This is Brian Holda’s paraphrase of Colossians 2:6-15:

  • 6: Follow Christ in the ways we taught Him to you.
  • 7: That you would be rooted in Him alone and your growth would be in Him alone. And that you would hold to salvation by faith alone in Him, just as we taught you. When you do this, you can’t help but be thankful.
  • 8: Don’t let people confuse and mislead you by arguing things different than we taught you. They look to human traditions and worldly spirituality, but look to Christ alone as your salvation and growth.
  • 9: But Christ is Fully God even while He lived as a human.
  • 10: And you have been filled by His Holy Spirit. He is higher and greater than any rule or authority in this world.
  • 11: When you believed in Christ, you received the truest and highest circumcision: by having your flesh (that is, your old self) crucified and cut off. Therefore you don’t need a physical circumcision.
  • 12: This is why you get baptized. It is the burial of your sinful flesh that has died. And when you come out of the water, it shows that you have been raised to a new life in Him. Just as God’s power brought new, resurrected life to Christ, so your faith in God and this same power brings new, resurrected life to you.
  • 13: Before your faith in Christ, you were dead in sins and filled with flesh that hadn’t been cut off (like being uncircumcised). But God crucified this old self and gave you a new life, forgiving you ALL your sins.
  • 14: When God put Christ to death for your sins, He said He no longer looks at how well you’ve followed the Old Testament law. Faith in Christ’s death and resurrection is the way you become righteous, not following the Old Testament Law.
  • 15: Christ’s death destroyed the power of rulers, authorities, spiritual powers, and blessings/curses based on the Old Testament Law. He is greater, and those who keep faith in Him and this gospel are not held under these powers and chains.