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More on Colossians Chapter Two
Fred R. Coulter—June 24, 2000
Today we’re going to take a second look—or maybe a
third or fourth or tenth or twentieth or fiftieth look—or study of
Colossians, the second chapter. Colossians, the second chapter becomes a very
key, important chapter, concerning the Truth of God and what we should do. And
the world—especially Protestantism as well as Catholicism—has taken
the very Scriptures which say what to do and they tell you it means not to do
it.
Before we begin, let’s go to Colossians, the second chapter,
and let’s look at one verse in particularly. And let me just tell you this
that’s important to understand—which is this: The New Age Bible versions
help facilitate this error.
Now, Colossians 2:17—we’ll get to a
verse-by-verse explanation of this in a little bit: “Which are a
foreshadow of the things that are coming… [referring back to v 16]: …Therefore,
do not allow anyone to judge you in eating or in drinking, or with regard to a
festival, or new moon, or the Sabbaths, which are a foreshadow of the
things that are coming…” The NIV translates this: “Which are a
foreshadow of things which were to come.” Then they make the claim that
since Christ came, they were fulfilled and there is nothing left in the way of
keeping any of these things mentioned in v 16. So that’s how they explain it.
We will see that it is just the opposite; and we will answer
the question: Who were those who were judging them? And why were they judging
them? And we get much of the answer out of this book called Primitive
Christianity in Crisis. So what we will do in order to thoroughly cover
this, I’m going to go ahead and read from certain select sections from this
book. And what I will do then, when we’re done with that, we will go ahead and
quickly survey Colossians, chapter one. And in doing so—I won’t go
through it in detail because I’ve done that in the series that I’ve already
done on Colossians.
Now then, let me begin reading and I’ll give the page
numbers since some of you have this book. Let me also state on the tape here
where you can get this book. So for those of you who want the book, here is the
address where you can get it—cost: $15.95, published by ARK Research,
1917 Mt. Hamilton Drive, Antioch, CA 94509. [transcriber’s note: this can
be purchased cheaply used on Amazon.com]. It’s well worth it, and there’s
an awful lot in here. Even though this man is not currently with a fellowship
group that we know of that came out of Worldwide, he has been attending Church
of God Seventh Day, because he couldn’t find anything else around here. But
what it does, it show that if you want to know the Truth you can find the
Truth—which is important, brethren. Because God is not just going to give
it to just a few people and nobody else. God is able to give Truth to anyone
that He wants to, and if you seek it you’ll find it. And there’s something
that’s very important, as I wrote in my last letter, which is this: That if you
keep His commandments you will have a good understanding. That’s very important
to realize.
So this book, Primitive Christianity in Crisis, does
this for us; or just kind of liken it unto if you will take a pair of
binoculars or a telescope and you finally focus it in. I would have to say that
our understanding of it in the past has been right on, no problem with that,
but what he brings us in this book helps clarify it so about the last eight or
ten percent to really make it clear and understandable. And when we get done
with Colossians two, this time you will really understand it like never before.
There will be no mystery to it. It will not be difficult at all. However,
without some of this knowledge and understanding, when you approach something
with a religious view of the past (i.e. Protestantism or seventh Day
Adventistism or Catholicism) you may view some of these things from a
pre-conceived notion which is not correct. But remember, Paul wrote this in
about the 60s A.D. And he was dealing with a current, ongoing
problem within the church at Colossae as well as the other churches. Now please
understand, Colossae is located in Asia Minor. They had the Greek language and
the Greek philosophy—which is the Greek religion—for hundreds and
hundreds of years. And how that, in this book, he shows what the Gnostics have done.
Now, the Gnostics means this: A Gnostic is someone who knows—because
the Greek word for knowledge is ‘gnosis.’ So a Gnostic is someone who knows.
And they claim that they had special revelation from God after the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Now since the New Testament was not finalized and was in the
process of being written, it just made open slaughter upon the true Christians;
because the Gnostics were those who professed Christ, who professed the
sacrifice of Christ, and they didn’t have the New Testament as we do today to
combat it.
So Paul wrote the book of Colossians to combat several
particular problems noted in chapter two. The whole focal point of the book is
chapter two. So let’s get a little background on this and let’s understand
something here concerning philosophy religion, and also magic.
Philosophy today is supposed to just be knowledge.
But philosophy back then, in the Greek culture, was also religion. And they
also believed in magic. That is called ‘theurgy’—and ‘theurgy’ then is
the divination in calling up of spirits. And so what we have
here—theurgy—in part
…as magic, sorcery, especially that practiced by certain
Neoplatonists who profess to work miracles by the intervention of beneficent
spirits” (Primitive Christianity in Crisis, pg. 38).
When we get to chapter 2 we’ll talk a little bit more about
angels. But I want you also to be alert that today there’s an awful lot to do
with angels. You will find even whole television series devoted to angels. And
all of that is just a re-dressing of the ancient old demonism that was extant
in Greece and Rome and every society. They try and make you feel good. They
have fuzzy warm stories. Always ends up on a good note. So that’s what they try
and profess with these beneficent spirits.
The underlying idea is the typical Hellenistic belief that
all phenomena in the world, both spiritual and material, are linked together as
a whole. In the end, everything is based on forces radiating from God into the
world, giving form and life to all things. (pg 38).
And this
is where you get the pagan philosophy that God is in everything. And this is
where you get the pagan philosophy, like the modern false prophet Deepak Chopra
that God is within you, within soul with a Divine spark that you have to
discover. And I’ll have more to say about that later on when I get his book.
This was an especially prominent theme in the Stoic
philosophy. (PCC, pg. 38).
