Colossians ~Chapter 2/Thursday Bible Study

The echoing thrust in Colossians is the preeminence (authority, superiority) and sufficiency (adequacy/suitability, capability/fitness, competence) of Christ in all things.

The Believer is complete in Him alone, and lacks nothing because “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily” (2:9); He has “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (2:3). There is no need for speculation, mystical visions, or ritualistic regulations as though Faith in Christ is insufficient.

Paul’s predominant purpose in writing this epistle, is to refute a threatening heresy that is devaluing Christ. This false teaching is countered by a positive presentation of Christ’s true attributes and accomplishments. A proper view of Christ is the antidote for heresy.

**********

Colossians ~ Chapter 2/Thursday Bible Study

The Believer’s Completeness in Christ

“I wish you to know that have struggled inwardly a great deal in your behalf, as well as for the believers in Laodicea, and also for al the rest who have not themselves seen my face. May your hearts be comforted and may you be knit together by the ties of Christian love! May your understanding increase in scope and certainty! May you come to see that the mystery of *Elohei Ha’Elohim the Father, is solved in **Yeshua Ha’Mashiach! It is in Him that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge lie hidden.” (vv. 1 – 3)

The Danger of Persuasive Arguments

I say this to prevent you from being led astray by persuasive arguments to the contrary. You see that though I am not with you in person, yet I am with you in spirit, and I am happy to see how orderly you are, and how firm is your faith in Christ. Now, therefore, just as you have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, may you live in unison with Him! May you be rooted in Him and built up in Him! May you become stringer and yet stronger in the Faith, as you were taught it! And may your lives overflow with gratitude! (vv. 4 – 7)

The Emptiness of Philosophy and Tradition

Look out lest someone catch you unawares by some philosophy or empty deceit; he may set forth some human tradition, or some theory about the nature of the universe, but not the teachings of Christ. Know this, that in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. And you have come to fullness of life through union with Him, Who, is the fountainhead (source, spring, origin, seed) of all authority and power. When you became united to Him you became circumcised with a circumcision not made by hand. In the circumcision of Christ, you were set free from your sinful nature. Just as in baptism you were buried with Him, so you were raised again with Him to New Life through Faith in the power of Elohei H’Elohim, Who raised Him from the dead.

So, when you were spiritually dead because of your sins and your sinful nature, He gave you life again to share with Himself, and he forgave us all our sins. Indeed, He blotted out the handwriting of the Law, for that was against us. He took that out of the way and nailed it to the cross. So by the cross he disarmed the principalities and powers of evil; and in triumph He made a public spectacle of them. (vv. 8 – 15)

Warning Against Legalism & Somberness (Gloom Grimness)

Let no one, therefore, be your judge as to what you may eat or drink, or in the matter of observing feast days and new moons and sabbaths. These things are only a foreshadow of what is to come. The One foreshadowed is Christ. Let no one rob you of your prize. Beware of him who indulges in sham (fake, bogus, pretense, deception) humility (meekness, submissiveness) and the worship of angels – and who speculates about visions he has had, and is proud in his worldly mind for no good reason at all. Such a one does not hold fast to the Head, on Whom the whole Body depends. Nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, it grows with a growth that is from ***Elohim.

If you have died, with Christ, to worldly ways of looking at things, why do you now – as if you still were of the world – submit to its rules such as: “You must not handle this,” or “You must not taste that”, and “You must not touch that.” All these things referred to, perish in the using; and all these rules and teachings are man-made and nothing more. Such practices may have the appearance of wisdom. They seem to demand such virtues as self-devotion, self-abasement, and self-control of the body … but they have no power to check when the flesh demands satisfaction.” (vv. 16 – 23)

 

*Elohei Ha’Elohim (Hebrew word: אֱלֹהֵי הָאֱלֹהִים) = God of gods; above all gods.

**Yeshua Ha’Mashiach: is Hebrew for “Jesus the Messiah”; the name Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Yeshua.

Christ (from the Hebrew word, Ha’Mashiach ישוע המשיח & the Greek word, Christos/khris-tos) = The Anointed, Yeshua the Messiah, in both languages.

***Elohim (Hebrew: אֱלֹהִים, romanized: ʾĚlōhīm: [(eloˈ(h)im]) is a Hebrew word meaning "Gods – Father, Son, & Holy Spirit". Although the word is plural in form, in the Hebrew Bible it usually refers to a single deity “Behold, the Lord – the Lord is One”, particularly the God of Israel.

 

**Colossians 1: https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2022/12/colossians-chapter-1thursday-bible-study.html