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Sunday 09/21/25
Title: Let no one Disquality you!
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Let no one Disquality you!
Colossians 2:16-23, “(16) Therefore don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a sabbath day. (17) These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is the Messiah.”
This week we transition from Paul addressing types and shadows of Judaism to asceticism and A pagan form of mysticism called gnosticism.
Now this passage should not be so difficult and in fact it really isn’t if you are a thinking person. Much is made of the implications of a specific Greek word and the fact that another word, in some younger manuscripts, possesses an extra character turning the word into a negative. I would suggest that NONE of this truly matters and that the bigger issues are sidelined by overthinking the way it is translated.
You may think that an odd thing for me to say, since translating a passage accurately is imperative and I’d typically agree. In this case however, I think it actually has led to helping the modern reader miss the point almost entirely!
So I am reading this morning from the ESV, not because it is truly superior, but in this case I think it hits the mark where needed and avoids pitfalls where it is crucial.
Colossians (ESV)
“(18) Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, (19) and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.”
Verse 18 in particular has a single letter variant which changes the text from saying that these people “have seen” as opposed to “have NOT seen”.
The older manuscripts do not contain this variant and so state the passage in the positive. In the case of the Holman and the NET, they split the difference using phrases like “claiming” and “supposedly” in reference to what these false teachers have seen.
May I suggest that this is straining at a gnat. If Paul were to have gone on to teach how to discern the difference between a “claimed” vision and a real one then this working would have been important. Since however, this is ONLY about what was claimed and did not have a direct impact on what teachings were conveyed, it is a moot point.
The real differences in translations of Colossians 2:18 arise from the ambiguous Greek text and the translators’ efforts to convey the original meaning in different ways, particularly concerning terms like “disqualify” (katabrabeuō) and “fleshly mind“.
Some versions interpret the verse as a warning against false humility and angel worship, while others emphasize the athletic metaphor of being “disqualified” from winning a spiritual prize.
These varied approaches reflect different interpretations of the original wording and the desired emphasis for the modern reader.
Reasons for Different Translations
Ambiguous Greek Text: The original Greek has words with multiple possible meanings, such as katabrabeuō, which can mean “disqualify” in an athletic sense or “condemn” in a judicial sense.
Figurative Language: Paul uses an athletic metaphor, comparing a Christian life to a race where one could be unfairly judged or robbed of their prize. So translators may use different metaphors to convey this idea.
Syncretistic Context: The false teachings in Colossae were a complex mix of ideas, making it hard for translators to pinpoint the exact intent of Paul’s words.
Examples of Different Interpretations
- “Disqualify“: Some translations focus on the athletic metaphor: “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels…” (ESV).
- “Condemn“: Other translations emphasize the negative judgment: “Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels…” (NLT).
- “Prize“: Some translations highlight the idea of losing a reward: “Don’t let people like that hold you back from winning the prize” (Bible Study Tools).
- Focus on False Teachings: Other translations emphasize the nature of the false teachers’ claims: “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you” (NIV).
Let me explain that it doesn’t matter what athletic metaphor Paul was using, it was a metaphor. The importance was the consequence of being drawn away into false doctrine. Not all false doctrines carry the same weight. Some false doctrines regard the order or timing of the tribulation mentioned in the book of Revelation. While some of these are truly goofy and can have a significant impact on understanding the New Testament, they are, in the end, not critical issues.
Other doctrinal claims seek to tempt people away from faith in Christ Jesus alone. This IS a critical doctrine and is therefore paramount.
Here what the metaphor is carries little relevance, WHAT it impacts IS eternally important.
These Colossian believers were being lured away from faith in Christ alone for salvation and towards seeking visions and “special knowledge” from spirit being and in the mistreatment and neglect of the human body towards spiritual enlightenment.
If successful and complete, these would apostate from Christ which would disqualify them in regard to the faith and salvation.
Paul eluded to this in another place when he said in 1 Corinthians 9:27,
1 Corinthians 9:23-27, “(23) Now I do all this because of the gospel, that I may become a partner in its benefits. (24) Do you not know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. (25) Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. However, they do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. (26) Therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly, or box like one who beats the air. (27) Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
The word “disqualified” is NOT the same word translated “disqualify” here in Colossians 2:18, but they can be used as near synonyms for one another.
