COLOSSIANS – Part Eight

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

www.godsbreathpublications.com

 

Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul while he was under house arrest in Rome. Epaphras, the pastor of the church in Colossae, came to Paul to share how well the Christians were growing in faith, but also to ask for help to address the issue of false teaching that was threatening the church. Paul responded by writing this letter of encouragement that is packed full of basic doctrine concerning Christ and the Gospel. It is unclear what the exact heresy was that was attempting to creep into the church at Colossae, but it had elements of Jewish observances of the Law as well as paganism and Gnostic beliefs. It is very relevant for us today, for we are surrounded by pagan beliefs and ascetic religious concepts, while at the same time dealing with a new resurgence of Gnostic conceptual influences. Paul in the following passage covers the doctrine of the persona and work of Jesus Christ. The best way to confront false teachings and twisted doctrine is to proclaim scriptural truth.

 

The believer who masters this chapter is not likely to be led astray by some alluring and enticing ‘new-and-improved brand of Christianity. The better a Christian understands God’s true revelation concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ, the better he or she will be able to recognize and refute false doctrine. Therefore Paul admonishes followers of Christ that they not be led astray by false teachers. Then he teaches us that Jesus Christ was fully God as well as fully human and has authority over all powers and authorities.

 

Paul was aware of four threats to the faith of the Christians at Colossae. These were human philosophy, Jewish legalism – ceremonialism, Gnostic mysticism and asceticism. In Colossians 2:8-23, Paul mounted a frontal attack on the Colossian heresies. He dealt with human philosophy in Ephesians 2:8-10 and presented Christ’s sufficiency in Ephesians 2:11-15. Now He continues by attacking the Jewish legalism (2:16-17), Gnostic mysticism (2:18-19), and asceticism (2:20-23).

 

 Colossians 2:16-23

“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”

 

 While the Jews were in the minority in Colossae, there still was a significant portion of the population that was Jewish. They had built synagogues and had an influence in the area. Many Jews who came in contact with Christians attempted to convince them that in order to be fully Christian they needed to observe Jewish laws and ceremonies. The Jewish thinking was that Christianity had come out of the Jewish faith so Christians must observe Old Testament Jewish Law and any of its ceremonies as well. Paul knew the law as good, if not better than, any other Jew and was the best spokesman to deal with this controversy. While God worked in the Old Testament with the Jewish people to bring about His will for Mankind, Jesus came to fulfill the law and set up His Kingdom that would be radically different than Old Testament rules and ceremonies. These laws, ceremonies, feasts and festivals were shadows of Christ and the Gospel He would bring.

 

In Verses 16 -17 of Chapter 2 Paul tells the Christians at Colossae not to let anyone judge them by how they lived.

 

“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Paul knew that ceremonies emphasized works as a means to gain God’s favor. Paul communicates that these rules and regulations were meant to foreshadow a revelation of the Messiah who would come to save Mankind from their sins. What had happened within the Jewish faith was that they shackled men to rules and regulations and caused an attitude of elitism amongst those in religious power, the Pharisees and Sadducees. He states in verse 17 that “the reality” in living the Christian life is found “in Christ” not rules and regulations. Legalism or ceremonialism is a religion based on human achievement and claims that spirituality is based on human works. The true Christian lives according to love for God and others. He seeks to obey God’s laws because he loves God, not because he has to please God or gain points with God. Paul is telling the followers of Christ not to let others judge them by legalistic standards. Their salvation is in Christ (Romans 10:4, Galatians 5:1, Romans 14-15, 1 Corinthians 8-10). Paul gave Titus good advice regarding a similar problem he was dealing with in Titus 1:14, “pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.” Associated with all the Jewish laws were festivals which were Jewish celebrations such as Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles. “New Moon” celebrations were associated with sacrifices that were offered on the first day of the month. The Sabbath Day observances on Saturday were not binding to followers of Christ for they worshipped on the first day of the week, Sunday (Acts 20:7).

 

Paul next addresses Gnostic mysticism in verses 18-19,

 

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” False teachers were portraying themselves as humble worshippers of God who claimed they were having impressive experiences of the supernatural. Though appearing humble, they were in actuality attempting to brag about their spiritual superiority because they thought they had secret spiritual knowledge because they worshipped angels, which is forbidden, and claimed to have secret knowledge of God that only the elite could possess. They promoted their visions and miraculous experiences to build themselves up and degrade the Christians who were attempting to live by the teachings of Christ. Such false teachers tried to make the followers of Christ feel and think they were missing out. We have such pressures today from those groups of people who promote mystical spiritual experience over good Biblical knowledge and obedience. They stretch interpretations of scripture so far that almost any sort of experience can be validated that brings personal pleasure or stimulation. Visions, miracles and extra-biblical doctrines and practices are promoted to enhance their spiritual lives and intimidate those who do not practice or believe in such false teachings. When spiritual experiences take precedence over the knowledge and application of God’s Word in a person’s life, then all manner of distractions can cause a person to wander off the straight and narrow path, which is exactly what Satan wants.

