Apr 26
12
Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 33:1–5
“This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. He said, ‘The LORD came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand. Yes, he loved his people, all his holy ones were in his hand; so they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you, when Moses commanded us a law, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob. Thus the LORD became king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.’” (Deuteronomy 33:1–5, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Colossians 2:16-23
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’ (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.” (Colossians 2:16–23, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
Last Sunday, when I was preaching on Colossians 2:16-17, I mentioned that in this portion of Paul’s letter, we find the doctrine of Christian liberty. Some of you may know that the doctrine of Christian liberty is considered the second most important doctrine recovered during the Protestant Reformation, second only to the doctrine of justification through faith alone in Christ alone, and by the grace of God alone.
So what is the doctrine of Christian liberty? We find a very helpful summary of it in chapter 21 of our Confession of Faith (the Second London Confession (2LCF)). In brief, it is the biblical doctrine that all who are united to Christ by faith are set free from bondage. Bondage to what? Many things. Bondage to the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the rigour and curse of the law, this present evil world, Satan, the dominion of sin, the evil of afflictions, the fear and sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation. That is quite a list, isn’t it? As we contemplate these truths, we should be moved to give thanks to God for our wonderful redeemer, Christ the Lord. He is a powerful and all-sufficient redeemer. He has defeated all his enemies and ours. More than this, through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, he has subdued us. In Christ, we have died to the old self, and we have been raised to newness of life. The freedom we have in Christ from sin and its effects is truly wonderful.
Furthermore, the doctrine of Christian liberty teaches that we are free from the doctrines and commandments of men. Here is what paragraph 3 of chapter 21 of our confession says: “God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in any thing contrary to his word, or not contained in it. So that to believe such doctrines, or obey such commands out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience…”
What does this mean? It means that, while the Christian has been set free from bondage to sin so that he might receive and believe God’s word and obey God’s law from the heart, the Christian is not bound to obey the doctrines and commandments of men if they are, one, contrary to God’s word, or two, not found in it. In fact, when a Christian submits to the doctrines and commandments of mere men, they betray the liberty of conscience that Christ has granted to us by his death and resurrection. In effect, they trade one form of bondage for another, but we are bound to serve the Lord.
If you were to read Colossians 2:8-23 with the doctrine of Christian liberty in mind, I think you would agree that this is precisely what Paul is teaching. It is in Colossians 2:9-15 that Paul emphasises our freedom in Christ—freedom from sin within, from the guilt of sin which once loomed over us, and freedom from bondage to Satan and his kingdom. And in Colossians 2:8, 16-23, Paul warns the Colossians, and we with them, of submitting to the doctrines and commandments of mere men.
Verse 8: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8, ESV). Verse 16: “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.” (Colossians 2:16, ESV). Verse 18: “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind…” (Colossians 2:18, ESV). Verse 20: “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations…” (Colossians 2:20, ESV)
I hope you can understand Paul’s great concern. An illustration might help to drive it all home. Imagine a prisoner of war locked away in a dark, damp dungeon, hopeless and despairing. And then one day, a mighty savior arrives to deliver him from his situation. The mighty savior defeats the enemy, breaks the prison doors down, and releases the prisoner from his chains. The man and his redeemer walk out into the light of day, and he is refreshed. Now, what would you expect the redeemed man to do? Wouldn’t you expect him to cling tightly to his redeemer, to walk with him, and to serve him? How strange it would be if that redeemed man were to walk away from his redeemer, enter into the house of a harsh master, and pledge his allegiance to him instead, leaving the one who redeemed him in the streets. If you witnessed a scene like this, you would be perplexed, if not outraged. You might say something like this to the man: You ungrateful fool! You were set free by the redeemer, but you have traded one form of bondage for another! Out of gratitude, you should have bound yourself to the one who redeemed you, for he has proven his love for you, and that he is merciful, gracious, and kind. Rumor has it that when those who are heavy laden come to him, he gives them rest. And those who take his yoke upon them to learn from him find that he is gentle and lowly in heart. They find rest for their souls, for his yoke is easy, and his burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30, ESV).
When those who profess faith in Christ allow themselves to be taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, rooted in human tradition, and the elementary principles of the world, and not in Christ, they experience a double loss as they, one, trade one form of bondage for another, and two, as they server themselves from Christ, their redeemer and head, who alone can give them spiritual life. This is what the Colossians were being tempted to do by the false teachers in their midst, who were urging the saints to walk, not in Christ, but according to their own ways.
