When our worship gets misdirected
By Elizabeth Prata
Paul spoke against the worship of angels in Colossians 2.
There are 6 main elements that Paul refutes in Colossians-
1. secret knowledge, (refuted in Col 1:27; 2:3)
2. asceticism, (Col 2:18)
3. depreciation of Christ (lowering Him in name and in glory), (Col 2:18b)
4. strict rule-keeping, ceremonies, or rituals (Col 2:23)
5. worship of angels, (Col 2:18)
6. and reliance on human wisdom and traditions (Col 2:20b-22)
One way to depreciate Jesus, the SOLE arbiter and dispenser of Truth, is to encourage people to shift their gaze to angels instead. (Like the Catholics want you to look at Mary, not Jesus). Anything to move Him to second place.
There is a reason that “voluntary humility” is followed by “worship of angels.” Here is a comment on Colossians 2:18 from Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers:
Worshipping of angels.—This is closely connected with the “voluntary humility” above “that we must be brought near by angels and not by Christ, for that were too high a thing for us” (Chrysostom).
Everything old is new again, and elements of it are infiltrating everywhere today. It is a practice/philosophy that wants the adherent to look within herself for truth. “Follow your heart”, “The truth is in you”, “Be true to yourself” and something we hear a lot today, “MY truth”, and so on.
In refuting the false doctrines that had infiltrated the church at Colossae, Paul wrote:
“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize.” (Colossians 2:18a).
“At the core of Gnosticism is the belief that knowledge, typically secret knowledge – knowledge from angels, from the stars and planets, from the ancients – was the path to holiness and salvation,” David Grabbe wrote in Forerunner Commentary.
Paul warned about this again in Galatians 1:8, writing, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.“
How many false religions were started by or are perpetuated by a fallen angel? Most. Mormonism, Islam, Seventh Day Adventists, and Jehovah’s Witnesses were started via “angels”, and Catholicism and New Age Mysticism make heavy use of angelic visits though angelic-seeming spirit guides, saint worship, and Marian apparitions. Many New Age sects began through the contact of “Spirit Guides”.
Why be so (falsely) humble? Because that way, neo-Gnostics can appear to be pious and make up their own rules at the same time. They say, “I’m too humble to know God’s word for sure, but THIS I know for sure, I was visited by an angel who showed me … And I know it’s true because it happened to me!” This aspect of neo-Gnosticism is re-emerging today in increasing amounts. Many are straying away from God’s word and substituting mystical experiences and intuition for truth.
Mike Ratliffe wrote, “These reactions are rooted in the “Hermeneutic of Humility,” which is a way of looking at our faith and interpreting the very Word of God through a filter that sees certainty as a product of pride and uncertainty as a virtue. … people contend that to be certain divides people while uncertainty creates an environment of unity. I contend that the “Hermeneutic of Humility” is that decaying point from which the godlessness in these days has become so manifest in the visible church in our time.”
Now, angels are not divine and worship of them is explicitly prohibited (as in Col. 2:18; Rev. 19:10; 22:9).
Heresy doesn’t always mean that a sect or a doctrine denies Jesus outright. The most successful sects and heretics preach Jesus, but they preach a different Jesus. They say that more must be done to attain salvation, that Jesus isn’t sufficient. They chip away at His sovereignty and slowly build man up as a partner on the sanctification process. Did you ever wonder why the verse in Acts 1:11 says, “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
Paul referred to a Gnostic’s false humility. A false humility goes something like this: “‘so humble unworthy me can’t think of worshiping a Holy God. I’ll worship this angel instead.” But what is true humility? One can find a definition at Christian Research and Apologetics Ministry (CARM):
“Humility is the right understanding of who you are before God. Notice, I did not say it means that you have to hate yourself, or call yourself names, or say you aren’t worth anything, etc. Humility is that quality of a Christian that demonstrates a right relationship and position before God. This demonstration is manifested in attitude, words, and deeds.”
Paul referred to real humility in Colossians 3:12- “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,” and the word for humility is translated “lowliness of mind.” Quite the opposite of the Gnostic’s puffed up sense of self and the high importance he places on his visions and experiences and knowledge!
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Gnostic buzzwords to watch out for,
–“received” as in ‘received a text’, ‘received a revelation’,
–ascend, higher, elevation
–spirit guide, spirit being, ascended masters (other terms for false angels and their worship),
–mystery, alchemy, altered states of consciousness,
–elementals (Paul refuted the necessity of seeking elemental forces in Col 2:8)
–new, as in new revelation, new light, new approach, new interpretation. Also, ‘fresh’.
Always look to Jesus. He is the sole source of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. It all begins and ends with Him. Angels are His servants. Angels are not bringing any further revelation to anyone these days, because the canon is closed. If you think you have been visited by an angel who told you secret things, new things, fresh things, things outside of the Bible, you were visited by a demon.
