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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Col_2:16-19
16Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day- 17things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. 18Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.
Col_2:16-23 Col_2:16-23 are the strongest condemnations of religious legalism in Paul's writings. When Paul was dealing with "weak" believers he was gentle (cf. Rom_14:1 to Rom_15:13; 1 Corinthians 8-10), but when he was addressing religious self-righteous legalists (i.e., false teachers) he was uncompromising. This self-righteousness was what brought such condemnation from Jesus on the Pharisees and Scribes. Paul knew well performance-oriented religion. His encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus (cf. Acts 9) changed everything!
There were two types of Gnostic false teachers: (1) salvation is through secret knowledge and, therefore, it does not matter how you live (antinomian libertines) and (2) salvation through secret knowledge plus a very restricted lifestyle (legalists).
Col_2:16
NASB "let no one act as your judge"
NKJV "let no one judge you"
NRSV "do not let anyone condemn you"
TEV "let no one make rules"
NJB "never let anyone criticize you"
This is a present imperative with the negative particle, which meant to stop an act already in process. This referred to (1) matters of food (cf. 1Ti_4:3); (2) special days (cf. Rom_14:5; Gal_4:10); or (3) the worship of these angelic levels (cf. Col_2:8; Col_2:20). There is an obvious parallel between Col_2:16 ("act as your judge") and Col_2:18 (act as "umpire"). Be careful of religious legalism whether Jewish, Greek, or modern.
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Col_2:17
NASB, NRSV "but the substance belongs to Christ"
NKJV "but the substance is of Christ"
TEV "the reality is Christ"
NJB "the reality is the body of Christ"
There is a contrast between "shadow" (skia, Col_2:17 a) and "substance" (sôma, lit. "body," Col_2:17 b). Religious ritual, devotion, and special days of worship are not bad in themselves unless they become ultimate issues. Christ, not human performance in any area, is the focus of the gospel.
Paul saw the religious ritualism and required religious performance of the false teachers as a mere shadow of real spirituality. The interpretive question is what does "the body of Christ" mean? The two main theories are: (1) Philo of Alexandria and Josephus interpret "body" in the sense of "substance" (NASB, NKJV) or "reality" (TEV), "true spirituality in Christ" or (2) true spirituality is manifested in the Church which is Christ's body (NJB, cf. Rom_12:4-5; 1Co_10:17; 1Co_12:12; 1Co_12:27).
The author of Hebrews also used the term "shadow" (skia, Col_2:17 a) to compare the Mosaic covenant to the new covenant in Christ (cf. Heb_8:5; Heb_10:1).
Col_2:18
NASB "Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize"
NKJV "Let no one defraud you of your reward"
NRSV "Do not let anyone disqualify you"
TEV "Do not allow yourselves to be condemned by anyone"
NJB "Do not be cheated of your prize by anyone"
This is a present imperative with negative particle, which meant to stop an act already in process. This term is used only here in the NT. This is one of Paul's athletic metaphors for the Christian life (cf. 1Co_9:24; 1Co_9:27; Gal_2:2; Php_3:14; 2Ti_4:7). Believers must not let legalists act as umpires robbing them of their freedom in Christ (cf. Rom_14:1 to Rom_15:13; 1 Corinthians 10-12. The Williams translation of the NT catches the athletic thrust, translating this "defraud you as an umpire"). The "prize" is true freedom in Christ (cf. Gal_2:4; Gal_5:1; Gal_5:13; 1Pe_2:16)! Freedom to serve God, not self. Freedom from past fears and taboos, freedom from, not freedom to (Romans 6)!
NASB "delighting in self-abasement"
NKJV "taking delight in false humility"
NRSV "insisting on self-abasement"
TEV "insist on false humility"
NJB "who chooses to grovel to angels"
This phrase is theologically related to Col_2:23. In the ancient Greco-Roman world asceticism was seen as religious devotion. This was part of the Gnostic depreciation of the physical. For them, and Greek thought in general, the body was evil. Therefore, to deny the body was a sign of spirituality. This view is still alive in the church!