Last Sunday, we considered Colossians 2:16-17. There, Paul mentions one aspect of the false teachers’ empty and deceptive philosophy. These false teachers, whoever they were, taught that Old Covenant ceremonial laws were binding on the New Covenant people of God. Paul says, No, “let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These [ceremonial laws] are a shadow of the good things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” In other words, these laws belonged to the Old Mosaic Covenant wherein Christ was prefigured. But Christ has come! The substance of our salvation is here. The saints under the Old Covenant were blessed to have the shadow of Christ cast upon them, but now that he has come bodily, these shadowy laws have passed away. Only a fool would embrace the shadow now that the body of our Savior has come.
Today, we will consider Colossians 2:18-19, wherein Paul mentions another aspect of the false teachers’ empty and deceptive philosophy and warns us to reject it.
“Let No One Disqualify You…”
In verse 18, we find another command. In verse 16, Paul commanded us to “let no one pass judgment on [us]…” Here, the command is this: “Let no one disqualify you…” The Greek word translated as “disqualify” is used to describe something an umpire or referee might do when judging a race or a competition. A referee’s job is to be sure that the rules of the competition are being followed. If a runner cuts a corner in a race, the referee’s job is to see that and to disqualify the runner. Of course, Paul is not talking about a game or competition here, but the Christian life. Who are the runners, spiritually speaking? They are the visible saints; they are the church members. And who are the referees? They are those with spiritual authority in the church. In this case, they were the false teachers who attempted to exercise authority within the church but were judging wrongly.
I’ll remind you of what I said last Sunday. When Paul said, “let no one pass judgment on you…” in verse 16, he did not mean that there is never a time for judgment within Christ’s church (see 1 Corinthians 5). No, Paul was commanding the saints in Colossae not to allow anyone to pass judgment on them ”in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath” (Colossians 2:16, ESV). And the same is true here. When Paul says, “Let no one disqualify you…” he does not mean that it is impossible to be disqualified in the Christian life, for it certainly is possible. Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27, ESV).
Dear brothers and sisters, it is possible to be disqualified in the Christian life. It is possible to make a credible profession of faith, to be qualified for baptism and to come to the Lord’s Table, and then to disqualify yourself by destroying the credibility of the profession of faith you once made. But how does a person disqualify themselves? Is it not by living in unrepentant sin? And what is sin? “Sin is any lack of conformity unto or transgression of…”, what? “…the law of God” (Baptist Catechism 17). Brothers and sisters, that definition of sin is so very important. We need to know what sin is, so that we might avoid it and turn from it and to Christ when we commit it. But it is also important so that we might understand what sin is not. We sin when we violate God’s law. We do not sin when we violate the traditions of men. When a professing Christian lives in unrepentant sin, they destroy the credibility of the profession of faith they once made. They disqualify themselves.
Paul is not denying that here. What he says is very clear: “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind…” (Colossians 2:18, ESV). In other words, while it is possible and right for the church (with the elders in the lead) to judge and to disqualify those who live in unrepentant sin, the members of the church must not allow anyone to judge them or disqualify them by imposing a standards on them other than God’s law, that is, the moral law as sumarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments, and the positive precepts of the New Covenant. God’s Word is our standard. His Word is our rule book. When it comes to matters of faith and practice, the doctrines and commandments of mere men are to be rejected whenever they contradict or are not found within God’s Holy Word.
Imagine how frustrating it would be to play in a competitive game with a referee who took it upon himself to make up his own rules, that is, to disregard the written rules and to add his own instead. Baseball was my favorite sport to play, so I’ll illustrate from that. Imagine an umpire deciding that the strike zone should be much smaller. Instead of the full width of home plate, he decides the standard will be only the inner half. Imagine the pitcher’s frustration! Imagine the uproar from the players and the fans! But baseball is just a game. Here, Paul is talking about weighty and serious matters—the worship of God, the salvation and sanctification of the souls of men, and the ability of a man to obtain and maintain a clear conscience before God. Imagine how destructive it would be to the souls of men if someone with authority within Christ’s church began to tinker with the rules, ignoring what God has clearly said, and imposing his own rules and regulations on the people of God instead. This was teh problem in Colossae that Paul was addressing when he wrote, “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels”, etc. (Colossians 2:18, ESV).
