuing humanity? Does it call believers to some “new experience” to supplement their life with Jesus? If so, that teaching is wrong and dangerous. Beware the enemy.
But also be confident in what you have in Christ…
Confident in Christ’s victory
Colossians 2:11–15
The false teaching that threatened the Colossian church was a combination of multiple elements: Eastern mysticism, astrology, philosophy and Jewish legalism. It is the latter element that Paul deals with here. Apparently, the false teachers insisted that their converts submit to circumcision and other regulations of the Law of Moses (including observation of Holy Days and food laws) in order to become part of a “spiritual elite.” Unfortunately, there are false teachers who promote similar ideas today. But Paul makes it clear that Christians are not subject to any of the stipulations of the Law of Moses, and that submitting to them does the believer no spiritual good. Jesus Christ alone is sufficient for our need, for all of God’s fullness is in him. We are identified with Christ because he is our head (Col 1:18) and we are the members of his body (1Cor 12:12–13). Paul here explains that we have a fourfold identification with Jesus, which makes it not only unnecessary, but sinful for us to be involved in any kind of legalism:
1. Circumcised in him (v. 11)
11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,
Physical circumcision was a sign of God’s covenant with Israel (Gen. 17:9–14). It is not necessary Christians to submit to physical circumcision as a religious rite, because Jesus was circumcised in the flesh for us, and we have spiritual circumcision in him.
When Jesus died and rose again, he won complete and final victory over sin and death. He not only died for our sins (salvation), but He “died unto sin” (see Rom 6:10ff). What the Law could not do, Jesus accomplished for us. The old nature (“the sinful nature”) was put off—rendered inoperative (circumcised)—so that we need no longer be enslaved to it. The old sinful nature is not eradicated, for we still sin (1John 1:5–2:6), but its power has been broken in Christ—and that power is ours as we yield to him, walking in the power of his Spirit.
2. Buried and resurrected in him (vv. 12–13)
12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
Here Paul used the illustration of our baptism. Keep in mind that in the New Testament, the word baptize has both a literal and a figurative meaning. The literal meaning is “to dip, to immerse.” The figurative meaning is “to be identified with.” For example, the Jewish nation was “baptized unto Moses” when it went through the Red Sea (1Cor 10:1–2). There was no water involved in this baptism, because they went over on dry land. In this experience, the nation was identified with Moses who was the mediator between God and Israel.
Paul uses the word baptism in a figurative sense in this section of his letter—for no amount of material water could bury a person with Christ or make him alive in Christ. Water baptism by immersion is a picture of our participation in Jesus death and resurrection—it pictures our inclusion, our identification, in what Jesus did for us, to us and with us. Because Jesus is God (Creator and Sustainer of all things, humans included), and fully human, what happened to him, happened to us all. When he died, we all died with him. When he was buried, we were all buried with him. When he arose again, we arose with him—and we left the grave clothes of the old life behind (Col 3:1–14). In our water baptism we are picturing our personal identification with (faith in ) Jesus and all that he is and has done for us.
But it is not our faith that saves us, rather it is what Jesus did “in the power of God” (Col 2:12). It was the power of God, operating in Christ, that saved us, not the power of our faith or of baptismal water. In union with Christ—a union forged within the person of Christ--we were buried with him, raised with him, and made alive with Him! (The Greek verbs are very expressive: co-buried, co-raised, and co-made alive.) Because God raised his Son from the dead, we have eternal life.
The practical application here is clear: since we are in union with Christ, and he is the fullness of God, what more do we need? We have the fullness of God in Christ, so why turn to the deadness of the Law to “add” to our experience?
3. Freed from the law in him (v. 14)
14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
God, in Christ, not only forgave our sin (which meant cancelling the “debt” we owed), but also destroyed the very document which established the debt. “Written code” in Greek is cheirographon, which means an ‘IOU’—a note that refers to a debt written in one’s own hand as proof of legal obligation. The Jews had agreed to obey the Law of Moses and Paul assumes the gentiles had an obligation to the moral code of their conscience (see Rom 2:14–15). The obligation (“debt”) to this law had not been paid by either group so it stood opposed to them. Jesus not only paid the debt, but cancelled the IOU that established the debt by nailing it to the cross where he died. Thus the debt and the law which established it has no further claim on us. Paul’s conclusion is that it thus makes no sense to take upon ourselves some of this invalidated law’s regulations. To do so would be to deny the fullness of Christ.
4. Victorious in him (v. 15)
15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross [or “by him” –NIV margin].
Jesus not only dealt with sin and the law itself on the cross, but he also dealt with Satan. Speaking about his crucifixion, Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). The death of Christ on the cross looked like a great victory for Satan, but it turned out to be a great defeat from which Satan cannot recover. Jesus had three great victories on the cross:
• First, he “disarmed the powers and authorities,” stripping Satan and his army of whatever weapons they held. Satan cannot harm the vigilant believer. It is when we cease to watch and pray (as did Peter) that Satan can use his weapons against us.
• Second, Jesus “made a public spectacle” of the enemy, exposing Satan’s deceit and vileness. In His death, resurrection, and ascension, Christ vindicated God and vanquished the devil.
• Third, his victory is a triumph. Whenever a Roman general won a great victory on foreign soil, took many captives and much loot, and gained new territory for Rome, he was honored by an official parade known as a “triumph” in which the conquering general (here Christ) leads a parade that includes his defeated enemies, now enslaved. Paul alludes to this practice in 2Cor 2:14. Jesus Christ won a complete victory, and returned to glory in a great triumphal procession (Eph 4:8ff). In this, he disgraced and defeated Satan.
Because we share in Jesus’ great victory over the devil, we need not concern ourselves with the elemental forces that govern the planets and try to influence men’s lives. The satanic armies of principalities and powers are defeated and disgraced!
Enjoying our fullness in Jesus
1. Let no one judge you (Col 2:16–17)
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you….
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
2. Let no one disqualify you (Col 2:18–19)
18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
3. Let no one enslave you (Col 2:20–23)
20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.