Shows that they had fallen, so that they needed restoration, that is, a second building upon Christ, as upon a foundation.
Col. 2:7. and strengthened (βεβαιούμενοι) in the faith,
That is, holding firmly to Christ through faith, and not through reasoning and disputes. For the building is unstable if, even though it is on the foundation, it does not stand firmly upon it.
Col. 2:7. as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
Again he puts the word "as," so that they, if not ashamed of anything else, would at least be ashamed of themselves. And so, in the words "as you have been taught" the apostle laid, as it were, a foundation, while in the words "abounding" he points to the building. One must not change the teaching previously received, but rather advance in it, counting it an honor to show something superabundant in one's faith, thanking God for having deemed us worthy of such grace, and not attributing this advancement to ourselves.
Col. 2:8. Beware, brethren, lest anyone carry you away
There is a thief; he creeps up secretly, he digs under the walls from below unnoticed, intending to rob your mind. Therefore, beware.
Col. 2:8. philosophy and vain deceit,
He also shows the way by which the thief comes: it is philosophy. But since the name of philosophy is considered honorable, he added: "and empty deceit." For there is also a good deceit, of which Jeremiah says: "You deceived me, O Lord, and I was deceived" (Jer. 20:7). And Jacob, it would seem, deceived Esau, but this should not be called deceit, but divine economy (Gen. 27:27).
Col. 2:8. by human tradition,
You see where the deception comes from? From the fact that human opinions are introduced. But the Christian faith is not a human teaching, and therefore it will not receive such a designation.
Col. 2:8. according to the elements of the world,
Finally, he begins to rebuke them for the observance of days, calling the elements of the world the sun and the moon, from which the days would seem to receive one property or another. And he did not say: the observance of days, but: of all the present world, in order to show its insignificance. For if the whole world is nothing, then all the more so the elements.
Col. 2:8. but not according to Christ;
If it were even possible, he says, to serve half and half both Christ and the elements, even then one ought not to obey the latter; but now they remove you from Christ entirely. And the observances of days were not only Hellenic, but also Jewish: the former proceeded from philosophy, and the latter from the law.
Col. 2:9. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
That is, that which God the Word is, dwells in Him. But lest, hearing the word "dwells," you should think that He was under the action of a power, as the prophets were—for God dwelt in them, according to the word: "I will dwell in them and walk in them" (2 Cor. 6:16)—he added: "bodily," that is, that He is not some energy (power), but essence, as having become incarnate and constituting one hypostasis with that which was assumed. Or, in the words of Saint Cyril, He so lives as a soul in a body; and it dwells in the body essentially, inseparably, and without confusion. But the soul is separated from the body at the time of death. God the Word, however, was never separated from the risen flesh: He was with it in the tomb, preserving it from corruption, and He was with the soul in Hades, proclaiming and granting freedom to the captives, and in general the union of soul and body existed even then, when they were separated at the time of His voluntary death.
Col. 2:10. And you are complete in Him,
Here is what he said! You are in no way inferior to Him, since you too are filled with Divinity, but only "in Him," that is, through the flesh assumed by Christ (δια του προσλήμματος). For when our nature was united with God, we too in Him partook of the divine nature. And everywhere Paul desires to bring us closer to Christ. For example, when he says: "raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6), and: "if we endure, we shall also reign with Him" (2 Tim. 2:12), and when he calls us "fellow heirs" (Rom. 8:17).
Col. 2:10. Which is the head of all principality and power.
Not as consubstantial with us does he set Him as head, but higher, as the source. So then, how is it that you, having abandoned Him, resort to angels, of whom He is the head? And with all this he completely demolishes the false teaching about angels.
Col. 2:11. In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made by hands,
A wondrous benefaction, that you received circumcision in Christ. For it was not a human hand that performed this circumcision of the flesh, but the Holy Spirit: not a part is circumcised, but the whole man.
Col. 2:11. The putting off of the sinful body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ;
There, through circumcision, through the removal of the covering of flesh, a part of the body was laid bare; but here our body is delivered from sin, which we commit through the flesh. And such circumcision is performed not by the law, but by Christ in baptism, stripping from us the old life — the sinful and altogether carnal life.