Beware of Spiritual Thieves
Colossians 2.16-19
Outline
- Introduction
- Paul’s concern for the Colossian church
- The Proto-Gnostic heresy
- Warning against spiritual thieves
- The basis of Paul’s charge: Christ and His finished work
- The substance of Paul’s charge
- Let no one judge you
- Accept no more indebtedness
- Let no one defraud you of your prize
- Recognizing the thieves
- They delight in humility
- They delight in the worship of angels
- They take their stand on visions they have seen
- They are inflated by their fleshly minds
- They do not hold fast to Christ
- Principles of Application
- The best antidote to false teaching is to know Christ
- Beware of anything that could distract you from Christ
- True growth comes only from union with Christ
Paul was consumed with concern for “all the churches,” and so when he wrote to a church, he was intentional. He did not spend the precious time God had given him to write miscellaneous treatises which had no immediate practical application. He had a passionate zeal for God’s glory and a pastoral concern for His sheep, and these consuming concerns are what actuated his letters
We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. (Colossians 1.28)
Introduction
What were the particular problems in the Colossian church which concerned the apostle to the point that he was moved to write?
- What doctrinal errors begged to be corrected by his teaching?
- What failures of life and understanding called for his admonition?
- And how would his words serve to build them up in Christ the Savior?
The Situation
Epaphras (1.7, 4.2) the Colossian who had brought the gospel to Colossae, had reported to Paul that his beloved home church was falling prey to dangerous error in the form of Gnostic false teaching.
ΓΝΟΣΙΣ
The term “Gnostic” comes from the Greek word “gnosis” which means knowledge.
Gnosticism has many manifestations, but the common element in all of them is a setting forth of requirements by which we attain to salvation only through some kind of “special knowledge.”
- performance of secret rites
- observance of external ordinances like keeping of feast days
- ascetic practices like fasts, self-abasement, and abstinence
- pursuit of heaven through a hierarchy of angelic mediaries
Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day — things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. (Col. 2:16-19)
Being Defrauded and Being Enslaved
Have you ever read or heard a news account of some unsuspecting group of senior citizens being preyed upon by pitiless swindlers who rob them of their limited livelihood?
Through some unscrupulous scam they cheat these poor folks out of their precious personal savings by taking advantage of their gullibility. We react with indignation when we hear of such things. We are sickened and appalled. And if you or a loved one have ever been robbed or cheated, you probably know well the wrenching feelings it produces. You feel violated.
This is exactly why Paul chooses this potent military metaphor:
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception… (2.8)
Imagine the abhorrence of being made a slave!
Paul again intentionally seeks to stir up the fire of strong emotions in us, that comes from being swindled (what a sickening thing it is to be cheated!), in order to make us zealous in our vigilance against those ruthless thieves who would rob us of our priceless treasure: Jesus Christ.
Remember our Lord said:
he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber…The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
Paul is warning us against these spiritual thieves.
Therefore no one is to act as your judge
First of all we must understand that this “therefore” – is the reason why we are to let no one judge us. “Therefore” is referring in general to Paul’s entire argument in the letter to this point, in which he states so strongly the absolute supremacy of Christ, and our full and final salvation in Him.
These are the foundational truths he has set forth:
- Christ delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son (1.13)
- In Christ we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins (1.14)
- Christ is the image of God, and the heir of all creation (1.15)
- Christ created everything, and it all exists for Him (1.16)
- Christ preserves everything “in Him all things hold together” (1.17)
- Christ is the head of the body (1.18)
- Christ is the first-born of the new race by His resurrection (1.18)
- Christ is pre-eminent over all (1.18)
- All the fullness of God dwells in Christ (1.19, 2.9)
- Christ has reconciled all things to God by His cross (1.20)
- Though we were enemies and dead in sins, Christ has reconciled us to God through His death (1.21, 2.13)
- Christ dwells in us, and is alone our hope of glory (1.27)
- All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ (2.3)
(Paul uses the Gnostics’ own terminology “knowledge” and “hidden” and “mystery” to disarm them) - We are complete in Christ. – 2.10
What about our sin debt to the Holy God?
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; … He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross…(2.14)
Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day (2:16)
It is precisely because our debt of obligation to the Holy God has been fully paid, having been erased and cancelled out by the cross of Christ that we must refuse to allow anyone to judge us. Paul is driving home to us is that we must absolutely refuse to accept any more indebtedness in any form because Christ has cleared all debts, once and forever!
The thieves, the would-be judges, who do not enter through Jesus Christ the door, would have us follow them, not Christ. They would demand payment again when full payment has already been made.
Just imagine that you had a huge mortgage, which your wealthy and generous elder brother paid off in full. Then the month following this you received an invoice requiring another payment, showing the same old large balance outstanding. “Now hold on just a minute,” you say, “I am now the owner, free and clear, what’s with this? In the round file with it!” This is the urgent sense of Paul’s words “let no one judge you,” and this is exactly what kind of indignant response he seeks to call forth from us who have had our sin debts paid off in full.
But Paul does not stop there. If it were not enough that these supposed additional obligations are completely bogus, they are not even in today’s currency:
things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (2.17)
In other words, the dietary laws, ritual ordinances, festivals and feasts were ordained by God under the Old Covenant and therefore they were legitimate for that time. They were set forth for a season, as types for the primary purpose of pointing to the full and final reality in Jesus Christ.
Paul presents the clear contrast between the body and the shadows which the body casts. Picture this in your mind. Think about it:
- Only the body is real.
- The shadows are cast by the body
- Shadows have no existence apart from the body
- Shadows are there only to remind us of the body
- Shadows are defined by the body, and nothing else
- Shadows are only cast in an oblique light.
