COLOSSIANS 2:18

The Bible says in Colossians 2:18, “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.” This verse is talking about false teachers. First of all it tells us what the false teachers can cause Christians to lose. Christians can lose their reward. They cannot lose their salvation, but they can lose their reward. First Corinthians 3:12-15 speaks of losing rewards because of having the wrong works. It says, “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

You can lose your reward by not having the works that you should have, and you can lose your reward by not having the faith that you should have. At the end of his life Paul spoke triumphantly of having kept his faith through the difficulties of life, and therefore having kept his reward: a crown. Paul wrote in Second Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

The false teachers will cause you to lose your reward because they will cause you to lose your faith. They will cause you to stop living by faith by getting you to go off and live by legalism and human self-will. It says in Colossians 2:18 “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels…” Notice the phrase “voluntary humility.” False religion has a certain attraction to human nature whereby it appeals to an urge to surrender oneself to a religious cause, and to thereby think that one is being humble by doing so. It is a false humility. In the first century this false religion involved the “worshipping of angels.” False religion always involves worshipping something or someone other then the one true God, whose name is Jesus Christ. That is why Colossians 2:18 says that these false teachers are “not holding the Head.” The Head of all true religion is Jesus Christ. False religion turns away from Jesus Christ. False teachers emphasize someone or something other than Jesus Christ. That is one of the best ways to spot them. Listen very carefully to the emphasis made by a teacher. If the Lord Jesus Christ is not the emphasis, then turn your ears away from listening to them.

The Bible says in Colossians 2:19, “And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.” If Jesus is held onto as the Head, then there will be certain good results. Jesus will nourish the body of believers, and Jesus will unite them. The only true Christian unity is based upon holding onto Jesus as the Head. When individual Christians are centered on their Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus will be the uniting factor. When individuals are united for other reasons, then they do not have true Christian unity. They have some other kind of unity, such as organizational or denominational unity. But that is why they split up. Someone stops holding onto Christ as the Head, and then nothing else can “knit together” the way that Christ can.

Only Jesus can give the “increase of God.” Once we become Christians, one of the purposes of life is to grow as a Christian and to become a better servant of God. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.” This will only happen if Jesus is held onto as the Head. Jesus said in John 15:4-5, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

The Bible says in Colossians 2:20-21, “Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances: Touch not, taste not, handle not; Which all are to perish with the using; after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.” The connection that a believer has with Christ is a connection with life, but it is also a connection with death. Through Christ a believer is dead to sin. It says in Romans 6:11, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

And according to Colossians 2:20 believers are “dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world.” In these verses the Holy Spirit is telling us why the legalistic obligations of false religion do not apply to Christians. A Christian should never accept legalistic obligations that have to do with dietary restrictions or other religious taboos that have to do with what is touched or what is eaten. Why is it that the religious restrictions of organized religion do not apply to true Christians? They do not apply because a true Christian is dead to the world. Eating and touching are physical activities in a physical world. They have nothing to do with spirituality. A Christian has been saved by faith and has been given a spiritual life in Christ. Faith and spirituality and true religion have absolutely nothing to do with the physical world around us. Therefore, religious restrictions such as “taste not, touch not, handle not” have nothing to do with the one true religion, which is to know and serve Jesus Christ.

Concerning religious restrictions that are commanded by the false teachers, the Bible says in Colossians 2:22-23, “Which all are to perish with the using; after the commandments and doctrines of men. Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.” Colossians 2:22 refers to “commandments and doctrines.” There are many commandments and many doctrines and many teachings that are given in a religious context, but Christians should not accept them. Many people have been deceived and fooled into trying to keep commandments and restrictions that do not come from God. Jesus said that this was one of the failures of the Pharisees. From a doctrinal standpoint the Pharisees were very sound, but listen to what Jesus said about them. Jesus said in Matthew 23:4, “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.”

The false teachers, who exist in every Christian denomination, often emphasize the physical things because that is all that they know. They talk about “neglecting of the body” as if that is spiritual. But God created the body and its needs. God does not want the body to be neglected. False teachers do not know anything about the true worship of Christ, and false teachers do not know about spiritual things. Therefore, false teachers tend to concentrate on physical things such as the outward appearance, and such as religious ceremonies. Jesus said of the Pharisees in Matthew 23:27, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.”

The Bible says in Colossians 3:1-2, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” This verse says, “If ye be risen with Christ…” If you are a true Christian, then you are risen with Christ. But no one knows who the true Christians really are. Only God and the individual know for certain. There will be surprises in heaven. The action of believing in Christ caused each believer to be identified with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The identification is so complete that a believer is viewed as though he has already risen with Christ. If I have already risen with Christ, then I am already in heaven in a certain sense. The things that I should be interested in are the things of the next life, and not the things of this life. This life has given me sin and failure and ultimately death. But through Christ in the next life I will have righteousness and goodness and life evermore. Why should I love this life when it is so horrible compared to the next life?

The Bible says in Colossians 3:3-4, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Once a person believes in Jesus Christ, God views that person in a unique way. God says, “ye are dead.” A dead man cannot be taken to court or found guilty of his crimes. If you are dead in this spiritual connection with Christ, it means that you will not be held accountable for your sins. You have a new life: “with Christ in God.” That is why you will appear with him in glory. It’s a promise. It’s a guarantee: if you have been born again through faith in Jesus Christ.

Notice that Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ who is our life shall appear…” The Holy Spirit is reminding us of the Second Coming of Christ. There will be a generation of believers who will be alive when Jesus returns to the earth. The apostles thought that it might very well be during their life-time because the return of Christ is imminent. It can happen at any moment. There is no event that must take place before Christ “appears.” That is why it says in First Thessalonians 5:2, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” That is why Jesus says in Revelation 22:20, “Surely, I come quickly.”

The Bible says in Colossians 3:5, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” God says that we are dead to sin in His eyes because of Christ and because of trusting in Christ. Because of this death to sin we will be allowed into heaven. The first two chapters of the book of Colossians told us what Christ did for us so that we would be allowed freely into heaven. But there should “therefore” be a good result in our own lives on this earth. The word “mortify” means “put to death.” Every believer is capable of doing sinful things because every believer is still a human being living on this earth. But a believer must learn to put to death these sinful actions.

These actions are listed as: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness. Of the five things listed here the first four refer to sexual immorality. Fornication refers to any sex that is outside of the marriage bond. Uncleanness refers to the results of sexual immorality. The phrase “inordinate affection” refers to the strong passions that lead some to sexual immorality. Colossians 3:5 speaks of “evil concupiscence” which is literally “evil desires.” God created the desires that we have. The desires that we have are good. But when the desires go past the bounds that God has set for them, those desires are evil. “The bed in marriage is undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

The last sin listed in Colossians 3:5 is “covetousness.” This refers directly to selfishness as it relates to materialism. Materialism is related to sexual sins because both are directly related to human selfishness. Because sexual sins and covetousness are so closely related, those who are materialistic are often also people who commit immorality. Those who commit sexual sins are essentially very selfish. They think only of themselves and do not care whom they hurt in their selfish acts.

But no matter how great your sins might be, you can still turn to Jesus Christ and find forgiveness and eternal life.

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