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Colossians 2:1-5
Paul has laid out the foundational truth concerning Christ and the reconciliation to be had in Him. And
Paul has written of his own ministry, as a steward of that truth, to the Gentiles. As a good steward, Paul
now endeavors to establish those in the assembly in Colosse and in the surrounding region deeply in this
truth.
Paul will do so by exposing the false teaching using the light of truth, so that it can be seen for what it is - a
lie. At the same time, Paul will use this same light of truth to reveal what is in the heart of each member of
these assemblies - what it is they truly believe.
At the end of chapter 1, Paul was concluding his remarks concerning his ministry. But the last verse is
continued in its thought into the first few verses of chapter 2, as Paul explains how he specifically is
laboring for these assemblies - which is according to their need.
Lets begin reading with verse 28 of chapter 1.
[Read Colossians 1:28-2:5]
So we see that Paul is exhorting his listeners into a full understanding of the truth in Christ, as well as
warning them of the error that is in their midst.
Now, looking back at the end of chapter 1, Paul indicated that he is laboring to present every man perfect in
Christ Jesus - complete - every single one within the scope of his ministry.
To that end, Paul strives in a great conflict, for them. The word striving in chapter 1 verse 29 and
conflict in chapter 2 verse 1 is the same Greek word, in two different forms, verb and noun. The word is
used to refer to combats and contests. It is used in the Greek games, of the toil and the struggle to obtain a
victory.
Paul is in a great conflict for the Colossians - and those in Laodicea, and those in Hieropolis - the
assemblies in the Lycus valley. The conflict is part of the war for the souls of men. And Paul is engaged in
a battle for the thinking of the men in these assemblies - though they have never even met him.
It is the devil who is contending with God for the souls of men. In his plan to be like God, as the possessor
of heaven and earth, Satan exploits men in the flesh, using them as his building blocks for his world
system, which he has erected on the face of Gods earth.
Meanwhile, through Christ, God is realizing His plan to deliver men from that world system, to become
sons in His kingdom. And so we see the contention for souls. And whos winning? God, of course. His
kingdom will be established forever.
Now, the souls of those who have believed into Christ are not part of this contention; their souls have
already been won, by the Lord. The contention is only for the souls of unregenerate men; men in the flesh.
This war is a spiritual conflict; but the battle line is here, on earth, among men.
To gain a better understanding of this conflict, and Pauls part in it, we can look at his letter to the Asian
assemblies, written at this same time.

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Turn to Ephesians chapter 6. This is the conclusion to Pauls entire letter to these assemblies. He has
enlightened them the blessings that believers possess, by virtue of being in Christ, and the unity that
believers have in Him. And Paul has encouraged them to walk in that light; to conduct themselves in
righteousness, in their daily lives.
So having shared with them the truth, Paul concludes by exhorting them to stand in that truth.
[Ephesians chapter 6:10-20]
v. 10-11 We see that Paul is using terms of warfare here. He is speaking about the war for the souls of
men.
First of all, we note that this is not addressing the believers in Asia as individuals, but collectively - the
you in the passage is plural. That is to say, they are to stand together - the collective members of the
Body of Christ, within their local assemblies. They are to stand together, which is what Roman soldiers
along a battle line used to do.
Would that be an offensive, or a defensive position? Defensive; they are standing; they are holding their
position.
What are they to stand against, in verse 11? Not the devil, but his wiles - that is, his crafty deceptions; his
lies. What is the only thing that can stand against a lie? The truth.
The truth is the whole armor of God - complete - that will enable the believers to stand against the devils
lies. The truth, which Paul has just detailed, in his letter to them.
But why must believers be covered with this armor, when their souls are not the ones being contended for?
Because they are the ones who hold forth the truth to those souls, who need to be saved.
Paul goes on to explain a little bit about this war they were involved in - as was Paul - as are we.
v. 12 Wrestling denotes hand-to-hand combat. Although the believers are to hold the line collectively, Paul
clarifies this requires individual responsibility; each must hold their position, so that there is no breach in
the line.
