This was the barrage of the Gnostic artillery to destroy the body, which was the visible church in Colossae. The surest way was to first remove the Head by false inspira tion, illumination and information. YOU ARE DEAD WITH CHRIST (2:20) The warning is prefaced with a beautiful exhortation “If you died with Christ, why are you subject to this abject slavery of the ascetics?” A condition is assumed as true and not one of any doubt. Paul is re ferring here as He has before to a glorious doctrine that bespeaks a fact of real experience in their lives. He speaks of their justification before God (1:4-6, 12, 20, 22; 2:11, 12; 3:3). The holy, righteous judge of heaven and earth had judicially de clared them righteous in His sight by their faith in Jesus (Rom. 3:25, 26; 5:1). The tense of the word “died” implies a definite time in the past This, from the standpoint of God, was when Christ Himself died on the cross. But so far as the be liever’s own life is concerned, it took place the moment he received Christ as his personal Saviour. Death al ways means separation and this is why it is described as “from the rudiments of the world.” It is im portant that the believer should rec ognize this death with Christ as an absolute fact, and not as something to which he is to submit for the pur pose of obtaining an experience of it. It is an accomplished fact, it is absolute whether a believer experi ences it or not. The New Testament gives a positive note on the fact that when Christ died, the believer died also (Rom. 6:8, 11). They are to—
reference to the Mosaic command ment and the Levitical ordinances. He fulfilled these obligations in His atoning death. He was the reality and not the shadow, thus His death was their abolition (Gal. 3:13). The Christian in his union with Christ has perfect liberty. He died to sin in Christ (Rom. 6:2), to self (II Cor. 5:15), and to the law (Gal. 2:19). The solemn protest then is based on their having died with Christ. Why then are you overridden with pre cepts and ordinances, such as, “Thou mayest not handle, thou mayest not taste, thou mayest not touch” ? This is tautology that Paul has taken from a specimen of the ascetic-Gnostic. This was the ascetics’ text every Sabbath morning. The Apostle takes the weapon of the enemy and uses it to put them to flight. These false teachers depended upon outward ob servances of rules for piety rather than an inward principle. These Colossians felt that just such disci pline of meat and drink was to sanc tify. Paul is asking, “Why do you seek spiritual life in such a watch word” ? No one knew better the dead ly effect of ordinances than the Apos tle Paul (Phil. 3). THEY ARE TEMPORARY AND OF MEN (2:22) The Colossians had not considered the real import of this scrupulous avoidance. Why are you attributing an inherent value to things which are fleeting? You are citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20), and possess eternal life (Col. 3:1-4). THEY REVEAL A SPIRITUAL POWERLESSNESS (2:23) In submitting to these false meth ods of living, the Colossian Chris tian was really doing what was ab solutely useless for spiritual power. There was an appearance of wisdom in these ordinances, but they had no real value in remedying the in dulgences of the flesh or destroying sin in the life. 3 4
COMPLETELY REJECT WORLDLY ORDINANCES ( 2 : 21 - 22 )
If the Colossians died with Christ, this shows that Christ also died from the rudiments of the world. This has
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