← Back to sermon library

We're going to break down the 
section into three points this evening, verses 16 to 23. It's not as if the three particulars 
are legalism, mysticism, and asceticism. And I'll describe 
those when we get there. But I don't think it was like 
they had three various heretical groups in the midst. I think 
it was one false teaching with various shades of these elements. Just so you know, it wasn't like 
in the one church at Colossae, you had the legalists over here, 
you had, that's no reflection on you ladies, you had the mystics 
over here, and then you had the ascetics in the back. No, I think 
it was a one overarching sort of heresy or false teaching that 
had various shades or various facets. And it's difficult to 
know the exact particulars involved. I mean, we can piece together 
some things. It does seem to be what's called 
syncretism. Syncretism is a mixture. It is 
putting things together. And there is obviously some Judaism 
in the background, the religion of the Jews, the reference earlier 
to circumcision and then the staying away from food or drink 
and the mention of festivals, new moons and Sabbaths. I'll 
have a Jewish flavor about that. But there also seems to be some 
paganism in the mix as well. So it's not as if we can just 
here's what the heresy was and here's exactly how it answers 
to our day. But it's difficult to do that. But we can glean enough and know 
enough that we are to beware of legalism, to beware of mysticism 
and to beware of asceticism. I'll just pick up reading in 
verse six so we can see the larger context. As you, therefore, have 
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built 
up in Him and established in the faith as you have been taught, 
abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you 
through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition 
of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and 
not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness 
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him, who is the 
head of all principality and power. In him you are also circumcised 
with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body 
of the sins of the flash by the circumcision of Christ buried 
with him in baptism in which you also were raised with him 
through faith in the working of God who raised him from the 
dead. And you being dead in your trespasses 
in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he is made alive together 
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped 
out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was 
contrary to us. And he has taken it out of the 
way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities 
and powers. He made a public spectacle of 
them triumphing over them in it. So, let no one judge you 
in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, 
which are a shadow of things to come, but the substances of 
Christ. 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, and not holding fast to the head, from 
whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and 
ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Therefore, 
if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, 
why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves 
to regulations? Do not touch, do not taste, do 
not handle, which all concern things which perish with the 
using, according to the commandments and doctrines of men. These things, 
indeed, have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, 
false humility, and neglect of the body. but of no value against 
the indulgence of the flash. A man will remember that Paul 
issued his first caution in verse four of chapter two and then 
he repeats himself in verse eighty says beware lest anyone cheat 
you through philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition 
of man. He then sets forth the supremacy 
of Christ as that chief remedy or that chief protection or antidote 
against heresy, against false teaching. He tells us that Christ 
is God, according to verse 9. He tells us that we are complete 
in Christ, according to verse 10. And then he illustrates how 
it is we are complete in Christ in verses 11 to 15. We have been 
circumcised inwardly by the power of Christ. We have been buried 
in baptism and raised up with Christ through faith in Him. God has made us participants 
in regeneration. He has given us the forgiveness 
of sins. He has canceled out our debt 
and He has disarmed opposition. And then in verses 16 to 23, 
he now returns to the heresy itself so that he can explain 
fuller, explain more details. The general statement of verse 
a that he had said that philosophy and that empty to see, according 
to the tradition of man, he now comes to deal very particularly 
with what the Colossians are facing. And as I said earlier, 
we're going to look at three aspects. First, beware of legalism 
or rules. that are not biblical rules that 
are not biblical. The law of God is a good thing, 
provided the law is used lawfully. In fact, Paul says that in 1 
Timothy 1. We know that the law is good 
if one uses it lawfully. Well, when we use it unlawfully, 
we engage in legalism. We are adding something to the 
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verses 18 and 19 deal 
with mysticism and mysticism means experience that is not 
biblical. In this particular instance, 
the worship of angels, mystics often claim to have a direct 
line to God over and above the scripture. They don't always 
need the Bible. They have special access to the 
Lord God. We need to be aware of mysticism. And you may think, well, that's 
certainly not going on today. Yes, it is. There are a lot of 
people out there that think they have a direct line to God. Most 
high. Some of the worst crimes committed 
in the history of men are in the history of man have been 
by those who said, God told me to do this. If God has not said 
it in the scripture, then he has not told you. We go with 
a closed cannon. We believe that God has fully 
revealed all that he wants to in the 66 books from Genesis 
to Revelation. We ought not to be looking for 
more. We ought not to be looking for 
other. We ought to be looking to study and know and understand 
