Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdomThe Apostle Paul addresses the Colossian church, warning against ascetic practices and legalistic rules that seem wise. These restrictions likely stem from a blend of Jewish legalism and early Gnostic influences, which emphasized secret knowledge and strict discipline. The appearance of wisdom is deceptive, as it aligns with human traditions rather than divine revelation. This echoes Jesus' criticism of the Pharisees in
Matthew 23:27, where outward appearances mask inner corruption.
with their self-prescribed worship
Paul critiques practices not commanded by God but invented by humans. This self-made religion is reminiscent of the "will-worship" that elevates human effort over divine grace. It parallels the Old Testament's condemnation of idolatry, where people worshipped according to their own desires rather than God's instructions (Isaiah 29:13).
their false humility
The humility described is not genuine but a façade. It is a humility that seeks to gain spiritual status or favor through self-denial and ritualistic practices. This false humility is akin to the Pharisees' behavior, who performed religious acts for public approval rather than true devotion (Matthew 6:1-6).
and their harsh treatment of the body
Ascetic practices often involved severe discipline of the body, such as fasting or abstaining from certain foods, to achieve spiritual purity. This reflects a dualistic view, common in Gnostic thought, that the physical body is inherently evil. However, Paul emphasizes that such practices are ineffective for true spiritual growth, as seen in1 Timothy 4:8, where bodily discipline is of limited value compared to godliness.
but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh
Despite their rigorous nature, these practices fail to curb sinful desires. The flesh, in Pauline theology, represents the sinful nature that opposes the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). True transformation comes through the renewal of the mind and the work of the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:2), not through external regulations. This underscores the futility of human efforts to achieve righteousness apart from Christ's redemptive work.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
Paul the ApostleThe author of the letter to the Colossians, addressing the church in Colossae.
2.
ColossaeAn ancient city in Phrygia, Asia Minor, where the church was dealing with false teachings.
3.
False TeachersIndividuals promoting ascetic practices and legalistic regulations that Paul warns against.
4.
The Colossian ChurchThe recipients of Paul's letter, struggling with integrating false teachings into their faith.
5.
ChristCentral to Paul's message, emphasizing the sufficiency of Christ over human regulations.
Teaching Points
The Appearance of WisdomHuman regulations may seem wise but lack true spiritual value.
Evaluate teachings by their alignment with Scripture, not their outward appearance.
False Humility and Self-Imposed WorshipPractices that appear humble can be rooted in pride.
True humility is found in submission to Christ, not in self-imposed rituals.
The Ineffectiveness of AsceticismHarsh treatment of the body does not lead to spiritual growth.
Spiritual discipline should be motivated by love for God, not legalism.
The Sufficiency of ChristChrist alone is sufficient for salvation and spiritual growth.
Avoid adding human traditions to the gospel message.
Resisting Sensual IndulgenceTrue restraint comes from the Holy Spirit, not human effort.
Cultivate a relationship with Christ to overcome sinful desires.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Colossians 2:23?
2.How does Colossians 2:23 warn against relying on human rules for holiness?
3.What does "self-imposed worship" in Colossians 2:23 mean for modern believers?
4.How can we discern between true godliness and "false humility" today?
5.How does Colossians 2:23 connect with Jesus' teachings on the Pharisees?
6.What practical steps can prevent us from being deceived by "human commands"?
7.What does Colossians 2:23 reveal about the limitations of human rules in spiritual growth?
8.How does Colossians 2:23 challenge the effectiveness of self-imposed religion and asceticism?
9.Why does Colossians 2:23 emphasize the lack of value in man-made regulations against indulgence?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Colossians 2?
11.What defines being spiritually minded?
12.How does the Bible advise seeking wisdom from God?
13.When is it time to be silent or speak?
14.What is the Colossian Heresy?What Does Colossians 2:23 Mean
Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdomPaul is speaking of the man-made rules—“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch” (Colossians 2:21)—that the false teachers were pushing. They looked impressive.
• They seemed pious, much like the “whitewashed tombs” Jesus described inMatthew 23:27.
•Proverbs 16:25 reminds us, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
•2 Corinthians 11:14 notes that even Satan “masquerades as an angel of light,” so outward “wisdom” alone proves nothing.
The lesson is clear: if something only looks wise but is not anchored in Christ and His Word, it is counterfeit.
with their self-prescribed worship“Self-made religion” (v. 23, ESV) invents its own paths to God instead of following His revealed way.
•Mark 7:7–8: “They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.”
•Isaiah 29:13 shows the same problem in Israel’s history—lips that honored God while hearts remained distant.
