Colossians 2:16-19

Colossians 2:16-19

We come to a “therefore” passage. A “therefore” passage is where Paul will make a theological pronouncement and then make a practical application. Anytime you see “therefore” in one of Paul’s letters, it typically serves as a link between a theological statement and its application. Because of the six things accomplished by Christ, listed by Paul in verses 10-15, he tells disciples how to live. Paul begins with a command that we allow no one to judge regarding eating and drinking. This is more than food choices but the matter of ascetic lifestyles. The false teachers taught a sort of self-denial for a false reason. They thought that since angels don’t eat and drink because they are spiritual, then believers shouldn’t eat or drink if they want to be spiritual. They set up their own standard of being holy based on certain abstinences and condemned anyone who didn’t follow their prescribed practices. They base the rules on the Old Testament law. But Paul says these laws are merely shadows of the substance that is in Christ. The word “substance” literally means “body.” The Old Testament rituals were shadows cast by the body of Christ.

Apparently the false teachers have already done damage because Paul says, “Let no one keep defrauding you.” The word “defrauding” is best understood as a referee that makes bad calls that cheat a player. Don’t play a game with a corrupt referee, and do not seek spiritual guidance from a person that will cheat you of what you have in Christ and what Christ has accomplished for you. Apparently here is what these false teachers did with a perverted kind of humility: they claimed not to be able to approach God. This denies both God‘s love and His goodness. The false teachers claiming humility, instead, went to Angels. Because of their supposed humility, the angels gave them visions and a superior and secret knowledge. Remember not all angels are good guys. As a result, these false teachers were a massive combination of arrogance, being inflated, and ignorance, being without Christ. In reality they were driven by carnal selfishness and a sin-dominated mind.

When someone claims that God or a spirit told them something, we must be careful. The worst and most dangerous heresies rise from supposed extra revelation received, reportedly, from angels. These teachings enslave us, cut us off from the head, Jesus Christ, and we become pawns or tools for the false teachers and their organizations. 

“Give me the grace to live faithfully in what Christ has done for me. AMEN”