Let No One Disqualify You

Introduction

Imagine I join a gym.

I know that is hard to imagine, but work with me.

I pay the full membership fee.

My key fob works.

My name is in the system.

I have full access to everything.

On my first day, an enthusiastic “fitness mentor” approaches me.

He doesn’t work there, but he acts as if he does.

“If you really want results,” he says, “you need my program.”

He hands me a list: special shakes, specific shoes, a 5 a.m. class, supplements, and his stretching routine.

I reply, “But I already paid. I have full access.”

He smiles.

“The membership gets you in the door. But real fitness requires more.”

Without noticing, I stop trusting the membership and start trusting the mentor—his list, his add-ons.

That is Jesus‑plus religion.

In Christ, I already have full access to the Father.

My acceptance is paid in full.

My standing is secure.

Yet spiritual “mentors” step in with clipboards and say:

“Yes, Jesus—but also this ritual, experience, identity, lifestyle, or technique.”

They sound wise and spiritual, but they add requirements Christ never gave.

In Paul’s day, it was mystical visions and ascetic practices.

Today, it’s techniques, emotional experiences, self‑help spirituality, or performance-based approval.

These religious groups often include sincere believers who love Christ.

The problem isn’t sincerity—it’s the pattern.

Christ plus anything denies his sufficiency.

Christ plus nothing is everything.

That’s why Paul insists: Let no one disqualify you.

Scripture

Let’s read Colossians 2:18-19:

18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Lesson

Colossians 2:18-19 teaches us that because Christ alone is the source of true spiritual life, believers must reject every Christ-diminishing spirituality and cling to him alone as the all-sufficient head.

Let’s use the following outline:

Reject the Impressive Spirituality That Detracts from Christ (2:18a)

Resist the Inflated Spirituality That Disconnects from Christ (2:18b)

Remain in the Indispensable Christ Who Supplies All Spiritual Life (2:19)

I. Reject the Impressive Spirituality That Detracts from Christ (2:18a)

First, reject the impressive spirituality that detracts from Christ.

Paul begins by writing in verse 18a, “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions….”

The Greek word for “disqualify”(katabrabeuo) was used in athletic contests.

It refers to a referee who would disqualify or deem someone unworthy of a prize.

The false teachers in Colossae were acting like referees.

They declared that believers were disqualified unless they embraced ascetic practices, mystical visions, and the worship of angels.

The false teachers looked impressive—mystical and visionary.

Paul described three features of the false teachers' impressive spirituality.

The first feature of an impressive but counterfeit spirituality was a false humility.

There was a show of lowliness.

But it was really a form of spiritual pride.

The second feature of an impressive but counterfeit spirituality was the worship of angels.

They encouraged worship of intermediaries—such as angels—because Christ seemed too ordinary.

And the third feature of an impressive but counterfeit spirituality was visions.

They wanted believers to chase experiences.

But in doing so, they were not really submitting to a Savior.

It looked deep.

It felt spiritual.

But it was empty of Christ.

On the windswept coast of Denmark stands the Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse—a tall, elegant tower rising out of shifting dunes.

Tourists travel from around the world to photograph it.

It is striking, impressive, even inspiring.

But it is also useless.

The sands moved, the shoreline eroded, and the sea swallowed the very paths ships once sailed.

The lighthouse still looks the part, but it can no longer guide anyone home.

It is a picture of an impressive spirituality that detracts from Christ.

People can build impressive practices—mindfulness, rituals, moral effort, even religious language.

It may look beautiful from a distance.

It may feel meaningful for a moment.

But without Christ, the Light of the World, it cannot guide a soul through darkness, guilt, or death.

A lighthouse without light is scenery, not salvation.

And spirituality without Christ is the same—impressive, but eternally useless.

Reject any teaching that suggests you lack something because you don’t have certain experiences, gifts, or emotional intensity.

Reject any teaching that talks more about techniques, visions, or “levels” than about Christ.

If Christ is not central, it is not Christian.

Reject the subtle pride that seeks identity in anything other than union with Christ.

II. Resist the Inflated Spirituality That Disconnects from Christ (2:18b)

Second, resist the inflated spirituality that disconnects from Christ.

Paul goes on to say in the second part of verse 18 that the false teachers were “puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind.”

The false teachers claimed a superior spirituality.

But Paul says they are puffed up, inflated—like a balloon full of hot air, not substance.