•Colossians 2:6–7 had already urged believers to be “rooted and built up in Him,” not in personal inventions.
Any devotion that is not commanded or commended by Scripture ultimately exalts self, not Christ.
their false humilityThe ascetics acted humble—avoiding certain foods, rejecting ordinary pleasures—but the humility was a show.
•Colossians 2:18 speaks of those “puffed up without cause by his unspiritual mind” while pretending lowliness.
•Matthew 6:16–18 warns against fasting “so as to be seen by men.”
Real humility agrees with God about sin and grace (James 4:6); counterfeit humility loves attention for its own strictness.
and their harsh treatment of the bodyBeating the body into submission looks rigorous, yet it cannot change the heart.
•1 Timothy 4:3 mentions teachers who “forbid marriage and abstain from foods” as signs of later-times deception.
•1 Kings 18:28 records prophets of Baal cutting themselves—zealous but spiritually empty.
• While Paul “disciplined” his body (1 Corinthians 9:27), he did so to serve the gospel, not to earn righteousness.
Biblical self-control values the body as God’s temple (1 Corinthians 6:19) rather than despising it.
but they are of no value against the indulgence of the fleshRules can restrain behavior for a moment, but they cannot kill sinful desire.
•Romans 8:3–4: what the law could not do, God did by sending His Son, freeing us to “walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
•Galatians 5:16–17 points to the Spirit as the only effective power over the flesh.
•John 15:5: “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”
Only union with Christ, not external regulation, produces genuine holiness (Colossians 3:1–3).
summaryColossians 2:23 exposes the emptiness of self-made religion. Man-centered rules look wise, invent their own worship, parade a phony humility, and abuse the body—yet they cannot curb the flesh. True victory over sin comes from Christ’s finished work and the Spirit’s indwelling power, not from human regulations.
(23)
Will worship, and humility . . .--It seems difficult to connect these words with the merely ceremonial observances immediately above; and, in fact, they are almost an exact repetition of the description of the superstitious worship of the angels given in
Colossians 2:18. "Will worship" is, indeed, nearly what we call superstition--the constant craving for objects to which we may find some excuse for paying reverence. The prefix applies in sense, though not in grammatical form, to the "humility" also; a studied humility being either a pretence or a self-degradation. But in the words "neglecting of the body" (properly, being
unsparing of it in hardship, and generally careless of it) we pass to the ceremonial ordinances. It is more than likely that the superstition and false asceticism were connected together--the latter being the condition of the supposed spiritual insight of the former.
Which things . . .flesh.--This passage is difficult. (1) Our version translates literally, and would seem to regard the last words as simply an explanation, from the point of view of the false teachers, of "neglecting of the body," as "not honouring it for the satisfaction, or surfeiting of the flesh;" and we certainly find that the Jewish ascetics did brand the most necessary satisfaction of appetite as a "surfeiting of the flesh." But there is a fatal objection to this interpretation--that, in that case, St. Paul would leave the false pretension without a word of contradiction, which is almost incredible. Hence (2) we must regard the "not in any honour" as antithetical to "the show of wisdom." The ordinances, says St. Paul, have "a show of wisdom," but "are in no honour,"i.e.,are "of no value." The common use of the word rendered "honour," for "price," or "pay" (seeMatthew 27:6;Acts 7:16;Acts 19:19;1Corinthians 6:20;1Corinthians 7:23;1Timothy 5:17), would readily lend itself to this sense. The only doubtful point (3) is the interpretation of the last words, "for the satisfying of the flesh." There seems little doubt that the phrase is used in a bad sense. Hence we must dismiss all reference to a right honouring of the body by innocent satisfaction of its needs. We have therefore to choose between two interpretations. Some interpret "of no valueagainst the satisfaction of the flesh." But, though the Greek will bear this sense, it is certainly not the common sense of the preposition used; and its adoption would expose the whole phrase to the charge of ambiguity and obscurity. The other interpretation is "of no real value" (tending) "to the satisfaction of the flesh." This is abrupt, but suits well the indignant and abrupt terseness of the passage. It gives (quite after St. Paul's manner) not only a denial of the "neglecting of the body," but a retort on the false teachers of the very charge they made against their opponents. (Comp. the use of the word "dogs," inPhilippians 3:2.) It conveys a most important truth. That "extremes meet" we know well; and that there is a satisfaction of the fleshly temper (see above,Colossians 2:18) in the attempt over much to curb the flesh, the whole history of asceticism bears witness. Moreover, this interpretation alone gives a completeness of antithesis. To "the show of wisdom" it opposes the "no real value;" to the pretended "neglecting of the body" the real" satisfaction of the flesh." . . .
