Paul exhorted his readers to continue to believe and practice the truth of God's revelation. He did this to prevent their accepting the erroneous instruction of the false teachers who were seeking to turn them away from God's will.
2:1 Paul used an athletic metaphor to describe his anxieties and deep concerns for his readers and their neighbor Christians. His strivings (1:29) included specific struggles and conflicts for them. Laodicea was about 11 miles west of Colosse also in the Lycus Valley. Another town nearby was Hierapolis. Evidently the false teachers were promoting their views in that entire region. Paul felt concern for all the Christians under this influence including the Colossian and Laodicean believers. He may have meant that he was struggling in prayer for them.96
"The Lycus Valley was not evangelized by Paul himself; it is plain from Colossians 2:1 that he was not personally acquainted with the churches there."97
2:2-3 The "heart"includes everything in the inner man including the mind (cf. Prov. 23:7). The Christian's wealth is his or her thorough understanding of God's truth. The essence of God's revelation is Christ (cf. 1:27). The better a Christian understands God's true revelation concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ the better he or she will be able to recognize and refute false doctrine.
"Only a love which penetrates to the heart and wells up from the heart can sustain the sort of unity that Paul sought (see also . . . 1:4)."98
God has revealed in Christ all that a person needs to know to establish a relationship with God. Thinking that the source of true spiritual wisdom is somewhere other than in Christ can produce terrible disorder in the Christian life. "Knowledge"is genuine understanding and "wisdom"genuine truth (cf. 1:9).
"The word apokruphoi(AV [and NASB], hidden') is emphatic by position, and in the light of this it is just possible that Paul may have in mind something similar to the mystery religions. In them the initiate, after a long period of training and instruction, was allowed to be present at a performance similar to a passion play. By means of the performance the initiate was to have an experience of identification with his god. The instruction given previously enabled the initiate to understand the play. To outsiders the ritual would have been a mystery."99
2:4-5 Paul's description of the Colossian church pictures a company of well-disciplined soldiers standing at attention in straight lines. The Greek word stereoma, occurs only here in the New Testament and means "stability."
It ". . . points out that feature in the faith of the Colossians which specially commended it to the notice and eulogy of the apostle, to wit, its unyielding nature, or the stiffness of its adherence to its one object--Christ."100
So far the believers were holding their position against the false teachers, but Paul feared that this condition might change. He did not want the false teachers to talk them into believing something false by deceptive arguments.
"The implication that Paul can actually see the state of affairs at Colossae (rejoicing and seeing your good order . . .') is, of course, intended more as an expression of what he would hope to see were it possible."101
"This final recall to faith forms an inclusio with 1:4 and thus brackets the whole of the intervening thanksgiving and personal statement as an exposition of that faith . . ."102
"Verses 6 and 7 occupy a pivotal position in the letter. They serve as the basis of Paul's interaction with the Colossian heresy (vv 8-23) having summarized much of what has already been written in the epistle."103
2:6 In particular, Paul encouraged his readers to continue following Christ in harmony with the sound teaching that had resulted in their conversion.104His point was not that as the Colossians had become Christians by faith in Christ they should continue to walk by faith. This is clear from Paul's word translated "received."It usually refers to the reception of truth through transmission (cf. 4:6; 1 Cor. 11:23; 15:1, 3; Gal. 1:9, 12). It is also clear from the expression "as you were instructed"(v. 7) and the context (vv. 4-5, 8).
"Christ Jesus the Lord"counteracts three false conceptions of the Savior. These are His deity ("Christ") that Judaism denied, His humanity ("Jesus") that Docetists denied, and His sovereignty ("Lord") that many varieties of false teaching denied.
"Since the basic sense of kurios["lord"] is that of superior to inferior (master to slave; king to subject; god to worshiper), with formally acknowledged rights of the former to command or dispose of the latter (see also 3:22 and 4:1), all would have recognized that acceptance of Christ Jesus as Lord included within it submission of the believer to this Christ and unconditional readiness to act in obedience to him."105
2:7 Four characteristics describe the healthy Christian in this verse. First, he or she stands firmly rooted as a tree, "born again."Second, he or she is being built up as a building (cf. 1 Pet. 2:2). Third, he or she is becoming increasingly stable in the faith. Fourth, he or she demonstrates the fruit of thankfulness constantly. Four participles in the Greek text describe these characteristics. The first is in the perfect tense indicating the initial reception of new life. The last three are in the present tense revealing the ways in which new life should continually express itself.
"The present passage may imply that those who lack a deep sense of thankfulness to God are especially vulnerable to doubt and spiritual delusion."106
"A thankful spirit is a mark of Christian maturity. When a believer is abounding in thanksgiving, he is really making progress!"107
"As in Rom. 1:16-17 and Gal. 1:11-12, these two verses provide a brief summary sentence of the main point to be made in the body of the letter, to serve as a heading to what follows . . ."108