Let’s go to Acts 17 for just a minute, because we will see
that Paul had his run in with the Stoics and the philosophers of his day in
Athens. And this is very important that this section was recorded for us; so
that we can see that the truth of God’s Word has nothing to do
with Greek philosophy—or, as we could put it, Hellenistic philosophy.
Hellenism is just another word Greek untranslated.
Acts 17:18: “Then some philosophers… [who believed in what? Magic,
beneficent spirits; it was their religion.] …of the Epicureans and the
Stoics…”
The Epicureans were the ones who said: ‘It doesn’t matter
what you do because everything on the outside is physical, and as long as you
have the inner part of your spirituality remaining true, whatever you do
doesn’t make any difference.’ The Stoics said: ‘No, No, No! The way you
overcome sin and lust is to beat the body. Don’t touch. Don’t handle. Don’t do
this. Don’t marry. Don’t have sex.’ And this is where monasticism and nunneries
came from. It didn’t originate with the Catholic Church. They had the so-called Virgins of Delphi. And the so-called virgins in Babylon. So you see, once
you get a few keys, you can tie all of these things together.
“…[and they] encountered him. And some of them said,
‘What will this babbler have to say?’ And some said, ‘He seems to be a
preacher of foreign gods,’ because he was preaching to them the gospel of Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to
[Aeropagus] Mars’ hill… [that’s the one whenever they show the great glory of
Greece, they show this nearly tumbled down temple of Diana—that’s the
Aeropagus] …saying, ‘May we know what this new teaching is that is
spoken by you? For you are bringing certain strange things to our ears…. [Now
why would the resurrection be strange to them? Simply because they believed in
the immortality of the soul; and that is the key thing with all Gnostic
religion—ancient and modern—believe in the immortality of the
soul.] …So then, we desire to know what these things mean.’ (Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning among them spent their leisure in
nothing other than to tell and to hear something new.)” (vs 18-21).
So this was kind of like a public square where everyone came
and just spoke whatever they wanted. How many have ever been to Los Angeles?
They have the city square down there. They’ve got all kinds of preachers and
all kinds of people standing around there. It’s not quite like San
Francisco—San Francisco doesn’t have it quite as bad as Los Angeles. They
also, in Piccadilly Park in London, they have the same thing: little groups
here, little groups there, standing here, preaching this, doing that. So this
is the same thing that was going on there.
“Then Paul stood in the center of Mars’ hill and said, ‘Men, Athenians, I perceive that in all things you are very
[superstitious] …reverent to deities… [the Greek for superstitious means you
are devoted to demons. And that’s what we just read in this book with the
beneficent spirits and theurgy. You’re devoted to demons—not to God. So
this is angel-worship, because demons are what? Fallen angels. ‘Satan
was cast down and his angels with him’ and ‘the dragon fought and his angels
fought.’ So demons are angels that have fallen. There are good angels. I’m
going to give a whole sermon one of these days pretty soon on good angels and
what they do.] …For as I was passing through and observing the objects
of your veneration, I also found an altar on which was inscribed, “To an
unknown God.” So then, He Whom you worship in ignorance is the one that I proclaim to you’” (vs 22-23). This is telling us very clearly that all the
philosophy of the Greek religions are ignorant of the Truth of God; and they
are held in bondage to the elemental spirits of this world. And we will see
that’s what Paul was combating in Colossians two.
“‘He is the God Who made the world… [this is
important to understand because we’ll talk about the God that made the world from
the viewpoint of the Gnostics or the Hellenists.] …and all things that are in it. Being the Lord of heaven and earth… [becomes important. That’s a
key a prime statement. Not just in heaven, but of earth!] …He does not dwell in
temples made by hands; nor is He served by the hands of men, as though He needs anything, for He gives to all life and breath and all things….
[So, he is virtually—and this is a summary—of his wiping out,
completely destroying, the basis of all Greek Hellenist philosophical religion.
And yet that is what is prevalent I the world today.] …And He made of one blood
all the nations of men to dwell upon all the face of the earth, having
determined beforehand their appointed times and the boundaries of their
dwelling; in order that they might seek the Lord, if perhaps they might feel
after Him and might find Him… [you might put in your margin there: John
4:23-24, that God is seeking those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. And
if you’re seeking God in truth and want the truth, you will find Him.] …though
truly, He is not far from each one of us’” (vs 24-27).
Now that’s interesting, because the philosophy is that since
God is everywhere—He has no being; He has no need of a head or arms or
legs or a voice or a tongue—He’s just everywhere; an emanation.
“‘For in Him we live and move and have our being;
as some of the poets among you also have said, “For we are His offspring.”
Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we should not think that the
Godhead… [we’ll talk about Godhead in Colossians, chapter two] …is like
that which is made of gold, or silver, or stone—a graven
thing of art devised by the imagination of man; for although God
has indeed overlooked the times of this ignorance… [God wrote that, so what is
God saying through the Apostle Paul? All you wise men are ignorant of the
Truth. That’s why the Truth of God never comes from the wisdom of this
world. That’s why all seminaries are in graveyards—they bury the Truth
and substitute it with their own.] …He now commands all men everywhere to
repent… [that’s quite a sweeping statement—isn’t it? Here Paul walks into
the very center of the philosophical religion of Greece and says, ‘You’re
wrong! It’s ignorant! You worship demons! You worship idols and the things made
by hand! We’re the offspring of God and we need to seek God! And you need to
repent!] …because He has set a day in which He will judge the world in
righteousness by a man Whom He has appointed, having given proof to all by raising Him from the dead.’…. [For a summary, this is pretty powerful
summary. Can you imagine what the whole message was? Arguing back and forth
with them!] …And after hearing about the resurrection of the dead, some mocked… [Now notice, they believed in the immortality of the
soul—when you die you go to heaven.] …but some said, ‘We will hear you
again concerning this matter.’ And so Paul went out from among them. But certain ones who believed joined
themselves to him, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite, and a
woman named Damaris, and others with them.” (vs 28-34). So some
believed!