 

This is why the Bible continues to be relevant to our lives as Christians today. The same temptations and heresies still exist that would detract us from living as we should as followers of Christ. We need to remember that when we walk outside the boundary of the properly translated written Word of God, any thought or belief can develop and lead us astray. Today we have what might be called “Christian Mysticism’ developing that can cause us to place experience over knowledge of God’s Holy Word. John MacArthur tells us that “Mysticism may be defined as the pursuit of a deeper or higher subjective religious experience. It is a belief that spiritual reality is perceived apart from the human intellect and natural senses. It looks for truth internally, weighing feelings, intuition, and other internal sensations more heavily than objective, observable, external data. It ultimately derives its authority from a self-actualized, self-authenticated light rising from within. This irrational and anti-intellectual approach is the antithesis of Christian theology.” A Christian can have miraculous spiritual experiences that validate their faith at times, but when we begin to seek these mystical experiences rather than the stability of knowing and living out God’s Word we begin to slide down a slippery slope of distracting deception. We should appreciate such experiences when they occur, but not commit our lives to seeking them out on a regular basis. Our spiritual foundation is built on us understanding God’s Word with our heart and mind, not living with our emotions. Several scriptures tell us how important scripture is to base our thought life on and therefore our actions and behaviors (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 4:12).

 

In verse 19 Paul tells us that when people follow their own thoughts based on their personal experiences rather than God’s Word they have “lost connection with the Head.” Christ is the Head of the church and we are to be submissive to His teachings and leadership. The false teachers were deceiving themselves with their “fleshly thoughts and philosophies.” They were going beyond the teaching of Christ (2 John 9). Christ is the One “from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.” We must “abide” in Christ to grow (John 15:4-5). When we notice a person, church or spiritual movement where Scripture is a distant second in importance to visions and revelations we should beware. We may hear the Bible quoted, but if it is misquoted to alter its meaning to support the experiential manifestations that are sought after, we must be doubly cautious and discerning.

 

Finally in verses 20-23 Paul addresses the deceitfulness of asceticism. Asceticism is the religious practice of denying oneself physical comforts or necessities. An ascetic is one who lives a life of rigorous self-denial. This belief centers on the thought that one can gain righteousness through discipline. False teachers who believed in this lifestyle were telling Christians they needed to live by rules of self-denial to become more spiritual, “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” Paul states that such teachings were based on human reason and thought. Such man-contrived ideas fostered the belief that one could gain acceptance from God in this self-denial. The self-abasement of asceticism also creates false humility. The false teachers were “delighting” in this self-denial and therefore not humble but full of ugly pride. Asceticism is prideful worship of what one can do in selfish disciplines of life and is essentially self-worship. Another aspect of this asceticism is that it was associated with Gnosticism. Gnosticism believed that man’s body was evil and his spirit was good. Therefore they believed that through denying the evil body of what it craved; food, water and sleep, one could free the “good spirit.” The problem was asceticism focuses on “things destined to perish with the using.” (1 Corinthians 6:13) It has “the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self abasement and severe treatment of the body,” but is “of no value against fleshly indulgence.” It gives a false sense of higher spirituality. A Believer who bases His life on Christ and His Word does not need to live by such man-made rules and false philosophies.

 

“Any asceticism is a great deal more to men’s taste than abandoning self. They will rather stick hooks in their backs and do the ‘swinging poojah’ than give up their sins and yield up their wills. There is only one thing that will put the collar on the neck of the animal within us and that is the power of the indwelling Christ. Ascetic religion is godless, for its practitioners essentially worship themselves. As such, we are not to be intimidated by it.”

Alexander McClaren

 

There are times when we as Christians may be called to a ministry that will require much sacrifice, but this is not done to add to our salvation, nor to gain spiritual favor with God. We may at times fast from a meal to focus on our relationship with God. We may spend extra time in prayer. We may deny ourselves a convenience or pleasure to make sure it is not ruling over our thoughts or soul. But these disciplines, when properly balanced, can encourage our walk with Christ. When they become an idol we worship, a process we place higher priority on than knowing scripture or loving Christ, we too can cross the line and begin to practice asceticism. Consider Matthew 6:16-18 and how we are to practice fasting for example.

 

In our next part we will discuss and discover how we are to walk and live in Christ according to the doctrines that Paul has discussed in the first two chapters.