Lesson 10 Complete in Christ

                                             Lesson 10 Complete in Christ

                         (Colossians 2)

Copr. 2026, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D.  Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail, but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you study.

Introduction: Try to put yourself in the place of the people Paul is addressing in his letter to the Colossians.  Today, Christianity is the world’s largest religion. Imagine that it did not exist in your world. The pagan religions are all around. The most important people believe in them. A brand new religion, based on the life and death of a Jewish rabbi, claims it is the true religion. It is not exactly brand new because it claims to be a fulfillment of Judaism. Further complicating the matter is that several “experts” in this new religion are teaching different things about it. Now you are in the place of the Colossians. Let’s dive into our study of the Bible to understand how Paul argues for Jesus and the faith!

1.    The Struggle

1. 1.    Read Colossians 2:1-3. Why does Paul struggle in his effort to convince the Colossians and Laodiceans of the truth? (In addition to the problems mentioned in the Introduction, Paul has not seen them face to face.)

1. 1. 1.    Notice in verse two Paul refers to “God’s mystery.” Why do you think Paul calls the gospel a mystery? (Everyone wants to understand what other people do not.  We love to know the answers to a mystery.)

1. 1. 1. 1.    Is Paul writing this as a method to spur interest? Or is the gospel an actual mystery? (Jesus is certainly unlike any of the gods of the past. He is not selfish. He does not have followers simply to serve Him. Just the opposite. Jesus serves (and served) those who follow Him. This is a profound mystery.)

1. 1. 2.    Paul writes that the mystery “is Christ.”  In what way is that true? (Jesus embodies the mystery. He is the One who gave up Himself in an unfathomable act of love.)

1. 2.    Read Colossians 2:4. What is the danger for these new Christians? (That they will be deluded. They will be misled.)

1. 1. 1.    Why is this deception so difficult to meet and defeat? (Paul calls the arguments of the opposition “plausible.”)

1. 1. 1. 1.    Do you find “plausible” arguments today that undermine God’s Word? (I just read a major church paper arguing that the theory of evolution is not in conflict with the Genesis account of Creation. It was written in a plausible way, but its conclusion is absolutely false. The Bible states that Jesus spoke the world into existence. Genesis 1; John 1.)

1. 1. 2.    What is the answer to false arguments? (Read Colossians 2:5. Being firmly rooted in our belief in Jesus, including His power as our Creator (John 1) and our Redeemer, answers false arguments.)

2.   Christ and Life

1. 1.    Read Colossians 2:6-7. Paul tells us to practice what we believe. Then he says that we should be thankful. What does the instruction to be thankful assume? (That we have something for which to be thankful.)

1. 1. 1.    Let’s examine this underlying assumption. Will obeying Jesus make our lives better? (That is the underlying assumption. We act on what we believe and the result is a better life.)

1. 2.    Read Colossians 2:8. The “elemental spirits of the world” are in conflict with the teachings of Jesus. Can you name an elemental spirit of the world? (Read Genesis 3:4-5. We see in this temptation the spirit of discontent. Eve needed to have more. She needed to be more.)

1. 1. 1.    Notice that verse 8 refers to “empty deceit,” “philosophy,” and “human tradition.” Obviously, deceit is not good. But tradition and philosophy can be positive. What is Paul talking about here? (First, Paul is warning against being taken “captive” by these things. That would mean to be controlled by them. Second, the evil in these things occurs when they are in opposition to Jesus.)

1. 3.    Read Colossians 2:9-10. Paul writes of being full twice. The full deity dwells in Jesus, and we are full of Jesus. How would that help us to avoid being taken in by the spirits of the world? (When we are full of Jesus, we have no room for what is false.)

1. 1. 1.    Let’s get back to that pro-evolution article I mentioned earlier. It suggested that we should be open to new science. Should we? (We should be open to new science to discover how it supports the Word of God.  We should not leave room for science to displace the Word of God.)

