3. In him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are kept safe.
4. I tell you this so that no one can fool you by telling you ideas that seem good, but are false.
5. Even though I am far away, my thoughts are always with you. I am happy to see your good lives and your strong faith in Christ.
6. You accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, so continue to live following him.
7. You must depend on Christ only, drawing life and strength from him. Just as you were taught the truth, continue to grow stronger in your understanding of it. And never stop giving thanks to God.
8. Be sure you are not led away by the teaching of those who have nothing worth saying and only plan to deceive you. That teaching is not from Christ. It is only human tradition and comes from the powers that influence this world.
9. I say this because all of God lives in Christ fully, even in his life on earth.
10. And because you belong to Christ you are complete, having everything you need. Christ is ruler over every other power and authority.
11. In Christ you had a different kind of circumcision, one that was not done by human hands. That is, you were made free from the power of your sinful self. That is the kind of circumcision Christ does.
12. When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and you were raised up with him because of your faith in God’s power. God’s power was shown when he raised Christ from death.
13. You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave all our sins.