Colossians 2

Paul strives for the Colossians and the nearby Laodiceans, longing that they be encouraged and united in love, “to reach... the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” He warns them not to be deluded “with plausible arguments” or taken “captive by philosophy and empty deceit... according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” For “in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him.” In Christ they have a spiritual circumcision, forgiveness, and victory: God “cancelled the record of debt that stood against us... nailing it to the cross,” and “disarmed the rulers and authorities... triumphing over them in him.” Therefore let no one pass judgment on them over food, festivals, or Sabbaths — mere “shadow” of which “the substance belongs to Christ” — nor bind them with ascetic rules that have “no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”