In today’s episode, we delve into the powerful message found in Colossians chapter 2. We explore the wealth of knowledge and wisdom hidden in Christ and how believers are encouraged to walk in faith, grounded in the teachings of the apostles. Join us as we unpack what it means to be rooted in Him and the value of spiritual insight over human philosophy.
Welcome to AddBible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 04 :
Today we are in Colossians chapter 2. We’ll listen to Faith Comes by Hearing’s reading of the 23 verses of Colossians 2.
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Colossians 2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
SPEAKER 02 :
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority.
SPEAKER 03 :
In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
SPEAKER 02 :
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
SPEAKER 03 :
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Him. Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If, with Christ, you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations? Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, referring to things that all perish as they are used, according to human precepts and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body. But they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
SPEAKER 04 :
In 1986, I read Colossians 2 on one day and I wrote, He is the fullness of the deity. We were dead in our sins, but through his forgiveness, gain eternal life. Jesus is all and in all. Don’t get bogged down in religiosity. Self-made religion. Ten years later in 1996, I read Colossians 2 in one day and I wrote, In him, walk in him. rooted and built up in him. In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. You are complete in him, in him circumcised. And 10 years later in 2006, reading the whole Bible that year, I read portions of Isaiah and portions of Colossians 2. Concerning chapter 2 of Colossians, I wrote, In Jesus, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. And then I wrote, Our debt, sin nature, was nailed to the cross with Jesus. And that ends my journal entries on Colossians 2. Early in chapter 2, Paul refers to the mystery in Christ once again like he did in chapter 1. In verse 2, he says, “…God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” It’s a mystery that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So if you need wisdom and knowledge in your life, you get it in Christ. I know I regularly pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. I find it in the Word of God, and I find it in Jesus. Let’s look at verse 6. Therefore, as you’ve received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. I presume most of you addBible listeners have received Christ. So the question is, are you walking in him? We walk in him by staying close to his word, by understanding his precepts, his commandments, by gaining his wisdom and knowledge as we just read about in verse two. So as a Christian, are you walking in Christ? Verse 9 says, This is one of those concepts, again, I cannot comprehend. The fullness of God, like we read in chapter 1, dwells in Jesus. Now let’s jump over to verses 13 and 14. And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us of all of our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. That, friends, is the power of the gospel message. God has chosen to forgive us. Jesus canceled the record of our debt that stood against each one of us. Its legal demands are death on our part. But he set that aside, nailing it to the cross. Don’t you just want to shout the hallelujah? Your sin record. has been nailed to the cross. It has been set aside by Jesus. Jesus has been given the authority to do this. Look back at verse 10. And you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority. Look down at verse 15. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them. So yes, Jesus had the authority to cancel the our record of debt with its legal demands. Hallelujah, Jesus. Verses like these remind us of the book introduction that said this book is all about Christ. It’s all about Jesus and Colossians. Paul finishes the chapter. By saying, let no one pass judgment on you anymore concerning religiosity. Remember, Paul was writing to the church of Colossia because they were facing some false teaching. We also face false teaching. Many of us get caught up in religion versus the word of God. So Paul is freeing the church of Colossia from the rules and regulations of men. Questions of food and drink, festivals, new moons and Sabbath, worship of angels. He’s saying, forget about all that stuff. The substance belongs to Christ. Hold fast to Jesus. Focus on the true gospel message, not all these distractions. He reminds us in verse 20, when we accept Christ, we die to the elemental spirits of the world. We don’t need to be subject to those kind of regulations anymore. Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, all according to human precepts and teachings. He finishes the chapter with verse 23. Paul is reminding us to keep the main thing, the main thing. And the main thing is back in verse 13. And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh… God made alive together with him, having forgiven us of all of our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. That’s the gospel. That’s what we focus on. And when we receive that, when we accept that, we go back to verse six. Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him, not in religiosity, not in self-made religion, but in Him. Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you for the freedom of the gospel message of Jesus. We thank you that you canceled our debt, something we cannot do on ourselves, but you did it, nailing it to the cross. You took the legal penalty we deserved, which was death, and you exchanged that for eternal life in you. All we can do is say thank you. And then, for those of us who have received you, we can walk in you. as our token of thanksgiving for what you have done for us. Thank you for freeing us from self-made religion. Protect us from its tentacles of temptation. Keep us walking in you and you alone. Hallelujah. amen thanks for listening to addbible today across our listening audience more and more of you are supporting addbible by visiting our website at ezraproject.net and purchasing resources like club 365 subscriptions bible reading journals and one or more of our day by day through the bible devotional books we thank you so much and encourage more of you to do the same You will find helpful and inspirational tools to enhance your personal time in God’s Word. Today I want to review the three tools we see most listeners getting. First, Club 365. This is a monthly subscription opening our vault of all AddBible audio recordings and all printed pages of the entire Day by Day through the Bible devotional series. By joining Club 365 for only $7 a month, you have access to both audio and written information on all 66 books of the Bible. Club 365 is a goldmine, and it is completely flexible to your personal Bible reading plan. So if you’re reading Matthew or Isaiah or Psalms or Revelation, you have access to audio or written comments, applications, and prayers on any of them at your fingertips. Get Club 365 at EzraProject.net today, like so many others have. Secondly, another hot seller are our Bible reading journals. We offer two. One is a chronological Bible reading journal that contains a daily Bible reading plan chronologically. You don’t have to buy a chronological Bible. Just get our chronological Bible reading journal. It has over 200 pages, so you can journal your way through the entire Bible. This book is our number one bestseller over the last two decades. The other journal is called the Trio Bible Reading Journal because it has three annual Bible reading plans in it. a New Testament schedule, an Old Testament schedule. But if you do them both on the same day, a complete Bible reading plan, you’ll finish the Bible in 365 days. We have a limited supply of the TRIO Bible reading journal. The cool thing about our journals is they start when you start. Day one of the schedule is the day you start, not January 1. Again, completely flexible to your Bible reading habits. Order your journal for just $9 at EzraProject.net and we ship it free. And the third product people are ordering is one of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. There are only 11, but they cover all 66 books of the Bible, filled with comments about passages, applications from the passages, and prayers related to the passages. Listeners are understanding Bible passages in a whole new way, thanks to digging deeper with a day-by-day supplement to their daily devotions. You can find all 11 books on our website at EzraProject.net. They are available in print and digitally. Get one today and start understanding your Bible in a whole new way. So that’s all for today. Join me tomorrow for another chapter of AdBible. I know you’re going to enjoy it.