But is Paul speaking of physical combat? No; he specifically says it is not against flesh and blood; that is,
its not physical.
This is a spiritual conflict, as Paul makes clear by the catalog of beings, which he names - we wont get
into those details, but each is a term used for angelic beings, giving the sense of them as organized ranks as
in an army.
Now in hand to hand combat, there are weapons. But this is not physical combat, so what are the weapons
here? The weapons are words; concepts; doctrine.
The devil makes his thinking available to men in the flesh, who readily assimilate it, through the world
system. And it is some of these men, who have bought this thinking for themselves, who then attempt to
introduce it into the assemblies, where the truth has been taught.

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This wrestling is the same conflict of which Paul is speaking in our letter to the Colossians. Paul is in a
great conflict for the assemblies in the Lycus valley, wrestling with the thinking of the false teachers, which
has already taken hold of some, there.
Now, as a minister of the gospel, Pauls part in this conflict sometimes involved going on the offensive,
against the enemy. He describes this using similar imagery as he does here in his second retained letter to
the Corinthians.
Turn to Second Corinthians chapter 10. Paul had ministered to the church in Corinth for a year and a half.
Sometime after he left, false teachers had come into the assembly there, attempting to discredit Paul and
undermine the truth that he had taught.
The Corinthian believers did not stand in the truth, and the lies disseminated throughout their assembly.
But Paul was finally able to get them to discern the truth, through a letter that he sent them (which has not
been retained).
The letter we have here then expresses Pauls great relief upon hearing that the church in Corinth had come
to recognize that what Paul taught them was true; and by then, they had ousted the false teachers and were
now standing in the truth.
In this part of his letter, Paul alludes to those who had led many in the assembly in Corinth astray with their
false teaching, which Paul contended against. Paul speaks of it as warfare.
[Second Corinthians 10:1-6]
v. 1 In his absence, Paul was bold toward them in his letters; in the words he wrote to them.
v. 2 The some here is Pauls way of alluding to the false teachers. Paul is anticipating returning to
Corinth, and boldly refuting the false teachers by his words. Apparently these false teachers were trained in
rhetoric, and could make powerful arguments - but they were still only the arguments of men in the flesh.
Pauls words, and those of his fellow ministers, were not according to the flesh. They were according to
the leading of the Holy Spirit, and so infused with the power of God. As Paul had written before to the
Corinthians, My speech and my preaching were not with the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Cor 2:4).
v. 3-6 You can see that Paul is using similar imagery here, as we saw in Ephesians. But Paul and those
who minister the gospel are not standing defensively here; they are on the offensive; they are attacking.
Still, the weapons of their warfare are the same; it is the truth; the all-powerful Word of God.
And what does the Word enable them to do? To pull down strongholds. The idea here is the demolition of a
fortress. And by the Word, they cast down arguments - and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God. High thing here refers to a lofty tower built up by a proud adversary.
Paul is painting a picture here of the doctrine of the false teachers being like a fortress within which they
have taken men captive. Paul and his fellow ministers use the Word of God to blast a hole in their
arguments. And when those who have been deceived by the doctrine see that hole - that is, when they
discern the truth - they can obey the truth, and make their way of escape by it. The truth has set them free.
[Return to Ephesians 6]

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Paul continues to speak of the part of the believers in Asia, in this battle; the part of all members of the
Body of Christ.
v. 13-17 In the Greek, the taking up of the whole armor of God is a one-time action for the believer; he puts
it on just once, and then he is prepared - to stand, in the evil day - a day which has lasted 2000 years, for the
Body of Christ.
Paul lists the articles of armor, in the order in which a Roman soldier would put them on. We wont go into
the specific details here, but each one of them relates to either the teaching of truth, in general - that is, the
doctrine of Christ - truth, the gospel, the Word of God - or they relate to a key element of that doctrine righteousness, the faith, salvation.
The armor named is all used in defensive warfare - even the sword, which is a short sword that was used to
defend oneself in hand-to-hand combat.
