Colossians 2

— after the rudiments of the world.] The heathen religions or worship, so called because they contained only the first principles of piety, exceedingly corrupted by idolatry and superstition. Dr. Macknight. In Gal. iv. 3, St. Paul thus denominates the ceremonial ordinances of the Mosaick law. But here “the rudiments,” or “elements of the world,” are so closely connected with “philosophy and vain deceit,” or an empty and deceitful philosophy, that they must be understood to include at least the dogmas of Pagan philosophy; to which, no doubt, many of the Colossians were in their unconverted state attached, and of which the Judaising teachers, who also were probably themselves infected with them, took advantage, to withdraw the Colossian converts from the purity of the Gospel, and from their true head Christ. And from the general tenour of this chapter, and particularly from ver. 18—23, it appears that these philosophical dogmas, against which the Apostle cautioned his converts, were partly Platonick and partly Pythagorean: the former teaching the worship of demons or angels, as mediators between man and God; the latter enjoining such abstinence from particular kinds of meat and drink, and such severe mortifications of the body, as God had not commanded. Parkhurst.

— intruding into those things which he hath not seen, &c.] Thus did the philosophers, and those Christians who embraced their sentiments, in all their inducements to worship these angels and inferiour spirits: and thus also do the Romanists in saying, that saints and angels see all things, or perceive our prayers, by seeing Him who seeth all things; that they are worshipped by the Divine law and counsel; and that by invoking them we do a thing grateful to God: it being certain that nothing of this kind can be proved from Scripture. Dr. Whitby.

— increaseth with the increase of God.] That is, in all piety and virtue, and so in that righteousness, which is accepted by God unto salvation, without any heathen or Jewish rites. Dr. Wells.

Colossians 2:2

2.—and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding.] That is, the richest and most assured understanding. This is an extremely emphatical phrase, and it is one of the many instances of that strong manner of speaking, with which the writings of the Apostle abound. Dr. Doddridge.

—to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;] ‘Both the Father, and Christ.’ Dr. Hammond. That is, the great mystery of religion, wherein God is revealed to men. Bp. Hall. ‘The ecclesiastical tradition,’ saith Ireueus, ’teacheth us to believe in God the Father omnipotent, who made heaven and earth; and in one Jesus Christ, the Son of God, incarnate for our salvation, our Lord, God, Saviour, and King.’ And so those words may be construed, ’the mystery of both the Father, and Christ.’ Dr. Whitby.

Colossians 2:3

3. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.] That is, in Jesus Christ and His Gospel. Burkitt. So that without Him they cannot be had, and by Him they are imparted unto His faithful followers for their salvation. Bp. Hall.

Colossians 2:5

5.—yet am I with you in the spirit.] Though not personally present with you, yet, by the information received from Epaphras, I understand how all things go with you, and so am in heart or spirit present with you. Dr. Hammond.

—joying and beholding] That is, with joy beholding. Dr. Wells.

Colossians 2:8

8. Beware lest any man spoil you] Plunder you, rob you, cheat you of all that you have, your principles of Christian knowledge. Dr. Hammond.

—through philosophy and vain deceit.] The meaning is, through an empty and deceitful philosophy. The Apostle does not condemn sound philosophy, but that kind of it, which hath no foundation in truth; and being formed merely from imagination, aided by the pride of human reason, is supported by the “tradition,” that is, the affirmation of the inventors, handed down from one to another. The doctrine of the heathen philosophers is called, “the tradition of men,” because it was received solely on the authority of the master who delivered it. Dr. Macknight.

Colossians 2:9

9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.] For in Him the whole Godhead dwelleth essentially, and the Divine nature is not only united to the soul of Christ, but to the body also; and in Him hath God fully revealed Himself to the world. Bp. Hall. Most Christians, agreeably to the literal import of the word, rendered “fulness,” hold that “the fulness of the Godhead” consisteth in the fulness of perfection and government, which is essential to the Godhead; and that fulness they believe is essential to Christ as the Son of God. Dr. Macknight. “Bodily;” that is, in the body of Christ, as opposed to the Jewish tabernacle or temple; truly and really, in opposition to types and figures; not only effectually, as God dwells in good men, but substantially or personally, by the strictest union, as the soul dwells in the body, so that “God and man is one Christ.” Compare John ii. 21; xiv. 9—11. Parkhurst.

By this phrase the Apostle means, that in Christ, as man, all the fulness of the Godhead, the whole Divine essence and glory dwelleth, not in a figure, like a shadow, or in appearance only, but in a bodily substantial manner, in His very body: for I look upon this word “bodily,” as used by the Apostle also for explication, to shew that when he said, that “the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in Christ,” his meaning was, that it dwelleth in His body or flesh, according as he himself elsewhere explains it, saying, that “God was manifest in the flesh,” 1 Tim. iii. 16. Although He was truly man, and, whilst He was on earth, in all outward appearance seemed to be no other than an ordi-

nary man, of an earthly body, informed with a reasonable soul, as other men have; yet in that body dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead, the whole Divine essence being fixed in it, and united to it, in such a wonderful and Divine manner, that He was, and is also, truly God manifest in the flesh, the one living and true God, the Creator and Governour of all things, Jehovah, “the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,” Exod. xxxiv. 6; or, as St. John expresses it, “full of grace and truth,” John i. 14. Bp. Beveridge.

