QT 4 May 11

Col 2:14-19 (NIV) … having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

NOTE: This is the problem with those who want to incorporate the OT law into their NT faith, the result is a false humility.  A false humility is a belief that you are pleasing God by your obedience to laws that no one else is following, that somehow you are more pious.  And while I do not understand the worship of angels, I do understand the phrase, "… unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions."  People begin to find arguments in the scripture for the things which they do that are not scriptural.  And they reinterpret obvious scriptural truths into unobvious conclusions to justify their incorrect arguments.  Then they begin to think that they are wiser than others because they see this deep truth that others don't see.  It really is a subtle form of Gnosticism.  While I do accept the proposition that most churches in America are a poor imitations of first-century churches and first-century doctrine, and so are missing out on the reality of a relationship with Jesus Christ, I am concerned when orthodoxy is ignored.  Godly men have given their lives to study and to stand up for the scriptures, and we cannot throw orthodoxy out the window, especially when it explains the scripture in a common sense way of understanding.  In other words, be careful of the extremely small off-the-wall churches that spring up, claiming to be the real representatives of first-century churches, and of extreme minority views of doctrine -- they are most often even more wrong than the dead churches they seek to replace.