“Let No One Disqualify You… Insisting On Asceticism And Worship Of Angels”
What, then, were the false teachers in Colossae insisting on?
The Greek word translated as asceticism means “humility”. Humility is, of course, a very good thing if it is true. But there is a false form of humility, and that must be what Paul is talking about here. Verse 23 makes it clear. There, he critiques these man-made traditions as having the “appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism [or humility] and severity to the body”, and then he adds, “but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:23, ESV). What Paul is describing here are religious practices that make a man appear humble when really he is not humble in the heart. “Asceticism” is a fine word. It means, “severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons.” Can you picture someone living an ascetic lifestyle? They would appear very humble, wouldn’t they? But are they humble? Only God knows. Here is how the NKJV translates the Greek: “Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility…” (Colossians 2:18, NKJV).
Beware of false humility, brothers and sisters. Beware of it in others, but especially beware of it in yourselves. And know this: man-made religions, with all of their man-made and earthly rules and regulations, are great at producing the appearance of humility while leaving men dead in their sin and pride. But Christ brings true humility to the heart. For what is the first thing that God does in us when he brings us to Christ except to convince us of our sin and misery and of our need for a Savior? No one can come to Christ truly unless he is first humbled sincerely. And when it comes to the Christian life, or walking in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord (remember Colossians 1:10), we will soon learn that we must obey Christ from the heart. In Colossians 3:5, Paul will say, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry”, etc. And in Colossians 3:12 he says, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…” In 3:14 he adds, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14, ESV).
I look forward to preaching on those passages in the coming weeks. For now, I want you to see Paul’s point. These false teachers were promoting a form of religion that was merely external. They were ignoring what Christ had done for the saints and in the saints to free them from their sin and misery. They missed the fact that Christ had set them free and enabled them to serve the Lord from the heart. So when it came time to teach about walking worthily before God, they aimed, not at the heart, but at the externals. They insisted on humility, but it was not humility of heart. It was humility in appearance only. And so Paul said, “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on [false humility] and worship of angels…” (Colossians 2:18, ESV).
What does Paul mean by the worship of angels? It’s interesting to read the commentators and to consider their theories concerning what this false teaching was exactly. To be clear, the Colossians knew exactly what it was, for it was in their midst! But it’s hard for us to know for sure. Was this a form of Platonic philosophy that some were attempting to meld with Christianity? Was it an early form of Gnosticism? Or was it a form of Jewish mysticism that some were attempting to blend with the Christian faith? This last option seems most likely to me. In those days, there was a large Jewish community in this region. We already know that the false teachers were seeking to impose the ceremonial laws of Moses on the saints. And we know that there were forms of Jewish mysticism present in this region in those days. What is clear is that these false teachers were saying that, to draw near to God, angels had to be worshipped.
Now, what, if anything, do false humility and the worship of angels have to do with each other? It’s not hard to imagine these false teachers saying something like this: Christian, you and I are not worthy to come directly to God or even to Christ. To get to God, we must go through Christ. But to get to God through Christ, we must go through the angels. We are mere men, and the angels are greater than us. To ascend to the highest heaven, we must pass through the lower heavens. And the lower heavenly realms are governed by angels. To pass through, we must offer worship to the angels who rule there. And to worship them aright, we must first prepare ourselves morally through asceticism. Also, we must learn how to worship the angels. Some special, hidden knowledge is needed, and only we have it. You should know that teachings like this did exist in the first century, brothers and sisters, and they exist to this present day.
At first, teaching like this does sound humble, doesn’t it? We are not worthy. We must learn secret knowledge and prepare ourselves if we wish to draw near to God, etc. But is it really humble? Does this teaching promote humility or pride? Like with any religious system that teaches that one may draw near to God through personal merit, worth, or performance, this system would promote pride, not humility. The true gospel is that salvation comes through faith in Christ alone, by the grace of God alone, and not by works or merit. And this gospel brings true humility. One must first be humbled by God’s Word and Spirit to receive this gospel. And the true gospel of Jesus Christ promotes more and more true humility with the passing of time as the Christian grows in their realization that it is all by God’s grace. Don’t be fooled by false shows of humility, brothers and sisters. Humble yourselves truly before God and see that there is nothing you can do to earn God’s love or favor. It is only through Christ that we may draw near to God, and this is because of who he is and what he has accomplished for us (remember Colossians 2:8-15).