Can you imagine starting out with a congregation like that?
Boy! So that gives you a little more background concerning the religion of the
Greeks and the philosophers.
The
daemons of Hellenistic belief (equivalent to angels in the Bible) were viewed
as personifications of various kinds of power and energy flowing into the world
from above. They’re equivalent in the New Testament “elemental spirits”
mentioned in Colossians 2:8, 20 and Galatians 4:3. They are the spirits which
control the “elemental forces” that sustain the world around us (pg 38).
Page 42, PCC:
It should be obvious
from the start that Gnostic ‘Christianity’ in general is merely another
manifestation of the reformation of Greek religion that began with Orphism and
Pythagoreanism. There are also differences, of course. It is considered a more
extreme example, in that it is developed a passionately negative condemnation
of material existence. In the Hellenistic religious mainstream, especially from
the earlier centuries, creation was not evil and material existence, though
defective and base compared to the true life of the spirit above, generally was
considered good…. For the Gnostics, the world is altogether evil. So it’s
Creator, Yahweh and His religion must be absolutely evil, as well.
And this starts planting the seeds of the
hatred for the Old Testament. And you hear that even today. Just listen to some
of these Protestant ministers. They hate the law. This book that I’m doing the
series on concerning Sunday, it’s obvious he has a carnal hatred of God’s way.
Before Gnosticism, nearly all manifestations of the new
religion had been pagan, separate from the religious traditions of the Bible.
The Gnostics, however, were Christians.
So there
was a transition.
They came into existence in the first century of the
Christian era, and almost immediately after the death and resurrection of
Christ and the founding of the Church (PCC, pg 42).
So guess where they went to attend? I wonder how
many of the Gnostics were in the area of Galilee and Judea? There was the sect
of the Essenes. There were other sects. There were sun-worshipers. There were
philosophers. I wonder how many of them saw all the miracles that Jesus did?
And believed in Him, but clung to their Hellenistic philosophy? Lots of them
because they infiltrated the Church.
The teachings of the Bible, about evil, the emphasis on evil
as the great problem of mankind, had to be incorporated into the mix. Under the
influence of the Hellenistic religion, the idea of evil became focused on
materialism and, as they saw it, and the evil God Who created the material
world. The new Christian teaching of the transition from the Old to the New
Covenant was just the device needed to harmonize Biblical Christianity with
Hellenistic religion and its rejection of creation. Though Gnosticism made
liberal use of the teachings of the spirituality of the New Testament versus the inferiority of the Old Testament, most Gnostics did not see Christianity of
a reformation of the Hebrew religion. There were more moderate Gnostic sects
who took the lenient view of Yahweh and the Old Testament. However, in the
Gnostic mainstream, Hebrew religion was viewed as totally evil (PCC, pgs
42-43).
Now when we grasp that and understand it then we’ll realize
what’s happening here.
Gnostics saw themselves as a reformation, not of Judaism,
but of the New Testament Church, the so-called Primitive or ‘Jewish’
Christianity that prevailed for a time after founding of the Church in the 30s
A.D. For them, Primitive Christianity was a partial enlightenment.
Nevertheless, it was decidedly inferior, precisely because it failed to
completely break its ties with the deception of the Old Testament religion.
Gnosticism took a unique interest in Primitive Christians, with devastating
results for the history of the Christian faith (PCC, pg. 43).
Then they categorized human beings. Most of those were
considered animals. They did not have a soul. So this is a takeoff of Judaism.
Then you have those who have a soul who were in the Christian Church and they
were evangelizing to save. Then you had to those who were the Gnostics or the
ones who had the inner-gnosis or knowledge and they were the ones who had the
inside track to God. They were the perfect spirituals.
Now then, it talks about the process of creation and so
forth, and how that the God of the Old Testament was evil.
Page 57—I want to read you a little bit of the section
of Valentinian Christianity—because this will tie in with Colossians, the
second chapter. What I want to do is cover this information first. Then you
will understand the structure of why Paul wrote Colossians the way he did. And
in particularly, the introduction of the first chapter.
The Valentinian school of Gnosticism is important both for
its wide geographical spread and influence, and the close ties it established
with the early Roman Church. Valentinus began in Alexandria…
And
almost all Jewish heresy comes out of Alexandria via the Hellenist Jews.
…but moved to Rome where he became one of the leading
Gnostic teachers…. In Valentinian theology the highest spiritual realm is
composed of 30 male-female pairs of spiritual powers, called ‘aeons.’ This is pleroma (Greek ‘fullness’)…
Now,
Colossians, chapter two, talks about ‘pleroma’—we’ll see that.
The sense of pleroma is completeness and perfection,
which for Valentinus is the highest heaven, the realm of the true, spiritual
Father…. This perfection [of the pleroma] is broken by the fall of one
of the youngest aeons, Sophia…. Redemption comes from the descent of
another aeon, Christ, Who unites with the man Jesus at His baptism, or at
conception (PCC, pg 57).
And then, of course, when He’s crucified, only the man
Jesus is crucified and the Christ goes back to heaven.
Now, if you want to know the truth of it, Mormonism is a
complete Gnostic religion. They say all human beings were spirits in heaven and
they needed to have a human body to possess, so whenever a baby is born a
spirit comes down and possesses that baby. Pure gnosticism. The whole thing
with Mormonism is absolutely pure gnosticism.
Now, continuing on concerning Valentinian
Christians—in this section here it says that later the angelic thing was
changed to the trinity. Quite interesting, isn’t it? And what is the key thing
that all Protestants and all Catholic orthodox say you have to believe in? The
trinity! What was the key thing they brought into the Worldwide Church of
God, to take it down? The trinity!
