1 Timothy 4:1–5:

1But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; 5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

Last week we talked of Christ’s sufficiency in matters of salvation as we touched on the circumcision without hands and our baptism with Christ. Remember also how last week’s verses began, with the word “Therefore”. Again, the verses for this week begin with a “Therefore”. Therefore, this week’s verses are directly connected to last week’s verses. However, this week’s verses contain two commands directly related to last week’s teachings. Namely, “no one is to act as your judge in regard to…” and “Let no one keep defrauding you…”.

Colossians 2:16–17:

16 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— 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

Verse 16 gives us our first command. We can summarize this command in its context as: “Since Christ is all sufficient in matters of salvation no one should judge you in regards to Old Testament traditions.” This command seems to focus more on refuting the Old Testament Jewish laws and traditions as unnecessary. The Jews that were still focused on OT laws were probably using persuasive speech to entice the believers at Colossae to revert to OT laws and traditions in order to maintain their salvation.

But Jesus had already said in Mark 7:14–19:

14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. 16 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. 18 And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.)

And Paul re-stated this in Romans 14:17:

17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

And in 1 Corinthians 8:8:

8 But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat.

The OT laws and traditions were designed to point out people’s sin, not to save them from it. These laws and traditions were there to point us to Christ, the mystery revealed in the New Testament. Paul sums up why we are not to be judged anymore on what we eat or the festivals we attend in verse 17.

These OT laws and traditions were designed to point us to Christ. That is, as Paul states, these were a shadow of things to come. These things were a mystery to the OT Jews but were revealed to all in the NT church. Jesus was the substance of these things. Jesus fulfilled the law and cancelled our debt to the law by paying for it Himself as we just read in Colossians 2:14:

14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

If Jesus canceled our debt to the law once and for all, why would we return to the old ways? Why would we return to those things that can only convict of sin (the law) and not save us from sin? I would surmise that one reason could be fear. Fear instilled in us from those using persuasive speech to convince us that if we don’t go back to the OT ways we will be hopelessly lost.

But Paul has already given us the means to fight this fear and hold on to Christ and Christ only. Paul has explained Christ’s sufficiency in all things, especially our salvation. The old things have passed and the new (Christ) has come!

Colossians 2:18–19:

18 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, 19 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.

Here in verse 18 we have our second command. We are to allow no one to declare us unfit for our prize of salvation by forcing on us extra-biblical means of attaining or maintaining salvation. In this section it seems that Paul was now addressing the Gnostics that were bringing in extra-Biblical teachings into the church. The church at Colossae was being attacked on two fronts, not just one.

It seems the Gnostics were continually trying to defraud the believers of their blessings. The NASB translates this as “keep defrauding”, which is apt as this was an ongoing attack against those believers. If we look at other Bible translations for the word “defrauding” we see it is also translated as: disqualify, cheat, or condemn. The Gnostics could not revoke a believer’s salvation as it is secured by the Holy Spirit. However, they could convince them that they were not worthy of salvation (disqualify) or cheat them from blessings from God. If that didn’t work then condemnation was their next weapon with which to attack the believers.

It seems these Gnostics were specifically focusing on self-abasement, which is defined as humility. But aren’t we supposed to be humble before God? Yes, but look at the participle attached to this word “self-abasement”. It is the word “delight”, which is to love something and to get pleasure from it. You see the Gnostics weren’t delighting in God, but in human efforts to make themselves look righteous…or humble. It’s almost as if Paul is saying that they pride themselves on their humbleness. Those two words cancel each other out: pride and humility. The Gnostic’s sinful (fleshly) minds, as Paul continues, were inflated without cause. Their minds were void of anything holy.

Paul also points out the Gnostic’s talk of delight in worshipping angels. This is forbidden by God in Revelation 22:8-9:

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.”

Also Paul points out the Gnostics continual pushing of their own visions. These are not visions from God but from man.

Finally, Paul uncovers the true depth of the deceit of these Gnostics in verse 19. They simply do not hold to Christ’s teachings as all sufficient. They want to add their own extra-Biblical ideas to feed their own pride. In fact, this verse echos a verse that we recently studied in Ephesians 4:15–16:

15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

The believer holds to Christ and grows, nourished by God’s word and God’s word only. The Gnostic holds to their own self, nourished by their love of their own pride.

Colossians 2:20–23:

20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

In these final words from Paul in this section he sums up what he has just commanded us. Paul begins with a rhetorical question designed to make the believers think more deeply about these attacks from the OT Jews and Gnostics. Paul is not saying in verse 20 that it is possible to lose your salvation once you have it; rather, he is asking a question in a rhetorical sense to make the believer reconsider buying into these extra-Biblical ideas. In fact, the NIV translates this as “Since you have died with Christ…”, which helps us to see that this indeed is only a rhetorical question.

In verses 21-22 Paul covers what he has already stated. That these extra-Biblical ideas are useless and not God’s commands or teachings. In verse 23 Paul continues that these things do have an outward appearance of wisdom. Meaning that the OT Jews and Gnostics definitely were using persuasive speech to corrupt the believers at Colossae and possibly with some success.

Notice that Paul also ends with the fact that these extra-Biblical ideas and man-made principles are specifically of no value against fleshly (sinful) indulgence. So what is effective against fleshly indulgence? For this answer we need to go back to the main idea of Colossians, that of Christ is all sufficient! Rather than using fleshly means to combat fleshly desires and indulgences, we should focus on Christ and Christ only. You see, when you fill yourself with the Word of God through daily Bible study and prayer, your need for fleshly desires and indulgences will fade away as Christ’s strength grows in you.