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(2) Christ.
"The full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of
God . . . . . CHRIST, in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"
(Col. 2: 2, 3).
(2) Warning.
"And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words" (Col. 2: 4).
(3) Warning.
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition
of men, after the rudiments of the world" (Col. 2: 8).
(3) Christ.
"And not after CHRIST, for in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"
(Col. 2: 8, 9).
(4) Warning.
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday,
or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come"
(Col. 2: 16, 17).
(4) Christ.
"But the body is of CHRIST" (Col. 2: 17).
(5) Christ.
"If ye then be risen with CHRIST, seek those things which are above, where CHRIST
sitteth on the right hand of God" (Col. 3: 1).
(5) Warning.
"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3: 2).
(6) Christ.
"Your life is hid with CHRIST in God. When CHRIST, Who is our life, shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3: 3, 4).
(6) Warning.
"Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth" (Col. 3: 5).
(7) Warning.
"Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds" (Col. 3: 9).
(7) Christ.
"And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of
Him that created him; where . . . . . CHRIST is all and in all" (Col. 3: 10, 11).
Every epistle has its own peculiar theme, its own special purpose and its own
antagonist; and no one epistle provides a complete presentation of Christ, except in so far
as is necessary for the case in hand. The problems that had to be met in the Colossian
church were not the same as those in the Corinthian or Galatian churches. Upon
examination, the false teaching at Corinth and at Galatia is also seen to be "not after
Christ", but it is from a different point of view from that set forth in Colossians. For
example, in I Corinthians the apostle stresses the cross of Christ as opposed to false
wisdom, while in Galatians he glories in the cross as opposed to false and fleshly
works of self-righteousness. It would require a treatise to set forth the apostle's
exemplifications of the principle of Col. 2: 8. We have devoted as much space to this
negative side of the matter as we can spare and we must leave its further study to the
reader. Let us now turn to the positive side and observe the way in which the apostle
presents Christ.