Having revealed what believers have in Christ, Paul next pointed out the errors of the false teachers more specifically to help his readers identify and reject their instruction.
"Sad to say, there are many Christians who actually believe that some person, religious system, or discipline can add something to their spiritual experience. But they already have everything they ever will need in the person and work of Jesus Christ."127
2:16-17 The false teachers were encouraging the Colossians to place their Christian freedom under their control. They wanted to limit it by prohibiting certain perfectly legitimate activities. The five items mentioned in verse 16 were all part of Judaism. Therefore it is very probable that the legalistic false teachers were to some extent Jewish (i.e., advocating obedience to the Law of Moses for justification and sanctification).
"The believing Gentiles in Colossae never were under the Law of Moses since that Law was given only to Israel (Rom. 9:4). It seems strange that, now that they were Christians, they would want to submit themselves to Jewish legalism!"128
The dietary and festival observances were as shadows of Christ.
They were ". . . a dim outline, a sketch of an object in contrast with the object itself. . . . The offerings were reflections of the one genuine saving offering at the cross, the priesthood was a foreshadowing of the priestly ministry of Christ, and the kings of Israel faintly suggested the coming King of kings and Lord of lords. The new age, then, is not the extension of Judaism; rather, Judaism was a mere shadow of the present age projected into the past."129
When Christ came, He explained that the Mosaic Law was no longer binding (e.g., Mark 7:18-19; Luke 16:16; cf. John 1:17; Acts 10:12; Rom. 7:6; 10:4; 14:17; 1 Cor. 8:8; 2 Cor. 3:6-11; Gal. 3:19, 23; 4:9-11; 5:1; Heb. 7:12; 9:10). This failure of the false teachers really amounted to a failure to appreciate Christ.
"The new religion [Christianity] is too free and exuberant to be trained down to times and seasons' like its tame and rudimental predecessor [Judaism]. Its feast is daily, for every day is holy; its moon never wanes, and its serene tranquillity is an unbroken Sabbath."130
2:18-19 A second error was mysticism. Whereas Colossian legalism (vv. 16-17) was primarily Jewish in origin, Colossian mysticism (vv. 18-19) seems to have been mainly gnostic and pagan. Paul's readers were in danger of becoming diverted as they ran the Christian race and not staying on the track. Thus they could lose the prize that God will give those who run the race well (cf. 2 Tim. 4:7-8). "Self-abasement"is the practice of denying oneself with the idea that this will gain merit with God. Specifically fasting is in view.
The false teachers also advocated the worship of angels probably with the idea that they were the proper mediators of prayer and worship to God. Similarly many Roman Catholics so regard dead Christians, whom they have labeled "saints."The basis of such claims was personal experience, not revelation from God.
Some translators added "visions"(v. 18) to give the idea of some superior experience. However the contrast intended is between humanly generated ideas and divine revelation. Such ideas gave those who had them a false sense of pride. Rather Christians should get our direction from Christ by divine revelation and enjoy growth that He brings to pass rather than growth that is not genuine. The "joints and ligaments"probably refer to believers in Christ's body of which He is the Head (cf. 1:18; Eph. 4:7-16).131
"Precedent for this approach to spirituality in Judaism [that Paul was countering in this epistle] is seen in a movement that came to be known as Merkabah mysticism.' The Merkabah refers to Ezekiel 1 and the throne chariot of God that Ezekiel saw. This teaching spoke of days of fasting to prepare for a journey to the heavens to see God and have a vision of Him and His angelic host in worship (Philo, Die Somniis1.33-37; De Vita Mosis2.67-70; 1QH 6:13; 1 Enoch 14:8-25; 2 Baruch 21:7-10; Apocalypse of Abraham 9:1-10; 19:1-9; Ascension of Isaiah 7:37; 8:17; 9:28, 31, 33). One could withdraw and eventually go directly into God's presence. Thus this false teaching emphasized the humility of ascetic practice, visions, the rigors of devotion, treating the body harshly, and rules about what should not be eaten or what days should be observed (2:16-23). All this activity was aimed to help prepare individuals for the experience that took them beyond what Jesus had already provided, so they could see God and His angels in heaven."132
2:20-23 In these verses Paul developed the third error he already alluded to, namely asceticism. The ascetic practices ("elementary principles,"stoicheai, v. 8) he referred to seem to have been extensions of Mosaic Law. "If"(v. 20) could read "Since."It is a first class condition in Greek that in this case is a condition true to reality. Christians "died"to merely human ordinances of Judaism and gnosticism at conversion (cf. Rom. 6:1-4; 7:1-6; 2 Cor. 5:14; Gal. 2:19). Nevertheless it is possible to put oneself under these and live like unbelievers in the world. The false teachers were in effect forcing the Colossians to live by the world system by placing ascetic requirements on them. The specific decrees cited as examples (v. 21) have to do with food, but these are only representative of many such laws. These laws are inadequate for three reasons. The things prohibited perish through normal usage, the laws are of human origin, and they do not solve the real problem, namely the desires of the flesh.
"There is only one thing that will put the collar on the neck of the animal within us, and that is the power of the indwelling Christ."133
The emphases of these false teachers are still with us today. The first is "higher"knowledge (Gnosticism). The second is the observance of laws to win God's love (legalism). The third is the belief that beings other than Christ must mediate between people and God (mysticism). The fourth is the practice of abstaining from things to earn merit with God (asceticism).
"When we make Jesus Christ and the Christian revelation only partof a total religious system or philosophy, we cease to give Him the preeminence. When we strive for spiritual perfection' or spiritual fullness' by means of formulas, disciplines, or rituals, we go backward instead of forward. Christian believers must beware of mixing their Christian faith with such alluring things as yoga, transcendental meditation, Oriental mysticism, and the like. We must also beware of deeper life' teachers who offer a system for victory and fullness that bypasses devotion to Jesus Christ. In all things, He must have the preeminence!"134