the written word of God. And then in verses twenty to 
twenty three, beware of asceticism and asceticism is individual 
practice that is not biblical ascetic state that if they touch 
something, take something, handle something, they will be defiled 
and unfit for heaven. So, the answer is don't touch, 
don't taste, don't handle, just try to keep yourself away from 
all evil influences and by doing that you merit favor with God. Now, of course, that doesn't 
mean we are to touch everything and we are to engage in wickedness 
and just, you know, just go contrary to God's law. That's not what 
it means, but when we look for merit with God or favor with 
God based on these things, then we have added to the finished 
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The notice, first of all, Paul's 
prohibition in verse sixteen. He says, So let no one judge 
you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbath. The idea is very simple and I 
hope very clear to you because you are completed him because 
he is God because you have received all these things. Therefore, 
Paul says, do not let anyone judge you and Calvin defines 
the judgment here simply is this. He says to judge means here to 
hold one to be guilty of a crime or to impose a scruple of conscience 
so that we are no longer free. In other words, don't let anyone 
lord things over your conscience. And in this particular instance, 
it is calendrical or calendar observances and food and drink, 
which we'll look at in just a moment. But if you're thinking with me 
right now, you're thinking about Romans and you're thinking about 
Corinthians, other places where Paul deals with Christian liberty. And in those places, the idea 
was that Christians can legitimately not use their liberty so that 
they can be kind to their brothers who have a bit of a weaker conscience. 
That's not the issue here in Colossae. These men, these heretics, 
were attaching significance to these rituals or to these observances. They were attaching more to them 
than it was just a matter of somebody wants to abstain from 
pork or somebody wants to have a special day here or there. 
They wanted to attach significance to this that Paul says is absolutely 
ungodly. It is to add to the work of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. And notice something here about 
verse sixteen of the speaking about this, so that no one judge 
you in food or drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbath. 
The responsibility is yours. That is your calling. I mean, 
not your only calling. You don't wake up in the morning 
and say, I'm just going to make sure no one judges me today. 
But it is your responsibility when a legalist comes along and 
tries to bind your conscience and says, it's good that you're 
believing in Jesus, but you must also abstain from food or drink. You must also engage in the observance 
of these days. You must also do that. You need 
to be on guard. You need to be alert. You need 
to know the gospel so well that you're able to refuse that and 
not let them lower things over your conscience. Far too often, 
heretics gain a following because the people of God don't know 
the truth. If you know the truth, if you 
understand the gospel, if you are rejoicing as we're singing 
that that hymn right before the preaching, the imputed righteousness 
of Christ, the justification that God gives us freedom. If 
you know and understand those things, you will be on guard. 
You will be able to beware so that when somebody comes along 
and says, it's good that you have Christ, but you also must 
do this. And then Paul specifies food 
and drink. The reference is probably to 
Old Testament dietary laws. Again, Jewish aspects or elements. Don't eat pork. Don't eat this. Do eat that. The Old Testament 
didn't get a lot into drinks, so that has caused some to say 
that that might have been part of the pagan element in all of 
this. But notice the idea, again, is 
not you can not eat pork if you don't want to. If you all choose 
not to have bacon, that's okay. You know, this text isn't mandating 
that you eat bacon. This text is not mandating that 
you go home and roast up a pork loin. The text is mandating that when 
you attach religious significance to that, when you think that 
your status with God is helped or improved or maintained or 
nourished or furthered along by your not eating bacon, then 
you have compromised the gospel of Jesus Christ. Calvin explains 
it this way, for when he says, let no man judge you, he does 
not address the false apostles, but prohibits the Colossians 
from yielding their neck to unreasonable requirements. You see that the 
same emphasis, it is your responsibility, you are not to fall prey to this 
kind of thinking. What's the best way to not fall 
prey to know the scriptures? He goes on to say to abstain, 
it is true from swine's flesh is in itself harmless, but the 
binding to do it is pernicious because it makes void the grace 
of Christ. That's the issue, is everybody 
with me? This is very important to legalism. It may not be eating pork in 
our context, but it may be any of a whole host of things. It could be something like what 
we see in Galatians 2 in Paul's own experience. What happened? Peter, before certain pillars 
from the Jerusalem Church came to him, Peter would eat with 
Gentiles. He would engage with Gentiles and eat with them. But 
when he knew James and the big guns from Jerusalem were coming, 
he stopped eating with the Gentiles. What does Paul do? Well, that's 
your choice, brother. You have liberty in Jesus. No, 
I withstood him to his face. Why? Because he was communicating 
something about the gospel that was untrue. That's the point 
in all of this. Just recently, in our studies 
in Titus, in Titus chapter 1, I quoted Gordon Clark. He said, 
Today, many preachers would not condemn ascetics so harshly. I realize we're dealing with 
legalists. Titus 114 deals with ascetics. But he says this. Is 
it such a sin to not eat pork? Yes, it is. Avoiding pork is 
a major sin. If we put more trust in not eating 
pork than we put in Jesus Christ, anyone who tries to supplement 
the merit of Christ deprives himself of Christ's merit. That's what's going on here. 
