Colossians 2:18by Dr. Grant C. RichisonTo: Colossians Main Menu To: Grace Notes Home Page Colossians 2:18"Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind."---------- "Let no one cheat you" "Cheat" means to give judgment against, to condemn. It comes from two Greek words: kata, against, and brabeus, an umpire, that is, to umpire against. Most of us have had umpires call strikes against us when they were balls. The noun for umpire occurs in I Cor. 9:24 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it." Phil. 3:14 "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." The verb occurs in Col. 3:15, "And let the peace of God ('Christ' in some manuscripts) rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." When we let God's peace act as an umpire in our hearts, we have tranquility with men. Let the peace that God gives cast the deciding vote in our struggle. The umpire, however, in this passage is the false teacher who tries to frustrate adherence to the truth. Another rendering is "let no man decide for or against you (as an umpire)." "Do not give yourselves up to the judgment of any man." ---------- "of your reward" The false teacher judges as a referee that the Colossians were not worthy to receive a prize. They disqualified, condemned and judged them as not worthy of a reward. False teachers can rob the Christian of his spiritual reward. We cannot lose our salvation but we can lose reward. False teachers can bully you away from your reward. They can lead believers away from the truth only by the Christian succumbing to an attack from religion. II Jn. 8 "Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward." We want a full reward, not a half reward, at the Judgment Seat of Christ. We want everything we are entitled to when we see him. Salvation is free but reward we earn. Since salvation is a gift we cannot lose it. Because we work for rewards, we can lose them. Rev. 3: 11 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown." PRINCIPLE: False teachers can rob Christians of their reward by succumbing to error. APPLICATION: Are you jeopardizing your reward in heaven by your careless attitude toward the truth? ---------- "taking delight in false humility" There is nothing in the word "humility" to indicate that it is false. The context indicates that it is a false humility. We might render "humility" as "subjection to." The idea is abject worship of angels. This is pretense of humility but they are proud people. Worship of angels has the appearance of modesty or humility as if we are unworthy to talk to God ourselves. It was a humility of their own making, not a humility commanded from God. These notions were purely the inventions of men and not from the Bible (Isa. 8:20; I Cor. 4:6). Therefore, this whole thing was phony. It detracted from the mediation of Christ for our sins. Religious pride makes man presume upon the Word of God. Many are impressed with what they give up for God. If they suffer for God, this is supposed to impress God. God is in the business of many provisions for us. He calls this the principle of grace. Bona fide humility is when we recognize that what we have is from God. All of us have a streak of asceticism that is usually brought to the surface when some horrible experience comes our way. PRINCIPLE: Spiritual pride is a most difficult pride to correct. APPLICATION: There are those who say that "I would never presume for sure that I know that I am going to heaven. No one can know that for sure. We will not know whether we qualify until we get there. I would not have the audacity to claim I know I am going there." That is a mock humility. It is unvarnished, unbelief in the Bible. The Bible states flatly that we can know we are going to heaven, "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God" (I John 5:11-13). Phony self-effacement appears spiritual but it is not true humility. True humility focuses upon God and his grace (provisions) to us. False humility draws attention to self. ---------- "and worship of angels" "Worship" signifies religion in its external aspect, religious worship, especially the ceremonial service of religion. Acts 26:5 uses this word of the religion of the Jews. In Jas. 1:26, 27 the writer purposely uses this word to set in contrast that which is unreal and deceptive, and the "pure religion" that consists in visiting "the fatherless and widows in their affliction." Paul argues against Gnosticism in this passage. Gnosticism held that there is a hierarchy of angels between all human beings. We must placate God. Knowledge, which began in virtual ignorance, increases until at last one entered into the fullness of understanding of the Oneness of all things. PRINCIPLE: Gnosticism of our day in the New Age Movement. Satan deludes people by religion. APPLICATION: The ancient heresy of Gnosticism appears widely today under the name of the New Age Movement. It seeks the Oneness of all things. They tell us that we are all part of the universe of created matter. We unite in Oneness with God. They claim that we can escape from self and move into oneness with the universe. That is why Paul refers to it here as a "false humility." It claims to move you beyond self. In actual practice, they focus on self. The real goal is to develop all your self powers. We call this the human potential movement. All you need is already there inside you. All you need to do is bring it out and develop your possibilities and full potential. Shirley MacLaine's strange spirit beings, of astrology, ouija boards, tarot cards and assorted holy men, psychics, swamis, yogis and gurus are present day Gnosticism. All of these purport to offer help in increasing our understanding to fulfill the possibilities of our humanity. The Christian who gets involved with the human potential movement is a present day Gnostic. ---------- "intruding into those things" The word "intruding" means primarily, to step in, or on. This is the only occurrence in the New Testament. Metaphorically "intrude" means to frequent, dwell in (our passage). This word could mean to invade, to enter on. Because Colossians argues against Gnosticism it probably means the entrance of the initiated into the mystery religions. The mystery religions used this word as a term of ecstasy. This person took a stand based on what he saw in the mysteries when he was initiated into the religion. ---------- "which he has not seen" This person invents his own religion "which he has not seen." He has a do-it-yourself-religion. He makes it up as he goes along. If you claim to be God yourself, you do not have anyone above you to whom you can look for help; you can only look down on everybody else. That is the danger and the folly of this kind of thing. A modern proverb answers it well: "There are two things one should never forget: 1. There is only one God. 2. You ain't Him!" False teachers dwell on "vain" notions. The Gnostics entered into ecstatic experiences which had no basis in biblical revelation. Since the canon of Scripture (the list of books that belong in the Bible) has closed, there is no further need for more revelation from God. This kind of person blames the Holy Spirit for his dreams and visions. This is common today. "The Lord told me this vision." When? How? "I just had a feeling, a dream." What are the chapter, book and verse for this thinking? If it does not have scriptural support it ought to be checked off as so much spiritual drivel. It is spiritual hallucination. God used visions before the Bible was completed (the canon) to communicate with the believer. Today visions are spurious, counterfeit, apocryphal and unreliable. We cannot go on the basis of our feelings because feelings fluctuate. We feel good at one moment and bad another time. The feelings of a Christian are no more reliable than the feelings of a non-Christian. Our fallen nature is susceptible to error, insidious and wicked as it ever was. The only reliable standard, the only credible guide is the Word of God. "Let God be true and every man a liar" (Rom. 3:4). ---------- "vainly puffed up" "Puffed up" means to blow up, inflate (from phusa, bellows). It is used in the New Testament metaphorically in the N.T. in the sense of inflated with pride (I Cor. 4:6, 18, 19; 5:2; 8:1; 13:4; Col. 2:18). Religion can inflate us with pride. Arrogant and haughty religion is vanity. cf. I Cor 8:1 ---------- "by his fleshly mind" The sin capacity produces lust patterns. It is from these that sin originates. PRINCIPLE: Appearance of humility is often unadulterated pride. APPLICATION: Religious leaders love to advance their own notions about God because it gives them an edge on everyone else. This is spiritual pride, a love of advancing special notions. This puts them in a special place in the religious community. They loved to be thought of as wiser than other Christian leaders. Pride is at the foundation of many religious errors and biblical corruption. It is even the base of many evil practices. Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. All rights reserved. There is no charge for Grace Notes Materials. You can help further this work by your prayer and by sending a contribution to: Grace Notes% Warren Doud wdoud@bga.com1705 Aggie Lane Austin, Texas 78757 Grace Notes Web site: http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/ Anonymous FTP site: ftp://ftp.bga.com/vendors/wdoud/ Grace Notes is a ministry of Village Missions International. |
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