Colossians 2:6-15 Devotional/Study
A lot of the Christian Theology we hold today was developed in response to false teaching that believers have encountered throughout church history. The reality being that, oftentimes, we don’t tend to adequately articulate a truth until it’s challenged by someone in opposition. Maybe you’ve experienced this type of situation before:
During a conversation, you shared a core conviction on a particular subject, only to have it opposed by someone else. At the moment, while you feel confident your belief was correct, you don’t have a good way to explain your reasoning. In response to this, you go home to do your research and find clarity as you determine a more precise way of communicating your view.
This scenario was common for the early Apostles just as it is for us today. After planting a church in a community, opponents of their message would come in and stir up false teachings that bred corruption in the church’s knowledge of Christ and his salvation. After hearing about it, the Apostles would double back to the church to help them clarify what was true and how to express that truth in their lives.
Now, I must confess that oftentimes, when I read of false teachers in the early church, I think of loud obnoxious individuals that I would be able to identify immediately based on a clear violation of truth that they would promote. Yet, unfortunately, false teaching isn’t always so obvious. False teachers rarely enter a community with a name tag that says “Heretic.” If they did, they’d never gain an audience. Instead, they would often appear to be the model of what a spiritual leader should look like. Their message was typically filled with language and arguments that could compel even the most loyal members of the church. As Everett F. Harrison once said,
“The most dangerous heresies the church is called on to combat from time to time are not those which openly and blatantly assail the person of our Lord but rather those which subtly detract from His dignity while giving the appearance of honoring him.”
This is the type of threat that existed in the community of Colossae when Paul penned the letter to the Colossians. While Colossae once existed as an important town during the Greek and Persian War, new trade routes carried most of its traffic to neighboring towns leaving Colossae a smaller country village. J.B. Lightfoot once said, “Colossae was the least important church to which any epistle of St. Paul is addressed.” Yet, that didn’t stop the enemy from trying to dismantle them with confusion. While it’s unclear the exact nature of the heresy threatening the church, we can conclude that the false teachers were not giving the person and work of Christ the proper interpretation or emphasis.
Even though Paul had never visited the church in Colossae personally, he had heard of the spread of the gospel there and the subsequent danger of false teaching taking root in the community. In response to this, the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians in an effort to help clarify their understanding as he provided them with a more precise way of communicating the truth.
When you come to chapter two, we find the Apostle giving the church a strong warning against the philosophies and false teachings of men. Chapter two can be outlined in the following sections.
Paul’s concern for the church in Colossae (2:1-5)
Paul’s exhortation to walk in truth (2:6-7)
The true doctrine of Christ (2:8-15)
The false doctrine of men (2:16-23)
It’s important to note that, as Paul begins his response to the false teaching, he does so, not by attacking the opponent's message, but by reminding the Colossians of the truth in his own message. The lesson is that the best way to identify the counterfeit message is by being intimately familiar with the true message.
The true doctrine of Christ, as Paul teaches in Colossians 2:8-15, is centered upon both the person of Christ and the work of Christ.
The Person and Work of Christ
“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” (v. 9) When it comes to following Christ, it’s essential to know who he is personally. In the early church, just like in our day, there was much confusion about the exact identity of Jesus. Was he just a good teacher? Was he God disguised as a human? Was he half-God-half-man?
The New Testament authors sought to make it clear that Jesus was fully God and fully man simultaneously. This is to say that he’s not merely 50% man and 50% God but is, instead, 100% man and 100% God. Knowing Jesus’ identity is crucial to understanding God’s redemptive work on our behalf. Being fully God, Christ is revealed to be holy and wholly righteous. In his person, the character of God is revealed to humanity. Being one with the Father, we can come to understand how to relate with God based on the teaching and example of Jesus’ life. Being fully human, Jesus draws near to us and identifies with us in our suffering. Taking on flesh is what allows Christ to be our perfect substitute on the cross. It was in his body, on the tree, that Christ received the wrath of God in our place. Because Christ was punished for our sins, we can now fully enjoy the intimate relationship with God we were designed for.
It was in His work of atonement that God accomplished our salvation. In that moment, God provided all we needed in order to make us alive again. In Christ we are forgiven for our sins “having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us” (v. 14). While we were at one time dead in our sin and slaves to the evil powers at work in the world, we have now been transferred from the domain of darkness to enjoy the kingdom of the Son he loves (v. 13).
In the incarnation, Christ identified with us. In baptism, we identify with Christ. Paul refers to our baptism as a spiritual circumcision in which our flesh was cut off through the crucifixion of Christ. This is experienced when we become united with Christ by faith in his person and work on our behalf. Today, just as in Paul’s day, there are many philosophies and ideologies on who Christ is, what it means to be spiritual, and how to live a full life. Paul’s exhortation to this is important for us as well.
“Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” – Colossians 2:6-7
Just as you received him, continue in him. The work of the enemy has not changed since the beginning. His goal is to minimize Christ and divert our reliance from God to ourselves. The way we avoid being deceived by false teachers is to remain in faith in the person of Christ and his finished work on the cross. Being united with him in baptism, we can look forward with confidence to the day of being raised together with him in eternal life. For that, we are overflowing with thankfulness.