Page 72 (PCC): The introduction of Hellenistic
culture into Palestine spawns heretical Hellenistic Jewish cults before Christ
appears on the earth. These mingle Hellenistic belief with Old Testament
Biblical themes to create a heterodox Hellenistic Jewish theology.
That’s why the Church was so subverted.
Remember there in 2-Corinthians 11, talking about false apostles? Paul says,
‘Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are
they ministers of Christ? I’m insane! No they’re not! Pharisees have
their own gnosticism, but it is a strict, rigid, legal gnosticism. (comments
from audience) Yes, they were, they were influenced by them, no doubt.
[It talks about] The
themes of fallen angels,
introduction of evil
to the world by sexual misconduct of angels (a prime foundation of Gnostic
asceticism)… (PCC, pg. 75).
And asceticism means monasticism. Monasticism means you deprive yourself of any pleasures
of life; you live with just the meager things. You take a poverty vow. You
own no property. You don’t enjoy anything and you sacrifice your life in a life
of doing good deeds. And that’s what Buddhism is all about. That’s what
Catholicism is all about with the monastics and so forth.
Page 86 (PCC), Alan Knight writes:
It is ironic that
Paul’s letter to the Colossians did not have to wait until our day to be
misinterpreted and turned on its head.
We’ll see the thing concerning decrees. But
what they said was that the decrees that Jesus nailed to the cross were the “13
great aeons” of evil angels. We’ll see that that’s not true.
These are the evil
angels of creation that keep man in bondage to the material world. In Gnostic
theology this is equivalent of the destruction of the Hebrew religion and the
law of the Old Testament.
So that’s profound
how they did that. We’ll also see, when we get to it—and he has a section
here on pg. 87—that what they did, the Gnostics who professed Christ
paired with angels. Now today, there’s even a book out, which is entitled Find
the Angel Within. Have you ever seen that book? Or seen the title of that
book? So we’re coming full-circle. Remember what Solomon wrote in the book of
Ecclesiastics: “There is nothing new under the sun. That which is new shall be
old, and that which is old shall be declared new.” And what we are seeing is a
recycle clear back to the Hellenistic religion which covered the whole
world—it’s coming right back again. And we will see it in everything. And
that’s all a part of ‘Mother Babylon’ and her harlot daughters. And it’s going
to become more and more profound.
Now, on pg. 88 (PCC),
he writes concerning Valentinian Christians:
Upon conversion,
Valentinian Christians took part in sacraments culminating in a divine marriage
ceremony during which they were spiritually married to angels.
Now, in the Mormon temple, when people go
there, they are married to each other, but their paired with angels. And once
you go through the temple you have to wear your sacred garments, which is long
underwear. And they have certain markings on them. And as long as you have on
your sacred underwear you’re under the protection of divine angels. And Maroni [transcriber’s
correction] was an angel that brought the truth of Mormonism to Joseph
Smith. And when we die we go back to heaven as angels. And that’s all
Mormonism.
In this way, the
original sin of the breaking of submission and interdependence is reverse in
the life of individual Christian converts, and the original perfection of the pleroma…
[that is the connection with God to the Divine spark of life within you] …is
restored (PCC, pg 88).
Then they say that this gives you control
over the evil passions.
The Valentinian
belief in union with angels is alluded to in several texts. Here’s one from the Gospel of Philip. Here in one passage it explains that evil spirits come
in genders, and tempt human beings of opposite sex. However, if a Gnostic
Christian is united with an angelic partner, they cannot [from that time forth]
be sexually tempted. “So if the image… [which is the person] …and the angel are
united with one another, neither can any venture to go into the man or the
woman.” (PCC, pg. 89).
So that’s how they supposedly control lust.
Comment was made: Is
that why Mormons believe in polygamy to bring more children into the world? Yes! That obviously controls lust and temptation—doesn’t it? Brings more
children into the world, so more angels from heaven can come down and possess
the children. Not too much different than Catholicism—right? They do it a
little bit differently. You bring children into the world for the glory of the
Pope.
Pg. 123—it
talks about this concerning the things that actually exist vs the things
that shall become. This is almost pure Deepak Chopra—which is this:
Quoting from the Gospel of Philip (PCC, pg 122-123):
It is not possible
for anyone to see any of the things that actually exist unless he becomes like
them…. But you…saw something of that place, and you became those things. You
saw the spirit, you became spirit. You saw Christ, you became Christ.
Notice the counterfeit.
So {in this place}
you see everything and {do} not {see} yourself, but {in that place} you do see
yourself—
that is if you have the right understanding
and ‘that place’ refers to the place of initiation’
and what you see you
shall {become}.
Here the author is
arguing that in material life you see many things, but are ignorant and blind
to the real self within, the soul. This is the ignorance into which man has
fallen, having lost the gnosis of the inner-spiritual nature of the soul
and its destiny to be liberated and returned to heaven.
That is almost
describing to a ‘T’ what Protestantism says. Now then, so much for reading
here. Let’s take our study paper on Colossians and let’s briefly go through
chapter one. I just want to hit on key words that you can go ahead and circle
as we go through—go back and restudy it for yourself.
Colossians 1:4: “Since hearing of
your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love…”—so
we have faith and love.
Verse 5: “Because of the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, which… [Christ is going to bring from heaven, as we
know] …you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel”—now,
what is he combating? The so-called truth of secret gnosis from Hellenism. You don’t get it from them. It’s in “the gospel, which I have preached,” Paul
says.
Verse 6—the last sentence: “…and knew [knowledge] the grace of God in truth”
Verse 9: “For this cause we also, from the day that we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled
with the knowledge… [gnosis—‘epignosis’ in this particular
case] …of His will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding”—which comes from what? From God—not
from angels. From God—not the ‘pleroma.’