Brethren, you have to be clear on this. So, it's food and drink. And then notice he speaks of 
special days. The reference is festival, new 
moon, Sabbaths. Very often people go to this 
as a proof text that the Christian no longer has any responsibility 
with reference to the fourth commandment. Very often people 
come here to Colossians 2.16 to say that this means we are 
not supposed to keep a Sabbath. Well, there's a couple of different 
ways we could answer that. The first, in that it is accompanying 
these festivals and these new moons, it could speak to the 
occasional Sabbath. that Israel observed. Leviticus 
23 indicates that there were Sabbaths convened that weren't 
the weekly rhythm of the seventh day Sabbath. It could have been 
the occasional, could have been the temporary, could have been 
those things like the festivals or the new moons, or it could 
have been the seventh day Jewish Sabbath. And if that's what Paul is speaking 
about, it only strengthens a Christian Lord's Day Sabbath view. I actually 
think to get the doctrine of the Sabbath and the Fourth Commandment, 
we need to do a lot of work, which we don't have the time 
to do right now. Suffice it to say, I do not believe that Paul 
is saying here that the Christian can do whatever he or she wants 
to do on Sunday, that he has no moral obligation whatsoever 
to the Fourth Commandment, that it has been suspended in Jesus. 
I don't believe that. Either way we take it, remember 
the context. If this Sabbath observance, even 
your Christian Sabbath, is somehow seen as bettering your state 
with God, then it's a problem. You don't come to church and 
you don't keep the Lord's Day because you think that somehow 
you are gaining favor with God. If that's your view, then you're 
wrong and you need to repent. And then notice what the apostle 
says here. He says in verse six or verse 
seventeen, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substances 
of Christ, he says these things all pointed forward to the Lord 
Jesus. Now that Jesus has come, why 
would we go backward? Why would we go adopt those things? 
Why would we go back to those rituals attaching huge significance 
to them when the Redeemer King has come? The best illustration 
I have of this is Lily. The idea of shadow versus substance. There have actually been times 
when Kelly and Lily are at our house. Lily is on the floor, 
roaming about, doing her thing, and Kelly wants to show me pictures 
of Lily. She says, look over here on the 
computer. Look at this picture of Lily. Why would I want to 
look at a picture of Lily on the computer when I can hold, 
hug, and kiss Lily right here? Why would I want the shadow when 
the substance is right in my presence, when I can hold the 
substance on my lap and kiss her fat cheeks? Why would I want 
shadows? That's what Paul is saying. The 
heretics have come. They've attached significance 
to these days, to these seasons, to these festivals. They've attached 
significance to whether or not you eat pork or to what you drink 
or what you don't drink. They have come and basically 
obliterated the cross of Jesus Christ. They have said, oh, that's 
OK, but these things only help add to and better your state. 
Paul says, let no one judge you. Do not entertain for a moment 
that these observances, these foods, these grains can somehow 
increase your status with God. If you don't want to eat pork, 
fine. If you want to keep a day, Romans 14, Paul says you can 
keep a day. No, notice, secondly, he goes 
on to speak of mysticism, he says here, let no one cheat you 
of your reward. Verse 18. Let no one give judgment 
against you. Let no one cheat you of your 
reward. Imagine that you just found the 
pearl of greatest price. You have become a Christian. 
You believe the gospel. The propositions contained in 
the word of God have been read or preached in your hearing and 
by God's grace, you believe that and you have passed from death 
unto life. And then someone comes along and says, that's good. 
You should come to my group tonight because we're going to have experience. 
