Colossians 2
Colossians 2 — Commentary and Meaning
The short answer
Colossians 2 is where Paul's letter pivots. For a chapter and a half he has been painting an enormous picture of Christ — the one in whom all things hold together, the one who reconciled the Colossians to God. Now, at 2:6–7, he finally asks something of his readers: "as you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him." It sounds simple, but it carries the weight of everything that came before. The Christ you received is that Christ, the one from chapter 1. So live accordingly — rooted, built up, established in faith, overflowing with thanksgiving.
Scot McKnight points out that this small passage effectively summarizes the whole letter. The first clause gathers up the soaring theology of 1:12–20; the second half turns that theology into formation, looking back to 1:21–23 and forward into everything that follows in chapters 2–4. He also notes a detail visible in the Greek: the command to keep living in Christ is the first imperative in the entire letter. Paul has waited this long to tell the Colossians to do anything. When the command finally comes, it is not a rule but a direction of travel — the verb literally means "walk."
The rest of the chapter shows why that matters. Paul warns against being taken captive by "philosophy and vain deceit," against letting anyone judge the Colossians over food, drink, festivals, or ascetic demands — "Don't handle, nor taste, nor touch." Such regulations look impressively rigorous. But as N. T. Wright observes, reflecting on the closing paragraphs of Colossians 2, rules about what you may touch, taste, and handle never reach the heart of genuine holiness. That requires the complete renewal Paul announces at the start of Colossians 3: a life hidden with Christ, remade from the inside out.
What scholars say
McKnight's excerpt answers a close-reading question — why 2:6–7 functions as the letter's summary and turning point, containing its very first imperative — while Wright's shows the pastoral payoff: outward regulations about touching, tasting, and handling never reach genuine holiness, which requires the renewal described at the start of Colossians 3.
“Colossians 2:6–7 summarizes the entire letter as it combines both the theo-christological and soteriological themes in the first clause ("as you received …"), drawing us into the vortex of 1:12–20 , with the formational implications of that theology in the second half of v. 6 and all of v. 7 , which draws us back to 1:21–23 and at the same time pushes into all of chapters 2–4 . ... For the Greek reader it may be observed that "continue to live" ( 2:6b ) is the first imperative in Colossians, sounding a note that a new phase in the letter is underway. ... The exhortation of v. 6 hinges on the term "live." ... By choosing "walk" instead of "live," I offer a more literal rendering of the Greek term ( peripateō ).”
“She knows perfectly well that she is called to holiness, to a lifestyle very different from that of the pagan world around. But she knows equally well (perhaps she has been reading the closing paragraphs of Colossians 2) that outward regulations about what you can and can’t touch, taste and handle don’t actually go to the heart of genuine holiness. For that you need the complete renewal spoken of at the start of Colossians 3. She gets tired of being sniped at and criticized by people who don’t seem to have learned what is, for her, one of the most basic and liberating of the gospel ’s lessons. They seem small-minded, timid, unable to see beyond their own front doors. When she thinks of people like that, she despises them.”
What it means for you
Most of us have felt the pull of religious rule-keeping — the sense that if we just control enough behaviors, we will finally feel holy. Colossians 2 names why that never quite works: regulation manages the outside while leaving the inner life untouched. Paul's alternative is not laxness but a different starting point. You began with Christ by receiving him, not by performing; you continue the same way, walking in him day by day. Practically, that means measuring spiritual health less by what you avoid and more by rootedness, gratitude, and steady growth. When rigor leaves you exhausted and unchanged, this chapter invites you back to the source.
Colossians 2 in context
Colossians opens with thanksgiving and a majestic hymn to Christ (1:15–20), followed by Paul's account of his own labor for the churches (1:24–2:5). Chapter 2 begins with his concern that the Colossians not be deceived by persuasive-sounding teaching. Verses 6–7 form the hinge: the letter's theology becomes exhortation. Paul then confronts the rival teaching directly — its philosophy, its legal demands, its ascetic rules — before chapter 3 turns to the renewed life of those raised with Christ, working out what walking in him looks like at home, at work, and in speech.
Passages we cover in this chapter