Colossians / Question
Colossians says God "disarmed the rulers and authorities" and put them to open shame, triumphing over them in Christ Colossians 2:15. This statement follows the description of the cross and canceled debt Colossians 2:14–15.
In Colossians 2:11–15, Paul explains what believers share in because they are “in” Christ. He uses bodily and social images—circumcision, burial, resurrection, cancellation of a hostile record, and a public victory parade—to describe a decisive change of state. This paragraph continues the claim that believers are made “full” in Christ and therefore do not need add-ons supplied by other authorities or practices (Colossians 2:9–10). Immediately before, Paul stresses Christ’s completeness and believers’ shared connection to him.
Paul explains Christ’s work as something believers share in because they are united with him (repeatedly: “with him”).
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Colossians 2:15, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
15having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.