We're going to chant. We're going to boast in our false 
humility. Isn't that a great thing? Boasting in one's humility. I wonder if Paul had tongue firmly 
rooted in cheek at this particular time. Let no one cheat you of 
your reward. Taking delight in false humility. You've got big problems if you 
take delight in your humility. You've got to see that's an issue. 
You've got to see, you've got big problems if you are delighted 
in your humility. There's no humility there if 
you're delighting in it. There is not. People that are 
genuinely humble look like Jesus. They don't walk around saying, 
I'm humble, I'm humble, I'm humble. They don't write books on how 
I mastered humility. They don't promote themselves 
as these mystics were doing. And again, the emphasis is upon 
you, the believer, the Christian. Let no one cheat you of your 
reward. They take delight in false humility. Augustine, the church father, 
says, as for the soul of man, it is more popped up from a false 
humility than if it were openly proud. You're better off being 
just an openly brazen, proud man than trying to delight in 
your false humility. Everybody sees through it. I 
mean, the real proud, open guy, yeah, you see him, you know him, 
you get what you get. The guy who fakes it, the guy 
who thinks he's humble, the guy who promotes himself as humble, 
the guy who tells you about how humble he is, he is obnoxious. 
One to take delight in false humility, Paul identifies. F.F. Bruce says, some people love 
to make a parade of exceptional piety. They pretend to have found 
the way to a higher plane of spiritual experience, as though 
they had been initiated into sacred mysteries, which give 
them an infinite advantage over the uninitiated. Isn't that the 
case, each church develops its own culture. We need to be mindful 
of that. We have a culture as a church. There are certain defining characteristics 
about Free Grace Baptist Church. Our challenge is, is that when 
somebody comes in the gospel, Jesus, grace, justification, 
righteousness, those are the things that we point them to. Those are the things that define 
us. Those are the things that are 
most important. We do not want to indicate that you have to 
be like us to be genuinely Christ. You have to imbibe our culture. You have to homeschool if we 
all homeschool. You have to Christian school 
if we all Christian school. You have to use cloth diapers 
rather than pampers or throwaways. You have to do this or you have 
to do that. Churches inculcate those things and they cross over 
Paul's prohibition. This is a reality. That's why 
he was writing about it then, and it's why we need to be on 
guard now. And he goes on to say, worship 
of angels intruding into those things which he has not seen 
vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. Instead of promoting godliness 
and sobriety, these people engage in idolatry, the worship of angels, 
ecstasy, experience, all these things, brethren, I'm not against 
experience. We ought to experience joy in 
the Lord. We ought to experience delight 
in our Savior. We ought to experience some sorrow 
and brokenness over our sin. We ought to experience the thrill 
of having found the pearl of greatest price. But you know 
what? It isn't our experience that 
saves us. The absence of experience doesn't 
mean we're going to go to hell. What is absolutely crucial is 
that we're looking to Jesus in faith. And then he speaks of 
their defection from Christ in verse nineteen, and not holding 
fast to the head from whom all the body nourished and knit together 
by joints and ligaments grows with the increase that is from 
God. As I looked at this, I thought about this whole reference there 
to joints and ligaments. And this was written prior to 
modern science and medical advances and all that sort of thing. That's 
pretty amazing. And one of the commentators actually 
goes back in history. and sees or compares medical, 
medical science and knowledge that was actually available at 
that particular time. It's kind of an interesting, 
kind of an interesting sideline note there. So it wasn't like, 
you know, they had no clue whatsoever. They absolutely did have a clue. 
They understood some things, but Paul's point here with reference 
to these men is that they have defected from Christ. The statement 
rather indicates that the heretics were not operating from without, 
but from within. And for the individual Christian 
in Colossae to follow these heretics, it would include a denial of 
the headship of Jesus. See, that's the issue here. If 
you want to go down this road, then here's what its logical 
conclusion is. You are not holding fast to the 
head and the head. There is the head, the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the head of the church. If you follow these men, you 
are going astray. You are departing. You are turning 
back from the Lord Jesus. Another commentator said the 
application of the Colossians situation is playing the false 
teacher who does not depend on the head has no contact with 
the source of life and nourishment and does not belong to the body. 
The community must realize that they must remain. Let me just 
make sure you understand when I say it happened with it. I'm 
not saying they were genuine Christians. They just operated 
within the Christian church. You know, there's the heretics 
out there, the Buddhists or the Muslims or the whoever. And then 
there's the professing Christian heretics that meet in churches, 
oftentimes infiltrate real churches, try to, you know, develop a following, 
try to have a Bible study, try to give people books, try to 
turn people onto certain websites or what. They're not Christians. 