Verse 10—the last sentence: “…growing in the knowledge
of God”—you have fruitful good works which are things that you do.
Verse 11: “Being strengthened with all power…”— which
what? Comes from God!
Verse 12-15: “Giving thanks to the Father, Who has
made us qualified for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light; Who
has personally rescued us from the power of darkness and has transferred us unto the kingdom of the Son of His love; in
Whom we have redemption through His own blood, even the remission of
sins…. [which is through Christ and not through angels. So he’s building this
whole thing.] …Who is the image of the invisible
God…”—showing that God has image, God has form; God has a body.
I’m just going
through here very quickly so we can get a little background so when we get to
chapter two we’ll understand what he’s doing.
Verse 18-21: “And He is the Head of the body, the
church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead,
so that in all things He Himself might hold the preeminence. For it pleased the
Father that in Him all the fullness [pleroma] should dwell…
[not the ‘pleroma’ or ‘fullness’ of Hellenism or Gnosticism.] …And, having made
peace through the blood of His cross… [focusing on the blood of Christ and the
crucifixion.] …by Him to reconcile all things to Himself…For you were once alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works; but now He has
reconciled you”
Verse 23—key:
circle the first word: “If indeed you continue in the faith
grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of
the Gospel…”—now, he had to give that because there were those trying to
take them away from the hope of the Gospel.
(go to the next track)
Now you see how much sense this makes. When you understand
the underlying problem that he was combating. People coming along and saying:
‘Oh well, you mean you actually believe that Old Testament? You actually
believe in the things that are there. Why, don’t you know that this was an evil
god. Don’t you understand that these laws that are there are harsh and mean and
evil. They were given by evil angels. Don’t you understand that?’ So he’s
combating all of that now.
Notice, v 25: “Of which I became a servant… [that is for the
Church] …according to the administration of God that was given to me for you in order to complete the Word of God”—and that means to
finish writing it. And Paul and Peter and John finished writing it. Now we can
be even more guaranteed that the apostles wrote it and canonized the New
Testament. Do you think that God would have left it to the Church infiltrated
with the Gnostics? Who believed in the gospel of Philip and the gospel of
Barnabus and the gospel of Thomas and all those things which were counterfeit
writings? Of course not!
I think we will see the fulfillment of this counterfeit
epistles and things in our day. We will have a new, one-world religion Bible.
They’ll take parts of the Old Testament, parts of the New Testament, parts of
the Koran, parts of the traditions of Catholicism and Orthodoxism, parts of the
religion of the Hindus and the Buddhists and the Shintuists and even the
Shamans and put it all into one world Bible and say, ‘Oh look what we have. We
have a wonderful, wonderful thing.’ I think we’ll see it.
Verse 26-29: “Even the mystery that has been hidden
from ages and from generations, but has now been revealed to His saints; to
whom God did will to make known… [so God is the one Who’s doing
it.] …what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory… [not a union with angels]
…Whom we preach [Christ], admonishing every man and teaching every man in all
wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus…. [Because you
see, the Gnostic Christian said: you’re not perfect unless you do it our
way.] …For this cause I also labor, striving according to His inner
working, which works in me with power.”
Now we come to Colossians 2—we’re going
to divide this down as we have in the past, into ‘A/B’—‘A’ are those
things which have to do with Christ and God the Father and the truth of the
Gospel. ‘B’ has to do with men who are trying to take them away from that. So
I’ll tell you how we can mark this—let’s begin in verse one:
A—vs 1-3: “Now I want you to understand what great
concern I have for you, and for those in Laodicea, and as many as have
not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts may be encouraged,
being knit together in love unto all riches of the full assurance of
understanding, unto the knowledge of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge.” Saying then, you don’t need the gnosis. You don’t need this secret
information. It’s all in Christ.
B—v 4, why did he say this: “Now this I say so that no one may
deceive you by persuasive speech.” It’s a warning! Isn’t that something? What
were they trying to do; we’ll see here.
A—vs 5-7: “For though I am indeed absent in the
flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and beholding your order, and the
steadfastness of your faith in Christ. Therefore,
as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, be walking in Him… [and we can put
‘not in secret gnosis; not following angels’ which we’ll see a little bit
later. Why?] …being rooted and built up in Him, and being confirmed in
the faith, exactly as you were taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” That
is exactly how you were ‘taught by us—me, Paul, by letter; and Epaphras,
your faithful minister, rather than being taught by other men.’
B—v 8, notice how he interjects these warnings: “Be
on guard so that no one takes you captive through philosophy and vain deceit…
[there it is, right there] …according to the traditions of men… [Hellenistic
religion] …according to the elements of the world… [the fallen angels] …and not
according to Christ.”
Now you know why I read all of that first. I know it was a
little laborious going through it, but that was laying the foundation for
understanding why he wrote this. Now you go through and read this and you say,
‘Oh man, look at that! I can’t believe it!’ There it is.
A—vs 9-15—this becomes very profound: “For in
Him [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily… [you can tie in
there Acts 17, the Godhead is not thought to be like things made of stone, of
silver and so forth—but ALL. The Gnostics said not all of it is there.
They said the pleroma—which is fullness—belongs in the Father. No,
the pleroma is in Christ] …and all the fullness of the Godhead… [notice]:
…bodily… [meaning that He has a body, a head, torso, arms, legs, feet, eyes,
mouth, ears. What did Jesus say when Philip said, ‘Show us the Father, and He
said, ‘Philip, have I been with so long a time and you have not known Me? The
one who sees Me has seen the Father.’ So ‘bodily’ is very important because
gnosis says that God is the glob in the air. Just a big pool of pleroma, and
God is in everything with emanations coming down to the physical world, into
the spiritual world. So this is completely knocking that.
