BRETHREN, see to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fulness of life in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ; and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
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The town of Colossae at the time of Paul was an insignificant town which had seen better days. Once it was like its busy neighbouring cities Laodicea, the political hub for the area, and the city of Hieropolis, a large trading centre. Colassae was located in the area known as Phrygia. Phrygia had been converted to Christianity by Epaphas, a disciple of Paul shortly prior thereto. As a result of difficulties that reached Paul’s ears while he was a prisoner in Rome on the first occasion around 61 A.D., Paul decided to write to these new converts because they were under attack by the heretical ideas of Gnosticism.
At that time Gnosticism was the big threat to Christianity. Indeed, Gnosticism was syncretistic (in that it merged all religions into one) and accordingly varied from area to area. In other words, it collected and incorporated whatever religious ideas were found in the local area into its belief system thus it was difficult to counter. In the Phrygian area, where the town of Colassae was located there were strong Jewish elements. So, this particular strand of Gnosticism stressed the importance of obedience to the law as an essential element of salvation. Thus, food laws and holiday regulations assumed huge importance as did circumcision as they were incorporated in the Gnostic teachings of the area.
Gnostics basically believed that the idea of God, who was all good, could not possibly have made a world which was so evil. So they posited that the divine fullness was a series of emanations or eons, with each emanation deriving from its predecessor and also being a little further distant from the divine centre. Christ was seen as the last link in the divine chain stretching down from the original centre to the created world. Christ was also seen as an angelic aeon and as such was worthy of worship. Gnosticism taught personal special knowledge was available to each person, which knowledge made them closer to God. This heretical movement in effect taught that the world was created by a lesser divinity, the demiurge and that Christ was an emissary of the remote divine spirit who was able to redeem the human spirit. To the Gnostics, their pathway consisted in having a special knowledge imparted by their particular religious practices which led them to God and was superior to the baptism of and teaching of Christ.
Paul now begins to defend the faith against one of the strongest heresies of the early church. He tells his early followers to watch out for, and not be persuaded by, the silver tongues of those that seek to capture them in their web of deceit. Do not listen to their philosophy or their deceit but focus on the words of Christ. All the rules that the Gnostics tried to install – all this philosophy – with its rules about circumcision, food laws and holy days, are only for those who are immature and have nothing to do with Christ. Indeed, what the Gnostics are saying has nothing to do with the One who came to save the world, and Gnosticism has nothing in it for Christians because they have, through faith, been promised the kingdom. In that way we have left immaturity behind, and all false religions and false teachers as we have attained the true faith through Jesus Christ.
Paul further argues that we, who are Christians, are not to abandon Christ for Gnostic nonsense. In Christ there is the fullness of the Godhead. Christ is not just one link in a series of emanations from the Godhead. All the divine fullness dwells in Christ and not only that, it dwells bodily. When Christ took a human body, he became engaged with the world. Divine nature came into the world. This world may be a fleshly and corruptible world but nevertheless, Christ is God and as God has engaged with his creation. Therefore, in sharing a human body, how can the Gnostics sustain the proposition that God has nothing to do with his creation but rather, has someone lower than him to attend to it? After all, what would be the point of John 3:17 wherein we are told that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish? God is a God of personal relationships. God may be unknowable and incomprehensible and invisible but through the son having taken human flesh, God in Jesus Christ has become knowable, comprehensible, and visible.
So what is important is not what we eat or what we drink, or what festivals or new moons we celebrate or what Sabbaths we may follow but whether we are Christ’s, who has surpassed all things. Indeed, following the lesser, which covered Gnostic teachings, for the greater which are the teachings of Christ, is in effect cheating yourself out of the reward which is the fullness of Christ. Why would you subject yourself to such regulations and prohibitions so as not to touch, taste or handle things that are perishable, when such regulations and prohibitions are in accordance only with the fevered imaginations of men? Do you not see that these things you are being told, though they have the impression of wisdom, are a false wisdom? And although the Gnostics have the impression of humility, it is a false humility? Although you may be told about the evil of the body, it is the body which is created by God, and God declared it to be very good. So, Gnosticism fails.
In Christ everything has been fulfilled and completed. We are now able to engage in a relationship with God and be glorified in the Lord. Clearly those Colossians who considered that the issue of circumcision was important, as well as the need to keep all the Jewish law whilst giving homage and worship to all the angelic beings of the heavenly spheres, were following a false religion. These Colossians were not only being led astray but were in danger of perdition.
In the exchange between Stephen the first Deacon and the high priest which occurs in the Books of Acts, Stephen said this: “you stiff-necked peoples, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who receive the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” (Acts 7:51 – 53). These Colossians was sliding away from Christianity. It is through baptism that we are incorporated into Christ. We are co-buried and co-raised with him. We effectively go from a life of uncircumcision to a life of circumcision in the spirit of Christ. We become at one with Christ. Accordingly, we share in the resurrection of Christ, and by sharing his resurrection, we share in life everlasting.
The Gnostics represented a great and grave danger to the church. Their teachings were sophisticated and logical in accordance with human understanding, but they only served to lead people away from God. Such people are dead, spiritually. It is only through Christ, having been made alive by God that they have been forgiven their trespass. Following any other religion or false teaching will not only lead you astray but also remove you from everlasting life.
