In 2:18 Paul issues a warning to the believers at Colosse: “Let no one purposely defraud you of your prize, in humility and worship of the angels, standing on things which he has seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh.” The Greek word rendered “purposely defraud” is difficult to translate. It may also be rendered “judge you unworthy.” It means to judge or criticize in such a way as to deceive. The heretical teachers judged that the saints were not worthy to worship God directly and told them that they had to worship God through the mediation of angels. This was to defraud the saints of their prize, which is Christ. In Christ, our sole Mediator, we can worship God directly.
The Greek expression for “purposely defraud” points to someone who contacts another with the fixed and determined intention of capturing him. It indicates someone who approaches another with the purpose of catching him and of making a prey of him. Even Christians can be used by the enemy to defraud in this way. They may contact others purposely with the intention to capture them.
In Colosse certain ones came to the saints, judging them and criticizing them with respect to particular practices. As verse 16 indicates, they judged the believers regarding eating and drinking, feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths. Verse 18 continues the concept expressed in verse 16. Here Paul tells us that we should not allow anyone to judge us with the intention of defrauding us. All those who seek to defraud you come firstly with a critical spirit to point out things they feel are wrong or mistaken. They may criticize the church or the ministry. They may speak critically of the meetings or of your participation in the church life. The intention of such criticism is to deceive you and then to defraud you by snatching you away from Christ and the church. The meaning of defraud here is to defraud by judging and criticizing. The intention is to deprive you of your prize, which is the enjoyment of Christ and of the church life.
If you check with those who have left the church life, you will find that they have been deprived of the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ and also of the enjoyment of the church life. Christ and the church, the Head and the Body, are our enjoyment, our prize. To be deprived of Christ and the church is to be defrauded of our prize.
The evil intention of the Judaizers and Gnostics was to defraud the saints in Colosse of their enjoyment of Christ and the church. The method used to defraud them was to criticize them with respect to such things as new moons and Sabbaths, perhaps criticizing them for not observing the Sabbath. They may have accused them of negligence in this matter, and then they may have argued that they had the scriptural ground to charge them to keep the Sabbath ordained by God. Furthermore, they may have accused them for not observing the new moons and the yearly festivals. No doubt, their words were very persuasive and exerted much influence. Unless we have the proper discernment, such words may sound very convincing. Therefore, it is crucial to see that all the items listed in 2:16 are shadows of which Christ is the reality and substance. Because we have Christ, we do not need to observe the Sabbath, the new moons, or the festivals, and we do not need to submit to regulations concerning eating and drinking. Since we have Christ, what need is there for us to keep the Sabbath? If we have Paul’s point of view, it will be very difficult for anyone to defraud us. Although it is still rather easy for young ones to be defrauded, I can testify that, because I have Paul’s universal and practical perspective, I am crystal clear and cannot easily be deprived of my prize.
In addition to having Paul’s view, we also need to have the proper knowledge. This knowledge will enable us to have the necessary discernment. For example, we need discernment in order to distinguish between an upper case letter I, a lower case letter l, and an Arabic numeral 1. When I was learning English as a young person, I had difficulty distinguishing between these three things. This indicates that even in small matters we need discernment. The principle is the same in spiritual matters. Those who have left the church life in recent years lacked discernment. They did not have a clear view of God’s economy, and they were short of knowledge. Because they followed others blindly, they were defrauded. They were deprived of the enjoyment of Christ and the church.