To the holy ones and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to YOU and peace, from God our Father… ·The Father…is the One: who has qualified YOU towards the share of the inheritance of the holy ones in light; ·who has delivered us out of the authority of the darkness; and who has moved us into the kingdom of his beloved Son—·in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of the sins… ·I want YOU to know how much conflict I have about YOU—also (about) those at Laodicea… ·that their hearts might be encouraged and knit together in love towards all the wealth of full confidence, of understanding towards knowing the Mystery, of Father God and[i] of the Messiah, ·in whom are all the hidden treasures of wisdom and of knowledge!... ·Therefore, just as YOU received Jesus the Messiah, the Lord, even so walk in him — ·rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as YOU have been taught. (Colossians 1:2,12-14; 2:1-3,6-7 PH)

Watch out that no one takes YOU captive through the philosophy and empty deception drawn from human tradition—drawn from the elemental powers [Gr. stoikheia] of this world and not from Christ… ·who is the image of the invisible God, all creation’s Firstborn! ·In him were created all things--those in the heavens and those on the earth, visible and invisible—whether thrones, lordships, primal chiefdoms [Gr. arkhas] or authorities. All things were created through him and towards him…, ·who is THE primal chief [arkhee], the Firstborn from the dead…, that in all things he might become preeminent… ·For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form; ·and YOU have been given fullness in him who is the head of every primal chiefdom [arkhees] and authority. ·In him, YOU also were circumcised—in the stripping off of the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of the Messiah… ·In this—having been buried-together with him in the baptism—YOU also were raised-together through the energy of the faith of God, the One who raised him from the dead. ·So YOU, being dead in the offenses and the ‘foreskin’ of YOUR flesh, he has made alive-together with him: forgiving all our offences. ·Blotting out the handwriting of the rules pertaining to us, that was opposed to us, he also took it out of the center, nailing it to the cross—·stripping off the primal chiefs [arkhas] and authorities; triumphing over them in it, he made a public show of them. (Col.2:8; 1:15-16,18b; 2:9-15 PH)

If, together with the Messiah, YOU have died away from the world—from its elemental powers [stoikheia]—why, as though still living in it, are YOU being dictated to by rules? ·“Do not touch! Do not taste! Do not handle!” ·The usefulness of all such things, in accord with human regulations and teachings, is ultimately perishable! ·Even if holding an expression of wisdom, in voluntary piety or in a humbling of the mind or in control of the body, any one of these is of zero value to stop the gratification of the flesh… ·Therefore, let no one judge YOU in the area of food or drink, or for taking part in a festival—whether New Moon or Sabbaths. ·These are but a shadow of the things to come (with) the embodiment of the Messiah. ·Let no one arbitrate against YOU —insisting on a humbling of the mind and a worshiping of the (angelic) messengers whose intrusion he (or she) has experienced. The fleshly mind of such a one is uselessly inflated ·and is not drawing strength from the Head—from whom the whole Body grows, with a growth that is from God. (Col.2:20-23,16-19a PH)

Just like in the Galatian churches (Med.#30), the believers in Colossae are also retreating from their freedom and responsibility in the Spirit and submitting again to their former guardians—the ‘elemental powers [stoikheia] of this world’ (2:8,20). Certain Jewish men are not only pushing a version of Greek philosophy, but also Jewish circumcision and the Law, and a certain brand of supernatural experience. As Paul ‘struggles’ in prayer for them, he challenges these believers to stand up to the social power of these men—to stand in the new form of ‘circumcision’ they received—through Christ's death on the cross—and in the power of his resurrection and of his Spirit. These provisions of the Father are sufficient to empower people of all ethnic and social groups—both men and women—to be renewed in the ‘image’ of their Creator (Col.3:10-11). Divine fullness is for all!

Still today, many Christians who have become co-heirs of the Father slip back into the ‘shadows’ of depending on patriarchal ‘Christian’ rules and obligatory supernatural experiences. Many others have left the church altogether because they don't want to put up with the slavery and shadows of such religious regimes. Yet why do many Christians give in to this slavery? Because living under the power of family and social ‘guardians is familiar (Med.#4) and because ‘the Mystery’ about ‘the Father and the Messiah’ is so unfamiliar—since it was previously hidden to every cultural system including the Jewish one (Med.#6). But all of us also lived under ‘the authority of the darkness’ in this world. So for both reasons, we grew up ‘in the dark’ concerning our Father's ultimate plan for us.

We generally long to get free of such slavery; yet our efforts to achieve independence often lead us into new enslavements. This is because those who repent of sin and submit to Jesus don't automatically think of themselves as adult sons and daughters of God. Further, transformation by the Spirit into the image of Christ is a gradual process, and many believers get frustrated with their inability to ‘control’ their bodily desires and thoughts. So like many believers in Colossae, who had a genuine desire to please God, they too return to living by a set of negative rules—especially if the teaching in their churches is limited to what Dallas Willard calls ‘sin management’.[ii] Thus they become ‘slaves’ again to the same kind of guardian powers that ruled them as children. People in 'charismatic' churches are just as vulnerable to this as are those in ‘non-charismatic’ churches. For when teachers and guest preachers talk a lot about visions and other supernatural experiences, believers can be subtly intimidated into embracing a version of the Gnostic idea that: spirit is good, flesh is bad. 

Now, visions are not bad in themselves; nor are spiritual disciplines like Sabbath observance, periods of fasting, etc., when practiced in dependence on God's Spirit. But when supernatural experiences and  ‘sin management’ become the focus, rather than a growing relationship with the Father, then the ‘elemental powers’ [stoikheia]—and the ‘primal chiefs [Gr. arkhees] and authorities’ [Gr. exousias][iii] connected to these systems—take over again. When this happens we remain little children spiritually (1 Cor.3:1; Heb.5:11-6:1). Even worse, these ‘elemental powers’ [stoikeia] are powerless to truly transform our ‘flesh’, because they are ‘weak’ and only make us feel ‘miserable’ (Gal.4:9 NIV). Only the Holy Spirit in us can give life to both our spirits and our bodies—if we line up under [stoikhomen] him (Med.#30), and through him we ‘put to death the misdeeds of the body’ (Med.#48).

How do we do this? First, we ask the Father for the spiritual wisdom and understanding to grow in our relationship with him (Med.#1). Second, we learn relational righteousness with him and with others solely under the authority of Christ (Med.#48), who is ‘the primal chief’ [arkee]—before and above all other powers[iii]. And this means learning to recognize his authoritative voice through three sources: his Spirit in our hearts, his Word (the Bible), and his words of correction and encouragement spoken through fellow members of his Body. We can know we are hearing his voice when all three of these sources are in agreement.[iv] Yet Paul's letters to the Colossians and the Galatians show us that sometimes we must stand up to so-called Christian leaders who act like mere human ‘primal chiefs and authorities. When these insist that their authority supersedes what our Father is saying to us—through his Spirit, his Word and the counsel of other mature Christians we trust—we must not allow them to take us captive again, or to ‘arbitrate against’ us in our relationship with our Father as an adult son or daughter. At the same time, we still need to treat them with respect (Med.#68), as we would all other human social powers (Tit.3:1).