The more important question to ask is this: Is it true? Is it true that, to draw near to God, we must come to him through the mediation of angels? No, it is not true. And how do we know that this tradition is to be rejected? By going to the Holy Scriptures, and by observing that, one, this teaching is nowhere found in the Holy Scriptures, and two, this teaching contradicts what God’s Word plainly says.
To be clear, angels are real. There are angelic beings who rebelled against God in the beginning. Satan is one of those, and there are many others besides him. And there are many thousands of angels who did not rebel against God, who kept their proper place, who are now confirmed in their righteousness through Christ. Paul refers to these angels as the elect angels (see 1 Timothy 5:21). He also says that they are “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14, ESV).
Furthermore, it is true that the Old Mosaic Covenant was delivered to Moses, and through him, to the people of Israel, by angels. The Deuteronomy 33 passage that was read at the beginning of the sermon mentions that (see Deuteronomy 33:2). The New Testament also mentions the involvement of angels in the making of the Old Mosaic Covenant (see Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 2:2).
But what about the New Covenant? Do angels function as mediators under the New Covenant? Must we go through angels to draw near to God or to Christ? Should angels ever be worshipped by us? How can we know? Not by looking to the traditions or teaching of man, but by going to God’s Holy Word.
As we go to God’s word, we see that God alone is to be worshipped (see Exodus 20:1-7; Isaiah 48:11), and that there “is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5–6, ESV). Furthermore, it is the Lord Jesus Christ, and he alone, that brings us all the way back to God. As Paul says in Romans 5:10: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10, ESV)
Angels, as powerful and glorious as they are, must never be worshipped. Consider the words of the Apostle John in Revelation 19:9: “Then he [the angel] said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’ And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he [the angel] said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’” (Revelation 19:9–10, NKJV).
What exactly were the false teachers in Colossae teaching? What name should we give to their system of doctrine? It’s hard to know for sure. But really, it doesn’t matter, for we can take what the Apostle says and learn to evaluate any form of teaching that we encounter. Any system of doctrine that teaches there are more mediators between God and man than Christ, or that teaches that prayers are to be offered to any but to God through Christ, or that urges the faithful to venerate or worship any but God and Christ (given his divine nature), must be rejected, for, one, these teachings are contrary to God’s words, and two, these teaching are nowhere found within. Yes, I do hope that you have Roman Catholicism in mind, but they are not the only tradition that distorts the Christian religion as it is revealed in the pages of Holy Scripture. Beware of man-made religious traditions of kinds. These may indeed have “an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh
” (Colossians 2:23, ESV).
“Let No One Disqualify You… Going On In Detail About Visions,
Puffed Up Without Reason By His Sensuous Mind.”
At the end of verse 18, Paul mentions another aspect of the false teaching in Colossae: “Let no one disqualify you… going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind…” (Colossians 2:18, ESV)
I won’t say so much about this phrase. The mystical aspect of the false teaching in Colosae has already been hinted at by the mention of the worship of angels—this solidifies it. These false teachers, whoever they were, were mystics. They were seeking mystical experiences, visions, and encounters with the spiritual world. And they would go on and on about whatever experiences they had, or claimed to have had. Paul says, Do not let men like this disqualify you. Do not allow them to have authority over you or to condemn you, as if something were lacking in you, because they saw a spiritual vision, and you did not.
To be clear, Paul was a man who saw visions (see 2 Corinthians 2). The Apostle Peter saw visions (Acts 10:9-23). And the Apostle John saw visions too (see the book of Revelation). But these men were the Apostles of Jesus Christ. And even for them, these visions that they saw did not function as the foundation of the faith. What is the foundation? Christ is the foundation. The life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in fulfillment of the law, prophets, and Psalms, is our foundation. But these men in Colossae were making their spiritual experiences their foundation. And worse than this, they were imposing their experiences on others, teaching others that such experiences ought to be sought. As I have said, Paul, Peter, and John all saw visions from God. But when did they ever teach Christians to seek such experiences? Never. In other words, experiences like these are not to be considered an ordinary means of grace for the Christian.