Verse 23. -
Such as have (literally,
are (
things)
having)
word indeed of wisdom (vers. 4, 8;
1 Corinthians 2:1, 4, 13;
1 Corinthians 12:8). The antecedent of "such as" is "command merits and teachings" (Meyer, Alford, Ellicott), not "decrees" (ver. 21). For ver. 22 supplies the immediate antecedent, and the wider sense thus given is necessary to support the comprehensive and summary import of ver. 23. The Greek "are having" brings into view the nature and qualities of the subject, in accordance with
ἅτινα,
such as, the
qualitative relative (comp.
ἥτις,
Colossians 3:5; see Moulton's Winer, pp. 209, 210; also Meyer and Ellicott, on the grammatical point). A certain "word of wisdom" was ascribed to the false teachers in ver. 4 (note the play upon
λόγος in St. Paul's Greek). They were plausible dealers in words, and had the jargon of philosophy at their tongue's end (ver. 8, compare note on
ἐμβατεύων, ver. 18). On this the apostle had first remarked in his criticism of their teaching, and to this he first, adverts in his final
resume. "Word of wisdom" is one of the "gifts of the Spirit" in
1 Corinthians 12:8; but the disparaging
μέν,
indeed, with the emphatic position of
λόγον throwing
σοφίας into the shade, in view also of the censures already passed in vers. 4, 8, puts a condemnatory sense upon the phrase: "having
word indeed of wisdom" - "that and nothing more, no inner truth, no pith and substance of wisdom" (so Chrysostom and OEcumenius). "Word and deed," "word and truth," form a standing antithesis (
Colossians 3:17;
Romans 15:18;
1 Corinthians 4:19, 20;
1 John 3:18, etc.), the second member of which supplies itself to the mind; and the
solitaryμὲν in such a connection is a well-established classical idiom (see Winer's or A. Buttmann's 'Grammar;' also Meyer). It is superfluous, therefore, as well as confusing to the order of thought, to seek in the sequel for the missing half of the antithesis. Other renderings of
λόγον - "show" (English A.V., Bengel, De Wette), "ground" or "reason" (Vulgate, Klopper),
"reputation" (Meyer, Alford, Ellicott, Lightfoot) - are partly doubtful or exceptional in point of usage, and partly overlook the pointed reference of vers. 22, 23 to the language of vers. 4 and 8. And the combination of
λόγον ἔχοντα into a single phrase is scarcely justified here in face of the established Pauline association of "word" and "wisdom" (comp.
1 Corinthians 1:17-2:16, as well as 1 Corinthians 12:8). Both in this Epistle and in 1 Corinthians the writer is contending against forms of error which found their account in the Greek love of eloquence and of dexterous word-play. While the first part of the predicate, therefore, explains the
intellectual attractiveness of the Colossian error, the clause next following accounts for its
religious fascination; and the third part of the verse strikes at the root of its
ethical and practical applications. (Shown)
in (or,
with)
devotion to (or,
delight in)
worship (or,
voluntary worship)
and lowliness of mind (ver. 18). The preposition "in" brings us into the moral and religious sphere of life in which this would be wisdom of doctrine had its range and found its application. The prefix
ἐθελο = - of
ἐθελοθρησκεία ordinarily connotes" willingness" rather than "wilfulness;" and the "delighting in worship" of ver. 18 (see note) points strongly in this direction. As against Ellicott and Lightfoot on the etymological point, see Hofmann, pp. 102, 103. Only so far as the
worship in question (see note, ver. 18, on "worship") is evil, can the
having a will to worship be evil. The other characteristics of the error marked in this verse seem to be recommendations, and "devotion to worship" is in keeping with them. This disposition, moreover, has an air of "humility," which does not belong to a
self-imposed, arbitrary worship. There is a love of worship for mere worship's sake which is a perversion of the religious instinct, and tends to multiply both the forms and objects of devotion. This spurious religiousness took the form, in the Colossian errorists, of
worship paid to the angels. On this particular worship the apostle passed his judgment in ver. 18, and now points out the tendency from which it springs. In ver. 18 "humility" precedes; here it follows "worship," by way of transition from the religious to the moral aspect of the now teaching.
