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 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;
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
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.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
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.
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
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:
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.
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;
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;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
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:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
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,
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.
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,
21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
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.

1For I would that ye knew what great conflict I haue for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as haue not seene my face in the flesh:

2That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in loue, and vnto all riches of the full assurance of vnderstanding, to the acknowledgement of the mysterie of God, and of the Father, and of Christ,

3In whom are hid all the treasures of wisedome, and knowledge.

4And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with entising words.

5For though I bee absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, ioying and beholding your order, and the stedfastnesse of your faith in Christ.

6As yee haue therefore receiued Christ Iesus the Lord, so walke yee in him:

7Rooted and built vp in him, and stablished in the faith, as yee haue bene taught, abounding therein with thankesgiuing.

8Beware lest any man spoile you through Philosophie and vaine deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ:

9For in him dwelleth all the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily.

10And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principalitie, & power.

11In whom also ye are circumcised with the Circumcision made without handes, in putting off the body of the sinnes of the flesh, by the Circumcision of Christ:

12Buried with him in Baptisme, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

13And you being dead in your sinnes, and the vncircumcision of your flesh, hath hee quickened together with him, hauing forgiuen you all trespasses,

14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances, that was against vs, which was contrary to vs, and tooke it out of the way, nayling it to his Crosse:

15And hauing spoyled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing ouer them in it.

16Let no man therefore iudge you in meat, or in drinke, or in respect of an Holy day, or of the New moone, or of the Sabbath dayes:

17Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.

18Let no man beguile you of your reward, in a voluntary humilitie, and worshipping of Angels, intruding into those things which hee hath not seene, vainely puft vp by his fleshly minde:

19And not holding the head, from which all the body by ioynts and bands hauing nourishment ministred, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

20Wherefore if yee bee dead with Christ frō the rudiments of the world: why, as though liuing in the world, are ye subiect to ordinances?

21(Touch not, taste not, handle not:

22Which all are to perish with the vsing) after the commandements and doctrines of men:

23Which things haue in deed a shew of wisedome in will-worship and humilitie, and neglecting of the body, not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

 

1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I am having for you and for those in Laodicea and all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged as they are brought together in love, to have all the richness of fully assured understanding, for the knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this so that no one may deceive you by specious arguments. 5 For even if I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing as I observe your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. 6 So, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, 7 rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8 See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ. 9 For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily, 10 and you share in this fullness in him, who is the head of every principality and power. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ. 12 You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And even when you were dead (in) transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions; 14 obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross; 15 despoiling the principalities and the powers, he made a public spectacle of them, leading them away in triumph by it. 16 Let no one, then, pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival or new moon or sabbath. 17 These are shadows of things to come; the reality belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, delighting in self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, inflated without reason by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding closely to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and bonds, achieves the growth that comes from God. 20 If you died with Christ to the elemental powers of the world, why do you submit to regulations as if you were still living in the world? 21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!" 22 These are all things destined to perish with use; they accord with human precepts and teachings. 23 While they have a semblance of wisdom in rigor of devotion and self-abasement (and) severity to the body, they are of no value against gratification of the flesh.

v 1-3. Paul had not met the Colossians, but wanted to comfort them that he had a great concern for them. If they were united together in love, it would help to deter the false teachers among them. Christ is wisdom personified, and if they would just ask for it, James 1:5, this would also dispel false teachings. 
v 4,5. He warns them of the con artists who would try to pervert their thinking, but commends them on the basis of the report from Epaphras, that they had a strong spiritual foundation and strong faith in Christ.
v 6,7. Original punctuation and emphasis would have indicated that Christ was Jesus the Lord. The Gnostics believed in the doctrine of there being a Christ, but refused to acknowledge Jesus being the Christ. The believers had been saved by faith in Christ, not some mystical thing promoted by the Gnostics, so they needed to be strengthened and growing in Him, which would result in thankfulness for God’s grace.
v 8. He warns of human intellectualism and things which are plain nonsense as well as crude notions of elemental teachings, but the biggest fault was, they were not based upon Christ. We can’t keep up with or refute all the cults and false teachings of our day, so we need to make sure we unequivocally teach the doctrines of Christ.
v 9. Compare 1:19. Whatever the Scriptures reveal concerning the nature of God are true also in Christ.
v 10. Because of the believers union with Christ, he is in Christ and he is also  indwelt, filled with the fullness of Christ. Christ was not just another angel as Gnostics taught, but was in authority over all beings.
v 11. Jewish false teachers boasted of the removal of a bit of skin, but spiritual circumcision was performed by Christ in stripping away the whole body of the flesh,  our carnal nature.
v 12. When we received Christ, we were baptized into His death by the Spirit and buried with Him. As He was raised, we are raised to newness of life in Him. This is symbolized by the water baptism of the believer.
v 13. These uncircumcised Gentiles had been spiritually dead, but God has made them spiritually alive through Christ, having forgiven their sins.
v 14. The Law was like a note we are obligated to pay but can not. Christ fulfilled the Law and nailed it to the cross, effectively marking it “Paid in full”.
v 15. It appears demonic beings had some sort of access in the heavens before the resurrection. Contrary to Gnostic teaching of angel worship, Christ was victorious over all at the cross and we are not subject to either good or bad angels.   
v 16,17. Of course the rabbis had added many things to the laws of Moses, but even they were shadows, legalistic symbols of the reality of Christ.
v 18. False teachers were acting as umpires, declaring these believers were unworthy because they were not worshiping angels, whom they thought were the necessary intermediary between God and man. They either had or imagined experiences which they gave more precedence than the Word of God. Some people are still placing dreams visions and charismatic experience above God’s Word.
v 19. The solution is to hold fast to Christ and the whole spiritual body will grow.
v 20-22. The warning is against elemental teachings of asceticism, practicing rigid self denial for religious purposes beyond practical restraint.
v 23. Self denial may be impressive to onlookers, but only satisfies the flesh  and does not honor God. (Example of a pastor who whould not leave his meditations to speak to any of his congregation or others who came,  becoming so heavenly he was no earthly good.)         
What God has done for the believer in verses 1-13:
v 3 Holds all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
v 7 Establishes them in the faith.     
v 9 Gives all the fullness of the Godhead in Christ.
v 10 He is head of all principalities and powers.
v 11 Gives the circumcision of the sins of the flesh by Christ.

v 12,13 Buries us in baptism, raises us up from the spiritually dead, quickens us in Christ and forgives our trespasses.