Colossians 2:16-23

¹⁶Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. ¹⁸Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. ¹⁹He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. ²⁰Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: ²¹"Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? ²²These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. ²³Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

In v16-23, Paul is returning to the negative theme of v8. It is suggested that Paul, in v16-17, refutes the idea of special days that were regarded in Colosse as “Sabbaths” to the stars, which aligned to determine one’s destiny. It makes about as much sense for the Colossian Christians to add this type of practice to their Christianity as it would for us to daily read our horoscopes in hopes for something special. Paul has discussed circumcision as the foremost evidence of legalism amongst false teachers, and now he moves to other legalism concerns, such as Sabbaths, food, and drink. None of these “shadows” touches the “reality” – Christ is all and is in all. Romans 14 Yet, sadly, many Christians today prefer the “shadows” of Easter and Christmas to the reality, Christ Himself. Should we not celebrate Christmas and Easter as such, based on the text here? Perhaps Jehovah’s Witnesses have it right when the refuse to note birthdays and religious holidays based on a sound reading of this passage. Vincent Cheung notes, “For one to persist in a religion of shadow when God commands a religion of reality means that this person has no spiritual reality, and no true contact with God.”

In v18, we read first of delighting in false humility and the worship of angels. Paul explains that folks who go into great detail about their visions are puffed up by their unspiritual mind with idle notions. Elsewhere Paul says that knowledge puffs up (self), while love builds up (others). These folks are in a sense boasting in their experiences, thinking themselves humble, so that others will think them to be super-spiritual. In fact, they are unspiritual, delighting in a false humility that is oftentimes prouder than pride, and their idle notions are nothing more than conjuring up essential doctrine out of dreams. And even more, they judge those as inferior and unspiritual who have not experienced the same things as them. We can liken this group of people to our own extreme Pentecostals, who claim that two experiences of the Holy Spirit are necessary to be the most spiritual kind of Christian; those who lack two experiences may still be Christians, but they are second-class ones at best. Now this is not to say that visions and spiritual experiences are worthless; rather, they are not something to hold over the heads of others. Nor should they been seen as somehow adding to one’s own spirituality, which is made complete by faith in Christ alone and in His supremacy and sufficiency. Paul effectively tells the Colossians that they are not “disqualified” for the prize, despite these seemingly super-spiritual authorities purporting the inadequacy of the Colossian believers. Rather, in Christ, they are qualified (Philippians 3:14).

We also read in v18 that the worship of angels in Colosse was expected to bring one closer to God. Interestingly, Orthodox Judaism at the time had a practice of worshipping with the angels, a form of ecstatic prayer and asceticism that was meant to accomplish the same thing. Thus it appears to be the case that false teachers of Colosse did indeed combine Judaism, Christianity, and pagan rituals as their vain and deceitful philosophy. Another viewpoint of this idea is that the Colossian false teachers were encouraging the people to let the angels teach them how to worship. And even that would be wrong, because God is the One who teaches that.

In v19, Paul says that the one who is seeking favor with angels is not only reducing Christ’s sufficiency in principle, but also, in practice, decreasing his own joy, which is made complete in Christ. Paul’s mention of Christ as “Head” looks back at Colossians 1:18 and looks forward to the application Paul will draw out in relation to church membership in Colossians 3:1-4:6. Why would the body try to flee from the governing of the head? It’s silly.

In v20-21, Paul again speaks of the “principles of this world” and its “rules,” and he lists a few with which the Colossians may have been familiar. These manmade regulations take away from Christ’s supremacy and sufficiency (Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 6:13; Matthew 15:6-11). Having died to the world in Christ, we, though still in the world, are no longer of the world; and He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Calvin says, “The sum is this – that the worship of God, true piety, and the holiness of Christians, do not consist in drink, and food, and clothing, which are things that are transient and liable to corruption, and perish by abuse. For abuse is properly applicable to those things which are corrupted by the use of them. Hence enactments are of no value in reference to those things which tend to excite scruples of conscience.” Derek Thomas says that Paul is referring to the ABC’s of worship, which are based on Scripture; in fact, the ABC’s of worship are Scripture! Biblical worship should consist of reading the Bible, hearing the Bible, singing the Bible, praying the Bible, preaching the Bible, and teaching the Bible. Anything else is manmade, which is Paul’s focus in v23.

In v23, Paul speaks of the self-made worship regulations having an appearance of wisdom, but lacking any ability to restrain sensual indulgences (Proverbs 3:5-6; 1 Timothy 4:1-3). We must worship God according to His regulations as set forth in Scripture, not ours, no matter how “wise” they may seem. In fact, the things that Paul says here are worthless are actually harmful, a form of indulging the flesh rather than restraining those desires (Romans 13:14; Luke 16:15). Vincent Cheung says, “These human commands and teachings that are so restrictive and dominating to the one who observes them in fact prevent the person from obeying God’s commands and teachings.” Derek Thomas says, “Paul is drawing a very direct line from worship to sanctification; that when you get your worship wrong, your holiness will go wrong with it. In other words, Paul is saying that one of the distinguishing features of holiness and godliness and Christ-likeness is our attitude to corporate worship.”