Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations - "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," which all concern things which perish with the usingā??according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:18-23)
Man-made doctrines are not found only in false religions and cults. Today they play an undeniable role in undermining the Evangelical church. Man-made doctrines enter and ensnare the church through a focus on human leadership rather than Christ's headship, and on the worldly mind instead of the authority of Scripture.
Man-made doctrines are the third of Satan's triple threats to the church that the Apostle Paul warns against in Colossians chapter two. He tells Christians how to keep man-made doctrines, and those who would impose them, from controlling the church. The cure is submission - not to fleshly human leadership, but to the Divine headship of the preeminent Christ, and to the authority of His inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word.
Today we begin a set of messages focusing on this vital topic as we continue our series in Colossians chapter two titled "Truth Above All".