1For I want you to know what great concern I have for you, for those at Laodicea, and for others I have not met face to face; 2That they might be encouraged, united in love, and have the full riches of complete confidence, knowing and understanding the mystery of God, the Father, namely, Christ, 3In Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4I tell you this so that no one may beguile deceive or entice you with clever words. 5For though I may be absent in body, yet I am with you in the spirit, rejoicing at your discipline, and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

6And so, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to follow Him, 7Rooted and built up in Him, firmly established in the faith, as you have been taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8Beware that no one seduces you with deceptive high-sounding but hollow philosophies (such as the Gnostic doctrine), that are based upon the false ideas and worldly wisdom of men - rather than on Christ. 9For all the fullness of the Godhead (Deity) dwells in bodily form in Christ. 10And you are complete in Him, Who is the Head over every other power and authority. 11When you came to Christ, you were also ‘circumcised’ with a circumcision not done by hands. Christ performed a ‘spiritual circumcision’ - the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12And having been buried with Christ in baptism, you are now raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, Who raised Christ from the dead. 13And you, who had been dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God has now made alive with Christ, having cut away your sinful nature, and forgiven all your sins. 14Christ has taken the entire record of the charges against us, and nailed it to His cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, as He triumphed over them.

16Therefore, let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or about certain holy days, religious feasts, a new moon, or a Sabbath day. 17Those things are a mere shadow of things to come: their true reality is found in Christ. 18Do not let anyone who prides himself in false humility or the worshipping of angels, intrude or disqualify you with speculation of things they have not seen. They puff up their foolish minds with their idle and vain notions. 19They are not connected to Christ, the Head, from Whom the whole body is held together by joints, sinews, and ligaments, all nourished and growing as God gives the increase.

20Since you are dead with Christ to the rudimentary (base) elements of this world, why submit to the world’s rules and regulations, as though you were still subject to things such as, 21“Do not touch; taste or handle”? 22Those rules are all about perishable things that wear out with use, and are based upon the commands and teachings of men. 23They, indeed, have the appearance of wisdom in self-imposed rules, false humility, and harsh bodily discipline; but they are no help in curbing the lusts of the flesh.