Sermon Cloud

Colossians 2:18-23

Asceticism – The doctrine that a person can attain a high spiritual and moral state by practicing self-denial, self-mortification, and the like.

The Church at Colossae was probably involved in some form of mysticism which employed the worship of Angels partly through denying self certain worldly pleasures. In this line of thinking a person could enter a higher spiritual dimension through denying oneself even the most basic of needs and desires. Paul makes a parenthetical statement and says that this type of thinking is not from Christ. This “false humility” is present in evangelicalism today. In the mind of some restricting pleasure is a sign of godliness. Still others will say that how “holy” you are is determined by whether or not you engage in certain activities. Paul will put the axe to the root of all these issues in this passage pointing to pride as the issue and the outcome of this kind of living. Paul contrasts two sources and their outcomes in Colossians 2:18-23