Colossians 2:16-19 - False teachings

People introduce fancy ideas, as did the Gnostics. They then introduce rules to bind people up. Just as the ideas will have a superficial attractiveness, seeming to offer something spiritual, so the rules will seems to offer something spiritual. In Paul's day they focused on observance of special days, or rules about eating and drinking. Now the Law, and all religions, have some special days and customs, but all these things are a mere shadow of what was to come. Note the tense here "things that were to come" (verse 17). The reality, which is Christ, is now here. Reality is found only in Christ.

Now this does not mean we should go to the other extreme and become paranoid in case anything we do turns into a custom. You will find it impossible to avoid habits and customs. No matter how free you might think your church is, it will have its own habits and ways of doing things. This is not a problem. It only becomes a problem when (i) we insist that our way is the only way of doing things; (ii) our customs become a barrier to the work that God wants to do.

Some delight in what they claim to know or have seen about angels. This is still something some do today. If a "charismatic" false teacher (by which I do not mean charismatics (being one myself) or false teachers! Rather, I am talking about false teachers within the charismatic parts of the church) wants to deceive people or lead them astray, then a good tip is to start talking about angels. Such a scheme will guarantee that you will be heard, and some will be taken in. So if you hear a preacher forever going on about angels, then be on your guard. Rather than being spiritual they are unspiritual. Now this does not mean we should never mention angels, just that a little balance is needed.

Colossians 2:9-15 - Set Free

Christ is all we need, "for in Him dwells the whole fullness of deity". That means that everything there is to know about God is in Christ. He is God, and He demonstrates and reveals everything of God.

Moreover we have been filled with the Spirit of Christ. So what more do we need? He has all power and authority, He has all wisdom. So we need fear nothing. The so-called clever teachings of men are actually influenced by "elemental spirits". Their root lies in the devil, not in God.

Alongside the Gnostics, the Judaisers sought to get people to be circumcised. Again we have no need of this. We have been "circumcised" by the Spirit in our hearts. What need do we have of any physical circumcision? What is it going to add to us? IF we live by the Spirit we do not live by the flesh.

We were buried with Christ in baptism, and raised with Him through faith. We start to experience new life now, and we will be raised from the dead when Christ returns. 

Once sin ruled over us, but now the we are free from sin. This does not mean that we are perfect yet, or never sin, but we are starting to gain the victory. We have been made alive.

Christ did this by cancelling the charge that stood against us, nailing it to the cross. The Law declared us sinners deserving of death. This is what gave the enemy power over us. Look at all man's attempts to be free. They are all rooted in trying to overcome this judgement in one way or another. The religious types seek to do so by strict observance of some code or other, and it always results in failure. Atheists seek to try and prove that there is no God. Hedonists seek to drown out the noise with pleasure. In all sorts of ways the rulers ans authorities have power over man. But on the cross they were disarmed, openly. No longer is there any charge against us. So we are free to live for Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Colossians 2:8 - Watch out for false ideas

Ideas are very powerful and men are easily taken captive by them, sometimes with disastrous consequences. In the last century the most terrible examples are Nazism and communism. One nation was completely captivated by Nazism, many nations were taken captive by communism, both with a terrible cost in terms of millions of lives and economic cost as well.

Evolution has taken many captive as well. Now let me make it clear that I have no objection whatsoever to proper scientific research into evolution. Many scientific questions can be used to challenge evolution as the complete explanation it purports to be, but proper research is perfectly valid. However, there are those who use evolution as a vehicle for "disproving" God. 

Religious people can be taken in by deceptive ideas as well. Indeed the most world religions are false! Charismatics can be taken in by ideas, particularly ones that make big play on angels, or some form of special or secret knowledge. All humanity is the same, we are all susceptible to the same attacks and weaknesses.

We need to make sure that we are not taken in by wrong ideas, and the defence to this is to be Christ focused. The word of God is clear and open.

Colossians 2:6,7 - Rooted and Built Up

As we received Christ, so we are to walk in Him. The way we started is the way we are to carry on. There is often a tendency to start well, then think that we need to start doing things differently or add something. The Galatian church had this problem, thinking they needed to adopt Judaism including circumcision. In Colossae they thought they needed to add "secret knowledge" and other Gnostic type teachings. The churches that John wrote to faced similar challenges. 