The word here is 1 Corinthians is Adokimos (ἀδόκιμος). This adjective describes a person who has been “disapproved” or “rejected” after a test. It is the opposite of dokimos(δόκιμος), meaning “approved” or “tested.”
The word in Colossians is Katabrabeuō (καταβραβεύω). This verb literally means to “give the prize against someone” or “to defraud of the prize“.
As is clear from their definitions, these two Greek words can be used in a similar fashion to describe disqualification from a prize or status. The words are linked through the common metaphor of athletic contests, where a competitor is rejected for failing to meet the required standard.
If read in their greater context, the prize Paul is running for, that keeping under his body was of pivotal importance and the reward for the Colossians not being tempted away from Christ are the same. These both point to apostasy. The denial of Christ can be through deliberate choice of a different doctrinal belief such as Judaism, mysticism or asceticism or it could be through forsaking Him out of love for the world. In the end, the means of denial is less important than the denial itself.
Some of our modern translations, in attempting to convey the tone and meaning of Paul’s words, run right past the very point of what he was saying. Especially when they get to verse 19 and are still talking about this fictitious person, rather than speaking directly to the Colossian believers themselves.
These translations say something like this,
“(18) Let no one who delights in false humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. (19) He has not held fast to the head from whom the whole body, supported and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.”
Older translations treat this better by saying,
“(18) 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, (19) 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.”
It is a minor difference, but the NET is still presenting the case as one which is objectified and therefore only observed. The NKJV stays grounded in instruction TO the Colossians and tells them that if they follow these false teachings THEY will no longer be holding fast to the Head. This is a pivotal difference – especially in today’s world when people get so easily lost in words, from one sentence to the next!
An interesting translation called the Cotton Patch both weakens the perceived threat AND keeps the attention on the hypothetical person rather and so fails in both regards. It reads like this,
“And don’t let anybody browbeat you into an assumed piety and into prayers to saints, insisting on some vision he has had. He’s a worldly-minded muddlehead who has lost his grip on the true Head, under which the rest of the body, outfitted and bound together by its joints and muscles, grows into God’s maturity.” – Colossians 2:18,19
Colossians 2:19-23,
“(19) and not holding fast to the Head, from Whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God.”
“(20) IF WITH CHRIST YOU DIED to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—
(21) “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (22) (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?”
So like I said earlier, we have transitioned from the types and shadows of Judaism to asceticism and pagan forms of mysticism.
“(23) These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
I am now switching back to the Holman translation…
Colossians 3:1-25,
“(1) So IF YOU HAVE BEEN RAISED with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God.
(2) Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. (3) For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. (4) When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
“Died with”/“Raised with” – Romans 6:4-14
Romans 6:4-14, “(4) Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life.
(5) For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection.
(6) For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, (7) since a person who has died is freed from sin’s claims.
(8) Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, (9) because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, no longer dies. Death no longer rules over Him.
(10) For in that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives to God.
(11) So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
(12) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. (13) And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. (14) For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.”
“Set your minds” – Romans 8:5-8
Romans 8:5-8, “(5) For those whose lives are according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh, but those whose lives are according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit. (6) For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace. (7) For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. (8) Those whose lives are in the flesh are unable to please God.”
Colossians 3…
“(5) Therefore, PUT TO DEATH whatever in you is worldly: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.
(6) Because of these, God’s wrath comes on the disobedient, (7) and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. (8) BUT NOW you MUST also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.
(9) Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his practices (10) and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of his Creator.
(11) Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.
(12) Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, (13) accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another.
Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive.
(14) Above all, put on love–the perfect bond of unity. (15) And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful.
(16) Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God.
(17) And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
We ended here, just to give allow the thought of Paul to continue to a good point of closing. We will begin at the top of Chapter 3 next week and work through the passage as we learn more about the redeeming words of Paul to these struggling believers in Colossae.
Blessings!
Tri