Multiple times through this passage, Paul makes it clear what the part of believers is to be. It is to stand;
for the individual believers in the local churches to collectively stand in the truth in which they have been
taught.
If they will stand together in the truth, covered with the armor of God, the enemy will be unable to
penetrate this defense, with his lies and deceptions. Once Roman soldiers closed rank in this manner, they
were considered virtually invincible.
The local churches were to be lightholders (Rev 1:12-13), shining forth the light of truth, to those on the
outside - to those for whose souls the war was being waged. All individual believers must uphold the truth
together, to prevent the enemy from gaining entrance through his deceptions, and extinguishing that light.
As Paul continued, he spoke of how this united stand is maintained.
v.18-20 Soldiers must be watchful; they must stay on the alert, to ward off attacks. That is to say, each one
of them must actively watch over to preserve the truth. Complacency does not belong in the Body of
Christ. That means no sleepy heads. Guarding the truth requires vigilance.
Nor must any soldier go AWOL. There are no quitters, in the Body of Christ. The mark of a true
Christ One is that he perseveres. He does not lose heart. He endures to the end, standing firm in the faith.
But he does not do so in his own strength. Paul had said in his letter to the Colossians that he contends
according to Gods working, which works in Him mightily.
Prayer is how the Lord, the Commander-in-Chief, communicates his orders to his soldiers. So as believers
pray, the Spirit shares with them the mind of Christ; His thinking, which enables them to discern the truth
from a lie, empowering their stand.
And believers pray for each other, for their stand, so that they are like-minded; united in their thinking; so
that the truth can shine out through them, to others.
Paul also asked that they would pray for him, for his part in the conflict, to boldly share the deep truths of
the gospel, even from his imprisonment. And that is just what he was doing in the letter he sent at this time
to the Colossians.

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[Return to Colossians 2]
So Pauls great conflict for the assemblies in the Lycus valley is part of the war for the souls of men.
Emissaries of the evil one had come into the cities there and set up a stronghold of false doctrine, into
which they had taken some in the assemblies captive.
So Pauls strategy has been to pray for them in this regard (1:9), and following the orders of the
Commander-in-Chief, to go on the offensive with the Word of God; to blast a hole in the false thinking, so
that those who have been taken prisoner by that thinking might be freed, through Christ.
But first, we will observe that Paul is intent on seeing to it that those who have genuinely believed and held
fast to the truth close ranks to preserve the truth within the assemblies.
Well continue with verse 2.
v. 2-3 Perhaps you noticed that what Paul says here has many similar elements to the prayer he recorded
for these believers in chapter 1 (v. 9-12). Paul is reiterating some of those ideas, showing that this is the
subject of his constant prayer for the believers there - and that it is clearly what they need.
Paul is praying that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love. What word can you find
within the word encourage? Courage. This word speaks of a comforting of the heart with the truth.
Comfort of this kind is strength.
So Paul is not talking about a feel-good kind of love, here. He is referring to the love of God for us, as
found in Christ. When a believer comprehends that love - the love of Christ - he is strengthened in the
truth of Christ. And as other believers comprehend it, that love joins them, one to another; so that together,
they are strong - united, in the truth of that love.
Within the idea of the hearts of believers being knit together in love, we see the idea of closing ranks; not to
keep men out of the assembly, but to keep the truth within it. It is a closing of ranks against the lies of the
false doctrine.
When we think of something knit together, we think of a piece of cloth. The strength of the cloth depends
on the individual threads, doesnt it? If the threads are strong, the strength of the resultant cloth is many
times stronger. And when the thread is very strong, the cloth can be virtually impenetrable.
This is what Paul is getting at when he speaks of the riches of the full assurance of understanding. A
person can understand little, or much. Paul desires that the believers would be immeasurably rich in
understanding, having a full assurance of the truth, making them so strong in the faith that together, they
presented a completely united front, to the false teachers - impenetrable to their deceptions.
What is it that the believers needed to understand? Paul says, the knowledge of the mystery of God - the
deep knowing of that mystery. The oldest manuscripts do not have the words, both of the Father and,
making it read, the mystery of God, of Christ.
