Colossians 2:18-19 says, “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, (19) And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.”
v. 18: Mysticism may be defined as the pursuit of a deeper or higher subjective experience. It looks for truth internally, thru feelings, intuition, and external sensations.
Experience trumps Scripture. Scripture is not the authority but one’s experience.
They said you weren’t saved or growing if you did not have some mystical experience. The false teachers were defrauding them of their prize or reward, making them feel inferior.
The disguised their pride as false humility and worshipped angels. What’s wrong with this kind of worship?
- There is only one mediator between God and man.
- We are called to worship God alone.
- Angels worship God.
They also claimed to have visions. This is prevalent in the charismatic movement. These visions are a source of new revelation outside the closed canon of Scripture.
v. 18: We are not to be intimidated by their false experiences because they come from fleshly minds void of the Holy Spirit. There is a tendency in human nature to move from the objectivity of Scripture to the subjectivity of experience.
Note the Holy Spirit writes that these are visions they have not seen.
v. 19: They were not holding fast to Christ from whom salvation and spiritual growth comes from.
