to partake of them, but through Christ himself. Kol 2,6-7 Although 'to walk' seems to be the opposite of 'to be rooted,' in the present case it is not opposite; for 'to be rooted' 322 signifies to all of us the unshakeable nature of the faith, while 'to walk in Christ' signifies to walk clearly in the same way of life, following in the footsteps of Christ. Kol 2,9-10 He says the church, as indeed being filled with the divinity of the Father. And the meaning is this: the church is full, and it dwells in Christ bodily, that is, as a body united to a head, and everywhere he calls Christ the head of the church. and you are filled in him, instead of 'through him you are filled.' Filled with what? Clearly, with the Holy Spirit. who is the head of all rule and authority. Not only, he says, is he head of the church—for this is proper to the economy—but also of every invisible power, since he is also its creator. He says the church is filled by his divinity, as he says elsewhere: of him who fills all in all. And 'bodily' here is as a body in a head. Why then did he not add: 'which is the church'? Kol 2,11 That is, having circumcised us from the sin of the flesh through baptism, he made us alive for himself. So baptism in Christ is a spiritual circumcision; for it cuts away the sins of those who believe. Kol 2,12-13 For through baptism is the removal and circumcision of sins. having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him. Those who are baptized in the blood of Christ confess through baptism to have fellowship with him in death; and having had fellowship with him in death, they will consequently also enjoy the resurrection. The account of the resurrection is twofold: for one is spiritual, and the other is bodily. For all flesh of men will be resurrected on account of Christ's resurrection from the dead, but as many as were not baptized in Christ, but died in their unbelief, these will partake of the common resurrection, but will not enjoy 323 redemption and the promise. But as many as were baptized into Christ, these, even before the common resurrection, have gained the gift of another resurrection; for they have already risen from the death of sins. This is why he said: in which you were also raised, not 'in which you will be raised.' Those, therefore, who have been raised from the death of sins, how will they still conduct themselves as if they were going to die again? Have they not then risen in vain? But if as those who will live forever, they do not then live according to the flesh, serving the desires of the flesh, but they will conduct themselves according to the spirit. He calls wicked deeds the 'body of sin'; for these are accomplished through the body. Baptism, then, is the circumcision of Christ; for it removes the body of sin, the uncircumcision. And as uncircumcision is superfluous to a Jew, so is sin to a soul and body. He has remained entirely with the figure. And he calls sin the 'uncircumcision of the flesh'. Kol 2,14-15 When the law was given that cursed those who transgressed it, all the people of Israel stood and cried out, and consented to what was said, accepting it, and the consent became like a certificate of debt. This certificate of debt, then, the consent to the law, Christ erased by his own decrees; for he decreed against the observances of the law, as in the case of foods, that it is not what enters but what comes out that defiles a person, and in the case of the observance of the Sabbath, that he healed on the Sabbath; and one who observes will find many other such things. Therefore, he previously abolished the punishments of the law against sinners by the decrees concerning sin, giving remission of sins and repentance for salvation. And since the people said 'amen' to the curses, it was cast as a signed certificate of debt. Having disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, 324 triumphing over them on the cross. Since through the disarming and the putting off of the flesh he overthrew the opposing powers, having disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. For up to the cross and