This makes sense, in that Paul is indicating the mystery of God is disclosed to men in His Christ. In Christ,
God has hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which men need to know; theyre all stored
up, in Him.

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Christ is the believers treasure. And every single believer has equal and full access to that treasure, so that
he can have understanding. But the richness of his understanding depends entirely upon the believer; for
treasure always requires digging.
Pauls point here is that a lack of understanding has an impact, not just on the individual believer, but on the
strength of the whole local church - to preserve the truth, in their midst. And if lies are introduced, and
become mixed with the truth, the result is error being taught - and the loss of the witness, of that body of
believers, to Christ. The light goes out, in that church; it is dead.
Turn to Revelation chapter 3. In the Revelation chapters 2 and 3, the apostle John was given the words of
Jesus to seven actual churches in the Roman province of Asia. In the Revelation, these churches were
symbolized as lampstands, or lightholders, because the light of truth was to shine out into the world,
through them.
The words of Jesus were addressed to the angel, or literally, the messenger of each church - this refers to
the one who ministered the Word of God to that assembly, who was then to give the message of Jesus to the
people. Were going to look at what Jesus had to say to the church in Sardis. Remember that He is
speaking to them, as a collective assembly.
[Revelation 3:1-6]
v. 1 It is Jesus Christ who has the seven-fold Spirit; the Spirit of the LORD; the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD (Is 11:2).
The Spirit rests upon Him; He is the anointed High Priest, of His kingdom of priests; the Body of Christ.
He has the Spirit, and He has the seven stars; these are symbolic of the ones who enlighten each of the
seven assemblies that He is addressing; their messenger, or ministers of the Word. Jesus indicates those
ministers are His.
Jesus begins, I know your works. Jesus is all-knowing. The works are the actions that are a result of
what is thought, what is believed, in the heart. In the case of the church in Sardis, their works have made
them a name. What name? Christians. It is Christ who gives life - Eternal Life. Those who are Christs
receive His Life. Those who are known as Christians should then have that Life.
The church in Sardis bears the name of Christ. They are known as a Christian church. They learn about
Christ. They talk to one another about Christ. And they do things in the name of Christ; so-called Christian
works.
But Jesus is all-knowing. And what does He say about them? You are dead. Your name, Christian, says
you are alive; but in reality, you are dead; you do not have My Life.
How is that possible? Theyre Christians! So they say; so others say. But thats not what Jesus says, and
He knows. Those in Sardis have never really believed into Him, to be saved. Theyve never received His
Life, to live it. Their works are merely human works; not the work of Christ, through them. They are
counterfeit Christ Ones.
And theyve deceived themselves, into believing in that name, that they have taken, and others have bought
into - Christian. Thats why Jesus is speaking to them. He loves them, and sees their danger - of perishing
forever. So He warns them.

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v. 2-3 I have not found your works perfect before God. This is the judicial finding, of Jesus. All of
those works that they were doing, but they had never done the one work that was needful; to obey the truth;
to give their souls into the possession of Jesus, as their Lord.
Yet the truth was faithfully ministered to them, and they heard it. And though they had allowed the
deception of a works-based salvation to permeate their assembly, the truth was still available there; as we
will see, there were a few in Sardis, in whom it was preserved.
They needed to have a change of heart; to be awakened to the truth, of what God had done for them, in
Christ; to grasp it firmly, and make it theirs, so that the truth became the strength of that assembly. If they
would not, the light of truth would die out, and judgment would come upon them. Jesus would remove
their lampstand from its place (Rev 2:5).
But there were a few in the assembly who had genuinely believed, and Jesus makes a distinction between
them and the rest of the assembly, who are dead.
v. 4-6 Garments symbolize the body, which clothes the soul. There were a few in Sardis who had not
defiled their garments; that is, their bodies were not defiled by sin, because they had believed into the Lord,
and been washed in His blood, to be made clean; they were justified.