It is to be here observed, that Christ is not said to be filled with the fulness of God, as the church is, by reason of the gifts with which she was replenished, and the doctrine she had received from God, Eph. i. 23: but the whole fulness of the Godhead is here said to reside in Him, which must argue Him to be no less than truly and really God, His complete essence dwelling in Him. Well therefore might the Apostle add in the next verse, “Ye are complete in Him,” ye need not go to the philosophers for knowledge; ye want no other requisite to your salvation; ye have all that is required, if ye believe and obey and worship Him, who is “the head of all principality and power.” Burkitt, Drs. Whitby and Wells.

Colossians 2:11

11. — the body of the sins of the flesh] This phrase may signify, either the body with its sinful lusts; or the whole mass of the sins of the flesh, according to the use of the word “body” in the Hebrew language. The Colossians are said to have been circumcised by the putting off of the sins of the flesh, in respect of their baptism, as is plain from the next verse. For, according to the emblematical meaning of that rite, it signified the crucifixion and burial of their old man, or corrupt nature, with Christ. Now this, being an inward circumcision, may fitly be called a “circumcision made without hands.” Dr. Macknight.

— by the circumcision of Christ:] That is, by the Christian circumcision, or baptism. Dr. Wells.

Colossians 2:12

12. Buried with him in baptism.] The outward symbol of our spiritual circumcision, and so dead unto sin, Rom. vi. 2—4. Dr. Whitby. See the notes on the passage here referred to.

Colossians 2:13

13. And you, being dead in your sins &c.] Being heathens and uncircumcised, and so without requiring those legal performances of you, He hath received you into covenant, having taken you out of your heathen, dark, dead condition. Dr. Hammond. The Apostle, having said ver. 12, that the Colossians were risen with Christ, adds the present clause, not as a new distinct particular, but only as a farther illustration of the grace of the Gospel; namely, that God had so quickened and raised them up together with Christ, “even when they were dead in their sins.” Wherefore the conjunction in this place is best rendered, not “and,” but “even;” as it is in the parallel place, Eph. ii. 5. Dr. Wells.

hath relieved us from the law of ordinances.

Anno DOMINI 64. which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Colossians 2:14

14. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances &c.] An allusion to a practice among men who cancel bills and bonds and all obligations, wherein they stood bound, when once the debt is satisfied. Now, says the Apostle, your debt of sin is paid to the justice of God by the death of Christ; and seeing the obligation is cancelled, it would be madness and impiety to renew it again, as those do who plead for circumcision, and practise the legal ceremonies. Burkitt. The commentators observe, that in the expression “blotted out” there is an allusion to the discharging of a debt, by defacing the writing which contained the obligation to pay; as in the subsequent expression, “nailing it to the cross,” there is an allusion to the ancient custom of abrogating laws, by driving a nail through the tables on which they were written and hung up to publick view. Dr. Macknight.

Colossians 2:15

15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, &c.] Namely, the powers of wickedness, the spirits of Satan: see Luke xxi. 53; Eph. ii. 2; John xii. 31; xiv. 30; and compare Eph. vi. 12. These powers Christ destroyed by His cross; see Heb. ii. 14, 15: by the name of a crucified Jesus, and by the very sign of the cross, despoiling the prince of this world of his dominion, putting him to silence, casting him out of his temples and oracles, and out of those human bodies which he possessed; and so openly convincing the heathens that the deities they so long had worshipped were evil spirits; and, by the miracles wrought in His name, drawing them from their idolatrous practices to the true Christian faith. Drs. Whitby, Hammond, and Wells.

Colossians 2:16

16. Let no man therefore judge you] As if ye did amiss, in not observing the legal distinction “in meat or in drink,” or in respect of your not observing “an holyday,” &c. Dr. Wells. This, and what follows to the end of the chapter, is founded on the doctrine delivered ver. 10, that the Colossians were made “complete in Christ,” as to every thing necessary to salvation. For in that case they were under no obligation to obey the Judaising teachers, when they enjoined the rites of Moses, the worship of angels, or bodily mortifications, as the means of salvation. Dr. Macknight.

— an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.] The days observed amongst the Jews were of three sorts: anniversary, which returned every year, called here “an holyday;” lunary, which returned every month, the first day of every “new moon;” weekly, which returned every week, and on the seventh day of the week; all these are abrogated, even the Jewish seventh-day sabbath; and the Lord’s day, or the Christian first-day sabbath substituted in its room, 1 Cor. xvi. 2. Burkitt, Dr. Whitby.