Let’s go to John, the first chapter. Hold your place here,
and we will see that in Christ all the fullness dwells and through the power of
the Holy Spirit that God gives us, then we partake of His fullness, because
- He gives us
knowledge
- He gives us truth
- He gives us hope
- He gives us love
- He gives us all the
things
—and
we are to what? Grow in grace and in knowledge! And that all comes from
the ‘fullness of Christ.’
John 1:14: “And the Word…” Now let’s just go back and read
in the record here: vs 1-3: “In the beginning was the Word… [Now, is
this combating gnosticism? Yes!] …and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God…. [Because what do the Gnostics say? The Yahweh Who created the
earth was a lower, evil demiurge or demigod. John says He was God!] …He was
in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and
not even one thing that was created came into being without Him.” I
don’t know about you, but this just excites me. You say you get ‘cranked’ over
something, this really ‘cranks’ me. What it does, brethren, it does this: It
shows you can prove the Truth over and over and over again. That’s what’s so
profound with the Word of God. You don’t have to worry about finding something
which will disprove it. If something appears to disprove it, it is because
there’s a lack of understanding. And understanding God can give you.
Now, v 14: “And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among
us (and we ourselves beheld His glory, the glory as of the only
begotten with the Father), full [pleroma] of grace and truth. John
testified concerning Him, and proclaimed, saying, ‘This was He of Whom I said,
“He Who comes after me has precedence over me because He was before me.”…. [And
that means existed before Me; as we saw as God.] … And of His fullness
we have all received, and grace upon grace’” (vs 14-16). So in other words ‘the
fullness of God’ comes from Christ.
That’s why it says back here in Colossians 2 that “…in Him
all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily.” You could almost give a full
sermon on just that one sentence. Notice v 10—very important: “And you
are complete… [‘complete’ is another word very similar to pleroma] …in Him, Who
is the Head of all principality and power… [‘principality’ could also be
authority. Showing that if you’re dealing with Christ, you’re dealing with the
Highest Authority. You don’t have to deal with angels.] …In Whom you have also been circumcised with the circumcision not made by hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the
flesh by the circumcision of Christ… [then he explains what the circumcision of
Christ is] …having been buried with Him in baptism… [the covenant death
of baptism—he’s reminding them of it] …by which you have also been raised
with Him through the inner working of God, Who raised Him from the dead”
(vs 10-12). He’s reminding them once you have been buried into the death of
Christ, you’re to come out of that watery grave and walk in newness of life.
Verse 13: “For you, who were once dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has now made alive with
Him, having forgiven all your trespasses…. [This is important: You need
nothing else for the forgiveness of sin but the sacrifice of Christ. You don’t need angels. You don’t need other works. You don’t need special
religious regulations as we will see, such as touch not, taste not, handle
not.] …He has blotted out the note of debt against us with the decrees of
our sins, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it away, having nailed
it to the cross” (vs 13-14).
Now, let’s read that in the King James—and
let’s see how this is generally explained by the Protestants, and yea, the
Catholics—to justify then what they do. Here’s where they get the saying
that the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross, which is a wild, twisting,
lying interpretation of Colossians 2:14: Blotting out the handwriting of
ordinances… [which they claim was the Ten Commandments] …that was against us,
which was contrary to us… [Question—stop right here and ask: Are the
commandments of God against us? No, they are FOR us—because they
tell us what sin is. Is it contrary to us? NO! We have to walk in the
commandments of God.] …and took it out of the way… [that is remove the Ten
Commandments] …nailing it to His cross.” That is a very unfortunate and bad
translation, as well as a bad interpretation. The Greek there: ‘toise dogmacin’
means the decrees. What is a decree? Why did I put in there ‘(note of
death)’? (v 14). Because that’s exactly what it was in the pagan religions.
Let me read to you from The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop,
pgs. 146-147. I want you to notice the angel involvement here:
“On this structure… [that is the bridge going over to
heaven, or going over to hell] … which they assert
connects heaven and earth, sits the Angel of Justice…
Now, we still have that—don’t we? In all of our
courts—don’t we? We have the ?Angel of Justice with a pair of
balances—don’t we? Are we pagan or not? Yes!
…to weigh the actions of mortals;
when the good deeds prevail…
this is salvation by works; and still, many
people have that concept today.
…the soul is met on the bridge by a dazzling
figure…
This reminds me of Daffy Duck—with the
good angel; the evil angel with the pitchfork in his hand. Or Bug Bunny. I
watch cartoons, too. Does it stick with you through life? Yes! Does it
program you to accept things which are wrong? Yes!
…which says, ‘I am thy good angel, I was pure originally,
but thy good deeds have rendered me purer’…
Notice, angels are involved in this. I want you
to understand that.
…and passing his hand over the neck of the
blessed soul, leads it to Paradise. If iniquities preponderate, the soul is
meet by a hideous spectre, which howls out, ‘I am thy evil genius; I was impure
from the first, but thy misdeeds have made me fouler; through thee we shall
remain miserable until the resurrection’; the sinning soul is then dragged away
to hell, where Ahriman sits to taunt it with its crimes.” Such is the doctrine
of Parseeism.
The same is the case in China, where Bishop
Hurd, giving an account of the Chinese descriptions of the infernal regions,
and of the figures that refer to them, says, "One of them always represents
a sinner in a pair of scales, with his iniquities in the one, and his good
works in another.” “We meet with several such representations," he adds,
“in the Grecian mythology.” Thus does Sir J. F. Davis describe the operation of
the principle in China: "In a work of some note on morals, called Merits
and Demerits Examined, a man is directed to keep a debtor and creditor
account with himself… [that is, write it down] …of the acts of each day, and at
the end of the year to wind it up… [that is sum them up]. If the balance is in
his favor, it serves as the foundation of a stock of merits for the ensuing
year: and if against him, it must be liquidated by future good deeds….