1. 1. 2.    One of the silly arguments made in the article was that science about origins was reliable because it followed scientific theory. True science observes something new and then is able to reproduce it reliably. Is that possible with origins? (No human observed the beginning of our world. Science cannot reproduce the creation of life out of nothing.)

1. 4.    Read Colossians 2:11-14. The New Testament debate over circumcision was fierce. What is the new circumcision for Christians? (Baptism.)

1. 1. 1.    Can you explain this?

1. 5.    Read Romans 4:11-12 and Genesis 17:9-11. How are circumcision and baptism similar ideas? (They are a sign, a mark (or seal) of an agreement between God and man. That agreement is to accept Jesus as our substitute. That substitution gives us eternal life.)

1. 6.    Look again at Colossians 2:12. How are baptism and Jesus’ death and resurrection linked? (Being buried in the water participates in the death and burial of Jesus. Arising from the baptismal water is a participation in the resurrection of Jesus.)

1. 7.    Read Colossians 2:15. How are the rulers and authorities disarmed? (The rulers of darkness wanted us to die eternally for our sins. Jesus took away that claim for those who accept Him. By showing the true nature of Satan and sin, Jesus triumphed over them.)

3.      Living the Full Life

1. 1.    Colossians 2:10 tells us that we are “filled” with Jesus. Read Colossians 2:16-17 and Colossians 2:23. This text is important to me because I keep the seventh-day Sabbath. Does our position on what we eat or drink, Old Testament festivals, or Sabbath-keeping save us? (The answer is a clear, “No.” What saves us is being filled with Jesus. Being baptized in Him.)

1. 1. 1.    Colossians 2:17 says that these are “a shadow of things to come.” What does this add to our understanding of verse 16? (Ceremonial food and drink practices, the festivals (which were also called “Sabbaths”) all pointed to the coming life, death and resurrection of Jesus.)

1. 1. 2.    Colossians 2:23 speaks of “asceticism and severity to the body.” How does this fit Colossians 2:16? (While I believe the festivals were a time of fun, in general the things mentioned in verse 16 involve issues of self-denial.)

1. 2.    Read Colossians 2:18-22. Again, Paul writes about asceticism and regulations that tell us not to handle, taste, or touch. Does this sound to you like the ceremonial laws of Moses or something else? (This points to the ceremonial law.)

1. 3.    We have still not adequately discussed the issue of whether Paul includes the weekly Sabbath as something on which no judgment should be made. Adam Clarke’s commentary on this text strongly argues that Paul is not writing about the weekly Sabbath. Clarke says, consistent with Genesis 2:3 and with the command of Exodus 20:8-11, that the Sabbath is not part of the ceremonial law. It is a “command of perpetual obligation.” Do you consider any of the Ten Commandments something on which Christians should not pass judgment?  Is it fine for a Christian to kill, steal, commit adultery, or covet? (I suspect most will answer, “No, violating the Ten Commandments is not okay.”)

1. 1. 1.    Most Christians do not observe the Old Testament festivals or food regulations. But they observe a weekly day of worship. Why is that? If Christians truly thought that the weekly Sabbath had been committed to the dustbin of history by Paul, why continue to observe a weekly day? (Christians show by their conduct that they do not consider a day of weekly worship to be part of the ceremonial law referred to by Paul.)

1. 1. 2.    If you think that keeping a weekly day of worship is still part of being filled with Jesus, why not worship on the specific day He commanded - Saturday? (There is no command or practice that endorses another day of rest. Jesus observed a Sabbath rest during Creation week. He commanded a Sabbath rest at Sinai. He and His disciples observed the Sabbath while Jesus was present on earth. And, perhaps most important, He observed a Sabbath rest in celebration of His defeat of sin prior to His resurrection on Sunday. The evidence for Sabbath-keeping is overwhelming.)

1. 4.    Friend, Paul shows that Jesus has done it all for us! We must rely on what He has done for us and be filled with Him. Being filled with Him includes walking as He did. Will you accept Jesus as your Savior right now?  Will you commit, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to walk with Him?

4.   Next week: Living With Christ.