White garments refers to the glorified body. A few in Sardis will walk with Jesus in white - in glorified
bodies - having chosen to receive the Life of that body - Eternal Life - through union with Him, by faith they will be glorified.
These few in Sardis have held fast to Christ, carefully watching over to preserve the truth. If the church in
Sardis will heed the warning of Jesus, and make this truth their own, their assembly will be strengthened by
His Life, and shine out His Light - as a lampstand should.
[Return to Colossians 1]
This is Pauls point to the churches in the Lycus valley. They need to be strengthened by fully
understanding the love of God, in Christ, to keep from being deceived. So as Paul continues, he warns
them of that.
v. 4 Paul said what he just did, in order that they were not deceived. The mystery of God has been
disclosed in Christ, providing all that needs to be known, of God; all wisdom; all knowledge.
Paul was very much alluding to the hidden pseudo-knowledge that some in the Lycus valley had been
pursuing, the mystical religious experience which they were deceived into believing was needed for a full
experience of God.
Persuasive words is a clear reference to the false teachers; the term is used to indicate those who were
trained in rhetoric, which was also referred to as persuasive speech. Rhetoric was considered a mark of the
educated in Hellenized cultures.
Although the false teachers were probably of Jewish origin, the Jews had been residents of that region for
generations, and some would certainly have adapted to the Hellenistic culture, including the prevailing
philosophies in that region.

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It would seem that many in the assemblies in the Lycus valley were impressed by the fine speech of these
false teachers, and had already bought their smooth talk and reasoned theories. And we still have such
teachers today.
Often they are the writers of self-help books. Sometimes, they are motivational speakers. They have been
known to conduct seminars, camps, retreats. Sometimes, theyre even the substitute in the pulpit on a
Sunday morning.
And many a Christ One has been seduced by their persuasive words; reasonable, to the mind; moving, to
the emotions. They outline principles, to be lived by; steps, to be taken. They rev up their listeners with
inspiring (but not inspired) words, words that are supposed to motivate them, in their walk.
But where is Christ, in these things? You cant live by Christ, if youre living by principles. The Lord cant
direct your steps, if youve already outlined your own; reasoning does not reveal to you the will of God;
and if your emotions have flooded their bounds, they drown out the Lords voice.
Well it was that Paul issued his warning to believers, to beware of persuasive words. Would that we would
heed that warning today!
Meanwhile, we see that Paul was sounding the alarm in these assemblies, to alert the believers to this
current threat. The Holy Spirit will give believers the ability to discern lies through enlightening them to
the truth; but on their part, they must be watchful, and follow His leading.
v. 5 Paul was confined a prisoner in Rome, unable to go to see the believers in the Lycus valley, but in his
spirit, hes with them in his love and concern for them. Through the report of Epaphras, its as if Paul is
present with them, vividly witnessing with great joy those who have persevered in the faith.
The two words that Paul uses to describe the believers there are military terms. Order means orderly
array. It speaks of a carefully aligned group of soldiers, standing shoulder to shoulder. Steadfast means
to present a solid front; to be immovable. It refers to a solid rank of soldiers drawn up for battle.
These are the believers who are standing together in the truth, their hearts knit together in their
understanding of the love of God for them, in Christ. They are solidly holding their position at the battle
line, and no lie has gotten past them. The truth of Christ in their midst has been preserved, and so Paul
commends them for this.
The apostles commendation of these steadfast believers would certainly not have gone without notice by
those believers whose heads had been turned by the false doctrine. It would surely cause them to reconsider
what it is that they actually did believe. And for those who had completely succumbed to the false
teaching, who did not really have faith in Christ, this may have opened their eyes to that fact, for the first
time.
As Paul gets further into his letter, we will see that he continues to warn the believers about specific aspects
of the deception afoot in the Lycus valley - about the flesh being evil; about needing spiritual intermediaries
- which reflect their underlying struggle with sin. And Paul will show that every answer they need can be
found in Christ.
Reading: Colossians 2, 1 Corinthians 3:1-15, Romans 14:10-12, 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10