μετασχεῖν αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ δι' αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Kol 2,6-7 Εἰ καὶ τὸ περιπατῆσαι τῷ ἐρριζῶσθαι ἐναντίον εἶναι δοκεῖ, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ προκειμένῳ οὐκ ἐναντίον ἐστίν· δηλοῖ γὰρ ἡμῖν πᾶσι τὸ 322 ἐρριζῶσθαι τὸ ἀσάλευτον τῆς πίστεως, τὸ δὲ ἐν Χριστῷ περιπατεῖν τὸ ἐναργῶς τῇ αὐτῇ πολιτείᾳ κατ' ἴχνος βαδίζειν Χριστοῦ. Kol 2,9-10 Τὴν ἐκκλησίαν λέγει ἅτε δὴ πεπληρωμένην τῆς θεότητος τοῦ πατρός. ὁ δὲ νοῦς ἐστι τοιοῦτος· ἡ ἐκκλησία πλήρης ἐστίν, ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ δὲ κατοικεῖ σωματικῶς, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ὡς σῶμα ἡνωμένον κεφαλῇ, καὶ πανταχοῦ κεφαλὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας τὸν Χριστὸν λέγει. καὶ ἐστὲ ἐν αὐτῷ πεπληρωμένοι, ἀντὶ τοῦ δι' αὐτοῦ πεπληρωμένοι. πεπληρωμένοι δὲ τίνος; δηλονότι τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος. ὅς ἐστι κεφαλὴ πάσης ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐξουσίας. οὐ μόνον, φησί, τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐστὶ κεφαλή-τοῦτο γὰρ τῆς οἰκονομίας ἴδιον-ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσης ἀοράτου δυνάμεως, ἐπεὶ καὶ δημιουργὸς αὐτῆς ἐστιν. Τὴν ἐκκλησίαν λέγει πεπληρωμένην ὑπὸ τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ, καθὼς ἀλλαχοῦ φησιν· τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι πληρουμένου. τὸ δὲ σωματικῶς ἐνταῦθα ὡς ἐν κεφαλῇ σῶμα. πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἐπήγαγεν· ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ ἐκκλησία; Kol 2,11 Τοῦτ' ἔστι περιτεμὼν ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τῆς σαρκὸς διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἐζωοποίησεν ἑαυτῷ. ὥστε τὸ ἐν Χριστῷ βάπτισμα περιτομὴ πνευματική· περικόπτει γὰρ τῶν πιστευόντων τὰς ἁμαρτίας. Kol 2,12-13 ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἡ περιαίρεσις καὶ ἡ περιτομὴ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν. συνταφέντες αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι, ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε. οἱ βαπτιζόμενοι ἐν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ κοινωνεῖν αὐτῷ τοῦ θανάτου ὁμολογοῦσι διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος· κοινωνήσαντες δὲ αὐτῷ τοῦ θανάτου, ἀKolούθως καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἀπολαύσουσιν. ἔστι δὲ διπλοῦς ὁ τῆς ἀναστάσεως λόγος· ὁ μὲν γὰρ εἷς πνευματικός, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος σωματικός. ἀναστήσεται μὲν γὰρ πᾶσα σὰρξ ἀνθρώπων διὰ τὴν Χριστοῦ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν, ἀλλ' ὅσοι μὲν οὐκ ἐβαπτίσθησαν ἐν Χριστῷ, ἀλλ' ἐναπέθανον αὐτῶν τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ, οὗτοι τῆς μὲν κοινῆς ἀναστάσεως μεθέξουσιν, τῆς δὲ ἀπολυτρώσεως καὶ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας οὐκ 323 ἀπολαύσουσιν. ὅσοι δὲ εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθησαν, οὗτοι καὶ πρὸ τῆς κοινῆς ἀναστάσεως ἑτέρας ἀναστάσεως δωρεὰν ἐκέρδαναν· ἤδη γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ θανάτου τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἐξανέστησαν. διὸ καὶ εἶπεν· ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε, οὐκ «ἐν ᾧ συνεγερθήσεσθε». οἱ οὖν ἐγερθέντες ἀπὸ τοῦ θανάτου τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν πῶς ἔτι πολιτεύσονται ὡς πάλιν ἀποθανούμενοι; οὐκοῦν μάτην ἀνέστησαν; εἰ δὲ ὡς ἀεὶ ζήσοντες, οὐκ ἄρα κατὰ σάρκα διαζῶσι ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῆς σαρκὸς δουλεύοντες, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα πολιτεύσονται. σῶμα ἁμαρτίας καλεῖ τὰς πράξεις τὰς ἀτόπους· αὗται γὰρ διὰ σώματος τελοῦνται. περιτομὴ οὖν Χριστοῦ τὸ βάπτισμα· περιαιρεῖ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν ἀκροβυστίαν. ὡς περιττὸν δὲ ἀκροβυστία Ἰουδαίῳ, οὕτως ἁμαρτία ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι. διόλου δὲ τῇ τροπῇ παρέμεινεν. ἀκροβυστίαν δὲ σαρκὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν λέγει. Kol 2,14-15 Ὅτε ἐδόθη ὁ νόμος ὁ καταρώμενος τοὺς παραβαίνοντας, πᾶς ὁ λαὸς Ἰσραὴλ ἑστὼς ἐβόα, καὶ συγκατετίθετο τοῖς λεγομένοις καταδεχόμενος αὐτά, καὶ ἡ συγκατάθεσις ὥσπερ χειρόγραφον γέγονεν. τοῦτο οὖν τὸ χειρόγραφον, τὴν συγκατάθεσιν τὴν πρὸς τὸν νόμον, ἐξήλειψε τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ δόγμασιν ὁ Χριστός· ἐδογμάτισε γὰρ κατὰ τῶν ἐπιτηρήσεων τοῦ νόμου, ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν βρωμάτων ὅτι οὐ τὰ εἰσερχόμενα ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐξερχόμενα κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς τηρήσεως τοῦ σαββάτου, ὅτι ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ ἐθεράπευσεν· καὶ ἕτερα τοιαῦτα πολλά τις ἐπιτηρήσας εὑρήσει. προηγουμένως οὖν τοῦ νόμου τὰς τιμωρίας τὰς κατὰ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν τοῖς δόγμασι τῆς ἁμαρτίας κατήργησεν, δοὺς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν καὶ μετάνοιαν εἰς σωτηρίαν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐν ταῖς κατάραις ὁ λαὸς ἔλεγε τὸ ἀμήν, ὥσπερ ὑπόγραφον χειρόγραφον ἐβλήθη. Ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, 324 θριαμβεύσας ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ. ἐπειδὴ διὰ τῆς ἀπεκδύσεως καὶ τῆς ἀποθέσεως τῆς σαρκὸς τὰς ἐναντίας δυνάμεις καθεῖλεν, ἀπεκδυσάμενος τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησίᾳ, θριαμβεύσας αὐτοὺς ἐν αὐτῷ. μέχρι γὰρ τοῦ σταυροῦ καὶ