That is the note of
debt—has nothing to do with the commandments of God So, what Paul is explaining here: You
don’t need to go through all of this and write down your good deeds and your
bad deeds and add them up at the end of the year. Christ nailed that to the
cross. Your note of debt of your sins.
Various lists and comparative tables are given of both good and bad
actions in the several relations of life; and benevolence is strongly
inculcated in regard first to man, and, secondly, to the brute creation. To
cause another's death is reckoned at one hundred on the side of demerit; while
a single act of charitable relief counts as one on the other side.…
So if someone is killed, you have to spend your
life doing good deeds. Does that undo the debt of the individual? No! Is
there any repentance involved? No! So this is what Christ took care of
for those Gentile Christians in Colossae, whom He called. Taking that note of
debt and nailing it to the cross. Has nothing to do with the Ten Commandments
of God. But you see, when you’re dealing with people who are
carnal-minded—now let’s understand something: Rom. 8:7 says what? ‘The
carnal mind is enmity against God; is not subject to the law of God and neither
indeed can be. So at the slightest inclination, though they never check it out
for a proper translation, or try to understand the true background of it, they
immediately assume that it is doing away with the commandments of God because
they have an enmity toward the law of God. They have a hatred toward the things
that have been done. That’s why it’s so profoundly important that anyone who
has an inkling of that attitude, go back and study Psa. 119 all the way
through—every single verse. And if you have a problem with the laws and
commandments and statutes and precepts and judgments and testimonies of God,
then go get on your knees and study it before God and let Him open your mind to
understand.
So, He took away this note of debt. Now, what do
we have today? What do religions encourage people to do today? The same
thing, only they call it ‘journaling.’ Now, not many people know it, who have
been in the Church of God for a long time, but the religions of the so-called
Christian religions of this world encourage you to ‘journal.’ That is then the
same thing as a ledger of your good deeds and your bad deeds. Well, dear
diary…or dear journal…today I was a real snot; I got in an argument with
my boss. Next week: finally made up with my boss; I did good works and
he really likes me now. Note of debt!
Now, let’s come back and read
Colossians 2:14 again. “He has blotted out the note of debt against us with the
decrees of our sins, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it away,
having nailed it… [the note of debt of sins] …to the cross. After stripping the
principalities… [these are the elemental spirits, which it says up there: ‘the
elemental spirits (v 8)] …and the powers, He made a public spectacle of them, and has triumphed over them in it” (vs 14-15). And that is the crucifixion overcame
all of these demonic, Hellenistic religious practices that people were in
bondage to. Now they are liberated from.
Verse 16 is a combination of A & B:
“Therefore… [that is because of what Christ has done and what you are now
doing] …do not allow anyone to judge you… [who was judging them? The
Gnostics!] …in eating or in drinking…” [because you had the Gnostics who
were the Stoics and said, ‘Well, you can’t enjoy anything. But when we have a
Feast, we are to enjoy—correct? Or you have it the other way; in eating
or drinking: ‘Well, you mean that you follow the laws of clean and unclean
meats and you don’t eat all this good pork, and all the shrimp and lobster and
calamari. You can suck up those little tentacles in your mouth! Just like
spaghetti.
Do not let anyone…who was the one who was judging?
Verse 8: “Don’t let anyone carry
you away with philosophy and vain deceit.” Verse 4: “Now this I say so that no
one may deceive you by persuasive speech.” They were the ones who were judging.
Because why? They were keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days of God and were
being judged as keeping those things which were antiquated and evil and were
nailed to the cross.
Let’s read it: “…or with regard to a festival, or new moon…
[and that’s calendar calculation—not ‘a’ or ‘the’] …or the Sabbaths, which are a foreshadow of the things that are coming… [because in
keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days and living God’s way, you understand the
purpose of God and know that these things are a foreshadow of the things which
are coming, which Christ will bring when He comes at his second coming. I hope
this opens up Colossians to your understanding even more. We’ve understood
this. We have preached it down through the years. No problem with that, but now
we have the last bit of fine focus which gives us greater understanding into
the reason why he wrote it.] …which are a foreshadow of things that are
coming…” (v 17). Now, if you are standing in the shadow of something and you
say, ‘Okay, here’s a shadow and you walk toward that shadow originates, what
are you going to come to? Christ! And the plan of God
B—v 18—and the very first part of v 19: “Do not allow
anyone… [that is who is teaching philosophy and vain deceit] …to defraud you of
the prize… [that is of the reward that God is going to give you] …by doing his will… [rather than the will of God] …in self-abasement and the worship of angels, intruding into things that he has not seen, vainly
puffed up by his own carnal mind and not holding fast to the Head, from Whom
all the body…”—not holding fast the head. All the body has to do with the
Church.
Now, I’m going to read from Appendix D, pg 248, Primitive
Christianity in Crisis:
In essence, Gnostics identified Hellenistic, elemental
spirits as Biblical angels. This was so prevalent and so important to religious
belief at the time that it’s not surprising that the New Testament writers
refer to it. Remember that Gnosticism in the first century existed mostly inside the Church, so it was vital that the writers of the New Testament address these
issues.
Now Gnosticism…it talks about evil angels and good
angels. The good angels, according to Valentinian—those who were the
Valentinian Christians—believed that angels are married
…to recreate the perfection of pleroma within themselves.
Valentinian salvation comes from the Father via Christ, but it is affected
through the agency of angels. The entire focus of Valentinian Christianity is
the pleroma and its angels. The very substance and heavenly reality behind the
spiritual shadows of our world. In the Valentinian Christianity, the way to
obtain spirituality is through identification with pleroma and it’s angels.
And here’s how it’s done:
One receives them from the mirrored bridal chamber. The
context is the divine marriage ceremony...
