Colossians,  William Daly

Colossians 2:16-23: “Spiritual Bullies”

August 9, 2023 /

Colossians 2:16-23: “Spiritual Bullies”

Wednesday, August 9th, 2023

So, when we began this section that I referred to as a 3-part study, back in Verse 8, we looked at a number of things that Paul addresses head on. 

  • In Verses 8-10, we looked at Christ’s total sufficiency in salvation. That He is not only willing to save, but that He is actually ABLE to save, and that most importantly, it is HE ALONE Who saves. He isn’t deficient in any way. You can’t ADD to His finished work. 
  • Then, last week, in Verses 11-15, we looked at our COMPLETION in Christ. That His SALVATION is complete. That His FORGIVENESS is complete. And that His VICTORY is complete. 
  • And tonight, we’ll be looking at how Paul fights back against what I can only describe as “spiritual bullies” by going on the offense against 3 things:
    • 1. LEGALISM, which is the belief that by doing good works, or performing religious rituals, or by following spiritual formulas, a person can merit or earn salvation
    • 2. MYSTICISM, which is the belief that a person can access and enjoy communion with God by way of secret knowledge or philosophy or biblical codes or through some other, quote-unquote “spiritual” means. Or through “sensual” means – those things that are merely “felt”. “You don’t need a bible – just FEEL God. He’s in nature, He’s in the trees, He’s in crystals. “I don’t NEED to discern whether or not something is “true” because instead, I FEEL God”. But that’s not Christianity. Our walk with Christ isn’t based on how we FEEL. It’s based on Truth. HIS truth; not ours. And then (Number 3), Paul addresses something called, 
    • 3. ASCETICISM. Asceticism is just the belief that a person can merit and earn salvation through very strict, physical means of self-denial and through abstaining from any indulgences or pleasure. You might have heard of people engaging in a process called “self-flagellation” – which is the beating of one’s own body with sticks or whips. And within the context that Paul is looking at here, Asceticism is just the belief that one can gain access to salvation through these kinds of means. 

And sadly, these issues weren’t just problems that were relegated to the Colossians – we see this stuff to this very day. And we’ll look at that more deeply as we continue.