But now, since the full noonday blaze of light in the Gospel has come in the person of Christ, the shadows have vanished, and are gone forever. They once had a legitimate purpose to point to the coming One, when the Light was still incomplete, but no longer, now that God has fully and finally revealed Himself and His salvation in Jesus Christ.
___
So we have Paul’s first warning:
Let no one act as your judge…
Next we have the 2nd blow, as it were, in Paul’s one-two punch:
Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize…
To drive home his admonition yet further, Paul uses another, and perhaps even more strongly compelling image.
Now we are called to identify with the one who has fairly won the coveted prize in an athletic contest. But afterwards one posing as a judge comes along and says “no, you haven’t quite won the prize yet…
- you still need to perform these feats
- and satisfy those requirements
- and learn the special secrets
- and accomplish these tasks
What?!! Would not this heat your blood if you or your friend were the victorious champion? Again, this is precisely Paul’s intention, namely that we should become incensed and indignant about this scandalous defrauding of a fairly won prize, and thereby be strengthened against the malicious persuasions of those who would cheat us of our precious prize, Christ Jesus.
Now that we have heard Paul’s warning in no uncertain terms, how are we to recognize these thieves, so that we might be on guard against them? Paul gives us all the telltale signs in vss. 18-19:
1) They delight in self-abasement, or better: “they delight in humility”. Let me repeat this: “they delight in humility.” Does this strike you as odd? Isn’t something wrong here? If someone delights in their humility that means they are proud of it. They are boasting in it, and thereby giving the lie to their vaunted “humility”. True humility is not conscious of itself at all, but only of the One upon whom it utterly depends.
2) They also delight in the worship of angels. These were the angelic mediaries through whom they say we must ascend one by one to reach perfection. So in effect, they are taking pleasure in putting a series of hoops between you and Christ your Savior. Extra requirements, “yes but’s” Christ alone, but not quite.
3) They “take their stand on visions they have seen.” In other words they put major stock in their spiritual experiences, more than in the Gospel of Christ. These visions or experiences become the basis of their profession and their hope, rather than Christ and His finished work.
4) They are “inflated without cause by their fleshly minds” – this is the inevitable result of their aforementioned errors, namely that they are puffed up by their own foolish speculations, because…
5) they do NOT hold fast to the Head, Christ.
This climactic rhetorical negative is in stark contrast to the preceding positives: Here are the positive statements:
- They DO delight in humility
- They DO delight in angel-worship
- They DO take their stand on visions
- They ARE vainly inflated by their fleshly minds…
BUT … Here is the climactic negative: they DO NOT hold fast to christ!
What an indictment! Because they do not cling to Christ the Head, therefore they cannot grow with the true spiritual growth which is from God.
Application
You may protest that you are not accustomed to being accosted by Gnostics in the local coffee shop. Well actually you probably are, but just may not have thought about it in those terms. Remember that Gnosticism is essentially the adding of any special requirements for salvation beyond the pure Gospel of Christ. We do in fact find this today on every hand.
Here are three principles we can take to guard against the thieves:
FIRST: The best antidote to false teaching is the true knowledge of Christ.
a) It has been well said that the best way to discern a counterfeit is to be intimately acquainted with the authentic article. So it is with Christ. Know the Lord, know His Word, be renewed in your mind by daily intercourse with the Lord in His Word and prayer, and you won’t be nearly as vulnerable to false teachers.
b) This is exactly Paul’s approach to the erring ones he addresses in this letter – he takes great pains to preach Christ, to remind us of His nature, and of our standing in Him (1.27 Christ in you, the hope of glory), and he prays:
that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding … and that you may be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might (1.9,11)
c) Remember our Lord’s words:
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10.27)
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3)
SECONDLY: Be wary of anything that could distract you away from Christ and His cross. (even something good):
a) You could, for example, become pre-occupied with your participation in the work of the church for its own sake, and subtly begin to put more stock in your religious performance than in Christ.
b) You could take pleasure in your Christian character. Your adversary constantly seeks whom he may devour. Remember our Lord’s words: “The thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy” You must be wise enough to realize that whenever you do a good work in the Spirit of Christ, the Accuser will be right there to tempt you to think well of yourself. This is very dangerous indeed – spiritual pride is deadly. Witness the Pharisees. They were “puffed up without cause by their fleshly minds.” Remember that it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure. If you know and believe and do the Truth, it is by His enabling grace, because He “has opened our minds to understand the Scriptures.”
c) You could become enamored with certain prescriptions or methods of prayer or fasting or other Christian disciplines. If you begin to view some devotional method as a formula for spiritual growth, you will be in peril of trusting in the method, rather than in The Mediator. You may be helped by methods, but you serve the Lord diligently and faithfully because you are standing in Christ, not in order to gain standing in Christ.
d) You could be tempted to look back with nostalgia upon some watershed event in your Christian experience, focusing upon that event as the basis of your hope, rather than upon the person of Christ. God may have saved you in an amazing and remarkable manner, for which you are right to thank Him, but that experience was just a means of grace, it was and is Jesus Christ Himself who saves you. The only past events to which we look as the foundation of our hope are the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
THIRDLY: True spiritual growth comes only from union with Christ.
and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. (2.19)
This verse exemplifies the doubled-edged sword of the Word:
On one edge we see that those not holding fast to Jesus Christ have no spiritual life. So do not be deceived: however moral, upright, wise and insightful one may seem, if he is relying upon something other than Christ, then he has no life.
On the other edge we understand that we are in Christ, and there is no secret formula for spiritual growth, apart from abiding in Him. Each member of Christ’s body derives life and growth from the Christ Himself, the Head. To grow in Christ we cultivate the vital connections of life with Him, and with the members of His body. These connections are what Paul here calls “being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments.” In these vital connections of life, we hold fast in every facet of our lives to Jesus Christ, who is the source of Life.