We started with faith, we started with gratitude for God's grace, we started with love for Christ and commitment to Him. This is the way we are meant to continue.

However, this most definitely does not mean that we do not develop. We are rooted in Christ, and built up in Him. So we need to appreciate His grace more, we need more faith, we need a deeper love for Christ. Added to all this is thanksgiving to Christ. With all this we are built up, we become increasingly effective in the world.

So the one constant things is Christ, the one sure foundation is Christ, and we build our lives more and more on Him.

Colossians 2:1-5 - Christ is all

Some of the false teachers denigrated those who suffered, Paul does the exact opposite. He was proud (in a positive sense) of his sufferings, seeing them as an essential part of his work for the church. This was not suffering for its own sake, but his work for the church and for Christ entailed suffering. So he wanted his readers to bee encouraged by this. We can perhaps see a parallel in some forms of so-called prosperity teaching (let me add that I absolutely believe in Biblical prosperity, it is just that there is a lot of nonsense taught on this subject, some of it dangerous nonsense). What are you encouraged most by: someone teaching about how God will give you lots of money if only you have enough faith; or someone who has been through difficult circumstances but has seen the grace of God at work and have come through this situation with greater awareness of God's love and a more Christlike character. And which would you rather have?

The false teachers' message was shallow. In contrast, Paul's desire is for them to have all the riches of full assurance of understanding. This again is a direct counter to Gnosticism with its hidden knowledge. All truth is in Christ, all wisdom is in Christ, all knowledge is in Christ. We should make it our goal to know Christ better. So we should beware of any teaching that takes us away from this. 

Paul commends them, and assures them of his support.

Colossians 1:24-29 - Suffering for Christ

These verses provide an object lesson in interpreting the Bible. In verse 24 Paul says "I make up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions". Taken in an unthinking manner this presents an immediate problem, for it implies that Christ's death on the cross was in some way incomplete, whereas the foundation of the gospel is that Christ is the once for all complete sacrifice.

So what is the answer? First remember that Paul was not writing in a university library, he is not writing a theological academic paper.He is writing to people in a church, probably from prison, and to a real situation, namely facing false teachings of various sorts. One element of that false teaching denigrated suffering (as do some variants of "prosperity teaching"). We need to imagine the emotion behind Paul's writing. He knows that the gospel is built on suffering, namely Christ's suffering, and that we are called to share in His sufferings. So he is writing more in a polemical manner. What he is saying is that rather than denigrate suffering, he rejoices in it, and suffering is a fundamental part of the Christian life, and the spread of the gospel. 

The Gnostic type teachings are also why he uses terms like "mystery". God has revealed the mystery, we do not need any hidden knowledge (the root meaning of Gnostic). 

Christ is in us, He is the hope of glory. The gospel all centered on Christ, and it is for Him that we must direct all our energies. If we are focused on anything else we are going in the wrong direction.

Colossians 1:18-23 - Head of the church

Christ is the head of the body, the church. Jesus is the living leader of the church. We do not just follow the teachings of a man who lived two thousand years ago, we do not just remember Him. Jesus actively leads the church, through the Holy Spirit. If we make anything else head, then we are heading in the wrong direction.

Jesus is also the firstborn of the new creation. He is the firstborn from among the dead. What that means is that we will be raised to new life just as He was raised from the dead.

"Fullness" was a term used in Gnostic teachings, referring to the sum of supernatural forces controlling the fate of people and the world. Paul declares that all the fullness of God dwelt in Jesus. Ie Jesus contained all the character and power of God in Him. There is a warning herein how we interpret words in the Bible. If we just took "fullness" in isolation, forgetting or not knowing that Paul was using it as counter term to Gnostic type teaching, then we might end up reading too much in to the meaning of the word here.

Through the blood of Jesus God is reconciling all things to Himself. This does not mean universalism in the sense that all are saved regardless of whether or not they believe, it does mean that the salvation in Christ is open to all to lay hold of through faith. It also means that the reconciliation extends to all of creation. All of creation was and is affected by man's sin, likewise all of creation will be affected by Christ's salvation (see Romans 8:19-22).