Brothers and sisters, have you ever had a vivid dream that impacted you profoundly? Have you ever awoke thinking, man, it almost feels like the Lord was speaking to me through that dream? That’s fine, brothers and sisters, provided that the dream agrees with what is written in Holy Scripture. And I would caution you not to make that dream anything like the foundation of your faith. Don’t build your life on it. And I would also caution you not to seek dreams and visions. If they come, they come. But never to the Scriptures teach us to seek such experienceriences. What are we to seek? We are to seek the Lord through the means that he has ordained. We are to seek the Lord in his Holy Word. We are to seek the Lord in prayer. We are to seek the Lord once in Baptism and regularly at the Lord’s Supper. We are to seek the Lord in Christian fellowship. How do I know this? Because it is written (see Matthew 4:4, etc) that the disciples of Jesus “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42, ESV).
Listen to what Paul has to say about those who seek visions or other such experiences to build their faith upon them: They are “puffed up without reason by [their] sensuous mind…” (Colossians 2:18, ESV). To be “puffed up without reason” is to be prideful for no good reason. To be clear, there is never a good reason to be prideful. But those who build their faith on visions or experiences do tend to be especially prideful. Look at what God has revealed to me, they will say. I must be special. I must be a holy man. But this pride is not justified, for the man who found his faith founded on such things, or who thinks that such experiences are a mark of maturity or holiness, is ignorant of the truth and lacks true holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
Paul was tempted by pride after he saw the vision that was shown to him. In 2 Corinthians 12:7 he writes, “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7–10, ESV). Paul was shown a vision of high things. He was tempted to be conceited. But God was merciful to him. He afflicted him in some way to drive him continuously back to Christ. And so he says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 10:17, ESV).
Those who chase after experiences to found their faith on them will be “puffed up without reason by [their] sensuous mind…” (Colossians 2:18, ESV). A sensuous mind is a fleshly, sinful, and unspiritual mind. This is ironic, isn’t it? The mind that seeks after spiritual experiences is, in fact, fleshly and unspiritual, the Apostle says. Why? Because when these experiences are not from Christ or rooted in him, they do not put the sinful desires of the flesh to death, but, on the contrary, they feed the flesh, as has just been said.
I wasn’t raised in a Pentecostal or Charismatic church. Some of you were, and I imagine you are thinking of your past experiences as I say these things. But I was raised in an Evangelical church and in a youth group culture where having “an emotional experience in worship” was highly valued. I can say yes and amen to what the Apostle says: “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion… but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:23, ESV).
Where is true maturity and holiness found? Not in experiences, but in Christ. He must regenerate you, and he must sanctify you further, as you walk with him and labor with the strength he supplies to “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24, ESV).
“And Not Holding Fast To The Head, From Whom The Whole Body, Nourished And Knit Together Through Its Joints And Ligaments, Grows With A Growth That Is From God.”
Near the beginning of this sermon I said, “When those who profess faith in Christ allow themselves to be taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, rooted in human tradition, and the elementary principles of the world, and not in Christ, they experience a double loss as they, one, trade one form of bondage for another, and two, as they server themselves from Christ, their redeemer and head, who alone can give them spiritual life.”
Well, that second loss is mentioned by the Apostle in verse 19. I haven’t left much time to talk about this wonderful verse, but I think the meaning is clear. The real tragedy of the false teaching in Colossae (and all forms of false teaching) is the way in which it distracts, distances, or even severs men and women from Christ. False teachers add that which is false, and they distract from or take away what matters most—salvation and sanctification in Christ alone. They fail to hold “fast to [Christ] the Head, from whom the whole body [that is, his church, is] nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” (Colossians 2:19, ESV)
This image of Christ as the Head and we, his church on earth, as his body, communicates at least four truths which counter the false teaching in Colossae.
One, those who have turned from their sins to believe in Christ as he is offered to us in the gospel, are united to him spiritually, really, truly, and immediately. No mediators come between Jesus and us.
Two, those who are united to Christ by faith have Christ as their Head. Just as the head informs and governs the body, so too Christ informs and governs his church. Any philosophy not rooted in Christ must be rejected, therefore. Special knowledge is not needed. Visions are not needed. What is needed? Christ, his wisdom, and the knowledge he gives are needed, and this is found in his Holy Word.
Three, the power and strength needed to walk worthily in the word also come from Christ, the Head. Just as the head nourishes the physical body, so too Christ nourishes his spiritual body, the church.
Four, it is Christ the Head who unites his body. We enjoy unity with one another in Christ. False teaching brings division. Christ Jesus brings unity.
Conclussion
Brothers and sisters, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the [elementary principles] of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8, ESV). “[L]et no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” (Colossians 2:16–19, ESV)
