{"id":55412,"date":"2024-10-25T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/?p=55412"},"modified":"2024-10-17T11:06:35","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T18:06:35","slug":"shadows-and-the-true-substance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/shadows-and-the-true-substance\/","title":{"rendered":"Shadows and the True Substance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A symptom of the fallen human condition is to think and live as if we can or must contribute to our salvation. The atmosphere this creates is one marked by rivalries, dissensions, judgment, and legalism. It can even lead to extrabiblical teaching that promises an alternative route to growth or access to God through sacred rituals and ecstatic experiences. While these things can appear to be helpful, they are in fact a shadow of the true substance, a source of bondage not freedom, and no help whatsoever in avoiding the indulgence of our corrupted nature. Paul confronts a specific manifestation of this all-too-human tendency in his letter to the Colossians and we would do well to heed his warnings. We\u2019ll shed some light on Colossians 2:16\u201323<\/a> with the study notes from the ESV Reformation Study Bible<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Shadow of Religious Observance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. <\/p>\nColossians 2:16\u201317<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2:16, 17<\/a> In Colossae, observance of the Jewish Sabbath feast days (the monthly \u201cnew moon\u201d and annual feasts) was apparently being advocated in order to placate supernatural powers or angels thought to direct the course of the stars, regulate the calendar, and determine human destiny. This, Paul says, is a form of bondage from which Christ came to liberate men and women. Paul is not speaking here of the observance of a weekly day of rest and worship, which is grounded in creation and integral to the abiding moral law (Ex. 20:8\u201311<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excursus: Special Issues \u2013 Jewish Regulations<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The teaching appears to have reflected Jewish influences, as evidenced by the value placed on legal ordinances, food regulations, Sabbath and new moon observance, and other prescriptions of the Jewish calendar (2:16<\/a>). Though circumcision is mentioned, it was not necessarily seen as one of the requirements imposed by the false teaching in Colossae (2:11<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The Shadow of Asceticism and Angelic Worship<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. <\/p>\nColossians 2:18\u201319<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2:18<\/a> worship of angels.<\/strong> This has been taken by some scholars as a reference to practices found among some Jewish mystics, whose goal was to participate in angelic worship before the throne of God and to attain to ecstatic prayer through asceticism and strict observance of the Torah. In this case, \u201cworship of angels\u201d would mean \u201cworship along with angels.\u201d This line of interpretation assumes that the false teachers actually practiced a relatively orthodox Judaism and wanted to worship God. But the appearance given by Colossians is that the church was being tempted to worship not God but spirits intermediate between God and humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excursus: Special Issues \u2013 Angelic Spirits<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The role of angelic spirits was also an important element in this teaching. Two factors point to this. First, there is stress on Christ\u2019s superiority to and victory over \u201crulers\u201d and \u201cauthorities\u201d (1:16<\/a>; 2:10<\/a>, 15<\/a>). Second, the role of angels in the Colossian error is evident in the phrase \u201cworship of angels\u201d (2:18<\/a>). Early Christians knew that there were angels who served agents at creation and in the giving of the law (Acts 7:53<\/a>; Gal. 3:19<\/a>; Heb. 2:2<\/a>). The false teaching in Colossae had confused the limited and legitimate role of angels as \u201cministering spirits\u201d (cf. Heb. 1:14<\/a>) with the larger role attributed to angels in some parts of Judaism, not to mention the astral powers of the Gentiles. As a means of overcoming fear of these astral or cosmic powers, and under the guise of revelations that so-called \u201cphilosophers\u201d received in ecstatic states, the Colossians were being urged to become ascetics and to worship angels.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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2:19<\/a> To seek the favor of angelic beings is to fail to honor Christ for what He is as the fullness of deity (v. 9<\/a>; 1:19<\/a>) and to not enjoy the totality of the redemption that has been won in His death and resurrection (vv. 10\u201315<\/a>; 1:20\u201322<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Head . . . body.<\/strong> This language looks back at 1:18<\/a> and ahead to the way Paul develops the idea of the Christian life under Christ\u2019s headship in the context of membership in the church in 3:1\u20134:6<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Shadow of Legalism<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations\u2014 \u201cDo not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch\u201d (referring to things that all perish as they are used)\u2014according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. <\/p>\nColossians 2:20\u201323<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

2:20<\/a> If with Christ you died.<\/strong> Believers\u2019 union with Christ in His death (Rom. 6:3\u20137<\/a>) has freed them from worldly rules that enslave the consciences of others. Paul will next argue (3:1\u20135<\/a>) that believers\u2019 union with Christ in His resurrection and ascension entails their responsibility to have their minds (perspectives, affections, values) defined by heaven and the Christ \u201cwho is your life,\u201d who lives and reigns there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excursus: Special Issues \u2013 Elemental Spirits of the World<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n

Scholarly opinion is divided as to whether the term \u201celemental spirits of the world\u201d (2:8<\/a>, 20<\/a>) also refers to superhuman spiritual beings, thought to control various aspects of human experience (see 2:8<\/a> and the same expression in Gal. 4:3<\/a>, 9<\/a>). Phrygia was well known for preoccupation with the need to placate various spiritual forces associated with stars and planets.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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2:23<\/a> self-made religion.<\/strong> God only accepts worship offered according to His will revealed in Scripture, not religious exercises done at the dictate of presumptuous human whim (Matt. 15:9<\/a>). The idea that God must be worshiped only in the way He has instituted has had a profound influence in Reformed churches, which identifies the idea as the \u201cRegulative Principle of Worship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of no value.<\/strong> The Greek of this verse is very difficult. It may mean that the ascetic disciplines Paul is opposing are not only worthless but actively harmful, exciting their own sort of \u201cindulgence of the flesh.\u201d For Paul, \u201cthe flesh\u201d is manifested not only in bodily sensuality but also in attitudes of the heart such as pride, jealousy, and rivalry (Gal. 5:19\u201321<\/a>). This is precisely what the Reformers\u2014preeminently Luther\u2014saw themselves as opposing in the extrabiblical rituals that had emerged in the medieval church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand the Bible with the Reformation Study Bible<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Written by conservative Reformed theologians and edited by the late Dr. R.C. Sproul, the Reformation Study Bible<\/a> is carefully crafted to help you understand the Bible. Consisting of over 20,000 study notes, topical articles, and historical creeds & confessions, this rich resource is ready to root you deep in the faith. Pick up your copy today and get some help in understanding the Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
ESV REFORMATION STUDY BIBLE<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
NKJV REFORMATION STUDY BIBLE<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A symptom of the fallen human condition is to think and live as if we can or must contribute to our salvation. The atmosphere this creates is one marked by rivalries, dissensions, judgment, and legalism. It can even lead to extrabiblical teaching that promises an alternative route to growth or access to God through sacred<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":55416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7850],"tags":[6095],"class_list":{"0":"post-55412","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-study-bibles","8":"tag-reformation-study-bible"},"yoast_head":"\nShadows and the True Substance - Olive Tree Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/shadows-and-the-true-substance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shadows and the True Substance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A symptom of the fallen human condition is to think and live as if we can or must contribute to our salvation. 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