Colossians 2:11-23 - Watch Out for False Christians

Intro:

Good morning.

This morning, as we continue our study of Colossians, we’re going to wrap up chapter two by continuing with along the same lines that we talked about last Sunday morning — Dealing with False Doctrine.

Last week, our title was “Be Alert,” or we could have titled it “Be on the Lookout” or “Beware.”

This morning, we are going to look at Colossians 2:11-23, with the title “Watch Out for False Christians.”

Now someone says, “False Christians? How can we say such a thing?”

Well, Jesus said as much when he said the following:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” (Matt. 7:15)

In other words, FALSE followers of God.

So yes, the Bible teaches that false Christians do exist, and we are going to read this morning how to be on the lookout for them.

Do you remember last Sunday we mentioned various departures from the faith that were occuring in the first century?

Remember, we said that one of those was the Gnostics, and Paul deals with them here in the book of Colossians, just as the apostle John dealt with them as well.

4 erroneous teachings of the Gnostics (by way of review):

The philosophy that they obtained a super-knowledge compared to regular Christians (They even had a warped view of God, calling the O.T. God the “demiurge” and claiming that the O.T. God was evil!),

Ritualism (keeping certain religious practices that were not valid for Christians) (there was possibly some blending in with the Judaizers on this, holding to O.T. practices that were no longer valid in the N.T.),

Mysticism and angel worship,

And asceticism, the practice of intentional neglect or harm of the body because of their false view that everything physical is automatically evil.

So Gnosticism was a major doctrinal problem in the first couple of centuries, and Christians needed to be on the lookout for it.

TEXT:

Colossians 2:11 NKJV

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,

Our text this morning begins by hearkening back to a Christian’s status before and after conversion.

What did circumcision represent in the O.T.?

God’s own special people, the Israelites, being separate from the rest of the world …

And what does this spiritual circumcision “made without hands” represent today?

God’s own special people, Christians, being separate (or “sanctified”) from the rest of the world.

Colossians 2:12 NKJV

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.

This same teaching is also found in Romans 6:1–7 - “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.”

Notice here back in Col. 2:12 that our obedience in baptism (which results in our being raised to newness of life) is “through FAITH in the WORKING of God, who raised Him from the dead.”

We are often accused of teaching a “works-based” salvation because we insist on teaching the truth about the necessity of baptism.

But notice that it is GOD who is doing the work in beginning the process of sanctifying the saved in baptism, and the POWER is in God, Who raised Jesus from the dead:

Which corresponds perfectly with ...

Romans 1:16 - “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the POWER of God (RESURRECTION power!) to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

And 1 Peter 3:21 - “There is also an antitype which now saves us — baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

We put our faith in Jesus Christ and in the power of God Who raised Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ Himself told us to be baptized in order to be saved (Mark 16:16).

Many other verses in the N.T. teach this as well, but unfortunately many deny this.

Colossians 2:13 NKJV

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

This verse is very clear …

At baptism, we go from being spiritually DEAD in our sins to being made ALIVE again together with Christ.

Notice also these all-important words: “Having forgiven you all trespasses!”

When?

At baptism …

And the words of Acts 2:38 ring ever-clearly as well: “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Colossians 2:14 NKJV

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.

This is in reference to Jesus wiping out the law of sin and death that was against us due to the fact that the O.T. law convicted of sin, while the N.T. law made possible forgiveness for sin.

(You can see also 2 Cor. 3:7ff which perfectly parallels with this).

Jesus ushered in the New Covenant, which Hebrews calls the “better covenant,” which was established upon “better promises” (Heb. 8:6).

The Old Covenant/Testament was nailed to Jesus’ cross; thus, we are not under the Old Testament any longer, but the New. (We can still learn from it - Rom. 15:4 — But we are not under it).

The Judaizers were false teachers who wanted to enforce the O.T. after it became null and void.

The Gnostics also were false teachers that wanted to enforce certain ascetic practices that we’ve talked about in this study as well.