And (or,
with)
unsparing treatment of (the) body -
not in any honour (as)
against surfeiting of the flesh (vers. 16, 21, 22;
Philippians 3:19-21;
1 Timothy 4:3;
1 Corinthians 6:13-20;
1 Corinthians 12:23-25;
1 Thessalonians 4:4). The "and" linking this clause to the last under the government of "in," is textually doubtful; Lightfoot cancels it; Westcott and Hort give the omission as a secondary reading. Mr. Hort regards the passage, like ver. 18, as hopelessly corrupt - a verdict which we would fain believe is too despairing. If
καὶ be struck out, then
ἀφειδείᾳ must be attached, somewhat loosely, to the principal predicate (" are having") as an instrumental dative. On either construction, the sense appears to be that it was its combination of ascetic rigour with religious devotion that gave to the system in question its undoubted charm, and furnished an adequate field for the eloquence and philosophical skill of its advocate. '
Αφειδεία,
unsparingness, and
πλησμονή,
surfeiting - both found only here in the New Testament - and along with them "body" and "flesh," stand opposed to each other. This clause, therefore, contains a complete sense, and we must not look outside it for an explanation of the included words, "not in any honour." As we have seen, the first clause of the predicate (" having word indeed," etc.) needs no such complement. The clause "not .... flesh" is a comment on the words, "unsparing treatment of the body." On this topic the apostle had not yet expressed his mind sufficiently. He has in vers. 16, 20-22 denounced certain ascetic rules as obsolete, or as trifling and needless; but he has yet to expose the principle and tendency from which they sprang. He is the more bound to be explicit on this subject inasmuch as there were ascetic leanings in his own teaching, and passages in his earlier Epistles such as
Romans 8:13;
Romans 13:14;
1 Corinthians 7:1;
1 Corinthians 9:27, which the "philosophical" party might net unnaturally wrest to their own purposes. He could not condemn severity to the body absolutely, and in every sense. The Colossian rigorism he does condemn -
(1) as notin keeping with bodily self-respect, which is the safeguard of Christian purity; and
(2) as not in realitydirected against sensual indulgence, the prevention of which is the proper end of rules of abstinence. These two objections are thrown into a single terse, energetic negative clause, obscure, like so much in this chapter, from its brevity and want of connecting particles. In1 Thessalonians 4:4 the phrase, "in honour," occurs in a similar connection: "That each one of you know how to 'gain possession of his own vessel" (i.e. "to become master of his body:" see Wordsworth and Alford on the passage; also Meyer's reference onRomans 1:24) "in sanctification andhonor" (comp.1 Corinthians 6:13-20 for the apostle's teaching respecting the dignity of the human body; alsoPhilippians 3:19-21). The contempt of Alexandrine theosophists for physical nature was fatal to morality, undermining the basis on which rests the government of the body as the "vessel" and vesture of the spiritual life. Their principles took effect, first, in a morbid and unnatural asceticism; then, by a sure reaction, and with equal consistency, in unrestrained and shocking licence. See, for the latter result, the Epistles to the seven Churches of Asia (Romans 2. and 3.); in the Pastoral Epistles, the two opposite effects are both signalized. The rendering "value" given by Lightfoot and the Revisers seems to us misleading;τιμὴ means "value" only in the sense of "price," as in1 Corinthians 6:20, and this surely is not their meaning.Πλησμονὴ has been taken in a milder sense by the Greek commentators, Luther, and others: "satisfaction" "(legitimate) gratification." So the apostle is made to charge the false teachers with "not honouring the body, so as to grant the flesh its due gratification." But this rendering confounds the "body" and the "flesh," here contrasted, and givesπλησμονὴ a meaning without lexical warrant (see Meyer and Lightfoot). And the sentiment it expresses errs on the anti-ascetic side, and comes into collision withRomans 13:14 andGalatians 5:16.Πλησμονή, in the LXX and in Philo, as in earlier Greek, denotes "physical repletion," and is associated with drunkenness and sensual excess generally. Hence we cannot admit the interpretation of Meyer, Alford, Ellicott, who make the "flesh" here thesinful principle generally, and understand "surfeiting" figuratively, supposing the apostle to mean, that the ascetic rules in question, while they dishonour the body, tend to gratify the carnal mind." This gives an idea true in itself, and agreeing with the sense of "flesh" in vers. 11, 18, but out of place here, while it strains the meaning ofπλησμονή (see Lightfoot's exhaustive argument). The prepositionπρὸς does not help us, meaning "for" or "against," according to its connection. We combine Lightfoot's interpretation ofπρὸς πλησμονὴν τῆςσαρκὸς with Wordsworth's andAlford's ofοὐκ ἐν τιμῇ τινί. The saying ofPhilippians 3:19 ("whose god is their belly, and their glory in their shame") contains the same opposition of "honour" to "fleshly indulgence" as