This Greek word, translated by NASB as "self-abasement," means "lowliness," "modesty," "humility" and is not a negative term in the NT. Paul used it in a positive sense in Act_20:19; Eph_4:2; Php_2:3; Col_3:12. It is the motive that turns it into a spiritual charade!
▣ "and the worship of the angels" This obviously refers to the Gnostic angelic levels (cf. Col_2:8; Col_2:10; Col_2:15). It is also possible that this related to a Jewish theological obsession with the angelic realm. The "New Age" movement in our own day seems to be headed in this direction. Angels are "ministering spirits" for redeemed humanity (cf. Heb_2:14).
▣ "taking his stand" This term was used of initiates into the Mystery religions (cf. Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, p. 206). It refers to the so-called secret revelations or passwords of the Gnostics which they thought brought salvation through the angelic spheres so as to reach the presence of the high, holy god.
▣ "on visions he has seen" This possibly refers to the false teachers' claims of special revelations. The King James Version adds a negative, making the verse imply what they had not seen but only claimed to have seen. This, however, is a later scribal addition to the manuscripts à 2 and D2. The ancient Greek manuscripts P46, à *, A, B, and D* do not have the negative. The UBS4 rates the shorter text as "B" (almost certain).
▣ "inflated without cause" This is a Present passive participle. Literally it means "in vain puffed up." Paul uses this term often in his first letter to the Corinthians (cf. 1Co_4:6; 1Co_4:18-19; 1Co_5:2; 1Co_8:1; 1Co_13:4). The unexpressed agent of the passive voice was their own fallen minds. Unbelievers and false teachers are often sincere and enthusiastic.
▣ "by his fleshly mind" For Paul there is an obvious dichotomy between the thinking of the fallen world and the Christian. Believers have received the mind of Christ which is in conflict with the mind-set of a world operating and functioning apart from God (cf. Col_1:21; Rom_7:22-23; Rom_8:5-7; Rom_11:34; 1Co_2:16; Eph_2:3; Eph_4:17-23). See Special Topic: Flesh (sarx) at Col_1:22.
These legalistic religionists are to be rejected for three reasons.
1. their insights are mere shadows of reality (Col_2:17)
2. their visions are false because they are informed by a fleshly mind (Col_2:18)
3. they have stopped holding on to Christ (Col_2:19)
Legalistic false teachers are still with us! Beware! Be informed!
Col_2:19 Paul again stressed the major truth of fallen mankind's need for a relationship with Christ (individual) and also with His body, the church (corporate, cf. Col_2:8; Eph_4:16). We need salvation from sin and wisdom from God on how to live. Christ provides both!
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV "not holding fast to the Head"
TEV "have stopped holding on to Christ"
NJB "has no connection to the Head"
This is a negated present active participle. The implication is that at one time the false teachers were holding on to Christ. This can be understood in several ways.
1. they were like the two seeds in the Parable of the Sower (cf. Mat_13:20-23) that germinated but fell away and did not bear fruit
2. they were like "the believers" of Joh_8:31-59 who turned against Jesus
3. like the church members who left in 1Jn_2:18-19
4. they were like the believers in the church of Ephesus who abandoned their "first love" (cf. Rev_2:4)
▣ "the Head" Paul often uses the analogy of the people of God as a body (cf. Rom_12:4; 1Co_10:17; 1Co_12:12; 1Co_12:14; 1Co_12:20; Eph_4:4; Eph_4:16; Col_3:15), but it is only in Ephesians (Eph_1:22; Eph_4:15; Eph_5:23) and Colossians (Col_1:18; Col_2:19) that Christ is specifically identified as "the Head" (see Special Topic: Head at Eph_5:23).
This whole verse speaks of Christ as the indispensable founder, leader and sustainer of the Church.