They are leading you away from Jesus Christ. They are not Christians. Now, we don't like to say that 
we don't like to sound too mean or bigoted or whatever. You know what? There's a lot 
of heretics, non-Christians operating under the banner of the professing 
Church of Jesus Christ. He says, the community must realize 
that they must remain in living union with Christ as the head. 
Let them not be drawn off or enticed away by the appeal of 
the false teachers to their heavenly experience. And you know, it 
probably sounds so good. You're a normal Christian guy 
or a normal Christian girl. You go to work. You love your 
kids. You love your wife. You love 
your husband. You provide pretty mundane, pretty normal, pretty 
normative. You meet somebody that seems 
to have the joy of the Lord 24-7. They are really on fire and they 
have the key. They have the way for you to 
enter into that special plane or for you to step up on the 
next level of real spiritual acquisition. The temptation is 
there. We like excitement. We like experience. We like razzmatazz. We like success. We like good feelings. We need 
to be on guard. If these good feelings or these 
experiences are not driven by biblical truth, then they are 
false. They are wrong. You don't want 
that. I mean, you could be the happiest, 
most joyful Muslim in the world and go to hell. You're the joyful, 
most happy Buddhist in the world and go to hell. I'd rather be 
the normative slugging it out day in day out Christian guy 
who's believing the gospel that's going to go to heaven. Because, 
you know, when we get to heaven. There are pleasures forevermore. There is no more sorrow, no more 
pain, no more death, no more hunger, no more thirst. What 
do we expect in this lower world? There's going to be trial, there's 
going to be difficulty, there's going to be problems. We're always 
looking for something more. We always want a higher level, 
and yet we haven't mastered the gospel. We've got some things 
backwards. One of the one of the reasons 
that the charismatic movement is wrong, looking for all this 
extra. No, just, you know, tell me the 
Ten Commandments and I'll be impressed. Give me a clear explanation 
of justification by faith. I'm not just picking on the charismatics. 
A lot of charismaticism within the reform community as well. 
We always want more. We're like the leech's daughters. 
Give and give. Beware. Again, I don't want to 
say experience is bad, experience is wrong. If you have experience, 
you're wicked and evil and satanic. That's not it. But let your experience 
be driven by the truth. And then, thirdly and finally, 
beware of asceticism. Paul says in verse 20, therefore, 
if you died with Christ, could literally be since you died with 
Christ from the basic principles of the world. And this basic 
principles has come up already in Colossians. It comes up in 
Galatians. It comes up in Second Peter, chapter three. It's a 
tough one to try and identify. Last time we looked at the word, 
I suggested it probably had something to do with Jewish regulations, 
Jewish laws, Jewish ceremonies. That could possibly be the connotation 
here. Either way, it doesn't. I mean, 
if we don't get that, it's not like we're not going to understand 
that the idea is simple. If you've died with Christ from 
the basic principles of the world, why are you going backward? Why 
are you subjecting to those regulations? Why are you putting yourself 
again into bondage? Why would you turn your back 
on Jesus since you have received all those benefits? I've already 
spoken up, Paul. Paul's already spoken up since 
you have been the benefactors of all these things. Why do you 
subject yourselves to do not touch, do not taste, do not handle? 
Do you actually think that you're not touching, you're not tasting 
and you're not handling is going to benefit you spiritually? Do you actually think? And again, 
this doesn't mean if you don't want to eat pork and you don't 
want to drink wine, you don't have to. It is liberty. You can use it if you'd like 
to. You can use it, not use it if you if you don't want to. 
But when we look for religious significance in these things, 
That's what is being condemned. Do not touch, do not taste, do 
not handle. As long as we do these, some 
would teach, we'll be fine. No, you won't be. Look what it 
leads to. I mean, look at what Paul says 
here. These things indeed have an appearance 
of wisdom and self-imposed religion, false humility and neglect of 
the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the 
flesh. These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom. I mean, 
it looks wise, right? If defilement comes from me going 
out and being in the world and doing bad things, well then, 
it must be good to not do that. It has an appearance of wisdom. 