that supposed here, possibly suggested by the phrase, "surfeiting of dishonor" (πλησμονὴ ἀτιμίας), of the LXX inHabakkuk 2:16. Here, then, the apostle lays hold of the root principle of the false teachers' whole scheme of morality, itshostility to the body as a material organism. Such a treatment, he declares, dishonours the body, while it fails, and for this very reason, to preventthat feeding of the flesh, the fostering of sensual appetency and habit, in which lies our real peril and dishonour in regard to this vessel of our earthly life. Here we have a suitable starting-point for the exhortations of the next chapter, where the apostle, in vers. 1-4, shows the true path of deliverance from sensual sin, and in vers. 5-7 sets forth the Christian asceticism - "unsparing treatment"of the flesh indeed! The line of teaching adopted by the errorists may be illustrated by Philo's doctrine in his third book of the 'Allegories of the Sacred Law,' § 22: "'God saw that Er was wicked;' for he knows that thisleathern burden of ours, the body - forEr, being interpreted, isleathern - is evil and always plotting against the soul; and it is ever under the power of death, indeed actually dead [comp.Romans 8:10]. Yet this all do not see, but only God, and those he loves. For when the mind [νοῦς comp. note, ver. 18] becomes engaged in sublime contemplations and is initiated into the mysteries of the Lord [note,Colossians 1:26], it judges the body to be evil and hostile;" again ('On the Change of Names,' § 4): "Pale and wasted, and reduced to skeletons as it were, are the men devoted to instruction, having transferred to the powers of the soul their bodily vigour also, so that they have become, as we might say, dissolved into a single form of being, that of pure soul made bodiless by force of thought [διανοία: seeColossians 1:21, note]. In them the earthly is destroyed and overwhelmed, when reason [νοῦς: ver. 18], pervading them wholly, has see its choice on being well pleasing to God." The writer has attempted an elucidation of this verse in theExpositor, first series, vol. 12. pp. 289-303.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
Such [restrictions]ἅτινά(hatina)Personal / Relative Pronoun - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3748:Whosoever, whichsoever, whatsoever.indeedμὲν(men)Particle
Strong's 3303:A primary particle; properly, indicative of affirmation or concession; usually followed by a contrasted clause with de.haveἔχοντα(echonta)Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Neuter Plural
Strong's 2192:To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.an appearanceλόγον(logon)Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3056:From lego; something said; by implication, a topic, also reasoning or motive; by extension, a computation; specially, the Divine Expression.of wisdom,σοφίας(sophias)Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 4678:Wisdom, insight, skill (human or divine), intelligence. From sophos; wisdom.with [their]ἐν(en)Preposition
Strong's 1722:In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.self-prescribed worship,ἐθελοθρησκίᾳ(ethelothrēskia)Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1479:Arbitrary worship, self-imposed worship. From ethelo and threskeia; voluntary piety, i.e. Sanctimony.[their false] humility,ταπεινοφροσύνῃ(tapeinophrosynē)Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5012:Humility, lowliness of mind, modesty. From a compound of tapeinos and the base of phren; humiliation of mind, i.e. Modesty.andκαὶ(kai)Conjunction
Strong's 2532:And, even, also, namely.[their] harsh treatmentἀφειδίᾳ(apheidia)Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 857:Severity, severe treatment. From a compound of a and pheidomai; unsparingness, i.e. Austerity.of [the] body;σώματος(sōmatos)Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular
Strong's 4983:Body, flesh; the body of the Church. From sozo; the body, used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively.[but] they areἐστιν(estin)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510:I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.ofἐν(en)Preposition
Strong's 1722:In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.noοὐκ(ouk)Adverb
Strong's 3756:No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.valueτιμῇ(timē)Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5092:A price, honor. From tino; a value, i.e. Money paid, or valuables; by analogy, esteem, or the dignity itself.againstπρὸς(pros)Preposition
Strong's 4314:To, towards, with. A strengthened form of pro; a preposition of direction; forward to, i.e. Toward.[the] indulgenceπλησμονὴν(plēsmonēn)Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4140:Satisfaction, indulgence. From a presumed derivative of pletho; a filling up, i.e. gratification.of theτῆς(tēs)Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.flesh.σαρκός(sarkos)Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 4561:Flesh, body, human nature, materiality; kindred.
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NT Letters: Colossians 2:23 Which things indeed appear like wisdom (Coloss. Col Co) 
