In verse 18 Paul speaks of humility with respect to being defrauded of the prize. The heretical teachers of angel worship taught the saints to show humility by considering themselves not worthy to worship God directly. They defrauded the saints of their prize in Christ in the element and sphere of such humility and worship of angels.
Certain Gnostic teachers said that man was too low to worship God directly. They advocated a type of self-abasing humility, some form of self-depreciation which was supposed to show that a person was humble. They taught that those who have such humility will not presume to worship God directly. To be so bold as to worship God without mediation, these Gnostics taught, was a mark of pride. They reminded the believers that they were sinful, fallen beings with fleshly lusts and evil thoughts. They went on to say that those who are humble will not attempt to worship directly the holy and pure God. Through such a show of humility, they seduced the Colossian believers and led them astray to the worship of angels. By this means, they deprived the Colossian saints of their enjoyment of Christ. Instead of enjoying Christ directly as their Mediator, the believers turned to angels. As a result, they were defrauded of their prize.
Those who were defrauding the saints in Colosse took their stand on things which they had seen; they insisted on certain visions they had supposedly seen. The heretical teachers were in the realm of sight, contrasted with the faith in verse 12. They liked to have curious visions. Such insistence on visual experience resulted in fleshly pride, the vain puffing up by the mind of the flesh.
The principle is the same today. Many believers are fond of curious visions. Some even claim to have had contact with angels. In many meetings held in today’s Pentecostalism, certain ones tell of visions they have seen. These so-called visions are often according to their own lusts. It is folly to insist on things supposedly seen in visions. The heretics in Colosse were such visionaries, insisting on what they had seen. The result was that they were vainly puffed up by the mind of the flesh. Although they practiced a self-abasing humility, they actually were very proud.
Speaking of those described in 2:18, Paul goes on to say in verse 19, “And not holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, by means of the joints and bands being supplied and knit together, grows with the growth of God.” The heresy of angel worship distracted the saints from holding Christ as the Head. God’s economy is to head up all things in Christ through His Body, the church, thereby to make Christ the center of all things. The device of the subtle one is to carry the saints away and to cause the Body to collapse. The heresy at Colosse caused the saints to be severed from the Head. This damaged the Body. Paul’s revelation was to uplift Christ and to safeguard and build up the Body. We need to be preserved in Christ for the church life. Then we shall be protected from curious visions and from anything abnormal.
If we are not preserved in Christ, the religious element in our being may give rise to many strange things. Our fallen nature with our reprobate mind is one with the evil one. The evil spirits can still have contact with our reprobate mind. The fallen mind is continually committing fornication with the evil spirits. This causes various kinds of evil things to be transmitted into us, things that may cause us to act in an abnormal manner, even to pray, sing, or praise in strange ways. For this reason, as the Bible says, we need a sober mind, a mind renewed according to the image of the One who created us (3:10). If we have such a renewed mind, we shall be preserved in Christ and enjoy Him in the church life. The main reason Paul wrote the book of Colossians was to rescue the saints from fraud and to preserve them in Christ for the proper church life.
To be preserved in Christ for the church life is to hold Him as the Head, out from whom the Body grows with the growth of God. To grow is a matter of life, which is God Himself. As the Body of Christ, the church should not be deprived of Christ, who is the embodiment of God as the source of life. By holding Christ, the church grows with the growth of God, with the increase of God as life.
This growth takes place “by means of the joints and bands being supplied and knit together.” Joints are for the supply of the Body, whereas bands are for knitting together the members of the Body. In the church some members are joints and others are bands. By means of the joints and bands, the Body grows. This indicates that we cannot grow with the growth of God individualistically. We need to be in the church. Thus, Paul’s aim in this book is to preserve us in Christ for the church life.