Grounded in Christ

1 For I wish you to know what great struggle I have on your behalf and on behalf of those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen my face in the flesh;
2 so that their hearts may be comforted, being joined together in love, and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 And this I say, so that none may lead you astray with plausible words;
5 for though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, rejoicing and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

Walking in Christ and Being Established

6 Therefore, as you formerly received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him;
7 rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith just as you were taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Warnings Against Philosophy and False Traditions

8 See that no one is taking you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ;
9 for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
11 In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not by hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which also you were raised with Him through faith of the working of God, who raised Him out of the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, forgiving us all our trespasses;
14 having wiped out the handwriting in ordinances that was against us, which stood against us, and He has taken it out of the midst, having nailed it to the cross;
15 and having stripped off principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Freedom from Human Rules

16 Let no one therefore judge you in eating or in drinking or in respect of a feast, or of a new moon, or of sabbaths,
17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.
18 Let no one deprive you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and worship of angels, intruding into things he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 and not holding fast the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with the growth of God.
20 If you died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why do you subject yourselves to regulations,
21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,”
22 which all concern things destined to perish by use, according to the commandment and doctrine of men.
23 These things indeed have the appearance of wisdom with self-made religion and humility and neglecting the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.