The futility of asceticism, it is concerned with perishable 
objects with no eternal impact. Do you really think that pork 
or that day or that drink is going to impact your eternity? It is, if you put religious significance 
upon it. It is devised by man. This is 
what Paul says, repeating what he said in verse eight, repeating 
what Jesus said in his contention with the Pharisees in Matthew 
15, repeating what the Prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 29 in verse 
13. These are according to the commandments 
and doctrines of men. This is not gospel. This is not 
how you are saved. This is some man seeking to gain 
control over you. This is some man seeking to exercise 
control. Paul says no, and then he says 
it is futile in dealing with sin. These things indeed have 
an appearance of wisdom, self-imposed religion, false humility, neglect 
of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the 
flesh. They starve the body and they feed the flesh. Flesh here 
is taken as that sinful nature. You imagine that? Starving your 
body promotes sin. That's what Paul says. That's 
a powerful statement. There are no value against the 
indulgence of the flesh. Wait a minute. Flesh, sin of 
the flesh. That just means adultery, murder 
and all that sort of thing. No heresy is included as a sin 
of the flesh. Galatians chapter five. Galatians 
chapter five verse nineteen of the works of the flesh are evident, 
which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, 
sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, 
selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, 
revelries and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as 
I also told you in time past that those who practice such 
things will not inherit the kingdom of God. So, the long and the 
short of it is this. Christ plus legalism is heresy. Christ plus mysticism is heresy. Christ plus asceticism is heresy. Christ plus nothing is gospel. That's how we're saved. Looking 
to Jesus. And I realize we want to do more. 
Oh, no. But if I just stop eating pork, 
if I just wear this or if I just go here, I just have my hair 
like that or I just do this with my kids, it'll benefit me. No. You are justified through a legal 
declaration by God most high. And when anyone comes and threatens 
that, We say no. Calvin said in short, when persons 
have once taken upon them to tyrannize over men's souls, there 
is no end of new laws being daily added to old ones and new enactments 
starting up from time to time. How bright a mirror there is 
as to this and potpourri. Hence, Paul acts admirably well 
in admonishing us that human traditions are a labyrinth, nay 
more, are snares which from the beginning bind in such a way 
that in course of time they strangle in the end. That is a great summary 
statement of what Paul is treating in this section of Colossians 
2. Avoid the false teaching and 
avoid the false teachers. Look at just what we learn of 
these false teachers from this brief statement. They're proud. 
No genuine Christian, I mean, we all struggle with pride. I 
was going to say no genuine Christian is proud. Wrong. We're all proud. All genuine Christians are proud. 
But hopefully we pray to God for forgiveness. Hopefully we 
are seeking to mortify it. Hopefully, we're praying for 
the spirit to come and to deal with us and to humble us and 
to cause us genuinely to be like Jesus. Not so with these guys. They came out wandering in as 
the guys who knew everything. They're going to set everything 
straight. They're going to make everything right for you. They're 
going to help you get to that higher plane. They're going to 
make that higher life more accessible. They have the keys. They have 
the seminars. They have the conferences. They 
have the know-how. They have the ingenuity. What 
a horrible, horrible disposition. They are fleshly, Paul says. You can't tell this initially 
because they look so holy. They look so pious when they're 
not eating this or when they're not going here or when they're 
not doing that, but if they're not, not, not, not, they're promoting 
the flesh. Any time we attempt to gain favor 
with God in our strength, we're promoting the flesh. I mean, 
it's really odd. You would think a guy who's starving 
his body is not indulging his flesh, but he is, according to 
Paul. And they are separate from the 
head, which is Jesus Christ. They are not connected. They 
are not attached. They are not in vital union. 
They have not believed the gospel. They are not heaven bound. And 
so, when we see people like these, or when we almost develop into 
people like these, we need to repent. We need to have a clear 
understanding of Christ's gospel. We need to have a clear understanding 
of the Book of Romans. We need to understand the truth. 
so that we do not fall prey to this kind of mindset, because 
it was not limited to Colossae in the first century. It is alive. It is rampant. It is well and 
prevalent in our own day. Also, let us pray. Father, we 
just pray that you would give us grace to understand your truth 
and to be on guard against these types of things. We praise you, 
Father, for the liberating power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
We thank you for the precious blood of Christ. We thank you 
that you washed us from all of our sins, that you have canceled 
out our debt, that you have disarmed the opposition, that you have 
made a spectacle of them triumphing at the cross of our Lord Jesus. 
And we just pray, God most high, that you would help us to be 
faithful, help us to be persevering and help us to glorify and honor 
you. And we pray in Jesus' holy name. Amen.