Jesus

the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints.

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.

that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,

For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ.

Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him,

rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.

And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.

And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.

When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,

having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.

If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations:

Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.