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Sovereign Role of Christ. (A)For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity[a] bodily, 10 and you share in this fullness in him, who is the head of every principality and power. 11 (B)In him[b] you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ. 12 You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.(C) 13 (D)And even when you were dead [in] transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions; 14 [c]obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross;(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:9 Fullness of the deity: the divine nature, not just attributes; see note on Col 1:19.
  2. 2:11 A description of baptism (Col 2:12) in symbolic terms of the Old Testament rite for entry into the community. The false teachers may have demanded physical circumcision of the Colossians.
  3. 2:14 The elaborate metaphor here about how God canceled the legal claims against us through Christ’s cross depicts not Christ being nailed to the cross by men but the bond…with its legal claims being nailed to the cross by God.

For in Christ all the fullness(A) of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head(B) over every power and authority.(C) 11 In him you were also circumcised(D) with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[a](E) was put off when you were circumcised by[b] Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism,(F) in which you were also raised with him(G) through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.(H)

13 When you were dead in your sins(I) and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[c] alive(J) with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,(K) 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness,(L) which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.(M)

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Footnotes

  1. Colossians 2:11 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verse 13.
  2. Colossians 2:11 Or put off in the circumcision of
  3. Colossians 2:13 Some manuscripts us