Welcome to Bible Study here at afaithtalk. This is my favorite day of the week, the day we study.
We’re in Colossians 2 this week, but before we begin, let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, these words are so wonder filled words because You are absolutely marvelous and worthy of all our awe. I pray that You will lead us, help us see and grow our faith through this wonderful chapter. Your Word, Lord, is amazing to behold. Guide us, Lord. In Your glorious Name I pray. Amen.
Please read Colossians 2:1-4 AMP
You Are Built Up in Christ
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those [believers] at [a]Laodicea, and for all who [like yourselves] have never seen me face to face. 2 [For my hope is] that their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together in [unselfish] [b]love, so that they may have all the riches that come from the full assurance of understanding [the joy of salvation], resulting in a true [and more intimate] knowledge of the [c]mystery of God, that is, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge [regarding the word and purposes of God]. 4 I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive [but thoroughly deceptive] arguments.
Yes, if you were with me to study Revelation, or even if you read a lot of your Bible, you should recognize the city names mentioned.
You can take heart that this is for you too as we belong to the ‘for all who have never seen me face to face’.
What a hope… that their _________ may be ________________ as they are ______ ____________ in love, so that they may have _____ the _________ that ________ from the full _____________ of __________________, resulting in a true _______________ of the _____________ of God, that is, _____________, in whom are hidden all the __________ of _____________ and _____________.
Why does he say all this?
Please read Colossians 2:5 AMP
5 For even though I am absent [from you] in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, [d]delighted to see your good discipline [as you stand shoulder to shoulder and form a solid front] and to see the stability of your faith in Christ [your steadfast reliance on Him and your unwavering confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].
Delighted to see your good _______________ and to see the ________ of your ________ in _________. What a picture. In faith we are standing _________ to _______ forming a _____________________ because we steadfastly __________ on Him and have unwavering _______________ in _______ power, _________ and ___________.
Please read Colossians 2:6-7 AMP
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in [union with] Him [reflecting His character in the things you do and say—living lives that lead others away from sin], 7 having been deeply rooted [in Him] and now being continually built up in Him and [becoming increasingly more] established [e]in your faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing in it with gratitude.
When it says, ‘walk in union with Him’ well, do you know anyone who does that? And don’t you think that doing that would solve 99% of our problems?
Look at the promise…
Therefore as you have __________ Christ Jesus the Lord, walk ____[___________________]__________ [reflecting His ________________ in the things you _____ and _______—living _________ that lead others _________ from sin], having been _____________ rooted [in Him] and now being __________ built up in Him and [becoming ____________ more] established in your ________, just as you were _________, and ________________ in it with ______________.
It’s entirely possible to walk in union with Him. It has to be or it wouldn’t say do it.
Please read Colossians 2:8-9 AMP
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the [f]elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth—the teachings of] Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity (the Godhead) dwells in bodily form [completely expressing the divine essence of God].
Guard your heart. See to it that no one takes you captive…
For in Him______ the __________ of ___________ dwells.
Please read Colossians 2:10-12 AMP
10 And in Him you have been made complete [achieving spiritual stature through Christ], and He is the head over all rule and authority [of every angelic and earthly power]. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but by the [spiritual] circumcision of Christ in the stripping off of the body of the flesh [the sinful carnal nature], 12 having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him [to a new life] through [your] faith in the working of God, [as displayed] when He raised Christ from the dead.
In Him you have been made ____________.
having been _________ with Him in __________ and __________ with Him [________________________] through [ ] ___________________ in the working of _________ [as displayed] when He __________ Christ ________________________.
Please read Colossians 2:13-14 AMP
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (worldliness, manner of life), God made you alive together with Christ, having [freely] forgiven us all our sins, 14 having canceled out the [g]certificate of debt consisting of [h]legal demands [which were in force] against us and which were hostile to us. And this certificate He has set aside and completely removed by nailing it to the cross.
The wonder of all He’s done. Not just canceling your sins, but giving you knew life, and sustaining you to live that new life.
Please read Colossians 2:15 AMP
15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], He made a public example of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them through [i]the cross.
Your life is now in Christ, You can choose always to be in His fortress, under His shield, and you are always under His favor. He will turn your whole life for your good. Glory and Praise and Thanks to our Lord!
Please read Colossians 2:16-19 AMP
16 Therefore let no one judge you in regard to food and drink or in regard to [the observance of] a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. 17 Such things are only a shadow of what is to come and they have only symbolic value; but the substance [the reality of what is foreshadowed] belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one defraud you of your prize [your freedom in Christ and your salvation] by insisting on mock humility and the worship of angels, going into detail about visions [he claims] he has seen [to justify his authority], puffed up [in conceit] by his unspiritual mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head [of the body, Jesus Christ], from whom the entire body, supplied and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows with the growth [that can come only] from God.
The substance (the reality) belongs to Christ.
Let no-one defraud you of your prize! – Freedom and Rest in Christ.
Hold fast to the head which is Christ.
Please read Colossians 2:20-23 AMP
20 If you have died with Christ to the [j]elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were still living in the world, do you submit to rules and regulations, such as, 21 “Do not handle [this], do not taste [that], do not [even] touch!”? 22 (these things all perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men. 23 These practices indeed have the appearance [that popularly passes as that] of wisdom in self-made religion and mock humility and severe treatment of the body (asceticism), but are of no value against sinful indulgence [because they do not honor God].
Self-made religion is worthless religion.
Only a life that is full of faith in Christ, which honors God, is a life that is rescued by God and guarded by God and accompanied all of the time by God. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Colossians 2:1 Along with Colossae, Laodicea was located in the valley of the Lycus River and is one of the seven churches mentioned in Rev 1-3.
- Colossians 2:2 See note 1:4.
- Colossians 2:2 See note 1:26.
- Colossians 2:5 Lit rejoicing and seeing.
- Colossians 2:7 Or by.
- Colossians 2:8 Perhaps a reference to ancient philosophies based on the belief that only the material world is real.
- Colossians 2:14 This term refers to a debtor’s handwritten note acknowledging the debt.
- Colossians 2:14 I.e. the requirements found in the Mosaic Law which were violated. The debt is the punishment due for the violator’s sins. Gentiles were never directly liable to the Law, but as Paul explains in Rom 2:12-16, God holds them responsible for violating the principles of the Law that they acknowledge of their own volition.
- Colossians 2:15 Lit it or Him.
- Colossians 2:20 See note v 8.