(So we’re going to delve further into Paul’s confronting false teachers here in a moment).

Colossians 2:15 NKJV

Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

In short, we might say, Jesus has DISARMED the devil!

He has gained the VICTORY over the devil!

Jesus wins the battle “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12)

Colossians 2:16–17 NKJV

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 substance is of Christ.

“So” — A coordinating conjunction that according to the rules of grammar “shows cause and effect.”

According to the definition of the word “so,” it means “and for this reason,” or “therefore.”

So when you see this two-letter word “so,” you might also think of the similar word “therefore.”

And what is it there for?

Well, in light of the fact that we have been saved, we’ve obeyed the Gospel/been baptized into Christ, we’ve been circumcised and set apart with the circumcision made without hands …

And we are now born again in the NEW covenant, no longer under the OLD …

THEREFORE, “let no on 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 SUBSTANCE is of Christ!”

In other words, the point of all the things pertaining to the Old Law was to point to Jesus Christ, and …

If the Judaizers come along and try to hold you to physical circumcision, or Levitical food laws, or the various Jewish holy days, sabbaths, and feasts ...

Or if the Gnostics come along and try to hold you to something similar …

Then they were to be rejected as false teachers.

Colossians 2:18 NKJV

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,

Notice, this plainly teaches that a Christian could possibly be cheated of his heavenly reward if he gets influenced to fall away into false doctrine.

Notice that there is such a thing as “false humility” - (Perhaps someone says, “I’m so humble, I got first place in the humility contest! Look at me and my trophy that proves it!”)

Notice worship of angels is mentioned — Something, again, that specifically pertained to the Gnostics.

“Intruding into those things which he has not seen” — in other words we might say, “They’re just making stuff up!”

And “VAINLY PUFFED UP by his fleshly mind!”

It is the HEIGHT of arrogance that would say these things, and notice Paul says these folks had a FLESHLY mind! (Which is an interesting thing to say to a bunch of Gnostics for sure!)

Colossians 2:19 NKJV

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.

This is what false teachers do — Whether they realize it or not, they do not hold fast to the Head — Who is the Head of the body? (Jesus Christ - Eph. 1:22-23)

False teachers do not hold fast to Jesus Christ — They do not hold fast to the head.

Think about that just from the metaphorical picture — If you arms and hands and your legs and feet do not do what your HEAD tells them to do, your body is going to be in a world of hurt isn’t it?!

And when Christians in the body of Christ do not follow the Head, Jesus Christ, they cause grave damage, and they actually amputate themselves from the body, don’t they?

Colossians 2:20 NKJV

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—

… (Keep reading into verses 21-22) …

Colossians 2:21–22 NKJV

“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?

In other words, why are you following these false teachers such as the Judaizers and the Gnostics who are telling you to refrain from various things that God says in His New Testament are okay for New Testament Christians?

Why are you following the commandments and doctrines of MEN?

Jesus, too, said something about that:

Matthew 15:9 - “And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Vain worship — Certainly none of us here this morning want to be guilty of that.

Colossians 2:23 NKJV

These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

In other words, these ascetic practices of the Gnostics and the Judaizers — They might SEEM like they are good and holy …

But in actuality, they are “self-imposed” FAKE religion (“WILL worship,” KJV) (religion that didn’t come from GOD) …

They involve FALSE humility (which is really good old fashioned PRIDE) ...

Neglect of the body … (a very bad thing) …

And are of no TRUE value against ACTUAL indulgences of the flesh (actual sins of the flesh, like fornication, adultery, gluttony, etc. etc. etc.).

Conclusion:

We have talked about two very important concepts this morning:

Number 1 - The salvation that we have in Jesus Christ when we were buried with Him in baptism.

And 2 - The importance of avoiding false teachers, which the Bible is very clear that they exist and that they cause great damage as they sneak in as wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Lord willing this evening, we are going to begin our study of chapter 3, looking at the topic - “Live for Heaven While on Earth.”