From this text it has been rashly concluded, that the sanctification of the seventh day is no indispensable duty in the Christian church; that it is one of those carnal ordinances of the Jewish religion which our Lord hath blotted out. The truth is, however, that in the apostolic age, the first day of the week, though it was observed with great reverence, was not called the sabbath day, but the Lord’s day; that the separation of the Christian church from the Jewish communion might

you || in meat, or in drink, or || in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

Colossians 2:17

17. Which are a shadow] Or faint and imperfect representation “of things to come” under the Gospel; that is, of Christian duties; “but the body is of Christ;” that is, the substance, or real duties and virtues shadowed by the legal rites, are those which are instituted and required by the Gospel. Dr. Wells.

Colossians 2:18

18. — in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels.] See the note from Parkhurst on ver. 8. That is, by seducing you to worship angels, as a piece of voluntary humility acceptable to God. Dr. Wells. Pretending probably, that it was presumptuous to go to God immediately, without the mediation of those excellent creatures. Burkitt. Or that those spirits, who were employed by God in the ministry of the Gospel, ought, in gratitude for that service, and out of respect to their dignity, to be worshipped. St. Paul condemns all this, without any reserves made for lower degrees of worship: he charges the Christians to beware of that “vain philosophy,” ver. 8, and not to be deceived by those shews of “humility,” or the speculations of men, who pretended to explain what they did not know, as “intruding into things which they had not seen, vainly puffed up by their fleshly mind.” If any degrees of invocating saints or angels had been consistent with the Christian religion, this was the proper place for declaring them: but the condemning of that matter so absolutely looks as a very express prohibition of all sort of worship to angels. Indeed Christ is always proposed to us, as the only Person by whom we come unto God: and when the Apostle speaks against the worshipping of angels, he sets Christ out in His glory in opposition to it. “For in Him dwelleth” &c. see verses 9, 10. Bp. Burnett.

The worship which so many Christians pay to angels, to saints, to images, to bones, and relics, and to the

Colossians 2:19

19. — the Head, from which all the body &c.] As, in every living creature, perception and motion proceed from the head; so to every Christian, knowledge of God’s will, and power to obey it, flow from Christ. As the head governs and directs each limb, so Christ is the Sovereign and Lawgiver of each believer. As being joined to the head makes the whole body one animal frame; so being joined to Christ makes the whole number of Christians one spiritual society. As communication with the head preserves our natural life; so communion with Christ supports our religious life. He

Colossians 2:20

20. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world.] If by taking upon you Christianity ye have renounced, as ye ought, the observance of heathen and Jewish rites. Dr. Wells. See the note on ver. 8.

Colossians 2:21

21. (Touch not; taste not; handle not;] The Apostle here personates the false teachers delivering these precepts to their disciples. Dr. Macknight.

Colossians 2:22

22. Which all are to perish with the using;] Or, ‘All which things are to perish in the using;’ these words are to be understood as in a parenthesis. Parkhurst. The Apostle adds his reasons, why under the Christian dispensation acceptable worshipping of God does not consist in such observances; both because meats and drinks are designed for the benefit of man, for preserving his temporal life, and are consumed in their use. They all come to corruption, and are consumed in doing us service: they cannot otherwise be of use. Poole.

— after the commandments and doctrines of men? See the note from Parkhurst on ver. 8.

Colossians 2:23

23. — in will worship.] Voluntary worship, performed without any positive command, or absolute obligation: the word manifestly refers to “the worshipping of angels,” ver. 18, and must therefore be understood in a bad sense. Parkhurst.

— and neglecting of the body; not in any honour &c.] Or, ‘in severity to the body, not in any respect or regard’ paid to the body, namely, “for the satisfying of the flesh.” Parkhurst. The Apostle means, that the body is as real a part of our nature as the soul, and ought to have such food and recreation as are necessary to its health and vigour; otherwise it cannot serve the soul in the ordinary functions and offices of life. And

Colossians 2:29

29. Whereunto I also labour, striving] ‘Combating vigorously,’ exerting courage, vigour, and diligence, like those who combat in the games. The original word denotes the exertions of those who contended in the Grecian games. To these combatants St. Paul fitly compared himself, because every where he met with the greatest opposition from evil spirits and wicked men; and in preaching the Gospel he sustained toils and sufferings, much greater than those which the combatants sustained in their conflicts. See chap. ii. 1. Dr. Macknight. It may be doubted whether we ought to admire more, the indefatigable pains and diligence used by the Apostle in his ministry, intimated by the words “labouring” and “striving;” or his humility and gratitude, in acknowledging the blessing of the Divine assistance, and ascribing the success of his ministry to the mighty operation of God. Burkitt.

Chap. II. The Apostle repeats his earnest concern and prayer for them; the better to warn them against the error and subtlety of heathen philosophy, and the vanity of Jewish tradition; encouraging them to depend upon Christ and His religion alone, without any regard to the Jewish ceremonies, or mixing any part of heathen devotion with their Christian worship, especially that of the worship of angels or inferiour demons, as mediators with God, under a pretence of religious humility. Fyle.

Ver. 1.—and for them at Laodicea.] Laodicea was the metropolis of the greater Phrygia; so called from Laodice the wife of Antiochus, son of Stratonice. It