Let no one who delights in false humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. He has not held fast to the head from whom the whole body, supported and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
Into the Text
We now come to another danger threatening the Colossian church. It is the focus on receiving additional knowledge or revelation from sources outside of the Bible.
Even today, in some Christian circles, there is a preoccupation with spiritual warfare and special revelation. Compared to just reading the Bible, these things can sound so much more spiritual and exciting!
Paul is not saying that visions, dreams, and words from God don’t happen. However, we need to test them and ask whether they contradict anything we find in the Bible. If so, they are definitely not from God. Even if they don’t contradict directly, we should be very suspicious of anything that goes beyond what God has chosen to reveal in His Word.
If God has not revealed it to all believers, why would He now reveal it only to certain individuals? In a person’s teaching, is Jesus being exalted or the individual? If Jesus is not glorified, we are not holding fast to Him.
Jesus, our head, is the only one from whom true spiritual life flows. Let’s not cut ourselves off from fellowship with Him by following people who sound so spiritual but put the real emphasis on themselves or special revelations they have received. We grow in spiritual maturity by abiding in Christ and holding fast to Him in trust and obedience.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, please help me to focus on what is really important in my growth as a Christian and protect me from being deceived by false teachers. Amen.