The confidence of the false teachers came from imagination, not Christ.

The authority of the false teachers came from ego, not Christ.

Hans Christian Andersen tells the story in his book Fairy Tales Told for Children of a proud emperor who is convinced he is wearing the finest clothes ever made.

The tailors promised a fabric so exquisite that only the wise could see it.

Of course, there was no fabric at all.

But no one dared admit it.

Ministers nodded.

Advisors praised.

Crowds applauded.

And the emperor marched through the streets—impressively dressed in nothing at all.

Finally, a child said what was true: “He isn’t wearing anything at all.”

False teaching works the same way.

It wraps itself in impressive language—“new insights,” “deeper knowledge,” “fresh revelation.”

It flatters the ego and intimidates the conscience.

It looks spiritual, sophisticated, even biblical.

But when the light of Scripture shines on it, the truth is exposed: there is nothing there.

Without the word of Christ, teaching may look impressive, but it cannot clothe a soul in righteousness or truth.

It is empty—beautifully packaged, but spiritually bare.

My dear Christian brother and sister, resist intimidation by spiritual arrogance.

About 40 years ago, I had just graduated from a theological seminary.

My wife and I attended the Billy Graham Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

There were over 8,000 participants from 173 countries.

The city was filled with Christians and evangelists from all over the world.

I remember talking to a man in our hotel several times.

At this point, I don’t remember who he was or where he was from.

He quoted verse after verse about things that made little sense to me.

I must admit I felt intimidated by his ease at quoting Bible verses.

However, I soon realized that most of the verses were taken out of context.

They were designed to promote a theology that really disconnected a person from Christ.

So, I avoided him for the rest of the conference.

Also, resist the assumption that confidence equals truth.

That certainly was the case of the man I just mentioned.

He had enormous confidence.

He sounded like he had everything nailed down.

But he was not advocating the truth of God’s word.

And lastly, resist anyone who acts as a spiritual referee over your standing with Christ.

Now, I am not talking about faithful shepherds and spiritually mature Christians that God has put in your life.

They will always point you to Christ.

They will help you in your walk with Christ.

They will even correct you when you are not pleasing Christ.

What I am talking about are those who improperly act as spiritual referees regarding your standing with Christ.

After World War II, Corrie ten Boom often spoke about forgiveness—especially the forgiveness her sister, Betsie, showed even amid the horrors of Ravensbrück Concentration Camp.

After one meeting, a pastor approached her with a firm, dismissive tone.

“Your sister couldn’t have truly forgiven those guards,” he said.

“No real Christian could forgive something like that. God wouldn’t accept it.”

In that moment, he wasn’t defending doctrine.

He was acting like a spiritual referee, blowing the whistle on someone else’s relationship with Christ.

He presumed the authority to declare who was “approved” and who wasn’t, as if he could see the heart better than the Lord himself.

Corrie later reflected that such judgment reveals a dangerous pride.

When we claim the right to rule on another believer’s standing with Christ, we step into a place that belongs only to the One who justifies the ungodly.

Christ alone knows the heart.

Christ alone calls his own.

III. Remain in the Indispensable Christ Who Supplies All Spiritual Life (2:19)

And third, remain in the indispensable Christ who supplies all spiritual life.

Paul writes in verse 19, “... and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.”

Paul’s issue with the false teachers is that they were “not holding fast to the Head.”

Of most concern to Paul was that the false teachers were using their own private religious experience as the basis of their authority, when in fact they were rejecting Christ as their head.

Christ alone is the source of life and nourishment by which his body—the people of God in the church—lives and the source of unity through which it becomes an organic whole.

The real issue for Paul was that the false teachers  were “not holding fast to the Head.”

Not visions.

Not angels.

Not ascetic practices.

Not mystical experiences.

The false teachers have let go of Christ.

The truth is that Christ alone nourishes the church.

Paul sets down several wonderful truths about Christ in verse 19:

•     From him, the body grows.

•     Through him, the church is nourished.

•     By him, believers are knit together.

•     In him, believers grow with God-given growth.

Everything the Christian needs is found in Christ.

Everything the Christian needs flows from Christ.

Joni Eareckson Tada was seventeen years old when a diving accident left her paralyzed from the shoulders down.

In the early months, she begged God for healing.

She tried every prayer line, every anointing service, every promise someone said would “unlock” her miracle.