They had a marriage ceremony with an angel. That’s
worshiping the angel.
The context of this divine marriage ceremony, which scholars
believe was a sacrament literally acted out. The mirrored bridal chamber refers to the belief that Christians became a mirror image (a shadow) of
angelic beings, in the sense that they are imperfect shadow of the spiritual
archetype within pleroma. Thus on earth they are a ‘type’ of the
spiritual glory that will be fully realized after they die and ascend to their
angelic home in the pleroma. (PCC, pg 252).
Pg 254: Valentinian theology taught that man’s relationship to
angels is the key to spiritual success, both by escaping evil angels associated
with the religion of Yahweh, and by attracting believers to the pleroma by a mystical spiritual marriage that makes them a shadow of the spiritual
reality of the pleroma.
That’s why he says here—v 18: “Do not allow anyone to
defraud you of the prize… [Why? Because if you worship angels or you’re married
to angels, you then are committing idolatry. And you will lose your reward.] … by doing his will in self-abasement and the worship of
angels, intruding into things that he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his own
carnal mind.” And isn’t that what happens when people have this super, secret
thing that they know. They’re all vain.
A—v 19-22: “…Whom all the body, being supplied and
knit together by the joints and bands, is increasing with the increase
of God. Therefore, if you have died together with Christ… [through
baptism; through taking up your cross and overcoming daily] …from the elements
of the world… [the good angels and bad angels] …why are you subjecting
yourselves to the decrees of men as if you were living in the world?….
[which was what? The Hellenistic world, with their beliefs and
practices—the decrees of men. Because, you see, these so-called
Christian-professing Gnostics had their own rules and regulations] (such as): …They
say, ‘You may not handle! You may not taste! You may not touch!’…. [all
self-discipline] …The use of all such things leads to corruption… [because it
doesn’t stop sin—that’s why it leads to corruption] (key): …according
to the commandments and doctrines of men.”
So philosophy, vain deceit, angel-worship, voluntary
humility are all according to the doctrines and commandments of men. And those
people, according to the doctrines and commandments of men, were what? Were
judging those who were keeping the Feast, the new moons and the Sabbath. And new moon meaning, following the Hebrew calendar. Of course, the Hebrew
calendar would be an awful, evil thing! Because it was invented and designed by
that terrible Yahweh!
B—v 23: “Which indeed have an outward appearance of
wisdom in voluntary worship of angels, and self-abasement, and unsparing
treatment of the body, not in any respect to the satisfying of the
needs of the flesh.” That means to overcoming the lust of the flesh.
Now you will see, when it comes up again this year, when we
come to the time so-called in the world of Easter, over in the Philippines you
will hear accounts there are men who are crucified. They run nails through
their hands, put up on a cross and others sit there and flagellate themselves
with little whips—and this all, ‘oh, look what they’re doing; oh, my!’
That does not take the place of a broken heart and repentance to God. It may
look wise. ‘Oh, look what he’s doing, he’s punishing himself and disciplining
himself.’ But it doesn’t stop the lust of the flesh. So that’s quite
something—isn’t it?
And this I say, so that no man may deceive you by
persuasive speech, be on guard so that no one carries you away captive through
philosophy and vain deceit, according to the traditions of men according to the
elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. Do not allow
anyone… [so you have no one, no one, and anyone] …defraud you of your prize or
reward in doing evil, in voluntary humility and worship of angels intruding
into those things which he has not seen; vainly puffed up in his own carnal
mind, not holding fast the head. Therefore, if you died together with Christ
from the elemental spirits of the world, why is if alive in the world are you
subjecting yourself to decrees such as: you may not handle; you may not taste;
you may not touch. Which things in their using all lead to corruption according
to the commandments and doctrines of men, which indeed have an outward appearance
of wisdom involuntary worship of angels and humility and the unsparing
treatment of the body, but not in any respect to the satisfying of the flesh.”
So I hope that gives you greater insight into Colossians,
the second chapter.
Now, let’s come back and let’s just finish one section we
need to finish here in Colossians 2:16-17—and this will finish it:
“Therefore, do not allow anyone to judge you in eating or in drinking… [none of
those men who practice Hellenistic gnosticism] … or with regard to a festival,
or new moon, or the Sabbaths, which are a foreshadow of the things that
are coming, but the body of Christ.”
Now, we’ve always understood this and this is correct. Only
the Body of Christ, which is the Church, should judge you in the matters concerning
the Feast, the calendar and the Sabbaths. Not other men. That would certainly
apply today with all the calendar schemes that different people have. Coming
along debunking the calculated Hebrew calendar. So it is the Body of Christ.
Now there is another thing that you can also understand out
of it, which is this: You gain understanding of these things, which are a
foreshadow of the coming things, in the Body of Christ. Not out in the world.
So the whole central theme of Colossians 2—or the book
of Colossians—is to identify everything in Colossians 2, to state the
problems, to show what they are. And I am happy to have had this book which
helps clarify and brings in sharper focus all of these things; and really gives
us the truth concerning Colossians, the second chapter.
All Scriptures in New
Testament from The N.T. in its Original Order, A Faithful Version
-
Exception: Colossians: Expanded Amplified Version
Scriptural
References:
1) Colossians 2:17
2) Acts 17:18-34
3) Colossians 1:4-6, 9-15, 18-21, 23, 25-29
4) Colossians 2:1-15
5) John 1:1-3, 14-16
6) Colossians 2:10-23
Scriptures
referenced, not quoted:
- John 4:23-24
- 2 Corinthians 11
- Ecclesiastics
- Acts 17
- Romans 8:7
- Psalm 119
Also referenced: Books:
- Primitive Christianity in Crisis by Alan Knight
- Find the Angel Within
- Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop
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