“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.”
“And not holding fast to the Head”
The Gnostic mysticism of Colossae cannot connect to the “Head” (Christ, Co 1:18; 2:10) of the “body” (the church). They cannot simultaneously assert a proper claim on Christ and hold to Gnosticism. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5,6).
By claiming the mediatorship of angels, the Colossians flew in the face of the finished work of Christ; they rejected Christ’s work for their work. No one can mediate between God and man except Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the exclusive basis of Christianity.
The words “holding fast to” mean to cause a state to continue based on some authority or power — “to hold, to keep, to cause to continue.” God expects us to apprehend Jesus Christ. We can live without an arm, but we cannot live without a head. We cannot live the Christian life without Christ the Head. It is the Head that gives orders. We must first check with him. The only way we can do that is by a systematic study of the Word of God. He does not lead by spiritual duck bumps but by what he provided on the cross.
The failure of false teachers to hold fast to the Head of the church is the foundation of false doctrine. False teachers detached themselves from the Head and had no real spiritual life. They put angelic aeons (orders of spirit beings) in place of Christ. Those who go to mediums are an example of this today.
All failures of believers find the origin of their problems in this as well. If the believer does not have a healthy relationship with the Head, the life that flows out of that issue will be anemic and vulnerable to the spirit world. He paid for the believer’s sins fully and finally on the cross. Spiritual fruit depends upon a healthy fellowship with the Head (John 15:4-5).
PRINCIPLE:
The only way to grow in the Christian life is by active fellowship with Christ.
APPLICATION:
Any male wolf recognizes a woman in love with her husband; he knows she is out of circulation. The true Christian is deeply in love with Jesus Christ. The body severed from the head dies.