When nothing changed, she felt abandoned—until she realized she had been seeking Christ’s gifts more than Christ himself.

In her testimony, she says, “I wanted a physical healing. God wanted a deeper healing.”

Over time, Scripture became her lifeline.

She discovered that Christ was not withholding anything—he was offering himself.

His presence became her strength, his promises her joy, and his grace her daily power.

Joni later said, “I would rather be in this wheelchair knowing Christ than on my feet without him.”

Her story stands as a living witness: when Christ is all you have, you finally discover he is all you need.

Let me suggest several points of application.

First, remain rooted in Christ.

You do so through daily communion with him.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 - 1892), the prince of preachers, once said, “The best way to get your faith strengthened is to have communion with Christ.”

Several years ago, a young physician, Dr. Kathryn Butler, served in a trauma ICU in Boston.

The pressure was relentless—night shifts, dying patients, impossible decisions, and the emotional weight of families begging for hope.

She later wrote that the only thing that kept her from collapsing under the strain was a simple, stubborn habit: meeting with Christ every morning before stepping into the hospital.

She would sit with Scripture, exhausted, sometimes barely awake, and pray, “Lord, I have nothing. Give me what I need.”

She says those quiet moments didn’t remove the chaos, but they re‑anchored her soul.

Christ met her with peace when she felt overwhelmed, wisdom when she felt inadequate, and compassion when she felt empty.

Looking back, she wrote, “My strength never came from within me. It came from the One who met me daily.”

Her story reminds us: communion with Christ is not optional fuel—it is survival.

Second, remain assured in Christ.

Your standing before God is in Christ alone.

A few years ago, a young Nigerian believer named Bolu shared his testimony at a missions conference.

He had grown up in a church culture where assurance rose and fell with his performance—how passionately he prayed, how long he fasted, how intensely he repented.

Every failure sent him spiraling into fear.

Every success made him proud for a moment, then anxious again.

But during university, he began studying Ephesians with a small Bible study.

One night, he read Paul’s words: “In him we have redemption… according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

Bolu said it felt like the ground shifted under his feet.

“For the first time,” he said, “I realized my security was not in my grip on Christ, but Christ’s grip on me.”

From that point on, his assurance stopped rising and falling with his performance.

It rested on a person—Christ alone, unchanging and enough.

Third, remain centered on Christ in worship.

Christ is the focus of your worship—not how you feel in worship.

Far too many people come to worship services and leave saying something like, “I enjoyed that service. The music was good. And the message was great!”

Friends, worship is not rated by how you feel.

Worship is rated by how Christ feels.

When you leave a worship service, you need to say something like, “I pray that Christ was pleased with my worship of him today.”

And fourth, remain dependent on Christ in ministry.

Your fruitfulness in your service to Christ does not flow from your skills, gifts, or talents.

Your fruitfulness in your service to Christ flows from your union with Christ.

A few years ago, pastor and author David Platt told the story of a season when his ministry schedule had grown overwhelming—global travel, preaching, leadership responsibilities, and constant needs from people he loved.

He said he reached a point where he felt completely empty, unable to meet the demands placed on him.

One morning, exhausted and discouraged, he opened his Bible simply because he had nothing else to cling to.

He later described that moment this way: “I realized I was trying to do the work of God without depending on the Spirit of God.”

From that day, he began starting each morning not with planning, but with surrender—confessing weakness, asking for help, and deliberately placing the day in Christ’s hands.

Those of you who are doing the Daily Bible Reading with our church do this as well.

One of the first things you do is authentically submit to the Lord and his word.

Platt said the pressures didn’t disappear, but the power shifted.

Ministry stopped being something he performed for Christ and became something Christ performed through him.

Conclusion

Paul’s message is not complicated.

Paul’s message is not mystical.

Paul’s message is not esoteric.

Paul’s message to the Colossians—and to us—is gloriously simple.

Paul’s message is: hold fast to Christ.

When the world offers spiritual shortcuts, hold fast to Christ.

When your heart longs for something more sensational, hold fast to Christ.

When false teachers promise deeper experiences, hold fast to Christ.

When guilt whispers that Christ is not enough, hold fast to Christ.

Why?

Because Christ is the head.

Because Christ is the life.

Because Christ is the fullness.

Because Christ is the One who holds you fast.

And the church that holds fast to Christ “grows with a growth that is from God.” Amen.